Chapter 10

There was a hand in hers, soft, and gentle. Aeron felt the touches of consciousness while the thumb was rubbing the back of her hand. When she managed to crack her eyes, she could see the top of a sandy brown head which matched the blue eyes only an angel should have.

“Hey, Lulu,” she whispered—it was all the sound she could make. Her throat was sore, as if she had been screaming all night.

His head snapped up and she could see the dark bags beneath his eyes. They had the glassy look of a man pushed too far.

“Oh, you’re awake.” There was no half-heartedness to his voice—it was empty. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“What do you mean?” Aeron’s heart began to race. Had she passed out for longer this time? She was sure Shannon had just drugged her. “What happened? How long has it been?”

“Relax, Aeron,” he said. “You’ve probably been out just a few hours. It’s like 3 A.M. I just—I heard you were awake, I wanted to see for myself—but I have to go.” He easily pulled his hand from hers, and stood.

“Why?” There was anger in her voice.

“Too much has happened—”

“Nothing’s happened except you butting your nose in, and taking it out on Decius.”

Luke looked away from her. “So I’ve been told,” he said softly.

“Luke, I’m—”

“Forget it, Aeron.” Aeron felt as if she’d been slapped. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said.

She watched him leave, wondering how she could be so stupid. Luke didn’t come back to see her, and over the next two weeks the butterflies in Aeron’s stomach swirled every time someone knocked on the door—but they were always disappointed.

Her visitors consisted of Mason, informing her he had maneuvered Molly’s assignment to be pushed back—until she was better. Decius, Alicia, and Lesley, all trying to help pass the time, and then there was Shannon—who played nurse almost too well, not allowing Aeron to do anything not related to her recovery. Aeron spent the rest of the time copying her homework, until Shannon gave her the okay to head back to school.

“Shan, who do they think is taking care of me?” Aeron asked, testing out a new pair of crutches, which were too short.

“My mother.” Shannon adjusted the height of the crutches and handed them back. “She was the one who did the surgery. Look here,” Shannon pointed to where Aeron would place her hands. “There’s a pop-knife in both of them, so don’t play around with them. A half twist in either direction will activate.

Aeron nodded. She fiddled with the pop-handles, thinking about Mrs. Gale doing her surgery—she’d been too wrapped up in her own world of Luke to even acknowledge who had fixed her up. And still she hadn’t told anyone he had come to visit. Selfishly she wanted to keep the memory of him holding her hand to herself.

“So, when am I officially allowed back to classes?” Aeron asked.

“Tomorrow.”

“A Friday,” Aeron groaned, heading toward the kitchen. Moving around on the crutches would take some getting used to, and her ribs ached with the efforts. “Couldn’t you just be normal and say Monday?”

“Look who’s up and about,” Lesley said, from the kitchen area. “Would you like some dinner? I’m making sandwiches.”

“I’m all set,” Aeron said, easing onto the couch. “Where’s Alicia?”

“Oh, she’s been seeing this boy from the club. They’ve got a date,” Lesley said, with a friendly laugh.

“Now, here are your pills,” Shannon said, rolling her eyes at Lesley. “Be sure to eat them with food—”

“I know, I know. These aren’t my first broken ribs Shan. Tell your mom I said thank you. Seriously.”

Shannon nodded. “I think your mom sent her a gift basket, but I’ll pass word on anyways.”

“Thanks.”

“Wow,” Lesley called, and Aeron tried to turn around, but couldn’t.

“Damn ribs,” she muttered, but it wasn’t long before what had amazed Lesley was in Shannon and Aeron’s line of vision. “Whoa.”

Alicia was wearing a short, black, halter dress which came only to mid-thigh. Her purple streaks were gone, replaced with red highlights that accentuated the bright red lipstick and red heels she was wearing—she looked hot.

“Well?” Alicia asked shyly.

“This must be some boy,” Shannon said.

“Oh, he is,” Alicia said with a coy smile.

“Well he’d be a fool not to fall for you,” Aeron said, sitting back on the couch. “You look stunning.”

“Thanks! I was afraid it was too much. I’m supposed to be meeting him for dinner and then going to the club. He’s a bit older, I was going for mature.”

“I think you look phenomenal,” Lesley agreed.

“Thanks.”

“Be safe!” Lesley yelled, heading to her room as Alicia left the apartment.

“Have you heard from Luke?” Shannon asked, sitting down next to Aeron.

“Of course not. Why would I? Better yet, why would I want to?”

“Well, I figure I should tell you before we got back into the swing of things—he hasn’t been to classes since the day you woke up. No one’s heard from him. Decius even went looking for him.”

“Luke’s just as skilled as any of us. If he doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be.”

“But aren’t you worried?” Shannon asked.

Aeron didn’t answer. Of course she was worried, worried she would never get to see his angel face again.

