She clung to him and nodded against his chest.
He pulled back and kissed her forehead. “Go ahead and disengage the lock, sweetheart.”
She took a deep breath and twisted the last set of wires together. The door beeped and slid open. Carl lunged forward and slipped his arm around the guard’s neck, jerking him backward in a chokehold. The man thrashed and fumbled for his weapon as Carl cut off his supply of air.
The guard was unconscious in a matter of seconds. Carl dragged him back inside the room and quickly removed the guard’s jacket and weapon. He tossed the jacket to Kayla. “Put it on.”
Kayla slipped it on while Carl studied the weapon. She zipped up the jacket and looked over his arm at the device. “I couldn’t read any of the settings on that thing when I took it from the guard in your camp. I just clicked and fired. It only worked once, so there may be some reset mechanism that you need to press after you use it. Don’t count on it for more than one shot.”
Carl nodded. “That’ll have to work. Let’s go.”
He stood and looked out into the hallway. After a moment, he motioned for Kayla to follow him. They walked quickly down the hall and paused at an intersection. Two guards were talking and walking in the adjacent direction.
“Hang on,” he whispered to Kayla. “They’re leaving.”
She nodded, pressing her back against the wall as Carl leaned forward to watch the guards. A shout rang out from behind them, and Kayla turned to see a guard running in their direction.
“Come on!” Carl shouted and grabbed her hand. They ran down the opposite hallway and into two more guards. Carl pushed Kayla behind him and fired the weapon toward them. One of them collapsed on the floor and the other turned and pulled out his weapon. The guard pointed it at Carl and fired.
“Carl!” Kayla cried out as he staggered and fell to the floor. She knelt next to him as the two guards rushed up to her. One of them grabbed her around her waist and started to pull her away. Without thinking, she filled herself with energy and felt it flow through her hands as she pushed against the guard restraining her.
He screamed and released her abruptly. The other guard ran toward her, and Kayla instinctively threw a large amount of energy toward him. He flew backward into the wall. Kayla dropped back to the floor next to Carl.
“No!” she yelled, tears filling her eyes. She planted her hands on his chest, shaking him and pleading with him to get up. More footsteps and shouts rapidly approached, but she ignored them. Carl had to be okay. She couldn’t lose him. A moment later, Lars grabbed her by the waist and lifted her away.
“Let go!” she screamed and threw a large amount of energy toward him. He deflected it and tried to circle it back around toward her. She shrugged it off and opened herself completely to the surrounding power. The ground began to tremble as she channeled increasingly more energy. Caring and reason left her. None of it mattered. They’d killed Carl.
A biting wind whipped around them, and she realized Lars was trying to subdue her again by cutting off her air. Enraged, she tapped into his energy, yanking it from him and redirecting it back toward him, lashing at him with it like a whip. Lars struggled against her onslaught, trying to stop her attack and suppress her energy with his.
She was dimly aware of Trenon and Miranda running down the hall toward them. Fury ripped through her. They were all responsible for taking Carl away from her. She now fully understood how Alec was able to kill his father. The mantle of judge, jury, and executioner was one she’d willingly adorn.
“By the ancestors,” Trenon whispered as he stared at Kayla and Lars.
She ignored Trenon and forced more energy toward Lars, who had dropped to one knee and pressed his hand against the wall in a desperate attempt to stay upright. The energy whipped through her, threatening to steal parts of her soul. She didn’t care. If it took away everything, maybe it would also take away the pain. Tears streamed down her face.
She dimly heard Miranda calling out to Lars, but the roar in her head was too loud. Even if she and Miranda shared ties of blood like the woman claimed, they weren’t family. How could family take away the one person she’d allowed herself to love completely?
The surrounding air shifted, collapsing a nearby wall. There was a scream in the distance, but Kayla no longer cared if the entire building fell down around them.
