Parahuman (Parahuman Series) Read online

  Nick smiled genially. “I was mighty glad to hear someone had moved in up there, the house has been empty far too long. We heard there was a new student starting at the high school Monday. Would that be you?”

  “Yes.” Devan gave a quick nod of affirmation. That was the only movement from his statue like frame. He still stood at attention, his hands clasped behind his back.

  Laney cocked her head and could feel her eyebrow inching upward as she studied him. There was something distinctively interesting about this guy, besides his outward appearance.

  “You and Laney here are in the same class.” Nick declared.

  “Hey.” Laney gave him one of her biggest smiles. The smile that Devan returned looked stiff, guarded, and rarely employed. Ouch! That might have strained a muscle or two.

  Nick smiled regrettably. “Unfortunately, in regards to the job position, a head trail guide needs years of prior wilderness experience, as well as a tad more years under their belt. How old are you son?”

  “I’ll be seventeen in one month, and though I may be young in years I have over six years of wilderness experience. Age does not necessarily correlate with superior knowledge.” Devan’s declaration was delivered the same as his one word answer; factual and unemotional. Laney wondered if Devan had experienced a stint in military school.

  A humorous expression flittered across her dad’s face. “Regrettably, age is very important component to being a lead tour guide. High school students do not instill a lot of confidence and feelings of safety in our family demographic.”

  Laney saw the first signs of life out of Devan as he shifted his stance. There might even have been a look of discomfit on his face, and that immediately warmed Laney up to him. Everything that seemed cold and aloof about him instantly became warm and cuddly.

  “But…” Nick drew out in a long drawl and a small smile, “I’m not one to discriminate on age and I’m in need of extra help this summer, so if you want to stick around and fill out some paperwork, and then if you have time you can go on the hike with us this morning so I can check out these skills of yours. Does this sound okay to you?”

  Devan’s body stiffened upright even more as though given an order. “Yes sir.”

  Military school seemed a most definite possibility. And who would have thought that standing at attention would look so adorable.

  Her dad turned toward her and she could see a definite twinkle in his eye. He was getting a kick out of the guy’s comportment. “Go ahead and grab what he needs, I’m going to get the rest of the equipment squared away.” He then turned and retreated down the hallway.

  The next second Laney was left alone with very tall, multicolored, and interesting.

  “I’ll be right back.” Laney jogged three yards down the hallway to the office, rummaged around in the cabinet, and then skipped back to the counter where Devan stood waiting in stationary animation. How anyone could stand that still was a mystery to Laney, she wasn’t able to be still even sitting down. “The paperwork consists of background experience and some Q and A on wilderness survival. My dad would like you to fill it out here rather than take it home where you might cave into pressure and look up the answers on the internet.” Laney sugar-coated the details so he wouldn’t take offense at the idea of her calling him a possible cheater.

  “Thank you.” Devan took the papers from her hand. His glasses were so dark it was impossible to see his eyes behind the lenses, but Laney swore she could feel the heat of his gaze examining her closely. It wasn’t necessarily creepy, but it did cause her shift nervously.

  Reaching under the counter she grabbed a clipboard and pen. “Here…use this and have a seat over by the window. The hike we have scheduled is set for nine o’clock. That gives you about forty minutes to fill it out, and if you don’t get it done before that you can always finish it when we get back.”

  He nodded and turned away. Laney marveled at how smoothly he moved, not at all stiffly as she imagined a walking tree would move. He sat down with the same grace as he walked. Usually people with that kind of height appeared awkward or lumbering, but Devan didn’t look at all uncomfortable in his body.

  Laney found that she was unable to stop staring. Devan was a little less imposing sitting down; standing next to him had been rather overwhelming. She’d never seen anyone as tall as him except on television during the NBA playoffs, but something seen on T.V. and something experienced in real life were totally different.

  Her gaze drifted over his hair again. Laney shook her head inwardly; if someone would have suggested that style to her she would have said, ‘no way would it work’, but on him it sort of did. His military behavior kind of contradicted the frivolous hairstyle. She would have pegged him for a buzz cut with his manner, but instead his hair was about an inch long and was arranged haphazardly like he didn’t own a brush, or maybe he was just overdue for the buzz cut. Devan’s complexion was darkly tanned from being outdoors, but it wasn’t all from the sun. There were genetics involved too, but Laney wasn’t any good with ethnicities, particularly when eyes were unavailable.

  Laney gaze moseyed downward over Devan’s very broad chest and couldn’t stop her sigh of admiration. Nice! He had one of those triangular upper bodies, wide on top tapering down to what appeared to be a narrow waist. His forearms and biceps were muscular but not bulging grotesquely. She might have lingered overly long on those biceps—because who could resist a nice muscular pair of those—before moving down to his bare calves exposed in a pair of khaki shorts—again, another nice duo. Laney didn’t normally go gaga over guys, but she could appreciate an exceptional form when she saw one. And this guy definitely had one.

  However nice he looked in his t-shirt and shorts Laney couldn’t understand how he wasn’t freezing; it was around forty degrees out right now with only a high of a possible fifty later. The sun was going to be out, but still. She shivered reflexively even though she had on a jeans and jacket, way more appropriate clothes for this weather.