“Forget I asked,” Shannon said. “I’m going out tonight too, I better get ready. Is there anything you need?”

“You’re going out? With who?”

Shannon blushed. “No one important.”

“Oh, come on!” Aeron said, getting excited. “I’ve been cooped up in that bed for a month and you’ve never mentioned a word. Who is it?”

“I’m going out with—now you can’t make fun of me.”

“Cross my heart,” Aeron said, drawing an X across her heart, while a wicked grin crossed her face.

“Well, I’m going out with Ivan.” Aeron just stared at her. “Ivan—your tech guy—nice kid…”

“I know who he is,” Aeron said shortly. She had expected some stranger Shannon had bumped into at a coffee house, not boring, socially-awkward, would rather talk to fictional characters Ivan—not that there was anything wrong with him. “Why?”

Shannon’s blush had extended to cover her whole face. “Because, he asked me.”

“So if I asked you out…”

“I knew I shouldn’t have told you,” Shannon said, her embarrassment moving to anger.

“Just because he’s not Luke—”

Aeron felt the hurt cross her face before she could stop it.

“I’m sorry Aeron, that was out of line.”

“Why?” Aeron asked, brushing it off. “We weren’t even dating. Who knows, maybe he’s shacked up with some woman he met at the club right now—probably like he did in Europe.”

“I can cancel,” Shannon offered.

“Please don’t,” Aeron said, shooing Shannon toward the bedroom to get ready. “I won’t have the pleasure of interrogating you later if you do.” Shannon smiled, heading to the bedroom.

“And please don’t get all sexy like Alicia did!” Aeron called after her. “I might have to puke!”

With the apartment virtually empty, Aeron thought of texting Decius to come hang out with her. It wasn’t until she was about to hit send, did she remember Decius had mentioned going to the shooting range. She put the phone down and wondered what she could do. There was nothing on television—she hated reality shows and the news was depressing.

When her stomach began to growl, Aeron pulled herself up and maneuvered to the kitchen. She pulled out a stack of take-out menus: Chinese, Pizza, Mexican. What she really wanted was some company and dinner. After two weeks of visitors and well wishers making small talk, she was desperate for real conversation…for some information.

Aeron dropped the menus on the counter and pulled back out her cell phone. She dialed Mason and waited—nervous. On the third ring he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey Mason, its Aeron. Do you want to meet for a quick cup of coffee?” He didn’t answer right away, and Aeron felt the attack of the butterflies she had been trying to beat—he may be her mentor but that didn’t mean she called him up for coffee all the time.

“Actually,” he said, “I’m still at the gym training Molly for next week. Why don’t you come by?”

“Sure,” she said, almost breathless. “See you there.” She hung up before she sounded any more like a love-struck girl. Perhaps it was the meds Shannon had put her on.

Aeron got dressed as quickly as she could, throwing on a pair of jeans—the right leg cut to fit over her cast—and a hoodie. She grabbed a dagger from her bedside table and slipped the deadly, reassuring weapon into her cast. Lesley was grabbing a snack when she re-entered the kitchen, and gave Aeron a curious look.

“Going out?” Lesley asked.

“Yeah,” Aeron said. “Why?”

Lesley shook her head and took a bite out of the bagel she had made. “No reason. You’re not taking the subway are you?”

Aeron had been planning on taking the subway. She didn’t want to take the family car provided for them because her father would know she was out and about.

“Look, why don’t you take my driver,” Lesley offered. “I’m not going anywhere tonight, and you shouldn’t be out—let alone out on a subway on crutches.”

“Thanks,” Aeron said. Lesley smiled and headed back to her room. “Hey Les!” Aeron called after her. “Is everything alright?”

Lesley paused by the doorway. “Yeah,” she said, not turning around, and continued back to her room.

Aeron stared after her. It wasn’t like Lesley to be so closed off—but it wasn’t wrong for her to have secrets either, as Aeron knew all too well. She checked her pocket for her keys and headed down to the lobby.

Lesley’s driver was waiting for her, and Aeron gave him a friendly smile. He was a nice kid—could only be around twenty-two—and always greeted her with a smile and friendly word.

“Good evening, Ms. Aeron,” he said. “Where am I taking you tonight?”

“Good evening, Paul. I just need to head over to the Institute.” He nodded and she followed him to the car. The ride was short and quiet, but Aeron didn’t mind. She ran over all the information she had about Figg: new to town, not requested by Laura, Nazi in the class room. She didn’t have much; she didn’t even know her first name.

The Institute lobby was lit up, and Aeron handed Paul a fifty as he closed her door. He smiled and left, knowing he wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the night. She smiled at the doorman who eyed her crutches suspiciously.

“It’s a little late for training, miss,” he said, moving to block the doorway. “And I have no visitors on the list for tonight.”

