Heartbreaker

by Romy Lockhart

  He closes the laptop, and I wonder what he was looking at. Not porn. If this was Nick we were talking about, then definitely porn, but not Logan.

  “What’s up?” I ask, trying to sound casual. If there’s something he doesn’t want to tell me I’m not going to pry. He needs time to process the problem when something’s bothering him. He always has.

  “Eli’s bringing back breakfast. He said he’d check if Nick’s coming back with us. Something about that girl we saved from Raven needing help.” He shrugs.

  “Nick might not be coming back with us?” Disappointing. It’s probably the last chance for all four of my men to spend time with me before the tour. There’s no way they’ll all be able to come see me at once when that starts. I shake it off. “Is there anything we can do to help her?”

  Logan blinks. “I didn’t think to ask.”

  “Well, I’m going to check,” I tell him, locating my phone on its charger next to the mini-bar and picking it up. My blood runs cold the moment I see I have missed calls. Seven of them. All from Sasha. “What the...” I hit call back and put the phone to my ear.

  I feel Logan’s eyes burning my skin as I wait for Asher’s sister to answer her phone. I’m pacing around by the time she picks up.

  “Eden! Thank goodness.”

  “Sasha, what’s wrong?”

  “Asher didn’t come home last night and he’s not picking up his phone. I’m worried, Eden.”

  “What do you mean he didn’t come home? He’s been staying at my place in Rapture...”

  “I know. I went around this morning and his car wasn’t there. So I asked one of your security guys,” she says, her voice starting to crack, “And they said no-one was back yet. This isn’t like him. It really isn’t.”

  Her words sink in, and I try to understand them but they don’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t Asher go home? He left to get the plane back to Rapture. Did he make it on board?

  “Okay, Sasha. I want you to go check in with Ronnie. Find out when she last spoke to him. I’m going to check a few things and call you back.”

  “Thank you, Eden,” she whispers before hanging up.

  “Asher’s missing,” I tell Logan, as I call my contact at the airport.

  Logan is quiet, with a pensive expression on his face as I make my call and find out within a few minutes that Asher got off the plane at Rapture. He got back to town. I call his mobile number and it rings out. I leave a message, but now I’m starting to worry. Where could he have gone?

  “You think someone got to him,” Logan tells me, a statement rather than a question.

  I hadn’t been thinking it, not yet. Now? “Nothing else makes sense.”

  “He’s immortal, right?”

  I nod. Trying to calm my racing thoughts at the pointed reminder. Whoever has him, can’t kill him. It doesn’t seem to matter. I still feel sick at the thought of anyone hurting him.

  Logan pulls me into his arms. “Hey. If I couldn’t kill him, no-one can.”

  The bad joke makes me laugh, but my breath catches in my throat and I choke out a sob in the next instant, crying onto Logan’s shoulder just like old times.

  “He’ll be okay, Eden. I promise,” Logan murmurs, stroking my hair down my back. “If someone has him, we’ll find them.”

  I wipe at my eyes and break away, just as Eli walks into the room, coffee and donuts in hand.

  “Did I just miss something?”

  “Asher didn’t go home last night,” I tell him. “We need to get back to Rapture to find him.”

  Eli sets the breakfast stuff down and looks me right in the eyes. “Eat. I’ll make some calls. Don’t worry about this, Eden. We have it covered.”

  I sit and look at the time on my phone. A few hours until we’re on the plane for home. This is going to be torture. Eli moves into the bedroom as he calls the Sheriff’s office in Haleton. Logan sits down beside me and opens the donut box. He passes me one and I take it and sit staring at it.

  “You heard Ramirez. We have it covered, Eden. You need to eat.”

  I take a bite and chew slowly. The sugar rush zings through me, but it doesn’t last. I barely taste it as I take a second weary bite. I thought I felt tired before. I was wrong. This is tired.

