Cipher (20 page)

I laughed. I’d never felt that way about pod travel. “Nah. I like to get where I’m going to and fast.”

“Sometimes the joy is in the journey, not the destination.”

“Yeah. And sometimes the destination is where the good stuff is.” I winked at her and hoped she’d agree. Once we got to where we were going, good stuff was going to happen. I was sure of it. We needed to become a team. We needed to get her abilities under control. Most of all, I wanted her to really trust me.

And I’d had one kiss. Now I wanted more.

Chapter Thirteen

CIPHER

I was wrong. Pod travel wasn’t the worst. Boat rides. Those were the worst fucking thing ever.

The tiny speedboat bumped along the water. Knight held back my hair as I puked again over the edge.
So humiliating
. If I lived through this, I was pretty sure I’d never hear the end of it.

I wiped my face on my shirt. “I think I’m dying.”

“You’re not dying.”

I rested my cheek against the railing. “You don’t know that. Are we there yet?”

He ran his hand along the back of my neck, and I closed my eyes. “Nearly,” he said.

It was a miracle that the boat was even a little bit seaworthy. The one motor sputtered and spewed smoke as it moved across the water. Waves knocked into us, spraying salty water everywhere. I didn’t mind that part, though. It was refreshing after puking my guts out.

I leaned over the railing as I hurled again.
Total misery
.

“I think I’d rather risk having my brain come out my ears than ever get on another boat,” I said once the heaving stopped. He’d have to knock me out if we had to take one back to civilization or we weren’t going back. That was just how it was going to be.

Finally, the boat slowed as we entered calmer waters. It was hot, but not totally unbearable; then again, I didn’t mind warm weather. The island had a long stretch of pristine white sand, and then beyond that, dense jungle. The little wooden dock was just ahead.

The guy running the boat didn’t even tie off. Instead, he ran the boat into the dock and kept the motor gently running in that direction. “I’ll be back in three days to pick you up.”

I shot my best not-a-chance-in-hell look to Knight. Hopefully he’d get the picture.

“Great. See you then.”

I guessed my look wasn’t mean enough. “Uh-uh. Helicopter. Plane. Something. Anything. No more boats.”

The captain, if he could be called that for driving a piece of floating scrap metal, handed Knight the packs and our water canisters. “No other way off this island. Second time will be easier.”

“Liar,” I muttered and Knight laughed. “It’s not funny!”

Knight put one pack on his back, and carried the other on his front. “It’s a little funny.”

I stomped my way down the dock to dry land as he said his thank yous and traded fist bump, handshake, and back pats with the asshole.

Now that I was back on the ground, I could relax. I still felt the rolling of the waves, but that would pass.

It had to pass. Right?

The sand was so white, it was nearly blinding in the sunlight. The untouched beach only had bits of seaweed on it. Nothing big though. It was mostly pristine. The water was so clear, even at a hundred feet deep, I could see the bottom. From the shallows, only schools of tiny little fish were visible.

I toed off my shoes and shoved my socks in them. The water was cool on my feet.

I hadn’t been swimming in forever, but I hoped Samantha had stuck bathing suits in the packs. If not, I was going to go in my underwear, which was kind of like a bathing suit.

“Enjoying yourself?” Knight said.

“Yes,” I said without turning around. “As a matter of fact, I am.”

As I moved my feet, the little schools of fish flowed around them. After all the running and hiding, being here felt a little anticlimactic. Like we were waiting for something to happen, and that made me antsy. “What’s next?” I said after a long moment.

“We camp out.”

“On the beach?”

“That’d be nice, but no. On the off chance that someone moved the satellite feed to cover the island, I’d rather not be so visible. We’ll go past the tree line.”

I promised myself I’d come back for a dip later, and trudged out of the water. Sand coated my feet, but I didn’t care. I picked up my socks and shoes from where I’d dropped them.

“This way.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“A few times. It’s one of my favorite hideouts.”

It was beautiful, but a little too hard to get to for me. Which meant it would be hard to leave in a pinch. Not exactly comforting. “That’s how you knew how to find that boat guy?”

