Halflings (27 page)

Eyes wide, Nikki stammered. “Uh, thanks. Am I your … mission?”

Vegan took a delicate step closer. “The details of our journey are yet unclear. But we know it is the will of the Throne to protect you.”

Vegan pulled an amulet from her throat with graceful fingers. Her skin was flawless as perfect silk and every movement its own song. All three girls wore gold bands on their wrists. “I would like you to take this.” Vegan held the necklace to her.

Nikki reached, and the pearly amulet fell into her grasp.

“If you place your lips to it and blow, it will sound an alarm only we” — she gestured to the two beside her — “can hear.” Gold eyes shot into her. “We will come to your aid, Nicole. If ever you have need.”

“Thank you,” Nikki said.

“This is Glimmer,” Vegan said as she pointed to the one who’d flirted with Mace. “And this is Winter.”

Nikki dropped the necklace into her left hand when Winter reached to shake her right. Clasping her tightly, Nikki threw a quick look to their interlocked fingers. “You’re cold,” she said before she could stop herself. “I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”

Winter’s face broke into a smile. “It’s okay. I am.” She shrugged and Nikki warmed.
Icy skin, warm heart.

Winter stepped back. “I discovered long ago it’s best not to question the gifts we’ve been given, but instead strive to use them.”

When Nikki struggled to connect the necklace around her throat, Vegan gestured to Glimmer to help her.

“I think she can do it herself,” Glimmer mumbled, crossing her arms and again cocking that perfectly arched brow. Her streaked, light-brown hair bobbed on her shoulder.

“Play nice,” Vegan warned.

Glimmer rolled her eyes on the exhale and stepped to Nikki. Reaching around her neck, she nodded toward Mace. “The one in the middle is really cute,” she said, just loud enough for Nikki to her.

A slow burn started at Nikki’s head, snaked down her torso, and pooled at her feet. Only through complete concentration did she clamp her mouth shut.
Yes, and he seems to be equally intrigued with you.
She swallowed the angry grunt in her throat.

Will cut the silence. “You were saying you know about Omega Corporation?”

Vegan nodded. “Genetics. The worst kind,” she said, exhaling deeply. Her face struck a saddening pose, and the flowers in the yard seemed to mourn with her.

“But the lab was destroyed,” Vine said.

“Only one. They have many. The one struck by fire was more of an outpost than a full lab. The scientists who perished within rarely used that facility. We have learned they have a main lab about sixty miles from here. Difficult to get to, and most of it is underground.”

“Why the fire?” Will asked, brow furrowed.

“To throw off suspicion. And, sadly, to eliminate the scientists they no longer need or want,” Vegan said.

“Suspicion of what?”

“INTERPOL received an anonymous tip and started
trying
to monitor their activity,” Winter said.

Nikki spoke up. “Why wouldn’t they have killed Dr. Richmond?” As soon as she said this, she felt the weight of several stares. “Um, Dr. Richmond just told me that he used to work for Omega Corporation. He quit because he didn’t morally agree with the direction of the company. He said he used to have horses.”

“Yes,” Vegan agreed. “They have been doing genetic testing and alterations on horses for the better part of two decades.”

“Horses?” Will asked. “Why?”

Vegan shook her head. “We don’t know yet.” As she furrowed her brow in thought, gold sparked in the depths of her gaze. “Maybe Richmond has information they need. Maybe he’s still tinkering with genetics on his own. If he was close to a breakthrough of some kind, they’d want to let him live, continue his research on his own. After all, they can kill him at will.”

Raven stepped forward, hands sliding from his pockets and balling into fists. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Glimmer’s attention drifted to Raven and stayed.
Why does that bother me too?

“What are genetic alterations?” Nikki asked, forcing the thought of half-horse, half-monkey images from her mind.

“They enhance their performance. The animals are bigger, stronger, more violent. The horses are housed in a facility adjacent to the laboratory. It’s covered with camouflage to discourage unwanted eyes. We’ve seen these animals, they are massive.”

Mace grinned. “Like Clydesdales on steroids?”

Glimmer laughed a little too quickly.

Vegan shot a glance at the girl, then nodded. “Exactly.”

Winter stepped closer to Nikki. “The fence surrounding the facility is like something you’d find in some maximum-security prison. They don’t want those animals escaping.”

“Human testing as well?” Will asked.

“We think so, but no Halflings, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Glimmer inserted. “At least as far as we know.”

Will crossed the deck and rested his massive hands on the rail. His gaze trailed the yard and forest beyond. “But all the signs point in that direction, don’t they?”

Vegan sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. But I don’t think they have a Halfling specimen.” She linked eyes with Will. “I really don’t.”

Will cast a glance over his shoulder and smiled at her. “How do you know that? Your gut?”

She nodded.

His grin faded. “No Halflings. Maybe they’re just waiting for the right one to come along?”

A shudder ran the length of Nikki’s back as she watched the group around her shiver at the possibility. Though they’d been sent to protect
her
, an overwhelming urge to protect
them
welled inside.

When her eyes landed on Glimmer, she saddened. All of the previous jealousy dissipated, replaced by an intense conviction to help these beings. Glimmer — complete with sparkling wings and a golden-brown bob — visibly quaked with fear.

Indignation rose in Nikki. Nothing,
absolutely nothing
should be allowed to strike fear in the hearts of these heavenly beings. And in that instant, surrounded by unearthly creatures and with the sun setting in the west, Nikki knew. Protecting them was what she was born to do.

