Entropy (The Countenance Trilogy 3) (25 page)

“Is she back in Kansas?” She looks up at me with her eyes filled with wonder.

Had I told her about Kansas?

“I’m not—um, yes, she is.”

“You don’t have to be afraid, Laken.” She dives her arms around my waist again. “I heard my dad and Coop talking all about it. They said the whole world will think you lost your mind and that the bad guys are going to lock you away at my grandfather’s nuthouse, but they have it all under control. Cooper promised me he wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.” She buries her tiny face in my chest a moment before sniffing back tears. “So don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

I take in a breath and place that steel barrier over my thoughts. Coop promised he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me. My heart blooms like a hillside in springtime. It’s true. Coop is always there when I need him.

“Thank you.” I give her tiny body a quick squeeze.

“Can I ask you a question?” She tilts up at me, and suddenly I want to give her every answer in the world. But I don’t think I can. I’m just a bag of question marks these days, myself.

“Anything,” I whisper.

“Do you like my brother?”

“Yes, God, yes. He’s one of the nicest guys I know.”

“So that’s it?” Her tiny upturned nose crinkles. “You just think he’s nice?”

My heart starts to break. I can see now the answer that Marky wants to hear.

“I think he’s
really
nice.”

“Do you think your boyfriend is really nice?”

There it is. Marky speared me right in the heart, and she doesn’t even know it.

“I don’t think I have a boyfriend anymore.” The words sting just coming from my lips. “But, yes, Wesley is a nice guy, too.” When he’s not busy laying down for the Counts like an offering.

“Really?” Marky hops up and down, taking me with her. “That means Cooper can be your boyfriend!”

A breath gets caught in my throat. How the hell do I respond to that?

“What’s going on?” A voice booms from behind, and we turn to find Coop in his practice jersey, his Ephemeral sweats, looking so damn hot my stomach bottoms out like a trap door.  The slight curve of a smile hugs his cheek as if he heard.

Marky steps into him and buries her tiny little finger in his chest.

“Laken doesn’t have a boyfriend anymore, so you better shape up!”  She stalks off toward the kitchen, and the clatter of cookie sheets fills the air.

Coop ticks his head back. A knowing smile buds on his lips. There’s a coolness about him that makes my knees turn to water, and I want nothing more than to feel his body pressed up against mine.

“How about it, Laken? Should I shape up?” He bears those sky-grey eyes into mine. Coop wants answers just as much as I do.

“I don’t think so.” I wrap my arm around him, pressing his body close to mine just the way I’ve wanted to all night—the way I’ve
needed
to. “I like you just the way you are. Let’s go make some cookies.”

Marky calls for us, and we head into the kitchen.

The only one that has to shape up around here is me.

We all want answers. Now if I can only figure out how to pry them out of my heart. And I know one surefire way to do it.

I need to break it.

There’s simply no other way.

Cooper

Laken and Marky make batch after batch of chocolate chip cookies as if it were their sole responsibility to feed the entire Western hemisphere. I helped with the first batch, then ate my way through the last nineteen rounds. Marky was the one who sat me down with a tall glass of milk, and Laken made sure to give me the first cookie from each batch to make sure they weren’t “poison.” Glad to report they weren’t.

Marky stretches her arms in the air. “Well, I’m pooped. I think I’ll curl up with a good book.” She jumps over to Laken, nearly knocking her down to the ground. “Thank you for being so nice to me.”

My stomach sinks like a ship. If Laken and I don’t end up together, it’ll break Marky’s heart as much as it will mine. I tousle my sister’s hair as she takes off for the stairs.

“Are you high off all that sugar, Flanders?” Laken twists a dishtowel in her hands before snapping it at my hips.

“Whoa.” I snatch her weapon of choice and toss it behind my back. I don’t hesitate pulling her in by the waist, and Laken bubbles with a laugh. “I’m high off you, Stewart.”

Her smile softens as she tilts into me. “You know I love it when you call me that.”

“I know.” Our eyes lock and the world stills. It’s just Laken and me, our bodies connected at the hips as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and it feels as if it is.

