Aiden appeared in his doorway, an evil gleam in his eye.
Aiden was upset with Jake. He wasn’t making the progress Aiden wanted.
Jake had to be punished.
Rusty, his stuffed dog, rose into the air and hovered next to the bed.
“Do you know what happens to disobedient little boys?”
Shaking his head slowly, Jake’s heart raced.
“They lose things they love.”
Rusty burst into flames and fell to the rug in ashes.
“Tomorrow, I expect you to do better.” Aiden turned and left the room.
Jake buried his face in his pillow, sobbing until the linens were soaked. Rusty was the only thing he had left and Aiden had taken him away. “Mommy! Mommy!” he cried over and over.
Why wouldn’t she answer?
She didn’t have to talk, just be there with him, close enough to feel even if she wasn’t really there. Mommy had done it before, when Alex held Jake in Montana. Why didn’t she come to him now?
Maybe she forgot him. She had the new baby now. And Will. She didn’t need Jake any more.
Mommy had given up on him.
***
Emma had turned off the shower and wrapped in a towel when she heard banging on the bathroom door.
“Emma! Open the goddamn door,” Raphael said, slurring his words.
He must have been listening for the water to turn off.
She hurried into the closet and threw on a nightgown.
“Open the door, Emma!”
Flinging it open, she found Raphael holding a pill bottle. “Time to make a choice, Emmanuella. Sleeping pill or me?”
Fear washed over her. He was drunk and belligerent.
She tried to keep her fear out of her eyes. “I already told you that I wanted the sleeping pill.”
With unsteady hands, he opened the bottle and grabbed her wrist, his thumb stroking the soft inner skin. He looked up, his mouth parted. “Are you sure you prefer drugs?”
Biting her lip, she nodded, scared of provoking him. Her body had already begun to react to his touch.
He poured several pills into her hand. “There you go. You’ve made your choice. You’d rather be drugged than touch me.”
Her heart thudded in her ears as she counted the pills in her hand. Five. “That’s too many.”
Leaning forward, he whispered in a loud voice, “We want to make sure you go to sleep.” He gave her a slight push toward the sink. She filled a glass of water, keeping her gaze down.
Raphael leaned into the doorframe as he watched her. He was going to make her take them all.
“I’m capable of taking pills on my own, Raphael.” She glared at his reflection. He studied her body and she wished she wasn’t standing in front of him in a clingy nightgown.
“You’re capable of many things, my love. You just don’t always choose to do them.”
He referred to her disappointing results over using her power. During dinner, he’d been short and had more alcohol than food. He accused her of purposely trying to sabotage their union by holding back, even when she assured him over and over that she was trying her best. Holding back didn’t help her save Jake.
She put a pill in her mouth and swallowed it with the water. “There. Happy now?”
He moved behind her, watching her reflection in the mirror with an unfocused gaze. His breath reeked of alcohol. “Now the others. This was your choice. Unless you’ve changed your mind.”
Her stomach twisted in knots. He’d promised not to touch her if she took a sleeping pill, not five. She didn’t trust him. Especially drunk.
“I said, take the pills,” he growled.
Putting her hand to her mouth, she dumped them in and took the glass of water he held out to her. She swallowed, fear churning her stomach.
His hand reached out to her hair and he lifted it, leaning over to smell it. “You look like her, did you know that? Exactly like her.”
She froze, choking on her fear. “I took them, Raphael.”
“Sometimes I look at you and I forget.” Threading her hair in his fingers, he closed his eyes. “I always loved your hair, Emmanuella.”
Her body tensed as she waited. Should she move away? Should she let him exorcise his demons?
“It’s agony to have you so close but so far. I’ve waited so long, so very long.” His voice broke and his other hand skimmed her waist. “I want you.”
If he used his power over her, she wouldn’t be able to stop him. In fact, she’d probably welcome him. Oh, God. “I’m not her, Raphael.”
“Emmanuella…” He buried his face in her hair, tightening his grip.
“Raphael! Stop! I’m not Emmanuella.”
His hand slid up, stopping underneath her breast. “Do you remember the joining words?”
Her body was fading, his energy overpowering hers. “No! Remember? I don’t know them. I’m not her.”
His mouth lowered to her neck, trailing to her shoulder blade.
“Raphael…stop.”
Moving to her side, he lifted her chin. “I can make you love me.”
Her heart beating wildly, she shook her head. “No, not this way.”
His mouth lowered to hers, hungry and demanding. Her body answered with demands of its own, the pain of her body’s betrayal cutting deep.
His hands roamed her body, pulling her gown up.
An ember of anger blazed within her and she latched on to it, feeding it with her indignation. She had to stop him. Stop herself. With a sharp burst of power, she pushed against him and he flew several feet away, tripping as he tried to regain his balance. He landed on the bed, a bewildered look in his eyes.
“Get. Out,” she seethed. “Get the hell out of here or I’ll kill you.”
He got to his feet and took a step toward her. “You want me too. I can feel it.”
“No. That’s not real. Maybe it was with her, but it’s not with me.” Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let him see her cry again. She was sick of crying. “Get out of my room.”
