Breed of Havoc (The Breed Chronicles #3) (30 page)

“You about ready?” Tasha asked for the fifteenth time in the last hour.

“Tasha.” I grabbed her shoulders and gave her a not-so-gentle shake. “The buses aren’t leaving for another ten minutes. We’re going, okay?”

“I don’t want to miss—”

“I know, but we’re less than twenty feet from the buses. We won’t miss them leaving.” Though if Tasha didn’t calm down, she’d have a stroke before we left.

“It’s Chris’s first trip since all that crap and—”

“I know!”

Chris latched onto Tasha’s arm, biting back a laugh. “Let’s go over here before Jade clubs you.” He shot me a look over his shoulder as he pulled her away and mouthed ‘before I let her’.

Things between them had been much better in the last few weeks, but Tasha was seriously anxious. It was the first trip into New Orlando that Chris was allowed to go on since John tried to break in. There’d been trips, but none of us had gone since Chris couldn’t. Tasha was a tiny bit overexcited about it. She’d knocked on my door at eight and woke me up after I’d spent the majority of the night trying to fall asleep. I might have very calmly (in a slightly raised voice) threatened her with a concussion if she didn’t let me sleep a few more hours.

I’d gotten another twenty minutes.

She’d gone straight to Linc’s door and done the same thing to him. Linc, deciding if he had to be awake everyone else did, had come straight back to
my
door and woke me up again. Lucky for him, I’d been too asleep to cause him any bodily harm. Of course, I’d tried swinging at him (mostly a fake swing) but had ended up punching—and denting—the door instead.

“Forgive me yet?” Linc whispered near my ear.

I growled.

He chuckled. “That’s a no, then.”

“Four hours,” I muttered. “That’s how much sleep I got.”

“Why?”

I shrugged. “Weird dreams.” That was at least half the reason I was so cranky.

He pulled me farther away from people. “About your family?” he asked, his tone soft.

“No. I don’t remember what they were about really. But they were weird. White rats with Jade name tags—” He chuckled, so I elbowed him. “—and faceless, growling demons.”

He brushed a hand down the side of my face.

“I understand the rat thing. But I can’t explain the demons, not now, anyway. I’ve mostly come to terms with the whole demon thing.” Since my talk with Dr. Cherry, I’d felt a little better about it. Not one hundred percent better, but a little.

“Really?” He gave me a raised eyebrow look and shook his head. “You’re supposed to be the smart one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on. You have weekly appointments with Dr. Cherry who, while being pretty nice, is putting a lot of pressure on you for the vampirism cure—something you’ve admitted yourself. You’ve got weird new abilities that you don’t really understand, and now you’re kind of in sync with demons.” His gaze went hard. “And you saying you’ve come to terms with it is bullshit.”

I gaped at him. “What?”

“I’m not stupid, Jade. You’re walking around on eggshells around everyone, like you’re afraid you’re going to hurt people.”

I growled at him. “Are you forgetting I tossed you across the room?”

“No, I’m not. But I’ve accepted it for what it was: an accident. You were upset, your adrenalin was probably still going. It was a one-time thing, Jade. You talked to Dr. Cherry and she said you’re fine. I say you’re fine. Even the P4s—the ones who—”

“Are scared of me?”

“Leery. I was going to call them leery, but yeah. Even they’re okay with you now, aren’t they?”

“Mostly.” They weren’t whispering behind my back anymore. They were still giving me crazy looks, but even those had turned into impressed looks more than straight fear.

“Exactly. Everyone else is fine with things. You’re the only one who isn’t, Jade. It’s time to let it go.”

They were only okay with things because they didn’t know
every
thing. No one had found out about the demon hunt. They didn’t know I’d defended and cried over demons. They didn’t know I’d ridden in the back of a locked van with them. They didn’t know I’d nearly given my own boyfriend a concussion because I’d been upset and shoved him.

I sighed. “I get what you’re saying, but—”

“But nothing.” Linc leaned in and gave me a quick kiss. “You’re okay, Jade. I promise.”

“Okay. I’m done arguing.” Not like he was hearing it, anyway.

“Good. Now, we better go before—”

“They’re loading the buses in a few minutes, so hurry up, you two!” Tasha shouted.

Linc rolled his eyes and shook his head.

