“This is neutral turf,” Dev growled. “We both know it.”
Another of the men, skinnier, taller, shot forward. “All this shit goin’ down in the city? I say it is. And you on it.”
“Then I guess you’re gonna have to kick me out yourself. Come on!” Dev shouted, suddenly furious. At their lack of progress. At time, running out. And most of all, himself.
Rushing forward, he tackled the bulky guy, knocked him on his ass with one punch to the jaw. The other two charged him. Dev kicked one in the knee with the toe of his boot, sending him sprawling. The third man whipped out a knife and slashed the air inches from his face.
“Put it down!” Dev hollered. When the knife came at him a second time, he backed away, breath heaving, missing the blade by inches.
The door to the convenience store slammed open. Curtis rushed out, coffee pot in hand. Before Dev could say another word, Curtis heaved hot liquid onto the knife wielder. Screaming, the man dropped his weapon and ran.
Curtis threw the pot to the ground. “Let’s get the hell out of here!”
Jumping on their bikes, they fired them up and roared out of the lot.
Not until they’d put at least six blocks between them and the gang members did Curtis and Dev pull over on a side street. Curtis ripped off his helmet and swore. “What the hell were you doing back there? We’re supposed to protect humans. Not fight them.”
“I was protecting them,” Dev said drily. “With some tough love.”
Curtis slammed a hand against his thigh. “I know you’re frustrated. Worried. So are we. We’ve only got so much time. Let’s get back to work.”
Of course, Curtis was right. Dev raised a brow. “Quick thinking, with that coffee.”
“Yeah, well.” Curtis replaced his helmet. “I’m not much of a brawler.”
“Nope.” He caught Curtis’ eye. “And I’d have you on my side, any day.”
Curtis nodded slightly, even grinned a bit. And began canvassing the streets once more. Pull yourself together, Geary. Dev wracked his brain. What had he missed? Not thought of? Something obvious? He considered calling Musko to see if she’d contacted him, but what if she hadn’t? He didn’t want to alarm him, nor did he want to risk the wrath of the man he considered to be her father.
Dev’s allotted minutes dwindled, each underscoring his agony. His helplessness. Thunder rumbled, shaking the ground. He drove through the alleys, the neighborhoods, across bridges, his eyes missing nothing. Curtis’ bike echoed behind him. Defeat hung heavy as a millstone when he didn’t find her. Now he truly understood what it meant to feel like a part of oneself was missing. He’d never been so achingly aware of another person’s absence. And it was his own fault. But he refused to let the clan pay the price for his mistakes.
Block after block, he racked his brain.
There was one only one thing he could do.
At twenty minutes to nine, his phone rang. Snatching it from his pocket, he almost dropped it. “Nick. Anything?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, and Dev’s hope thudded to the ground. “The network is losing energy every minute. We have to regroup. If we’re going to do something, it’s got to be now. Pretty soon there’ll be nothing to stop Abel from crossing to the Watchers’ realm. I don’t know how long it’ll take him to get back to full power.”
“I know.” Dev cleared his throat. “That’s why I’m going to cross realms. As soon as possible.”
Dev listened to a full ten seconds of silence before Nick spoke. “You still have two days.”
“I do.” He stared at the cityscape, clouds boiling in the sky’s approaching darkness.
You’ll never be anything but a drain on your clan.
Abel’s words once again echoed in his mind, but a calm trumped them and centered him. “It’s what a Watcher would do. And that’s what I am.”
“I know,” Nick answered quietly.
“You also know as well as I do that my crossing will stop the drain I’m causing on the network, and the Watchers’ realm. And I’m hoping it’ll stop Abel from being able to cross. At least temporarily. Because of the Similitude, the network still won’t be at full power. But me crossing is a good start to get it back where it needs to be.”
Nick grumbled his agreement.
“Promise me. Promise me you won’t stop looking for her.” If he couldn’t find Meda tonight, crossing realms was the next best thing he could do for her and his clan. By protecting them, they would better be able to protect her. And in the Watchers’ realm, he—or another Watcher—might be willing or able to locate Meda. He almost choked on the irony. Leaving her was the best, and perhaps the only way to keep her safe.
“You have my word.” Moments passed before Nick asked, “Is Curtis with you? Get him on speaker.”
“Hang on.” He tapped the screen of his Smartphone.
“I’ve been thinking about what you told me you saw in Abel’s Vista,” Nick began. “Before you cross, I’m wondering if there’s something more we can do to take charge of this situation.”
Nick outlined the plan. Dev and Curtis nodded, and Dev could almost see Nick doing the same, the way he had so many times before.
“I can do that,” Curtis said.
“It could work,” Nick affirmed. “Nothing’s guaranteed. It’s a risk.”
“A calculated risk. My new favorite,” Dev said drily. “Either way, if I cross realms, it’ll stop the drain of energy on the network. Give it a chance to recharge. We weren’t able to create the Similitude. But you have the Flint. And maybe with the Watchers’ help, we can transfer the energy from the Flint to other stones. Gives us a way to fight. We’re only going to get one shot. Let’s take it.”
