Page 4 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple
"For what? Your geeky uniform? Your stupid-ass title?" Blaze shot him a big toothy grin and blew him a kiss. Yes, if he took Blaze unaware, Sledge could put him through the floor. Several floors, actually. The strongest man in the world had only that, though. Blaze could take him down easily since he was smarter, faster, and meaner.
Dr. Parma patted the air in a languid, unalarmed gesture. "Boys, please. And no, Blaze, it's not another fucking babysitting gig. Not only one, at any rate."
Sledge's mouth dropped open, the strangled sound one of the best he'd ever made.
"Now that we have all the players, please have a seat, gentlemen." She turned to the man at the window, her voice low and gentle. "Damien, can you sit by me?"
"I need to stand right now, Doc." The man's voice was soft but steady and rich, not the nervous voice Blaze had expected.
"That's fine." She opened the folder beside her and carefully placed a set of pictures on the table, straightening and adjusting until they were in a perfect rectangle, all the edges aligned and the photos evenly spaced. "These are the students currently attending the Western Variant Academy."
The man, Damien, strolled to the table, his hands tucked in his armpits as if he were cold. "Small class."
"Yes. The cycles of variant births ebb and flow, but there were more of them at the beginning of the year."
"What is this, Dr. Parma? Are parents yanking their kids from the school?"
Dr. Parma folded her hands, her eyes on the photos. "No, Damien. They're disappearing."
"As in without a trace?"
"Yes."
Damien paced to the window and back, a twitch marring his stride when Sledge reached for one of the photos and ruined the symmetry.
"But these are the ones who're left? Why show him these?" Sledge made an impatient gesture.
"The answer may lie in one of the remaining students. I need Damien to have these." Dr. Parma tapped the table with her forefinger, waiting until Sledge returned the photo. "Learn them, Damien. Understand who they are."
Damien nodded, his eyes making a systematic sweep of the students' faces. "Now the missing students, please."
Dr. Parma gathered up the first set of kids and set out a second, this group larger than the first.
Blaze took his feet off the table, leaning forward for a better look. "All these kids went missing?"
While his knuckles rapped the table in a complex, uneven rhythm, Damien searched the faces again. His lips twisted into an angry frown, and he jabbed a finger at the image of a blonde girl in the second row of photos. "Not that one. She's in the next room."
"Yes. She is." Dr. Parma regarded him steadily. "You know we have to have controls, Damien."
He twitched back, obviously still angry at the deception. "Yes. I should know by now."
"How does he alwaysdothat?" Sledge demanded, full lips in something close to a pout.
If he wasn't so damn stupid and stuck on himself, he might actually be sexy.
Blaze decided to forego more Sledge baiting. "What's the deal, Doc?"
"Damien is a rare variant. A locator."
Blaze leaned his chin on his hand, studying this odd man through half-lidded eyes. "What, like a human GPS?"
"More like a human game of Hot and Cold," Damien muttered.
Dr. Parma cocked a snow-white eyebrow at him. "More refined than that and more versatile than the short ranges other tracking variants have."
"We've used him before. We know what he does." Sledge sat back and pointed at Blaze. "So why's he here?"
"To annoy the hell out of you, Mr. Guild President." Blaze laughed when those huge fists clenched again. Sledge was too damn easy.