“Jimmy. Yeah. When I need a break, this is where I come. There’s a good, flat spot just over here. We’ll pitch our tent and get our campsite set up, and then we’ll start figuring out your control.”

Right. Just like that. Tents. Then control. I shook my head. “And how am I supposed to figure out my control here? There’s no electricity.”

He set his pack down. “You think the only electricity in the world is the kind running through wires?”

Kind of. “Yeah.”

He shook his head. “You’re too used to having so much around you, you haven’t developed a taste for subtle natural electricity. Once you get that, we’ll work up to the big guns.”

“Sure.” The guy was out of his goddamned mind.

“You don’t have to believe me. You just have to give it a try.”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Hey. I’m all about trying.”

“And there’s only one tent.”

If that meant what I thought it did, that didn’t sound like a good idea. “So you’re sleeping outside.”

“It’s a big tent.”

Oh crap. “No way.”

He winked at me. “Don’t worry. I won’t steal your virtue.”

I took in the surroundings. There was no one here. Just me and him. Sharing a tent.

This was a horrible idea. Suddenly, I wasn’t so worried about him stealing my virtue as I was about me handing it over totally willingly.

***

Setting up the campsite didn’t take long, although I wasn’t exactly helpful. After trying to put in stakes and totally failing at getting them in at precisely the right angle to meet his standards, Knight put me on watch duty. Meaning I watched him do it. Which was totally fine by me. I’d never camped before and this was his element. At some point, he took off his shirt, and that was more than I could handle. With each rippling movement, I grew more transfixed. I had to distract myself, so I started looking through the packs and organized the supplies.

I could already tell that the little packets of freeze-dried food were going to be completely disgusting. There was no way the powder they held could ever resemble—I checked the nearest packet—spaghetti and meatballs. The rest of our food stock held dried fruit, beef jerky, and nuts. To my surprise, there were two bathing suits for me.
Thank you, Samantha
. And enough clothes to last a week.

Taking stock of the rest of the gear, I found a first aid kit, some flares, solar-powered LED lanterns, lip balm, and—I grabbed out a small box—condoms. Extra-large size.

Condoms? Extra-large?

Was this Samantha’s idea of a joke? And who knew they came in sizes?

How had she known what size to get him?

As my cheeks grew hot, I shoved the offending box to the bottom of the pack. Samantha was nuts. We weren’t going to be needing those. Nope. Not gonna happen.

“What’s got you so worked up?”

I totally wasn’t being nonchalant about this at all. “Nothing.” My voice was way too high pitched.

“What’s in the pack?”

“Nothing.” Damn it. I cleared my throat. “Nothing,” I said in a much lower voice. “Just some food and supplies and whatnot.” I held up the lantern. “This will come in handy. I have a feeling it gets way too dark out here.” I was used to lights. Even on the outskirts of the Voids, the light pollution was pretty bad.

“It won’t be that dark. The stars and moon will be out.”

Maybe, but I’d rather have motion-activated flood lights. The moon wasn’t keeping anyone from ambushing us.

I grabbed the bathing suit. “I’m going for a dip.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you out there in a few, and then we’ll get started.”

“Cool.”

I moved through the forest to find a spot where I was certain he couldn’t see me. No one got to see me without my clothes off. Not even doctors, which I avoided like the nastiest tech virus on earth. One glimpse of the Red Helix and it would be lights out forever.

I changed into a totally respectable black one-piece bathing suit and folded my clothes into a neat pile that I carried to the beach. The sand burned the bottoms of feet, but I didn’t mind. I’d always liked the heat. The few times I’d gone north had been disastrous. Snow was a pain in the ass and a bitch to drive in. Worse, it made fast getaways impossible. I had to give the Griz time to warm up, brush off the snow, and scrape the ice…forget that.

But this—clear water, beautiful fish, white sand, heat that sank through my skin, warming my soul—this I could do. For sure. I tilted my head back, savoring the sensation of the sun on my face. I’d get more freckles, but I couldn’t be bothered to put on sunblock. Nothing was worth turning back for at this point.

I ran into the warm water, and once it was deep enough, dove under. I swam out until my lungs burned and then came up for air. I treaded water as I looked below. A reef stood off to the side, packed with swarms of colorful fish. If I had a pair of goggles, I’d swim under and get a closer look.

