Will tensed and gritted his teeth. His cheek stung when an open hand slapped him. He knew it was coming, but it didn’t make it any easier. Standard CIA terrorist interrogation procedure. For Iraqis.
Which begged the question: Was he being held by the CIA, or someone familiar enough to know their techniques?
A beefy guy stood in front of him, wearing a grim smile. “Okay, Davenport. You can tell me what I want to know and we can spend the rest of the day eating bonbons, or you can do things the hard way.”
Will cocked his head. “I don’t really care for bonbons, but I could sure as hell use a beer.”
He was prepared for the next slap.
“Do you know the current location of Emma Thompson?”
He’d warned himself that this would be hard, not just physically but because of the madness that persisted no matter how many times he told himself what he felt wasn’t real. Nevertheless, the sound of her name tightened his gut. “No.”
“When was the last time you saw Emma Thompson?”
Why couldn’t he remember her when the mere mention of her name opened the floodgate of emotions? His tightly strung nerves were close to breaking and the interrogation had only begun. He was a dead man. How ironic that he had survived all those hellish years in Iraq, only to meet his end in some senator’s basement all because of a woman. A woman he couldn’t even remember.
“I asked you a question. When was the last time you saw Emma Thompson?”
A hard slap to his cheek rattled his head, returning him to sanity, if only for a temporary reprieve. He refused to believe this was the end. He’d been through worse than this, even if he couldn’t come up with anything at the moment. “I guess in the woods, just before your boys showed up.”
His interrogator raised his eyebrows. “You’re being awfully cooperative.”
“You can’t show any weakness or you are dead.” He latched on to the voice in his head, ignoring that it wasn’t his own. “I’m not a real fan of getting the shit beat out of me. I’ll tell you anything I know.”
“Really?” the man titled his head.
What the hell was there to tell? It wasn’t like he had information they didn’t. They knew she’d been in the woods. But the need to protect her overrode all reason. “What’s she to me, anyway?”
He wasn’t prepared for the next slap or his head slamming into the plywood screwed into the wall. The man’s forearm jammed the metal collar into Will’s neck, pressing him against the board.
“I think you skipped step two and moved on to step three,” Will choked out. “You’re not following proper interrogation procedure.”
“Smartass, huh? That last answer told me everything I need to know. Everything you’ve said is a fucking lie.” He jerked Will away from the wall. “Let’s start again, shall we? I want truthful answers this time. We know she wasn’t in the woods. Our men searched for her and came up with nothing.”
“Then maybe she ran off. She was there when your men showed up. She was the one who warned me to run.”
The man grabbed Will around the throat. “Let’s say that she was there and warned you. Where is she now?”
“How the hell would I know? I can’t fucking read her mind.”
“We think you can.”
Like the voice he heard in his head seconds ago? A chill washed over him. The voice in his head was Will losing grasp with reality, not something real or supernatural. He dug deep to find his bravado. “I bet you believe in the tooth fairy and Santa Claus too.”
Another slap to the face as well as his stomach.
“What the fuck do you want from me?” Will growled.
“Answers that you shouldn’t be so willing to give up. What are her powers? Where is her son? Have you seen Alex Warren?”
Will shook his head. Powers? What the hell?
“Is she still pregnant?”
That one sunk into his core, catching him off guard, though he had no idea why.
“Aw, hit a nerve, did I? Then let’s talk about the baby, shall we?”
“What baby? What the hell do I care about a baby?”
His interrogator paused and crossed his arms. “Because it’s yours.”
Will snorted. “Mine? You’re mistaken there. I take great care to make sure something like that doesn’t happen.”
“Nice try, asshole. You’ve already admitted to Kramer it’s yours.”
After several more rounds of abuse, the man cleared his throat. “Let’s try again, shall we? Is Emma Thompson still pregnant?”
The image of her came to mind: her nightgown bloodied between her legs, catching his breath in his chest. His knees buckled and he struggled not to hang himself on the collar around his neck.
Another slap. “Is she still pregnant?”
“You have to tell him yes. Her life depends on it.”
Who knew what the blood was from? But he knew, the anguish gripping his heart told him everything he needed to know, even if he couldn’t remember it. “Yes.”
The interrogator grasped Will’s cheeks, his fingers digging deep. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” He released his grip and slapped Will’s face again.
Will’s cheek burned. Son of a bitch. This had just begun.
“Let’s talk about her powers. What is she capable of?”
Will shook his head to clear his lingering grief. “What the hell are you talking about? What powers? Like special skills?” Maybe she was some rogue CIA agent or a terrorist they thought he was associated with.
His answer earned him a head slam into the plywood wall. “Wrong answer, pretty boy. We already know she can create explosions and use mind control. What else can she do?”
An operative could handle explosions, but the mind control? That wasn’t possible.
The man slammed his head into the wall several more times. “What else can she do?”
“I think she can fly.”
The interrogator stopped, his hand clenched in Will’s hair. “Fly? How?”