Her tongue swipes over her lips, glossing them quickly. Laken tucks her head in toward mine an inch, and my eyes widen. We haven’t shared a kiss since that night in the hotel, that night Wesley came from nowhere and changed everything between Laken and me in a heartbeat. I’ve been meaning to tell her that I want her to be sure with him. To really take her time before making any decisions regarding who she wants to be with, but a part of me says screw that. I lean in a little, and she does the same. Laken’s eyes begin to close. Her lips part as she comes in closer. Her breathing picks up pace, as does mine, and my hard-on knocks at my Levis.

“Here you are.” My father’s voice booms from behind, and we part ways looking nothing short of guilty.

Shit. “Yup, we’re here.”  I shoot him a look without meaning to.

“I’m sorry.” He swallows down a laugh. Dad has on his tweed cardigan, his thick framed glassed. “I didn’t realize I was interrupting.”

“No.” Laken takes a step forward, shaking her head emphatically. “We just finished baking some cookies. Would you like some?”

“No.” Dad’s smile expands because he knows what else we were just about to cook up. “I thought you might be interested to know there’s been an edict given by the Counts. They’ll begin exterminating the Spectators on their own sometime in the near future.”  He gives a slight nod. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll turn in early. This news doesn’t sit well with me.” He stares over at me with a sudden look of disappointment. “Be careful you two.” He shakes his head, exasperated. “I realize you’re young and in love.” He takes in a breath, and secretly I hope he chokes on it long enough to forget his train of thought. “I’m not as good at having this talk as some other parents might be, but please, be careful. You have bright futures ahead of you. Immediate gratification might feel good in the moment, but sometimes it comes with lifelong consequences.” He flexes a dry smile. “Don’t make me a grandpa just yet.” He takes off, and I want nothing more than to grind myself down the garbage disposal.

“That wasn’t awkward at all.” Note to self, have a little
talk
with Dad.

That insatiable smile bounces back to her lips as she swoops on over.

“I don’t mind.” She wraps her arms around my waist, and I do the same, pulling her in close. “I like that your dad is trying to protect you—both of us.”

“From each other.” I narrow my brows.

Laken knocks her head back and lets out an effortless laugh. “He’s just trying to make sure we save procreation for another day.”

She bites down over a smile as her hips grind into mine. Laken is playful and light, and the words I wanted to share with her tonight suddenly feel like a noose around my neck. I’m pretty sure if the situation were reversed, Wes wouldn’t be asking her to explore her feelings for me just to be sure.

“I’m all for saving procreation for another day.” I swallow hard. “As long as I’m the one who gets to procreate with you.” Shit. Could I sound more desperate? Not to mention it’s a far cry from the endorsement I was about to gift Wes.

“Really?” She tilts into me, her lips edging for that kiss again. “You would want that with me?” Her lips twitch with an acute sadness, and I don’t even want to guess what it could mean. I’m pretty sure I’d die if she broke my heart right here in the kitchen. For all I know, Laken could be giddy off cookie dough, and doling out kisses is simply one of the side effects.

The smile glides from my face. “Yes,” I press it out lower than a whisper. “I want a lot of things with you.” I shake my head as if contradicting the words that just flew from my lips. Her mouth opens, and I gently lay a finger over it. “No, please, don’t say anything. I don’t want you to feel like you’ve been backed in a corner to share your feelings. I know you still have something with Wes. I get it. I want you to know that I support whatever you decide. Laken, I will never judge you.” I touch my forehead to hers a moment. “I just want to see you happy. That’s all.” And that’s as close as I get to marketing Wesley to her heart. Having Laken here, so close
—
touching
me— is like tossing lighter fluid on the flames. I think I’m already in the fire. I hope I don’t get burned in the end. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of fantasies where he morphs into a football, and I score the winning touchdown by kicking him across the field.” I tickle her ribs to try and pull us out of the pit I’ve inadvertently landed us in. “But then again, you sort of dominate my fantasies.” True as God.

Laken secures me by the chin until my eyes are settled over hers once again.

