Sacrifice

by Denise Grover Swank

  Jake’s mouth dropped open at the possibility. Was it true?

  “I can teach you.”

  Jake was more suspicious than ever. “I could call Aiden right now. I should.”

  “But you won’t. The idea of blocking Aiden intrigues you.” His mouth lifted into a lopsided grin. “Do you want me to teach you?”

  What if Aiden found out? How would he punish Jake? But the chance to have secret thoughts filled him with excitement. He nodded. “Yes.”

  The man stood and walked slowly toward him.

  Jake stiffened.

  He held out his hand. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to sit on the bed next to you. Is that okay?”

  Nodding, Jake twisted the edge of his blanket between his fingers.

  The man slowly sank onto the mattress, the down blanket fluffing around him. “Right now, your mind is a pool of thoughts. Some are shallow, like the wading area at the swimming pool your mom probably took you to, but some are deeper, like the diving pool. You have to swim deep to get to them. Does that make sense?”

  Jake nodded.

  “It takes a lot of effort to dig into really deep thoughts and read them, even for Aiden. But if you’re thinking something, it’s probably floating around the shallow end of your mind. I only have to peer in and it’s right there.” The man lowered his head, his eyes probing Jake’s. “But if you leave your shallow thoughts there in the wading pool—things like the weather, or you’re hungry, or look at that cute kitten—then you can dive into your deep end and think your important thoughts. Like disobeying Aiden. Or talking to your mother.”

  Jake’s eyes widened. How did he know about talking to his mother? “I would never disobey Aiden.”

  He gave Jake a small smile. “It’s okay. I won’t tell him.”

  Excitement coursed through him at the possibility of hiding secrets from Aiden.

  “You’re in the shallow pool, Jake. Dive down into the deep end and think about it there.”

  Closing his eyes, Jake focused on the deep recesses of his mind and thought of Aiden. Aiden wanted to hurt Will, but what could Jake do about it?

  The man smiled. “Very good. I had to make a real effort to find something I thought Aiden wouldn’t approve of. Aiden’s so confident, he’ll never think to look that deep. But you’ll need to practice.”

  “Why are you teaching me this?”

  The smile fell from his lips, replaced by a frown. “Things are changing soon and you’ll need to be able to keep secrets.” He put his hand over Jake’s. “You are a very important player in this game, Jake. More important than anyone else other than Aiden realizes. You’ll need to make sure you can hide things.”

  “Why are you helping me?”

  His eyes filled with an icy stare.

  Jake swallowed, afraid for the first time since he’d found the man in his room.

  “Everyone has their own agenda, Jake. Aiden. Raphael. Alex. Even your mother. I have my own agenda as well. Have you ever played chess?”

  Jake shook his head.

  “We are all involved in an elaborate game, much like a chess match. Everyone has their own piece in the game. Every move we make affects the others. You are the king in this game, Jacob, whether everyone else realizes it or not. You are the prize.” He rose from the bed. “At some point you will be forced to choose sides. Choose wisely.”

  “But who are you?”

  The man moved to the door, his back to Jake. His head turned and he looked over his shoulder with a cocky grin. “I’m surprised you haven’t guessed by now. I am Water.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Will rubbed his weary eyes. They were both exhausted. Every time Emma used her powers she had to let her guard down, making herself a shining beacon to Raphael. She hadn’t figured out a way around it. Instead of practicing at night, Will decided she should practice during the day, then they would move to a new town for the night.

  Since Emma still insisted on meeting Alex the next day at his political fundraiser in Albuquerque, Will had returned to Farmington, hours north of Albuquerque, frustrated that he hadn’t talked her out of it.

  He’d been studying the leather book for over an hour while she slept and showered, and knew nothing he didn’t already know when he started. The key had to be the section in the back that wasn’t translated, but he couldn’t figure out what language it was in, even after searching the internet for hours.

  Which left him in the same place he was days ago. With nothing.

  The shower turned off in the bathroom and a small grin tugged at the corner of Will’s mouth when the door opened and Emma emerged, wrapped in a skimpy white towel, water dripping from the ends of her hair. When she realized he watched her, she gave him a smile. “Find anything?”

  He groaned, shoving the book away. “No.”

  She walked over and sat on the side of the bed. “That’s okay. You tried.”

  “Yeah, but this book holds the key to everything.”

  She started to say something, then rose and turned back to the bathroom.

  “Emma, did you ever stop and think about your name?”

  “Emma?”

  “No, your full name. Emmanuella.”

  “No. It was just some awful name my father insisted on naming me.” As soon as she finished the sentence, her shoulders stiffened. “Why did I never think if it before? It has to mean something if my father insisted on using it.”

  Will opened the laptop.

  A quick search answered his question. “Emmanuella. Hebrew. God is with us.” He turned to look at her.

  Her face was a frozen mask.

  “Emma, this means something.”

  His words snapped her out of her thoughts. “It means everything and it means nothing. It would have been helpful information a month ago. Now it tells us nothing we don’t already know. My father is like a god, only elemental. I’m his daughter. I’m like a demigod.” She gave him a wicked look. “Have you ever thought about the meaning of your name?”

