Seclusion (27 page)

“You forgot one thing,”
Elsie said. “Five minutes after you go in, I’ll follow and withdraw money, and
then I’ll flirt with the guard while keeping everyone in the building calm and
happy.”

“Oh, did I forget to
mention that? Hmphf.” It looked like Connor wasn’t too happy about Elsie
participating inside the bank.

“Well, that’s all great,
but what do I get to do?” Jay asked.

“You get to hang out in the
van with me and watch the action from the outside. And, of course, use your
ability to foresee any setbacks.

“ I don’t know how knowing
a setback twenty minutes prior would help us.” Chase just sat there smirking at
Jay.

*
* *

“I thought they’d never
leave,” Elsie said, yawning. “I miss when the curfew was actually enforced,
before all these missions.”

“I think Chase and Jay are
afraid to leave me alone. They think I might break,” I said.

Elsie smiled and gave me a
hug.

“Good night, E.! Spa time
tomorrow!”

“We’ll need it before
Tuesday!” she said.

I hopped in the shower,
soaking in the heat. My mind wandered to Damen. I wondered what he was doing
and if he thought of me. I hadn’t used my prediction powers in a long time, but
I couldn’t help but stalk him yet again.

I saw him in a gym room
doing push-ups! If there was any doubt about how sexy he looked half-naked and
sweaty, it was gone now. Then, as if he knew I was watching, he stood up and
started doing some ballistic stretching. Every muscle flexed before me, and
then he started doing pull-ups.
Really?
I knew he was ripped, but I
never thought of him as a jock… Was this the same guy who could be found in the
library renting vampire movies and studying gene theory? Where was the closet
twi-hard fan I loved? Not that this fine specimen was something I’d reject,
that’s for sure! It just made me feel lonelier. I saw Damen answer his phone,
and I stopped spying to finish brushing my teeth before I passed out.

*
* *

DAMEN

“Calling so soon, Sanelle?”

“Hey, bro, just some updates.”

“Oh yeah? You and Rae
official now?”

“Shut up! Apparently you
saw my ice blocking photos.”

“I did. You looked quite
comfortable with your arms wrapped around my girlfriend!”

“Oh, she’s your girlfriend
again, huh?”

“You know what I mean. When
I get back there, we’ll see what’s up.”

“Oh, ‘cause she’d drop me
like yesterday’s news if you came back? You s.o.b., you don’t deserve her after
what you did! E. told me Rae woke up screaming
again
last night and had
to go sleep with her!”

“It’s not like that, and
you know it! I will always love her. I love her now or I wouldn’t be here, and
you damn well know it. So you can just stop trying to get in her pants!”

“Screw you,
friend
!
I know you’re hurting, so I’m gonna let that pass. I called to let you know we
are going on a mission on Tuesday. We are essentially robbing a bank. Thought
you’d like to know your little light will be the main robber. She has developed
yet another new trick: compulsion. She also used it on Chase and me. We
discovered we have two new talents as well. Chase can go full-on invisible, and
I can tell the past of any object.”

“Sorry, Jay. You’re right.
I trust you like a brother. Thanks for looking out for her when I can’t. You
need to find out what’s in that box!”

“Yeah, I figured. Damn,
your power’s strong enough to read my thoughts about the lockbox without me
telling you. For someone who is so
powerful
,
you aren’t very
smart. You should really call her and tell her the truth, Damen.”

“Why? So she can risk
herself and come help me, or wait for me to never return? It won’t be too much
longer now. I do wish I could see her though. I know she can see me, I just
wish I knew when she was looking.”

“Ha, that does suck. Well,
she told me she didn’t like being a stalker, so she didn’t use it on you, but
I’m sure that’s not always the case.”

“Damn, so she wasn’t
watching while I just did 100 reps of push-ups?”

“Dude, you’re weird. I’m
going running with her tomorrow. I could encourage her to stalk you at 7:15ish.
Even though that’s totally sick.”

“I guess I’ll be in the
shower at 7:15,” I said, smirking.

“Sick,” Jay said.

*
* *

I was sitting in the
massage chair with my eyes closed while the ladies massaged my hands and feet.
I tried my hardest not to glean any information from the ladies. I had invaded
enough privacy for one day. Jay had somehow convinced me to stalk Damen, and
after the previous night’s display, I was eager to do it again. However, this
time I found Damen getting out of the shower. He was completely naked and wrapping
a towel around his waist a little too slowly for me. Jay had asked what was up,
but I was speechless. What was I supposed to say, that I really did become a
stalker? My face must’ve been beet red, and Jay was no help! He took one look
at me and literally fell to the ground and started laughing in hysterical fits.
I had to kick him to get him back up! I tried to catch my breath while I fanned
my face. After seeing Damen, I suddenly felt extremely hot.

I was supposed to be
focusing on Sara now, but I was so tired. I had stayed up half the night
picturing every muscle in Damen’s body. Then, when I finally fell asleep, E.
woke me up and pulled me into her bedroom. I had apparently been screaming in
my sleep again. Waking up with bloodshot eyes every morning was not helpful,
but I figured the facial would help.

“Sara, are you dating
anyone?” I asked.

“No. I do have a crush on
someone, but he doesn’t know I’m alive.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,”
I said. “What type of guy do you go for?”

“Tall, dark, handsome,
strong, smart, and almost perfect,” she giggled.

Unfortunately, that
described both Jay and Damen. I reached out my hand and clasped hers.

“Oh, you picked a cute
color,” I said.

Just like Jay, I got
nothing from her.
Weird
, I thought.

“What about you? Do you
have a boyfriend?”

