Mutant Star by Karen Haber Read Free Book Online Page B

going to alert hotel security. I don’t want Skerry to kill him right in front of me.”
    ***
    The Hedgehog’s dining room glowed with soft pink and yellow crylights. The soothing sound of strings flowed from the wall speaker. But the group at the table was tense and awkward.
    Alanna chewed her meal without tasting it. Her father would neither look at nor talk to her. But Aunt Melanie seemed determined to make up for his silence.
    “Alanna,” she said, “your mother tells me you’ve been accepted at Radcliffe.”
    “That’s right.” Alanna stabbed a piece of calamari and regarded it carefully, avoiding her aunt’s gaze.
    “Why, that’s wonderful. You must be so happy. Are you looking forward to school?”
    “Yes,” Alanna said. “It should be very interesting.”
    “You don’t sound very enthusiastic.”
    “Well—”
    “Of course she is,” Narlydda said. “Alanna’s work impressed the entire admissions panel at Whitlock. They told me how eagerly they’re looking forward to having her in the program.”
    “Now we know how Whitlock feels,” Yosh said. “But how do you feel about them, Alanna?” His gentle smile was encouraging.
    Alanna wanted to tell him that she felt uncertain, confused, anything but confident. Uncle Yosh might actually understand her ambivalence. But her mother was watching her closely. Alanna knew what was expected of her. She summoned a bright false smile. “I’m really excited,” she said. “It’s a marvelous opportunity and I’m lucky to have it.” She waited for applause. Certainly that was an award-winning performance. And sure enough, everybody around the table was nodding and smiling. Everyone except her father. He had turned to look at her now and his expression was skeptical, almost mocking. She gazed down at her plate, away from the cold fury in his eyes.
    Beside her, Rick kept eating, oblivious to the conversation. A friendly warmth radiated from the spot where his leg pressed against hers. Suddenly she wished they were both back out on that hillside under the stars.
    “Yosh,” her mother said. “When is the premiere of your Red Planet song-cycle?”
    “Next month,” he said. “And I’m scoring the traveling exhibition of holovids from the Hubble III and IV.”
    Alanna saw Rick begin to slump in his seat, sleepy with food and sex and drink. Did he think he could just ignore her now that he was satisfied? A sly telekinetic tweak between the legs straightened his spine. He sat up, eyes bulging, and turned to her.
    “Alanna, you are really pushing your luck,” he whispered. “I’m warning you, don’t play mutant games with me.”
    Across the table, her father was turning purple.
    Better ease up a bit, she thought. I don’t want to make Daddy so angry he has a stroke.
    But as the adults continued their desultory chatter, Alanna grew restless and annoyed. Her father’s ice treatment was wearing on her. Rick was pointedly snubbing her now, talking to Julian about something in the Berkeley lab while her mother was describing her newest commission. Carefully, she sent out a telekinetic probe, gentle, compelling. Under Rick’s jeans. Up the right knee. Then the left. Higher. There. Now concentrate.
    Rick squirmed. “Knock it off,” he whispered.
    Smiling, she intensified her telekinetic strokes. Sweat beads gathered on Rick’s brow. There was a distinct bulge in his pants now. Alanna took a sip of wine and smiled sweetly at her aunt Melanie without missing a beat. Was that a faint moan she heard beside her? She narrowed her focus, intensified the rhythm. Rick tried to stand up. Alanna answered a question from Uncle Yosh while pushing Rick back into his seat with a sharp telekinetic shove. His breath was coming in short gasps.
    “Rick,” his mother said. “Are you all right?”
    “Fine.” His voice was strangled.
    “You don’t look all right.”
    Just wait another minute, Alanna thought. Another minute and …
    Splash!
    Alanna gaped. She was