by Amy Rench
The formula.
Maybe now that she had the actual recipe, someone could develop an antidote. Bobby’s notes mentioned that he hadn’t yet reverse engineered the serum. He obviously thought he had the time to do it right. He’d been proven wrong.
She carefully committed his formula to memory, then closed her eyes and recalled it in her mind a few times. Opening her eyes, she peered at the formula again. She knew it now. And knew she’d never forget it. She erased the document and saved it, completely blank. Then she deleted it.
Closing the file, Harper rubbed her face with tired hands. The more data she uncovered, the more she resented the situation she’d been thrust into.
Bobby’s research was beyond important, but she had no experience dealing with this kind of thing. Jeff and his faction were twisting the honorable research into an ugly vestige of its original intention. And before she could even begin to deal with her new life—whatever that new life may be—she was determined to avenge her brother.
The only thing she didn’t resent was Rome. Though she hated that he was caught up in the fallout from the horrific situation his boss had created.
Shaking her fuming thoughts away, she focused on the data again, nearing the end of Bobby’s entries. Every stark word seemed rushed. He’d known the worst was going to happen. Harper tingled with rage because he’d been right.
The worst had happened.
Bobby had given his life to keep his secret and make sure it got into her hands. By avenging his sacrifice, Harper would give her brother his rightful tribute.
After reading the last of Bobby’s notes, Harper realized that her brother had no idea who was running the counter operation, only that he had discovered the faction and tried to find out as much as he could.
They hadn’t taken any time to talk about it, though she knew it had to be bothering Rome. It would certainly bug her if she found out her coach was engineering bio-enhanced swimmers. Especially if it was driven by some mistake she’d made.
She peeked back at him. Earlier Rome had admitted to her that she’d been his first partner in two years. That explained his puzzling nervousness in the shower. Harper realized that his confession, and the fact that he’d let himself be with her intimately, really spoke volumes about the love he’d professed to her.
A gorgeous specimen of man like him, she would’ve thought he had women lined up at his bedside. She never lacked for partners, but Rome was different. There was a connection there that went deeper than physical gratification.
She had always wanted a man for fun, not a relationship. Relationships were messy and distracting. Something she couldn’t afford while training. And she’d been training forever. So she’d never wanted more than a quick and pleasant rendezvous.
Until now. Maybe it was the extreme circumstances. Maybe it was the secluded setting. But maybe it was just the right man.
“Harper.” He purred her name. She raised herself on her elbow and looked at him. His eyes darkened as his gaze moved from her face to her chest. Glancing down, she realized there was no comforter covering her upper body.
A smile cracked her face again. She’d never been an exhibitionist, though she was used to wearing nothing but sleek racing bathing suits. And she was proud of her fit body.
A moan simmered from deep in her chest when she felt his strong hands cup her breasts and start to stroke them. Leaning into his touch even farther, she placed her hand on his lap and slipped on the paper files resting there. Losing her balance completely, she ended up sliding off the bed and landing on the hardwood floor with a solid thump.
Rome joined in with her laughter. She got on her knees and began to pick up the scattered papers. Looking at one of the sheets, she noticed a scrawled signature at the bottom.
Jeff Donovan. Her laughter faded as she glanced to Rome. He waved his hand for her to join him back on the bed.
She grabbed the rest of the documents and returned to the bed to sit beside him, showing him the paper. Reading it along with him, she could sense his gentle playfulness morph into serious work mode.
The paper was a gruesomely detailed report on what the faction had found up at the Barracks. The empty syringe. The bodies. The destruction.
The last paragraph was a requisition for additional force to track down the source of the damage.
Meaning her.
The last line of the requisition clarified the additional force.
Meaning Rome.
Jeff signed the order to hire Rome to track her down and bring her in. Dead or alive.
Harper just gawked at the paper, realizing just how crazy things had become. And just how much he’d given up for her. She was going to destroy his entire career. Because of her, he’d had to make a choice to go against his boss, regardless of the fact that Jeff was a horrible, rotten, disgusting person.
A strong hand settled on her thigh, halting her uneasy thoughts.
“This was my choice, Harper,” Rome said quietly. “When Jeff gave me your picture, I knew. I just knew that something was off about it. But this, you and me, is right.”
Harper looked at Rome’s face. He was looking out the window, but his gaze seemed unfocused.
“I can’t explain it, but I guess it doesn’t surprise me that Jeff is behind this,” he continued. “I just hate that for the first time in my life, I regret what I do for a living. Regret that my mistake provoked this. I knew that operations like Jeff’s existed. I knew that innocents like Bobby were killed for knowing things they shouldn’t. I guess it just never mattered to me.” His gaze shifted to hers and burned in its forlorn intensity. “Until you.”
She covered his hand with hers, not really knowing what she could say to make this better. Wait, yes she did. She just couldn’t believe she was about to say it.
“I love you,” Harper simply stated. The three words tasted strange and unfamiliar, but somehow right.
Rome turned his body to face her. Taking her hand, he brought it up to his lips and kissed her palm. “I know you do,” he said with a sure grin.
