Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(5)
Author: Gena Showalter

From the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of black. Oh, no. Everything else was forgotten as I focused on Tanner. He stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes anywhere but Lexis.

Lexis noticed him, too, and gulped, sadness skating over her expression a second time only to be replaced by determination. "Tanner," she acknowledged softly.

He gave a stiff nod and said, "S’up," as if he hadn’t a care.

"I just…I – " Sighing, she turned away from him, giving him her back.

Hurt flashed over Tanner’s face, and then his jaw hardened, his eyelids narrowed. So badly I wanted to shake Little Miss Know-It-All until she passed out.

"What’s wrong with Rome?" I asked. "Tell me and get out."

"Something’s wrong with Rome?" Tanner was at my side, his arm around my waist and offering support within seconds.

Needing every ounce of strength he could give me, I rested my head on his shoulder.

He shivered. "Damn, you’re cold," he said, and I knew he meant it literally. "Deep breaths, Viper." Viper, his pet name for me. "Good, that’s good, but you’re not calming." Lexis watched us with a hint of longing. Exactly what was she longing for? A partnership like Tanner and I had? Well, she’d destroyed her chance. More than that, Team TannaBelle wasn’t accepting new members. Except for Rome. I needed him, too. Like I’d said, he was my filter. He could take my emotions and cage them inside his body, removing the edge, the danger.

Was he okay? Had he been hurt?

A crystallized raindrop dripped from the ceiling, my fear and sadness too much. It spilled out of me and would soon consume the entire house if I wasn’t careful.

"Tell me what’s going on," I managed to croak.

That emerald gaze slid from my face to the hands twisting at my T-shirt – to the engagement ring glittering on my finger, a flat, fire-retardant titanium band with diamonds encrusted in the center. It was exactly what I would have picked for myself. Rome knew my likes, my dislikes and had known that anything similar to the five-carat rock he’d given Lexis would have irritated me.

Delicate mist formed in front of Lexis’s face as she breathed. "Something went wrong. I – He – " Oh my God. "What! Just say it!"

Tanner squeezed my side as another crystallized droplet fell, shattering when it hit the wooden floor.

In, out, I breathed. In, out. I was shaking uncontrollably.

"He and Cody made it into the warehouse and fought the guards posted there. It was more of a battle than they’d anticipated. Desert Gal, who wasn’t there at the time, had taken over OASS, as we suspected, and had already fortified all their defenses, as we did not. Still, they managed to beat the guards and free the prisoners." Her voice shook. "Then one of those prisoners…attacked Rome."

"Is he okay? Is he – " I still couldn’t bring myself to say it. Tanner began shaking, too.

"He’s alive," Lexis said.

Thank God. Relief poured through me, palpable, heady. My eyelids closed, and my knees would have buckled if Tanner hadn’t been holding me up. The ice inside me started to melt and the ceiling ceased its weeping. "I should kill you for scaring me like that."

"You didn’t let me finish," was the hard reply.

My eyelids popped open, and the ice immediately returned. "Finish, then! Tell me everything. Right.

Now! I’m fighting for control here, and you’re only making it worse." She nodded, grim, and that quick acquiescence made me all the more uneasy. "During the fight, his opponent disappeared. Inside him," she added grimly. "The man disappeared inside him. It did something to him, something bad."

I shook my head, hair slapping my cheeks but not managing to abate my confusion. "How is that possible? That’s not – "

She laughed bitterly, cutting me off. "Anything is possible. You should know that by now." I did. Oh, God, I did. "Is the man still…" And if so, what did that mean? I’d only known about this supernatural side of life a few months. I’d been thrust into it unexpectedly, utterly unprepared and, at first, disbelieving. In so many ways, I was still a baby.

"No. He only stayed inside of Rome a few minutes, and then he exited Rome’s body as if nothing strange had happened. Cody tried to capture him, but the man stepped inside of him, too, before escaping. Both Cody and Rome collapsed, but Cody was the first to awaken. He gathered Rome and the remaining experiment victims and returned to PSI headquarters. They arrived this morning. Rome is still unconscious."

Shock was once again beating through me. I should have been there. I could have helped him, could have erected an air shield while he worked and kept him safe. But I hadn’t gone; I’d been too preoccupied with planning my wedding. Guilt joined the shock, followed quickly by shame.

"John should have told me," I said softly. Why hadn’t he? He’d had the opportunity. Knowing him, though, he’d probably wanted concrete answers – how, why, lasting effects – before freaking me out.

"He didn’t even call me. I only know because I saw it…last night in my…dreams." Why the hesitation? "You see the future, not the past." Hope filled me. "Maybe it hasn’t happened yet.

Maybe we can stop – "

She was shaking her head, grimmer than I’d ever seen her, dashing every bit of my hope. "I know my visions. This has already happened."

That struck me as odd, but I was too crazed at the moment to reason it out.

Tanner gave me a little shove toward the hallway. "He’s going to be fine. Change out of your pj’s and get your stuff. I’ll take you up there."

An hour later , I found myself standing outside of Rome’s recovery room in PSI headquarters. I’d been beside his bed, but my grief had gotten the better of me and ice tears had once again begun falling from the ceiling, so I’d been asked to leave. Now I was looking at the love of my life through a glass partition.

He lay motionless, his dark hair in disarray. His features were smooth, as if he were merely sleeping, at peace and healthy and dreaming of love and heart-pounding sex. Perhaps the last was wishful thinking.

Long black lashes feathered over his sharp cheekbones. I wanted to trace the shadows they cast, the slope of his nose. His lips were soft and parted. I’d kissed those lips. Those lips had kissed every inch of me.

He hadn’t lost any weight. His body was still tanned, primed and roped. Pure strength, total vitality. The only evidence that something was wrong was the electrodes scattered all over his torso. On the monitor, his heartbeat appeared steady and sure.

Lexis stood beside the bed, clasping his hand. Tears were sliding down her cheeks and dripping onto his bare chest. They should have been my tears. I should have been the one holding his hand.