Pocketing his phone, he and Curtis rode side by side toward the warehouse, ever alert for any sign of Meda.
He drove through the city he called home, past turn of the century buildings decorated with hand painted murals. Past rundown duplexes and vibrant, up and coming businesses. Over freshly tarred and chipped asphalt, and aging streets paved in brick. All of it would once again be a memory in a few short hours. And he would mourn.
But he knew his real home would be wherever Meda was. They’d started building it the minute they met. For that, he would grieve. Endlessly.
A stifling mix of dark and fog claimed the city as they sped through the ‘Burgh. Parking their vehicles in the alley, they gathered near the side door to the warehouse.
“It’s the four of us.” Nick nodded at Dev, Curtis, and Saxon in turn. “I sent Zane back to the network to help run things. Let’s do this.” They entered the warehouse.
And just like when he’d been in New York, a tremor of foreboding rocked him. Then dissipated.
Nick’s eyes darted around the group. They’d all felt it too. “You were right, Dev.”
Dev scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Why didn’t we notice it before?”
“Could be they weren’t here long enough for you to notice.”
“The security cameras are still functional,” Curtis muttered. “I need about ten minutes.”
Nick punched him lightly in the arm. “Five would be better.”
Curtis grunted as he sprinted across the warehouse toward the laptops.
Dev trailed behind. The daisies Meda had enjoyed so much withered in their vase. The sheets remained tangled on the bed where they’d made love.
Hollowed out, he turned his back on the memories and strode into the office where they’d worked so closely. He’d pack what supplies he could in the time they had. The clan would need it all. Fear for her safety gnawing at him, he yanked the wires holding a capacitor in place, snapping one in half. Growling, he swore ripely.
“You’re going to break them all if you keep going like that. Didn’t I teach you anything, Geary?”
His heart froze in his chest. He spun around.
And stared.
Meda.
CHAPTER 32
She remembers me.
Dev didn’t care how or why. Only that she did. Before Meda could fight him, he yanked her into his arms, reveling in the feel of her, the scent of her next to him. His entire body wept with relief. “The Betrayers can hear every word we’re saying,” he whispered, the shell of her ear soft and smooth against his lips.
“I know. I can feel the cobwebs. Like at the motel.” She remained stiff in his arms, her eyes hidden behind sunglasses, her hair tucked beneath a Pittsburgh Pirates ball cap he assumed she’d picked up during her travels this afternoon. “Saxon told me when she let me in.” Her whisper, next to his ear, sent tingles through him. “How can you—”
“We powered down. We’re using as little energy as possible so we’re ‘flying under the radar.’”
“The way you did earlier today,” she said fiercely, and tried struggling free.
“Yes,” he said calmly, holding her fast. She was exactly where he wanted her to be and he wasn’t going to give her an inch. “They might be able to see us too. Curtis is working on it right now.” Her breasts, tucked into a black tank top, nestled perfectly against his chest. Raw desire and a raging need to protect her, possess her, made him weak. “You removed your Vitality stone,” he said roughly. “And you didn’t forget me. Any of us.”
Shifting slightly, she scowled and he felt his heart fuse with hers, permanently. “I’m thinking the combination of the Vitality energy, flowing through my system for days, and my ability has to be why. Even so.” Her voice rose. “I don’t think it would be possible, ever, for me to forget you.”
Staring at her, joy and sadness took turns blindsiding him. He could never tell her he loved her. And he longed to, for her to know all that she meant to him. But it would be purely a selfish action, one to satisfy only himself. So he wouldn’t, not to obey any conditions the Watchers had given him, but to start being that better man she’d made him want to be.
He didn’t even want to blink, lest she disappear. “I told you Abel might be after you.” He had no right to lecture her about the dangers of what she’d done. He couldn’t resist giving her a little shake, however.
“That’s why I removed the Vitality stone,” she returned. “One of the reasons. You’ve got some nerve, after the way you took off this morning.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said shortly. “Where did you go? How did you get here?”
Removing her sunglasses, she raised an eyebrow. “Around. I walked. I needed to think.”
“Thinking.” It terrified him to know what some of those thoughts might be. He’d done his share. “How did you know we’d come here?”
“I figured, what’s the biggest risk they could take? Coming here, that has your M.O. all over it.” She planted a hand on his chest and tried shoving him. “I’ve been nearby, watching. Waiting.”
Was it good or bad, he wondered, that in such a short time, she’d come to know him this well?
Curtis sailed into the office, toting a laptop. “Sorry to break up the reunion. I think I know how they were able to get eyes on you two. They jammed one of the security cameras.” He pointed to the grid of views on the screen. “See? It’s a static feed. I’ve replaced it with one of my own.” He smiled grimly. “They can’t hear anything. We have about fifteen minutes before they get suspicious. If we’re feeling the cobwebs, whoever is here must be weak, like the woman at the motel. Add to that, Abel took an energy hit today. Anything beyond that, we could be giving up the element of surprise.”
“Nice work.” Dev sent an appreciative nod to Curtis. “Give me two minutes. Please.”
Curtis left the office and Dev turned to Meda, licking his lips, anxious. “I know time is short, but I have to know. Why did you come back?”