She smiled back at him and shook her head at his response. The same one she’d had.
Rolling the other way, she swung off the bed and padded to her bag of clothes. Unzipping the duffel, she reached in and pulled out a few things to wear and slipped them on with a sigh.
Things between her and Rome were getting a little too close, a lot too fast. And ultimately had nowhere to go. But it felt nice. New and scary, but nice.
She needed air.
Besides, she needed to do something. Now more than ever, she wanted to resolve this whole thing and get her revenge so she could explore a real relationship with Rome. She had no idea how long it would be possible or whether life was ever going to return to a semblance of normal during her tapering life span.
“I’m going outside for some air,” she said, bending over to tie her running shoes. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him still sitting on the bed staring at her with a questioning expression. She tossed him a wave and walked to the door of the cabin.
Harper stepped outside the cabin, breathing in the fresh, crisp air. Thriving ferns graced the area, waving in the light breeze.
She moseyed past the Bug toward the rushing creek and began to walk along the side of the burbling water. The natural hum had a calming effect on her mind and body, as water always did.
Gazing around the lush green trees flanking the rough path beside the creek, she thought of the information she and Rome had gathered from Bobby’s data and the files.
So. The formula flowing in her blood was the only true serum left. And she had the formula buried and locked deep inside her memory. Which meant she was the only pure fruit of Bobby’s efforts. She was able to do things the other guys couldn’t do. And so far, Jeff’s faction had been unsuccessful in trying to replicate it.
It was a strange feeling knowing that she was one of a kind. Strange and isolating. Even if—when—she did finish this, the psi powers would still be part
of her. And eventually steal her life.
A life that was forever changed. And though she had Rome, what kind of life could they really have with her unknown and limited life expectancy?
She was scared to find that she needed him, more than just his help. Never before had she allowed anyone other than Bobby to get so close to her. Inside her soul. But Rome had somehow done that without her knowing.
The fact that they had learned she was terminal made her crave him even more. Her heart was breaking little by little just thinking that every second she spent with him could be her last.
She’d told Rome she loved him. How could she say that, knowing her world was falling apart? How could she think she even had the right to say it?
But no matter how she looked at it, she knew it was the truth. She couldn’t help herself. He made her feel like she wanted to give everything she had to him in ways she hadn’t even thought possible. Her heart. Her soul. He’d somehow been able to reach inside her and claim them.
Again, she wondered what kind of life awaited them. Always waiting for it to end.
She seriously doubted she could ever go back to swimming while possessing a psionic power. She couldn’t even imagine what her coach was doing right now, wondering where she was, why she hadn’t come back from her trip home. The meanie hadn’t wanted her to visit Bobby in the first place. Was he mad? Worried? Kicking her off the team? How would she explain everything that had happened? No doubt she’d fail any drug test they’d administer, and who knew what kind of advantage she’d have in the water now?
So, no, she could never go back to competitive swimming. Also, she was sure she’d been fired from her job by now. All her friends—what would she say to them? Could she ever go back to anything she’d had before?
A slow fury smoldered in the pit of her stomach. No. She seriously doubted she ever could return to life as normal. Jeff Donovan had taken that away from her. Taken everything away from her. Her brother. Her swimming. Even her natural life.
It was a good thing she was going to die anyway. Her life as she knew it was gone.
The simmering fury threatened to blossom. Her mind began to swarm with rage at everything she’d lost. Glancing at the thick green foliage surrounding her, she remembered the solitary vow she’d made not long ago in a forest just like this one. Right after Bobby had died in her arms, the fury had consumed her and she’d sworn revenge. Now she had the means inside of her to enact it. Bobby had given her the serum. And she would use it for him.
She stopped walking and forced the anger to recede. Her heated vision cooled as she gazed at the swollen creek, misting and brisk as it rushed over cragged rocks. The fresh water was shrewd in the paths it chose to flow through the wild terrain.
Harper realized that’s what she needed to be. Razor sharp and in command of her power. And not afraid to use it.
She scanned the majestic trees and foliage. The sentries stood tall and sure, branches reaching out to provide the unparalleled balance of beauty and power in nature.
Calling to her. Reverent and reassuring. Enticing and elevating. Illuminating the energy that stirred within her body and mind.
Suddenly she wasn’t afraid anymore. Like the protected undergrowth at the base of the trees, she knew she wasn’t alone. She had Rome’s savvy at her back. She had Bobby’s creation inside her. And she had enough grit and confidence in herself to face what lay ahead.
Steeling her resolve, Harper swept her attention to the creek. She had to give in to the power. Control. That was the key.
Focusing on a rock under the swiftly gliding water, she beckoned her psi power. A familiar flush of cold filtered through her body, quickly followed by a rush of heat. She concentrated hard, imagining that she was lifting the rock out of its submerged home in the creek’s bed.
Her vision tunneled, blurring around the edges and centering on the sunken stone. Almost in a trance, Harper raised her hand slowly and with it, the basket-ball-sized rock. It shimmied, the cold water cascading from its surface as it hovered in the air, mere inches above the racing creek.
