Dark Covenant (Living Covenant Trilogy Book 2) (9 page)

“
W
hy are
you three cackling like you’re about to shove some poor child into an oven?” Aric asked, joining us in the hallway outside of Mark’s classroom. “Did you do something evil? Wait … I don’t want to know.”

“We saw Mark,” Kelsey announced, clearly enjoying herself. “Zoe made the papers he was holding fly out of his hand, and he almost crapped his pants. I swear. I could smell it.”

“That is both disgusting and interesting,” Aric said, turning his attention to me. “Did he know you tossed the papers?”

“We didn’t speak,” I said. “I only stared him down.”

“It was like high noon in a western,” Paris supplied. “Mark looked like he was dumping a load in his pants, and Zoe didn’t twitch. Then he practically ran down the hallway and Zoe slowly followed him, like she was Jason in a
Friday the 13
^th
movie. It was a thing of beauty.”

Aric smirked. “I’m proud of you,” he said, cupping the back of my head. “Does he know you’re out here?”

“Oh, he knows,” Kelsey said. “Every five minutes Zoe sends a few more sheets of paper flying around the room. He’s stopped picking them up.”

Aric, intrigued, leaned forward to look inside the classroom. “You’re controlling it enough to limit it to a few sheets of paper at a time?”

“It’s not as hard as you’d think,” I said. “I just kind of … push … little bits of anger out and the papers go flying. It’s neat.”

“That is definitely neat,” Aric agreed. “I told my father you didn’t need training. When it’s important, you figure things out on your own. I think you might be a genius.” Aric pulled me in for a hug and kissed my cheek. “My little genius.”

“Ugh,” Kelsey said, making an exaggerated face. “Are you two always this gross, or is this a special occasion because you’re remembering when you fell in love?”

“They’re always this gross,” Paris said. “You should try camping with them. They went to sleep in separate sleeping bags, yet when I woke up they were in the same one.”

“Oh, man, you didn’t do it with Paris sleeping a few feet away, did you?” Kelsey looked horrified by the prospect.

“I miss the days when it was just you and me, Zoe,” Aric said, briefly resting his forehead against mine. “It’s a lot more fun to grope when we don’t have an audience.”

“Sick, sick, sick,” Kelsey said, wrinkling her nose as she turned her gaze back to Mark. “Is it just me, or does it look like he’s sweating?”

Aric reluctantly pulled his head back and studied Mark. “He looks like he’s sweating. Good. I hope he’s dehydrated by the time he gets out here.”

“How did your meeting with the president go?” I asked. “Are we going to own a building here by the end of the week?”

“We are,” Aric said, grinning widely enough that I knew he was about to say something snarky. “We’re going to start the Zoe Lake Finishing School for Young Women. No boy will be safe after our students finish their course load.”

“Ha, ha,” I said. Although … . “I would be a great headmistress for a finishing school. Can we really do that?”

Aric snorted. “No. I did make sure that the president was aware we were back purely for nostalgic reasons. I also told him I would like a breakdown on what the school has planned for the next five years so we could help fund a program.”

“Are you really going to do that?” I asked. “That could mean a lot of money.”

“I have no interest in giving this place money,” Aric replied. “I do want the president on our side because he thinks we’re going to give him money, though. I figure it’s going to take him at least two days to scrounge up everything I asked for and then we’ll need a few more days to make a decision. That gives us time to operate without him breathing down our necks.”

“It also will make him less likely to side with Mark when he inevitably files a complaint against us,” I surmised.

“Exactly, my little genius.” Aric tweaked my nose and chuckled when Paris and Kelsey groaned in unison. “I also told him we’re interested in giving the public safety department an endowment for better equipment.”

“That means the campus cops won’t arrest us,” I said. “Have you ever considered that you’re a genius?”

“Every day,” Aric said, lazily tracing a pattern as he rubbed the back of my neck. “How much longer does this class have?”

“About a half hour,” Paris replied. “Mark is at his wit’s end. He might end it early.”

“There’s no way he’ll do that,” Kelsey argued. “He’s going to drag this out until the bitter end.”

“Maybe we should go in,” I suggested. “I’m not shy. I could say I used to have my favorite class in the room and want to look around. I won’t acknowledge I know him.”

“No,” Aric said, shaking his head. “Not yet. I’m not ruling out interrupting a class – mostly because I think you’ll be brilliantly snarky if you do – but I want him to sweat this one out. I want to see what he does when the class ends.”

“What will that prove?” Paris asked.

