Fortified (4 page)

“Understandable,” Alan said. “For the time being, stay out of her phone. I'll be by tonight with the list of other places I want you to look into, first. But it's good to have my suspicions confirmed. She's still working with her tribe. I'm not sure what to do about Orlando...”

Gideon sighed. “Maybe we should just tell him she's not better. That she's still bad.”

“I'm not sure he'd believe it,” Alan said. “Or perhaps he will. He's always been the most difficult one of you to read.”

“Telling him she's messing around with another guy isn't going to work. He'll get mad,” Gideon mumbled. “And probably at me for snooping.”

“I know. I'll think on this problem. I've never liked them together. While technically they aren't a couple anymore, I can see they haven't completely severed ties either. Ordering him to end the relationship is outside of my power.” He shook his head. “Knowing him, he might also leave and join with her instead just to spite me. The fact that he isn't choosing to be with her is a small solace. He's clearly still making up his mind over the matter and it'll mean more for him to come to the conclusion on his own. A denial he still has to face.” Alan gave a weak smile. “Thank you for your honesty. The others might not fully welcome you yet, but I do. Give them time. They'll come around.”

“Thanks, I'll see you later tonight.”

“Yes, good day.” Alan bowed and disappeared from sight, no doubt teleporting back to his ship.

For a moment, Angela watched Gideon. He seemed sad as he brushed his messy hair from his eyes.

Nervously, Angela stepped out of the bathroom doorway and approached him. “We need proof if Orlando is ever going to believe you. I mean, she's bad news. It'll only be a matter of time before she finds out he's working for Alan. Then it'll get really ugly because Alan's her boss's ex-fiancé and Tait seriously hates his guts. She'll hurt Orly. A lot. Maybe even...kill him.” The thought sent shivers down her spine. One would think it impossible, but Angela knew for a fact that Tait was capable of murder. She'd already killed a few teens under the guise of euthanasia.
Only those poor kids were healthy until the Doctor got his hands on them. She's nothing more than a pathetic accomplice.

Gideon gazed at her with wide eyes and a slack jaw. “R-right, I mean, you're right. So we gotta keep them broken up.”

“Yes!” Angela loved the idea. “But it has to be something he does on his own. Somehow we have to set him up to see the truth.”

“Alan said to stay out of her stuff, otherwise I'd say we could see when she's meeting this other guy next...” He tapped his chin with his index finger. “But I didn't promise to stay out of the guy's phone! I got his number.”

“We can find him!”

“And bring them both down!”

Angela held up her hand. “I think we need to high-five this. Don't deny me, now.”

Gideon clapped his hand against hers, smirking. “Just this one time. High fiving is not cool anymore.”

“JD says it'll never go out of style, but you might be right.” The smile on her face softened. “For now, we'll keep this between us. We can let Alan in on the plan later.”

“Good idea. Don't need to give the others any more reasons to hate me,” he mumbled. “Maybe I should have told him that Sprout is meeting with one of my old friends soon too. But that might not mean anything so…”

“We'll let that one go for now. And no one hates you,” she insisted. “But we don't know if we'll find anything, so better to not get anyone worked up over what could potentially be nothing.”

“Cool! I should go,” he said. “So should you. JD is looking kind of...impatient.”

She gazed out the store window and saw her brother peering in, glaring at her. Rolling her eyes, she adjusted her purse. “Yeah, he's never been good at waiting.”

“Thanks for believing me.”

Angela waved as she headed toward the door. “Of course. It's the right thing to do. They need to stay away from each other.”
And not because I like him. I'm doing this for Orlando's safety.
At least, that was the lie she told herself.

“
Y
ou can come
over and ‘study'.”
Orlando read the text from Tait, again. He didn't particularly like the idea of being alone in her room. Okay, part of him liked the idea. The irrational hormonal part of him. His heart didn't feel into it. Actually, it hadn't been fully devoted to her for a long time. Loved her, yes, he loved her. In a way that was a little more than platonic, but not destined for eternity. From the moment they first met, they'd connected on a level that was a lot more mature and deep than he'd experienced before. There had been so much potential between them. Orlando wasn't the type to believe young love lasted, but with her he'd entertained the possibility of things going…somewhere. The day he found out who she worked for and what she really believed was the day his heart got crushed.

She made the choice to put her dark work before her relationship with him. They broke up. That should have been the end of their story. He had no desire to date someone who would knowingly hurt others, who would go against their own planet. Talk about an ultimate betrayal. How could he be with someone who was unable to stand up for the right thing? On the other hand, he didn't know the whole story. What kind of ultimatum had she been given? Did she ever have a choice in the matter? A lot of other teens working for her boss didn't get the privilege so why assume she did too?

When Alan started rehabilitating the teen victims of her tribe, a spark of hope ignited inside of Orlando. If she didn't remember the things she'd done, if she no longer was backed into a corner where she felt forced into her actions, could he hold all of them against her? Was it fair to condemn her for acting out of self-preservation? With the war no longer between them, wasn't it fair to give her a real chance?

