Tribe (Tribe 1) (10 page)
Authors: Audrina Cole
“I’m supposed to stop you,” I whispered as I pulled back.
“Who said that?” he whispered, his lips still an inch from mine.
“You did,” I giggled.
“I’m an idiot, don’t listen to me.”
I giggled again, looking down, trying to break the magic spell that his eyes cast on me.
He tilted my chin up, forcing me to gaze at him again. “Can’t you see how foolish you were? Thinking I could ever notice another girl? You consume my every thought. You fill my mind, and there’s no room left for anyone or anything else. Do you understand me now?”
I nodded, losing myself in those mesmerizing eyes. I understood, because I felt the exact same way about him. And I knew I never needed to worry about anyone coming between us.
T
he call came
late Monday afternoon, and as soon as I answered, I knew something was wrong. Usually, I need to be near a person to sense their emotions. But in times of high emotion, I can sense it over distance, particularly if I’m bonded in some way to that person.
Alex’s voice was higher than usual, his speech clipped. He’d called from a number I didn’t recognize, and said I needed to meet him in the park where I took him the first day I’d come to his house. He wouldn’t say what it was about, and told me not to go to his house, because he was already at the park.
I thought that was odd, and I worried the whole way there. Was the cancer back? Why couldn’t we meet at his house? My mom didn’t know we were seeing each other, but his mom did. Why were we meeting there?
My stomach was in knots by the time I got there. I saw him sitting on top of the same picnic table, his feet resting on the bench. He stood when I drove up, but waited for me to come to him. I could feel his worry and fear before I even got out of the car. As I approached him on rubbery legs, I felt weaker with each step.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked before I even reached him.
He shook his head and didn’t say a word until I was beside him. “Sit down,” he ordered. He sat across from me, glancing around as he did.
“You’re freaking me out.”
“I’m sorry, but I had to be careful. Dad took the car to work, so I couldn’t come to you. I called you from the pay phone across the park, so no one could listen in on the call or get your number from my phone records. But I’m worried—I’ve called you dozens of times in the last month, so it may be too late to keep them from tracking you down.”
“What do you mean?” I could feel my voice rising. “Tell me what the hell is going on?” His cloak-and-dagger attitude set off alarm bells in my head.
“Ember, I got a call today. Mom was out, and I was on my way out the door, to go to work. It was from some doctor from Sacred Heart…”
“No!” My gut twisted as I realized where this was going.
“…he’s some bigwig from a hospital out in Maryland, and he’s here to teach a surgical technique to doctors at Sacred Heart. He says he heard about me from one of the staff, and he took a look at my records and scans—”
“Can he do that?”
“Apparently so, if the doctor on the case considers it to be some kind of consultation—I asked him the same thing, and he said it’s in the papers my parents signed at the hospital.”
I groaned. “Why was he calling you?” Between Alex’s anxiety and my own, stomach heaved, wanting to revolt.
“He wanted to talk to me about my ‘miraculous’ recovery. I tried to blow him off, but he was really insistent. I couldn’t get him off the phone, until I told him that my mom wanted me to take a nap, so that I didn’t jeopardize my recovery. But he wants to come by the house—”
“No!” I squeaked. He shushed me, and I lowered my voice, glancing over at two women pushing baby strollers nearby. “Alex, you can’t let him—”
“You think I don’t know that? He sees me now, he’ll
know
something is up. But this guy, he’s the real curious type. I don’t know how to get rid of him.”
“What if you just say that it’s a miracle, and leave it at that? Your mom will back you up—she already thinks your recovery is a gift from God.”
“I thought about that. But what if he just decides to show up at my house? Look at me!” He held his arms out, to indicate his physique. “This is more than a miraculous recovery. Hell, this is more than even steroids and serious workouts could do—it’s only been a month since I was sick in a wheelchair.”
“I know,” I whispered. “I wish I could explain it. I’ve never even heard of such a thing happening.” I didn’t want to mention it, but I’d noticed that more than just his body was changing. Every emotion he experienced was heightened, and more than once I’d noticed him holding back surges of anger, whenever someone cut us off in traffic.
And then there were the many times I felt him restraining his passion for me.
Alex folded his well-muscled arms over his chest. “I’m a walking medical mystery. If that doctor gets one look at me, he won’t stop searching until he finds answers. I gotta tell you, I’m really worried.”
I covered my mouth, swallowing against the bile that rose in my throat. I’d done it. Everything my mother had warned me about. I’d put our whole family in jeopardy. I had to warn them.
“Say something, Ember.”
I stood, walking away from the picnic table, walking away from Alex.
What do I do?
If I don’t tell my parents, the whole family could be rounded up before we could even think of fleeing. But if I tell them the truth…
I cast a glance back at Alex, feeling his anxiety grow, as I tried to quell my own rising fear.
Every Healer family had a plan in place, if they felt discovery was imminent. If I told my parents, I knew too well what my family would have to do.
Disappear from our lives, never to be seen again.
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