Part 23 (1/2)

Bry saw my face fall and got fear on the edges of his.

Randi shook her head. ”No, I think my power, whether we traveled the dimensional highway or not...”

”Negated,” John prompted and she nodded at him.

”Canceled out the sickness problem.” Her eyes met Bry's and he exhaled in a relieved expulsion.

”Thank G.o.d,” he muttered, his hand stroking his chest like his heart was going to fall out of his ribcage.

”Chill, you're fine, Weller,” Jonesy said, crus.h.i.+ng his second lollipop and grinding the sweet sugared crystals with his teeth.

Sophie smiled. ”If we're alive then everything is okay with you, right Jonesy?”

He looked at her in a puzzled way. ”Well, yeah. Why wouldn't it be?”

The guys looked at the chicks and felt the weight of the difference in the s.e.xes descend, the barrier there.

We smiled at each other, the boys on target and the girls confused about our willingness to brave the unknown.

Typical.

I smiled as we straggled out of the hideaway.

We felt like we'd accomplished something that day. The memory of helping a world that wasn't our own, stranding the scientists in the middle of the s.h.i.+t they'd started, it was an accomplishment.

Of course, that just meant that Parker and the Graysheets were going to duel. They'd eventually find out about his involvement.

And mine.

In fact, as Gramps would say, it was coming full circle.

And it was going to bite me in the a.s.s.

Story of my life.

The sunlight winked off my winds.h.i.+eld, temporarily blinding me. It speared my eyes as I slowed beside the curb of Jade's foster family's house.

The dump.

I knew before I pushed the s.h.i.+fter into park that Howie would be there, gunning to give me s.h.i.+t again.

He was painful in his regularity. It was almost like taking a c.r.a.p, it happened every day. But he was like constipation or something.

A t.u.r.d to be flushed down the porcelain G.o.ddess.

Nice.

I swept out of the car, the morning biting at my heels a little, autumn had come and with it, that familiar crispness. I gazed up at the sky, the summer hanging on even as fall deepened the blue unmercifully, the sky went on forever in the month of October. I tore my gaze away, clamping down on my daydreamer tendencies with an effort.

The weekend was here and the whole pack of us were headin' out to Gramps, The Parents too. Gramps was my house for now.

It felt weird.

And right.

Onyx had transitioned right into living with Gramps. Sometimes, like the traitor he was, he'd even sleep at the foot of Gramps' bed.

I looked at the crooked stoop where Jade lived and saw her descend the steps, Howie barking at her heels.

That's what I saw anyway, a well-trained guard dog on a leash it didn't like, sniffing for trouble.

And I was here to deliver.

See how that s.h.i.+t worked out?

I'd rounded the back end of the Camaro before I even knew it, bouncing up on the curb and striding to where Jade was walking, her high heeled boots clicking on the cracked cement.

Frazier saw me coming and smiled evilly. The a.s.shat knew I had to watch it.

The probation wasn't up yet. If I used the dead, they'd lock me up.

What he said next slowed my step.

”How's that vacation, Hart?” His eyes raked over my body and I knew he was a.s.sessing me as a guy. Could he take me? Were all the rumors true? Would the dead come and kick his a.s.s for me, or was I tough enough to do it without them?

I was sure willing to give it the old college try. My anger simmered underneath the surface like one of my mom's pots coming to a boil.

Frazier blew it when he touched Jade's arm, wrapping his big hand around it entirely, jerking her backward, he hissed, ”You're not going with him, he's a menace, not allowed on school property either.” He winked at me and Jade's green eyes got big as she stumbled backward, completely unprepared for his advance. There was something on her face as she saw me come for him.

Then Brett was there. He yelled, ”Hart!”

I turned and Howie belted me with a cheap shot and Jade screamed. He caught me just right on the edge of my chin. I spun backward as Brett grabbed Jade.

Every guy's jaw is made of gla.s.s if you hit him right.

Mine felt shattered.

I don't know what hurt worse, seeing Jade in Brett's arms or the sucker punch I'd just taken.

Howie tried to land on me to start the whaling he had planned but I fell backward and let my hands bite the ground as I simultaneously jabbed out with my foot, catching him in the middle of his bread basket. My head spun and I felt puke rising but now was not the time to get squeamish 'cuz I took a hit. And there was a new and exciting development: I felt him before I saw him.

Clyde was there before I'd thought of anything.

d.a.m.n, the manure was rolling downhill to collect at my feet.