Blood: An Affinities Novel (The Affinities Book 1) Read online

  An aggravated breath escaped Fraco’s lips. “Enough chatting. We must leave promptly.”

  “What’s your power?” Seth asked Aethelred as he slouched against the doorframe beside Adara. “Fire? Blood? Uh, I dunno—Tray, what else is red?”

  “The color does not always reflect the ability,” Aethelred said, “though sometimes it will,” he added, eyeing Adara with mild suspicion. She fought to maintain neutrality under his critical stare. “Did your hair always have a red tint?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  “Perhaps we really should bring her with us,” Aethelred suggested to Fraco. “With her hair and eyes the same hue, I believe her blood test may come up positive.”

  “Seth and Tray don’t have the same hair and eye color,” Adara injected. “They’ve both got brown hair and blue eyes. What makes them Wackos?”

  “The color does not begin to change until the ability manifests,” Aethelred explained. “When we arrive at the training school, we will determine what ability we believe each of you have. Once discovered, students begin to practice their Affinity, and as they progress, the new color of their hair becomes more prominent. I was born with brown hair and blue eyes, as well.”

  “But what is your power?” Seth repeated. “Can you show us?”

  “I don’t often like to impose my Affinity on others, but if you will allow me to touch your face—”

  Seth shoved his head forward in anxious demand. “Impose away.”

  A little regretfully, the man placed his fingertips to the eager Stark’s temples, and Adara nearly stumbled back into Tray when Seth jolted, his eyes blinking in bafflement. Aethelred let out a sigh as his lips curved with what appeared to be sympathy.

  “Electricity,” Seth breathed, swaying slightly. “You can electrocute people.”

  “No, no,” Aethelred replied with a gentle laugh, “but we do have a student who can control electricity. He has gotten quite good at it over the years. Nevertheless, I have just witnessed your entire past, Seth Stark. Everything you have seen, I have seen as well.”

  “Really?” Seth blurted out, his awe reminiscent of the enthusiasm that had characterized his childhood. Tray had always scolded him for being “dumb,” but Adara secretly admired his ability to believe in anything, since she typically believed in nothing.

  “He’s obviously lying, Seth,” his brother insisted stubbornly, the way he always had. “No one can know your entire past—it’s absurd. Mind reading doesn’t correlate with any science.”

  “You’ll learn all about how Affinities break the barriers of science in school,” Fraco said as he readjusted his clipboard in his slippery hands. “Let’s go now, Mr. Certior.”

  “With the girl?” Aethelred prompted, his words sounding more like a demand than an inquiry. Even if these guys really were terrorists, Adara couldn’t help but allow a faint smirk to surface on her lips at the thought that someone actually wanted her—that someone was willing to fight for her company.

  “We don’t have room for the girl. We still have to pick up…” He paused, glancing down at his sheet. “Ackerly Terrier, Hastings Lanio, Adara Stromer—”

  Tray choked violently as his twin and Adara seized each other’s hands in the same instant, their eyes protruding with glee.

  “Adara Stromer?” Seth repeated fervently.

  “Her?” Tray confirmed as he jabbed his thumb in her direction.

  Fraco blinked his watery eyes as he stared at her. “This—this is Adara Stromer? We were told she would be found in—at a foster home—”

  “I left that foster home ages ago,” she snorted, releasing Seth’s hand before he could drop hers. “They were a bunch of assholes, always telling me to do my homework, eat healthy—”

  “How rude of them,” Tray said sarcastically.

  “That’s why she lives with us now,” Seth told the two men, as though they really cared. “Adara and I were always good friends when we were young, you know—well, Aethelred does, anyway.”

  “Mr. Certior,” Fraco corrected shrilly.

  “What else do you know about me, uh…Adara, think of a cool nickname for him—quick,” Seth ordered as he repeatedly patted her upper arm.

  “His nickname is Reddy, obviously,” she drawled, smirking slyly at Aethelred.

  “That’s not a mean nickname,” Tray said, offended by the fact that she wasn’t being offensive. “You give everyone mean nicknames.”

  “Fine. Devil-Red,” Adara concluded. “Does that please you, Nerdworm?”