“Hey, mermaid.”

I spun around, a retort on the tip of my tongue, but all thoughts faded as I saw him.

That picture did him no justice. In person, shirtless, shoeless, Knight made my brain melt. He stood at the edge of the water, and I realized then and there that I was so out of my league it wasn’t even funny.

“Thought you might want these.” He tossed something at me.

I closed my eyes as the object hit the water in front of me, splashing my face. The face mask started sinking to the bottom. “Shit!” I dove and grabbed it. “Awesome! Thanks. Where’d you get it?”

“Jimmy. He keeps some gear for me. He added a second pair of goggles and fins when he saw you,” Knight said as he swam toward me. “Rub a little bit of spit in the goggles and they won’t fog.”

“Gross.” Although I did it anyway, assuming he knew this nature stuff way better than I did. As soon as the mask was secure, I dove. Knight was swimming to me, but he’d catch up. I couldn’t wait to get deeper. My ears popped with the pressure.

This place was paradise. The water in California was so cold that you couldn’t really linger in it. And there wasn’t snorkeling. Not like this.

When I came up for air, I couldn’t help a little squeal of glee. I moved the mask off my eyes, resting it on the top of my head. “There are so many fish! There was this big blue one with this really beautiful fin tipped with bright yellow—”

He treaded water next to me. “Angel.”

“What?” Was he calling me an angel? I started swimming toward shore.

“An angel fish.”

I was such a moron sometimes. “That’s a fitting name.”

“The perfect fish for an angel like you to love.”

I couldn’t help a smile despite the cheesiness of the line. “That was so dumb, but thanks.” I took a breath. “And thanks for bringing me here. It’s really amazing. On a lot of levels.” Here, I could forget—the running, the danger, everything. He’d given me this, in the middle of everything. He’d given me the freedom I’d needed so desperately.

His hand found mine as we hit shallow water. The fear of what I could have and lose hit me hard. “This is a bad idea,” I said. “Starting this—” I waved back and forth between us. “It’s a bad idea. It’ll only end in heartache. Or death. Or both.”

“Not everything ends in heartache and death.”

I swallowed. “For me it does.”

“Not this.”

“You don’t know that. You can’t promise that.”

“No. I guess I can’t. But there’s no gain in life without a little risk. Don’t you think you’ve played it safe for long enough? You say you trust me.” Knight pulled me to him, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “So trust me.”

I was frozen. My breath came out in short gasps.

“A real kiss. Without anyone watching.”

Oh, God. Did he have to say that? Now I was sure I was going to screw this up. Drool all over him or something equally embarrassing.

His fingers tangled in my hair as he pulled me closer.

I closed my eyes and his lips brushed mine. They were soft and warm and tasted a little salty, thanks to the seawater. One touch of his tongue to mine and I opened my lips.

His kiss consumed me. Burned me up. I gave up trying to keep some space between us. I wrapped my arms tighter. Somehow, my legs wrapped around his hips. I felt the brush of him against me. I rubbed along him with a moan, and I knew I was two seconds away from losing it.

I started to pull back from the kiss, but Knight held me to him. Desire swept through me and I had to stop before we did anything more. I pushed away.

“This is a bad idea.” I started toward deeper water, but Knight swam after me. It felt a little like getting chased, but our gazes stayed locked. For the first time in my life, part of me wanted to be caught.

Knight easily closed the distance between us, pulling me in, and his lips briefly touched mine. “Don’t be scared. I’m not pushing this. Just enjoy the afternoon. You haven’t had a break in a while.”

“I take breaks.”

“You do?”

“I game with you all the time.”

“That’s not the same as what we’re doing now.”

I swallowed. No. It definitely wasn’t the same.

***

I’d hoped Knight would forget about the whole gaining-control-of-my-abilities thing, but no such luck. As soon as my fingers started to get pruny, he pulled me from the water. He’d set out two towels on the beach.

“First things first,” he tossed me a bottle of sunblock.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re already getting pink.”

I pressed my fingertip to my shoulder. The mark stayed white for two beats before turning pink.