The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

89.2. Every Part of You

RILEY 

UNABLE TO BEAR THIS ATMOSPHERE any longer, I retreated to the basement, tired and bored. I practiced bringing light to my palm, sitting cross-legged in the bed, trying to push past the mere flashlight trick.

I heard them talking in the living room in low, hushed tones, but couldn't make out most words. The shuffle of their pacing rapped against the basement ceiling. Chairs were being dragged around.

The sensation of being misplaced swamped me yet again as my gaze panned over the new space. It reminded me of my first night in Oakwood, away from the beach house, but far worse. I didn't feel like I could sleep, tonight.

I went to the adjacent bathroom to clean my face and brush my teeth, hoping it would clean off this anxiety with it. When I opened the door, Luc stood by the now-crackling fireplace, legs crossed at the ankles.

A colorful blanket was bunched under his shoulder. "I thought you'd gone to sleep."

I rounded across the bed and patted the spot beside me. At the cabin, after things changed between us, we didn't sleep together every night. But now... "I'm about to try. I could use some help."

He started before I even finished that sentence, a smirk chasing away the little shadow on his face. His knee plunged into the sleeper sofa, and he deployed the fleece blanket over me.

I slumped on my side, facing the wall.

Luc scooted closer, tucking the material around us. His arm found my waist through the sheets and tugged me against his solid body. And I was as snug as a bug in a rug. His breath on my neck gave me goosebumps.

I sighed, tipping my head back to glance at him. "What were you guys talking about?"

His other arm supported his head over mine. "The computer worm. The dead drop. How insane we are for considering any of this."

If this failed, we were so screwed. But I'd been such a downer all day, I didn't want ruin tonight. "The Flash, a pyromaniac, a She-Hulk and a whatever enter a bar..." I revealed a grin at the way his eyebrows rose at pyromaniac. "How would authorities deal with that?"

"Would be a hell of a showdown," he replied, smoothing a thumb over my navel. I shivered. "Ray's whatever would be pretty useful."

"How so?"

"He'd torment me until the end of days if I stole his thunder. You'll have to find out when he wants to show you."

My eyes narrowed. Now, I was going to have to pester Raymond to show his abilities to me because the not-knowing would drive me crazy. Something pretty useful, huh...

"I can tell you this, though," Luc said, amused. "There's been no technology so far that cancels his abilities. Well, that implant could but it'd be hard to put it on him. He's able to manipulate his own electromagnetic field, can even redirect it."

"No way." I wiggled around to face him. "And that's not all, you say?"

His eyes drifted aside a moment as he grinned. "Yeah, there's one more I can't tell you about. But the combination made him our number one hunter-defense back when he lived near us. As long as he didn't tire out, there wasn't a lot they could do to him."

It was amazing. The ability to not be brought to his knees by some cursed frequency like the rest of us. Maybe that's why Raymond could get away with aggravating both twins.

"However, seeing how the guy lives now, I doubt he remembers even how to kill Wanderers," he finished, glancing around the room. "A human neighborhood... I wouldn't have guessed."