Staggering to the door, he stopped and pointed at her. “I was right. You have been holding back your power.”
“Get out. NOW!” she screamed, barely holding on to her control.
He slammed the door shut and she locked it with shaky fingers. A lock wouldn’t keep Raphael out, but at least it would slow him down.
She ran to the bathroom and knelt in front of the toilet, making herself gag. Splashing water on her face, she refused to look into the mirror. The event was too close to her encounter with Alex years ago. She crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her head and giving in to her tears. She had to figure out how to stop his control over her. Was it rape if she didn’t fight him at the end?
Fuzziness filled her head and she realized that she’d thrown up too late. Some of the sleeping pills made it to her bloodstream. If Raphael came back, she’d be too drugged to stop him.
***
Will dreamed of her again, but this time was different. She walked toward him through the darkness, surrounded by a golden glow. She wore a white gown, more fitted than the one in the woods and not bloody. Her dark hair fell around her face and rested on her chest.
She stopped in front of him, reaching a hand to his cheek. Tears glistened in her eyes. “Is it really you?”
He nodded, the burning in his throat too strong to speak through.
“But you’re dead. How are you here?”
“I’m not dead, Emma.” He cupped her cheek, thankful he could touch her. God, she was more beautiful than he remembered.
“How do you know me?” A tear slid down her cheek. “Aiden stole your memories.”
“He didn’t take everything.” He couldn’t believe she was here with him.
Her chin trembled as his thumb brushed her lips. She rested her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. “This isn’t real.”
Maybe not, but he’d take what he could get. He soaked in her flowery scent, surpr
ised by how perfectly she fit against him. “Where are you, Emma?” He lifted her chin so he could stare into her dark brown eyes. “Tell me where you are.”
A smile lifted the corners of her mouth. As she started to speak, her face faded into the darkness.
No. He couldn’t lose her yet.
“Will! Wake up. Something’s going on.”
Will jerked upright, surprised that the sirens now piercing his ears hadn’t woke him. The loss of her sucked his breath away. He’d touched her. Held her in his arms. If he’d only had a few more seconds, he’d know where she was.
No, it wasn’t real.
“Are you okay?” James asked.
Will shook his head. He had to focus. If he could get out of here, he’d find a way to find her. “Yeah, fine.”
Relief filled James’s eyes. “Thank God. I thought you had to be dead if this noise didn’t rouse you.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know. The sirens have been going off for a minute or so. I can hear guards running down the hall, but nobody’s saying anything.”
Will stood, wobbling with dizziness. “Does this have anything to do with your collaboration? Or the information you slipped them while I slept after you drugged me?”
James’s jaw tightened. “No.”
So he didn’t deny it. “Do you have a plan?”
“No.”
“What? They didn’t slip you a key?”
“Goddamnit, Will. I only—”
The sirens stopped.
Both men moved next to the door, pressing their ears to the metal panel.
Will stepped away first. “Nothing. Absolute silence.”
“I hear footsteps,” James hissed.
Will leaned his head against the metal. James was right. A set of footsteps clicked on the concrete floor, approaching at a leisurely rate. Taking several paces back, Will surveyed the room for a potential weapon. Nothing. Even the tray with his food was gone. He glared at James. “Did it occur to you we could have used the spoon before you sent it back with room service?”
“They specifically looked for the spoon, you asswipe.”
The lock on the door clicked, the mechanism turning.
James took a step back.
The door opened and a face peered in. “Good evening, gentlemen. Or maybe I should say morning since the sun’s about to rise. I hope I haven’t disturbed you.”
“Alex Warren,” James muttered under his breath.
Alex eyed Will up and down with an amused grin. “I have to say, this isn’t your best look, Will.”
“Fuck you.”
Alex laughed. “That’s more like the arrogant asshole I remember. It’s your lucky day, boys. Consider this your get-out-of-jail-free card.” Alex’s eyes filled with a mischievous glint. “Tell Emma that she owes me. I gave her something, now I want her to give me something in exchange.”
Will’s shoulders tensed. “What?”
Alex smiled. “Now if I wanted you to know, I would have told you. Trust me, she’ll know what I’m talking about.”
Will didn’t like the sound of that, but he wasn’t in a position to negotiate. “What makes you think I’ll see her again? I’ve lost all my memories of her. Why would I find her?”
Alex raised his eyebrows as a mischievous glint filled his eyes. “Who said I thought you would be the one looking?” He stepped into the hallway. “You better get out of here before someone shows up to investigate this mess.”
Will was about to ask what mess, but stopped when he saw the hall littered with bodies.
“I never heard any shots,” James whispered.
“No, you wouldn’t. I don’t need guns.” Alex smiled then waved his hands forward. “Shoo! You’re supposed to be escaping, not taking a leisurely stroll.”
James moved down the hall, Will following behind in disbelief. Bodies lay on the floor, no sign of struggle or injury of any kind.
Will spun around, his chest constricting with fear. Alex stood in front of Will’s cell, his smile gone. Expressionless, he stared into Will’s face.
