93. Pax
Chapter 93
Pax
S omeone’s pounding on my door. I snatch it open to reveal Thea standing in the hall, eyes wild like a caged animal. Something’s happened. Before I can ask what, she hurls a box at me. “I don’t want your gift, Pax. Or shall I call it a bribe?”
“I-”
“I hate you!” She screams. “There’s nothing you can ever do or say to make up for what you did!”
I don’t know what’s set her off, and I try not to take her words personally. She’s playing it safe. Has been playing it safe, and I want my feisty, take no shit from anyone, girl back. “You’re at the wrong door.” I move to push the door closed as I say, “Go find one of those bodyguards you’re hiding behind and cry on their shoulder.”
She steps forward, cracking me across the face.
“Is that all you got?” No sooner are the words out of my mouth, and she’s hitting me. A solid right cross to my jaw. I can think of a few guys who would’ve gone down after a hit like that. I’m standing, but it knocks me back a little. “Better, but still inadequate. Haven’t you learned you can’t beat me?”
She rushes at me, and I chuckle. “Awe, isn’t that cute? You gonna windmill at me next?” She kicks at my knee and slams her fist into the side of my head. That blow causes me to bite the inside of my jaw. Swallowing the blood, I say, “Let’s see what you got, Nem. I can take it.”
I dodge and avoid her blows, but I don’t hold back on dishing out hits of my own. We swing, dodge blows, and grapple. My breathing picks up from the effort of our fight and the way our bodies keep coming together. She kicks my legs out from under me, sending me to the floor, then climbs on top of me.
“Give up?” She pants.
I roll us, getting the upper hand. “No, do you?” She lifts her hips, trying to knock me off. I climb to my feet, chuckling. “I take that as a no.”
Thea comes at me again. I easily dodge her attempt. She’s almost too slow to escape mine. She’s winded and out of practice, sparring with me. “Are you still working out at the gym, or is the only exercise Deacon’s giving you between your legs?”
“Jealous?”
“That you’re slower than before and about to pass out? Hardly.”
“I meant jealous that he’s between my legs?”
“Yes.” I admit. She lowers her guard, blinking at me, dumbfounded. “Hands up, Nem. If you can’t talk shit and fight at the same time, you don’t belong in the ring.”
She puts her hands back up and counters with, “Who can get a word in? You’re running your mouth enough for the both of us to disguise that weak ass right hook of yours.”
That’s my girl. I straighten my stance, smirking at her. “It might be weak, but it catches you more often than not.”
“Catch this asshole.” She fakes me out with a jab, uses my leg as a step stool to launch herself in the air, and wraps her legs around my neck.
“That’s new.”
“It’s new to you. I’ve been putting boys to sleep with this hold for years.”
“I’m happy to fall asleep with my face between your thighs. You should know that by now, Nem.” I wheeze as she locks her legs at the ankles, taking away my air.
“Are you going to kill him, Pet?”
Her response is to squeeze harder. Finn’s voice goes from playful to concerned. “Shit. No. Really . Let up, Thea, or you’re gonna kill him.”
My vision is fading in and out, and I’m feeling light-headed. I lose consciousness as I hear Finn say, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but you need to get here.”
“Wakey, wakey.” Finn sings-songs, patting me on my cheek. Holden pulls me to a sitting position and passes me a bottle of water.
“How long was I out?” My voice is raspy, and it hurts to swallow.
“I don’t know. Five, maybe ten minutes.”
I rub my hand against my neck. “I can’t believe she almost choked me out.”
“Almost?” Finn snorts. “What was she doing here?”
“I don’t know. She showed up at my door and started yelling about how much she hates me, so I pushed her buttons and we started sparring.” Finn looks at me like I’m sporting three heads. “What?”
“You might’ve been sparring, but Thea was trying to kill you.”
“It just looks that way. We’ve always been serious about our workouts.”
He shakes his head. “It might’ve started out as a sparring session, but for her it got real. She threw a knife at me when I tried to pull her off of you. I had to call Deacon for help.”
I don’t remember any of that. “He was here?”
“Nah. He was too far away to get here in time to be of any use, but I guess one of Thea’s guards was hiding in the ceiling or something. He came in and knocked her out.”
I laugh until I realize he’s dead ass serious. “You’re not joking?”
“I’ve never seen her like that before. She was damn near feral.” He juts his chin towards Holden. “Reminded me of how he gets when he finally gets pushed to his limit.” He gives me an assessing look. “So, what did you do to push our girl to the breaking point?”
“The usual.”
Holden walks to the doors and says, “I hope it’s not the usual, because that means you’re the reason people are posting pictures of her mother around campus.”
Finn
I feel like I’m living in a time loop. That crafting article from Rock Mountain is plastered all over campus. I rip them down, and the next day they’re back again in the exact same spots. Someone is deliberately putting them in places where Thea will see them. Outside her dorm, along the route she walks to her classes and the library, and on the athletic complex’s door.
“Who is doing this?” I crumple the paper and toss it in the trash before sliding a stack of books over on the table so I can see Holden’s face.
He says, “It’s random people. No sense in wasting time trying to track them down.”
“Since when is questioning people a waste of time?”
“A lot of times, Finn. You just find the things you do during questioning more exciting, so you rarely care what information they give you. But in this case, I think we need to discuss the circumstances surrounding the picture and the link to the article being posted on Prospectus.”
“It was probably Eloise and her lackeys, or someone whose stuff she took, or that idiot councilman in retaliation for me cutting off his friend’s fingers.” I tick off suspect after suspect, finally conceding, “The list is longer than I thought.”
Holden says, “We’ll start with who each of us told about our plans.”
