Silverlighters (16 page)

“Do it to protect your family?” I said softly.

Jonathon looked up through his lashes.

I closed my eyes, my breath hitching as I reached into my shirt. My fingers curled around the locket. “Do you know why they want it?”

“No.” His voice was a hoarse whisper.

I reached behind my neck, searching for the clasp that secured it. Tears stung my nose, but I fought them. I didn’t want him to know how hard it was.

I opened my eyes, and slowly lowered the necklace into the palm of my hand, watching as the chain curled around the locket.

It glistened in the sunlight.

“Take it,” I said.

I would never forget my mother, or what she looked like. I held her close to my heart, and in my memories.

It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. But then, I had a secret hope blooming inside me, one I wasn’t yet ready to put into fully-formed thoughts, let alone spoken words.

I grabbed Jonathon’s hand, and pulled it toward me. I put my other hand over his, tilting it so that the necklace fell into the curve of his palm. Then I grabbed his hand with both of mine, and wrapped my fingers tightly around it.

Finally I looked up, hoping he only saw grim determination in my eyes.

“You – you would really give this up for me – for my family?” Jonathon asked hoarsely.

His eyes were wide, staring at me with amazement.

I nodded. I wasn’t capable of words.

He continued to stare at me, and I looked down at the ground as the heat rose to my face.

A moment later, I felt his fingernails scrape lightly across the back of my neck as he scooped my hair over my shoulder.

I shivered, closing my eyes as I sucked in a shaky breath.

Then I felt the familiar weight of the locket as it settled on my chest, and his fingers on the back of my neck, securing the clasp.

The shiver rippled through me, and the hairs on my neck tingled.

I couldn’t move. The incredible sensations racing through me had temporarily paralyzed me.

I didn’t want it to stop.

Ever.

I had gone way past lust and simple liking.

I was in unchartered territory.

His hands moved to my shoulders, squeezing gently as he pulled me closer, and rested his head on top of mine.

I leaned into him, my nose pressing against his hard chest. I was worried that if I didn’t, I would fall. My knees felt shaky. The incredible smell of him wasn’t helping.

“Do you have any idea how amazing you are,” he breathed.

A smile took over my face, and I was glad that he couldn’t see it. I was grinning like an idiot. I had never been called amazing before.

I tried to make my face look suitably serious, when I really wanted to throw myself at him and tell him I didn’t hear him so he would say it again.

I slowly lifted my head, until his forehead was pressed against mine.

Then I opened my eyes and met his. “What about your family? Will they – will they be okay?”

“Better than okay. Or they will be.” He grinned as he straightened, smoothing the hair away from my face as he gazed into my eyes. “Thanks to you.”

My dopey smile returned, full force, as his fingers brushed against my skin.

It felt like my every nerve ending was on fire, creating a euphoric cocktail of senses.

The smell of him was so strong. I breathed him in as if it would be my very last breath. As if I were drowning.

And I was. I was way out of my depth.

The intensity in his eyes was going to be my undoing.

“Me?” I croaked. “What did I do?”

I was having trouble focusing on the conversation. I wondered if that was his intention. There was no way he could have missed the way his touched affected me.

“Now that would be telling.” He shifted his hands, his arms sliding over the tops of my shoulders so that he was loosely circling me.

I wanted him to pull me closer. I wanted to feel his body pressed against mine so badly it was a physical ache.

“Let’s just say they’re safe,” he said.

The smile fell away from my face. “And they weren’t before?”

How could anything I do – or was yet to do – have helped his family? It didn’t make sense.

Jonathon’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he leaned forward, his hands coming up to gently cup my face.

My heart started racing. All I could think was that he was going to kiss me.

He was going to press that beautiful mouth against mine.

I wondered what he would taste like.

I felt so unprepared.

My mind went completely blank.

But instead, he pressed a kiss to my forehead, right between my eyebrows, where I was
Marked,
and sighed deeply. “I’d tell you if I could.”

If he was trying to distract me, it was working.

He pulled back a little, his eyes on the place where he’d kissed me.

Being touched by someone you were attracted to was pure bliss.

It was also very distracting.

“We better go,” Jonathon said, his eyes moving down to my linger on my mouth. “That was the warning bell.”

“It was?” I stared at his full, red lips, and tilted my head. “I didn’t hear it.”

 
Such lovely lips they were.

“We have chemistry.” Jonathon said softly.

I nodded. Did we ever.

Jonathon pulled away, and said, “Mr. Jones will give us a tardy if we don’t hurry.”

I flushed. I felt like such an idiot.

We walked toward the school building, and my fingers tingled. They wanted to be holding his hand.

Jonathon stared straight ahead.

I stared at his hand as we walked, and in the end, thought
stuff it
. I edged closer, suddenly nervous as I slipped my hand into his.

Jonathon’s shoulders stiffened. But then his fingers entwined with mine, squeezing tightly.

“Um – Donald’s not here today,” I said quietly.

“Isn’t he?”

“No. His grandmother is sick ... he said he might be gone for a while, actually.”

