Resistance (The Variant Series #2) (32 page)

“Goodnight, Cass.”

Cassie shut the door behind them and Alex was once more left alone with her thoughts.

—25 —

D
eclan wasn’t in class the next morning.

In fact—according to Kenzie—he never even made it
home
the night of the party.

Apparently, Jessica drove off from McRae’s, took Declan against his will to the nearest strip of shoreline, ordered him to
sleep
, and left him there.

He woke up that morning with the rising tide swallowing his boots, dazed and confused and—also according to Kenzie—angry as hell at Jessica for what she’d done to him.

Or so he claimed.

When Declan finally arrived at school—two hours late and halfway into English—Alex refused to even meet his eye.

By that point her tears had long since dried.

She still didn’t know for sure if Declan had been acting of his own will the night before. And the heartbreaking possibility that Declan might have
fought
Jessica’s control over him but had chosen
not to
left Alex beyond furious.

So when Declan immediately knelt down beside her desk and attempted an apology, she cut him off before he could say more than a few words.

“I don’t care, Declan,” she whispered, trying hard to keep their conversation from being overheard by the rest of the class.

Most of the nearby students had switched their attention from the projection of
Much Ado About Nothing
on the whiteboard, to the far more gossip-worthy scene unfolding at the back of the class.

Alex kept her gaze forward. “Maybe you had a choice in what happened last night and maybe you didn’t, but right now,
I really don’t care
. And this sure as
crap
isn’t the right place for us to discuss it. So sit down, shut up, and do your job, Declan. ’Cause I don’t want to hear it.”

Across the aisle, Terrance Wilkins smiled, bringing his knuckles to his mouth as he whispered, “Daaaammmn, girl. Tell ’im.”

Alex rolled her eyes.

She spent the rest of the day studiously ignoring Declan’s attempts to clear the air and made it a point never to find herself alone with him. Eventually, he accepted that she wasn’t ready to hear him out and by the end of the day he’d given up trying.

The next day, Friday, was a repeat of the day before except that it was a half-day and their last day of classes for the school year. Summer vacation had finally arrived.

Friday was also Aunt Cil’s long awaited opening gala at the Red Corner Gallery to unveil the collection of her most recent work.

The evening had been moved up in part to attract a bigger, weekend crowd, and also to get it out of the way before Alex’s test with the Agency.

Two more days.

That’s all that was standing between Alex and the most important test of her life so far.

But, you know…
no pressure
.

Alex chewed distractedly at her thumbnail before Cassie elbowed her in the side and she was forced to drop her hand.

“How much longer until it’s safe to leave, you think?” asked Kenzie.

Cassie crossed her arms and leaned back against the exposed brick wall. “I don’t know, but if I have to listen to one more pearl-clutching socialite give their horrifically ignorant two cents about Cil’s artwork, I’m going to flippin’ lose it.”

An odd collection of local artists mingled amidst Bay View’s social elite, gathering in small groups around pedestals and wall hangings, either openly admiring or quietly dismissing Cecilia Cross’s work. Soft lighting and strategically placed red spotlights lit the large room, casting strange shadows on everyone present. The “black tie optional” dress code meant nearly everyone present was dressed to the nines.

Which was great, for the
guys
.

For the girls stuck wearing heels all night? Not so much.

“At least a little while longer. This thing’s supposed to last until eleven, and I don’t want to hurt Aunt Cil’s feelings by leaving too early.” Alex slipped her cell from her purse and checked the time.

8:30.

There was also another missed call from Declan. Frowning, Alex slid the phone back into the black clutch without checking her messages.

Alex skipped out on training earlier—using the opening gala as a handy excuse—and spent the rest of her evening distracting herself by helping her aunt prepare, and by refusing to open Declan’s texts.

Beside her, Kenzie let out a long suffering sigh. She swished the water around the bottom of her cup with a frown. “Do you think anyone would notice if I traded this water out for something more interesting?”

Alex regarded her friend, then eyed the unmanned refreshments table on the other side of the room.