“If he’s smart – which I’m not sure he is – he will approach us when he leaves the classroom and put on an act for our benefit,” Aric replied. “I expect him to act surprised. He’ll claim that he was nervous when he first saw you because of how things ended and make up a lame excuse.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” I said. “That will relax him. I don’t want him relaxed.”

“I know you don’t,” Aric said. “We’re not doing it for his benefit. I want to see his reaction. I think it will be very telling.”

“What happens if he bolts out of the building?” Kelsey asked.

“Then he’s even more of a coward than we thought,” Aric said. “I think Mark’s biggest problem is control. He wanted to be someone in college. That’s why he joined the Academy in the first place.

“He made poor decision after poor decision when that happened,” he continued. “He got in deeper and deeper until he didn’t have a way out. We gave him a way out and then shoved him in a cell for a year. That made him bitter and determined to plot against us.”

“Are you saying we created the monster?” I asked, knitting my eyebrows. “Doesn’t he have any responsibility in this?”

“He has all the responsibility in this,” Aric clarified. “I’m not talking about reality. I’m talking about the fantasy that he dreamed up in his own head. His mind can’t be a pretty place to live these days. I want to test him to see how fast he recovers. We can embarrass him tomorrow.”

“Fine,” I said, blowing out an exaggerated sigh. “Can I send his papers flying again?”

“Absolutely,” Aric said. “I’m dying to see that.”

After two more flying paper incidents and one bathroom break for Kelsey and her weak bladder, Mark finally dismissed his class – a full two minutes after he was supposed to.

We watched the kids file out, not moving from our spots, and finally Mark emerged. His eyes floated between faces, and then he took a step in our direction. I couldn’t believe it. Aric was right. He was going to pretend nothing was wrong.

By the time Mark stood in front of us I could see the beads of sweat forming on his brow. His shirt was soaked through at the armpits, and his face was flushed. “Um … hi.”

“Um, hi?” I was flabbergasted.

Aric tightened his grip on the back of my neck. “Hello, Mark,” he said. “It’s been a long time.”

“It’s definitely been a long time,” Mark said, his eyes furtive as he glanced up and down the hallway. Because it was lunchtime, the building emptied in a hurry. The students who remained seemed lost in their own little worlds. “What brings you back to Covenant College?”

“We’re here for a visit,” Aric replied smoothly, taking control of the conversation without missing a beat. “We wanted to see the old stomping grounds and reminisce.”

“I see,” Mark said, licking his lips. “Have you been having a good time?”

“We’ve been having a great time,” Aric enthused, flexing his acting muscles with each word and expression. I had to give him credit. If I didn’t know him better I would believe the show he was putting on for Mark’s benefit. “We’ve only been here one day, but it’s been great to see all the places where we used to hang out.”

“I’m glad you’re having a good time,” Mark said. “I am surprised to see you here, quite frankly. I would think this is the last place you would want to visit after everything that happened.”

“We could say the same about you,” Paris said.

“I was offered a job about a year ago and it was a step up in pay,” Mark said. “Because this place had been cleaned out and the bad element is gone, I didn’t see the harm in returning.”

That was rich given the fact that he was the new bad element. “So they offered you a job you didn’t apply for?” I asked. That didn’t sound likely.

“I applied for a job at a college. The ad didn’t specify which college,” Mark said. “I didn’t realize it was Covenant College until they scheduled an interview. I gave it a lot of thought, but I really didn’t see the harm in returning.”

That sounded – and smelled – like a huge mound of crap.

“I don’t see the harm either,” Aric said. “I think it’s a great idea.”

“You do?” Mark asked, his face registering surprise.

“Yeah, you do?” I had no idea what game Aric was playing, but I was beginning to tire of it.

“Of course,” Aric said. “You graduated from here. Of course you would want to return to what’s familiar. That’s why we’re here. We’re considering donating a building.”

Mark’s eyebrows leapt. “An entire building? I didn’t realize you had the money for that.”

“My family has quite a bit of money,” Aric said. “I’ve added to it since graduation. So has Zoe. We’re doing quite well for ourselves.”

Huh. I knew Aric was trying to intimidate Mark, but the manner in which he was doing it baffled me.

“Have you met with the president about this?” Mark asked.

Ah, there it was. Things slid into place. Aric wanted Mark to know he’d already cut off certain avenues of complaint should they arise.

“I have,” Aric confirmed. “We had a great meeting this morning, and he looks forward to several more meetings. He’s thrilled with the amount of money I’m going to be floating his way. That’s on top of an endowment for the public safety department, of course.”

