Nightingale (The Sensitives) Part 12

"She did! She called me into her office after I left you with Oliver."

This doesn't make sense. First, we don't get in trouble. Next, Mother erases all evidence of my actions. And then she gives Kyra a house?

"Who lived there before?" I ask.

She blinks. "What?"

"Who lived in your new house? I doubt it was vacant, just waiting for you."

Kyra's eyes look like they're going to bug out of her head. "What is wrong with you? Malin gave me a house for being a good employee. Why can't you be happy for me?"

Something about it doesn't feel right. "Why would she do that? Did she make you promise her something in return?"

Kyra makes a face like I've insulted her. "Maybe she likes me, Lark. Not everything has to have an ulterior motive."

I want to tell her Mother doesn't like anyone, as evidenced from the way she tried to barbecue me, and she claims to love me. All these favors she's doing for Kyra-not having to sit for the rest of the a.s.sessments, a new home-are going to come with a price, but I bite my tongue. One thing's been clear to me since my return, Kyra may be my friend, but she's willing to give up certain things, like friendship, to be a Dark witch. She loves the power it brings.

We're in need of a change of conversation before she becomes upset. So I ask Maz, "Do you like your new job?"

Kyra yawns loudly. "Are we playing twenty questions? Because I can think of some much better ones than that. For example: Ryker, do you like Lark?"

My eyes grow wide and I blush. "What?" I stammer.

Ryker, to his credit, gets up and walks over to the piano.

"My job is interesting," Maz answers even though we've moved on to something else. I appreciate his effort to spare me embarra.s.sment. "I'm working with flying technology. The ancient stuff. It wouldn't do us any good, not with transporting."

Kyra sashays toward the liquor cabinet. She fake shudders as she pours drinks. "Can you imagine humans flying around? Not a good idea. We need to keep them confined so it's easier to manage them."

I nod in agreement, as if the thought of humans having free reign appalls me. In reality, I wonder if Kyra's right and the State's forbidding of private vehicles and aircraft had more to do with keeping humans under control and less to do with the environment, like they claim.

"I had no idea you wanted to work in ma.s.s transit," I say to Maz.

Kyra hands me a drink. "It's not like you ever asked. Or cared."

She's right. In the past, I tolerated Maz. Not because of her, but because he was Beck's best friend. Our interactions, until he showed up on my train, never went beyond him doing something asinine and me becoming exasperated.

Unlike Ryker, who I've always gotten along with. Until now.

Silence falls over us. Kyra and Maz resume their display of affection and I study the gla.s.s of whatever Kyra poured for me. After last night, I can't say I'm particularly fond of the effects of alcohol.

Across the room, Ryker plunks out a short song on the piano. I can't remember having ever seen him play before. In fact, I vaguely recall him making fun of Beck for practicing. Not that Beck ever advanced beyond intermediate songs, but at least he tried.

"When did you take up playing?" I ask as I walk closer to the piano.

He shifts over on the bench to make room for me. The song he's playing changes into something upbeat. "Lena taught me."

"When? I never saw you practice."

His fingers come to a rest. "We used to play together after school in the music room."

"Ah." He doesn't need to say anything more. In the music room, they'd be alone for a little while. I blush at the thought.

Ryker jerks his head toward our friends, who aren't paying any attention to us. "Why don't we go for a walk?"

My stomach flops. Earlier when Kyra asked if Ryker liked me, I marked it up to her being...well, her. But here he is asking me to go walking. Alone.

Stop it, Lark. You're being ridiculous. Ryker's asking you to go for a walk because he wants to talk to you. Probably about Beck. And you want to talk to him.

Ryker stands up and holds out a hand to me. I stare at it for a long second. He tilts his dark head slightly and grins. "Coming?"

It's such a Beck gesture. The angle of his head. The way his eyes twinkle. The mischief in his voice. I shove one hand into my pocket and toy with my necklace, while my other hand hovers just above Ryker's, waiting for me to decide if I should accept his offer or stay here, with Kyra and Maz.

"We can talk," he says, trying to prod me into accepting.

I don't take his hand, but I do walk to the door and lead him to the back of the house. I stop just outside the kitchen. What am I doing? Going for a walk with Ryker? Didn't I decide last night that he can't possibly know anything about Beck?

I turn around and eye his Enforcer uniform again. "What exactly is your job?"

"Sorting and organizing data sets."

That sounds far from uninteresting. "Since you're in enforcement, surely that data must hold secrets."

He shrugs. "I see the information off every wristlet that pings the system. I'm supposed to scan and cla.s.sify it."

"Anything good?" I ask, trying to keep my tone conversational. Fishing for information has never been my strong suit.

Ryker's eyes light up. "Cla.s.sified."

I smile pleasantly. Somehow, this is beginning to feel like a challenge between the two of us. "Lucky for you, I'm allowed access to cla.s.sified information."

"Of course you are. Is there something you want to know?" He's trying to dodge my question and I can't figure out why.

Our eyes lock and my heart whirls. Madly. Like it wants to leap from my chest. "Where is he?" My voice is embarra.s.singly breathless.

Ryker touches the back of my hand. Warmth spreads up and down my arm, into my chest and stomach, all the way to my toes. I drop my gaze and back away from him.

"Wait, don't go." The softness in Ryker's voice locks me in place. "He's alive. But that's all I can tell you."

"How do you know?"

His eyes harden and his jaw clenches as if struggling with the answer. "How do you think?"

"From a wristlet feed you read?"

He face falls and he shakes his head.

"Then how?" The s.p.a.ce between us in minimal. If anyone came upon us, we'd be in trouble for acting inappropriately.