“Are we still going to homecoming?” Mace asked, leaning closer as they strolled the hall toward her first-hour class.

She stopped. “Why wouldn’t we?” Krissy had taken her shopping
again
and made her swear she’d wear the ridiculously shiny homecoming dress they’d found.

“You seemed … upset yesterday when the females arrived.”

She tightened her grip on her science binder when the rush of jealousy resurfaced. “Why? Because you ditched me in the front yard or because you drooled all over yourself when you saw them?” Both really unfair comments between friends.
I should be glad his affections are floating in a different direction.

He sank his hands into his pockets. “Uh, yeah.”

She tipped her shoulder into the air. “Doesn’t matter to me,” she lied. Under her breath, she mumbled. “It’s not like I can compete with that.”

“It’s not a competition, Nikki.”

“Argh! For once could you not have such good hearing?” She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out the side door. “Look, this is a
good
thing. They’re like you.” She had to swallow before continuing. “And I’m not. Friends, remember?” The onset of tears tingled her face, but she fought.

“We keep telling ourselves that.” Sadness overwhelmed his tone. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and … “This stinks! It’s like a twisted Beauty and the Beast story in reverse, isn’t it? And I’m the Beast.”

“I’ve never heard that story.”

She pressed her lips together. “Well, you’re lucky, because it’s a fairy tale. And fairy tales don’t really come true.”
And dragon slayers don’t really exist.

He reached to touch her hand, but she moved.

“This isn’t how I want things to be between us,” he said, stepping closer, and his eyes, those drowning pools of green-blue, saddened even more.

She shrank away. “Well, it’s how it has to be.” She bit her cheek, the memory of yesterday still fresh, like hot lava in her stomach. The females and their perfection, arriving just in time to save her and Mace from themselves. “You’d never seen one before. Did they meet your expectations?”

“They’re not as beautiful as you, Nikki,” Mace whispered.

Her heart disintegrated, but on the outside, she hardened. “Right, because that’s how you acted when you first saw me.” Her anger boiled. “Don’t patronize me, Mace.”

She stormed into the building, leaving him standing alone, but his words drifted to her. Carried by the wind and little more than a whisper, they stopped her blood from flowing.

“No,” he said. “When I saw you, I fell in love.”

Vessler was here again. She smelled his cologne as soon as she entered her house.
Escape to the powder room,
her mind screamed. Powder room. What a girly name. She’d have opted to call it the half bath or downstairs restroom or even … toilet. She stifled a chuckle. But, no. A first floor half bath was a powder room according to Mary Youngblood. The spare bedroom was the guestroom. And when company visited, they were always served first. That’s what she loved about her mom. Sometimes, she wished she was more like her. Maybe if she were more
girly
she’d know how to deal with Mace. If she was more like her mom, maybe she wouldn’t be so terrified of the emerald-green homecoming dress hanging in her
closet. An image of herself tumbling into the decorated gym flew through Nikki’s mind. At least the high-heeled shoes were wedges. Wedges she could wear without tripping over her feet.
Balance, grasshopper.

Laughter drifted to her as she ran a brush through her gnarled mess. Even though she knew she shouldn’t be wasting any more time, Nikki couldn’t help but gaze at her own reflection and sigh, reminded of the Halfling females. Her head fell forward and pressed against the mirror. She still wanted to help them. All of them. But they made her feel so … ugly.

And they could fly. Nikki clamped down on her bottom lip. She’d always wanted to learn to fly. As a child, she’d dreamed of soaring far above the world. Sailing on the breeze, tilting her arms and gliding one direction, then another. Dreams died, she supposed.

Energetic sounds from the kitchen caused her to scowl.
Focus, Nikki. You have bigger things to deal with than pretty, angelic girls and having to wear a stupid dress.
She wondered if, like last time, there’d be that uncomfortable layer of distrust surrounding Damon Vessler and her parents.

As she sat down to dinner, she got her answer. The suspicious concern still drifted back and forth between her parents, but less this time. Of course, her family didn’t have guests often, so maybe her folks were just awkward. Maybe anyone would be received in the same manner. Nikki tried to relax. After all, hadn’t he said last time he was a humanitarian?

“Your father tells me you like motorcycles.”

She nodded.

“Did you notice mine in the garage?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I didn’t go through the garage.” She questioned her parents with a quick look.

“Mr. Vessler is going to leave his bike here for a few days,” her dad said.

Vessler held up a hand. “Please, call me Damon. Mr. Vessler makes me feel old.”

“Anyway, I’m going to drive him to the airport this evening, so his bike will be here until he gets back. Nikki, you might be interested in taking a look at his motorcycle. It’s rather impressive.” He gave her a strained smile. “Why don’t the two of you go check it out after dinner?” her dad added.

This keeps getting weirder.
Weirder still, though Dad seemed calmer, when Nikki offered to help clean up, her mom said no and encouraged her to go have a look at the bike as well. Vessler — er, Damon — held up a hand to usher her through the house. A gold chain twinkled at his wrist. “After you, my lady.”

My lady
. She almost laughed out loud.

Once in the garage, she hit the light.

No.
No way
. Gleaming in the corner of the gargantuan room sat a Ducati Monster S4. She stopped cold and blinked to make sure it wasn’t a mirage. Sleek lines arced perfectly in an
S
pattern on its side. The front and back tires framed glistening spokes while chrome winked enticingly from the engine. Custom paint adorned the gas tank. The midnight-black swirls with pale, silvery ghost flames spilled onto the front and rear fenders, creating a haunting impression.