Breed of Innocence (The Breed Chronicles, #01) Page 6

  “Well done,” I heard Greene say from somewhere above me. Lincoln blocked my view so I couldn’t see exactly where he was.

  After half a minute, Lincoln slowly released my hands and smiled down at me. If it’d been a snarky I’m-better-than-you or a you-had-that-coming smile, I would have been okay. I probably would have decked him, but it would have been okay since that was what I’d been expecting.

  But not this smile, though. My heart gave a hard thud against my ribs and then stopped. That smile could do some serious damage.

  He moved to the side to give me room to sit up, and as I did, I kept my gaze locked with his. He pushed to his feet and offered his hand again. This time when I went to reach for it, he pulled back and raised his eyebrows. I got the message: Don’t do something you’ll regret. The side of my mouth lifted in a half-smile and I gave a small nod of understanding.

  He reached down, pulled me to my feet. I opened my mouth to say something but saw Greene out of the corner of my eye. Seeing me watching him, he smiled and bowed his head slightly.

  He said something to the kid in front of him then walked over. “You did very well, Miss Hall. Of course, I’m not surprised. Peter said you were a good fighter.”

  I didn’t argue, but I still wanted to know how Peter knew that. I’d run from him, but we hadn’t exactly fought or anything.

  A group of people from the bleachers ran down and clapped me on the shoulder. I heard “awesome!” and “that was so cool!” more times than I could count.

  How was losing a fight awesome or cool?

  Well, technically I hadn’t lost. Probably would have, though. Either way, I didn’t see how it was awesome.

  I glanced to my left and found a girl with short black hair staring at me with a nasty sneer on her face. Guess I wasn’t the only one who didn’t think it was all that awesome.

  “Thank you, Miss Hall and Mr. Stone, for the demonstration,” Greene said, forcing my attention back to him. He put his hand on my shoulder. “Could I have a moment?”

  I nodded and sent Lincoln a parting smile before following Greene away from the crowd.

  He led me toward the pool, away from some of the noise. “Typically, I require all Prospects to take a few days and mull things over, to consider the pros—and more importantly, the cons—of staying here. Most of them, as you can see, have already decided on what they think they want.” He turned, his eyes on the bleachers and the other Prospects. “But some, I’m sad to say, will decide otherwise when the time comes. And even more, as I said earlier, won’t make the cut.”

  He didn’t exactly ask any question, so I nodded, unsure of a proper answer.

  “My point is, I’m curious, Miss Hall; have you decided? Have you thought about it anymore? Is this something you think you’d like to do?”

  This time, I knew the answer but still didn’t say it immediately. Living at the Pond with Fishface and her little Tadpoles had been hell. There, I’d had fighting. There, I’d been in a constant state of misery. And waiting. Waiting for Mrs. Gill to send me off somewhere; waiting for the other girls to try to attack me.

  Waiting until I was eighteen and could get out of there.

  “You know about where I was staying?” His eyes narrowed and I took that as a yes. He seemed to know almost everything. “Will any of that make here seem as bad as there?”

  “I would hope not.”

  Were there any cons that would dissuade me? So there were rules. Big deal. I was used to those. Even before my mom and brother—

  I swallowed hard and closed my eyes for a moment. Even back then, I’d had rules. Take out the trash, clean your room, do your homework, don’t hit your brother.

  When I opened my mouth to respond, he held up a hand. “Let me be perfectly honest. There are more…I don’t want to say cons, but there are other things to consider. The biggest, and usually most problematic, is the weekly checkups. Everyone who stays must agree to routine blood work. It’s part of our policy.”

  “Blood work?”

  “We research DNA, Miss Hall. To do that, we need DNA. You’re the one who pointed that out to the others.” He arched an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

  “No. No, it’s fine.” So far, that was the worst con I’d heard. I bit my lip. “If I stay, I’ll get to train?”

  He nodded. “Yes, that would be part of the plan.”

  “Then I’m staying. Training is the only thing I care about.”

