Landlocked (Atlas Link Series Book 2) (26 page)

Sarah reached into her purse and pulled out a pen and stack of sticky notes. She wrote something down and handed it to me. “That’s the address. I’ll make it up to you, okay? Buy you a drink?”

“You already did.”

“That was free.”

I looked down at the beer in question. “Oh. I’m not too much of a drinker.”

She laughed. “Probably because you were too busy playing designated driver for Chelsea.” She winced. “Sorry. Look, show up. It’ll be fun and you’ll get to see the band again, okay?”

I looked down at the address. How weird would that be if I showed up there without Chelsea? How weird would it be to party with her friends without her? But Sarah extended the invitation, and Chelsea clearly had no disregard for me. “Yeah, I’ll be there. Are you leaving now?”

She nodded. “I’ve got to bring some people home first. See you there.”

As soon as Sarah walked away, my heart sank. Chelsea was with another man. I already suspected it, but hearing Sarah confirm it gutted me.

I felt the music from inside the two-story house before I made it halfway up the driveway. I shot Sarah a quick text to let her know I’d made it before approaching the front door. This was the life Chelsea lived, not me, and only when I stepped inside did I realize that accepting Sarah’s offer might actually regress my health. The bass on the stereo thrummed in my chest, setting off vertigo issues I thought were over with.

Aside from the Franklin, the only real bar I’d ever been to was with Chelsea a few weeks ago. Kris’s house wasn’t much different, save for the lack of leather-clad biker men who wanted to pummel me. Instead, I was met with college-aged girls in short skirts and tight tops. My eyes wandered where my mind usually didn’t have time to think about.

Someone bumped my shoulder to get my attention. Sarah stood behind me, two drinks in hand. She handed me a solo cup. “It’s Jack,” she said. “That’s all I could grab on short notice. I’m glad you came.”

“I’ll tell you if I’m happy you invited me after a few drinks,” I said, although I wasn’t planning on drinking a lot. On top of not being much of a drinker, if the music got to me this bad, alcohol wouldn’t help, but I took a swig anyway.

“And for what it’s worth, Logan isn’t here,” Sarah said, “so you don’t have anyone to worry about. I won’t even tell Chelsea you came. Go drink and have fun. Go dance with somebody.” She winked before being pulled away by someone and lost to the crowd of people.

Logan was Chelsea’s best friend, and I knew he wouldn’t be happy if he thought I broke us up. But I didn’t, Chelsea did. She took what we’d tried rebuilding, our search for SeaSat5, and threw it to the wind. And now she was with some dude.
Josh
.

Another swig made it past my lips. Although this wasn’t my thing, I might as well make the best of it tonight—and for that, I’d need all the whiskey here, Black Death be damned.

Three shots of some concoction and an immeasurable amount of whiskey later, my head stopped pounding. At one point I thought I saw the Waterstar map take over my vision again, but it swam out as quickly as it slithered in. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was never there at all.

I’d danced with two—three?—girls, enjoyed their soft skin and tight bodies, when someone I was pretty sure I knew approached me. Bleached blonde hair and striking summer blue eyes arrested all breath, but her short skirt and tall boots sent my heart racing. Blood thundered south. I licked my lips.

I smiled and offered her my cup. She took a sip and slipped an arm around my neck. Her hips rhythmically rocked against mine as we danced, but the feeling that I knew who this girl was kept nagging at me. But then her blue eyes silenced the evolved parts of me, and I couldn’t focus on the thought anymore.

At one point I managed to surface from carnal motions long enough to lower my lips to her ear and ask, “Do I know you?”

She giggled and shook her head. Her hands snaked around to cup my ass, bringing me even closer. “Maybe, but my lips are sealed.”

The hammered part of me, which was barely smaller than the needy, horny part, took that as a dare. I kissed her hard, prodding her lips with my tongue. She accepted and moaned into my mouth.

Who. Was. This. Girl? Not Valerie. Not Chelsea’s sister. Not anyone I could easily remember, and yet—

My hammered brain only allowed one thought process at a time, and this definitely wasn’t one Brain Two wanted. Brain Two wanted to know where this was going, an answer received when she pulled me against a wall. She reached down between us and massaged me through my jeans. I couldn’t help rocking into the motion.

