By the way my sister began fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, her eyes darting to her alarm clock, I knew the appointed meeting time was almost there. Even though I probably had another hundred questions to ask her, they could wait. This was a golden opportunity, and I wasn’t about to miss it.
“So you gave Kory my blood sample and then what? Why haven’t you been transformed yet? What’s Kory waiting for now?” I asked.
Jocelyn bit her lip. “He’s wanted to… He just got so busy with his Defenders. You see, when I told him what I’d done to convince Sammy to give it to me, he’d said I was a genius. That the entire world would be grateful to me, for my vision of the future. He said he had to hurry back and start using the sample right away. That it couldn’t wait. But he promised me that as soon as everything was working right, he’d take me to see the Defenders, and then he’d change me. It’d be safer that way.”
I folded my arms. “So you haven’t seen him since? He just took the sample and left you?”
“No, he hasn’t left me.” She huffed. “He’s been here several times.”
“So how are you so sure he’s going to ever make good on his promise?” Blake asked. The glint in his eye let me know he was trying to bait her.
“Because he told me the last time he was here that tonight’s the night!” she yelled back at him.
Bingo! That was all I needed to know. I turned to Blake. “You should take Jocelyn away from here.”
He stared at me before shaking his head. “No way. I know what you’re thinking, Sam, but it’s too risky.”
“Blake, it’s perfect! Don’t you see how perfect this is?” I didn’t say more; I didn’t want Jocelyn to know what I could do.
Jocelyn’s eyes narrowed as she pointed to her door. “I’ve told you everything I know. So you both better go now!”
My gaze pleaded with Blake, who still looked like he wanted to argue. Running his hands through his hair, he grumbled something under his breath.
“I hope you know what you’re up against,” he said with an exhale. In an instant, he was sweeping me up in his arms, kissing my mouth soundly. The next, he grabbed hold of Jocelyn’s body, leaving through the window so fast that all I heard was one stifled yelp from my sister.
Just like that, I was alone in my sister’s room. I didn’t waste time, transforming into the exact replica. I glanced down at the shirt Jocelyn had been tugging at just moments before. The only thing left to do was to decide how Jocelyn would act around Kory.
Opting for confident, I squared my shoulders and waited. It only took moments until I could make out mint and musky cologne in the air. Wow, we cut that close.
Making the rash decision to pretend to be Jocelyn had been easy; now the reality of it crashed down on me as questions of how to act like my sister barraged me. Starting with should I go open the window? Should I be the forward one, trying to touch Kory while invisible? Or do I wait until he appears and act surprised he’s already in my room? Jocelyn wouldn’t be able to detect his scent after all….
Luckily, my bedroom window opened and Kory appeared almost simultaneously as he climbed through. My stomach dropped to my toes as I remembered Kory and Jocelyn were not just friends, they were together.
He didn’t waste time, closing the distance between us. I had to force my legs to move toward him, plastering a smile across my face. Really, I wanted to knock him to the ground and beat the tar out of his white teeth. How could he trick my sister like this! Jocelyn was only his latest victim. I wanted to kill him for what he’d done to Jaxon and Blake. Tearing two brothers apart, destroying Jaxon’s life.
I swallowed back my rage, trying not to tremble under the hands that reached for me. Unfortunately, being in Jocelyn’s form didn’t act as a buffer for how Kory’s arms wrapped around me made my skin crawl. I knew I would lose it if he tried to kiss me.
“I’ve missed you,” Kory whispered into my ear. He dropped his lips to my collarbone. Inhaling deeply, he murmured, “Mm… you always smell so good.”
I forced the words to come out. “I’ve missed you too.”
He planted light kisses along the base of my neck, working his way up to my jaw.
I can’t do this! my mind screamed. I pushed him back a little. “Kory, you promised me tonight was the night,” I said, forcing what I hoped looked like a flirty grin.
Even as I said the words, I realized I hadn’t thought the other part of that equation out. Would I actually let Kory inject me? There was no telling what he had concocted for my sister. The object of this charade was to find out where the bugs were being kept. That was it. It wasn’t to become another science experiment.
“I know I did.” His brown eyes didn’t leave my face. For a moment, we just stared at each other.
Panicked he wasn’t buying my act, I leaned in and forced myself to plant a few light kisses on his cheek. “Sorry, I just can’t wait to finally be like you. I want to be on your side when the world changes.”
I felt Kory’s body relax with my last words. He pulled me back into his arms, tightly squeezing me. “There’s nothing I’d like more.” Hating every moment he touched me, I was relieved when he let me go.
Glancing around my room, he asked, “So did you get everything prepared like I asked you to?”
Sure hope so. I bit my lip. Figuring my sister would have done everything for this night to be right, I said with confidence, “Yes.”
“Perfect,” Kory said, moving toward the small carry-on leaning against my sister’s dresser. He picked it up, adjusting the strap to be longer. “Then it looks like there’s nothing keeping us from leaving. Are you ready to go?”
I nodded, trying to act eager and excited. Really, I felt like a buffoon smiling back at him. He must have attributed my odd behavior to nerves because his gaze softened as he drew nearer to me.
“Don’t worry. It will be like when I flew you over the lakes. Only this time, the ride will be longer. Just relax and let me do the rest, okay?” The way his eyes swept up and down my body, I couldn’t help the quick glance down to make sure I was still my sister.
“Okay, sounds good,” I said, relieved to see I hadn’t changed back. Looking up, I caught Kory’s arched brow. Maybe Jocelyn would have said something different. He recovered quickly from whatever he’d been thinking, slinging my bag over his shoulder. The carry-on wasn’t exactly made to hang around someone’s neck, but it didn’t seem to bother Kory to have the luggage banging against his hip.
I took a step closer to him. I’d had Blake carry me enough times to know he would probably hold me like a bride being carried over the threshold. I wrapped my hands around the base of his neck, more of a gesture to get going, but Kory didn’t lift me up.
Instead, he cupped my face with his fingers. “Thank you for being patient with me, Jocelyn. I know it’s been hard waiting. I want you to know how much I appreciate you believing in me. In my vision for the future.”
I could only stare at him, conflicted on so many levels. For that split second, I truly believed Kory had feelings for my sister, and that maybe deep down, he really believed his actions were justified by some greater good he envisioned for the future.
On the other hand, I still wanted to beat the tar out of him for being such an idiot.
“You’ve been worth the wait, Kory.” The words tasted foul coming out of my mouth. “I’ll do whatever it takes to be with you forever.”
I must have said the right thing because Kory closed the gap between us, kissing my mouth hard enough that I staggered back. Instantly, his arms snaked around me, pressing our bodies close, keeping me from falling. I realized he was airborne when we were both horizontal, with nothing below me. Who needs a bed when you’ve got wings? It took all of my willpower to not let my own wings rescue me from the desperate situation I’d thrown myself into. One thing I did know for certain, my sister would have no qualms about this scenario going too far.
Crap! I racked my brain for a plausible reason to halt his progress, his hands moving with confidence around my body.
“Kory,” I blurted. “Why don’t we get out of here first? My dad has gotten all paranoid lately. You should’ve seen the way he grilled Krista the other day because he thought she’d had a guy in her room.”
Kory grunted, setting me back down on the ground. “Honestly,” he said, catching his breath. “I don’t know why you still live at home. Such a hassle.”
I grinned up at him. “I won’t be for much longer.”
He smiled back at me. “True.” Finally, he swept me up in his arms. “You’re right. Let’s go somewhere a little more private.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, leaning into his chest, commanding myself to look pleased about it.
“And I know just the place,” he added with a wink. “But first, you’re going to need a jacket.”