  “I like Reddy better,” Seth said before turning his attention back to the man in red. “So, Reddy, did you see the pissing contest Adara and I had in the woods that one time? You’d say I won, right?”

  “You two are disgusting,” Tray muttered, shaking his head.

  “You knew, then?” Fraco prompted as he motioned toward Adara with his oily hand. “You knew she was Adara Stromer and you said nothing?”

  “Well, Tray Stark did call her Stromer only a few minutes ago. Did you not hear, Fraco? Besides, I thought you would have noticed her appearance is shockingly similar to—”

  “Yes, yes, I see it, and we should not discuss it here,” the other man interrupted hastily.

  “Who do I look shockingly similar to?” Adara questioned as she stood straight, her senses wildly alert. “Tell me.”

  “This worked out quite well for us, three students retrieved at one house…” Fraco said as both men ignored her demands. Her mind was still reeling with the implications, but if they knew someone who looked like her, was she ready to face those truths? “Now, let’s move along,” Mr. Grease ordered. “We’ve still got two students left on the list, and Mr. Lanio is at the juvenile detention facility.”

  “We’re picking up a kid from prison?” Tray said in outrage. “I don’t want to be associated with criminals, and I certainly don’t want my brother to, either. Just take Stromer—she’s already got a criminal record.”

  “It is a law by the state government that all persons of sixteen years must be relocated to Periculand,” Fraco reiterated.

  “Seth and I aren’t sixteen, yet,” Tray said. “We won’t be sixteen until October.”

  “Yes, well, you’ll be sixteen soon,” the man said without bothering to hide his impatience. “Now, write a quick note to your parents and we’ll be off.”

  “Write a quick note to our parents? You want us to just run away with two strangers without even asking our parents?”

  “I think that’s exactly what he wants us to do, Tray,” his twin replied smoothly. “I’ll go write the note. What should we pack? How much money do we need? Do they have cable television in Wackoland? I do want a superpower, but I’m not sure I’m willing to sacrifice watching football—or playing football. Do you have a football team at this training school?”

  “Stop talking, Jockface,” Adara groaned. “Just go write the freakin’ note so we can get the hell out of here.” He nodded compliantly before disappearing into the kitchen while Tray simply stared at her, open-mouthed.

  “You want to go with these guys? None of this seems dodgy to you?”

  “I’d rather see the inner workings of this terrorist group than go back to school tomorrow and watch you get harassed by Kiki Belven. I’d rather never see Kiki Belven again, actually. Maybe if we all leave, Seth will just forget about her.”

  Tray’s lips twisted with unadulterated disgruntlement. “You want us to run away with the Wackos just so Seth will get over Kiki?” he whispered so his brother wouldn’t hear from the other room. “Your strategy for getting him to fall in love with you is this? This?”

  She whipped around and pointed her finger angrily in his face. “That is not what I meant—”

  “Wrote the note,” Seth announced as he slid between them. “Wrote it in permanent marker, too, so there’s no turning back now.”

  “Wonderful,” Fraco said flatly as his clipboard nearly slipped from his hands. He readjusted before continuing. “You mustn�
��t bring anything with you—clothing and necessities will be provided.”

  “I’m not wearing some uniform, I’ll have you know,” Adara stated, although the man went on as though she’d said nothing.

  “You will not bring any electronics—definitely no cell phones.”

  “What?” Seth whined as his shoulders slumped. “How will I contact Kiki?”

  “Really? Not, ‘How will my parents find me if these men kidnap me?’ It’s really gotta be all about Kiki?”

  “Can we bring books?” Tray asked over Adara. Part of her wanted to be grateful he had hedged her jealousy before it became obvious, but could she ever really appreciate someone as anal as Nerdworm—especially after his next statement?

  “If we’re going to be absent from school tomorrow, I’ll need to catch up on missed work.”

  “Really?” she repeated with the same amount of criticism she’d dealt Seth. “Wackos just showed up at our door and told us we’re Wackos and all you can think about is what precious schoolwork you might miss?”

  “There is a large library at the school, Mr. Stark,” Aethelred said as the greasy man began to tap his foot restlessly. “I will warn you all now, however, that to come with us will mean leaving this home for longer than one day. Periculand will become your home.”

