Tangent (A Liminals prequel novella) by Maree Anderson

Tangent: Chapter Four

Tangent 

By Maree Anderson

Chapter Four

Rix was well on the way to stir-crazy by the time Blondie—AKA Liam Kincaid—phased into the room-cum-cell. And if the curled lip and arched brows were anything to go by, he was expecting an epic-style, mega-shocked reaction to his abrupt appearance as he stood there, staring down at Rix.

Hah. In your dreams, douchebag. Rix gave the arrogant prick his best bored face.

Blondie sauntered over to lean against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. And it was only then that Rix twigged what was bugging him. Blondie had changed clothes, sure, but his stance was subtly different—stiffer, more upright. The eyebrow piercing was missing, too....

"Might as well come clean, Rixon," Blondie said. "This room's monitored."

Different intonation. Different mannerisms....

Huh. This wasn't Liam Kincaid. Which meant this guy had to be the twin brother. Reilly. Liam's identical twin—a fact Kade had neglected to mention. Jesus. Talk about double trouble.

Rix yawned. Widely. Giving it everything he had. "Of course it's monitored," he drawled. And, figuring he had nothing to lose, cut right to the chase. "So how come the kid can phase without getting knocked on his ass? Or is all his talk of an energy-sig-targeted security system a load of shit." He paused for maximum effect. "Meaning I can phase outta here whenever I damned well please."

Reilly's brows rose. "I'd encourage you to resist the temptation to find out. But if you feel inclined to ignore my advice, please be aware that vegetative state or not, you're still of use to us. Your sperm, for instance."

If Reilly Kincaid was fondly picturing that statement totally freaking Rix out, he was right. But no way was Rix gonna let an inkling of his true feelings show on his face. You didn't survive long on the streets if you couldn't fake it when someone a whole heap bigger 'n meaner than you was all up in your face, eager to take you down and make an example of you. Not that there were many guys bigger than Rix.

He eyed Blondie II beneath his lashes, gauging how far he could push it before Reilly felt the need to assert his superiority. And whether Reilly, too, had a fucking Taser stashed somewhere to help him assert that so-called superiority. Too much to expect that an entitled poser like this guy would play fair.

Reilly sighed. "Entertaining as some might find it to encourage your mistaken belief you can phase without any ill effects, I'd rather not annoy my father by presenting him with damaged goods. So I guess it's time to come clean about Kade."

Rix refused to rise to the bait and clamped his lips shut.

Reilly huffed a snort that sounded almost admiring... or perhaps that was wishful thinking on Rix's part, and he almost missed it when Reilly said, "The kid's a really special snowflake."

"Huh?"

"Kade. Your eager-to-spill-his-guts visitor. A few months after he came to us he was—" Reilly's pause suggested he was choosing his words very carefully "—participating in an experiment, when he got a little... distracted, and phased. The consensus was he'd defaulted Between, but the guards found him in the lobby—a place he absolutely shouldn't have been able to phase to given the layers of security protecting this floor."

He paused for Rix to ooh and aah over Kade's antics, giving Rix time to debate how he was gonna play this. Cowed prisoner who would now say and do anything to survive, didn't sit right. Perhaps best to play cocky dude who lacked the smarts to realize he was out of options. A guy used to relying on his muscles, who went through life supremely confident he could bungle his way through whatever mess he'd gotten himself into. Yeah, that could work. It might annoy Reilly enough that he blurted something Rix could use to his advantage.