“Of course,” Mark echoed, shifting from one foot to the other. “What kind of building are you going to donate?”

“We haven’t decided yet,” Aric replied. “We’re open to suggestions, and the president is thrilled to put a list together for us. He is very excited.”

“I’ll just bet he is,” Mark said, pressing his lips together and breathing so heavily that his nostrils flared. “How long is everyone staying?”

“For the foreseeable future,” Aric answered, slipping his arm around my shoulders and squeezing. “We don’t have to work regular jobs so we have open schedules, and we’re having such a great time we don’t want to leave.”

“Yes, we really look forward to being on campus every day,” I added, relishing the quick burst of anger that flitted across Mark’s face before he regrouped. “We’ll be visiting every nook and cranny while we’re here.”

“I guess that’s great for you guys,” Mark said.

“It definitely is,” Aric agreed, nodding. “What about you? How are things going for you?”

“They’re … fine,” Mark said. “I don’t think I’ll be rich anytime soon, but I enjoy teaching. I like to give back to the kids and help them make good decisions.”

“The kind of decisions you didn’t make while you were here?” Paris challenged.

“Exactly,” Mark confirmed. “I know we have a lot of … hurt feelings … between us, but I hope we can put that behind us. I don’t want trouble. I’m sure you don’t either.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that,” I said, my voice purposely bubbly. “I love trouble.”

“We all love trouble,” Aric said. “As for hurt feelings, I wouldn’t worry about that. We’re all adults. We know better how to handle difficult situations. That’s one of the great things about aging.”

“I don’t know how to handle difficult situations any better,” I volunteered. “I still fly off the handle and act before I think of the ramifications.” I mentally shoved Mark’s papers around for good measure, smirking when three of them flew up.

Aric plucked one of the floating sheets out of the air and handed it to a visibly shaken Mark. “No one is going to make the same mistakes a second time,” he said, his voice low. “You can be assured of that.”

“I … don’t know what you want,” Mark said, licking his lips. “I haven’t done anything. I’ve kept my nose out of trouble as I promised your father. If you’re here to torture me … .”

“We’re not here to torture you, Mark,” Aric said. “We’re here to make sure justice is served.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“You will,” Aric said, directing me toward the exit. “We’ll be seeing you around.”

“You can count on that,” I called over my shoulder, exploding the papers into a sea of confetti for good measure as we strolled out of the building.

Okay, that was more fun than I thought it would be.

“
W
ell that was fun
,” I said once we were outside the building. “Let’s go back and do it again.”

“Let’s leave him to stew about it for a little bit,” Aric countered. “I suggest we go to the University Center and get some lunch. It’s summer, so the classes aren’t as full, which means the University Center won’t be overflowing. We should be able to get a table on the patio. My father sent some files on Mark and I want to go through them.”

“Oh, good. I’m back at Covenant College for all of twenty-four hours and I already have homework,” I deadpanned.

“That’s what happens when you’re a genius,” Aric said, tweaking my nose. “Mark has another class this afternoon. I think it might be fun if we pop by when it’s getting out. We’ll act as if it’s a total accident.”

“You’re getting into this,” I said.

“It is fun messing with him,” Aric admitted. “I want to do more than that, though.”

Once we settled on the patio with our lunches, Aric spread the files his father sent on the table.

“What are we looking at here?” Kelsey asked, poking at her salad. She’s already thin, so I don’t know why she insists on eating diet food. The only time I eat salad is if I can’t button my pants.

“We’re looking at a lot of different things,” Aric answered. “This file includes Mark’s background from the time before he attended Covenant College and the four years since he’s been free.

“My father has a team going through it, too, but I thought there might be something in here that we might catch because we know him,” he continued. “Who wants what?”

“I want some of your French fries,” I said, reaching over to his plate and frowning when he smacked my fingers.

“I told you to get your own fries if you wanted them,” Aric argued. “Why do you have to take mine?”

“Because the calories don’t count if you order them,” I replied. “If I order them I’ll get fat.”

Aric snorted. “You could talk a drowning man out of a boat ride, I swear,” he muttered, although he leaned back so I could steal more of his fries. “If you eat too many of them I’m going to order another round and then you’ll still be eating all the calories.”

“Are you insinuating I’m fat?” I narrowed my eyes.

“You do that on purpose, and we both know it,” Aric said, waving a fry in my face before biting into it. “Holy crap! These are as good as I remember.”

“That’s one thing about college that never changes. They know how to make the best junk food,” I said, reaching for a sheet of paper on top of a file. It was Mark’s birth certificate. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to help us. Knowing what hospital he was born in doesn’t do much for us.”

