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Chapter Twelve

Jolie

Arriving at school, my stomach in knots, I take a deep breath as I hit the top step and enter the courtyard. Movement has me looking up, and I see the solemn faces of Jimmie and Sinclair. Danika is talking away to Kai, who is pretending to listen, and I slowly walk across the path that leads to our table.

“Hey, Danika, want to come for a walk with me?” Kai suggests. “These guys need to talk. We can come up with strategies to win Joshua back.”

Her face lights up at his words and she follows him away.

Taking a seat opposite my two remaining friends, we sit in silence. I’m not exactly sure what to say; the whole vibe is tense and slightly weird, like I’m the new girl all over again sitting amongst a bunch of strangers.

“I’m so sorry,” Sinclair starts, reaching out to take my hand, but I instinctively pull it back. Hurt flashes across her face, making me feel guilty.

“How about you explain it from the start?” I ask them.

Jimmie glances at Sinclair, then turns back to me and nods.

“First, I was sent here undercover last year, but I can’t tell you why. However, you need to know that meeting you was purely by accident; I was never forced to befriend you. Everything between us has been real.”

“Do you have a team?” I question, hoping that everything he’s saying is the truth.

“I do. Betty in reception is part of my team. The other four assholes wouldn’t pass as high-school students.”

“How are you old enough to not be in high school?” my curiosity is peaked, and he smiles.

“I’m only eighteen. I graduated high school early, though my team wasn’t exactly happy about that, but here I am. Jolie, I still really want to be your friend. Honestly, I’ve never had a real friend before. No one takes me seriously except Betty, but sometimes I think that she just feels sorry for me.”

“And you?” I ask, turning to Sinclair. Guilt washes over her face and she tries to hide it with a tight smile.

“I don’t have a team, but my brother does. When I found out about this life, I wanted in, but it was too late to be put into a team. The role I’m being trained for is helping people who come into Olympia late transition into this life. I really do go to this school, and Mr Z wasn’t happy I had discovered some of the things that I did, but he decided to give me a shot. I found out I would be assigned to you the day after I met with him. It was to be your friend and to make sure none of the G.O.D.S gave you a hard time. He wanted your transition to be smooth, but the more I got to know you, the more I wanted to be your friend. What we have is real,” she says, motioning between us. “I promise you that.”

“Please tell me we’re good,” Jimmie pleads. “I need you in my life.”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

I knew deep down there was a reason I hadn’t trusted Sinclair, and now I realise I should always trust my gut. But I think now that everything’s out in the open, we can work on that. Though I might be a little suspicious that she is still going back to Mr Z. These were the first people to be my friends and they kept secrets from me. It may take a while to get back to normal—but we will get there.

“Jimmie, was that really your mum who I met?” I ask.

“Yes. But I don’t actually live there anymore since we have to live with our teams after we graduate. She was just excited for me to have a girl in my room.”

We all laugh.

“And Sinclair, how much of what I do ends up being told to Mr Z?”

“None of our personal conversations, just my observations on how you were interacting with Hades and now Zeus. I’m willing to tell him whatever you want me to, as long as it’s believable. Kai filled me in a little on your situation with him and swore me to secrecy. Well, Chester and Creed did—those guys are scary. They want to see my weekly reports before I send them, and I’m happy to show you in case he asks you any questions.”

The bell rings, the chime echoing throughout the courtyard. We all stand and head to our form class. This class is the worst of the day as it brings back memories—of Boston’s moody ass, Davis’s questioning eyes, Laughn’s playfulness, Marlow’s laid-back personality, and Case with his damn jaw tattoo that I thought was the most ridiculous thing I had ever seen until I learned its meaning.

Now I’m stuck with a double agent as a best friend, another best friend who is part of Olympia, and my five team members posing as teachers. There is something going on in these walls and I really hate not knowing what it is. So many teams are in one place, and they are here just for me. It doesn’t make sense, unless there is a threat to my life. I know Mr Z tells me it’s his brother, but if he really thought he was a threat, he would have him killed.

That’s it. I’ve had enough of being left in the dark. It’s time I get some answers and for my team to treat me like I am one of them; otherwise, this is all going to fall to pieces before we even get started.

“Can you tell the teacher I have gone to see the guidance officer?”

Sinclair raises a brow in a silent question. I shake my head, not wanting to elaborate, so she just nods.

Turning, I head towards Brennan’s office, passing through administration where Betty is currently sitting at the counter. When I first enrolled, I wondered why an employee would look at a student the way she did, and now it makes perfect sense. She had an instant dislike for me and that’s because she views Jimmie as hers.

Deciding that I’m going to take control of this situation before it becomes a bigger issue, I stop at her counter.

“Miss Smith, what can I do for you?”

“I want us to start again. I’m Jolie and no threat to you.” The pointed look I give her shows I hope she reads between the lines.

She nods. “I don’t want him to get hurt being so close to you.”

“I would protect him with my life, and I will make sure my guys get the memo.”

“Personally, I’m not sure what good that will do, but thank you.”

And she is right, the guys probably wouldn’t care. If they view him as a threat, they will take him out and the reality of that hits me hard. Along with the fact that I’m referring to them as my guys, I’m seriously messed up.

“Is Brennan in his office?”

She nods and pushes her glasses up her nose. Thanking her, I walk down the hallway and open his door; I think after what happened between us, we’re beyond knocking. He is sitting at his desk, but at the noise, he looks up from his computer. The perturbed look in his eye stops me in my tracks, making my heart stutter. There is no smile, no light in his eyes like there usually is when he sees me. Is he angry at me?

“What can I do for you, Jolie?”

I can’t let this go. Why the shortness in his voice? What the hell did I do?

