Read Online Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - Free Book Online Page B

like … youstop me. God, you tried to shoot me, and I’m so pathetic that when I looked out the window and you weren’t there anymore, I thought I was going to die because you were gone. And thirty seconds ago, I finally thought I had a chance to make it out of this, but now you’re touching me, and you’re looking at me, and you won’t let go. I know you won’t.”
    A single tear broke from the surface of her eye and slid down her cheek. Her face turned red and puffy. She wasn’t a graceful crier, Claire. And she was right: he would never let go of her.
Never
.
    “And you want to know why I’m looking at you!” she accused.
    Like that was so ridiculous. Like it wasn’t a legitimate question. Like she wasn’t deliberately withholding the answer.
    Nix watched as another tear slid down Claire’s face. And then another. She looked down, but then lifted her head back up defiantly and stared him straight in the eye.
    Nix was sure that no one had ever been looked at quite the way that Claire was looking at him. No Normal had ever been broken in half by a stare so pure. Ione and the Sensors, the rest of the world—they’d never have what Claire was giving him now.
    Kill her
.
    Instead of snapping her neck, he tightened his hold on her leg, just slightly. And then, conceding defeat, hestepped backward, his hand trailing down her thigh, past her knee, and to her ankle before he gave her back that long, perfect limb.
    I can’t kill her
.
    He’d made her cry. Here, now, far away from the rest of her life or any other outside forces, she’d started crying.
    Because of him.
    And he didn’t care if she was acting. He didn’t care that it wasn’t real. It didn’t matter if he was just another stupid boy, falling for the charms of another heartless girl.
    I made her cry
.
    Nobodies couldn’t make people cry.
    Nulls couldn’t be made to do so.
    She was the best damn actress in the world, and he couldn’t hold it against her. He couldn’t lift a hand against her, couldn’t so much as leave a mark on her perfect skin.
    “You won,” he said.
    “Won what?”
    “You can drop the act,” he told her. He opened one of the kitchen drawers. He took out a dagger, a gun, and a syringe. He laid them on the counter, one by one. And then he turned and looked at her.
    Waiting.
    She took a step backward.
    Claire’s eyes are opened wide. Her lips are turned downward. She’s not breathing. She’s holding her breath
.
    He wondered what her angle was. Hadn’t he said that the game was over? Wouldn’t the victor want to revel in her spoils?
    “Please don’t kill me,” she whispered.
    Nix stared at her, not comprehending her words. Hadn’t he just exposed his weapons? Conceded defeat? Given her
exactly
what she’d wanted?
    Years ago, he’d tried to kill himself. He’d failed.
    Three times now, he’d tried to kill Claire, and he’d failed. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to harm her in any way. He’d
saved
her. It seemed right, somehow, that she should kill him.
    “Go ahead, Claire. I won’t fight you.”
    “You’re not going to kill me?”
    She was going to make him say it. She wouldn’t settle for less than absolute defeat. She wanted to break him.
    “I’m not going to kill you, Claire,” he said, savoring the taste and feel of her name on his lips one more time, as he played along with her game. “You’re going to kill me.”

    For as long as she’d known him, this dark-haired, blue-eyed boy had wanted her dead. And now he wasn’t going to kill her.
    I can’t take this. I really can’t
. Up and down and in and out, seesawing back and forth. First he was going to killher, then he saved her, then he tried to kill her again. And now—
    “You want me to
what
?”
    The kitchen lights grew very bright. Claire’s tongue swelled inside her mouth. Her mouth went dry. Tiny, iridescent spots dotted her peripheral vision. Her body felt very cold.
    This must be what it feels like to go into shock
.
    The