Kumbaya Much Read online

  He sent her one of his snarky grins. “Hey, I assumed that little display was for my benefit.”

  Seffy reached into her top and pulled out the socks, throwing them at him.

  He started to laugh as he dodged them. “So that's how you did it!”

  His mockery made her blood boil over. She came at him swinging, but he was faster. Trent grabbed her wrists and frog-marched her over to the bed. Before she could react, she was flat on her back on the mattress, pinned under his body.

  “Get off of me!”

  “Not until you settle down,” he said with maddening calm.

  Seffy glared at him, unable to string coherent words together. He gazed down at her, his eyes lit with amusement, which she did not find amusing.

  “It's time to stop playing games, Sef.”

  “This coming from the guy who kissed a bimbo just to piss me off.”

  “And did it?”

  “Well, duh!”

  He smiled. “Why do you suppose that is, seeing as we don't even have a relationship and all?”

  Seffy stared at him, unable to answer. There was no way she would admit that he'd become more than a handy—albeit attractive—sidekick.

  “Just what I thought.”

  “I didn't say anything, Trent.”

  “It's what you didn't say that I find so tantalizing. Along with the fact that here we are in such a convenient position.” He lowered his head.

  “Don't you dare kiss me!”

  Trent regarded her with a heavy-lidded expression. “Why not?”

  “Because you've been tainted by Brenda.”

  “I took a shower and brushed my teeth. I'm Brenda-germ free.”

  Seffy twisted her head away. “I can't breathe with you crushing me like this. I swear you weigh a ton.”

  He sighed and rolled off of her part way, propping his head up with his hand. “Think about it, Sef, why is Brenda even in the picture?”

  She sent him a droll expression. “Uh, apparently for clean livin'.”

  “Why now? Why did she initially come to your room?”

  Seffy shrugged.

  Trent raised a brow. “It's got to be Fiona. Remember the comments Fiona made about us being together when there was trouble?”

  She sighed, embarrassed by her tendency to be melodramatic. Putting socks in my top seemed like a good idea at the time. “I guess.”

  “It all makes sense now. She's trying to keep us divided. You and Gareth and the girls used to be pretty tight. Now look at you. You're all barely speaking.”

  Seffy frowned. “You think Fiona's masterminding this?”

  “Sweetheart, have you forgotten the subliminal messaging and drugging she was behind?”

  “It's never been proved she did it.”

  “She's the only one with motive and opportunity. I'm thinking Fenn's just the booming voice and Fiona is the one behind the curtain.”

  “So she sent Brenda to try and distract you from me.”

  He nodded.

  “And it worked.”

  “Sef, I was just playing along to get more information.”

  Seffy groaned. “Oh, please! How stupid do you think I am?”

  Trent leaned close and threaded his fingers through her hair. “You know I'm a one-Seffy man. And I think you're perfect just the way you are, socks or no socks.”

  She bit back a reluctant smile. “You're ridiculous.”

  His eyes suddenly became serious. “No, I'm in love with you. And I'll keep telling you until you believe me.”

  Seffy wondered if he heard the thundering of her heart against her ribcage. It pounded especially hard when she remembered the words of Alternate Universe Seffy on the digital camera video. Trent had told me he loved me many times, but that day...that was the first time I believed him. At the moment, she didn't know what to believe, but this time when he dipped his head, she didn't stop him.

  Oh why couldn't she stop him? Her lips parted under his kiss and her hands found their way into his hair. He felt so good. Trent's kiss became more insistent and she didn't resist, not when his touch made her forget all the bad things she could barely keep at bay on her own.

  A light knock sounded on her door. Trent lifted his mouth a fraction of an inch. “Let's ignore it,” he whispered. “It's probably Brenda trying to interfere.”

  Happily. Seffy lifted her head up to capture his lips with her own, sighing with pleasure when he slid his arms around her and held her tight.

  The door knob rattled. “Seffy, are you in there?”

  Seffy angled her head away. “It's Lani!”

  “Sef, if you can hear me, Gareth's awake and he's asking for you!”