I stuck my tongue out at Tasha’s back. “Remind me why I haven’t maimed her or you yet?”

“Because you love us and you’d be sad without us around.”

“Maybe. But at least I’d get to sleep in on the weekends.”

“There is that. How about, when we get back, you can go to sleep early? I’ll make sure no one bugs you or wakes you up tomorrow. I’ll stand guard outside your room.”

I snorted. “No, you won’t.”

“Okay, I won’t, because I’ll be busy sleeping peacefully. But I will glare if I find out they’ve done anything.”

I couldn’t come up with a response, so I just shook my head. My gaze fell on Chris a second later. He kept glancing at the bus and looking around. Tapping Linc on the arm, I said, “What’s with him? Is he still afraid to go?”

“Yeah. He’s worried someone’s going to set him up again. He’s even wearing a wireless camera.”

“He’s not. Is he?”

“Yup.” Linc pointed to Chris’s shirt. “One of the buttons is a camera.”

“How’s that supposed to help?”

Linc lifted a shoulder. “He says he’s recording everything he does today, so if anything happens, he can prove to Greene he wasn’t involved.”

“Is he expecting something to happen?”

“Not sure he expects something so much as he wants to be prepared in case something
does
happen.”

“Huh. That’s either the most paranoid thing I’ve ever heard—”

“Or the smartest thing,” Linc finished for me.

I nodded. “Let’s just hope it turns out to be paranoia.”

Tasha, who was standing by the bus, tapped her wrist. “Let’s go already!”

Linc chuckled. “Come on. She’s getting antsy.”

“‘Getting’? She went to sleep antsy and woke up a monster.” But I followed him as he set off for one of the buses.

Chris paused at the steps. Tasha latched onto his arm and yanked him up with a loud, “Come on. No one’s going to bite you.”

In front of me, Linc shook his head. I laughed. “Aren’t you glad I’m more violent than bossy?”

He considered that for a second. “Surprisingly, yes.”

Tasha leaned out of one of the windows. “I heard that!”

I hid my smile and shoved Linc to get him moving again.

He was right. I would be sad without them around. There were a lot of reasons why, but right now, the entertainment factor was at the top of the list. I’d be bored without them, and I couldn’t have survived the place without them. At least not with my sanity intact.

Of course, I’d never tell them to their faces if I could help it. They’d never let me live it down.

As I started up the steps, I heard someone whisper, “Why’s she here?”

I frowned, but I saw that it wasn’t me people were pointing at. I spun around and my eyes went wide. It was Doc.

I was still staring (okay, gaping) at her when she got on the bus. Her cheeks were a little flushed. “Are you going to let me sit down?”

I blinked. “What?”

“Move it, Hall,” Linc said, grabbing my arm and yanking me toward the back of the bus. “Come on, Doc. Ignore her. She hasn’t had enough sleep.” He shoved me into a seat and sat beside me.

The last empty seat was to our right, a row up, with Brian. Doc glanced at him and smiled. “Mind if I sit with you?”

He stared at her, much like I had done, then nodded and quickly moved his stuff so she could sit.

The driver—Dale today—hollered back at us. “Everyone seated and yadda yadda?”

Half the bus responded back with “Yes” and the other half shouted “Yadda yadda”. Dale snickered. “Bunch of smart asses, all of you.”

“What are you doing here?” I blurted out before I could stop it.

Linc chuckled beside me. “Smooth, Hall. That was a nice segue way there.”

I fought a blush. “Sorry. That came out a lot worse than I meant it to.”

Chris look mortified for me, despite smiling. Tasha giggled, then said, “It’s a fair question, though. I thought you were chained to your lab or something, considering I never see you out of it.”

“Someone hinted that I needed time out of the lab, and…I thought they were right.”

That’d been months ago, when I’d tried getting her to hang out with me. I almost asked why she’d changed her mind now, but Linc, probably sensing I was about to say something else, tapped my leg and shook his head. “It is what it is,” he whispered.

I nodded but said nothing. I wasn’t complaining about Doc being there. It was just…weird. Why now? What changed? She just had a sudden change of heart? Had she just replayed the conversation we’d had two months ago and decided I was right after all? Or…

Had someone asked her to come? Greene, maybe? He knew about everything. Hell, he probably knew about my call to Dr. Cherry a few weeks ago. Weren’t they monitoring all out-going communications?

