PARKER
FIFTEEN
“God damn it, woman, don’t scare me like that,” I said, resting my forehead against hers.
“What just happened?” Lailah hesitantly asked, her voice shaky with confusion as she looked around the quad.
“Come on, let’s talk somewhere quieter,” I said, putting my arm around her shoulders and guiding her away from the gawking onlookers.
Once we were away from the majority of people, I pulled her to sit on a short wall bordering trees on the walkway.
I didn’t press for answers right away; I just held her to my side, giving her a moment while I texted Brayden.
Parker:
Hey, something weird happened with Lailah and I think you need to be here to keep her grounded.
Brayden:
What happened?!
Parker:
I’m not too sure but she seems to be really freaked out by it. We’re sitting by the tech lab building.
Brayden:
Ditching class now, give me a minute and I’ll be right there.
I took a deep, calming breath, knowing that freaking out wasn’t going to help.
Normally, I wasn’t at the school this early since my classes were later in the day, but I had to do some work in the Tech lab before class started.
Thank God I did, because if Lailah had been left alone much longer, she would have exploded like a nuke and taken out the whole damn school.
“Care to share what’s going on in that brain of yours?” I asked.
My words made her jump a little, like she’d forgotten I was there. She looked up at me and reached out to touch my cheek with a slight frown on her face. I had to admit, it was kind of cute to see that wrinkle between her brows. I quirked a questioning brow at her as she continued to poke at me.
“I know I’m attractive, but let’s try not to get too distracted,” I teased, grinning at her.
“Sorry, I just needed to make sure this was really happening. Apparently, I’m imagining things,” she murmured, not even blushing at my joke like normal.
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“What was I doing when you found me?” Lailah asked, shifting so she could look at me better.
“Nothing. Standing in the middle of the quad as if in a trance, but you were giving off crazy power vibes. I was afraid you were going to explode if you didn’t get that shit under control.
I tried to talk to you, but you didn’t hear me or even seem to see me.
It wasn’t until I shouted at you that it seemed to bring you back,” I explained, my panic still fresh in my mind.
“Have you been into the cafe today?” she blurted out.
“Random segue, but no, I haven't.”
“This is going to make me sound crazy, but can you go and see if there are pictures of my dorm on the bulletin board by the door?”
“Seriously?” When she gave me a stern look, I raised both hands in surrender. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”
Leaving her to sit there alone was not what I wanted to do right now. She strangely seemed more fragile than I’d ever seen her. Whatever happened had really messed with her. As I made my way back to the cafe, I ran into Brayden.
“Where is she? Is everything okay?” Brayden demanded, searching for her when he didn’t see her with me.
I grabbed his arm before he could brush past me.
“Wait a sec, would you? Look, she asked me to go to the cafe and see if someone posted pictures of the shit they did to her room. I have no idea what it has to do with anything, but just come look with me. Having two people confirm will be better than just one.”
Brayden looked at me, then back over in the direction of where Lailah was sitting. “I can feel the panic and chaos in her mind; she’s terrified of something.”
I envied Brayden having that connection to her.
I knew I shouldn’t be jealous of him. Yes, he was the first to bond with her, but eventually, we would all have to share.
I clenched my jaw at the realization that the first time I thought about being truly committed to someone, she wouldn’t just be mine.
“Let’s go so we can hurry back. I don’t want to leave her alone that long,” I said, walking to the cafe and yanking the door open.
Brayden followed me in, and we both stopped in front of the bulletin board. Without saying anything, I pulled my phone out and took a picture of it, then headed back out.
“What the hell do you think is going on?” Brayden whispered to me as we approached Lailah.
“Fuck if I know, but we need to get this figured out sooner rather than later,” I answered, back just as quietly.
Lailah was sitting right where I left her with her head in her hands, and I panicked at the thought she might be crying. What the hell was this woman doing to me that I cared so much?
“There are no pictures, Trouble,” I said. She lifted her head and looked at me. “Here, I even took a picture so you could see for yourself that it’s got all the same stupid crap on it that it always does.”
