“That was some ride your boyfriend has.” The taxi driver started a conversation.
“My husband.” Kallie could almost hear his mind changing from thinking she was having an affair to what was she doing climbing into his taxi then.
“I need to head home, but he has some business to take care of,” she answered the unasked question.
“It would have to be some pretty important business to leave an Amazon goddess like that.”
The words came so clearly into Kallie’s mind she almost thought he’d said them aloud, until she realized she still had the crystal locked in her hand. She released the stone and settled back into the seat for the ride to Adam’s.
***
Jerreon wanted to call her back but knew he couldn’t. Still he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off the shrinking yellow point. He turned and strode back to the waiting sports car. Pulling back on the road, Jerreon pressed on the gas and the car shot forward in response. For a second, he let the power charge through him then eased back, not willing to risk being pulled over by a police officer for breaking a law. He needed to stay out of the attention of the authorities.
He parked away from the parking lot where they’d been earlier, got out and opened his mind, searching for Lysias. His first attempt brought nothing. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he brought out the blue fragment and tried again. He’d scanned over half the distance before he caught tendrils of power. He closed his eyes and concentrated harder. The trail solidified and he took off after it in a smooth run that covered the ground quickly.
The trail led him out to a path that ran alongside a river area and road. He followed it for several kilometers. Jerreon was almost to the point where he’d dropped Kallie off when he decided he needed the car in case it went farther. He ran back to where he parked.
It didn’t take him anytime to pick up the trail again. Coming up on the hotel he’d let Kallie off at, he eased up on the gas, thinking of Kallie being there. He sensed the lingering presence of her then saw the shadow of Lysias cross over.
Dread hit hard. Lysias was hunting Kallie and he had her scent.
Chapter Thirteen
Kallie’s thoughts were so wrapped on Jerreon, she was unprepared when the cab pulled up to the gate in front of Adam’s estate.
“This the place?” the driver called her attention.
“Oh, yes. Sorry.” She looked at the meter and pulled a couple bills out of her wallet. “Thanks.” She got out, heading for the call box as the taxi pulled away. She pressed the button. The gate clicked and started to open without her having to say anything.
“Mrs. Ander.”
Kallie jerked at the name, taking a second to realize it was her. She turned, only recognizing one of the two men striding toward her.
Agent Johnson reached her first. “It is Mrs. Ander now, isn’t it?”
Kallie remembered Adam said he’d showed her marriage certificate to the agents that morning, not that she would deny it. “Yes.” She met the man straight on, aware of the other moving around her placing himself between her and the gate. “What may I do for you, Agent Johnson?”
“Start with telling us where your husband is.” There was a tightening around the man’s mouth, a definite challenge in him.
“I’m not quite sure.” She met his gaze.
He arched his brow. “You were just married. Yesterday I believe, after leaving the police station?” There was no missing the question in the words.
“Yes, but we were out shopping. He had a few more things to get, and I came back to pack. I’m flying out in a couple hours.”
“Actually, we need you to come with us. We have some questions for you,” Johnson’s gaze didn’t waver.
Kallie pulled back instinctively, and the other man closed in behind her.
“I’m afraid we must insist. Either we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Johnson said.
There was no mistaking that meant being cuffed.
“What’s going on here?” Sam, Adam’s head of security, appeared at the gate. Kallie could see Adam hurrying toward them.
“Mrs. Ander is coming in for some questioning.” The other man, who until that point had remained silent, said in a gravelly voice that sounded like it once held a southern drawl before it had been raked over broken glass.
“I’ll get a hold of my lawyers, Kallie.” Adam’s focus went right to her.
“That won’t be necessary. This is a matter of national security.” Johnson reached out and took her arm. “You can tell Ander to contact us though.” He turned her away, not giving her any chance to object as the other man reached in his pocket and handed a card through the gate.
“So he can reach us.” The man’s words cut into her.
They were using her to get to Jerreon. She wanted to cry with frustration. She should have figured that. Everyone was using her against him. Kallie wished she could warn him. Wrapping her hand around the crystal brought nothing, then a feeling of foreboding hit her so strong she dropped the crystal. Dark wisps of current remained to taunt her. “Jerreon!” she whispered in her mind as fear for him exploded within her.
They led her across the street to a black sedan.
“Please, don’t take me.” She knew her plea wasn’t going to work but couldn’t help trying.
Johnson actually looked shocked when he turned to study her. For a moment, there seemed to be compassion in his eyes. “You’re not in any danger,” he said as if to be comforting.
Saying that though was as if it called up the feeling. Kallie glanced back expecting to see Lysias there, but only the other agent was visible. She didn’t know his name.
“Mrs. Ander.” Johnson held the car door open.
Kallie hesitated until she felt a nudge on her back forcing her forward. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Johnson’s brow did another lopsided arch.
There was a grunt from the man behind her. “I think we do.”
“I don’t even know your name.”
“Rhodes.” He leveled his gaze at her.
Unable to do anything else, Kallie slid in the car. She was almost relieved when Johnson got in beside her instead of the other man. “May I at least call Mr. Bacchus to have him let my parents know I’m not going to make the plane?”
