Pivot Point (Pivot Point #1)(82)

She bites her bottom lip and then shakes out her hands. “Okay.”

“Why do you look so nervous? Don’t you Erase my memories all the time?”

“No. This will be the first.”

“Are you serious?”

She nods, and I throw a pillow at her head. “You’d better be good then.”

“I am.”

She takes a deep breath, brings up her hands to rest on my head, and closes her eyes.

I close mine as well.





EPILOGUE


Six Weeks Later





Laila scratches at the bandage on her neck as she paces the hospital room. “Are they going to let us go home already? We’re both fine!” she leans out the door to yell. “I don’t need a Healer for this! It was a scratch.”

“Just sit down, Laila. You’re making me dizzy.”

“I’m sorry.” She sits down only to pop right back up again. “I’m sorry for everything. I can’t believe this is the future you chose. This is crazy. Duke is a jerk. We almost died. Why in a million years would you choose this future?”

“You can ask me that a million times, and I still won’t know.”

Laila’s eyes drift to her purse on the chair in the corner. “The other future must’ve been really bad,” she says, “for you to have chosen this one.”

“Yeah, maybe you betrayed me for real in that one,” I say with a laugh.

Her eyebrows lower. “I …”

“I’m just kidding, Laila.” Sort of. Even though I try to tell myself it wasn’t Laila’s fault, I still get an ache in the back of my throat every time I think about it.

My mom comes whisking into the room. “Addie, Laila, I’m sorry. I promise it won’t be much longer. We’re filling out reports, the Healer will be in here to look you over, and then we’ll be able to leave.”

“How did you know where I was, Mom?”

“I didn’t. Your father called. I guess Mr. Paxton’s guilt got the better of him, and he called the Bureau to let them know that Bobby had you. Apparently Bobby has been teaching Poison how to extend his ability, and Mr. Paxton started to suspect he had something to do with the missing teenagers. When you went inside Bobby’s house, he decided to tell the Bureau his suspicions.”

“Missing teenagers?” I say.

She fills us in on the other girls Bobby had gotten to. Just like with Laila, he had forced them to hold knives to their own throats. Only unlike with Laila, he had actually used his recently acquired ability of nerve control to force them to cut their own throats.

“Why didn’t he just let them go? He said if he could convince me to keep my mouth shut, he would let me go.”

“This is before he had the ability to Persuade. The last girl had that ability. Thank goodness he didn’t get a piece of either of your abilities. This could’ve been even more tragic.” She kisses my forehead and then hugs Laila. “Has the Bureau taken your statements yet?”

“Yes,” Laila says with a sigh. She glances out the door and then back to my mom. “You haven’t seen my parents out there, have you?”

“I talked to your mom. She’s at work but hopes to get off soon. I couldn’t get ahold of your father.”

Laila nods, her strong-face firmly in place.

My mom looks back at me and her eyes move to my hair. “I can’t get used to that blue stripe. I think I’m going to take you to my hairdresser tomorrow and see if she can fix it. Maybe I should call her right now.”

“Mom, it’s after midnight. Don’t call anyone right now.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re right. I need some caffeine. You guys want something?”

“I’m good.”

After she’s gone, Laila sits next to me and leans her head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing.”

There’s a knock on the open door, and Duke takes one step over the threshold. “Can I talk to you, Addie?”

“No!” Laila yells, jumping up. “Absolutely not. Get out of here.”

“Laila,” I say, “it’s fine. Just give me a minute.” I feel calmer than I should and know it’s his influence. He obviously didn’t extend the feelings to Laila though, because as she goes to walk out the door, she turns back as if forgetting something, stops in front of him, and punches him in the mouth. I cringe.

A trickle of blood drips down his chin, and he wipes it with the back of his hand. “I deserved that.”

She doesn’t respond but resumes her walk back out the door.

“If we’re going to talk, lay off your ability,” I say before he can begin.

“Sorry, it’s habit. It’s just kind of my aura now.”

“So when I always said you were naturally charming, I guess that wasn’t far from the truth.” I wonder who the real Duke is. What his personality would be without his ability. The blood on his lip is like a chink in his shiny armor, a flaw in his perfection. It makes me think that maybe beyond the facade, something real exists.

He smiles, and I avert my gaze.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Addie.”

“What did you mean to do?”