It seemed like the right thing to do, though. Kind of. He felt like he should, at the very least, forgive her. Didn't forgiveness mean looking past the wrong doing and giving the relationship another try?
Or maybe I have a hard time letting go. Maybe I'm tired of all the good things I have getting ripped away from me and going sour. It'd be nice if I could reconcile something in my life. Save one thing from being destroyed. Can't I at least have one thing go right for me?

In the process of trying to rescue Tait, he knew he was demolishing all of the good things going on with Angela. When he didn't think about Angela, he could justify everything between him and Tait, easily. Once his mind started wandering toward
that
girl, he only felt guilt. Because while things with him and Tait were good, things with Angela were
awesome
. It didn't help he'd kissed her...right before her memory got wiped, of all times. A kiss he couldn't get out of his head. It was nothing like what he experienced with Tait. With Angela there was so much more fire, passion, and dare he think it, desire. He longed for her, which said a lot since the thought of being physical with Tait often turned his stomach into knots for some reason. Not Angela; she had him wanting a deeper emotional connection.

He knew he was the worst person on the planet for pulling a stunt like kissing and hiding. Even more so because she couldn't remember that it happened.
Biggest mistake ever. I need to tell her, but she's going to be mad. Then JD is going to murder me because I made her mad. After she murders me. I'll be double dead because he'll kill me again for kissing her. I'm sure Alan and Cadence will triple and quadruple it just for good measure.

Putting his phone away, he decided to pretend he didn't get Tait's text.
I'm not sure what to think about her. Starting slow and working toward more is better, or so I'm told. Mind and heart don't seem to agree. With how strongly Tait is coming onto me right now, it's probably a bad idea to go spend time with her until I'm sure, I know that much.

Tait, he was pretty sure, wanted to get him into her bed. Seeing as how it would be his first time, it wasn't a decision he was going to make lightly. The idea made him nauseous, which was a good enough sign to stay far, far, away.
Nerves, but it's also too soon. Way too soon. I'm going to have to tell her to back off. Again.

Grumbling to himself, he made the difficult decision to go home. It shouldn't have been hard. One would make the assumption that his parents being home for the first time in almost a year might have him eager to get back to his mansion. His parents dumping their parenting responsibilities on his older sister, Lyssa, however, left a bitter taste in his mouth. Going out of his way to avoid them was so much easier.
Ironic, they do it to me and I do it right back. Guess I'm doomed to emulate them after all.

His father was waiting for him in the living room when he walked into the mansion.

“You're back earlier than I thought,” his father said, turning the page in the book he was reading.

Orlando rolled his eyes. “It's a school night.”

“That's never stopped you before from staying out until curfew.”

“My classmates decided they wanted to be back before dinner.” Talking about food got his stomach rumbling. Finding something to eat sounded like a good idea. Orlando made his way to the kitchen to rummage through the pantry and the refrigerator.

His father glanced up at him. “Your mother was going to make spaghetti in a few minutes. Care to join us since you're here?”

“No,” Orlando said flatly. He found leftover pizza, which was a lot more appealing.

“I thought you said you were going to try harder, especially with her, to form a relationship with us.” His father snapped his book shut, glaring.

With a heavy sigh, Orlando shut the refrigerator door. “It's nothing personal, I'd just prefer to not throw up later tonight because I forced myself to eat it. I mean, Mom messes up cereal. I don't want to know what she's going to do to the noodles.”

“Cook them in a pot and add some canned sauce, what else?”

“Cereal, Dad. No offense, but it's one of those foods that's supposed to be idiot proof. I don't know what happened, just that when it got to me, it was inedible.” He folded his arms in front of him. “As for trying, fine, how about
I
make dinner. Or you two can eat whatever she makes, I'll zap something in the microwave and I'll eat at the table with you both. Until she can make something that resembles food, I'm not touching it.”

His father seemed satisfied with that answer because he opened the book back up again and changed the subject. “How is the ‘project' coming along?”

“It's going.” Orlando shrugged, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. Unfortunately, his father was a lot better at reading him than he thought.

“You were meeting with your team,” he stated.

Again, Orlando rolled his eyes. It was his signature move. He'd trademark it if he thought he could. “Yeah, and?”

“Anything interesting to share?”

“No, like I said, it's going. We're still meeting, but there aren't any dirty little secrets to share.” He was telling the truth, kind of. “Not exactly, I mean. There were a few kids who went in for rehabilitation recently. Process didn't go okay. I think I told you about that already.”

“A little, yes.” His father turned a page. The fact that he wouldn't put down the book and look at him annoyed Orlando.
And he wants to be respected?

“That was the last exciting thing we did,” Orlando said. “Alan wanted to just let us know he was thinking about us. He's nice like that. I think it helps him relax to visit too. Can't blame him. Must be stuffy and boring to be on a spaceship all of the time.”

His father nodded. “It can be, especially after a long period of time.”