“I’m here to see Mason,” she said. “There’s a special training he asked me to sit in on.”

“I’m sorry ma’am but the rules are clear. You are not on a visitor list, you may not enter.”

Aeron held in a sigh of annoyance. She hated new guards, and she hadn’t been here in weeks to ensure her face was familiar to him. She could just go around to the side doors where her I.D. would grant her access, but that enteance had stairs and she wasn’t as good on her crutches as she would like everyone to think, so she tried again.

“Listen, Marcus,” she said, looking at his name tag. “I understand, of course, but you see,” she waved her crutches around, “I’ve been out of commission for a few weeks, and I really need to catch up on some work. If you would just let me in this one time…”

There was a set look to Marcus’ face. “No.”

“Excuse me?” Aeron said, dropping her innocent façade. “I’m only being polite in asking. Now you can either move out of my way, or I will move you.”

He eyed her crutches doubtfully. “I’m sorry miss but—”

Aeron stepped forward and swung her right crutch up, pinning Marcus to the wall next to the door. She reached in her pocket and pulled out a set of keys—a master set she had swiped from her Father’s desk years ago. She fitted the key in the door and opened it.

“If you had done your job properly and asked my name, you would know I have an all access pass to the Institute.” She released Marcus from the wall and walked in. She could hear him scrambling to lock the door behind her, and smirked. She should feel bad, but she had been locked up in her room for so long, it felt good to be out and doing something.

She made her way to the gym where she could hear Mason yelling instructions out to Molly. “If you back flip from there, you will have a clearer view of pursuers than if you front

flip!”

“But then it’s a blind landing!”

“Molly, you just roll out of it! What has gotten you afraid all of a sudden?”

Aeron could see Molly standing on a higher platform, close to tears.

“Perhaps if she Aerials out of it with a twist, she’ll feel more comfortable,” Aeron suggested, making herself known.

Mason glanced over his shoulder; clearly her arrival caught him by surprise. Molly beamed.

“Aeron!” Molly called, and—as suggested by Aeron—preformed an aerial with a twist, rolling out at the bottom and sprung for Aeron. On a normal occasion Aeron would have caught her, but with her crutches, a bum ankle, and some broken ribs, she wouldn’t be able to support her and tried to back away. She stumbled and fell just as Mason snatched Molly out of the air.

“Molly!” he scolded. “Aeron cannot catch you today, she’s injured!”

“I’m sorry,” Molly said, calming herself. “I didn’t even think…”

“It’s all right,” Aeron assured from the ground. “I would have caught you anyways.”

“I know,” Mason said, putting Molly down. “And then I would have had Decius and Shannon in here yelling about how physically fragile you are at the moment.”

Aeron gave him a strange look. Fragile? Her? He didn’t notice though. “Molly, go do a warm-down. Then we can go get some ice cream when you finish.”

Mason waited until Molly was on the other side of gym before he reached down and gingerly lifted Aeron off the floor. “I’m really sorry about that,” he said, handing back her crutches. “She’s just a ball of energy.”

“It’s okay,” Aeron said, taking notice of how his hand lingered on her shoulder. She moved toward the bench, feeling his fingers slide down her arm, and took a seat. “So, where are we on Laura?”

He glanced back at Molly who was doing her stretching warm down. “No idea. Well, ideas, but nothing conclusive.” Aeron nodded. It was where she was too. “Molly!” he called.

“That’s good! Let’s go get that ice cream!”

Aeron stood and headed for the door. He wasn’t ready to talk about Laura, not with Molly anyway, and she was okay with that.

As they exited the building, Marcus flinched, jumping aside and giving them a ten-foot radius. Mason gave him a curious look as they passed. Aeron smiled, giving him a small wave—Marcus looked as if he wished he could melt into the wall.

“What’s wrong with him?” Molly asked.

“I gave him a small fright earlier this evening,” Aeron said. Mason smiled.

“That’s what happens when you don’t know your place,” Molly said seriously. Aeron gave her a funny look, and bumped into Mason who had stopped suddenly in front of her.

“Umph! Sorry Mason, I didn’t see you stop—”

“Molly!” His voice was harsh, and his face hard. “Why would you ever say anything like that?”

Molly looked confused. Aeron’s insides squirmed for her, but understood why Mason was irate. They may kill as part of their lifestyle, but human life was always valued—never one person being more important than the next.

“Molly, answer me!”

“It was just something Sophie was saying,” she said quietly.

“Sophie? As in your new classmate Sophie?” Aeron asked.

“Yeah,” Molly said. “I overheard her talking to Dr. Figg the other day when I was leaving class. They were talking about being proud of who we are. That we’re better than normal people,—that’s why we get to come to this school.”

Aeron looked over at Mason. Learning Figg’s philosophy was bigger lead on her than they had before, but having it come at the expense of Molly wasn’t very comforting.

