Ann Aguirre - Mortal Danger

“To gain your trust,” he said quietly. “I pretended to go along with Wedderburn’s suggestion about pursuing you. He doesn’t know I’m putting all the cards on the table.”

“That’s why you told Allison you’re my boyfriend? In case your boss was listening.”

“Partly,” he admitted. “But also because I thought it might help you.”

“Huh?”

Kian explained, “The guys will think you’re a bitch if you turn them all down without giving them a reason. If you have a college boyfriend, it gives you more room to maneuver.”

That was certainly true. “What if I wanted to date someone at school?”

“Do you?”

“No. I was just curious what you’d say.”

“Am I supposed to be honest?”

“I’d prefer if you were.”

“Then … I don’t want you to date anyone else. I hated hearing that you hooked up with Ryu. From your perspective, I haven’t known you long enough to feel that way, but—”

“You’ve been watching me for a while.”

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I know how that sounds.”

“I read a novel where this hit man is supposed to assassinate a woman, but he ends up falling in love with her instead, just from watching her.” Maybe that was a stupid thing to say; I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel.

“I can relate,” he muttered. “Anyway, the girls will see you as less of a threat if they’re not competing with you for dates.”

It was hard for me to imagine that anyone could view me as a potential seductress, but that might be because deep down I was still science-nerd Edie, just wrapped in a prettier package. “Which makes them more likely to accept me. Good thinking. Is this part of making me use my favors faster?”

“Ostensibly it is. The longer it takes to wreak havoc at Blackbriar, the longer it’ll be before you start wanting something else.”

“Do you have any clue why they want me to waste my last two favors?”

Kian hesitated, risking a glance at me, and whatever he saw seemed to trouble him. “Wedderburn didn’t tell me this, but I did some checking on my own. I saw your file.”

Ice crept down my spine despite the sunshine. “And what did it say?”

“You have to understand, things at Wedderburn, Mawer & Graf are encoded by department, so I didn’t understand everything I saw.”

“That’s the company you work for? Sounds like a law firm.”

“Yeah. And for good reason. They know all about getting away with murder.” Kian offered a grim look.

“You’re not inspiring confidence right now,” I muttered.

He ignored that. “From what I could interpret, whatever you’re meant to do, it happens fairly early in your life.”

“So they need me to use my favors, so they’ll own me before I accomplish this mystery goal.”

As far as crazy conspiracy theories went, it made as much sense as anything, but logic hadn’t played a big role in my life since I followed Kian off the bridge. Then the faint whisper resonated: You’re dead, you’re dreaming, you’re delusional. And I could only work with this reality, hard to credit as it might seem.

“Exactly. If they still owe you favors when you reach that pivotal moment, they lose the tactical advantage.”

“But … for your bosses to be sure of all of that, they have to be able to see the future somehow. What’re we talking about? Crystal ball? Tarot cards?” If I sounded derisive, it was because this was freaking me out. Too much mysterious conspiracy talk made me feel like screaming, but calm rationality was my chief strength. This didn’t seem like an opportune moment to deviate from a functional paradigm.

“They wouldn’t invest so much on such uncertain glimpses,” he answered.

“So, what, time travel?”

“You accepted translocation, but trans-temporal is too far?”

I stared at him. “You’re serious.”

“My watch doesn’t have that function enabled, but those with more seniority have been awarded them. In a promotion or two, I could be working in acquisitions.”

“And that means?”

“Jaunting to the future to verify that a projected achievement is every bit as vital as the organization has predicted.”

“That sounds pretty cool.” The science geek in me was actively enthralled with the prospect of skipping ahead, checking how theory lined up with reality. Once the initial buzz dwindled, a shadowy organization that could pop into the future and evaluate people as if they were stocks whose value might rise or fall according to capricious shifts—I couldn’t help but see that as sinister. My enthusiasm dimmed.

Caught up in his explanation, Kian didn’t seem to notice. “In fact, there’s a department in acquisitions that retrieves tech we use to grant favors like the one you asked for. In the next three hundred years, there will be remarkable innovations in cosmetic procedures—to the point that the average person can give himself a new nose.”

“Figures. Did they solve the pollution problem yet?” I shook my head, adding, “Never mind. I’m aware that’s a digression.”

He flashed me a half smile. “The upside is that I get to spend more time with you. As long as Wedderburn thinks I’m pushing you toward another favor, he won’t look too hard at how much we hang out.”

“And you can claim you’re working on me.”

“Exactly.”

“What happens if he figures out that you’re faking it?”

Kian hesitated. “Don’t worry about that.”

“Bullshit.”

“It won’t be good,” he said quietly. “But I can handle it.”

By this point, the gel on the windowpane was smoking slightly. I took that to mean that private time was almost finished. “So are you just giving me a ride home?”

“I thought I’d take you to dinner unless you have other plans.”

Whoever Wedderburn was, he might be listening in. So I made my response simple. “Can we swing by my apartment first?”

My parents weren’t back from university yet, so I left Kian waiting in the front room while I scrambled out of my uniform and into jeans and a T-shirt. I pulled my hair down, conscious that I was trying to downplay my appearance. I hated the thought that he might look at me and see his own creation, not me . If he was on the level, he was taking a big risk, pretending to chase me with ulterior motives, while giving me top-secret info. It chewed at me, not knowing what exactly might happen if they caught him. But he might also be double-crossing me, doing exactly what I’d suggested in the car. There was no way for me to be sure.

Still, technically, this was my first date. It was cliché, but I was excited, even if he might be doing this to please his boss.

I sent a text to my parents, who would probably be astonished that I had plans involving other human beings, and then went out to join Kian. “Ready.”

“Let’s go.” He led the way to the car and we drove for a while in silence.

“You realize the Mustang makes you the total package. Girls will drive me nuts tomorrow asking about you.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Only in the sense that I don’t know anything.”

Kian tilted his head, and it took all my self-control not to brush back the hair that tumbled into his face. “That means I can be anything you want.”

“Sounds dangerous. How will I remember what lies I’ve told?”

“Write it down? Or would you rather know the truth?” He pulled into a small parking lot, nestled behind an Italian restaurant with red-and-white-checkered tablecloths visible through windows draped with twinkle lights. Inside they seemed to be trying to evoke a sense of Tuscany with the textured walls and dark wood. The hostess escorted us to a booth and left us with menus; I couldn’t help but notice the way she studied Kian as if he were a chocolate éclair.