Vince shrugged, never taking his eyes off a ripple in the air about thirty feet away. “Guess I’ll find out.”
* * *
When Zara came to, she was lying on the floor in a pitch-black room, her head pounding. All she wanted to do was curl up into a tiny ball and go back to sleep, but a sound kept cutting through the haze. She tried her best to ignore it, but it kept getting louder and louder. And now someone was shaking her arm.
“Stop,” she mumbled. “Just stop.”
“Mom, please wake up.” It was Darius.
And then it all came crashing back to her.
The doctor. The needle. The struggle in the barn. She’d been drugged.
In the dim light, she could see her son kneeling in front of her. “Darius, are you okay?”
“I’m scared, Mom.”
Her arms were weak, but she still managed to pull her baby boy into a mama-bear hug. No one was going to hurt him or take him away from her. She’d kill anyone who tried.
He returned the hug, squeezing tight. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to ever wake up.”
“I’m sorry, honey. They gave me some medicine that made me sleep.” She noticed that both of them were wearing thin cotton shifts. The kind you’d see in a hospital. “Do you know where we are?”
Darius shook his head, his lower lip quivering.
It killed her to see him scared. She brushed the hair out of his face. “They took us through a portal, right?”
“I think so. We rode horses to another cave that made my skin tingle. When we stepped through the wall, people were waiting for us and wrapped us in blankets.”
So the doctor had brought them back to Pacifica.
Ignoring the fuzziness in her head, she pushed herself to her feet and looked around. They appeared to be in a low-ceilinged storeroom with stacks of boxes along both walls. Several were marked Christmas.
What the hell? They must be in a private home rather than the Institute. She wasn’t sure why this fact bothered her, but it did. Maybe because if Vince learned that the doctor had kidnapped them, the first place he’d think to look would be the Institute. The doctor probably knew this too, which was why they were here. Wherever here was.
She needed to stem the terror that threatened to consume her and figure out how they were going to get out of here. She rattled the door handle. It was locked, of course, but the door itself didn’t seem fortified. It was just an ordinary interior door. What she wouldn’t give to have her lock-picking set right now.
Somewhere above them, a door slammed and then they heard footsteps. Someone was approaching.
She bent down to Darius’s level. “Honey, I’m going to need you do to exactly as I say, okay?”
He nodded.
“You know how your dad can find portals?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have a special Talent too that I haven’t told you about.” She quickly explained what a Cloaking-Talent was. “So when I grab your hand and concentrate, I can make it so that they can’t see us. But you’ll need to be very quiet, okay? Just don’t let go of my hand. When whoever that is comes into the room, we’ll slip out behind them. Like little mice. Does that sound like a plan?”
“I think so.”
The footsteps got louder. It sounded like there were two people coming this direction.
“Ready, honey? No talking, okay? I won’t let go of you, no matter what, so you don’t let go of me either.”
Darius pursed his lips together and nodded.
Taking his hand, she took a deep breath and centered herself. She’d need to keep them cloaked long enough for her to figure out where they needed to go. Once she did, they’d run like hell.
The footsteps stopped outside the door, and a set of keys jangled.
Something was wrong. She didn’t feel the familiar whisper of energy along her arms. They weren’t cloaked yet. She concentrated harder. Still nothing.
Panic rose up inside her.
“Mom?”
Holy Fates, why couldn’t she do this? She’d cloaked both Vince and herself before. Darius was smaller. It should be easy. Closing her eyes, she dug deep inside, but still came up with nothing.
And then she remembered Vince telling her about Impedio, the drug the doctor used to suppress the Talents of his prisoners. The needle.
A key slid into the lock and the door swung open.
The old doctor walked in. “So glad you’re finally awake. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Vince stepped out of the portal, he was shocked. Not only was he fully clothed with his blade strapped to his hip, but he was standing in a wooded area on the front side of the doctor’s home.
Zara was here. He was sure of it. The portal had taken him here.
But he had a sneaking suspicion it was not a permanent portal. By the time Asher got back to the farm with his men, it would be gone. Vince knew he was here on his own.
Just as he was trying to decide how to best get inside, one of the four garage doors slid open. He nearly choked when he saw Zara and Darius being shoved into the backseat of a black limousine. Was it the same one he’d been in ten years ago when the doctor ordered the brutal murder of his father?
He sprinted down the driveway, arms and legs pumping. Without a vehicle, he wouldn’t be able to follow them. He couldn’t let them leave.
Drawing his weapon, he raced into the garage just in time to see the doctor climb in after them and slam the door shut. He was not going to let the doctor take his woman and child away.
But just as he reached for the door handle, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He ducked but he wasn’t quick enough. An iron-like fist smashed him in the face and he lost his grip on his weapon. Stumbling, he fell to his knees.
The blows kept coming. One after another. Until he wondered if the man really did have an iron fist.
He pulled himself up to all fours only to be kicked in the gut with a boot, knocking him down to the ground again, the exhaust pipe inches from his face. He choked, rolled into the fetal position, hardly able to breathe. Something pressed against his left ear. It took him only a second to realize that he needed to move. His head was behind the rear tire. If the car was put into reverse, he’d be dead.