Cassie shrugged. “While I’m pretty sure all of the adults present are currently too drunk on their own self-importance to notice you pulling a Jesus and changing your water to wine, you kind of have to ask yourself if the alcohol content in that swill is even
remotely
high enough to make this shindig interesting.”

“Good point,” said Kenzie. “Probably not.”

She downed the rest of her water and tossed the cup in a nearby bin.

The three girls had been standing in the same corner of the gallery for the last thirty minutes, having already spent the previous forty-five admiring Cil’s artwork and mingling with the majority of the bigwigs in the coastal area’s art scene.

The unveiling had drawn quite a crowd, and Alex’s aunt was being pulled from one circle of guests to the next, talking and answering questions about her work.

Alex was starting to wonder if her aunt would even notice, should the girls decide to slip out a little early.

Currently, Cil was smiling awkwardly up at a lithe woman with a hawkish nose and close cropped gray hair. The woman was waving her wine glass about in the air as she spoke, while her other arm wrapped around her waif-like waist. Her nose was tilted upward, so that she might better look down upon Cil.

Judging from Cil’s pinched expression, Alex’s aunt would probably be just as happy to sneak away a little early, herself.

“Oh, hey,” said Kenzie, her attention shifting to the gallery’s front entrance. “Looks like the boss made it after all.”

Sure enough, the lanky form of John Grayson stood just inside the main doors, dashing as ever in a black suit that probably cost more than Alex’s jeep.

“Ohh,
nice threads
, Mr. G,” Cassie greeted as Grayson approached their little group.

“Very dapper,” said Alex.

“He’s just so
fancy
,” added Kenzie, smiling wryly.

“Thank you, girls. You’re all looking lovely as well.” Grayson adjusted one of his cufflinks while his eyes quickly scanned the room. “Alex, would you mind pointing me in the direction of your aunt?”

She gestured toward the frightening waif obstructing their view of Cil.

“Thank you,” said Grayson.

He started off in Cil’s direction and then politely separated her from the intimidating woman and her disinterested husband.

They worked their way discreetly toward the outskirts of the crowd, Grayson whispering something into Cil’s ear as they walked.

A few steps from the quiet corner that appeared to be their destination, Cil came up short. For a moment, she just
stood there
, in the midst of the crowd, staring dumbly up at Grayson.

“
What
?” Cil choked out, her strained voice carrying clearly over the quiet conversation of the gallery patrons. She then turned and fixed her gaze directly on Alex.

Uh-oh.

What had Grayson just told her?

Placing a hand at the small of Cil’s back, Grayson ushered her the last few feet toward the corner.

“What was all that about?” asked Cassie.

Apparently, Alex wasn’t the only one observing their strange interaction.

In a quiet voice, Alex asked, “You don’t think Grayson found out about last night, do you?”

She hadn’t told Aunt Cil about what had happened with Declan yet.

Or
about what Jessica might be capable of.

Her aunt was going to hit the
roof
when she found out that Jessica Huffman was a potential Variant. Cil already despised the girl and her mother, Trina Huffman, who sat on the town council and often enjoyed tormenting Cil as much as her daughter enjoyed tormenting Alex.

The revelation would only be adding fuel to the fire.

“I doubt it,” said Kenzie. “At least, I don’t
think
anyone would have said anything to him yet.”

Across the room, Cil and Grayson appeared to be having an argument. They were trying not to be obvious about it, but Alex could read the frustration and anger in the odd way her Aunt held her mouth as she listened to Grayson’s words.

Every so often, Cil sent a worried glance toward Alex before looking quickly away.

“Hello, Alex.”

Alex whipped around to find Connor standing just behind her, dressed in a smart black suit with a skinny black tie, his hair slicked back and his hands in his pockets.

In all the time she’d known him, she had never—
ever
—seen Connor wear a suit.

He looked…
good
.

“Connor! I—I didn’t expect to see you here,” she managed.

He shrugged and smiled. “Wanted to support your Aunt Cil. This is a pretty big accomplishment for her. You must be proud.”