She moved out of his reach. “I almost left for New York. I wanted to be anywhere but here.” Her words had thickened. “I knew I had to come back, or else I’d be running. Again. And because if I could help in any way, then it was the right thing to do.”
“Is that the only reason? Did you come back for me?”
She hesitated, conflict darkening her features.
“I know you’re angry with me. And that you feel like I betrayed you.”
“You did,” she sputtered. “You lied to me.”
“I’m sorry for that. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“I trusted you.”
“You still can.” He would gladly plead his case. “What I did, I did to help the clan. And to take my share of revenge. That’s the truth. Was it stupid? Yes. Did I put myself, and the clan in danger? Yes. But I obtained valuable information that might help us. And I took the risk so you didn’t have to.”
“At what cost? I would’ve helped you. No matter what.”
“I know that now. And I’m sorry. But I can’t change it.” In one swift motion, Dev moved toward her, caught her in his arms. “I know you probably don’t want me anywhere near you. But I have some things to say.”
She growled, low in her throat. “What makes you think I want to hear anything you have to say?”
“I’m not giving you a choice.”
“Nothing new there.”
“I’m crossing realms, Meda. Today. As soon as we’re done here.”
“Two days ahead of time,” she said, her expression guarded, unreadable.
Was she happy? Sad? “The energy in the network is depleting too quickly. If we can capture the Betrayers who’ve been spying on us, maybe we can smoke out Abel. Detain him.”
“Then you can cross before he can.”
“Yes.” She understood. And she understood him, too. “Meda, you said I let the Betrayers kill me. And maybe I did. I’ve done my own share of thinking today. In some strange way, I think a part of me had to die, before I could live again. And trust me, I’ve died a thousand times since you left.”
She relaxed marginally in his embrace. “I know my leaving was dangerous. Stupid. And two wrongs don’t make a right. I couldn’t handle it.”
“Oh, I’m familiar with the need to run.”
“Then I guess we’re even.”
I’ll never be able to even things up. But he held fast to his resolve. “My parents. I told you they died on a mission to save someone.” He dragged in a breath. “Me.”
Her eyes flickered, softened, as he plowed on. “When I was attacked in the salvage yard, I was in bad shape. They weren’t sure I was going to make it, even after they channeled Vitality energy to me. I wasn’t responding. They crossed realms with me, and to save me, they gave their energy to save my life. They’re Watchers. They’re part of the Watchers’ chain. Unlike me, a Working Watcher.”
Her nostrils flared slightly. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I was afraid,” he said, and found the admission cost him even as his burden seemed to lighten. “Afraid you’d hate me. And maybe that’s always been my problem. I hated myself for that. My whole life, I’ve been fighting that, just fighting. Myself, mostly. Sean and Charlotte raised me. They’re amazing, but I could never forgive myself for what I’d done. Call it survivor’s guilt. I call it living life ‘between the inches.’ Taking big risks, being reckless, to battle my fear, to overcompensate. To feel alive.”
He searched her rich black eyes. “The truth is, I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m with you.” In that, Nick’d been wrong. Death had changed Dev, and in ways he still didn’t understand. “I’ve never felt or noticed so much. Appreciated so much. Meda.”
He ached to strip away the barriers between them, physical, emotional, to make love to her. To take her home, start a life with her. “You saved me today. In fact, you’ve been saving me, in every possible way, si
nce the minute I met you.”
“Devlyn. You are aptly named. Brave. Misfortune,” she murmured. Tears spilled down her cheeks, slicing at his soul. “We all have our demons.”
He knew she spoke of his need for revenge. And the loss she’d suffered.
“You can’t let it control you. I have some scars.” She touched a finger to her jaw. “Not just this one. Others too. I don’t use them to lash out at everyone around me. Or as an excuse to treat everyone around me, and myself badly. And taking revenge won’t bring your parents back.”
His chest ached with too many emotions. “How’d you get so smart?”
“I’m not so smart. But I am you in certain ways,” she said gently. “We arrived at the same place, by different roads. You have to forgive yourself. Forgive that scared little boy. And the man.”
“I’m working on it. But I do know that I have to stop fighting myself before I can really fight the Betrayers.”
She offered a ghost of a smile. “Sounds like you’re getting there, Geary.”
He knew he’d never forget her in this moment, her honey skin flushed, her jet hair tumbling from the bun at the base of her neck. Her eyes, her stance, resolute.
A warrior if he’d ever seen one. And an angel.
There were so many things he wanted to ask her, to tell her. But if she was still willing to help, they had too much to do. So he’d settle for just one.
“Meda, I have to know, can you ever forgive me?”
Silence stretched out between them like a winding country road. Finally she spoke. “You really think you can capture the Betrayers?”
She hadn’t said no. For that reason alone, his heart, more alive than it’d been in eighteen years, held a foolish ray of hope. “We’re sure as hell going to try.”
He followed her gaze.
Dread and excitement tore through him.
“Maybe we can still create the Similitude,” they said at the same time.
The Watcher (Crossing Realms Book 2) Page 21