Locked Out of Love (16 page)

She felt like splaying her arms and welcoming Joel to her glamorous life.

That attitude will get you nowhere
. This was the hand life had dealt her and she was making the best of it. She stiffened her spine, bracing for any jokes Joel might have, but he wasn't even looking at her. He made his way over to Nathan, his face as serious as she'd ever seen it.

He gently sat next to Nathan, studying him as if looking for a way to fix him. When there were no obvious cure-all buttons lying around, he placed his hand on Nathan's shoulder. “We're going to help you.” He picked up the Nyquil bottle and threw it in the garbage can that was already stuffed with beer bottles and over-the-counter medications.

She'd have to take it out soon, before the room started to smell.

Wordlessly, Joel got up and picked up the stray bottles on the floor and placed them within. Then he took the bag out and held it up. “Where should I put this?”

Emotion clogged her throat. She couldn't speak. Nathan and Joel probably would have gotten along famously.

And they will
.

Once Juliet helped Nathan.

She almost let it slip that Nathan was getting help, but Juliet had stressed the importance of secrecy. Melanie was in a different world now, and she definitely didn't want to step on Juliet's toes. Especially when those toes had men like Mr. Richardson working for them. The man was built like a linebacker, and powers or no powers, she didn't want to get on his bad side.

“There's a large dumpster outside,” she said and led Joel out the front.

With nothing left to do but leave Nathan to his hopefully dreamless sleep, Melanie climbed back into Joel's mom's car.

They arrived at the yogurt shop with a few minutes to spare.

“Thank you so much.” She leaned over and kissed Joel.

His warm hand cupped the back of her head, keeping her close longer than was decent. When he released her she was flushed and breathing heavily. There was no judgment in his eyes, no pity, only affection. Her body ached for him, and from the bulge in his jeans, she bet he ached for her, too.

“See you tomorrow at yoga?” She hoped her voice didn't sound as needy as it did to her own ears.

Joel grinned. “And miss seeing you in those tight yoga pants?” He shook his head. “Never.”

She kissed him one more time.

“You better go before I make you really late for work,” he said when she regretfully pulled back.

She went to shove him playfully when her eyes caught on a figure in the distance, standing near one of the trees by the bus stop. Her blood turned to ice and her arm froze halfway to Joel's chest.

Joel immediately went on high alert. “What?” He followed her line of sight and his body tensed. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Yeah.” Her voice came out breathless and she cleared her throat, shaking herself. “That's Alexander,” she said in a stronger voice.

“Son of a bitch.” Joel reached for the door handle.

“No, don't.” The last thing she needed was Joel to get all macho and try to intimidate her ex-boyfriend.

Joel halted. “I won't hurt him. I was going to give him a little scare. You know, Lock his arms to his side and let him freak out for a bit. Or better yet, Lock him in place so you can call the police. You said there's a restraining order on him, right?”

She drew back. “You can do all that?”

Would that be all it took to get rid of Alexander for good?

He rubbed his hand up and down her arm. “We have to solve this problem, and you're calling the shots. Including leaving that rat bastard alone if that's what you want. All I'm saying, though, is that if the police aren't enough to scare him, maybe it's time to go beyond the police. Supernaturally, of course.”

Something sparked in the back of her mind, like the Grinch when he got a wonderful, awful idea.

All the times she'd been frightened to leave her house, get on the bus, go to and from the community center and now to work. There was nowhere safe from Alexander. Maybe what she needed to do was scare him, like Joel said. Stand up to him.

“I'll think on it,” she finally conceded, already getting a game plan ready in her mind.

Joel parked his mother's piece of junk car outside Syd's clinic as the sun was dipping below the horizon. The buildings were cast in bright orange and yellow light.

Joel raised his hand in greeting to Tom staring out of the pizzeria window, smiling to himself at the look of horror Tom would no doubt wear if he ever found out he had a fan club two stores down. Joel still couldn't believe that through all the years he'd dated Sydney, she never once mentioned the crush she'd had on the pizza man.

He gave a careless shrug to the night air—the thought didn't hold as much power over him as it usually did.

He certainly felt lighter than he had in ages.

With an extra bounce in his step, he headed for the clinic, and for once found everyone already waiting for him when he entered.

Sydney's hands instantly went to her mouth. “Oh no, Joel, your eye.” It looked like she wanted to rush to him and inspect it herself, but she refrained, for which he was grateful.

He might concede that he was getting over her romantically, but even a friendship still needed the trust she'd wrecked. And distance. Lots and lots of healthy distance.

“It looks a lot worse than it really is,” he told her.

Felix came close and stared at the bruise. “Let me guess, handiwork of Man in the Suit?”

“You got it.”

“These guys are getting more aggressive,” Cali said. “It might be good if we started taking some precautions here.”

Feeling Cali was right, Joel leaned back until he could touch the front door and Locked it.

“Now no one can get inside,” he said.

“Unless they're already inside.” A new voice spoke up from the far side of the room.

Everyone jumped, except for Felix. He growled low in his throat. “Jente.”

The young Veiler gave a mock bow. Jente possessed the ability to go invisible, which made it possible for him to be there one second and gone the next. Or, in this case, lying in wait until he wanted to show himself.

Hostility radiated from Felix. Cali stood at his side, hand on his chest, as if to keep him from doing anything rash.

Jente eyed Felix with outright amusement, something that did nothing to calm Felix.

Joel got his first real look at Jente and was shocked to see how young he appeared. He looked barely older than Luke, with jet-black hair that could have been styled by a Final Fantasy fanatic. He wore jeans and a hoodie with the sleeves pushed up his forearms, revealing tan skin despite the cool weather, which hinted at some kind of mixed heritage. But it was his eyes, one gray, one green, that caught Joel's attention. They scanned the room, assessing everyone—for signs of violence? Joel didn't know what the kid was looking for, but he seemed to deem it safe for himself when he stepped further into the room, away from the window.