Donald had slowly started to come out of his shell, though he still blushed bright red whenever he talked to me. Not because I was anything special – he did it when anyone talked to him.

When he told me he would be away, the first thing that crossed my mind was that there would be an empty seat next to mine.

Then I felt bad for being glad when Donald’s grandmother was sick. For about a minute.

I didn’t think it was such a stretch that Jonathon could go from sitting with me at lunch, to sitting with me in chem.

But obviously Jonathon did – he failed to get the message.

I sat on my own, staring straight ahead, feeling completely humiliated. But I had too much pride to ask him to sit with me directly.

A strange sort of snickering sound made me turn after only a few minutes.

My mouth dropped open in shock. I was so busy trying to avoid looking at Jonathon, that I had failed to notice the change that had come over Morgan.

With everything else that had happened, I had forgotten about the strange incident in the cafeteria.

It was Morgan who was snickering.

His eyes were shining, and his face looked strangely contorted.

Then suddenly his face dropped and he was back to normal.

I raised my brow at Jonathon, and Jonathon smirked.

He paid an awful lot of attention to Morgan that lesson. So did Madison.

So of course I watched Morgan, too.

19

 
“What is going on?” I hissed at lunch.

“Just watch,” Jonathon said.

“Could you be any more cryptic?”

“Probably,” he said with a smile.

I felt my heart flutter, and found myself staring at his lips again, wondering if they were as soft as they looked.

Then Beck arrived and it got really strange.

Morgan was staring at the table. The left side of his face had dipped into a puzzled frown, the crease only reaching the middle of his forehead. The left side of his mouth was curled slightly downward. The other side of his face looked like it usually did. Blank.

Jonathon looked positively smug as he watched me watch Morgan.

Morgan looked up the minute he heard Beck.

“Hi,” Morgan said, his voice cracking.

The puzzled frown disappeared, and the left side of his face started to twitch.

Then the bottom corner of his mouth curved upward, the movement spreading to the other side of his face.

At first I didn’t realize what I was seeing, it was so strange.

Beck’s jaw dropped to her chest.

Everyone’s did. Even Jonathon’s.

I had never seen Morgan smile before. Ever. And it was still growing.

I think it was the biggest smile I had ever seen, and it was directed at Beck.

Morgan’s plump lips had stretched out thin and tight, and his teeth were incredibly white and even. There were large creases where the sides of his mouth met his cheeks.

Morgan ran a hand through his short, dark hair, a slightly bewildered look in his dark brown eyes.

The smile was still on his face.

He was acting almost, well – human.

I know it sounds stupid, but if you met
them
you would understand why it was such a big deal. Why we were all staring at him.

But he was all over the place. One minute he’d be talking to Melissa. The next he would be laughing. Not like normal laughing. It was the sort where you can’t seem to help yourself.

Then there was the way he kept staring at Beck, the puzzled frown returning.

Beck looked at me, and I just shrugged.

He was also jittery, and by the end of lunch, he was positively hyperactive.

“What did you take, and can I have some?” Melissa joked.

Morgan’s face went totally blank. It was instant.

“I was just kidding,” Melissa purred, running a finger slowly over the hard muscles of his arm. “I like this Morgan. Really. In fact – I think we are going to have a lot of ...
fun
.”

Morgan jumped to his feet. The anger came fast and furious, his eyes hard little balls of steel. “What did you do?” he roared at Jonathon.

I stared at Jonathon. Morgan’s reaction was so fierce it was obvious Melissa had hit a nerve.

“You had to know how it feels,” Jonathon said simply.

“You mean – he is on drugs?” Melissa squeaked, looking confused. “I knew it.”

But she still looked baffled. And she wasn’t the only one.

Melissa thought they were taking drugs before. That it was what
made
them
brain-dead zombies
.

At her words Morgan launched himself at Jonathon. It happened so quickly. Instantly, they were both on the floor.

Morgan landed on top of Jonathon, pinning Jonathon’s hips between his powerful thighs as they landed.

Grabbing Jonathon by the shirt, Morgan yanked his upper body toward him until their faces were only inches apart.

“Aberrant,” Morgan sneered, his teeth flashing as his full lips curled in disgust.

“We all are,” Jonathon said quietly. “It’s why they chose us.”

“You dare suggest that I’m like
you
,” Morgan pulled back his arm, his hand balling into a fist, “that I’m Aberrant.”

“I prefer the term Salient,” Madison said calmly as she appeared behind Morgan and Jonathon.

Morgan snarled at Madison as he slammed Jonathon’s head to the floor with a sickening crack, his fist already swinging toward Jonathon’s face.

Jonathon twisted his head, and Morgan’s knuckles slammed into the floor.

This only made Morgan angrier, his face contorting with rage as he swung at him again and again.

Jonathon blocked Morgan at every turn, but he never once hit back.

My admiration for Jonathon grew. Morgan was clearly out of control.

It took me a moment to realize they were moving too fast. That someone would notice.