  “I don’t understand what’s going on,” I say, putting the rest of the donut down. “There should be a Goddess here, close to me, trying to find a way to get closer. Not someone waiting in Rapture to pick my men off as they arrive. Right?”

  He blows out a breath and my heart sinks.

  “Truth is we don’t know where Raven went. She could be anywhere. Anyone.” He frowns. “Who told you Asher wasn’t home?”

  “His sister,” I say, realising a second later what he’s getting at with this question. I think for a second before calling one of the guys who are on guard duty at my place. He picks up quickly and my query leaves my mouth before I can think about it, “Hi, it’s Eden. Did Asher get home yet?”

  “No, ma’am. Haven’t seen his car around either.”

  “Okay. Please call me if he gets back before I do. I’ll be home later today.”

  Not that I really thought Sasha was lying, but Logan’s question seems to have triggered paranoia. He’s right. The Goddess could be anywhere. We don’t know who she is, or who she might be influencing.

  “I need to call Sky.” I need to speak to Lawson. Speak is probably too tame of a word for what I need. Grill is more like it. He knows a lot more than I do. That needs to stop now. I’m at full power, apparently. But what use is a battery when you don’t know where the on switch is?

  I make the call and it goes straight to Sky’s voicemail. Damn. I leave a message, hoping she’s not too tied up with interviews or whatever other promotional crap she’s got going on for the tour.

  “Lawson,” Logan says. “He seemed to know a lot about Goddesses.”

  “He showed me some things. I need him to show me more.”

  Eli comes back through from the bedroom, putting his phone into his pocket. “I’ve got a couple deputies looking into his car, unofficially. They’ll call me if they find anything.”

  I nod, knowing there’s something I need to do now. I can’t believe I have to do this so soon after finding Nick. Wait. I call Nick, needing to hear his voice. I don’t like that two of my guys aren’t nearby right now. I’m starting to freak that they might be in danger. His line is engaged.

  I swallow down the growing feeling of fear. Logan and Eli are both waiting for me to decide what’s happening. I clear my throat before I make my decision.

  “I need to go concentrate. See if I can find out where Asher is. Both of you need to stay here. Someone call Nick and let him know what’s happening. I’m not going to feel better until he’s with us, so just make sure he stays in regular contact. That bitch isn’t getting the chance to hurt any of us again.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Asher

  Grace was as empty-eyed as my mother, but her memories were closer to the surface. She didn’t move when I touched her face, just stared at me blankly, as if she was awaiting instructions.

  I stepped away from her and she went back to staring at the door. I felt increasingly conflicted about my next move. I’d have to make it sometime, I knew that. Knowing nothing about this Goddess made it difficult. I switched off my phone. It wasn’t going to do me any good to call anyone right now and the battery would die if I left it on overnight.

  Eden was too far away to help, and if I’m being honest I don’t want to subject her to this. If I can deal with it myself, I will. I waited for what felt like hours, standing in that room with the missing girl, trying to come up with the best plan to get everyone out.

  If the Goddess was sleeping, this could be as easy as commanding everyone to follow me out of the house. If I knew where they all were. That was the hard part. Considering this girl was just standing around rather than sleeping, I doubted the Goddess had all of her captured mortals in bedrooms. My mother was likely still dow
nstairs, by the door.

  I moved back to the girl and touched her hand. I kept my voice soft and low as I spoke.

  “Your name is Grace Summers and you need to wake up now. I’m taking you out of here.”

  Eden’s light flowed through her. She gasped, life sparking into her eyes.

  “What the...” She frowned at me. “Who the hell are you and what have you done to me?”

  Maybe it wasn’t such a hot idea to wake her up. Too late now.

  “You need to keep quiet while I get you out of here. A woman captured you and has been keeping you in this house. She has others trapped too.”

  Her expression darkened. “I’ve seen them. She has my brother. It’s why I came here.”

  “Then you understand how dangerous this is...” I started, while she pushed away from me.

  “I understand that bitch needs to die.” She looks around frantically.