Using every ounce of strength he had, he pushed himself up, his hand brushing against the handle of his blade. He grabbed it and darted out of the way just as his attacker was reaching for the driver’s door.
He could not let this car leave the garage.
Holding the knife by the tip of the blade, Vince took aim and threw. It hit the man in the back with a thunk, and he fell to the floor of the garage.
Adrenaline surged through him. All that stood between him and his family now was a frail old man.
Suddenly, the car jerked backwards. It shot past him and he saw the doctor’s face in the window.
Vince sprinted out of the garage, but he wasn’t fast enough. The doctor whipped the limousine around and it sped out of the driveway.
“Noooo!” he shouted as the taillights disappeared around the corner. His heart sank. He had no doubt where the doctor was taking them. They were on their way to the Institute.
He ran back into the garage and checked to see if keys were in any of the other cars. They weren’t. He tried the door to the house, hoping maybe there were keys hanging on a hook nearby, but the door was locked.
Just as he was thinking he’d have to check if one of the neighbors left their keys in a car, he noticed a shiny gray coupe parked in the turnaround.
His assailant’s car?
He sidestepped the blood pooling around the body, trying not to think about how similar it looked when his father had died, and reached into the man’s pocket. A set of keys jangled.
A minute later, he was behind the wheel and racing out of the neighborhood. The doctor had a jump on him, but not for long.
* * *
Vince caught up to them on the narrow bridge spanning the high-
speed rail lines. If he didn’t stop them now, they’d hit the freeway and he’d be forced to follow them all the way to the Institute. Unless the doctor called in the army first.
Jamming his foot on the gas, he sped past the limo, cranked the wheel, and forced the doctor to slam on the brakes. The limo skidded sideways and crashed against the guardrail before coming to an abrupt stop. Smoke billowed from under the crumpled hood.
Vince jumped out of the car just as the doctor did. But the doctor had Darius by the hand and they stood near the edge of the bridge. It was then that Vince noticed the guardrail had been damaged in the crash.
“Give me the keys to that car,” the doctor ordered, pieces of his comb-over hanging in his face.
Darius looked terrified, which cut Vince to the core. “Let him go.”
“Give me the keys,” the doctor repeated, “and I’ll let your son live. He’ll come with me, but at least he’ll be alive. You can have the woman. It’s the boy I want.”
“What kind of a twisted son of a bitch are you?”
The doctor had Darius by the wrist. “I told you about my daughter.” Yes, Vince had heard many times about the woman who’d suffered a traumatic brain injury at the hands of a Mind -Talent when she was a child, leaving her in a permanent vegetative state.
“The young friend who messed up her mind was about the same age as your boy here.”
“So you’re going to take out your revenge on an innocent child who had nothing to do with what happened to your daughter?”
“I’m not going to stop my research. I don’t care if the army pulls the funding, I will not give up. You’re abominations. Your Talents should be controlled, and if not, you should be destroyed. All of you.”
The door to the limo opened and Zara staggered out. She pointed to the doctor. “Let. Him. Go. And maybe we’ll let you live.”
The wail of several sirens could be heard above the din of the trains below. Vince glanced back and saw the flashing lights.
The doctor smiled, pushed the wisps of hair from his face. “Sounds like you’re too late.”
“It’s never too late where my family is concerned.”
Vince lunged for Darius. The doctor jerked him away. But in the process, he lost his footing on the wet pavement and stumbled backward. Trying to catch himself, he grabbed for the broken guardrail with his free hand, but he missed and toppled over the edge. Taking Darius with him.
Zara screamed as Vince shot forward and managed to grab the sleeve of Darius’s coat. The doctor, still hanging onto Darius’s other hand, dangled over the edge. But the borrowed coat was too big. Darius was slipping.
“Dad!”
With a grunt, Vince leaned over the edge as far as he could and clamped a hand around the boy’s wrist. “I’ve got you, son. I won’t let go.” However, at this angle, he struggled to get leverage and haul Darius up. The doctor was dead weight.
“Face it, Vincent,” the doctor rasped from below. “Your son is going to die because of you.”
Movement to his right caught his attention.
Zara was holding the neck of a champagne bottle she’d retrieved from the back of the limo. She reached over the guardrail, took aim and dropped it.
There was a loud thunk. A cry of pain.
And then the weight pulling at Darius was gone.
Vince hauled his son back over the guardrail as the doctor fell to the railroad tracks below.
Zara rushed over to them, and with Darius clinging to his neck, Vince fiercely embraced his family.
“Dad, you saved me,” Darius mumbled, his arms and legs wrapped around Vince like a monkey.
Zara lifted her face to his, eyes glistening with tears. “You came for us, just like I knew you would.”
He kissed her tenderly, tasting the salt of her tears. Then he kissed the top of Darius’s sweaty head.
His whole world was right here in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Several months later.
At daybreak on the top of Red Mountain, a small group of people gathered for the Iron Guild induction ceremony. The air was thick with anticipation. No one said a word as a cool wind blew around them and thunder rumbled ominously in the distance.