  “It won’t be today or tomorrow; you realize this, don’t you? I don’t want you to agree and then feel as though you’ve been mislead. Neither am I trying to dissuade you. I just need you to understand it could take up to four years before you would become an actual hunter. Maybe longer.”

  I couldn’t lie—that was a con. A big one. That was definitely longer than I wanted to wait.

  On the other hand, I’d been searching for demons for almost two years, and before today, before he came along, I’d been no closer in my search. If it weren’t for him, I’d still be at the Pond, probably trying to avoid a fight with someone, plotting another escape, or trying to find demons. Here, at least, I’d have a real chance to do that.

  I’d have a real chance to find the demon that took my family away.

  “I’m in.”

  “I’ll see to the arrangements then. Orientation for the other Prospects will continue for another hour or so, and then starts again tomorrow morning. If you’re sure of your decision, then I see no point in making you stick around. In fact, I’d rather you go see one of the doctors and—” He broke off with a laugh when I groaned. “Miss Hall, a little over three hours ago, you almost had your eardrums ruptured, and just now, you were in a fight with Lincoln. I’d rather you were checked out. Mr. Stone is fairly strong and he knocked you down twice.”

  “I knocked him down, too,” I muttered, earning another laugh.

  “That you did.” His gaze went somewhere over my shoulder and he motioned for someone. “Mr. Stone, would you escort Miss Hall to the infirmary?”

  He gave me a look. “You okay?”

  “She’s fine,” Director Greene answered for me. “However, after today’s activities, I would feel better if she were checked out.”

  Lincoln shrugged. “Sure.”

  I started to follow Lincoln and then stopped and turned back. “You mentioned pros and cons of staying,” I began, “but you never actually mentioned any pros. Besides the hunting thing, I mean.”

  He smiled. “Caught that, did you? I was curious of your decision before you heard any.”

  “So I’ll start the probationary period then?””

  “No, I don’t believe that will be necessary. You agreed to stay without hearing the benefits of it, so I don’t think we’ll have any issues. I’ve been doing this for a very long time and I believe I’m a good judge of character.” There was a pause. “Unless, of course, you’d rather wait. You’ll be starting mid-term, so that might be a deterrent.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t mind.”

  His eyes lightened. “Good. If we have any problems, we can always make other arrangements.”

  Meaning: We can always send you back to the Pond.

  When I didn’t respond, he laughed and said, “Go on. When you’re done with the checkup, ask Mr. Stone to show you to the café court. I’ll meet you there when I’m finished with Orientation to show you around more and get you situated.” And with that, he left, leaving me with a frowning Lincoln standing only a few feet away.

  “You’re not a bad fighter, Hall,” he said when I walked over to him.

  “You’re not a bad fighter yourself, Stone.”

  He laughed. “Fair enough. My friends call me Linc. Director Greene is about the only person who calls me Lincoln.”

  “Nice to meet you, Linc.”

  Saying nothing else, he led me back to the North Tower. We navigated our way to the nearest elevator and he pressed the up button. Finally, he broke the silence. “What do you think of this place?”

/>   Think? Was I supposed to be able to do that yet?

  “I haven’t really seen that much of it,” I answered honestly. “I’m reserving judgment.”

  I stole a quick glance at him as we got into the elevator. Before now, I’d been too busy dodging his hits and kicks to get a decent look. And other than seeing his eyes, I hadn’t paid that much attention to anything else. I wasn’t really trying to now, but it wasn’t easy to avoid when we were trapped in a five-by-five steel cage.

  He was probably a good five or six inches taller than me, which put him just under or at six-feet. He wasn’t quite bulky, but not lanky, either. Muscular. He’d managed to hold me down with one hand, without trouble.

  And his eyes…

  I caught myself trying to get a better look at them and nearly jumped back when his head tilted to the side and he raised an eyebrow. A half-smile appeared on his face seconds before his laugh, rich and deep, rang out. “That strange, huh?”