“It does do something,” Aric said, snatching the birth certificate. “It gives us his Social Security number so we can run a credit check.”

“What will that give us?”

“Even if he’s buying stuff under a different name – or renting property, perhaps – then he’ll have to secure credit through his Social Security number,” Aric explained.

“Oh, you’re smart.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Aric said, grabbing a fry and shoving it in my mouth.

“You know you just rewarded her like a dog, right?” Paris asked. “She complimented you, and you basically said ‘good girl’ and gave her a treat. The only thing missing is a wagging tail.”

I scowled. “You’re just full of yourself today,” I muttered. “First that crack about being Mrs. Aric Winters and now this.”

“What crack about being Mrs. Aric Winters?” Aric asked, his interest piqued.

“We were messing with her,” Kelsey said. “It wasn’t an actual dig. We were trying to convince her to hide on either side of Mark’s door and knee him in the groin when he left his classroom.”

“She didn’t want to do that because you told her to behave,” Paris added. “We teased her about getting a ring on her finger. We knew it would get under her skin.”

Aric glanced at me, his face unreadable. “Are you taking my name?”

I balked. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it yet.”

“You guys haven’t talked about it yet?” Kelsey was surprised. “Why not?”

“It hasn’t come up,” I said, my cheeks burning under the scrutiny. In truth, I’d never considered changing my last name. I didn’t want to lose who I was. I didn’t know how to tell Aric that, though. I knew he would be hurt and offended.

“I don’t see why it’s a big deal,” Paris offered. “Your parents made up their last name when they decided to become human. It’s not like you’re part of some long line of Lakes.”

“I know,” I said. “I just … we’ll talk about it later.”

“I don’t think you should change your name,” Aric said, causing my heart to flip.

“What? Are you saying you don’t want to marry me now?”

“No, and stop asking me stupid questions like that,” Aric chided. “I’m saying that if you do change your name I think it should be hyphenated at best. You know … Zoe Lake-Winters.”

“But … why?” I couldn’t help but wonder whether I was missing something. “I thought for sure you would want me to take your last name.”

“Part of me does,” Aric admitted. “The other part of me – the more practical side – knows that Zoe Lake scares the crap out of people. No one knows who Zoe Winters is.”

“Oh,” I said, realization dawning. “You want me to keep my name so people are afraid of me.”

“If you want to legally change your name to Winters but still introduce yourself as Zoe Lake when it’s appropriate, I’m fine with that,” Aric clarified. “I want you to be happy. More than that, though, I need you to be safe. I’m not sure anyone is going to be frightened of the name Zoe Winters. Zoe Lake is the stuff of nightmares.”

I jerked my eyes up, ready to be dramatically offended and make sure everyone knew it, and saw he was grinning. “Very funny!”

“Zoe, if you want to take my name I would be honored and a little charmed,” Aric said. “If you choose to keep your name the way it is, though, I completely understand. It’s up to you.”

“Oh, he’s so sweet,” Kelsey said, reaching over and grabbing a French fry from his plate.

“We’re definitely going to need another round of fries,” Aric grumbled. “You guys realize you’re still eating the calories even if you steal the food from my plate, right?”

“He’s grouchy when it comes to food,” Paris said.

“Don’t ever touch his chocolate cake,” I said.

“Ha, ha,” Aric muttered, reaching for another sheet of paper from the file. “Cake does sound good, though.”

“You can get some of that when you get more fries.”

“I can’t wait.”

We lapsed into silence as we looked through the files, everyone happily munching as we conducted our research.

“I found something interesting,” Paris said, knitting her eyebrows as she looked over her section of a file. “This says that Mark graduated from Covenant College a full semester after we did, which would’ve been less than a year after we graduated.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “He probably didn’t get to take his finals because he was in custody. His grades were probably deferred.”

“Yeah, but he was in custody for a full year,” Paris pressed. “How did he manage to pass his finals six months before he was released?”

“Let me see that,” Aric said, reaching for the paper. He wordlessly studied it for a moment and then dug through his pile until he came up with what he wanted. “This is Mark’s employee record from the community college he worked for before he came here. It says that he graduated when we did.”

“What accounts for the change?” Kelsey asked.

“I have no idea,” Aric responded. “I guess it could mean that he lied on his application.”

“Or he lied on his application here,” I suggested.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Paris argued. “Covenant College would have easy access to his transcript. They would know if he was lying. In fact, I’m sure they have some sort of internal computer system that would flag stuff like this.”