“That’s a much shorter list than the first one. I talked to you about it, and I told my parents and Pax that I was heading out of town to see the USS Constitution.”
Holden nods. “Same. I talked to you and said I was going to a tech conference in Florida.”
I look up from where I’m carving the outline of a heart into the table. “If I didn’t tell anyone about the hospital and you didn’t either, how did they find out about it?”
He says, “Someone else must’ve been looking into it too. Or maybe I triggered some kind of alert when I was digging through the website.”
“Or when we were actually in the building. We assumed no one saw us, but maybe they did and found the link between Hailee and Thea. This could be the first step in an elaborate blackmail scheme for the breaking and entering.”
“It’s been a week.” He says, “Shouldn’t we be targeted too?”
We should. We have way more to offer payout wise than Thea. Our brainstorming session is halted by the sound that used to bring me such giddy excitement.
“Meeting?” Holden asks, not bothering to check his buzzing phone.
“We’re to report to the Avery Estate in two hours.”
“Good Evening. Welcome to the Avery Estate. Please retrieve your name card and go to the room indicated.” Kristoff Johns instructs as we enter the foyer. “We will begin in fifteen minutes.”
My card sends me to the smoking room which is already occupied by four fourth years, and two third years. Arriving after me is another second and third year.
Five minutes later, a league member enters the room, and says, “Prospects, welcome to tonight’s test. League members are called upon to sit on committees to help keep our organization running smoothly. These are generally volunteer positions, though sometimes a member is assigned a committee as a part of a punitive action for an infraction. This group represents the research committee. You’ve been chosen for this committee based on the interests you listed on your league application. You have ten minutes to select a committee chairperson and come up with the rules for the management of your group for today’s task. A bell will chime, signaling the end of your ten minutes. At that time, return to the foyer, retrieve the group name card and go to the address indicated. There, you will receive the final piece of the challenge.”
It was a waste of ten minutes, sitting around arguing about who to put in charge of our group. Based on seniority, the fourth years claimed that role for themselves, finally settling on the pre-law student to be the figurehead.
A bell chimes through the speaker on the wall and our leader is the first one out the door, followed by the other three. The third years, elbow by me, next. The guy in my year group and I share a look. We’re all going to the same place, so it’s a waste of time establishing a pecking order.
I follow the group outside and climb into the vehicle provided for us, as leader extraordinaire rattles off the coordinates to the driver. I sit in silence as we cruise through the streets, wondering if Holden’s and Pax’s groups are less annoying than this one. Holden won’t be in charge of his group, either. That would mean talking, and the number of people who have earned the privilege of hearing him do that is still small enough to count on two hands.
Pax might stand there in his overbearing way demanding to be recognized, but if the group make up is like mine, the fourth years won’t be taking orders from him either. It’s just the way these things go in The League. Positional authority and seniority outrank us every time.
I watch the trees and scenery out the window, committing landmarks to mind just in case this is a dump off and we have to walk back to the starting point. The car pulls over in downtown Canyon Falls near the Brinkmeyer Theater. I push out of the car first, wiping my hands against my thighs as I stare at the two story building. Pre-law is strolling up the steps before I’ve finished studying the intricately carved swirls along the awning.
He’s gonna be a nightmare to protect if he keeps pushing his way to the front like this. Is this how he approaches all challenges? Just charges forward without looking around and assessing for threats?
I turn, taking in the buildings across the street, and scan each corner. We’re out here alone. Where were the other groups sent? I make my way up the stairs, dragging the heavy doors open and step into the lobby just as a first year prospect walks up to the group. As I take the stairs up to the mezzanine to get a better look, I hear him say; he was dropped off here and is a late edition to the group.
The stage is lit with one spotlight. A vanity table sits in the middle of it. From here, I can make out that there’s a card on it. The team is down there arguing over whatever it says. I catch maybe every other word, but I hear enough to know there’s something of value here in the theater and we have to find it.
If you ask me, everything in this place can be considered valuable. The theater’s been here for as long as the town has. It’s filled with that historical richness Thea’s always talking about.
I head back down to the first floor and wait by the door for the rest of the group, so I can read the card for myself. We might be working together, but it’s still a challenge and individual points still matter. I’m not going to let them jeopardize mine. I’ve been doing that just fine on my own. How many points have I lost by losing the last few challenges?
“Where have you been?” One of the third years snaps at me.
I simply arch a brow at the hostility in his voice. Not being in charge of this committee doesn’t mean I answer to any of them. “Can I see the card?”
The person holding it shoves it into my outstretched hand. Smart man.
Find what is hidden for more to be revealed.
No wonder they were down here looking confused. “Any ideas?” The second year asks me.
“We don’t need his ideas.” Our leader says. “I already told you what the plan is.”
“What is the plan?” I ask. “I couldn’t hear it from my perch at the top.”
He snaps at me. “Then maybe you should’ve been downstairs with the group.”
Power tripping. Of course. “That’s an idea, but then, who would’ve been looking for threats?” Looking around the group, I ask, “Or did the card with the coordinates tell you that this place would be empty?”
He says, “It didn’t mention it, no.”
“Did you have a heads up from the game master that no other prospect groups would be coming here?”
Now everyone’s looking at him. He glances around nervously. “No.”
“So you just assumed we’d be the only ones here on a challenge?”
“We are the only ones here on a challenge.”
“Maybe for now. Maybe they’re in another part of the theater. Maybe they’re on their way. The point is, I never put myself on display when there’s a balcony, roof or tree I can access to get a better look around.” To the second year, I say, “I have plenty of ideas, but I think I’ll just keep them to myself, play follow the leader, and hope he’s not walking us into an ambush.”