What the fuck? This shithead believed him. “You know, fly.”
His head slammed again. “Wrong answer.”
“No fucking shit,” Will said through gritted teeth as his head hit the wall. “I don’t know anything about this woman. Why do you keep asking me?”
The man released his hold on Will and stepped back. He looked over his shoulder at the man in the corner. “Time to move on to the next phase.”
“Already?” the guard asked.
“Kramer needs answers fast and this obviously isn’t working.” Will’s interrogator released a heavy sigh. “I’d start talking if I were you.”
“And here I thought we were having a nice chat.”
The man turned and left the room.
Will closed his eyes and prepared himself. He had a pretty good idea what the next phase involved.
He was right. Hours later, Will shivered uncontrollably, water dripping from strands of hair onto his face. The room had been cooled, probably into the fifties if they followed standard procedure, and two men took turns dousing him with buckets of icy water.
His interrogator would return and ask more questions then leave unsatisfied with Will’s answers. Then the men would come back and start again. The voice in his head offered sporadic encouragement.
His legs were rubber, but when he sagged the collar on his neck choked him. For the first time in his life, he wondered if he’d get out of this.
“You can survive this. Hang on.”
The door opened again and he darted a glance toward the man who entered the room.
Kramer. He wore a satisfied smirk and leaned against the wall. “How’s it going, Will?”
“Oh, you know.” Will’s voice shook from his chattering teeth. “Just hanging out with my new friends.”
“With friends like these, I’d hate to meet your enemies.” Kramer took several steps closer. “Help me out, Will. There’s something I don’t understand. You seem so adamant that you don’t know her. Why the pretense?”<
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“You can tell him. She’s safe now.” Will nearly cried with relief. “Maybe because I don’t.”
“Will, you and I were in her hospital room when I saw your mark. Is this one of your attempts to protect her? Because it’s really not working.”
Will closed his eyes. How was he going to get off this fucking merry-go-round? “I’m not protecting anyone. What mark?”
Kramer laughed. “You’re going to play stupid with that too?” He looked over his shoulder at one of the guards behind him. “Uncuff him.”
“But sir—”
“Do it.”
The guard stepped behind Will and unlocked his restraint.
“This mark.” Kramer grabbed Will’s left arm and pulled it forward, revealing his forearm. Kramer looked up, his mouth gaping. “Where’s your mark?”
“What mark?”
“The mark on your arm. The mark of the Chosen One!”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Kramer dropped Will’s arm, the color draining from his face. “You really don’t remember, do you?”
“I never met this woman until last night. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Kramer took a step back. “You have no recollection of Emma Thompson?”
Overwhelming emotions for her? Yes. Memories of her? “No.”
“Or her son, Jake?”
“Is that the baby my new friend keeps asking about?” His answer was flippant but pain shot through his chest over the loss.
Kramer tapped his hands behind his back. “This changes everything.”
“Finally,” Will exhaled. “Now you know this was a huge misunderstanding.”
Kramer looked at him. “But you remember last night?”
Will hesitated.
“Tell him.”
He knew it was possible to go insane from extreme interrogation methods, but he’d hope it would take him days to lose his mind, not half a day or so.
“Your life now depends on it and you need to live. Tell him.”
Tears burned his eyes. Damn, he couldn’t lose what limited control he had. “I remember standing in the woods with her and another man. She told me we had to run, then your boys showed up. They shot me with a dart and the rest is history.”
“And what’s the last thing you remember before that?”
Tell him.
“Getting a phone call about a job.” Will’s head jerked up. “I think it was you.”
“Do you have any powers?”
“Again with the powers?”
Kramer laughed dryly. “I guess that’s a no.” He watched Will through hooded eyes. “Do you know anything about Alex Warren, Senator Warren’s son?”
“Nothing I haven’t heard on TV.”
Kramer watched him again before releasing a heavy sigh. “I guess we’re done with you then.”
“Finally.”
Kramer turned to the interrogator. “Take him out and shoot him.”
Will’s eyes widened. “Wait a minute. There’s no need for that. I told you what I know.”
“Which, unfortunately, is no help at all. I have no idea why you’ve forgotten the last month and a half, but you’re of no further use to us.”
Month and a half? He’d lost a month and a half? “What about Emma?”
Kramer narrowed his eyes. “What about her?”
“You said she was coming back to get me. Don’t you think you should keep me alive as bait?”
Grumbling under his breath, Kramer headed for the door. “Take him back to his room while I make a call, but do not underestimate him. He only looks weak and pathetic.”
Will wanted to take exception with that, but if his body looked anything like his tattered psyche, he had to agree.
Several men pointed guns at him while one guard unlocked the collar on his neck. When freed, he fell to his knees.
“Hold it together.”
He was too weak to get up on his own. Two guards hoisted him up and dragged him to the door, still naked.
Some strength had returned to his legs by the time they threw him in his cell. Will stumbled as he fell to the floor. He considered putting up a fight, but he’d never be able to overpower them in his weakened state. He’d only get himself killed.