Orlando pressed his lips together, trying to not let it bother him that his parents would rather travel across the universe than spend time at home. To be trapped on a stuffy, uncomfortable space ship than on solid ground with fresh air, sunshine, and most importantly, their children. A fact he was still getting used to. His parents were Alturan ambassadors, which made him Alturan too. An alien. Born on Earth, but still technically an alien. He had a home tribe and everything, and it made his parents angry beyond belief that he chose to align himself with Alan's tribe instead of theirs.
But Alan hasn't let me down. I trust him. I'm not someone he only seeks out when it's convenient.

“Uh huh,” Orlando said, filling in the gap of their conversation. “Anyway, so that's all. Other than that, I'm handing the keys of my investment property over to my tenant this weekend.”

“Another thing you don't need to be doing.”

Actually, I do. My best friend needs some place to live until he can build his new life.
Orlando didn't mind sharing information about his work with Alan, but he'd never tell his parents about Dallas. His best friend was supposed to be dead. Anyone who knew him in the past needed to keep believing that.

He shrugged, trying to play the whole thing off as no big deal. “It's never too early to start making my own money. You should be happy I'm not using my trust fund for less savory things.”

“True, I guess we did something right.” The man actually smirked.

“
Lyssa
did something right,” Orlando snapped.
How dare he try to take credit for what my sister did.

“And we'll be taking over, now. I wouldn't be surprised if she moves out soon. Especially now that things with her boyfriend are getting more serious.”

Orlando dreaded the thought, though he knew it to be true. She didn't have to stick around anymore. He was an adult; he had all of his money. She'd done her time being his legal guardian for almost five years. Moving away to be on her own would be good for both of them even if he hated the idea.

Knowing his father was just trying to get a rise out of him, Orlando pretended to not be bothered by it. “I will be too. Once I'm done with school, I'm going to get my own place. Then you and mom can go back to whatever you want to do. Actually, you can do that now. We're fine and I'm no longer required to be supervised.”

“Your mom is tired of going back and forth all of the time. Intergalactic travel is taxing on a regular basis and we're both not getting any younger. I'll be tying up a few loose ends, and then retiring while she stays here to spend time with you and your sister. The hope was to bring you both back with us to Altura so you could see where we're from.” His father paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing. “Even if it's just for a brief visit, it'd be nice to introduce you to the rest of the family. I'm sure you want to stay here, permanently. Earth is
your
home.”

Which explained why his parents never wanted to be there. They missed Altura. He and his sister were the only things keeping them tied to Earth. Orlando sighed. “Maybe someday. Not a someday soon.”

His father glanced at the clock. “I'd rather not talk about this in front of your mother. She's so sensitive. If you knew how guilty she felt...Anyway, remember your promise. Tell me as soon as you've got any new information about the work you're doing. My contact with the red tribe hasn't been too open about sharing things. Given my position as ambassador, it's good for me to know as much of what's happening as possible so I can tell the governments of Earth.”

“Yeah, okay.” Orlando decided to hold back his eye roll for a change and bite his tongue. He had to humor the man, throw some kind of bone for him to chew on for a bit, or life was going to be a lot more miserable.
I promised, and I promised to try and not pick fights with him all of the time. Besides, I wouldn't put it past him to kidnap me and take me away if he thought it necessary.
So for now, I'll do what I can. We're all on the same side anyway. Shouldn't be that big of a deal, right?

He softened when his mom entered the kitchen, humming softly, seemingly without a care in the world. As angry as he was at his parents, he channeled most of the aggression in his father's direction. When it came to his mom, Orlando accepted her affection, craved it even. If he could think of a way to ask for more without giving up his pride, he would in a heartbeat.

The day they returned to Earth, he had been on his deathbed, having donated most of his life force to Dallas. If it weren't for Cadence and Jaes, he may have succeeded in his quest. Most of that day was a blur, but one thing stood out to him. His mother had cuddled him close and sung him lullabies like she had when he was young. When she gave him any kind of attention, he knew it was genuine so it was hard to be mad at her. Where his father was rough and cold, she was warm and gentle. Orlando could forgive her. Somehow he'd have to find a way to get her alone.

If Dad is going back to work soon, I'll get my chance. Once he's gone, things are going to be a lot better.
The lift in negative tension alone would be worth it.

Orlando watched as his mother got a pot and started to boil water on the stove. She sang while breaking apart the noodles and dropping them into the pot even though the water was still cold. He raised a finger, his mouth open to correct her, but held back.
I'll tell her later.
She can have her moment.

“How was school?” she asked.

He sat down at the island counter, looking back at his father who still read in the adjoining living room. The man briefly raised his gaze to meet his son's. Orlando shifted in his chair, unable to hold the gaze for long. “Good. Getting ready for finals, prom, all of the normal high school stuff.”

“Prom?” She faced him with a big grin. “Are you going to go? I remember Lyssa's first prom! It's such a great tradition. There's one back home like it too.”

Orlando hid the shiver running down his spine as best he could. Alturans had dances? He was having a hard time believing that given how stiff pretty much every Alturan he'd ever met was.
Good to know they have some fun.