23. Willa / Greer
CHAPTER 23
WILLA / GREER
B eckett jumps up to run after me, but the second I hit the door, I look at River. “Stop him.” River immediately stands and moves toward Beckett with raised hands. Shouts fill the air, but I don’t stop.
At the end of the hall, I slam my hands against the door to the outside and keep going. Sobs slip from my throat at the thought of having the power to save my parents from burning alive. Their screams haunt me to this day. Could I have saved them?
Images and noises from that night bombard me. Bright lights. Something slamming into the car. Spinning on the road. My mom’s screams. My dad shouting, but I can’t hear what he’s saying. The window opening, and my body flying through it. Darkness. Waking in the pond. Shivering in the cold water. Trees swaying in the night air. Crickets singing. A bright, steady light in front of me. It’s our car. My parents. Burning. Darkness again.
Stumbling to a halt, my tears flow as I stare at the ground in front of me. There’s something bugging me about that night. What is it? I begin walking again, hoping to clear my head. I’ve gone through that night so many times. What’s different? Come on.
People start shouting, and I clap my hands around my ears to shut them out. Shut up. Trying to think here. Air stirs my hair. Thud. What in the world? I turn around and see the shadowy outline of a head nailed to a wooden post. It’s a shooting range target. I move a few feet closer and see the hole in the center. Shit. Knees shaking, I drop to the ground. Was someone aiming at me or the target? Unsure, I stay low. Then I hear the sound of thundering feet.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” a familiar voice shouts at me. I look up and see the guy who escorted me to the cafeteria yesterday. What was his name? Gabriel?. “You could have been killed. Did you not read the fucking sign?”
What sign? “Are they still shooting?” I ask shakily.
“What?” he spits back, then exhales loudly. “They’re… taking a break. Did you not see the sign?”
“No. What sign?”
He practically throws his arm out of the socket, pointing to a red sign hanging on the fence about two hundred feet away. “The big fucking sign that says ‘Stop. Gun range. Shooting in progress.’”
Right. Lesson learned. Watch out for signs. “Missed it.” I’m sure he’s wondering how someone could miss a sign that big, but I don’t enlighten him. “Thanks, Gabriel.”
He reaches down, grabs my arm, and pulls me to my feet. “It’s Gabe. I know you’re new, but you need to take this seriously.” Folding his arms across his chest, his brows lower into a stern look. “You’re damn lucky he missed.”
“I never miss.” A guy with white-blond hair sweeping across his forehead, a tattoo sleeve, scruff for days, and brilliant blue eyes strolls up. My height, but a little leaner, he stops in front of me. His hand, also tattooed, fingers my hair. “Although, surprisingly, I might have been off by an inch. Maybe the scope is off… or perhaps it’s fate?”
“You’re the one who shot at me?” I ask coolly, unimpressed with his casual admission.
I scan the length of him. Ragged jeans with holes in the knees. Combat boots. Black T-shirt. Probably doesn’t care that he scared the crap out of me.
He laughs. “Not a chance. I shot at the target. You stepped into the bullet’s path. Good thing you didn’t die. I hate to do paperwork.” His eyes sweep across my face. “You were crying. Must have been why you didn’t see the sign.”
Thanks, Captain Obvious , I mentally scream, but instead I lift my chin and quietly assure him, “I’ll make sure to stay away from this area in the future.”
Blondie shakes his head. “Unfortunately for you, you’re in my afternoon class. Make sure you’re on time. Two p.m.” He turns and motions for Gabriel and the small crowd gathered around us to move back. “I’m Jax, by the way. I’ll be teaching you how to use all sorts of weapons.” His walk toward the cover at the far end of the field is pure swagger, but my eyes linger on every step he takes. He’s almost there when he turns around and waves, catching me staring.
If there was a wall close by, I’d bang my head on it. Repeatedly.
* * *
Walking slowly down the hallway, I peek around the entrance to Beckett’s office and see the interior door closed and the light on. River’s gone, too. I look up at the clock. Fifty minutes have passed since I ran out of here. My tablet and the two pieces of paper are sitting on the coffee table. I pick them up and quietly walk out of the office.
Great. I missed one class, and my power class started ten minutes ago. There’s no way I’m disrupting the class so everyone can stare at the new girl. I’ll wait and go to the next one. With a sigh, I walk outside and find a bench in the sun.
Miserable and adrift without Lionel’s comforting presence, I sit there contemplating the past. What if Beckett was right and my powers manifested that night? Everything happened so fast. I don’t even remember all the details. Like how did I escape the car and my parents didn’t? Water wouldn’t have helped me. Did my dad use his power? I lean my head back, wishing I could remember.