Another rose. And another.
A surge of energy crackled from her head to her hand. With her open palm, she guided the rocks across the water’s surface, bringing them just a body length from where she was standing. Her eyes widened as she watched the objects frozen in the air, just like the bullets before. But this time she was making it happen, not just reacting.
Raising her other hand, she beckoned the energy to erect a shield. Like a breeze ruffling her sleeve, the psipower rippled down her arm and dashed from her hand to form an almost invisible bubble caging her body.
Cool. Very cool.
“Harper.”
With a start, she whipped around to face the unexpected intrusion, swinging the rocks along with her. Rome ducked as they hurled just over his head to crash against the boulder behind him, shattering into small chunks behind him.
Oh, poop.
“Rome,” she moaned, realizing she had almost taken his head off accidentally. “For goodness sake, please don’t sneak up on me like that.” At some point she’d have to break that habit of his.
“That was amazing,” he praised, standing from his instinctive crouch, brushing the remnants of the rocks from his broad shoulders, clearly in awe.
She took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing mind. She was practically gushing inside at being able to control her power. It was addictive. That would make revenge so much easier. “What’s going on?” she asked, putting a lid on her excitement, wondering what drove him here after her.
“Nothing. I just missed you,” he answered with a sweet smile.
She gave him a skeptical look, adding a smile to soften it.
“C’mon.” He took her hand in his and kissed the inside of her wrist, sending pleasant little shivers up her arm. “We need to work on a plan before they can mobilize. And I made breakfast. Well, lunch.” He looked at his watch, then at the overcast sky.
He was right. Though they’d escaped from the facility, the bad guys now knew she and Rome were onto them. The two of them needed to stay on the offensive. Plus she wanted to end this sooner rather than later. She was getting real tired of being on the run.
“Good idea. Let’s plan.” She gave his hand a squeeze. Besides, she was ravenous. The psi power seemed to give her an appetite now instead of fatigue. The quick self-healing must be kicking in faster as her body adapted to it.
And after a sideways sizing-up glance at Rome, she realized her hunger wasn’t just for food.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Let’s just round them up and kill them,” Harper suggested mildly as she took a bite of her sandwich. Sounded easy to her. Especially given her newfound control.
“No,” Rome said in flat disagreement, blunting her gusto. “There’ve been too many casualties already. Besides, we want them to be accountable. Make them pay.” She watched him pop a corn chip in his mouth, keeping his clear blue gaze locked on hers.
“Right,” she concurred while she chewed. “Make them pay. With their lives.”
“No.” Rome leveled her with a definite agent-type glare.
“Okay, then,” she said, peering at the map they’d sketched of the facility and surrounding area. They pooled their knowledge and observations with the data from the laptop to create it. “What do you suggest?”
Rome’s face became pensive and his eyes unfocused as he looked toward the window and the forest beyond. They were sitting on the high stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen while sharing a lunch of turkey sandwiches, corn chips, and fruit.
And fresh-baked brownies. To their utter gratitude, the caretaker of the cabin had stocked it to Rome’s specifications before they’d arrived yesterday. Lucky for her, those specifications included brownie mix.
“Rounding them up is a good idea,” he said after a few minutes of quiet contemplation. “It’s a big place, but it has only a couple entrances and exits.”
&n
bsp; “So that should make it easier.” She reached for a chip from the open bag. The salty crunch in her mouth almost made her groan in delight.
“Maybe.” He picked out an orange slice and bit into it, licking the juice from his lips. She almost groaned again. “We’ll need to draw them out without too much commotion. We don’t want to provoke them or get trapped ourselves. If we can get them out front, it could be doable.”
“Use me as bait.” Harper shrugged and took a large gulp of water. That was the most logical thing she could think of. They wanted her. She wanted them. Let’s get together.
Rome was silent. A tiny muscle twitched in his jaw while he stared at her. She turned her full attention to him, wondering what would make the clear blue in his eyes storm so violently.
“No,” he whispered, and shook his head. Clearly the idea did not appeal to him.
“Why not?” she asked, ignoring his troubled look. “It’s me they want.”
“They’ll kill you.” He shook his head again. “We’ll find another way.”
“I’m already dead,” Harper said, wondering at his adamant caution. Regardless of her imminent demise, she didn’t think the faction wanted her dead as long as they thought they could squeeze the serum out of her. Maybe with Rome’s experience with this sort of thing, he sensed they were through trying.
But she still didn’t see the problem. Hadn’t he seen her moving rocks? Plus she could heal fast. She was near invincible.
Taking the last bite of her tasty sandwich, she glanced at their sketched map again. When she went to Bobby’s lab, she’d used his direct secret entrance. Yesterday she and Rome had used a back door.
But as she’d explained to Rome on their walk back from the creek a few hours ago, the one problem they were going to have was that her psionic powers didn’t work indoors.
Rome had protested, citing their first encounter together. Bobby’s lab was different, she’d clarified. He’d been impressed that her brother had crafted sunshine for them. And for the same reason the plants were able to draw strength from the lights, her powers had worked in there.