The Replaced(67)

I mean, weren’t those the things that made me who I was, not the fact that if I concentrated super hard, I could levitate a book with my mind, which when you really thought about it, so could a lot of guys in Vegas who wore sparkly suits and did magic tricks.

It seemed to me, those of us who’d been returned should be on the same side as everyone else, even if we were different now.

“You don’t have to agree with Griffin,” Simon said, getting up and standing in front of me. “But it helps to understand where she’s coming from,” which was probably true of everyone if you stopped to think about it.

His hand moved then, and his thumb skimmed the underneath of my chin, slipping beneath my jaw. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “And no matter what happens, now that Tyler’s back, I’ll still be here for you, Kyra. Always.”

Then he bent forward and his lips pressed a soft kiss on my forehead. And before I could tell him no, or stop, or this so wasn’t a good idea, he’d already turned around and left me all alone.





PART THREE


Nothing happens until something moves.

—Albert Einstein





CHAPTER SIXTEEN


Day Thirty-One


IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG FOR NATTY AND I TO FIGURE we were stuck in this weird kind of limbo—not really being detained, but still . . . kind of being watched. Nyla was no longer stationed outside our tent, and she hadn’t been replaced by another guard or anything. But we also weren’t completely free to roam the camp.

Natty was the one who figured that part out, when she’d gone out exploring. It was at the same time Simon had stopped by to check on me.

She told me about her strange experience as we hunched over a plate of fresh berries and sliced cheeses that evening in the cafeteria, pretending not to be aware of the sharp-eyed glances directed our way.

Natty thought she was only being paranoid at first. But when the same blond girl kept popping up wherever she went, no matter how hard she tried to ditch her, she realized she was being tailed.

Eventually the girl approached her, suggesting Natty should go back to our tent, using some lame excuse about Natty having had enough sun for the day. Seriously? I’m sure that was what she was worried about—Natty being overheated or burning or whatever.

But according to Natty, it wasn’t an order or anything. It was more like a vigorously reinforced recommendation. A recommendation that came with a new blond shadow. Natty thought she could have objected, but rather than try to dodge her new stalker for the rest of the day, she’d just given in.

The girl had escorted Natty the entire way back to Paradise . . . you know, to ensure Natty didn’t “get lost” along the way.

But at least we knew where we stood now. We weren’t prisoners, but we weren’t not prisoners either.

Clear as mud.

Natty tried to find the blond girl again so she could point her out to me—on our way to the cafeteria, while we ate, and during our walk back—but whoever she was, she was clearly off-duty.

Too bad. I wanted to know who our non-guards were.

Tyler was waiting at our tent when we got back, and the anxious look he gave me, along with the way he rubbed his hands over the sides of his khakis, made it clear he wasn’t the spy assigned to keep an eye on us.

“Hey,” he offered, his deep dimple gouging a path through his cheek.

Suddenly I felt like I needed to wipe my palms, too, as I bit my bottom lip and grinned back at him. It was silly, knowing all this about who we’d been and having to start from scratch. Silly and awesome all at the same time, because maybe it wasn’t so bad, having all these firsts all over again.

“Hey,” Natty said, and Tyler blinked, all surprised-like, as if she’d just . . . poof! . . . materialized from out of nowhere.

But Natty didn’t wait for a hint, she did this roll-her-eyes-and-shake-her-head-sighing thing that made it clear she knew she wasn’t invited to this little party. “I’ll just . . .” She pointed to our tent. “I’ll be in here. See you later.” She slipped inside and left the two of us alone outside.

Tyler’s grin grew as he rocked back on his heels. “She seems nice,” he said, and I wondered when he’d possibly come to that conclusion. During the two seconds he’d glimpsed her waiting for me inside our tent when he’d first dropped me off, after we’d first been reunited? Or just now, during their awkward, barely-two-seconds-longer run-in?

Still grinning, he shoved his hands in his pockets and lifted his shoulders. I swear, his smile could literally melt the sun, which was the lamest compliment ever, but was so totally true it didn’t even matter. He was that hot. “I . . .” He nodded his head in the direction we’d just come from. “I was supposed to . . .” What I initially thought was nervous, and somewhat cute, stammering was getting uncomfortable.

I frowned. “What? You were supposed to what?”

“Griffin,” he finally blurted out. “She wanted me to come get you.”

If I could have buried my head, like an ostrich, I would have. I was part embarrassed that I thought he’d been looking all awkward because of me, which I still sort of hoped was the case, and part mad because Griffin was the real reason he was here.

“Griffin?” I parroted numbly.