“Already skipping my class?” a smooth voice asks, taking the seat next to me.
I lift my head and look to my right. Perfect posture in an immaculate suit, I muse. Sitting up straight, with his shoulders back, the man beside me exudes sophistication like it was bred in him. The elegant, charcoal grey suit gracing his tall body certainly conveys that perception, but his posture reinforces it.
He pinches the pleat on his pant and turns his head to look at me. Blue-grey eyes top a long aristocratic nose. Dark brown, wavy hair, longer on top with precisely trimmed sides, looks like the kind of expensive cut you see in the best of circles. Indentations under his cheekbones make them appear sharp and pronounced. Clean-shaven too. No nonsense lips pressed firmly together give me the tiniest hint of his ire.
“Sorry,” I say, flipping up the page in my hand to see the name. “Oliver. This hasn’t been the best day, and given that I was already ten minutes late, I didn’t think my teacher would enjoy me disrupting the class.” Come to think of it, where’s the rest of the class?
“There is no class. Just you and me,” he informs me. “Given your age, I doubt you’d enjoy learning to use your power in a class with teenagers.”
“Ouch,” I remark with a shake of my head. No woman likes to hear those words, even if he didn’t mean them the way they sounded. “No. Worse would have been the younger ones.” When he lifts a sculpted brow, I continue. “Lionel’s son burned the house down when he was five or six.”
“Really? I didn’t know,” he replies with a thoughtful look. “On average, our powers manifest when we’re teenagers, but it can happen earlier.”
“But not later,” I state with resignation.
“No,” he confirms. “Your meeting with Beckett didn’t go as planned.”
Fidgeting for a few minutes at the idea of someone knowing what we discussed, I finally blurt, “Doesn’t my discussion with Beckett fall under doctor patient confidentiality?”
“It does,” he assures me. “He didn’t give me any details, but I had to send Quaid in to diffuse the situation between him and River.” There’s a hint of anger in his eyes. “Beckett would never hurt another. Can you say the same about River?”
I frown at the thought of them actually fighting, but I don’t answer.
“We vet each and every person for weeks before we let them come to Phoenix. Lionel vouched for you, so we relaxed the rules. But once you started traveling with River, we had to revisit things,” he informs me. “Unfortunately, there is very little information on River past his freshmen year of high school. He’s a very powerful unknown. Normally, we wouldn’t have brought him here, but I promised Lionel I’d help you, and I didn’t think separating you from him would be wise.”
Is he going to force River to leave? If so, I’m going with him. I’m not tied to anything here. Surely there is somewhere safe out there. I shift uncomfortably in my seat while I wait for him to reveal what’s going to happen next.
He shifts to look directly at me. “We take the safety of this compound very seriously. I’ve given him a warning. In the future, it would be best if you didn’t invoke his… protection. If you feel Beckett is overstepping, come to me. I’ll resolve the issue.”
Feeling like a chastised child, I stiffly nod, but underneath, I’m secretly relieved that he isn’t kicking us out. I need to know my powers and how to handle them, and River can’t always protect me. He has a mother and a sister.
“I understand. I feel bad for leaving River and Beckett behind to deal with the situation,” I grudgingly concede. The idea that I could have saved my parents was a punch in the gut.
“Good,” he says, looking at the gold Rolex on his wrist. “Our time is up. Tomorrow, we’ll focus on using your powers.” He glances back at me. “What is your power?”
“Water,” I reply.
He tilts his head to the side. “Interesting.” While his face never changes, I can tell my answer isn’t what he expected.
I wait for him to ask more questions, but he doesn’t.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he murmurs, rising to his feet.
Totally looking forward to it. Not. “Do you know my room number?” All I want to do is hide for a few minutes. Maybe take a shower. Change clothes.
He taps on his phone, then replies, “113. There’s a map of the rooms on the tablet. Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” I tell him.
With one long look at me, he pivots and strides away, his walk as purposeful as his demeanor. A soldier, maybe? It suddenly clicks, and I want to smack myself on the forehead. Lionel said Oliver ran Phoenix. Guess that’s Senator Jack Harrison’s son. Major Oliver Harrison. I wince. Way to make a great impression. If Lionel was here, he’d be really disappointed.
I open the tablet and find my room. Through these doors, down one long hallway, then a right, and about halfway down the next one is room 113.
As I walk, I think about my conversation with Oliver. I need to learn my powers and some survival skills. If he thinks bringing River here is bad, he’s going to be livid when he finds out the truth. I killed Trent. And at some point, I’m going to have to tell Oliver why Hightower and his men are really after me. They couldn’t care less about my ability to manipulate water. Losing both his wife and son to someone with powers… Hightower will do anything to find me.