“Good news, pretty boy.”
Will looked up to see a guard’s face in the partially open door.
“You’ve just got yourself a temporary stay of execution. Let’s hope your girlfriend shows up soon.”
The lights turned off, plunging the room into total darkness. Will crawled onto the bare mattress and curled into a fetal position in an attempt to get warm. Would she come for him?
Will wasn’t counting on it.
Chapter Five
“Emma, you have to get up. You’re still wearing the clothes you wore when you got here, and the room reeks of smoke and wet dog.” Raphael threw open the drapes, flooding the room with light. “You have to eat and get your energy back. It’s time to get to work.”
Flinching, she squeezed her eyes shut. She’d lain in bed for two days, refusing to get up other than to go to the bathroom.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her into a sitting position then squatted in front of her. “I know you’re still upset, but this isn’t you. You’re a fighter. You don’t give up.”
After lying in the dark so long, she had to squint to look at him. “You don’t know jack shit about me.”
He grinned, his eyes lighting up. “Ah, she speaks.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“Gladly, if you’ll talk instead.”
She tried to lie back down but he held her up.
“Sorry, Sleeping Beauty. I’ve listened to you cry and call out for him long enough. You’re done.”
His hypnotic effect washed through her and she jerked out of his hold. “Get your hands off of me.”
He put his hands in the air in an exaggerated gesture. “Deal. As long as you get up. You’ve wasted two precious days of our six weeks to prepare that we couldn’t afford to lose. It’s time for you to start working.”
Her anger flared. “This is pointless. You saw the other night what I’m capable of. We also saw that I didn’t even come close to touching Aiden. Do you really think we have a chance against that?”
Raphael stood, turning his back as he moved to the window. “Honestly?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know.”
Biting her lower lip, she swallowed the lump of fear in her throat. She never expected him to admit it, even if he wasn’t sure of it.
He twisted around to face her. “But I know that we don’t stand a chance if you don’t at least try to save us. And I know if you’re dead that you’ll never get Jake back. If you’re defeated, what’s to stop Aiden from doing away with Jake too?”
Her breath caught and she had to force herself to exhale. “Aiden wouldn’t kill him.”
Raphael walked toward her, grim determination in his eyes. “We don’t know that. To Aiden, people are expendable. You included.” He sat on the bed next to her. “While you’re unique this time, your predecessor was reincarnated time and time again. Just like Alex and me.” He paused, tears glistening in his eyes. “Emmanuella was Aiden’s daughter and he did away with her to create you.” His fingers clenched into fists in his lap.
“Why? Why would he do that?”
“Who knows why Aiden does what he does? I grew weary of trying to figure out his games centuries ago.”
To what lengths would her father go to be entertained by this stupid game? Maybe the more accurate question was what wouldn’t he do? “No, no, no,” she mumbled frantically, shaking her head. “This is crazy! Things like this don’t happen!”
He stood. “You can live in denial all you want, but it doesn’t make it any less real.”
A fresh wave of grief washed over her. If denial could change reality, Jake would be with her and Will wouldn’t be dead. But she’d dreamed of Will in her twilight state the
past days. He felt so real, answering when she cried for him, telling her that he was there. It only upset her even more. He wasn’t there. He was gone. Wasn’t he? “Raphael?”
He paused in the doorway.
“How do you know Will is dead?”
He hesitated before pity filled his eyes. “Emma, you and I both saw his body. Do you really think they would capture him and keep him alive?”
The question sent a shaft of pain through her heart.
“No. The answer is no. He’s of no use to them without his mark. And you know yourself that while Kramer’s men were ordered to capture you alive, they were none too gentle about it. You suffered a beating, bruises, and worse.”
Worse. She still wore the proof of worse. The stiff fabric scratching her thighs. She couldn’t think about her baby. She could barely think of Will.
“They killed him in the woods that night,” Raphael said. “And you know it deep inside.”
Did she? She was certain of it that night when Raphael made her say it out loud, but could she really give up on him so easily? “I dreamed of him.”
His expression fell away and he seemed to choose his words carefully. “Everyone has dreams, Emma.”
“Not like this. It felt real. Like he was there.”
He paused again before his eyes bore into hers. “Did you experience this when Will had the mark? Did you have dreams of him?”
Disappointment swept away her hope. “No.”
His mouth lifted into a smug grin. “No. You didn’t, but you did dream of someone, didn’t you?”
She heaved an angry breath and stood. “I’m not doing this with you right now.”
He took a step into the room. “Why not? Let’s get it out here in the open, Emma. Who did you dream of?”
“You know damn good and well who I dreamed of.”
“Say it.”
“Is this some fucking ego trip for you?”
“No, this is pointing out the facts. I told you that you were meant to be mine and the dreams prove it. You didn’t dream of Will. The only thing you had with Will was a shared mark and a baby. Now they’re both gone.”
“How dare you!” She released a sob of despair. “Don’t you dismiss him like that. He meant much more than that and you know it.”
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