  Devan was going to town on the paperwork, his pen working furiously. Laney wondered if he knew that she was in the room anymore, or if he even cared. Shaking her head at the self absorbed thoughts, and her shameless ogling, Laney went to the office to finish some paperwork of her own, and to give Devan some privacy so he wouldn’t think she was hovering over his shoulder like some fanatical cheater hit squad.

  Ten minutes later Laney heard movement out front. The door hadn’t opened so it could only be Devan. For such a big guy it seemed like he would have had a heavy tread, but the only sound was the loose floor boards. Tired of pretending to do work Laney headed back out front…to see if she was needed or anything.

  Devan was sitting in the chair doing something on his phone. She noticed a slight shift to his head, as if taking note of her appearance but not overtly noticing it. What…wasn’t she worthy of notice?

  “You’re not using the Net on that phone to answer any of the questions, are you?” Laney asked teasingly, but was entirely serious. She would really hate to have to be the nark and tell her dad that Devan cheated on his answers using his phone internet service.

  Devan set the phone on the little table in front of him. “I was just letting my uncle know about the hike. I finished the paperwork; I set it on the counter there in front of you.”

  Looking down Laney did indeed see his paperwork. She flipped through it briefly, and then more thoroughly. All the questions were answered, in lengthy detail even. Man, he had really nice handwriting. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you did all this in ten minutes. There are several pages of in-depth questions here.”

  “If you are unconvinced about my integrity regarding the questions you may look on my phone to access my file history.”

  Laney almost cracked a humongous smile at the choice of Devan’s words and the seriousness of his expression. Instead, she pinched her lips between her fingers contemplating his behavior. She hadn’t been accusing him of cheating, but most people would have shown at least some
indignation at the thought that she might have been. However, he’d just stated impassively that she check his phone.

  “I don’t think you cheated. It would be impossible to look up all these questions and then write down the answers in ten minutes. It would require speed typing, reading and writing.”

  “Not impossible. Statistically, the number of individuals is small who could accomplish such an attempt, but it is possible.”

  Laney couldn’t hold back the laugh. “You know you just gave me information that could allude to the possibility of you cheating, right?”

  Devan’s head tilted slightly and a frown marred his forehead. “Yes, I just confirmed that it was possible that I could have cheated. That is why I offered you my phone to establish that I did not.”

  Laney couldn’t wipe the grin from her face. “Oh…yes, of course. That won’t be necessary, unless…you’re one of those few?” She arched a brow at him in teasing inquiry.

  There was a significant hesitation in Devan’s deportment, but Laney was innately positive it had nothing to do with cheating and everything to do with how she phrased her inquiry. She didn’t know why she was so sure about it, she just was.

  Devan rubbed the back of his neck and held out his phone. “Maybe you should just check my phone.”

  Feeling contrite for possibly causing him discomfort even thought it was hard to tell if she had with those glasses on, Laney decided to let him off the hook. “With the way you were writing before I left I don’t think you had any difficulty with the answers, and I also doubt that internet service around here is that speedy. I was just surprised by how fast you got it done. The answers I looked at appear well written and detailed.”

  Devan seemed to just stare at her and Laney’s face began to warm at the extended silence. His eyes were hidden behind those sunglasses, but Laney could feel them drilling into her. Was he mad at her teasing? He looked more perplexed than mad though. She wished he would take those dratted sunglasses off so she could read him better.

  Laney looked down at the papers in her hand, shuffling them nervously. “Soooo…how do you like Silverton so far?”

  “It’s satisfactory.”

  Another grin tugged at Laney’s lips. “Where did you live before?”

  “Michigan,” Devan answered, sitting soldier straight. He had looked more relaxed walking around than he did in that chair.

  “What made you move here?”

  “My uncle retired and he’s always wanted to live in this area.” There was no sentimentality to Devan’s tone, just factual information. In one way Devan seemed very frank and blunt, but in another…it seemed like he was hiding something.

  Laney had an internal debate going on inside her head. Her first thought was to ask why he was living with his uncle and not his parents, but that was a really intrusive question to ask someone you’d only just met. Devan didn’t give the impression that he was a real sensitive individual, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t, especially about his parents.

  Laney could relate to the absence of a parent and the invasiveness of certain questions. She had been dealing with them herself for the last several months in regards to her mother.

  Two cars pulling into the parking lot distracted Laney from painful thoughts. She noticed that Devan’s head cocked slightly as if he heard the cars, the same as it had when she’d entered the room. It was uncanny that he might have heard the cars since the windows and doors were shut and the radio was playing, albeit softly. She hadn’t heard them, but then some people were just born with really good hearing.

  “It looks like our hiking party is here.” Laney grabbed the backpack she had stashed under the counter. It was already pre-packed with the necessary supplies for their hike. Walking toward the front door she waved him to follow her. “Let’s go charm the masses.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Devan stared at the girl in bewilderment as he followed her out the door. She was peculiar. Most people took in his height, appearance, and demeanor and normally distanced themselves from him, but she had seemed to be more amused by him than repelled. He normally couldn’t care less what people thought of him…anymore, but this girl, Laney, had him wondering what her thoughts were. The smile on her face suggested that she found him humorous, but nobody found him humorous. Because he wasn’t. Devan dealt in rationalities and logic; jokes eluded him, they had no practical purpose.