“You could really work on your security around here,” he said conversationally, shooting a meaningful look at Joel.

Joel cracked his knuckles, and suddenly one of Cali's hands pressed against his chest, too.

“What are you doing here?” Cali asked.

She was the only one who didn't look upset at his appearance. And given her history with Jente, Joel guessed that it was warranted. Jente had saved her from Vander, which earned him a little bit of leeway. But not much. Anyone working in Vander's employment was on his permanent shit list.

“I thought you'd like to know that the men you told me about have been poking their noses in places they shouldn't be,” Jente said. “Also, some of my co-workers have gone missing.”

Everyone immediately perked up.

“You mean like they're on vacation missing or … ?” Sydney left the sentence hanging.

Jente sucked in a lungful of air in an exaggerated manner that spoke volumes about what he thought of Sydney and her comment. “If their idea of a vacation is a cell with metal bars, then yes, they're on vacation.”

Sydney ignored his sarcastic response and gulped nervously. She wound her arm through Merrick's.

“Do you know where they were taken?” Merrick asked.

“Not a clue,” Jente deadpanned.

Did this douchebag even care where his co-workers were? It sure didn't look like it.

Gee, what a team player.

A long silence followed.

“Anything else you'd like to report, Jente?” Cali prodded.

Those mismatched eyes locked on hers and didn't leave. “Vander is missing.”

To say a ripple of shock went through the group was an understatement. More like a bomb explosion of surprise.

Jente didn't go into any more detail. “Have you heard anything?”

Cali shook her head. “These guys are slippery. I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not.”

Jente nodded.

“Why do you stay with him?” Joel asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Of all the people to align with, what did Jente see in Vander? Similar moral codes? If that were true, Jente wouldn't have helped Cali out when he had.

“His resources,” Merrick spoke up.

Jente's gaze swung to him.

Merrick stared him down. “I was inside Jente's mind in the fall— not for long, but I did see that.”

Jente's eyes narrowed.

“We have resources,” Cali said.

Joel noted the way Felix stiffened at the unspoken invitation.

Jente smirked. “I should be going. I'll be in touch.”

Joel Unlocked the door and held it open for him.

Jente silently left the vet clinic.

Once the door was shut and re-Locked, Luke spoke up from his seat next to Niella. “Did anyone else get the creeps off that guy?”

They all collectively raised their hands.

“I don't like this.” Felix ran a hand through his hair. “Someone is picking off people with powers—someone
not
working for Vander.”

“And now they
have
Vander,” said Merrick.

“Who knows what that could mean for the rest of us?” Joel rubbed the back of his neck to relieve some tension.

Cali dropped her hands from both Felix and Joel. “Do you think that's how this new group found out about us? Vander could have sold us out for some kind of deal. It's the only thing that makes sense. It's not like we're waving our hands in the air or shouting from rooftops about our gifts.”

“There has to be a link,” Merrick said. “Vander is a very reasonable explanation, but we shouldn't stop there. Somewhere we messed up and alerted whoever these people are to our whereabouts.”

“Then we should find them before anything else happens to us.” Sydney motioned to Joel and his black eye.

There was a murmured agreement before further talk of what could be done ensued. Joel was only half listening as his mind kept going back to what Jente had told them. They weren't the only ones being targeted. Could it be that the Guild of Kratos and the Guild of Truth had a common enemy? If Merrick was right and it wasn't Vander who'd sold them out, who was hunting them down? Around and around his mind went, trying to find the piece that connected them all together.

• • •

Juliet Arden stood with a bright smile on her face. Her long, brown hair cascaded down past her shoulders in large, smooth waves. She looked confident, radiant, and Melanie wanted to punch her in the face all the more for it.

“Two days?” she said when she was within hearing distance from Juliet. “You tell me to contact you immediately and then you make me wait for two full days?”

Juliet's smile disappeared, but she didn't look contrite. “Trust me when I tell you that it was necessary for us to get certain things in order.”

“What things?” Melanie snapped at her.

Juliet crossed her arms. “How about curing your brother?”

Melanie's mouth hung open, no comeback ready. She hadn't expected that. After the silence, she had almost given up on Juliet, writing her off as another scam like the ones her parents had lost their house to. But Juliet hadn't asked for money.

No, she asked for my help
.

Again, that only added more questions.

“What is this cure?” she questioned Juliet. “Because I've spent a lot of time around Joel, and he says the only way Nathan can be cured is if he finds his soul mate, which I doubt you did in the span of a couple weeks. Also, I don't know why you wanted me to get close to Joel. At first I thought it was because he had some kind of skeleton in his closet. But he's clean. He's done nothing like those people you showed me on the computer. In fact, those people are the ones after Joel, which I think means you are on the same side.”

“We're not concerned with Joel at the moment anymore.” Juliet waved her comment away. “And for your information, Joel doesn't know everything about people with powers. We've found another way, one we hope you'll help us with now that you've grown into your full power.”

Melanie drew back. “How did you know I … I … ”

“Became full forced?” Juliet threw out Joel's terminology like she knew him. She shrugged her shoulders. “Call it a hunch. We watch out for you, Melanie, and we know about your car crash. We also know that sometimes following traumatic events, powers can change.”

“They have,” she admitted, “but I don't know what I can and can't do yet.”

A smile slowly bloomed to life on Juliet's face. “That's quite all right—we know what you can do. We'll take care of everything.”

“Yeah?” she asked suspiciously. “You keep mentioning needing my help, that's your price, but what exactly am I going to be doing with my power?”

“Why, helping others, of course. People like your brother. You're going to make a huge difference in the world, Melanie, trust me.”