Faceless Read Free Page B

narrowed, she reminded me a little of Dez. Strong, stubborn—and impatient.
    “Why don’t we work on yours instead?” Devin wasn’t exactly right, but she’d come close. Cain’s ability allowed him to make people do what he wanted. Still too fresh from the jump, I couldn’t even get a handle on simple bodily functions. No way was I messing with an ability like that. The damage potential was too high.
    For a moment, she just watched me. From the set of her jaw to the ridged line of her shoulders, everything about her posture screamed one thing. Fear. She was afraid of me. Of Cain . A solid lump formed in my throat as I wracked my brain, searching for memories containing interaction between Devin and Cain. All I could come up with was the one time they’d interacted and Cain had gotten grabby. Slightly relieved, I let out a deep breath.
    Green eyes narrow and lips mashed thin, she finally nodded. “Fine. Stay here and let me grab a laptop from the den.”
    She strode from the room. With her temporarily out of the way, I had the chance to look around. The walls were bleach white and most of the furniture looked brand new. There was a scent in the air—it reminded me of the way our house smelled after Mom had the flooring company come in and carpet the entire house in hideous lavender. I’d sneezed nonstop for a month.
    Scattered around the outer edges of the room were four groups of two, with Anderson watching from the doorway like a king surveying his court. They were all vaguely familiar in an odd, detached way, and it made my head hurt trying to put names with faces. Remnants of conversations and a mash-up of voices and images mixed with the here and now made me almost wish I’d bitten the big one instead of Cain.
    The two girls in the corner across from me—a cute Korean chick paired with Carina—were sitting knee to knee with their eyes closed. Every once in awhile Carina’s lips would move and the Korean girl would flinch, skin paling slightly and knuckles going white. Carina found this amusing. With each tremor that ran through the other girl, her lips curled upward with a satisfied smile.
    Behind the girls, two guys stood, hands clasped bro-style. I couldn’t figure out what they were doing, but the smaller of the two, a younger boy with thick glasses and a serious acne issue, seemed to be having a hard time breathing.
    To their right, Henley stood next to Anderson. They were talking quietly off to the side. The animosity between him and Cain was watery, but powerful. To say they hated each other would be like saying Tony Hawk was simply cool . Each time I looked at him, an overwhelming feeling of rage bubbled in my gut.
    My name is Brandt Cross, and I can still remember a time when I didn’t hate anyone…
    Henley looked up and caught my eye. For a second I thought he might storm over, but he got distracted by Devin as she walked past carrying a laptop. He let out a sharp whistle and slapped her hard on the ass. The sound echoed through the room and everyone froze—yet no one made a move to intervene or say a word.
    The Cain part of my brain laughed with appreciation, while the Sheltie part wanted to hang back and simply observe. Luckily—or unluckily, depending on how you saw it—the Brandt part won out.
    I broke the heavy silence that fell over the room, stalked forward, crossing the distance in three long strides, and shoved Henley back against the wall. “What the hell, man?”
    He answered my question not with words, but blows, throwing his weight forward and swinging hard for my jaw. Devin had barely enough time to jump out of the way before we crashed to the ground at her feet, rolling sideways as fists began to fly.
    I’d seen my fair share of scuffles. And even though I preferred a milder approach to volatile situations—Dez was the badass, not me—I could still throw down with the best of them. My father made sure I could take a hit—and throw one.
    Henley landed a blow to my gut,