“Why don’t you just call your parents?” the man probed.
“I probably can’t reach them now.”
Johnson nodded, but when she pulled out her phone, he tipped it so he could see the screen. Fortunately, Jerreon’s number was listed under Adam’s name, since she hadn’t bothered switching it yet. Kallie pressed the call button. The phone went right to voice mail. Johnson took the phone and brought it to his ear.
“There’s no answer.” She tried to calm her pounding heart. “I’ll try his other number.”
Again, Johnson watched her motions.
To her relief, Adam answered before the second ring.
Johnson leaned in to listen. “Adam, they are letting me call,” she said quickly. “I tried your other phone but got no answer. I was worried.”
“I’ll check it out,” Adam answered, obviously getting her meaning that she couldn’t reach Jerreon.
“Would you let my parents know I won’t be coming? I don’t know how long I’ll be detained and don’t want them to worry. Let them know I’m okay.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it. If you can, keep me posted on what’s happening.”
Johnson frowned, and she was afraid he was about to take the phone from her. “I will. Thank you,” she said hurriedly and hit disconnect.
Johnson’s eyebrow arched up again and he held out his hand for her phone.
She handed it over. “Where are you taking me?”
“To a secure facility. It won’t take long to get there. Just relax.”
Kallie tried, but it was impossible as the feeling of danger grew within her. She glanced in the rearview mirror only to find the other agent staring at her so she
shifted to stare out the window.
They turned the corner heading back toward the beach road. A wave of malice hit. She shuddered and twisted in the seat. Kallie saw nothing behind her but felt as if something evil was walking in her shadow. Instinct had her raising her hand to the crystal, but she stopped half-a-inch away, too afraid of what she’d feel.
“Is something wrong?” Agent Johnson turned in his seat to look out the back window.
“I don’t think we’re safe.” Subconsciously she whispered the words.
“What did you see?” He looked at her as they pulled out onto the main thoroughfare.
“Nothing.” She slipped her hand into her purse before remembering Johnson had her phone. “Please, I need my cell phone.”
“Why?” the man eyed her.
“We need Jerreon.” She didn’t hesitate in her answer.
“Can you reach him?”
“I hope so.”
To her surprise, he handed the phone over.
“What are you doing?” Rhodes asked.
“If she can bring us Ander, that’s what we want,” Johnson answered.
Though Kallie knew the reason, it still gave her pause, but there was no choice. She activated the phone, aware of Johnson watching her as she brought up the number again. Once more, it went right to voice mail.
“Jerreon, I think I felt Lysias. That he’s after me. I don’t know for sure. It’s the same feeling I had from him before but stronger, and it doesn’t seem to be fading. I think he’s following me. I’ve been taken by the agents. Please call me.” She cut the connection and turned in the seat again, praying to see Adam’s bright red sports car racing up behind, but she didn’t see it or any sign of the danger she knew was there.
***
Jerreon pulled out the phone only to face a black screen like it had been in the parking lot. He tossed it into the passenger seat and shifted through the gears bringing power out of the precision machine. Only the need to keep Lysias in his senses kept his speed in check, though as he traveled he was sure where the man was headed.
He was close to Adam’s when suddenly he lost the trail. Jerreon whipped the car to the side of the road. Wrapping his hand around the crystal, he pushed power through it.
Kallie’s was the first essence that filled him. He reached for her, picking up fear, but no panic. At this point, Lysias didn’t have her, but he was near and she knew it. Jerreon only hoped they could get her on a plane before Lysias reached her.
Turning the car around, he followed Kallie’s and Lysias’s trails, headed toward the beach area. A minute later, the crystal flared and picked up a glow. When Jerreon backed off the power he was pushing, it didn’t settle. He scanned the cars until his gaze landed on a silver sedan just ahead.
Lysias.
The sedan jerked into a turn and picked up speed. Jerreon thought for a moment Lysias was trying to evade him. Then the vehicle whipped around another car and arrowed in on a black sedan identical to those he’d seen in the parking lot with the government people. He didn’t have to use the crystal or really even try to know Kallie was in the black vehicle. How she ended up there he didn’t know and didn’t have time to worry about it as Lysias closed in on the car.
Jerreon shifted, pressing down on the gas while letting up on the clutch. The car shot forward, weaving in and out of traffic. Several people blasted their horns, but Jerreon ignored them. Swerving in behind a bus, he zipped in front of a van on the other side. Jerreon shifted again, pulling in front of the bus. In a matter of seconds, Jerreon had cut the distance between them in half, but Lysias had also halved the gap between him and Kallie.
Jerreon floored the pedal.
***
“You have to believe me. Lysias, the man you’re after, is near.” Kallie looked between the two men then out the back window.
“What are you, psychic or something?” Rhodes’s gravelly drawl reached back to her full of skepticism.
“A month ago, or even a week, I would have said no, but for some reason, I can sense him. He freaks me out. I can feel his evil. Just as I can your disbelief,” she said, daring him to challenge her statement. “You need to get help. Call your people at the parking lot and get them here. We’re not going to make it to where you’re taking me.” That got at least a jerk reaction out of him. “You can’t take him on your own.”