  Chapter Four

  Trent's stony expression hit Seffy just as hard as the chill she felt when she was out of his arms. All she could do was send him an apologetic half-smile as she got up from the bed. She didn't want to know what he was thinking as he stared up at the ceiling, pointedly ignoring her pleading looks for understanding.

  As she slid through the narrow opening of the door so Lani didn't see Trent, she realized she didn't have the Haz-Mat suit. Seffy decided she was done with sneaking around. Security would either avoid her or shoot her, both of which were acceptable at this point.

  “Hey,” Seffy said, sending Lani a tight smile.

  The brunette's pinched face revealed her state of mind. “Hey.”

  “When did Gareth wake up?”

  “Less than an hour ago. The doctors have checked him over and he's healing well. But he wanted to talk to you right away.” Her wide blue eyes took in Seffy's clothing. “Uh, what's up with the outfit?”

  Crap. She glanced at her cut offs and tiny top. “Er, all my other clothes are being washed. Were you with Gareth when he opened his eyes?”

  “I wasn't, but Addison was. She hasn't left his side.” Lani peeked up at her. “It's kinda weird. Seem like you should be in her place, you know?”

  Seffy clenched her jaw. I know. “I don't know if Gareth would've wanted it. He and I are dealing with some issues...”

  “It's not right,” she said in a low voice. “Everything's wrong. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.”

  Seffy glanced at her friend. “Well, maybe the fact that he wants to see me is a good sign.”

  Lani's fingers pleated the folds of her skirt. “Yeah. I hope so.”

  They walked in silence through the deserted hallways for several minutes, but when they turned a corner, a guard intercepted them. Seffy sighed inwardly. Here we go. His eyes widened when he recognized her—either that or he'd noticed the lack of socks under her deflated top.

  “I'm afraid I can't allow you to continue, miss. You're entering a restricted area.”

  “Restricted from whom?”

  He blinked. “Uh...you.”

  “Well, I plan on continuing, so I'll do what I gotta do and you do what you gotta do.” She stepped toward him. “Okay?”

  The guard backed up and smacked into the wall. Seffy walked past him and saw they were nearing Gareth's hospital room.

  Lani stared at her. “Sef, I think you do have a super power. That was almost Jedi-like!”

  “Nah, he just thinks I have the plague.”

  “Still, a handy trick.”

  “But a little hard on the self-esteem.”

  Lani nodded, still casting curious glances at her Mary Ann attempt. “Yeah, that's true. Well, here we are.”

  Seffy was surprised that there were no guards around, but it made for a much more convenient entrance. Her heart contracted in her chest when she saw Gareth, sitting up against his pillows.

  He turned his head, his brown eyes meeting hers. “Sef.”

  She was only vaguely aware of Addison leaving the room with Lani as her vision tunneled down on him. She approached the bed, unsure how to proceed. Gareth's bleak expression surely mirrored her own. Their last conversation burgeoned in her mind—especially the part where he rejected her.

  “C'mere.” He held out hi
s hands.

  Seffy leaned forward to hug him, but the courtesy embrace she expected was eclipsed by a fierce hug that took her breath away. Gareth buried his face in her hair and held her tight. She closed her eyes, wanting to revel in his nearness.

  When he finally released her, she stood and looked at him, denting her bottom lip with her teeth. The ugly fluorescent lighting sallowed his skin and his tousled dark hair added to his ailing appearance. His golden brown eyes searched hers for several uncomfortable seconds.

  “Thanks for coming, Sef.”

  She smiled slightly. “Of course. And I've been by every day.” She grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up next to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

  “Like I got shot.”

  Seffy closed her eyes against the heat of tears and nodded. “I was so afraid you wouldn't make it. I guess my time travel did something wonky and allowed a few bad guys to follow me.”

  As soon as she said the words, she regretted them. Gareth had told her the Tangent Universe time travel trip was nothing more than a construct of her messed up psyche.

  “Yeah.” He twisted the medical band around his wrist. “Listen, I know I said some things that were hurtful and...I want to apologize.” He glanced over at her. “Maybe it took almost dying to for me to remember what's important.”