With a hand on Darius’s back, Zara watched in awe as a monk in black robes presented Vince with a gorgeous blade made from cold-forged Balkirk steel. Eyes cast downward, Vince rose from his kneeling position, nodded once and took the weapon. Asher, his sponsor, stood behind him, a solemn and respectful expression on his face. The time for partying would come later.
Olivia stood next to Zara, holding Alexandra’s hand as the older woman silently wept. They were as proud of Vince as Zara was.
The monk went down the line and presented the other inductees with their Iron Guild weapons, but Zara couldn’t tear her gaze from Vince. Behind him, the sun rose like a phoenix over distant peaks, silhouetting his handsome profile.
How fitting, she thought, pride swelling behind her breastbone. Her man was a warrior. Undaunted by challenges. He was strong, fearless, determined. He’d risen from the ashes of his past to face a future filled with hope.
And she loved him with every fiber of her being.
She breathed deeply the crisp air of Cascadia and said a silent prayer of thanks to the Fates. They’d opened up a portal that led Vince to her, and they’d opened up another one that brought him back to her.
Her hand went unconsciously to her belly. She hoped he wouldn’t be too surprised by what she would be telling him later. But what did he expect? They’d spent a lot of time in bed since they’d been in Cascadia. Making up for lost time, he’d told her.
She just wished it hadn’t happened so soon. Vince already had an instant family to get used to without adding another child to the mix. Not to mention a new home, a new job, new friends. It was a lot for anyone to take in at one time. She’d been thinking about opening up her own bakery here, but that would have to wait a little longer. Family came first.
By the time they got back to Crestenfahl, the party was already in full swing. Seemed the whole village was celebrating the induction of the newest members of the Iron Guild. Given all the activity, you’d have thought the games were still going on.
“Dad, can I go look at my puppy again?”
“Sure, son,” Vince said. “But if they’re sleeping, don’t disturb them.”
“Okay.”
Conry had fathered a litter of pups and Darius had talked them into letting him have one. They’d be weaned next week.
“Have you decided on a name for him?”
Darius gave them a serious look. “Not yet. Mom is going to take me to the Taghta sisters so I can look through their history books. I want him to have a Cascadian name.”
The instant they stepped through the gates, Darius ran off with his friends, Conry on his heels.
Inside the great hall of the castle, several minstrels were playing a lively tune. Couples had paired off in a large circle. It was a folk dance she’d learned as a girl.
But before she could reach for Vince’s hand and show him the steps, Asher came up and wanted to talk to him. They stood near the wall about ten feet away, deep in conversation, but every few seconds, he’d glance at her, and she knew she was foremost on his mind.
She looked around the room and wondered if her father’s induction ceremony into the Iron Guild had been like this. And then she thought about her mother. With her stepfather in custody and awaiting trial by the magistrates, Zara wished her mother had accepted Asher’s invitation to come to the castle, but she’d politely refused.
“Give her time,” Asher’s mother had told her, and that had made Zara smile. She was good at being patient.
A warm hand cupped the nape of her neck. “Let’s get out of here,” Vince ordered.
“Don’t you think we should stay a little longer? Mingle? At least make more than a two minute appearance?”
His hand slipped down to rest possessively on her breast. “No,” h
e said simply. “I want you all to myself.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue with me, Zara. You looked amazing today on the mountain. I’ve been waiting too long as it is.” His long fingers rubbed her nipples through the fabric and heat surged between her legs. “Unless, of course, you’d like to engage in some public displays of affection right here. Although I’ll warn you,” he said with a smirk, “I’m talking about more than just kissing.”
Before she knew what was happening, Vince swept her into his arms and carried her through the crowd. The whistles and catcalls came from all around them.
“Retiring so soon?”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Which isn’t much.”
“Be sure to sheath that sword first.”
She tucked her head into his shoulder. Embarrassed. But not really. These were her people—their people—and she loved them.
As he climbed the stairs, she figured now was as good a time as any to break the news to him. His reddish-brown hair was longer now, and she brushed it away from his cheek.
“I have something to tell you.”
“Whatever it is,” he growled, “it’s going to have to wait. There’s only one thing I’m in the mood for and it sure as hell isn’t talking.”
He wasn’t kidding either. When they got to their room, he kicked the door closed with his boot and sat her on the bed. Without waiting for her to undress, he was on her.
Unlacing his breeches with one hand, he shoved up her skirts with the other. “No panties?” he asked, his hands skimming up her thighs.
She grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. “Figured they’d only get in the way.”
“Mmmm. Clever girl.” He parted her folds and expertly rubbed her clit with his finger and thumb.
She arched into him, needing to feel more of him there, and he didn’t disappoint.
His fingers glided through her slickness. A masculine sound rumbled in his chest. She was so ready for him, and he knew it.
He kissed her hard, possessively. She was his and he was hers. And nothing would ever get between them again.
Warrior's Heart: Iron Portal Series (Paranormal Romance) Page 20