  Okay, so he’s hot. Stop staring like a crazy person! “Sorry.” I averted my gaze. “Before today, I thought demons were real, but I’d been half-convinced I was imagining things. And then Greene shows up and proves me wrong. Or right, rather.”

  The elevator stopped on the second floor and the doors slid open. He stepped off and waited for me, then said, “He must like you.”

  “What?” I frowned. “Why do you say that?”

  “I’ve only been here about eight months—not including my Orientation. But from what I’ve seen and heard from the others, Greene doesn’t personally pick up Prospects. Or skip them ahead. He made all of my group stay for every minute of Orientation and he wouldn’t let us decide if we wanted to stay for two days. Plus, we all had the five-month probationary period.”

  I shrugged uncomfortably. “Maybe I have more motivation than some of the others?” I suggested, making it a question because it was about the only thing I could think of. Asking me if I wanted to join…well, I had good motivation, didn’t I? He’d dangled that find-the-demon-responsible carrot in front of me like an expert.

  When I glanced at Linc, he was shaking his head. “Most of us have the motivation. We have more in common than just where we came from.”

  “Like what?” Greene had mentioned we shared DNA and that we had similar backgrounds, but I’d assumed that was where we’d come from—group homes and the like. What else could we all have in common?

  “We all know about demons. We haven’t just seen or heard about them and know they exist. We’ve all had encounters with them, and we’ve all seen what they can do first hand.”

  CHAPTER 05

  I gaped at Linc. “Everyone? All of those kids—the new and the old ones?” In the back of my mind, I’d known I couldn’t be the only one who knew about demons. I mean, the world had billions of people and they couldn’t all be blind to it, but…

  Linc nodded solemnly and started walking down the hall, going to the left. We maneuvered around what looked to be another common room, though from my quick peek inside, this one didn’t have any kids inside, only adults. “Yeah. Some have lost family—” I forced myself not to flinch. “—some have lost friends. And some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something they probably wish they hadn’t.”

  Which category did he fall under? I wondered. The first part explained me, and the last explained Celina. Wrong place, wrong time. Though I still couldn’t figure out why she’d been there in the first place. No one went there. Why would she risk it when the news had been blasting stories about the deaths and warning people to stay away?

  “So, it’s only people who know about demons?” I asked.

  Linc nodded. “Pretty much. I think some are like you—they’ve seen what they’ve seen and know what they know, but they don’t really believe it, or they’ve convinced themselves otherwise. I think he picks those people, because it’s easier to make them see the truth when they want to. It’d be harder—and more time consuming—trying to convince someone demons are real if they’ve never seen it and have no reason to believe it.”

  I nodded. “And he only picks people with the same…something…in their DNA?”

  “Yup.”

  “But how does he know? How do they figure that out? It’s not like I said ‘okay, you can have a DNA sample’ first. I mean, even if they’d run a test, it still takes time to get the results. I know they don’t take as long anymore and can run one in under a day, but he never asked for a sample.” He knew a lot—more than anyone should—but even he wasn’t that good…was he?

  “You’re missing that part of his spiel, but the gist is this: we’ve all been to a hospital or a clinic that’s drawn our blood. The government and the CGE facilities help fund those hospitals and clinics, and in return, they run basic DNA tests on those samples. Not on everyone, just people who’ve either mentioned demons or been attacked by one. Greene says they have a checklist or something.”

  “Isn’t that illegal, and slightly unethical?”

  Linc grinned. “Maybe, but since they work for the government and don’t do anything with the tests, like put it into the system or anything, they can do it. They’re just looking for potential hunters—not criminals.” He shrugged now.

  “The ends justify the means?”

  “Basically.” He started down the hall again. “After that spiel, he’ll get into the pros of being here, which, I have to admit, are pretty good.” He stopped walking for a moment, tilted his head to the side and fixed me with an odd look. “He really didn’t tell you about the pros, and you didn’t ask?”

  I shook my head. “No.”

