Oath Bound
Page 90
“I do not.” I was suddenly grateful for the dark room, so she couldn’t see the fire surely glowing in my cheeks.
Kori actually laughed, and I almost died of shock. “Yes, you do, and you’re not the first.” She chuckled again. “But you’re a smart girl, so I figure that if you’re interested in more than one night’s worth of sweat from him...”
“I never said I was interested.” But she spoke right over me.
“...then you’ve already figured out your only real competition is a ghost.”
I hadn’t thought about it in so many words, and I wasn’t ready to admit to anything yet, but...yeah. He’d grown up with her. He’d been with her for years, even though they weren’t monogamous most of the time, from what I’d gathered. Hell, he kept a written record of everything she’d ever mumbled in her sleep!
“You didn’t answer the question,” I said when she leaned forward and peered into my eyes, as though she could read in them the things I wasn’t saying aloud. “Were you and Noelle close?”
“Best friends. When I found out she was sleeping with my brother, I was beyond pissed off at them both.”
“What’d they say?” I had no similar experience to compare that to. Nadia and I had been far enough apart in age that we couldn’t even wear the same clothes, much less compete for friends or boyfriends.
“I never told them I knew.” A slight shift in the shadows and the squeal of bedsprings told me she’d folded her legs beneath her on the mattress. “They clearly didn’t want anyone to know, and I sure as hell didn’t want to hear about it, from either perspective. So I left it alone. But I had no idea it went on as long as it did until he showed me the notebook. Three days ago.”
I thought about that for a moment. Then I kind of wished I hadn’t.
“What was she like?”
Kori leaned forward, her palms propped on the edge of the bed, and I could see her face now, still heavily shrouded in shadow. “Noelle was...a puzzle. I knew that even before I knew I should be putting the pieces together. You’re kind of like her, in that respect. But only that one.”
I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “He loved her?”
“Yeah. He did.”
“Did she love him?”
Kori hesitated. “Maybe. In her own way. But things with Noelle were...complicated. We didn’t know it at the time, but in looking back, I don’t think she was ever really a normal kid. Because of her Skill. I don’t think she did anything—including my brother—without a reason related to something she’d seen in prophesy.”
“So...she used him?” That bitch. My own thought surprised me, but I refused to let myself overanalyze it.
“I think she really did care about him, but yes. She used him. For multiple...things. But I’m not sure he actually understands that, even now. I’m also not sure he’d want me to tell you any of this,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Then why are you?” I whispered back, my feet on the floor now, so the chair couldn’t spin.
“Because he doesn’t always know what’s best for him.” She paused and seemed to reconsider. “I take that back. He almost never knows what’s best for him.”
“And you do?”
She shrugged. “I know it’s no better for him to keep living in the past than it is for Gran.”
“And by ‘the past,’ you mean Noelle?”
Kori frowned. “I mean all of it. Kris is a man on a mission that can never be fulfilled, without a time machine. He can’t go back and save Elle from a bullet. He can’t go back and save Kenley or me from the Towers, and no matter how many kids he shuttles from one safe harbor to the next, he can never undo what happened to Micah.”
“Kids?” Micah?
“The kids he works with.”
“How do kids fit in with bail bondsmen and private collectors?” Something wasn’t adding up...
Kori frowned. “That’s what he told you? That he rounds up criminals and collectibles?”
I nodded slowly. “So it’s not true?” My chest ached. He’d lied to me.
“Oh, that’s true, but it’s only half the story. Kris is a smuggler.”
“A smuggler?” Pieces were falling into place in my head, but the big picture wouldn’t come into focus. “A...kid smuggler?” Were those the kids Gran was talking about? “So he is a kidnapper?”
Kori shook her head. “No, he’s a liberator. And they’re not small kids. They’re mostly teenagers. Kids who’ve just discovered their Skill and are at risk of being ‘recruited’ by the mafia.” The bitter scowl that accompanied her air quotes spoke volumes about her own recruitment. “He gets them out of the city and helps place them with families in the suburbs. Families with Jammers. Like you. To keep them safe until they learn how to hide themselves.”
Holy crap. “And does Gran...cook for them?” Suddenly the four huge cans of marinara made sense.
“She did, before he had to take away the knives and stove knobs. She’s only truly with us about half the time now.” Kori shrugged. “Of course, all of that’s on hold now while we’re here helping Kenley break her bindings.”