Shitfuck am I doing?

All thought processes stopped the moment she led me from the wall into the basement. I briefly registered a leather couch squeaking as her legs and ass slid across them. I climbed over her. The last thing I remember before blacking out is the feel of her around me.

eneral Allen sat behind his desk. “I want to commend you on a well-conducted first job.”

I mirrored him in a chair opposite some paperwork. “Thank you. Although it was really Josh who saved the day. I kind of just stood there.”

“Yes, Sergeant Turner is quite the explosives expert, isn’t he?”

Again with the ranks no one but the General used. I tried not to let my feelings toward
Sergeant Turner
show through.

General Allen pulled a file from one of the stacks on his desk and opened it. It’d only been a few hours since we’d gotten back from the mission.

I caught a glimpse of the title on the front. It read CHELSEA DANNING in bright red letters. “General?”

“Relax,” he said. “Most jobs have a probationary period review.”

“I had a probationary period?” I thought the job was pretty much mine based on the short duration. My palms grew sweaty. I messed something up. Or maybe he found out about Josh and I. Was that not allowed?
Of course it’s not
. Fraternization wasn’t okay. Not that everyone didn’t still do it. Not that Trevor and I hadn’t gotten away with it for two years. But this wasn’t TAO. “Sir, I can explain.”

A warm smile appeared on his lips, but instead of reassuring me, it left me feeling
off
. “No explanation needed. Job well done. You passed training more or less with flying colors, minus the rock climbing incident.”

My toes curled in my boots. Something wasn’t right. Even from the start, General Allen’s whole demeanor hadn’t sat well with me, I just wasn’t sure if it was a hidden agenda or a dislike of civilians playing hidden commando. But if he ran a paramilitary company, could they be called anything
but
civilians?

General Allen stood. I moved to follow him but he waved his hand and told me to stay where I was. “For the next two and a half months you’ll continue on missions. If your abilities continue to show as much potential as Lieutenant Weyland raved about when you got here, the potential to sign you on for an extended period may open up to you. Should you choose to accept it, more training may be required.”

My brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Civilians aren’t allowed at TruGates,” he said. “We take in officers and enlisted men for rehabilitation purposes. To give them a life. They have training you don’t.”

Yeah. He had a definite hatred for civilians. Unfortunately for him and his apparent love of my powers, I wasn’t interested in joining up. “Well, I thank you for the offer, but I’m not much of a soldier, General. Nor do I intend to be.”

His fist flew to his desk. “Bullshit!”

I jumped in my seat and shot him a glare.
What the hell is his problem?

I was met with a stare that could burn Pompeii all over again. His ferocity shocked me to the core. I went to stand, but his hand clamped onto my shoulder and pushed me down.
Hard
. Much harder than I would have expected from him.

He bent so his eyes were level with mine and said, “I know
exactly
how much soldier you are, you get me?”

My eyes narrowed, but I said nothing. If he knew—and I wasn’t sure
how
he knew, because not even Weyland fully comprehended it all—everything just changed.
Everything
.

“Weyland was right,” he said. “We
do
need you here. The Lemurians are too much for us to handle and they must be exterminated.”

The moment he said “Lemurian” my head felt weightless, my palms as dry as they were sweaty. How did he know?

His expression held mock surprise. “What, you didn’t know?”

His grip on my shoulder tightened, then, out of nowhere, his other hand flew to his desk and grabbed something. He jammed that
something
into my leg faster than I could stop it, and the same chilling, searing hot sensation that came over me when Germay’s people took my powers away knocked the wind out of me. This wasn’t even close to what Germay’s people used. There must have been a sedative in there, too. The weakness that swarmed me told me yes, and that my strength was now gone—along with my ability to fight General Allen.

“We need to have a conversation with both of us on even ground,” he said.

“What…”

He got so close to me, all I saw was Thompson. His beady eyes. His mangled, greasy red hair. I slammed my eyes shut.
It’s not him. It’s not him.
But I sure felt as powerless as I had back then.