  “We can’t go near her,” I say, realising she’s not listening. “What are you doing?”

  “Looking for a weapon, dumbass.” She sighs. “I don’t suppose a vampire would keep stakes just lying around anyway. Damn it!”

  She thinks the Goddess is a vampire? I stifle the laughter that wants to burst forth. It really isn’t the time, and honestly, the more I think about it the less amusing it becomes. The woman may as well be a vampire. She’s immortal after all, and she’s certainly as villainous as I’d expect one of those creatures to be.

  “Keep quiet,” I say, making it a command. This is for her safety. An act of love, so Eden’s abilities allow for it. “Follow me, and stay close.”

  I open the door and peer out into the dimly lit hallway. There are rows and rows of doors before the staircase ahead. One of the rooms could belong to the Goddess. I hesitate as I step quietly into the hall and move toward the closest door. I turn the handle and push it inward quickly.

  Dark inside, as expected. I check for a light switch on the left wall at the side of the door. I find it. The room is empty. I close the door and move toward the next one, checking to find Grace tagging along behind me with a sour expression on her face. She’s wearing what looks to be a prom dress and her shoes are flat.

  I check the next room and it’s also empty. The others are too. Grace shrugs at me when I look back at her. I can’t help feeling a little suspicious over why I was placed in the same room as the girl I came to the door inquiring about when there are so many empty rooms up here.

  It’s too late to take it as a warning. We’ve reached the top of the staircase and I can see my mother standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting like Grace was. I know there’s no time left. I have to get them both out of here. I’m going to have to come back for my father, and for whoever else she has trapped here.

  We dash down the stairs and I tell my mother to come with us. There’s a moment of tension when the door won’t open, but the key is in the lock. I glance around as the door opens. So far, so good.

  We get outside and I rush them into the car. Take off without looking back. My heart is racing as we drive into the night, and I’m not sure that’s going to calm down anytime soon. I may have rescued my mother from that hell, but my father is still unaccounted for and I just pissed off a Goddess of Destruction. I curse quietly as I drive back toward Rapture. Getting as much distance as possible between us and that Goddess is the most important thing right now.

  “Where... where are we going?” My mother asks, her voice shaky.

  “Home, Mom. We’re going home.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Eden

  I officially start to freak out when I sit down to look for Asher and nothing happens. I’m concentrating, my eyes are closed, and there’s just nothing. I mean, I was hardly calm before I started but now? Now, I’ll be lucky if my men can peel me down from the ceiling.

  “Where are you, Asher?”

  I keep trying, but I’m too tense to concentrate. Eventually, I give up out of frustration.

  Eli looks up when I walk back into the lounge. “You found him?”

  I shake my head, tears starting to fill my eyes. “I’m getting nothing when I try.”

  He gets up, they both do.

  “What do you mean, nothing? You can’t get the connection to work?” Eli’s question is gentle, but it only compounds my frustration.

  “The connection is working. I’m just getting nothing, a big black void.”

  Eli and Logan glance at each other and I know they’re trying to judge if they should tell me what’s on their minds. It’s so weird how similarly they seem to think. It’s almost as if they can read each other’s thoughts.

  “Eden, we’ll be leaving soon. If Asher’s going through the whole coming back to life thing again, it’ll take a while. Maybe you shouldn’t try connecting again until later.” Logan’s trying to placate me, but it’s not working.

  “I can’t believe this is happening.” How many times can one guy be murdered in a lifetime? I don’t like the thought of Asher being hurt, much less killed, because of who I am.

  “We don’t really know anything so we shouldn’t speculate. I’m sure he’s fine, Eden,” Eli says as they both pull me into a hug.

  I cling to them tightly, burying my head against Logan’s shoulder. My tears aren’t done yet. I’m exhausted and afraid and I just want to know Asher’s okay.

  The sound of the door opening makes me jump a little. I expect to be told the car is here, but when I look up and see Nick entering with a bag I breathe out a sigh of relief.