I couldn’t tell if she was
hinting that she thought Jay and I were dating or if she was curious if Damen
was taken. I just went for the truth. “I’m not currently dating anyone. My
heart is pretty hung up on one guy,” I said.

“Damen? You seem pretty
close to Jay…”

That seemed promising. “Jay
is a great guy, but he likes someone else.”

“I’m sure if you shared
your feelings, he’d reciprocate them. You are one of the prettiest girls in the
school,” Sara said.

“Um…thanks!” I said. Was
she convincing me to go out with Jay, or was I convincing her? I was confused. “Jay
is hot, isn’t he?”

“He is, but then again, he
is my type,” Sara said.

Ugh
, I thought.

Elsie was on the other side
of Sara, mouthing “What are you doing?”
Getting nowhere
, I thought. I
decided to try compulsion.

“So do you like Damen or
Jay better?”

“Well, that’s blunt!” Sara
said.

I just about choked on my
iced coffee. She was immune to compulsion. “I’m sorry, you don’t have to answer
that,” I said.

“No, it’s okay. If we are
gonna be friends, I need to be honest with you. I know you and Damen were a
thing... everyone saw that orchid fly to you in class. I do have a small, very
small, crush on him. But I’m so busy, and he’s not even around now. It was just
an infatuation. I never really thought of Jay because he was Damen’s friend.
But, since you asked, I am attracted to him, too, I guess.”

Yes!
I thought. I was jumping
up and down inside for the rest of our day at the spa.

We were heading out of the
spa when Sara pulled me aside. “Look, I’m sorry if we have the same taste in
guys. I’m not looking to challenge you or anything. I know Damen was yours when
he was here, and now it seems that you and Jay are connecting. I would never
interfere with that. I do consider you a friend,” she said before running off.

“Shoot, shoot, and double
shoot,” I said.

“So how does your new
pedicure taste, my friend?” E. asked.

“Not so good. What do I
tell Jay now?”

“I’d say tell him to ask
her out, but then she’d probably say no since she doesn’t want to hurt you.”

“Crap!” I said.

*
* *

DAMEN

I expected to hear from Jay
this morning. I wonder if he’s still with her
, I thought. The jealousy started rising in
my throat again, and I shoved it back down. I rigged a target in my backyard to
practice my flame throwing.
Forget it, I’m calling him. Maybe I’ll get to
hear her in the background
.
Wow
, I thought.
I have issues
. I
dialed Jay’s number, and he picked up.

“A guy can’t get a shower
in before calling you? Geesh!”

“So?”

“Oh man, you shoulda seen
her face. Well, picture this… Sports bra, spandex, sweaty and flushed, hair
falling around her face. Then she pictured you, and all the pretty pink in her
cheeks drained completely from her face. I thought she was gonna pass out right
there on the track. I swear I saw her knees wobble! I laughed so hard I got a
side ache!”

I couldn’t help but smile.
I was pleased that I still affected her that way. However, I was not so pleased
with Jay’s description of her.

“Why were you thinking
about her like that? Jay?”

“Sorry… I am a guy, and I
have eyes. And we run together every morning. It’s hard for a guy to ignore
those sweet little gasps of air while running.”

“Seriously, friend or not,
when I see you Thursday, you won’t have blue eyes anymore.”

“Shit, I’m sorry. I
shouldn’t have said that. So Thursday, huh?”

“Don’t try to change the
subject, Jay. You do know when I see you on
Thursday
,
you won’t
be able to hide anything.”

“Who’s hiding anything? You
know the only reason I don’t go after her myself is because you love her. But
if you don’t come back to her after this little issue you’re having, all bets
are off.”

“If I have to kill every
Dr. Z on this continent, I’m coming back for her…if she wants me. If she
doesn’t, you sure as hell aren’t gonna have her either.”

“We’ll see,” Jay said.

What the hell? I was
fighting with Jay?

“Look,” I said, “let’s
focus on something else. I’ll have the plane pick you up Thursday at 9 a.m. Bring warm clothes.”

“What do you think we’ll
find? Or what do you hope to find?”

“I’d really like to find
some closure or evidence that my parents had been there. I’d also like to find
a full name for the Dr. Z in my dream.”

“What do we do if we find
out it is Dr. Z from the academy?” Jay asked.

“I’m not sure yet, but Raegan’s
safety is first, so whatever we find, we have to keep it to ourselves. I’d like
to find out why he was or
is
after me. I’ve been thinking, and what if
Dr. Z doesn’t know I’m Damen Catalano? You know my grandfather changed my name
when he adopted me. I don’t even have any paperwork with the name Catalano.”

“This is pretty serious.
Should I let the others know where we are going just in case?” Jay asked.

“NO! Raegan would come
after us. She is overly helpful like that. We’ll leave a note with my assistant,
Betsy,” I said. My thoughts turned to Raegan. “What are you doing later? Are
you gonna see her again?” I asked before I could shut my mouth. I was just
asking for trouble.

“We are all getting
together after the girls’ spa day. We are congregating at their place and
discussing our plans again. I think Raegan is going to attempt to find some
rich and sophisticated clothing for her part. But I think she’s gonna have
trouble with such short notice and being out here in the middle of nowhere. I
guess she could borrow from Taylor, but she’s a foot taller than Raegan.”

“Really? I could have
something overnighted. Betsy could take care of it.”

“That would actually
probably be helpful. Should I get her sizes?”

“I know them.”

“Of course you do. But
actually, she’s smaller now, and she’s toning pretty quickly.”

“Oh, right. I saw the pic.
Why isn’t she eating?”

“She is, but she’s kinda
going through a reinventing herself phase.”

“I hate that you know this
and I don’t. The hole in our link is still there! I feel incomplete.”