The Changelings (War of the Fae: Book 1) (12 page)

Sam and Becky returned, and we all sat down on the couch, chairs, and surrounding floor.
 
At this point Tony and I had thrown our lot in with the others.
 
We were still free agents, but assuming we would be going through some sort of strategic fitness test, it made sense to work together.

Tony asked the obvious question I probably should have thought of but didn't.
 
"What if some of us aren't invited back?"

"We'll just work on the assumption that we will and go from there," said Jared.

"What if working together causes us to
not
be able to complete the test?" I asked.
 
It's not that I'm against teamwork, but if it were them or Tony and me, I would be Team Tony and Jayne all the way.

"For now, we might as well assume it's not a competition against each other.
 
That wouldn't be fair anyway.
 
Chase would kick all our asses."
 
Everyone looked at Chase.
 
He just shrugged his shoulders, looking away.
 

He was pretty big with those broad shoulders and thick arms.
 
I guess you could say he was the strong, silent type.
 
I wondered what was going on inside that big head of his.
 
He didn't say much, but when he did it was obvious he had been thinking pretty hard about it.
 
He was a mystery.
 
I wondered how he did during the interview.
 
It's hard to be a silent interviewee.
 
Maybe he wouldn't be called back because he refused to speak.

***

We spent the next few hours going over strategy and listening to Spike play the guitar and sing.
 
I've been told I have a pretty good voice, so I joined in with the others, singing the words to songs I knew.
 
After listening to Spike do his thing, I couldn't figure out why he wasn't a rock star standing on a stage in an arena somewhere.
 
He was really talented and sexy as hell.
 
He was super nice but he looked dangerous ... perfect rock star material.
 
Another mystery about Jared's crew.
 
It was like everyone here had a secret.
 
Even Tony and me.

We all had extra sandwiches from our lunch meeting, so we had a dinner of subs and chips.
 
The warm sodas went quick, so Tony busted out his cache of juice boxes and shared with everyone, using up the last of them.

"Hopefully we'll each have five hundred dollars in a few days and I can buy some more."
 

I laughed.
 
The last thing I'd buy if I had five hundred bucks right now was a juice box.
 

It was nearly eight o'clock so we left the warehouse to walk back to the hotel.
 
Instead of all of us going in and rushing the reception desk, Jared and I went in, leaving everyone else outside.
 
Sam seemed a little pissed about being left behind, but I wasn't too worried about it.
 
It gave Tony something to stare at while I was gone.

Jared asked for the list and they handed it over to him.
 
He put it in front of us so we could read the names.
 
It was just first names, alphabetically.
 
He read them quietly, under his breath.
 
"Becky, Chase, Finn, Jared, Jayne, Spike, Tony ... shit.
 
Sam's not on here.
 
She's gonna be pissed."

"Neither are those other older people either."
 
It was just Jared's crew and Tony and me.

He ran his hands through his hair.
 
"I don't feel right about leaving her behind."

"What are you going to do?
 
Not go?
 
It's only for a few days, she'll be fine.
 
I'm sure she wouldn't be mad at you – she knows it's a lot of money.
 
Plus that means she has fifty bucks here, so it's not like she didn't get anything at all out of the deal."

"I don't know.
 
I'll have to talk to her."

He turned to walk back outside, list in hand. I followed him a few paces back.
 
I didn't want my face to be the first thing Samantha saw when we came out.
 
I tried not to look as happy as I felt ... she'd probably take it personally.

Everyone gathered around.
 
Jared waited for me to catch up and handed me the list.
 
He walked over to Samantha, taking her by the arm and pulling her away from the others.
 

"So, who's on the list?"

I held it out.
 
"All of us but Samantha."

"Oh, bummer!" said Becky.
 
It was the first time I'd seen a frown on her face.
 

Spike looked over at Jared and then at me.
 
"What's Jared saying to her?"

I shrugged.
 
"I don't know.
 
Probably trying to figure out if he's going to go without her or not."

We all started walking back towards the warehouse. Jared and Samantha went back into the hotel briefly and then came out, following behind us.
 
I couldn't hear or see her reaction, but I knew it wasn't going to be good.

We arrived and everyone but Jared and Samantha went inside.
 
Tony and I decided to go to bed early.
 
I fell asleep before Jared came back in, wondering if he was coming with us, and where this mystery test would be held.

Tony and I arrived at the hotel five minutes before eight.
 
We didn't stick around the warehouse to see Samantha's goodbye.
 
We figured it would be like rubbing salt in the wound for her, and as much as she'd been a bitch to me, neither of us wanted to make her more upset.
 

A shuttle pulled up in the front valet area with a sign in the window that said 'One Eleven Group'.
 

"That's us," I said.

Tony stood still for a second, concern on his face.
 
"Aren't we going to wait for the others?"

"Nope.
 
They'll be here, and if they aren't, that's their problem."
 
I appreciated their whole 'we are family' thing, but I couldn't let that stop me from getting my five hundred bucks.
 
I kept thinking about that hard concrete floor that had been my bed for two nights now.
 
I needed last night to be the
last
night of that back-aching nonsense.

Tony frowned but followed me to the van.
 
As we took the front row seats, the others came walking across the parking lot.
 
Samantha wasn't with them, but Jared was.
 
I was happy to see that he'd decided to come.

"Hi, guys!" said Becky, all smiles, climbing into the shuttle with us.

"What's up?" asked Finn as he got in.

Chase said nothing, choosing a seat in the back row.

Spike was next, flashing me a smile and then sitting down next to me.
 
"Hey, girl, what's up?"

Calm yourself, breathe.
 