"I can't tell you." He spins around and walks back toward the front room.

I hurry after him, determined to get answers. "Just tell me," I say.

He looks over his shoulder at me. "If you don't know the answer, I can't tell you."

Frustration boils inside me as I follow him back into the front room. Of all the stupid answers. I understand he has to be cryptic because of our wristlets, but this is ridiculous.

"Where'd you two go?" Kyra teases.

I glare at her and she clamps her lips shut. Good.

Three short chirps burst from my wristlet. I keep my eyes on Ryker as I wait for the incoming message. There has to be some way to force the information from him.

"Malin Greene requests your presence," the recorded woman's voice states.

Kyra gasps and stares at her wristlet nervously. When it doesn't chirp, she frowns. "Hurry," she says. "You don't want to be late."

Whatever glimmer of hope I'd been holding onto all day, disappears. With a heavy heart, I drag myself to the door.

"Maybe Malin wants to congratulate you on your first day?" Kyra offers, but even she sounds less than optimistic.

"I doubt it," I say. "Don't go anywhere. I'm going to need cheering up after this." My voice sounds indifferent, but my insides somersault at the memory of all the things Mother's done to me over the past few days.

As soon as I step through the doorway, Dawson is at my side holding my coat. "I need to go see Mother."

"She's at her office." Dawson holds the coat open to me. "Would you like to transport?"

With a deep breath, I nod and glance back at my friends.

"Best wishes," Ryker and Maz call in unison. Kyra, however, remains silent. There's a good chance, that like me, she suddenly feels ill.

13.

"I have a surprise for you," Mother says as she looks up from her tablet. There's something cold in her voice and not a hint of the smiling girl from the photograph I saw earlier.

"Oh?" My heart thuds irregularly against my rib cage.

"Please, sit."

My legs wobble as I drop into the chair nearest me. Mother and I sit on opposite sides of her desk, face-to-face. The light catches her eyes and they twinkle. Sparkle, actually. It's mesmerizing.

"Since you've already found household help, I thought it appropriate that you have the house and mate to go with it."

I blink as I process what she's telling me. "Excuse me?"

"You didn't think I'd let your stunt go unpunished, did you?" She taps her finger against the desktop. "You made me look like a fool. I had to stand before the Council. The Council, Lark." She grinds her teeth. "I had to explain how such a thing could happen. But that isn't all. No, I had to address our Society and wipe the memories of every single person watching the morning feed.

"Do you know how taxing that was?" she asks. I shake my head. "Let's just say, the reason I haven't called you in earlier is because I've been indisposed."

My skin crawls as she glares at me. I slouch in my chair and study my shoes. Mother may be upset about having to address the Society, but my mind's stuck on the fact she thinks I need a house and a mate.

How can I have a mate when I'm already bound to Beck?

"Are you determined to make my life difficult?" Mother asks.

"No." My voice comes out strong, not at all nervous, which surprises me.

Mother gives a half-laugh. "The problem is, you don't think." She shoves her tablet toward me. "You're too impulsive. That's the first thing you need to learn: think before acting. Otherwise, you'll get into trouble every time."

A neatly stacked three-story house covers the screen's surface. "This is your new home. Apparently, that human pet of yours ended up in the wrong round up. She was supposed to be shipped to your home. At least that's the story I told the council."

"My house? I'm going to live on my own?" As the words leave my mouth, I realize what's coming and I recoil. Horror inches up my spine, leaving paralysis in its wake.

Mother snaps her fingers and an image of a boy I've never seen before floats before me. "I'm not a monster, so I'll let you have some say. You can have this one, or this one." She snaps her fingers again and another boy's image appears to her left. "Both are from excellent Dark families and both are willing to do whatever it takes to climb the ranks of State. That includes lying about the true nature of your relationship."

The room sways around me. This can't be happening. Breathe, Lark. Breathe. "Surely, you're kidding. I'm bound, remember?" Hysteria creeps into my voice.

"And you remember that it's to a boy you despise." Her words cut like a knife.

My heart burns in my chest and I struggle to stay seated as the pain rips through me. "No."

"Yes. You despise him and everything he stands for." Mother drums her fingers against her desk. "You will pick one of these boys. Or Kyra and Maz won't be celebrating their binding, and your human pet will find her way to a work crew in the far north. I guarantee this."

Pounding fills my ears as my eyes flit between the two images. I can't be bound to either of these boys. Not when I'm bound to Beck. Not when I love him.

But I promised Kyra I wouldn't let anything happen to her. That I would protect her from Mother. My eyes glaze over as I realize I don't have a choice. If Kyra means anything to me, I have to do this.

With my heart in my throat, I study my two choices. Both boys have a similar look: dark floppy hair, strong jaws, slightly oval-shaped brown eyes. The absolute opposite of Beck. They remind me of...Ryker.

A thought bubbles in my mind and even though I try to push it away, it latches on and doesn't let go.

Maybe...maybe Ryker could be my mate?

Heat floods my body and I shake my head vehemently. No. I can't ruin his life. It's not fair.

An image of Ryker in his Enforcer uniform, standing on the front porch of my new home, dances behind my clenched eyes. A smile stretches across his face and my heartbeat slows. Perhaps this will be good for him, and with Mother's blessing, he'll advance rapidly.

Yes, I actually think Ryker would benefit greatly from this arrangement. And unlike the two boys Mother has chosen, Ryker knows me. More importantly, I know him, and I believe he'll respect my wishes.

"I'll agree to be bound," I say, narrowing my eyes, "if you let me select him. On my own."

An amused look crosses Mother's face. "Why would I allow that? You disobeyed me."