Handing her my phone, I knew what she would see—the bulletin board covered in flyers and other news that students had left over the past few months.
Brayden sat on one side of her, wrapping an arm around her waist as she handed back my phone.
I sat down on her other side, taking her hand in mine, needing to feel connected to her.
“What’s going on, Angel?” Brayden pressed, rubbing the small of her back comfortingly.
“Everything was normal. I went to class, and then when it was over, I left and headed to the cafe to get a chai. I didn’t get a chance this morning since I overslept,” Lailah started, and Brayden shifted uncomfortably.
We all knew why she had been up late last night. Serves him right to squirm; he had no idea what kind of hell it was to lay there and listen to her sexy moans coming from his room. Never in my life had I been so hard and turned on for a woman that wasn’t even in the same room as me.
“When I got there, everyone was staring and whispering about me and calling me trash,” Lailah continued, pulling me back to the present.
“I grabbed my drink and bolted, but that’s when I saw the pictures of what they did to my dorm plastered all over the board.
I was so mad, and I let my power overwhelm me.
With the addition of your power, Brayden, I was even stronger, and I was able to manipulate your powers, and I might have ripped open the ground under the wall holding the board and sent it crashing to Hell. ”
“You what?” Brayden sat back, shocked.
“Oh, that’s not the end of it. I used my powers to shatter every window and piece of glass in the building and send everyone screaming for cover.
I reveled in their fear of me and was going to kill them all before Parker pulled me out of whatever the hell I was in,” Lailah murmured, tears starting to trail down her cheeks.
My hands clenched into fists at seeing her this distraught over a situation that didn’t even really happen.
“Brayden, am I broken? Did I do something wrong to turn out like this? Are we sure that a demon hasn’t possessed me and I just don’t know it?” Lailah babbled, clutching at Brayden’s arm.
“Angel, no, you’re not broken,” Brayden said, pulling her onto his lap so he could hold her close. “Parker, I’m going to take her back to the house. Could you give Hudson a heads up? I’ll make sure Beth knows what’s going on too.”
Fucker, why do you get to be her knight in shining armor? What about me? I’m the one who was here first.
“Yeah, no problem, text me if you need anything. I only have one class left for the day,” I said between gritted teeth.
“Come on, let’s get you home,” Brayden said, standing and setting her on her feet.
Watching them walk away hand in hand was its own brand of torture, but I knew I just needed to make it through one more class, and then I could get back to her.
Fuck, this class was pointless. Why did I need to study old books that no one reads anymore?
I was going for a technology degree. What did Jane Eyre have to do with anything?
I looked down at my watch, counting down the minutes until the class was over.
Suffering through this was hard enough already, but to know that something was going on with Lailah made it even worse.
That girl deserved her nickname—she found trouble without even trying.
Remembering, for the millionth time, the image of her dead eyes looking at me in the quad made me shiver.
That crystal blue gaze was always filled with some emotion or another.
It's what made it so fun to tease her. Cami used to be fun, but after fifteen years of me messing with her, she had finally learned to fight back.
Cami was like my little sister, even though I was only three months older than her, but she was still half my size.
She used to follow all of us around during the summer when we were forced to spend time together before training started.
Thanks to that little punk, I was able to run into Lailah—literally.
I was worried that she was going to turn Lailah against being my friend, but it seemed to do the opposite and made me want to be friends with her regardless of whatever trash Cami was going to spout.
Now knowing that Trouble was Synergy changed everything.
I wanted to give into the need, the pull to be close to her.
Everyone always saw me as the big flirt, the guy who always needed to be around people and a party.
They weren't wrong, but Lailah was different.
“Okay, class, I expect to get your second draft in by the end of the week. This final paper counts for twenty percent of your grade, and some of you cannot afford to do poorly,” Mrs. Blackwell announced.
I burst out of my chair and headed for the door.
“Mr. Jones, a word.”
I groaned internally, knowing what she was going to talk to me about. I turned to see Mrs. Blackwell signaling for me to join her at her desk.