“I have never met anyone like you before, Cooper Flanders.” Laken drips with grief as she says it. Her mouth opens as if she wanted to say something else then aborts the effort. “Morph into a football?” She looks away, confused by my idiotic descriptive.

Great. First, I practically shove her in Wesley’s direction, then I recant and let her know I regularly kick his ass in my screwed-up imagination.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone there.” I run my hands up over her shoulders, trying to pull her back into the moment. If she offers up that kiss again, I won’t hesitate to take it. But now that I made myself sound like a douchebag by reducing Wes to a sack of pigskin I’d like nothing more than to kick the shit out of, I’m pretty sure she’s changed her mind.

“No, it’s not that.” She pulls free and touches her fingers to her temple a moment.

“Laken, what’s wrong?” My arms refuse to let go. Instead, I tighten my grip around her.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, but you just reminded me of something Wes said a while back.” She looks up and holds my stare. “Something about Celestra having a power they were too stupid to know about.”

“What’s that?” Suddenly I’m not feeling too bad about wanting to kick him across the field.

“He said they could shape shift—morph into any creature they wanted.”

What the hell? “I’ve never heard that. It’s not true.” I shake my head. “You think he’s trying to throw you off?”

“He was convinced. He said when he drinks their blood, he can do it himself. Maybe it’s that girl he’s taking it from? Skyla.”

“No. Only Fem’s can do the things he’s talking about.”

Laken’s eyes widen with fear. I lead her straight back to my father’s office and open his laptop.

“What are you doing?” She slips on the armrest beside me as I pull up the genetic info I had my dad compile a few weeks back.

“Just extinguishing one last doubt.” I type in his name—Wesley Paxton, and his databank pops up. “Shit,” it slips out without meaning to.

“What is it?” Laken leans in until we’re cheek to cheek.

“This.” I point over to the genetic markers next to his angelic listing.

“I don’t get it. All I see is Countenance—NSO.”

I touch the notation at the bottom. “NSO—no specific origin. Nobody else has an undetermined factor, Laken.” I look over at her and give the hint of a nod as she pieces it together on her own.

“Oh my, God.” Laken steadies her eyes over mine. “You think he’s Demetri’s son, don’t you?”

My heart hammers over my chest with both horror and elation. “I know he is.”

Wesley

The clouds lose their luminosity as the day fades to grey. Ephemeral is lit up like a winter wonderland in honor of tonight’s formal. It’s the one dance they like to keep on campus. Mom says it’s because you can never trust if we’re going to have an early snow. But, then again, she’s not my real mother, just some special issue from the Counts. I smirk into the night on my way to pick up Laken.

“Mr. Paxton!”

I turn to find my newfound father striding toward me. Now there’s a biological surprise I’d like to forget.

“What?” I gruff it out. I knew I should have hurried and went ahead with Fletch. But I wanted to take my time and get my hair just right for Laken. Like she’s going to judge this contest on my follicular standing. I’m an idiot. I’m pretty sure Laken sees that. And when she finds out I’m a bastardized Fem, I’m sure she’ll want nothing to do with my sorry ass. That’s part of the reason I’ve decided not to tell her—yet, anyway.

Demetri slaps his arm over my shoulder and walks me away from the crowd. “You ready for tonight?”

“Let’s see—I’ve got my tux on, my dancing shoes, so yes. I think I’m fucking ready for tonight.” I flick his arm off and keep walking.

He pulls me back with no real effort on his part. “How you amuse yourself this evening is the least of my concerns. I’m talking about the burning of the bridge.” He shifts his stare to the overgrown forest on our left. Bridge burning. That’s the name of the project they’ve given to taking out the Spectators. Jones has decided to utilize me to do his dirty work. He wants every single spook out of Trinity County by midnight. He said he’ll arm me with enough gas bombs to stop a herd of elephants—that is if they happen to be partially deceased, frozen in a rigor state. Ezrina guaranteed it would take them down in minutes
—
dissolve their flesh to ashes within twenty-four hours. Not that she can fully be trusted. The damn witch came from Celestra to begin with.