Miranda reached for Lars, and when they touched, a painful rush of energy shot out toward Kayla. They must have merged their energy against her. Kayla cried out and winced, raising a hand toward Miranda to stop the onslaught. Energy erupted from her hand, and Miranda stumbled backward. When the woman fell, Kayla turned her focus back to Lars.
He was still struggling to keep her from turning the energy storm back toward him. Kayla could feel him growing weaker and she pressed on further. Miranda stared at them in fear and grabbed the weapon Carl had dropped on the ground. With shaking hands, Miranda pointed it at Kayla and fired.
Pain flooded through her at the impact. With a gasp, Kayla staggered and released the energy she was channeling. Darkness edged at the corner of her vision, and she felt Lars catch her as she began to fall. Her eyes closed, and her last thought was of Carl as she faded into darkness.
Chapter Nineteen
Kayla woke up feeling dazed. Her head was pounding, and she whimpered at the harsh light flooding the room. A sharp voice issued a command, and the lights dimmed. Kayla risked opening them once again and found herself looking up into Lars’s startling blue eyes.
“Take a few deep breaths and move slowly. The dizziness will pass in a minute.”
Lars slipped his arm around her and helped her sit up. As he predicted, a wave of dizziness washed over her. She tried to ignore it and gauge her surroundings. She was back in Miranda’s room. Lars was sitting on the bed next to her, and Trenon was sitting on the opposite bed. Sergei leaned against the wall watching them while Miranda was nowhere to be found. It was just as well. The bitch had shot her, and Kayla wasn’t feeling very forgiving.
A wave of nausea rolled through her. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. Why wouldn’t they just leave her alone? Kayla lowered her head to her knees and muttered, “Go away.”
Trenon leaned forward and said in a no-nonsense tone, “I understand you’ve been through a great deal, my dear. I’ve tried to be patient with you, but after that display, we need to talk. I’m afraid it won’t wait.”
Kayla turned her head to glare at him. Even the slight movement made her stomach roil. “All of you can go fuck yourselves. I’m done.”
Lars glanced at Trenon and then said, “We’ll take you to see Carl after you answer our questions.”
Her eyes flew back to Lars, and she grabbed his arm. A slight tingle went through her at the contact, but she ignored it. If he was lying, her new life’s mission would be to make him suffer. “He’s alive?”
Lars glanced down at her hand on his arm. “Yes, like you, he was merely stunned.”
“I want to see him,” she demanded and tried to climb off the bed. Unfortunately, her legs didn’t seem to want to support her weight yet. Lars pulled her back down to sit on the bed before she fell.
“You can see him after you answer our questions.”
She pulled away. “No. I don’t believe you. I want proof he’s alive.”
Lars nodded to Sergei who brought over a small tablet. She eagerly took the tablet and saw a video image of Carl. He was sitting up in a bed and rubbing his chest as though in pain. Miranda and a guard stood next to him.
It was real. Carl was alive. Tears welled in her eyes as she choked on a sob, burying her face in her hands. All of this was too much. She thought she’d lost him.
“He’ll be fine,” Lars assured her. “As soon as you finish answering our questions, we’ll take you to him.”
She nodded and wiped away her tears. As long as Carl continued breathing, she’d answer whatever questions they wanted. “All right. What do you want to know?”
&nb
sp; Trenon’s eyes lit up, and he inched forward. “Where did you learn to manipulate multiple types of energy simultaneously?”
Her brow furrowed. “Huh?”
“In the hallway, you were channeling earth, air, and fire energy at the same time. Where did you learn this skill?”
“I did?” she asked in surprise and tried to remember exactly what had happened. All she remembered was being really pissed off. When Lars tried to cut off her air, she tried to turn it back on him. Other than that, she wasn’t sure. At some point, she just gave herself up to the energy and let it consume her. She had no idea how to duplicate it.
Lars searched her face and frowned. “You don’t have any idea what he’s talking about, do you?”
Kayla hesitated and then shook her head. There was no point in lying. “No. Alec told me about the different types of energy the other day, but he only showed me how he could manipulate air energy. I left before he could have someone show me the others. I don’t know how it happened.”