“Paris has a point,” Aric said. “Most colleges opt to hire from their own crop of graduates whenever possible. Whoever interviewed Mark would’ve gone through his transcript before they offered him the job. That means his graduation data was fudged.”

“That also means that he planned to come to Covenant College long before he saw the ad and answered it without knowing where he was applying,” I said.

“Very good,” Aric said, grabbing another fry and dropping it in my mouth. Okay, this time I really did feel like a dog being rewarded with a treat.

“Don’t do that again,” I said after I swallowed. “Now all I can picture when you do that is you patting me on the head and saying ‘who’s a good girl.’ It’s freaking me out.”

Aric’s smile was wolfish. “Later I’ll rub your belly until your leg does that twitching thing dogs do when they’re really excited.”

“I’m definitely not taking your name now,” I said.

“Don’t worry. I’ll have a tag made up and put on a collar so everyone knows you belong to me,” Aric said, his attention shifting to another sheet of paper. “I don’t know what this means, but it’s kind of interesting. Two weeks ago, Mark filled out the initial paperwork to add someone to his insurance policy.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning he either has a kid wandering around we don’t know about, or he’s getting married,” Aric replied. “I suppose he could be gay and adding a domestic partner. I don’t want to be judgmental and bigoted.”

“Paris did say he was bad in bed,” I said. “Maybe that’s why.”

“Ha, ha,” Paris said. “Who would be dumb enough to marry him?”

“You were dumb enough to sleep with him again when he was dating our roommate,” I reminded her. “That was after we knew he was potentially evil, by the way. The good news for you is that your really old boyfriend isn’t looking like your worst choice these days.”

Kelsey laughed. “Oh, I missed this,” she said. “Between making fun of Paris’ love life and Aric rewarding Zoe like a dog, this has been a great day.”

“It’s about to get better,” Paris said, flipping the file shut and closing it off to prying eyes.

I glanced over my shoulder, and smirked when I saw Mark making his way onto the patio, tray in hand. He didn’t see us until he was almost on top of us.

“Well look who it is,” Aric said, his voice booming. “How’s it going, Mark?”

“I didn’t realize you guys were eating here,” Mark said, his face draining of color. “I … .”

“Does it matter if we’re eating here?” I asked, forcing my voice to remain neutral when I really wanted to point and scream while setting his pants on fire. “You act as though you’re not happy to see us.”

“Why would I be happy to see you, Zoe? We both know that you hate me and you’re only here to torture me.”

“That’s not true,” I countered. “We’re here because we wanted to see the college after being gone for so long. This is a nostalgia trip, nothing more. Running into you was merely a stroke of luck.”

“Well played, honey,” Aric said under his breath, his gaze trained on the door behind Mark. I focused on it, my eyes taking a moment to adjust under the bright sun. That’s when I noticed two uniformed public safety officers standing on the other side of the tinted glass. They watched to see whether we would go after Mark.

“I don’t want to play games with you,” Mark said, his voice plaintive. “I only want to live my life without looking over my shoulder and worrying something awful is going to happen to me.”

“Why would we do something to you?” I asked. “I mean … we’re happy with our lives and here for a visit. You sound paranoid, Mark. I’m a little concerned.”

Aric pressed his lips together and I was certain he was fighting the urge to laugh.

“I think you guys are here to harass me,” Mark said. “Just … come out and tell me the truth. I think it will be better for all of us if you do.”

“The truth is that Zoe and I were recently engaged,” Aric said. “When we were talking about the wedding, we got to reminiscing about Covenant College. She mentioned wanting to come back, so we called Paris and Kelsey and invited them on the trip.” “We were excited to come,” Kelsey said, employing a breathy voice I’d never heard her use unless she was making fun of sorority girls. “We wanted to share in Aric and Zoe’s love. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Now I was trying not to laugh.

“We had no idea you were still here,” Paris said, widening her eyes to a point where she looked like a cartoon character. “We were shocked when we saw you. It was nice to see you, don’t get me wrong. I love catching up with old friends. You look a little wiped out, though. You might want to rest before you pass out.”

“Frankly, I’m worried, too,” I said. “You don’t look well. Do you need me to get you a bottle of water?”

“I know what you’re doing,” Mark hissed, gripping his tray so tightly his knuckles whitened. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing.”

“We’re having lunch,” Aric said, pushing himself to his feet. He was only about two inches taller than Mark, but the difference in muscle mass was astounding. “With that in mind … ladies, who wants more fries?”

“I do,” I said. “Get some chocolate cake, too.”

“Your wish is my command.”