  And that is? Seffy waited for what, she didn't know.

  He reached out and took her hand. “Nothing's been right since we've been here. I now know what you meant when you said you just want things to be the way they were.”

  Did he mean with the two of them? Or their entire group? She smiled but couldn't meet his eyes. The turmoil grinding in her gut made thinking hard. She should be thrilled Gareth wanted her back on some level, but there was some muddy water under the bridge that made it hard to imagine. While she forgave him for his earlier words, she didn't know if she could forget them.

  She took a deep breath. “How long do you have to be in here?”

  “Another day or two. Will you still visit me?”

  Seffy smiled, experiencing a sudden urge to bolt. “Of course.” She rose to go.

  Gareth put out his hand. “Before you leave...kiss me.”

  Seffy stared at him. A few weeks ago she wouldn't have thought twice, but with the taste of Trent still on her lips, she couldn't do it. Why would he ask in the first place? “I'm sorry, but I've got to go.”

  And she did. Without looking back.

  Seffy passed Addison outside the door.

  “What did he say to you?”

  She stopped. “What do you mean?”

  Addison's green eyes sparked with anger in her pallid face and her lips trembled as she spoke. “Stay away from him, do you hear me?”

  “I can hear just fine.”

  “You're poison to him, Seffy, and I'm not talking about any zombie virus.”

  Seffy stared at her, keeping her expression flat. “He's my friend, too.”

  “Then if you care about him, you'll stay away, because whenever you're around, someone gets hurt.”

  Like tortured and experimented on and starved hurt? Like rejected and shoved to the floor and chased by assassins? Seffy ground her teeth hard and walked away. She hardly recognized Addy any more. The girl had always been edgy, but this rage...she didn't understand where it came from.

  As she turned down a new hallway, Seffy's shoulders sagged. If this whole armageddony blast thing hadn't happened, would their group have continued on in relative harmony in West Hollywood? Or was this implosion part of the relationship process that would've occurred regardless? Was it caused by the blast, or in spite of it? Would they ever be close again?

  Instead of going back to her room, Seffy headed toward the computer lab. The compound scientists had had plenty of time to figure out a way for them to return. Enough with the excuses already. The lab proved to be absent of its head scientist, Eugene. Several myopically blinking faces looked up at her entrance, then returned to their greenish screens doing...whatever it was they did. Apparently a scrawny Mary Ann imitation wasn't enough to keep their attention.

  Seffy glanced at the spot on the floor where she'd been during their experiment. The yellow tape X was still there—the Launching Pad as Eugene had called it. She'd been launched all right—right into the wrong parallel universe because someone in the nerd herd had gotten the calculations wrong. Or maybe it was because the computers were just so damn old, relatively speaking.

  She left the lab and headed toward Eugene's room. He let out a squeak when he opened his door at her knock.

  “I need to talk to you, Eugene. Please let me in.”

  “Miss Carter, I'm sorry, but you're still technically under quarantine.”

  Time to employ her 'super power'. She pushed open the door and walked into the cluttered madness of his residence as he staggered back in abject fear of her germs.

  “Please, keep your distance! What do you want?” He pushed his thick glasses back up his shiny nose, looking for all the world like the poster guy for geekdom.

  Seffy sighed. “I want to know why you haven't sent us back to 2006 yet. After promises and assurances and a nearly successful test run, we're still here. Why?”

  “We're doing everything we can—”

  “Bull.” She stepped over a pile of dirty clothes and walked toward him.

  Eugene picked up a fat computer manual and held it out like a shield. “Fiona said—”

  “Fiona? What's she got to do with it?”

  “That's what I was about to tell you before you interrupted me! She has had us shifting our resources to other projects.”

  “What other projects?”

  “I'm not at liberty to say.”

  “Doesn't she want to get rid of us? Why isn't she making you send us back?”

  “Our funding—we do what she wants. It's that simple.”

  Seffy frowned when she realized she wasn't going to get anything more out of him. He wasn't a bad guy—once he'd even protected her in a way—but his fear of her made her cranky. She looked around the room and saw the box where the orange cat had been playing last time. “Is Schroeder in there?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “The cat.”