  His eyebrows scrunched together. “Then why did you agree without hearing them? I mean, don’t get me wrong. Most do agree; they have no reason not to. Most don’t want to go back to wherever they came from. But if all you heard were the cons, why did you say yes?”

  Did I tell him the truth? Greene never said not to, and if he didn’t want something known, he seemed like the type to come right out and say it. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. An offer I didn’t want to refuse.” I wanted my revenge. And if the others knew about demons, and if some had gone through something similar to me, then why wasn’t that enough for them? Anything else, any other pros, should have been gravy.

  Linc stopped in front of room number 205. He raised his hand to knock. A second passed and he dropped his hand back down and frowned. “What offer?”

  I looked him dead in the eye. “The chance to find the demon that killed my family.”

  In a matter of seconds, his eyes widened slightly, then his face went slack and softened. The shock made me curious and annoyed me; the pity made me scowl.

  His lips parted, but before he could say anything, the door opened behind us and a girl stepped out. “I thought I heard voices out here. Hi, Linc. Director Greene said you were bringing me a new patient. You must be Jade?” She paused and looked at us both with raised eyebrows. “Am I interrupting something?”

  I shook my head immediately and planted a smile on my face. “Nope. Not at all.”

  Linc gave me another weird look and then shrugged. “This is Doc.” He grinned at her. “She’s not a real doctor, but since she’s stalking the others and taking med courses, we call her Doc anyway. The other doctors have pretty much made her the go-to person for Prospect check-ups and blood work since she’s closer to our age. They figure we’ll relate with a seventeen-year-old better, I guess.” Facing her, he leaned against the doorjamb and his smile widened. “So… What’s up, Doc?”

  Doc was a maybe two inches taller than I was, with chestnut hair tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were almost the same shade as her hair. She shook her head at Linc and walked away. “You’ll get tired of that joke someday.”

  Linc winked at me, then went in behind Doc. “No, probably not.”

  “It’s your funeral.”

  Chuckling, I followed them both. Maybe I’d like Doc. As a person. I wasn’t sure I’d like Doc on a doctor or intern—whatev
er she technically was—level, but at least as a person. It was a step toward progress, wasn’t it?

  As soon as I entered, the smell hit me first: disinfectant. That sickening clean scent that seemed to seep into every surface. It was meant to do that, I was sure, so it masked any other unpleasant scents, but I hated it. Couldn’t they have made the disinfectant scent smell good?

  I crinkled my nose and glanced around. There really wasn’t all that much in the room. There were a few chairs—one of which had long, padded arms—a few tables and trays. On the right side of the room, a long, locked cabinet with glass doors. I couldn’t clearly see what was inside it, but I spotted vials of liquids, tubes, and packets that probably had needles and stuff.

  “Jade?”

  I turned and found Linc standing only two feet from me, frowning. “Yeah?”

  He put his hand on my arm. “Relax. Doc is good at this.”

  Doc was currently in the cabinet pulling out stuff and setting it on one of the metal trays. She paused, looked at me. “Have a problem with needles?”

  I eyed the metal tray as she pushed it in front of one of the chairs. It took a few seconds, but I forced myself to look at her and not the evil torturey supplies. “Nope,” I said.

  Doc’s smile was kind, full of understanding. “I know that look, Jade. That’s what I call the rabbit look.”

  “I don’t have a problem with needles. I have a problem with blood.” And I especially had a problem with people trying to take it. I liked my blood right where it was.

  Doc gestured me to the padded-arm chair on the left side of the room. “Don’t worry. I’ll leave some for you.” She winked, which didn’t help. “I’m Adria Jones,” she said conversationally. “Though my unfortunate nickname is Doc. One guess who gave it to me.” She rolled her eyes.

  I sat down, casting a look at Linc. I rolled my eyes, too. “Him? Believe it or not, that doesn’t surprise me, and I just met him.”

  “Hey.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Just because you share the same chromosome, it doesn’t mean you have to gang up on the odd man out.”