“You underestimate us.” The words rumbled from Rhodes.
“No! You underestimate Lysias. He thinks he is superior. He kills without remorse. Absolutely no regard for life.”
“So do a lot of criminals,” Johnson said gently.
“Not like Lysias.” Kallie looked behind them again. A silver car drew her eye as it darted out of its lane into the next, then back in its lane, and over the line on the outside. She caught a flash of stark, white hair.
“We have a car coming up fast,” Johnson said before she could.
“I see it,” Rhodes responded. “Driving skills aren’t much.”
“It’s Lysias.”
“You sure?” Johnson asked, looking at her with a lot less doubt than before.
“Yes.”
“Let’s have a talk with this Lysias.” Rhodes braked and started to pull to the side.
“No!” Kallie yelled.
Only to be drowned out by Johnson. “Look out. He’s going to ram us.”
Rhodes reacted immediately, pressing down on the gas.
The car shot forward, throwing Kallie back in the seat. She righted herself then was tossed to the side as Rhodes sent the car into a spin. She barely caught herself before slamming into the door. A hard jerk snapped her back the other way and had her straining against her seatbelt. The sound of crunching metal filled the car, then a jolt lifted her off the seat as they hit and went over the curb.
The car rocked and tilted. Kallie grabbed the door with one hand as she pressed her other to the roof. Afraid they were going to flip over, she tensed. Another jerk threw her forward then back into the seat as the car came to a rest, right side up.
It took a second for Kallie to calm her panic and realize she was all right, just shaken. Johnson sat between her and the caved-in door, his eyes closed. She reached to check him out and he stirred. Opening his eyes, he looked at her but seemed confused. Blood trickled down his face from a small cut on his forehead.
***
The black vehicle slowed then picked up speed rapidly as if the driver finally figured out there was someone after him. Lysias charged toward the car.
Jerreon shifted, going for more speed, though there was no way he could intercept them in time. Lysias pulled up on the other vehicle. The driver of the black car braked and turned the wheel, sending the car into a controlled skid.
For a moment, Jerreon thought that Lysias was going to over-shoot them, but his car swerved, clipping the tail of the car, ramming it so it rocked violently. Hitting the curb, the black car jerked up and over. It started to tip on its side, threatening to flip until it impacted with a pole. With a tearing of metal, it dropped down onto the grass.
The car Lysias was in careened off, went through an intersection, barely missing several cars and nosed into a thick, tall palm tree.
Cars braked. People stared in shock at the accident.
Jerreon whipped to the side of the road and made his way around the congestion, almost to the wreck before he was forced to stop. He was out and running before the car had come to a rest.
He reached the government car first and jerked open the door. Kallie twisted in the seat. Relief flooded into her face at seeing him. “I’m all right,” she stammered.
He reached for her, but she waved him off.
“Lysias.”
She said the one thing that could get him to leave her. Still it tore at him.
“Go.” She pressed out in his mind.
He knew it was her way of proving she was truly fine. Jerreon turned to the silver car resting twenty meters away. It was empty. For an instant, he was afraid he’d lost Lysi
as again, then he saw him trying to disappear into the crowd that had started to gather.
“Lysias!” Jerreon roared his name and ran after him.
The people blocking his way parted, letting him through.
Lysias didn’t attempt to flee, but wrapped a hand around a small girl’s arm, ripping the child from her mother. The woman screamed then fell to the ground as Lysias struck her with a backhanded blow. He turned and brought the girl in front of him as a shield.
People around them pulled back. Horror and fear filled the air.
Jerreon stopped ten feet from Lysias. “You would hide behind a child?”
“And you would risk yourself even to save one as insignificant as this?” Lysias countered. “Your humanity will get you killed.”
“Your inhumanity condemns you.”
“It is not inhumanity to know one’s worth,” Lysias snapped.
“Free the child.”
Lysias shrugged. A smile curved his lips and he shoved the girl away. The smile disappeared as he brought the hand up, thrusting it out.
Energy flew at Jerreon in a bright blue ball. With so many people around, Jerreon knew he couldn’t dodge and risk someone being hit, so he brought both hands up absorbing the energy into him. It crackled and burned his senses.
He clenched his teeth, and fought to maintain control, knowing if he lost it, for even a fraction of a second, it would singe him and he’d go down. He coursed the energy through his system. Taking a step closer to Lysias, he raised his hand to dispel some of the power racking his nerves.
Lysias pointed at the girl on the ground. “Stop, or the next one goes through the child. And you know she could not survive it.”
“I will not let you.”
“You cannot stop me. I am the most powerful being on this planet. You might have come close, but again your humanity hinders you.” Lysias let out another burst of energy, sending it into the crowd.
Jerreon willed the energy to him. Agony etched through his already overloaded body. Gritting his teeth, he cycled the surge through him and right back out, sending it toward Lysias.
Lysias put his hands up but only in time to deflect the blast which hit his wrecked car, flipping the car onto its side. A second later, the car exploded into a fireball that had people screaming and pulling back even farther.
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