"Not much.
 
No guitar?"

"Nah.
 
I wasn't sure what the rules were on bringing music, so I left it hidden in the warehouse."

Jared was the last one in.
 
He didn't say anything, just nodded at Tony and me, choosing a seat in the back next to Chase.
 
I was glad he came; I think his crew functioned better with him around, and if this test required teamwork they were going to need his leadership.
 
I could tell, though, that he was bummed.
 
I guess I could understand.
 
If Tony hadn't been accepted I would have been in the same predicament.
 
I'm not sure if I would have been on the shuttle without him.
 
I'm glad I didn't have to worry about that.
 

The van delivered us, as scheduled, to the Miami Executive Airport and we all got out.
 
Mr. Dardennes was there to meet us.
 
He walked us through a reception area to the plane that was sitting out on the tarmac.
 

I'd never been on a small airplane before, so it was pretty cool.
 
But then again, there was also that issue of us dropping out of the sky; I was worried about this heavy machine's ability to stay up in the air.
 
Whenever I'd heard about plane crashes in the news, it was usually a small one involved.
 
I sent a small prayer out into the universe for our safety.
 
I felt a gentle breeze on my face, as if it were answering me back.
 
I don't know why, but that made me feel just a little bit better.

We climbed up the stairs to the jet.
 
As I entered, the first thing that came to my mind was, 'Holy shit, I'm on an episode of
Criminal Minds
.'
 
The jet was super posh – cream-colored leather seats, plush carpeting, real wood tables in between groups of four chairs.
 
I'd bet those chairs could recline all the way too.
 
This is about as far from coach class as I was ever going to get.
 
I grabbed Tony's wrist and squeezed.
 

"Wow, this is nice," he said, sounding a little in awe.
 
"This One Eleven Group must have a lot of money to be able to afford to fly this thing."

We heard similar comments coming from the others as they entered.
 
We all slowly took our seats.
 
It kinda felt like a dream.
 
We were being whisked away from the streets of Miami in a chartered executive jet to ... to ... um, I had no idea.
 
I sat down and tried to keep the feelings of uncertainty away.
 
I calmed myself by thinking that no one would go to all this trouble and expense just to kidnap a group of homeless teens.
 
Whatever this study was, it must be pretty valuable.

Mr. Dardennes' buff assistant was the last person on board, entering immediately behind Mr. Dardennes who was standing in the open cockpit door, speaking to pilots I couldn't see.
 
I turned around in my seat as far as I could but the secretary guy was blocking my view.
 
He stood in the entrance as the stairs were taken away and the door closed.
 
I couldn't see what he was doing exactly, but it sounded like he was securing the big locks on the door.
 
I guess he's not only a secretary, he's a flight attendant too.
 
He also looked like he'd be a pretty good bodyguard, now that I thought about it.
 
Handy guy to have around.

The plane started rolling away from the hangar.
 
I could hear the jet engines whining higher as they powered up, moving the jet forward.
 
The plane bounced a little as it crossed seams in the pavement.
 
I felt like I was sitting on a patchwork cloud.
 

Mr. Dardennes began speaking while walking towards the back of the plane.
 
"Hello everyone, and thank you for coming."
 
He stopped at the last chair, turning to look at us.
 
"We are very excited about the testing that will be conducted over the next three days.
 
We will be arriving at our destination in no time at all.
 
Mr. Nischa will be with you in just a moment with refreshments.
 
I will answer all of your questions when we touch down, and the test will begin soon after landing."
 
He turned and walked into a room at the back of the plane, closing the door behind him.

I leaned over and whispered in Tony's ear, "Was that the bathroom he just went into?" I was giggling.
 
It struck me as funny that someone would do a welcome speech and then make a grand exit into a toilet.

Tony whispered back, "No, I think it's an office.
 
The bathroom's up front."
 
He twisted around and pointed to a door we walked by when we came in.

"Ahhhh."
 
I'm so friggin' sophisticated sometimes I can't stand myself.

Spike raised his eyebrows at me a couple times.
 
"Nice, eh?"
 
He was sitting across from Tony and diagonal from me.

I smiled back.
 
"Yeah, not bad."
 
Especially since I was going to look at Spike for the entire trip.
 

Chase was running his hands back and forth on the leather armrests, of course not saying anything.

"I could get used to this," said Finn, grinning from across the aisle.

Becky was sitting next to him, smiling her head off; nothing unusual there.

Jared was sitting across the aisle from me, an arm's length away, next to Chase.
 
He looked thoughtful.
 
He'd been really quiet ever since we left the warehouse – and Samantha.
 
He wasn't the most talkative guy anyway, but this was too much.
 
When Jared was acting weird, it made everything else feel a little off.
 
Maybe in another time and another place, he could have been a pretty influential leader.
 
He had some sort of extra special charisma – like Martin Luther King or Bugs Bunny or something.

 
My thoughts were interrupted by the guy we now knew as Mr. Nischa, the bodyguard/secretary/flight attendant.
 
He was walking down the center aisle, carrying a tray of amber-colored drinks – one for each of us, plus one extra.
 
After we each took one of the tiny shot glasses – which were heavy crystal and not plastic – he took the last one and stood in front of us, holding it up and clearing his throat.
 
He began speaking in a scratchy voice, "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
 
I am Mr. Nischa.
 
Congratulations on being selected for this very important study.
 
In my country, we celebrate honors with a toast and a special drink.
 
It is mildly alcoholic, but don't worry, it will not affect you in that way.
 
It is traditional to say 'Skal' and then drink it in one, quick swallow."
 
He raised his glass at us, waiting for us to do the same.