“He didn’t tell me.” Why didn’t he tell me? “Does that mean he doesn’t trust me?”
Kori actually laughed, and I almost died of shock. “Yes, you do, and you’re not the first.” She chuckled again. “But you’re a smart girl, so I figure that if you’re interested in more than one night’s worth of sweat from him...”
“I never said I was interested.” But she spoke right over me.
“...then you’ve already figured out your only real competition is a ghost.”
I hadn’t thought about it in so many words, and I wasn’t ready to admit to anything yet, but...yeah. He’d grown up with her. He’d been with her for years, even though they weren’t monogamous most of the time, from what I’d gathered. Hell, he kept a written record of everything she’d ever mumbled in her sleep!
“You didn’t answer the question,” I said when she leaned forward and peered into my eyes, as though she could read in them the things I wasn’t saying aloud. “Were you and Noelle close?”
“Best friends. When I found out she was sleeping with my brother, I was beyond pissed off at them both.”
“What’d they say?” I had no similar experience to compare that to. Nadia and I had been far enough apart in age that we couldn’t even wear the same clothes, much less compete for friends or boyfriends.
“I never told them I knew.” A slight shift in the shadows and the squeal of bedsprings told me she’d folded her legs beneath her on the mattress. “They clearly didn’t want anyone to know, and I sure as hell didn’t want to hear about it, from either perspective. So I left it alone. But I had no idea it went on as long as it did until he showed me the notebook. Three days ago.”
I thought about that for a moment. Then I kind of wished I hadn’t.
“What was she like?”
Kori leaned forward, her palms propped on the edge of the bed, and I could see her face now, still heavily shrouded in shadow. “Noelle was...a puzzle. I knew that even before I knew I should be putting the pieces together. You’re kind of like her, in that respect. But only that one.”
I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “He loved her?”
“Yeah. He did.”
“Did she love him?”
Kori hesitated. “Maybe. In her own way. But things with Noelle were...complicated. We didn’t know it at the time, but in looking back, I don’t think she was ever really a normal kid. Because of her Skill. I don’t think she did anything—including my brother—without a reason related to something she’d seen in prophesy.”
“So...she used him?” That bitch. My own thought surprised me, but I refused to let myself overanalyze it.
“I think she really did care about him, but yes. She used him. For multiple...things. But I’m not sure he actually understands that, even now. I’m also not sure he’d want me to tell you any of this,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper.
“Then why are you?” I whispered back, my feet on the floor now, so the chair couldn’t spin.
“Because he doesn’t always know what’s best for him.” She paused and seemed to reconsider. “I take that back. He almost never knows what’s best for him.”
“And you do?”
She shrugged. “I know it’s no better for him to keep living in the past than it is for Gran.”
“And by ‘the past,’ you mean Noelle?”
Kori frowned. “I mean all of it. Kris is a man on a mission that can never be fulfilled, without a time machine. He can’t go back and save Elle from a bullet. He can’t go back and save Kenley or me from the Towers, and no matter how many kids he shuttles from one safe harbor to the next, he can never undo what happened to Micah.”
“Kids?” Micah?
“The kids he works with.”
“How do kids fit in with bail bondsmen and private collectors?” Something wasn’t adding up...
Kori frowned. “That’s what he told you? That he rounds up criminals and collectibles?”
I nodded slowly. “So it’s not true?” My chest ached. He’d lied to me.
“Oh, that’s true, but it’s only half the story. Kris is a smuggler.”
“A smuggler?” Pieces were falling into place in my head, but the big picture wouldn’t come into focus. “A...kid smuggler?” Were those the kids Gran was talking about? “So he is a kidnapper?”
Kori shook her head. “No, he’s a liberator. And they’re not small kids. They’re mostly teenagers. Kids who’ve just discovered their Skill and are at risk of being ‘recruited’ by the mafia.” The bitter scowl that accompanied her air quotes spoke volumes about her own recruitment. “He gets them out of the city and helps place them with families in the suburbs. Families with Jammers. Like you. To keep them safe until they learn how to hide themselves.”
Holy crap. “And does Gran...cook for them?” Suddenly the four huge cans of marinara made sense.
“She did, before he had to take away the knives and stove knobs. She’s only truly with us about half the time now.” Kori shrugged. “Of course, all of that’s on hold now while we’re here helping Kenley break her bindings.”
“He didn’t tell me.” Why didn’t he tell me? “Does that mean he doesn’t trust me?”