“Fight,” someone screeched gleefully, and shouts of excitement started to fill the cafeteria.

“Jonathon,” I warned, seeing the irony of the situation. Normally it was Morgan warning one of them.

Jonathon looked up. When he saw the rush of people moving our way he pushed against Morgan, his hips lifting from the ground. He twisted his body, hooking his leg around Morgan, and in a move so smooth it was seamless, he was on top of Morgan, pinning his wrists to the floor.

Then Andrew and Lanita were there, as calm as calm could be, their eyes locked on Jonathon.

I can honestly say it was the first time I was glad to see them.

Jonathon let go of Morgan, and got to his feet as Andrew and Lanita grabbed Morgan’s arms.

I studied their pale, empty faces as Morgan struggled against them.

Lanita looked up, her eyes meeting mine. Her face was so hard and emotionless. But it was more than that – there was a coldness in her eyes. As though she felt nothing.

Like she was a robot.

What made them that way?

You had to know how it feels,
Jonathon had said to Morgan
.

How it
feels
.

In my peripheral vision I saw Madison cock her head, watching me watch them.

Then there was the way Madison was sometimes as cold as them, and other times she acted with emotion.

How it
feels.

Melissa looked smug. “Told you they were taking drugs.”

“What did you see?” I edged closer to Melissa as Lanita and Andrew pulled Morgan to his feet.

“I saw Morgan give something to Madison when she was acting crazy,” she said, not bothering to lower her voice when Madison looked sharply at her. “Some sort of shot. It made her like
them.
” She raised her eyebrows as she indicated Andrew and Lanita with a nod of her head. “They’re all crazy. Probably schizophrenic or something. I bet their parents shipped them here so they didn’t have to put up with them.”

Madison lunged for Melissa, her blue eyes flashing with rage. “You don’t know anything.”

“I know you’re a psycho bitch,” Melissa said, looking more than ready for a fight. “And that you forgot to take your medication.”

Uneasy laughter erupted around us.

The crowd had grown, and was still growing, surrounding us with a myriad of faces alight with anticipation and curiosity.

“Melissa,” I hissed under my breath, grabbing her arm. She had no idea what she was dealing with.

Jonathon grabbed Madison from behind, trapping her arms to her sides, earning him a withering look from Melissa.

“What?” Melissa snapped at Jonathon. “You don’t think I can take her?”

“Let. Me. Go,” Madison spat, angling her body toward Melissa, her long blonde hair swinging freely.

Jonathon pulled Madison back and hissed something in her ear.

Madison’s shoulders dropped and she stopped struggling against him. Her face calmed, but her eyes were still churning.

Lanita and Andrew turned, firmly gripping Morgan between them. Morgan fought against them, but they moved steadily forward, Morgan’s body arching and his head twisting over his shoulder as he tried to get to Jonathon.

The crowd parted automatically to let them through, looking disappointed that there wasn’t going to be any further entertainment.

Madison turned on Melissa, her voice silky-smooth. “I suggest you keep out of my way.”

“Go with them,” Jonathon snapped at Madison, his eyes loaded with meaning. “Keep an eye on Morgan.”

Madison nodded her head stiffly, her eyes still locked on Melissa. “I could crush you like the bug you are before you even realized what hit you.”

Then she turned to Jonathon with a smile. “Told you Morgan should have stayed home today,” she said breezily.

Then she followed them out of the room with a happy little skip.

“Like I said,” Melissa shook her head with a puzzled frown as she watched Madison’s retreating back. “Crazy.”

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” I demanded when school was over. “Like what the hell you did to Morgan?”

We were behind the hedge again, and I knew I didn’t have long. My father was waiting.

“Nope,” Jonathon said.

“Ugh. You are so infuriating,” I scowled.

Jonathon chuckled, and reached forward, curling a finger through my hair.

I clenched my hands into fists, digging my nails into my palms until it hurt. I wasn’t going to let him distract me so easily.

I pulled away, and stepped back, so that he couldn’t touch me.

“Ellie?” He stepped closer.

“Uh-uh,” I shook my head, holding my hands up in front of me. “Not this time. I want some answers. ”

I started pacing. “Melissa – she saw Morgan give Madison something. A – a shot of some sort.”

“She did?” Jonathon said, a guarded look on his face.

I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. There were no clues on his face, or in his body language for me to work with.

“That’s what I said,” I snapped. “What was it?”

When Jonathon finally answered me, he spoke so slowly, so carefully, that I knew he was weighing each and every word, and that he wasn’t even coming close to telling me the full story.

He was placating me. Giving me just enough to make some sort of sense out it.

But every evasive answer was a step closer to the truth. Just like in every lie there was a glimmer of truth.

I just had to sort out what side Jonathon’s answers fell on.

I hated the idea that he might be lying to me – but I hadn’t exactly been honest with him either. I knew better than anyone that sometimes lying was necessary to protect the people you loved.

“It was medication,” Jonathon said. “A – a vaccine of sorts. We have to take it every day.”

“A vaccine?”