Trenon gaped at her. “You’re telling me that display was purely instinctual?”
“I don’t give a shit what you call it,” she snapped. “No, I haven’t been trained. I’ve spent less than a week in those freakish towers and I have no intention of going back. Anytime I get involved with OmniLab, everything goes to shit. I thought you killed Carl. I don’t know what the hell I did or how I did it, but it might be a good idea not to piss me off in the future.” She crossed her arms. “If those are all your questions, I’d like to see Carl now.”
The look of shock on Trenon’s face was almost comical. Lars, on the other hand, was eyeing her with skepticism.
“Before you erased the data we gathered from Carl’s camp—which we’re in the process of reconstructing—I read your bio. You’re smart, Kayla. A little too smart. You’re not gullible, and you don’t trust easily. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have survived this long on your own. Miranda indicated the bond between you and Alec wasn’t intentional. How did it happen?”
Kayla frowned, not wanting to tell them about the bracelets that linked energy together. She’d made sure the instructions on how to create the bracelets was destroyed, but information never truly disappeared. Instead, Kayla asked the question that had been plaguing her since Miranda put the idea into her head. She hoped they wouldn’t fixate on the other. “It was an accident. I didn’t know what I was doing, and Alec stepped in to help me. Miranda said there may be a way to remove the bond though. Is that true?”
Trenon and Lars exchanged looks and Lars nodded. “Yes, it’s possible.”
“How?” Kayla demanded. “Alec told me it was permanent. Now both you and Miranda are telling me it can be removed? If that’s true, I’m going to cut off his balls when I get hold of him.”
Lars raised an eyebrow. “So you didn’t go into this claim willingly?”
“Dammit, no,” she hissed and stood up. Although a little shaky, her legs seemed to be functioning again. Kayla ran a hand through her hair in agitation. None of this made sense. Could Alec have lied to her about something like that? She didn’t think so, but anything was possible. She needed answers. All she’d been getting were half-truths and tidbits of information.
“This whole bond thing has been a pain in my ass since it happened. If it can be broken, why the hell did he let it go on this long?”
Trenon shot Lars a warning look. Lars cleared his throat. “Kayla, it’s apparent that he took advantage of your inexperience. You mentioned that Alec showed you how he can channel air energy earlier?”
“Yeah,” she muttered in irritation and began pacing the confines of the small room.
“We probably share similar abilities,” Lars suggested.
She stopped pacing. Where was he going with this? “Well, yeah, you can both do the wind thing. Although Alec never tried to suffocate me with it.”
“What else can Alec do?”
Kayla’s eyes narrowed. Even if Lars had given her reason to question the bond between herself and Alec, it didn’t mean she trusted him. “Yeah, like I’m going to tell you that. Even though he’s a cocky prick and I’m going to enjoy making him sing several octaves higher when I get through with him, I’m not giving you assholes any advantages over him. You killed Zane, almost killed Carl, and you’re holding us here against our will. Alec may piss me off, but I trust him a hell of a lot more than you.”
Trenon rubbed his chin in thought. “You care for this trader, don’t you?”
She whirled on him. “Don’t you dare touch him. He has nothing to do with any of this.”
Trenon held up his hand. “That depends solely on you. We may be able to come to an arrangement to make sure he remains in good health.”
Kayla swallowed and took a step back. Her internal alarms were starting to go off as a sick feeling began to creep into her stomach. “What sort of arrangement?”
Lars shook his head. “No, Trenon, we won’t harm the trader and risk a repeat of what happened earlier.” He focused on Kayla once again. “But we can offer to release him, unharmed, and send him back to OmniLab towers. In addition, we’ll also remove the bond you share with Alec.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What’s the catch?”
Trenon nodded to Lars. The younger man stood, clasping his hands behind his back. “In return, you’ll agree to allow me to claim you.”
Kayla stared at him, completely dumbfounded. The silence in the room was practically deafening.