  He scowled. “Very funny.”

  She sat on his lap and typed his name in the computer then read the results. “William. English. Strong-willed warrior.” Leaning back, she wrapped her arm around his shoulders and kissed him, leaving him breathless and wanting more. “Your name fits you perfectly,” she murmured against his lips.

  His name fit him perfectly.

  He pushed her back. “That’s a little too perfect.”

  “It’s a coincidence.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Can we really attribute any of this to coincidence?”

  “No.” She sighed, leaning her forehead against his. “Our names have meaning. The joining words. The untranslated text. Words have power.”

  “Protector. So my entire life, I was meant to be your protector.”

  “And my entire life, I was meant to get caught in a supernatural struggle.”

  “At least you know why you were chosen. Your father is a paranormal creature. Why was I picked?”

  Her fingers caressed his cheek and she lowered her voice. “I don’t know, Will. I’m sorry.”

  “I thought I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but this was planned before I was even born.”

  She leaned back and searched his eyes. “Will, I’m sorry. You have no idea how guilty I feel that you’re caught up in this. When you had your mark and felt compelled to protect me, the guilt nearly killed me. It wasn’t fair to you. You should have had the choice. But you always swore that was what you wanted. That you wanted to be with me. Maybe my father thought he was doing you a favor when he stole your memories, as hard as that is to believe.”

  He thought about his life before her compared to the past few days and the feelings he had for her. He shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t change a thing, Emma. I love you. You have no idea how much you’ve changed my life.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, car crashes, gunfights, plane escapes…”

  “Love and bel
onging. I never felt like I belonged anywhere, Emma. Not until I found you. You have no idea how long I searched for that.”

  “Maybe some of your mark is still in here.” She rested her hand on his chest. “Maybe you just think you feel it.”

  “Now you sound like James.”

  “God help me.” She lifted his chin to look at her. “But maybe it’s true.”

  He shook his head. “Emma, I’ve been with more women than I care to admit. If I could have manufactured that feeling, I would have done it long before now. This isn’t imaginary. This is real.”

  She started to say something then stopped, and licked her lips before starting again. “Maybe you’d be safer if you weren’t with me.”

  “And maybe I won’t get in a car wreck if I never get in a car again.”

  “The odds of you dying because of me are much higher than dying in a car wreck. And let’s say you make it all the way to the end with me, what happens to you if I lose? I don’t know if I can take that chance with you, Will. It’s selfish to keep you with me.”

  His back stiffened. “What, I can’t make my own decisions? You’re deciding what I do or don’t do?”

  “No…that’s not it at all. I just don’t want you to feel obligated—”

  He untucked her towel, letting the fabric fall open. “There are perks to this job that would be very hard to give up.”

  She gasped as his hand fondled her breast. “I agree.”

  His mouth lowered to her neck. “Then let’s enjoy the perks and not think about the rest.”

  “I thought we were going back out to practice in the heat.”

  “The desert isn’t going anywhere.”

  ***

  The heat was going to kill her before any of the assholes in her life had a chance. Will was right, they needed to change their routine. But…damn.

  She stood in a deserted junkyard in the New Mexico desert, the sun beating down and scorching the top of her head. Sweat trickled down the side of her face and she lost all pretense of civility, lifting the hem of her T-shirt to wipe her face.

  “Longer this time.”

  Her brows furrowed as her mouth puckered in protest. “Easy for you to say.”

  “True, but this is your dog and pony show, princess.” He handed her a bottle of water.

  She chugged the contents, water seeping from the corners of her mouth and down her neck.

  “Don’t guzzle it. Sip it. You’re going to make yourself sick.”

  “Who the hell made you the boss?” she snapped as he snatched the bottle away.

  He chuckled. “I’m the resident expert on deserts, dehydration, and heat stroke. That makes me the boss.”

  His reminder of his past tempered her irritation. “How did you stand it, Will?”

  His smile fell, but his eyes were warm. “One day at a time, sometimes one second at a time. You can do anything if the alternative is unacceptable.” He backed up and sat in the shade of the car. “Which is why you’re going to keep practicing. Because the alternative is unacceptable.”

  “How hot do you think it is?”

  Will gulped from the bottle. Wiping his mouth with the back of his arm, he glanced up at her and shrugged. “Hundred? Hundred and five? What does it matter what the temperature is? You’re still going to work.”

  Steeling her back, she pulled power from the electrical lines running overhead and focused on moving a smashed-up VW across the lot. It skittered through the sand and crashed into a pile of cars twenty feet away. Blowing up things only worked when there were objects to blow up. She needed to have more tricks at her disposal.

  “That’s good,” Will said. “But you need to be able to control it.”

  “If you think you can do better, then you try it.” She was improving, but not fast enough to suit her. Her progress had increased exponentially since she’d begun to use electricity as a power source, but she often found trying other things, such as moving heavy objects, was clunky and uncoordinated. And usually left her exhausted.

  “I want you to try to pick up a car and hold it over the ground. Don’t do anything with it, just let it hover,” Will said, twisting the ring on his finger.