Linc put his arm over my shoulder and pulled me against him. “Stop frowning at her.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.” He looked down at me. “And while it’s cute, you’re going to upset her if she sees you.”

I forced myself to smile—or to at least stop frowning. “Better?”

“No, not even.”

I laughed. “Thanks for breaking it to me easy.”

“What are boyfriends for?”

“For making out, at least according to you.”

“I’m a multi-tasker. Get used to it. Now go talk to her. Switch seats with Tasha or Chris.”

I bit my tongue to keep from doing something rash—like biting
him
. “Bossy pants,” I muttered under my breath, even as I switched with Tasha (since she was sitting on the outside). Leaning forward in Tasha’s old seat, I tapped Doc on the shoulder.

She turned back, smiled. “Hi. How are you?”

“Sorry about before. I was just…”

“Surprised? You and everyone else, it seems,” she added quietly, casting her eyes toward the front of the bus. There were at least half a dozen people glancing back at her who quickly turned away once they realized she was looking.

“Well, I see you more than anyone else, and even then, it’s rarely outside of your lab or a med room. And the one walk we took hardly counts.”

“I wanted some outside time.”

“Greene asked you to keep an eye on me, didn’t he?”

Her eyes widened slightly. She made a face, then sighed. “No, he didn’t ask me to come. I wanted to. Yes, in part, to make sure you didn’t need anything.
You
told me you weren’t feeling like yourself.”

I had. As much as I trusted Dr. Cherry, I trusted Doc more.

“But that’s not the only reason I’m here.”

“Then why else?”

“Because…” Her cheeks went bright pink.

“Because…why? Finish it.”

“It’s personal.”

“Come on. You’re blushing. You can’t just leave it at that!”

“Shh.”

“Tell me and I will. Otherwise…” I cleared my throat and sat up straighter, like I was preparing to make an announcement.

Doc grabbed my arm and yanked me back down. “Fine,” she hissed, then pulled me closer to her, so her mouth was near my ear. “But keep it to yourself. If you tell anyone—and I’ll know if you do—I’ll torture you. I have the tools to do it.”

“Wait. What about Linc?”

“Well, maybe—”

She broke off as the bus jerked to the side.

I glanced out the window as Dale pulled off the road. “Damn flat tire,” he muttered angrily. He opened the door and lumbered down the stairs, cursing under his breath as he went. I looked out and saw his head as he passed by. He had his cell phone out, talking rapidly into it. A few minutes later, he came back. “Another bus should be here in a few minutes. Everyone off ‘til then.”

There were a few mutters and someone said, “Can’t you change it?”

“Do I look like a mechanic to you?”

Someone in the middle snickered. “Want some help? I can probably figure out how—”

“Figure out how to get your butt off the bus,” Dale growled, “before I—”

“I’m going, I’m going!”

He and everyone else scurried off the bus. Dale winked at me as I passed him. “It’ll be quicker if you lot get picked up, anyway.”

Dale ended up being right. Within ten minutes, the second bus picked us up and we were on our way. I tried talking with Doc again, but afterward, she refused to tell me whatever she’d been about to tell me, which only made me even more curious about it. I tried for the rest of the trip to ask her, but even my endless nagging did nothing except annoy Linc and everyone else on the bus. Doc just smiled serenely through it.

Just further proof doctory types weren’t normal people.

*~*~*

When we got to New Orlando, we grabbed lunch, did some shopping, and caught a movie. Afterward, with an hour left before we had to leave, Linc and I walked around. We invited the others, but Doc had some more shopping she wanted to do. Chris and Tasha went back to the bus because he was so paranoid about everything. He said he’d rather wait at the bus with witnesses around.

“I feel bad for him,” I said after a few minutes. “For Chris. But I still can’t believe he recorded the trip.”

“And he did.” Linc shook his head. “He recorded
everything
.”

“Everything? Even…”

“Bathroom trips? Yeah.”

“Wow. Okay, that’s pushing it a little.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Wait. He actually recorded you guys…you know.” Linc’s expression went from indignant to mortification in a blink. I tried not to laugh—really, I did—but just the thought had me chuckling. And when he started to glare at me, the chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh that had me clutching my stomach and leaning against a wall for support.

He shot me an angry stare. “It’s not that funny.”