  Seffy walked over and pulled back the flaps of the box.

  “Uh, I don't know about any cat.”

  She looked in the box and saw a cat skeleton, its bleached bones nearly blinding her. Whirling, she pointed at Eugene. “He's dead! How could you let him die? He was just an innocent cat!”

  “Miss Carter, calm down!” He edged his way across the room and leaned over the box. His brows went up. “The box is...empty.”

  Seffy stared at him, not hearing him right. But when she looked in the box again, it was indeed empty. She straightened, her heart thudding. “There was a cat here last time,” she said slowly. “He sat in my lap. He had a weird name.”

  “I assure you, I would never name a cat Schroeder. Schrodinger, maybe as a little quantum decoherence joke, but—”

  “Yes, that second one. That's what you called him.”

  Eugene regarded her with a curious expression. “You may not be aware, but animals are expressly forbidden inside the compound, so there's no possibility of there being a cat here.”

  She looked around the room, fighting a sensation of disorientation. Please, God, not the visions again.

  “You don't look well.” Eugene backed up. “Can I call someone for assistance?”

  Seffy shook her head and tacked her way to his door. Out in the hallway, she closed her eyes and leaned up against the wall until she could calm her thoughts. Why had she seen bones? No, why had she imagined seeing bones? She pushed away from the wall and hurried back to her room.

  Through the lonely halls, she saw shadows out of the corner of her eye, heard the distant echo of footfalls. Paranoia hastened her steps. She breathed a sigh of relief when she closed and locked her room door behind her.

  Okay, just relax. There's an explanation for seeing a cat s
keleton that wasn't there.

  I hope.

  She hadn't eaten anything today—so tainted food wasn't to blame. And it was hard to eat when Trent was so busy with Brenda that he'd forgotten to smuggle her fresh food from the cafeteria. Seffy still didn't trust the stuff they sent up in a box to her room every week.

  She scanned her room for signs of abnormalcy. She couldn't find any humidifiers sending out a narcotic vapor. Nothing seemed out of place. Seffy pressed her palms to her eye sockets as her respiration increased. Maybe all the drugs, all the experiments have turned my brain for good. Maybe I'm just losing it all the way.

  She went into the bathroom and saw her pink tracksuit hanging on the back of the door. Seffy quickly changed into it and the familiar soft fabric soothed her rattled nerves a bit. Her reflection, however, did not. How had she ever thought herself pretty? She looked like a desperate attempt at heroin chic. Maybe that was the turn on for Trent, the ex-junkie.

  Yielding to a morbid impulse, she dug through her makeup supply and applied dark gray eye shadow and black kohl around her eyes. Her skin was pale white, but she didn't use any blush. She found a lip gloss with a slight purple hue and smeared it on her lips. Next she lightly back-combed her short hair until it was a spiky mess.

  There. Now I look like the crazy half-dead zombie disaster that I really am. If I can't escape it, might as well look the part.

  It was stupid, but for a moment, it had taken her mind off what she just couldn't handle right now. Another thing she couldn't handle was company. She decided to go to the Light Room. The only problem was that the only access she knew of was from Trent's room.

  Seffy headed into the closet passage, hoping he was gone. After her defection, he'd probably gone running into Brenda's tanned and willing arms—whether she was getting paid by Fiona or not. A fresh wave of jealousy made her stumble. She forced it from her mind as she pushed open Trent's door an inch. Unless he was hiding under the bed, the room was empty. Seffy squeezed through the opening, scrambled up on top of his desk, and slid back the ceiling tile to reveal the access point that led to the hidden room in the attic.

  It took all of her strength to claw her way up into the opening. She kept forgetting to take Trent's advice and do a few push ups to strengthen her noodly arms. Once she made it into the crawl space, she looked for the flash light he kept there for their attic jaunts. She didn't see one, but saw a plug attached to a wire instead. That was new. Next to it, she saw an outlet. Had Trent installed some kind of light? It would help considering all the times she'd gotten lost in the dark, dusty space.