  “Okay.” She took a deep breath, absorbing the electrical energy and focusing on picking up the VW and holding it over the ground. It rose several feet, floating over the ground in a jerky movement.

  “You need to make it steady. You need to have better control.”

  Her temper flared, increasing the pressure in her chest. “If you don’t like how I’m doing it, then you do it.”

  “Maybe I should.”

  She knew what he was doing, goading her to try harder, but the heat already made her cranky and his words inflamed her anger. Without thinking she directed her temper in his direction and lightning shot from her hands toward him.

  He hunched on the ground in a ball as a lightning bolt zapped the car behind him, sending sparks shooting into the air along with a white flash.

  Panic swamped her as she shut off her connection to the current and ran toward him. “Will!” The VW landed on the ground with a loud crash.

  Emma fell at his side, grabbing his arm. “Will!”

  He looked up at her, his eyes wide. “I’m okay. I’m fine.”

  She burst into tears, throwing her arms around his shoulders. “I could have killed you. I’m sorry.”

  He took her face in his hands. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”

  “I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t know it was going to happen until it did.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “NO, IT’S NOT!” Hysteria filled her head and she shook with fear. “I lost control and I could have killed you!”

  “But you didn’t. See? I’m fine.”

  She glanced around. “But how are you okay? You were right next to the car. Shouldn’t you have been electrocuted?”

  He shook his head, looking back at the car. “Yeah.” He looked up at her, confusion in his eyes. “I felt the electricity and it was like it was blocked somehow. You must have realized what happened and protected me.”

  Her breath came in hiccupy bursts through her tears. “No. I didn’t.”

  Will pulled her head closer so their eyes were several inches apart. “You didn’t mean to hurt me, right? You were angry and it happened.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she choked out.

  “It was an involuntary reaction. Maybe saving me was involuntary too.”

  She bit her trembling lip and nodded.

  “Why don’t we call it an afternoon? Maybe I’ve pushed you too hard.”

  By the time they went back to the motel room Emma had calmed down, but she was more worried about Will’s safety than ever. She’d always figured she needed to protect him from the other three. It never occurred to her that she had to protect him from herself.

  Emma turned on the water to the shower and walked out of the bathroom to get a change of clothes, when an image on the television stopped her. Alex addressed a large, enthusiastic crowd. A banner flashed across the bottom of the screen announcing his next campaign stop.

  Huddled over his laptop, Will glanced at the television and grumbled. “Well, look at Alex playing Mr. Politician on the campaign trail.”

  Emma sat on the edge of the bed. Alex’s face beamed on the screen as he shook hands with adoring potential voters. Her stomach knotted.

  Will kept his back to her. “So you’re really going to go through with it?”

  She knew how upset Will was over her meeting, but there was no way around it. “Of course.”

  He turned, anger flashing in his eyes. “No, Emma. It is not of course. What if this is a trap? What if Alex got you away from Raphael so you could grow stronger for his benefit? What if he led you to me so that you’d be halfway content and focused on training, then set a trap to collect his bounty?”

  She couldn’t be sure of anything and they both knew it. But it didn’t matter. It all boiled down to one fact. “I promised.”


  He rose from the chair, shoving it into the desk.

  Wringing her hands in her lap, she looked up at him. “Maybe it’s not a trap. Maybe it’s a chance to get more information. Think about it, Will. Alex is the linchpin for all three of our variables. His father is head of the Vinco Potentia, he’s part of the Cavallo, and he’s one of Aiden’s playthings. If I can get him to talk, even just a little, we can learn more than we’ve learned all week.”

  Will rubbed his hand through his hair, releasing a heavy breath. “It’s dangerous on so many levels, Emma. First, Alex Warren is bound to have a big security detail under his command. They could take you into custody on any trumped-up charge. Second, even though you say you have control over him, what if you’re wrong? What if he hurts you? And third, what makes you think he’ll even talk to you?”

  The muscles in her back cramped, thinking about meeting with Alex, but she had to put her personal discomfort and feelings aside. Jake’s and Will’s lives depended on her to keep it together. “He won’t hurt me because he thinks he needs me, but that’s not to say he won’t hurt you. He may have put us together, but he did it for his own benefit. He could easily change his mind and decide to kill you.” She paused and lifted her chin in resolve. “Which means you can’t be with me when I meet him.”

  Anger flashed in his eyes. “The hell I won’t.”

  She walked over and rested her hand on his arm. “After what happened this afternoon, I want you as far away from all of this power shit as possible. That includes me when I practice.”

  “Emma—”

  “Think about it, Will. He has too much to gain from me. I’m safe, but I can’t take the chance with you. I can’t lose you again.” She cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes. “I’m stronger than I was the last time I saw him. You know this. I have control over him. I can defend myself.”

  His face hardened. “No.”

  She hated hurting him this way. Her back stiffened. “I’m sorry, but you don’t get a say in this. It’s my decision.”

  Will jerked his arm from her grip and stared into her face, anger blazing in his eyes. “What the fuck, Emma?”