  “So…we have a choice?” Tray clarified as his eyes slowly lit up. “So we can stay—we don’t have to go?”

  “My employee’s words are misleading, Mr. Stark,” Fraco started with a nervous laugh. “You may choose to stay here, of course, but the government knows who you are. If you do not come willingly with us, they will take you by force to a place not quite as lovely as Periculand.”

  “Bet there’s no books in prison, Nerdworm,” Adara teased with a malicious eyebrow jump.

  “They wouldn’t bring us to prison for having some deformity in our blood that we can’t control,” he countered, although he didn’t seem thoroughly convinced by his own words.

  “Let’s go, then,” Seth said as he stepped through the doorway. “I wanna see what sweet vehicle we’ll be taking to Wackoworld. I hope it’s a helicopter.”

  “Did you hear a helicopter land on your front lawn?” Adara shook her head as she joined him on the porch. “Honestly, you’re an idiot…”

  As the two men began their trek toward the driveway and Seth merrily followed, Adara noticed the way Tray lingered in the threshold, peeking back into the house he’d always lived in. Perhaps she was an apathetic scumbag for not feeling a hint of remorse about leaving this place—about leaving the Stark parents, who had taken her in and treated her with kindness. For all of Tray’s snootiness, he wasn’t like that and couldn’t walk out with his twin’s carefreeness—couldn’t leave without taking a moment to relish the nostalgia.

  Giving him that moment to himself seemed too generous; Adara, however, hadn’t paused on the walkway to turn back and mock Tray but to make sure he actually came along. It was that realization that made her pivot on her heels and hurry after the others before he noticed. If Nerdworm knew she craved his company—no, no, she didn’t—but if he thought she did…

  Thankfully, that train of thought did not have to be explored before she reached the driveway and the Wackos’ vehicle. She stared at it for a full minute, unable to form an opinion, even when Tray positioned himself beside her, his skepticism radiating.

  “Let me get this straight,” she began, her critical attention focused on Fraco. “You two came here, claiming you have superpowers and we have superpowers, and you want to whisk us away in a white van?” She eyed the tinted windows and dented rear bumper and then her opinion was finalized. “This is sketchy.”

  Tray spun on his heel to retreat back to the house. “I’m calling the cops.”

  “No, don’t call the cops.” Adara snagged his arm and rolled her eyes. “They’re all a bunch of assholes.”

  “Yeah, well, one of those A-holes is the only reason you’re not in jail right now.”

  “No, he’s the reason I’ve been arrested eight times. If he wasn’t snooping up in my business all the time—”

  “C’mon, let’s just go with them,” Seth urged, motioning toward the van door Fraco was struggling to open with his slippery hands. “If they turn out to be kidnappers, I’ll take them.”

  “Will you?” Adara asked, all uncertainty dying with the mental image of Seth tackling this little greasy man. It seemed like an easy win, but what if all of his punches just glided across Fraco’s oily skin and inflicted no harm?

  As if reading her mind, Tray said, “I don’t really think we should take that chance.”

  “I think we should,” Adara opposed, rethinking her earlier conclusions, “because if it comes down to it, it’ll be hilarious to watch your skinny ass try to beat up these old men, Nerdworm.”

  “We are not old men,” Fraco grunted as he continued to yank on the door handle, which slid right out of his hands each time.

  “Really? Because you seem too frail to open that door to me,” she jeered.

  “He is a bit thin, isn’t he?” Aethelred agreed as he watched his colleague’s fingers slip off the handle again. “I’d say his problem with the door, however, stems more from his oiliness.”

  “Why are you so oily, Fraco?” Seth asked.

  “Call me Mr. Leve,” he sang as he continued to wrestle with the door.

  “Why aren’t we just going in the other side?” Tray muttered to Adara, who immediately dropped his arm and blinked.

  “Valid point, Nerdworm,” she said before waltzing around the white van. Aethelred had already gotten into the driver’s seat, unable to stop himself from giggling outside of the car, but Adara could still hear Seth trying to wheedle information out of Fraco, his voice carrying over the van.