I walk to the free chair that sits opposite his desk and plop myself down. My brows furrow as I try to unravel the mystery of what has got Brennan in this foul mood.

“I was coming here to offload my problems with the school guidance officer, which you’re meant to be, however something tells me that’s not what you want. You’re not happy to see me. I don’t know why, but what I do know is we need to fix this shit now. I wasn’t happy about being in your team, but here we are. I’ve tried really hard to become part of the team. I’ve worked hard on moving forward after everything that had happened, and now it’s weird and affecting every single one of us. Are you one of those people, Brennan?”

“One of what people, Jolie?” he says, leaning forward in his chair, placing his elbows on his desk and steepling his hands.

“The ones who get super weird after sex, because that wasn’t my intention.”

“I know what your intention was,” he snaps.

I stand from my chair and bring my hands down on his desk—hard. “If you know what my intention was, tell me. We’ll see if it matches.”

“Fuck you, Jolie.”

“Don’t speak to me like that! And don’t act like you haven’t wanted to do that for a while now. If we have an issue, then you need to speak up so we can fix it. Because you, Brennan Myers, have been the one constant in my life for the last year and a half.”

He rises from his chair and matches my stance. “The sex isn’t the issue. I’m a twenty-two-year-old man and I took advantage of you.”

I don’t mean to, but I laugh, and the look on his face tells me he doesn’t think it’s funny. “You didn’t take advantage of me, Brennan... trust me. I have been through that before and what happened between us wasn’t the same in any way. If you want to get technical, it was me that took advantage of you when you were vulnerable, but I didn’t know what else to do. Sex is what I do.”

“It’s a misuse of your ability,” he says in a lower tone.

“Any woman can do what I do,” I scoff.

“No, they can’t. You have the ability to draw in any man—I’m surprised that Summer and Blayne have even befriended you. You should make more of an effort with them because the other girls next year won’t be as nice.”

“Fair enough, but let’s not change the subject, Brenny,” I use the nickname that Team Hades would call him when they wanted to get a reaction from him.

“What is your issue with us having sex? Were you a virgin? Is that a thing where you all, like, wanted to save yourselves for me?”

He smirks, and I laugh. I was only trying to get a rise from him, and I succeeded. “I know that I’m hot, but that’s a bit weird.”

“It’s not that,” he says through gritted teeth.

“Then what is it? This team will only work if we’re honest about it.”

“Do you remember June 22 nd , 2014? It was a Sunday.”

“No, did something happen on that day?” I ask with a roll of my eyes. Who remembers something that happened that long ago?

“You were training. You were wearing a pink pair of leggings, a Hannah Montana T-shirt, and your hair was in pigtails.”

I screw up my nose—Hannah Montana? I didn’t peg myself as a girly girl, but I was only young.

“And what was significant about that day?”

“It’s the first day you chose me over any of the others. I was twelve. You had tears welling in your eyes because Laughn pulled your hair and had told you that you looked like a girl. You ran to me and jumped into my arms.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“Jolie, I remember every single encounter we ever had, and I know the exact date, day, and time. Every memory I have is of you as a child.”

“I’m legally an adult.”

“I took advantage of you, and now I will never forget that. I should have stopped it.”

“You’re four fucking years older than me,” I snap. “You can compartmentalise it any way you like, but it brought you back, so I don’t regret it. Without you, our team would crumble. Seriously, who would take charge? Kai?” I snort at the thought. “He can’t even dress himself until he drinks a shitload of caffeine. Creed and Chester would just kill anyone who pissed them off, then tattoo and fuck. Trace gets too emotional. So that leaves you. We all need you.”

“It doesn’t remove the fact that I took advantage of you.”

I scoff. “You were in no state to take advantage of me. If anything, it was me who took advantage of you, so how about we call it even and not let this awkwardness continue? And I’m always open to a repeat performance if that makes it easier for you to process.”

His eyes snap to mine, and I can see the lust sitting behind his hooded eyes. He wants it, but he would never admit it.

“It can’t happen again,” he states vehemently, shaking his head.

“That’s a shame, really, because the guys have put a no-sex ban on me unless it’s with one of your team. If that’s the case, the same applies to all of you. How long until your hand no longer cuts it?” I smirk wickedly.

He shakes his head at me again and ignores what I say, but I can tell he is thinking about us. “Is there a reason you came here?” he asks, taking his seat again and I follow, plopping back into my chair.

“Yes, actually. I was thinking, and we all know that can be dangerous. Jimmie is here, apparently on a side job, but doesn’t it seem weird that there are three teams here? Mr Z says it’s for me, though isn’t that overkill? Unless someone is after me, and we all know it’s not his brother. He would have killed him years ago if he really thought he was a threat. Is something else going on that no one is telling me?”

“We have thought the same thing. It’s not related to Jimmie’s case because that one isn’t serious enough to require calling in this many teams. If there was a case, we would know; he would want us to be gathering intel. Colt and Summer’s teams were told to protect you. So it has to do with you, but we don’t know in what capacity yet. We have our best contacts helping, and if we find out anything, we will let you know.”

“You better. I’m part of this team now, and I want to be treated as such. My training needs to move past self-defence, and I need to know how to use a gun—how to use any weapons, really. Everything I’m being taught I already seem to know. I’m just a little rusty.”

“Fine, I will put together a schedule and we can start tonight. I will ask Creed to show you how to use a knife. But if he asks you to put an apple on your head and he will hit the target, please don’t. He only has ninety-five percent accuracy.”

“I guess I better go back to class.”

Brennan agrees with a nod, and I get up from my seat, giddy that I finally will learn something real. Something I can actually use to save my life.