  “Nick! I wasn’t sure you were coming back with us.”

  He moves closer. “Couldn’t stand another day without my Goddess. Hey, what’s wrong?”

  I wipe at my tears as Eli and Logan let me go.

  “Asher is missing.”

  He frowns. “In Rapture?”

  I nod. “I couldn’t find him when I tried our connection.”

  “Shit.” Nick gives me a hug of his own.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “I am too. Let’s get back home. Maybe it’ll be easier to connect to him when we’re closer.”

  It’s a nice thought, so I cling to it. “Maybe it will.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Asher

  I wake up on a hard bed with an aching neck and a headache I’m almost completely certain is down to dehydration. Sunlight is streaming through the motel’s window. I check the alarm clock by the bed and realise I’ve been out for about five hours. I get up and stretch. If the Goddess left to come looking for us right after we ran, she could have caught up by now. I’m banking on her not being aware of our disappearance yet. I didn’t notice a vehicle on her property, so I’m hoping she doesn’t haven’t one, though I’m not going gamble the safety of my mother or the girl on that assumption.

  I sit up and roll my neck. Then I slip on my glasses and get to my feet.

  The girl is standing by the door, her arms folded as she glares at me.

  “You did something to me,” she accuses, making me wince.

  “I had to get you out of there. It was the only way.”

  “I told you, I went there to get my brother. You shouldn’t have forced me to leave. I have to go back now and save him. That bitch will probably eat me this time. You screwed me over, asshole.” She sounds pissed, and she looks agitated, but she’s not running away to go do the things she’s threatening to. She’s scared, lost. Doesn’t know what to do.

  I sigh and glance at the other bed. My mother’s still sleeping soundly, a peaceful expression on her face. She needed rest. Both of them did. They need food too, before we leave for Rapture.

  I look the girl over. It was probably a heinous mistake to bring her along. Considering she’s missing, considering cops have been looking for her. I could be arrested as her kidnapper. But what else can I do? Send her back to that town with the Goddess who would likely snatch her again? I doubt the woman would eat her, like Grace seems to think she would, but some other torture seemed likely. />
  “What was it like there? How did she treat you?”

  Grace scowls at me. “How do you think? We were slaves. She ordered us to do all kinds of shit. It wasn’t fun.”

  “Did she feed you?”

  “Yeah, one bowl of some nasty looking warm oatmeal kind of stuff every day. She’d order us to use the bathroom once a day too. Once! Like a girl’s bladder can handle that kind of torture. I pissed myself a few times before she started ordering me to go twice a day. Like that’s any better.”

  She plucked at the skirt of her dress. “Bathing is more of a whim for her. She orders it when we smell bad, or when she decides she wants to watch. I’ve had both kinds of torture from that bitch. I swear, though, if she’d tried to touch me I would have broken every bone in her hand.”

  “Sounds like hell.”

  “No shit.” She looks me over curiously now. “How did you manage to break the compulsion she hit you with? Wait. You compelled me too. You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

  Hah. Now she thinks I’m a vampire.

  “Not quite,” I tell her, pulling back the curtain and standing in the sunlight’s path.

  “Then what?”

  “It’s not something I’m allowed to speak about.” I let that hang in the air, while I check my mother’s pulse. She’s breathing fairly normally but she’s definitely thinner than I remember her being. Her heart-rate seems normal but what would I know? I’m just a librarian.

  “So she’s your mother?” Grace is a talker, it seems.

  “She is.”

  “How long did the vampire have her?”

  “A few years.” The reality of that is going to kick in sooner or later, and the more I think about it, the more I realise Eden is going to have to be involved in what happens next.

  “Three years? Same as my brother,” Grace says. “Took me a while to figure out where he went. Then we moved a town over and I recognised the place he kept telling me he was visiting. He said it was where his girlfriend lived. I didn’t believe him. I wish I had. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long.”