  Laney opened the door causing a breeze to waft through carrying with it Laney’s unique scent. He had already taken note of it and that of her father’s. Every person had a distinct smell and now whenever he came across theirs he would know it, but as accustomed as he was to cataloguing scents Devan never had one agitate him before as Laney’s did. Her fragrance was a mix of fresh air and pine with a hint of cinnamon that seemed to wrap around him making his skin and his throat tight.

  It was disturbing.

  Laney spun around suddenly and Devan immediately halted in place so as not to bump into her. Her head jerked up in surprise at his proximity. Bright green eyes stared into his, tilted up at the corners giving a cat like appearance to her face. Thick dark lashes made any kind of artificial enhancement unnecessary, and small freckles decorated her elfin nose. Devan perceived Laney’s genetics to be parts Native American, Irish, Italian, and Anglo Saxon. Her skin was smooth and taupe in color.

  Laney took a step back at Devan’s nearness. Unfortunately, there was only air to step back into as she was standing at the edge of the porch by the steps. Reaching out instinctively, Devan gripped her arm before she lost her footing and went tumbling down to the ground.

  A wash of unexpected heat flared through his palm and up his arm at their contact nearly causing Devan to release her reflexively, but he was able to control the impulse. He didn’t want her ending up sprawled across the ground just because he was having an odd physical reaction.

  Laney looked down at Devan’s hand on her arm startled, then back up at his face inquiringly. He released her arm promptly and retreated back a step, rubbing his hand on his shorts to dispel the anomalous heat in his palm.

  “You were about to fall off the porch.” Devan cast his eyes down at her feet.

  Looking behind her Laney’s eyes widened in surprise. She swiveled her head back to him with a grin. “Wow, thanks. That would have definitely left a bruise.”

  Devan merely nod in agreement.

  Laney was rubbing her arm where Devan had grabbed onto her. Devan hoped he hadn’t inadvertently hurt her. He was unaccustomed to touching others so his grip might have been a little rougher than needed.

  “I was just going to tell you to hang out here while I go greet everyone.” Laney threw him another grin before spinning and skipping down the steps. Long dark brown, nearly black, hair caught up in a pony tail bounced and swung between her shoulder blades as she moved. Subtle highlights in it shimmered and shifted reminding him of moonlight shimmering on water. Devan found himself almost mesmerized by its movement…a desire to touch and see how it felt rose up inside him.

  Whoa! Devan put an immediate halt to his fanciful thoughts. This was just hair he was looking at; made up of keratin, melanin, and oil, same as everyone else in the world. He was shocked he’d even made an analogy between hair and a waterfall, because that wasn’t anything like him at all. He didn’t have whimsical thoughts, and he never had thoughts of touching other people. Shaking a hand was the most contact he had with others, and even that was limited.

  Laney skipped up to the hiking group that consisted of seven people: two adult males and females; most likely the parental figures of the two preteen year old girls, and a possibly eight year old boy. The families appeared very excited about the upcoming hike, smiling and chattering unrelentingly. Devan grimaced at the thought of having to interact with them.

  Devan had determined that acquiring a job was essential for the continuing education of his social interactions. He had no need for money, but the knowledge acquired could be crucial in possible future endeavors. Th
e only setback was that Devan was not a social creature. He was pushed to attend school because someone thought he needed the peer interaction, but he was not comfortable there. Schools were excessively loud and filled with an abundance of unpleasant smells. Devan didn’t know how anyone was able to learn in that kind of environment. But then he wasn’t there for standard edification, his intellect was far beyond any of the teachers there, he was only there to study social interactions.

  Devan’s head cocked to the right at the sound of approaching footsteps.

  “Hello, everyone!” Nick came around the corner of the building with a smile and a wave. He was carrying a backpack similar to Laney’s, but also an X Bolt Hunter rifle. “Are we ready for our hike?”

  The adults around Laney immediately began to gravitate toward Nick and away from Laney, and Devan comprehended why Nick had said he needed an adult for the job position. For Devan, knowledge carried more weight than age, but as he spent more time in the world he realized that people put much more emphasis toward the contrary. It was unaccountable to him why they thought this way, but then many of society’s views perplexed him.

  Devan abruptly took note that everyone was wearing warm clothing whereas he was in a t-shirt and shorts. Disquiet at the dissimilarity came and went because while it was anomalous, it wasn’t necessarily overly inappropriate. There were other individuals besides him that had resistance to colder weather and hiking would warm the other’s internal temperature to where they would most likely unzip and loosen clothing.

  Nick spent a few minutes going over the rules with the group; basic hiking and survival procedures. Laney stood beside him quietly, but also in recognizable unification. Devan watched silently from the porch, discounting the many looks he was receiving from the families. He was accustomed to that because of his height, but Laney also cast a few sidelong looks in his direction. Those he wasn’t able to discount as easily, because they left an anomalous feeling in their wake.