A chill shot down Will’s spine. What had Alex done and what was he capable of?
Chapter Eight
“Will, come on.” James grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hall.
His feet moved like they were stuck in molasses. He knew he was mixed up in some crazy shit, but this proved it even more.
“Will!” James gave him a jerk.
He stumbled and recovered, glancing back at Alex, but he was gone.
James stopped next to a guard and pulled a gun out of his holster.
Swiping his hand over his mouth, Will surveyed the hall. “What the hell happened here?”
“This was your world, Will. Not mine.” James leaned over another guard and grabbed another gun, then put it in Will’s hand. He rummaged around the bodies, pulling out ammunition and stuffing it in his pockets. “You’re white as a sheet. You need to get your shit together. We may have to fight our way out of here.”
The question was, who would they have to fight? He could fight just about anything with guns. But this? Will shook his head, taking several deep breaths. It was one thing to hear a voice in his head and fantasize about a woman he’d seen for ten minutes. But this…
James searched several more bodies, finding a high-powered rifle on one. He looped it over his shoulder. “Okay, I say we take the staircase and try to find a car to get away.”
Will nodded, still struggling to get up to speed. “Yeah.” He nodded, sucking in a deep breath. “Sounds like a plan.”
They entered the stairwell and moved up the stairs in silence, Will having to rest a couple of times to catch his breath. When they reached the first floor, they stopped at the door. Will peered out the small window into the lobby.
“There’re bodies here too.”
“I suspect there’re bodies everywhere,” James whispered.
Will suspected James was right but refused to admit it, swallowing his rising anxiety. The fact that he was so unnerved only fueled the undercurrent of panic.
“There’s a parking lot in the back,” James said, sliding back the rack on his gun. “I say we steal the keys off a guard out there and borrow his car.”
“How do you know there’s a parking lot in back?” Will narrowed his eyes.
James straightened his shoulders. “What exactly are you accusing me of? I’m in this ass-deep shit because of you and your girlfriend, and you’re now pinning some kind of blame on me? What the fuck, Will?”
Will heaved a breath. “I’m sorry.” Rubbing his forehead, he tried to pull himself together. He was paranoid. James’s life was in danger too, and he was helping Will escape. Given Will’s current mental state, he wasn’t so sure how well he would have fared on his own.
James relaxed. “I happen to know about the parking lot from when we broke in here a week ago.”
“So that really happened? I hear I stole a plane.”
James snorted. “You were always such a drama queen.”
“I’m gonna need a bigger tiara.” Joking soothed his apprehension.
Glancing out the window again, James grabbed for the doorknob. “We’ll enter the lobby and if the coast is clear, we’ll turn left and head out the back door. The compound has a circular drive. The buildings are all at one end of an oval. The guard house at the exit is at the other end.”
Will nodded and focused on James’s words. “I remember the security checkpoint. It seemed pretty inadequate.”
“I suspect they hadn’t seen much action until you hit ’em.” James smirked. “Over and over again. You ready?”
Will nodded.
James studied him, the worry in his eyes telling Will that he didn’t believe him. James pressed his lips together. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Will opened the door and James slipped out first, his gun raised as he looked out the front doors and down the hallway. He turned to Will and motioned him out.
Exiting the
stairwell, Will’s instincts kicked in. James reached into the pocket of a dead guard. Five bodies added to the twelve downstairs, no marks or sign of trauma. They all looked like they had fainted and fallen to the ground.
James had said this was Will’s world, yet James seemed more unaffected than Will. James had to have been part of it to accept everything going on around them. With a glance, James motioned down the hall before he took off.
Will followed behind, covering the front door. They burst outside.
The sun had begun to rise, casting a red glow on the horizon that threw an eerie pall over the half-full parking lot.
A car chirped and James ran for the driver’s door. Will twisted around, surveying the area for guards before he climbed into the car. The compound was quiet, with no signs of life.
Because everyone was dead.
A chill crept up his spine and he shook it off. He’d seen plenty of dead men before. It wasn’t something he wanted a Boy Scout badge for, but it was a fact of life for a Marine in the middle of action. The bodies in war were often bloodied and ripped to shreds. At least these bodies were clean. In theory, the neater crime scene should be easier to stomach, but it only reinforced to Will the reality that he was out of his element.
James started the car and drove around the back of the buildings.
“You have a plan for once we get out of here?” Will asked.
“Nope.”
They drove up the circular drive to the guardhouse, finding two bodies lying on the sidewalk next to the small building. The gate was up.
“What the hell did Alex do to them?”
James shrugged and pulled onto the highway. “Who knows? Although if Emma had done it, they’d be piles of ash.”
Will sucked in his breath as a fresh wave of anxiety hit him. “So she does have powers?”
James hesitated. “Yeah.”
“What is she?”
Gripping the steering wheel with both hands, James tensed. “That’s an interesting question, and even more interesting is that I never once heard you ask that question before you lost your memory. Before, it was all about protecting and defending her and…yeah.” He cast a glance at Will. “You were trying to get answers, which was the whole reason you broke into the compound in the first place, but I never heard you put it that way.”
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