And she
was
proud.

Although, currently, she was mostly just confused as to why her ex was standing before her in a nice suit at the absolute last place on Earth she’d expected to run into him.

“Hey, Kenzie, Cass,” he said.

Cassie and Kenzie only stared back at him, their expressions impassive.

Alex fixed Connor with a smile in an attempt to compensate for their sudden loss of manners. “Thanks for coming, Connor. I’m sure Aunt Cil appreciates the support.”

“Hey, Toad-face.” Cassie’s reluctant greeting was anything but sweet. “Shouldn’t you be off enjoying a night of debauchery at the Senior Campout instead of creeping on my girl again? What, was Jessica not there for you to fool around with?”

Connor’s smile vanished.

“O-
kay
!” said Kenzie. “And on that note, I think it’s time for us to call it a night. We should go say bye to Cil. Come with me, Cassie.”

Kenzie snagged Cassie by the arm and dragged her forcefully across the room before the blonde could say anything more.

Alex turned awkwardly back toward Connor. “I’m sorry. Cassie’s just a little…
tense
lately.”

“You know what? It’s okay,” said Connor. “She’s just being a good friend.”

The girls had reached Cil and Grayson in the far corner. Kenzie’s congratulatory comments seemed to have been interrupted mid-sentence by Grayson. Whatever it was he was saying had caused the entire group to send a worried look her way.

What was going on?

“Is something wrong, Alex?” asked Connor, following her distracted gaze. He took a step closer and ducked his head nearer to hers. “You know you can always come to me, right? If you need to talk?”

“Thanks, Connor, I—”

You need to hear this, Alex,
Kenzie projected.

“I appreciate it,” she finished. “Thanks again for coming. I’ve got to go see what’s going on… But I’ll catch you later, okay?”

“Of course.” Connor smiled. “I’ll be seeing you.”

When Alex reached the group, Cassie slipped an arm around her shoulders.

“We’re having a sleepover at your place, Alex,” Kenzie announced.

Alex looked nervously between the members of their group. “Uh. Not that I’m not thrilled to have you two over, but…
why
?”

Grayson cleared his throat. “It might be best if you weren’t left
alone
for the time being.”

“What? Why?”

Cil hugged herself around the middle as she slowly scanned the faces in the crowd around them. “Earlier today, Masterson was spotted in Bay View,” she said. “He’s back, Lee-Lee.”

“Masterson’s in Bay View?” Alex followed her aunt’s lead and began scanning the faces of everyone nearby.

He’d promised to return for
good
, just as soon as Alex’s school let out for the summer. Looks like he was planning to keep his promise.

With the way Masterson could mimic other people, he could literally be
anyone
. No wonder Aunt Cil couldn’t take her eyes off the crowd around them.

What if Masterson was
here,
masquerading as one of the guests, and they didn’t even know it?

A chill rippled across the back of her neck. What if she’d spoken to him when she was making the rounds of the gallery and not realized it?

Something tugged at her memory.

“Hey, Alex
.”

Connor had called her Alex not once, but
twice
.

He hadn’t called her anything but Lexie since the day they met.

And, okay, there was always the chance that dropping the nickname was just a reflection of the growing distance between them, but… what if?

Across the room, Connor stood admiring a tall, twisted cement and tile sculpture that had been placed upon a low pedestal. He was smiling and speaking cordially with the owner of one of the other downtown galleries.

Nothing strange there. Connor always did have a knack for charming adults.

She reached out to locate his thought signature amongst the crowd before realizing that she couldn’t. She’d let the ability fade out the day before, and never got around to refreshing it.

“I don’t want you to worry, Alex,” Grayson was saying. “We already knew that Samuel must have been keeping an eye on you
somehow
. It was simply a fortunate fluke that he was caught on camera earlier today. Confirming his presence here in Bay View doesn’t change anything.”

“Oh,
bull
,” said Cil.

Grayson looked to be at the edge of his patience. This must have been what they were arguing about earlier.