“Let me get this straight,” she said in an eerily calm voice. “You want to remove my bond with Alec and replace it with your own?”
“Yes.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” she shouted, gesturing wildly with her hands. “You think I’d ever willingly let another zap-happy circle freak throw energy at me and turn me into a brainless idiot whenever he wants? Fuck you and the speeder you rode in on. There’s no way in hell I’m letting you claim me. I don’t want anything to do with you people.”
Her rant seemed to take Lars off guard. “Are you telling me Alec uses your bond to take advantage of you?”
She looked startled for a minute and then shook her head. Waving off his concerns, she said, “What? No, Alec’s not like that. It’s none of your damn business anyway.”
Kayla sat back down on the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. Lars was quiet for a moment and then asked, “If I gave you my word I would never use our connection in that manner, would you consider it?”
She huffed and glared up at him. “Yeah, right. Like I’m going to take the word of someone who killed my friend and abducted me. Let me be very clear here. If you were the last man on earth and I was the last woman, humanity would be doomed.”
“I see,” Lars said calmly. “It’s obvious you didn’t know what you were doing when you formed the bond. I would imagine Alec’s ability to channel energy was irresistible to you, especially without any formal training. Is that why you left the towers?”
Kayla stared down at her hands and shrugged. “I don’t belong in the towers. That life and those people don’t make sense to me.” She looked up at her captors and shook her head. “I don’t even understand you guys. You have this vendetta against the High Council and you want to punish them, but for what? Do you want your place in the towers back? Are you looking for revenge?”
She made a wide, sweeping gesture. “There’s a whole world out there. There are thousands of people struggling to stay alive right now. Some of them are dying from starvation or from not having proper medical supplies. I know you’ve seen this. You’ve experienced it. You’ve lived it. How can any of you justify wasting your time on this political bullshit if you’ve experienced the precariousness of life? Why are you wasting your time focusing on revenge instead of embracing each and every moment you’re alive?”
Kayla looked over at Sergei, who was watching her with a sharp gleam in his eyes. She understood him far better than Lars and Trenon. Maybe she could reason with him. “I know you couldn’t care less about th
eir politics, Sergei. You’re only in this for the end result. You want to use OmniLab’s talents to help with rebuilding, but you want to do it under your organization’s banner. I get it. It’s a more noble cause than what they’re trying to do, but it won’t work.”
Sergei cocked his head. “Why not?”
She gave him a sad smile. “People in power don’t easily relinquish their power. OmniLab may agree to work with you, but they won’t ever bow down to you. How much is a power struggle worth to you? Is it worth possibly losing all those lives and great minds just so you can say you’re all part of the Coalition? Why not just let them keep their independence and work with you? You’re both working toward the same goal. Who cares if you share the same name?”
Sergei raised an eyebrow and didn’t reply. Trenon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You are truly your father’s daughter, Kayla Rath’Varein. If he had lived, he would have been proud of the woman you’ve become.”
“I don’t know much about him,” she admitted. “I’ve only heard bits and pieces. But if you truly called him and my mother friends, why are you doing this to me? You’re taking away my free will just like OmniLab took away yours. Where’s the justice in that?”
Trenon and Lars looked at each other. Lars sat on the bed next to her and sighed. There was a defeated look in his eyes as he said, “I never thought I’d be shamed by a girl who barely reaches my chin. You’re right, Kayla. Our intention was to force out the corruption in the High Council and take our rightful places. I won’t lie and say I don’t still want that though. They need to be held accountable and punished for their crimes.”
“Then let me talk to Alec,” she urged. “I know he’ll do what’s right.”
Lars let out a bitter laugh. “You’re wrong. Alec knows what happened to us. He was there when his father and the other councilors made the agreement to exile us from the towers. He might not have been able to stop it, but he could have given us warning. He had plenty of opportunities. In fact, I was with him when they came for us. He never said a word. He just watched as they arrested us.”
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