Mason pulled Molly into a hug. “Let’s get that ice cream, we need to have a serious talk.”

The ice cream shop was busy, as it always was whether it was summer or winter. Aeron and Molly found a booth while Mason grabbed the ice cream. Molly had been quiet the rest of the walk, and sat with a slight slump to her shoulders.

“Molly, what’s wrong?” Aeron asked, trying to lift the girl’s spirits.

“I didn’t mean what I said about Marcus. He’s a nice guy. I just remembered Sophie saying that about him the other day…”

“It’s okay,” Aeron said, hoping she sounded reassuring. “You actually might be able to help me out with something.” Molly’s eyes lit up, although it could have been because Mason had just joined them with three of the largest sundaes Aeron had ever seen.

“Cookie dough for Molly,” he said, passing the ice cream out. “Brownie-fudge for me, and mint chocolate chip for you.” He slid the ice cream in front of her, and Aeron didn’t even want to know how he knew her favorite ice cream.

They ate in silence for a few moments, and Aeron was pleasantly surprised when she came across gummy worms and pieces of waffle cone in her sundae. She glanced over to him, but he was staring at Molly. He had a look she had seen often on Decius’ or Luke’s face, when they were planning something they weren’t really excited about—and she knew exactly what it was, because she was going to ask Molly to do the exact same thing.

“How’s the ice cream Molls?” he asked.

“Good,” she said, smiling up at him.

“Wait,” Aeron said, “Mason can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure. Molly, can you go grab us some napkins?” She nodded, and happily bounced offtoward the counter.

“We can’t do this,” Aeron said.

“Do you think this is easy for me? She’s my little girl.”

“She should stay that way.”

“Until Saturday, then it’ll be gone anyways.”

Aeron bit her lip. She knew all too well how quickly this first assignment would change her—innocence lost forever. And it was the first good lead they had on Figg. Aeron could see the struggle in Mason’s eyes.

“You’re right,” Aeron said. “But give me a week first. Let me see what we can dig up.”

Mason nodded, and looked around for Molly. He waved her over, and Aeron looked back to see what had been keeping her. She was sitting at the counter talking to—Aeron’s heart dropped—was she talking to Luke?. He didn’t seem to notice them yet, and Aeron grabbed her crutches, and shoved a few more bites of ice cream into her mouth and stood up.

“I better go,” she said hastily. “Thank you again for the ice cream.” She didn’t give him time to object as she made her escape out a side door to an alley.

Aeron headed back to the Institute. Decius would still be on the range, and she needed to blow off some steam. It should be a short walk from the ice cream shop, but she kept looking over her shoulder and doubling back to be sure no one—or Luke—was following her.

Aeron used the side entrance this time, not wanting to see Marcus, and made her way to the elevator which would take her down to the shooting range. She could hear the shots ring off, and put on a pair of ear plugs before the elevator doors opened. Decius was laying on the floor, in the booth at the far right—the sniper’s booth. He had ear phones in, and was probably listening to some hard-core rock and roll.

She leaned back and waited until he finished, then pulled the ear phones out of his iPod.

He jumped and swung his now empty rifle at her.

“Jesh, Aeron,” Decius said, and turned off the iPod. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

“Perhaps,” she said, leaning her crutches against the wall and sliding to a sitting position.

“You know it sucks being all crippled.”

“Shut up, you’ll be back to your regular-annoying-bouncy self in a week.” He rolled over and reloaded his rifle. “Are you going to join me?”

“I’m good,” Aeron said. “Shooting a bunch of loud rounds at a blank target isn’t what I call a mood lifter—I enjoy the silent kills of a bow, thanks. I’ll wait ‘til you’re done.”

She sat back, put her ear plugs in and watched as Decius decimated the target. Tomorrow was Friday—equestrian. She was hoping to talk Perry into letting her onto the archery range since she couldn’t ride anyways.

“You sure you don’t want a go?” Decius asked again, standing and pulling the target in.

“Positive,” Aeron said, trying to get into a standing position. Her muscles were sore and wobbly from the pain medication, and Decius reached a hand down, which she begrudgingly accepted.

“Thanks. Are you heading home?”

“Yeah. I mean no,” he said, breaking down the weapon for cleaning. “I mean I can…”

“What?” Aeron said, giving him a strange look.

“I wasn’t really going home,” Decius said, a little flustered. ”But I can…”

“No need to cancel your hot date at my expense.” She headed to the elevator.

“What are you doing here anyways?” Decius called after her. “You hate it here.”

“Enjoy your date, Decius,” Aeron said over her shoulder, and got in the elevator.

“Aeron!” he called, exasperated, but Aeron gave him a small smile as he disappeared from view. She let the smile drop as soon as the doors slid closed, wishing she had been honest with him. Why had she run from Luke? The only other man she had ever run from, was her father.