  “Fine. Why are you so oily, Mr. Leve?”

  “It’s my Affinity.”

  Seth’s uncontrollable laugh boomed louder than Adara’s snort of amusement. “That’s terrible,” she said dully to Tray as she wrapped her dry fingers around the door handle. “I’d rather die than end up with a power that lame.”

  “Wait, so your power is to be oily?” she heard Seth question once his chortles had ceased. Given that Fraco’s wrathful breathing was audible even to her, Jockface was about one comment away from being doused in the man’s foul body secretions.

  “Get over here, Seth, before Mr. Grease murders you,” Adara called as she slid the door open. She was about to sassily ask Fraco if he wanted her to open the passenger’s side door for him, but then her eyes locked on one of the teenagers already waiting in the van. Her hand slipped from the handle as easily as Fraco’s had, and all of the hope that had swelled within her slackened, along with her jaw. “What the—”

  3

  The Sketchy White Van

  “Oh no,” Tray moaned, feeling equally as appalled as Adara, though reacting with far less vulgarity. As he stared into the van at the makeup-covered face of Kiki Belven, a childish sense of panic bubbled within him. With her lower lip pouting and her strawberry-blonde hair disheveled from dismay, she looked harmless—almost innocent—but the sight of her dredged up so many undesirable memories that Tray felt an unnatural, embarrassing, and slightly pathetic urge to run.

  “We’re not going,” Adara said through gritted teeth as her nails dug into Tray’s arm. “There is no way we’re going.”

  “I don’t believe in signs, but this is a sign that we shouldn’t go,” he agreed. Until now, Kiki had been dejectedly staring toward the back of the van, where three unfamiliar teens sat facing her, but Tray’s voice sparked her attention, drawing her light blue eyes to the two people she’d always openly detested. Garnering Kiki’s notice had never been a particularly positive experience for Tray, but the recognition in her gaze now was coupled with relief.

  “Tray, Adara!” Her delight was sickening, as if, after all she’d done, she considered them friends. “Oh thank God you guys came to save me! Hurry, unbuckle me before they notice—”


  “You can’t unbuckle yourself?” Tray questioned, eyeing her seatbelt suspiciously.

  “I can, but I don’t want to chip my nails. Just help me!”

  “Sit, please, all of you,” Aethelred ordered kindly as he peered at them from the driver’s seat.

  “Oh, no thanks,” Adara said as she took another step back. “We’re not going anywhere with her. Have fun in Wackotown, Belven. See you never.”

  “Hey, you guys got the door open over here,” Seth said as he and Fraco walked around the back of the van. “Fraco was having a really hard time over there, you can see, as the door hasn’t opened—”

  “Call me Mr. Lev—”

  “Yo, you guys picked up my girl for me? How thoughtful—”

  “Enough, enough!” Fraco snapped, ushering Seth forward with his clipboard. “Just get in the van, all of you—and you, girl, open my door for me!”

  “I’m not opening your door for you,” Adara snorted with her typical insolence. “Good luck, Mr. Grease.”

  “I’ll do it,” Tray groaned, shoving her hand off his arm in order to open the passenger’s door. “I know what it’s like to be bullied, Fraco, trust me.”

  “I am not being bullied,” he stammered, utterly frazzled. “Just…get in the van.”

  “Gladly,” Seth said with a mischievous smirk as he climbed in and took the vacant seat beside “his girl.” Tray should have been vindictively pleased that Kiki was here, spoiling Adara’s plans, but for once he and Adara were congruent in their dissatisfaction. “Babe, I have something to give—”

  “No, no, stop with that,” Tray griped as he reached into the van and tried to haul his brother out. “We’re not going with these Wackos, okay?”

  “Why, because Kiki’s here?” Seth asked, arching his eyebrows at his twin. “Really, Tray? You’d rather go to federal prison than face your childhood bully?”

  “Current bully, actually,” Adara clarified, “unless you consider Tray a child, which some may—”

  Out of the three unrecognizable teenagers seated in the rear of the van, the boy was the one who laughed. “This girl—this pathetic girl—is your bully?” The guy threw his orange-haired head back in a fit of cackles. “Funny. Just too funny…”