It faced me dead-on, stalking forward, blue eyes slitted. Water rained upon us, splashing like tears. Panicked, I scrambled backward. Instead of attacking me as I feared, it jumped over me, a streak of black lightning, and knocked down a man I hadn’t known stood behind me.
Limbs shaky, I pushed to my feet and batted the wet hair out of my eyes. I had seen this same animal in my apartment. Hadn’t I? It hadn’t hurt me then, either. Had Rome – Rome! Dear God, had it already gotten Rome?
I stumbled through the rooms, searching each and every one, leaping over body after prone, unmoving body. In Lexis’s room, I found Rome ’s clothes-without his body. They were ripped down the center, mere rags. And they were splattered with blood.
My fire had died, and now the ice left me, too. I was suddenly empty inside. “ Rome!”
A violent fit of coughing doubled me over. Despite the cascade of water, the smoke became so thick and black I had trouble navigating, and had to lean on the wall for support and guidance.
“ Rome!” Weakness drifted through me, a phantom at first, easily ignored. But as the coughing fit refused to lessen and the smoke burned my throat, the weakness became a tangible entity.
My knees suddenly lost all strength, and I dropped to the floor. Had to… find… Rome. I didn’t know what I’d do if he’d… if he’d… I couldn’t finish the thought. In the distance, I heard the wail of sirens. Thought I heard the scramble of footsteps, the panicked shouts of men.
“ Rome.” His name was nothing more than a hollow, ragged whisper between coughs.
“Here, baby. I’m here.” His arm snaked around me, and he dropped to my side.
Sobbing in relief, I buried my face in the hollow of his neck and wrapped myself around him. “Where the-” cough “-hell have you-” cough “-been?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now, we have to get out of here. Can you crawl?” He didn’t wait for my answer. The palm of his hand settled on my shoulder and pushed me down. That same hand then slid to the small of my back and urged me forward.
“Can’t… see,” I said. Pools splashed around my knees, causing me to slip and slide.
“Hold on to me. I’ll lead the way.”
A whoosh of air, the brush of his arm, the sprinkle of water. I tried to clasp his shirt, only then realizing his chest was bare. I opened my mouth to ask why he’d ripped off his clothes, but he hissed in pain and the question evaporated. “Sorry.”
“Here.” Not breaking stride, he guided my fingers to his naked hip bone.
With one hand I held on to him, and with the other I crawled. God, the smoke was so thick. Even down here. Tears from my eyes blended with the drops falling from the sprinkler. Nausea welled in my stomach.
“Look out… for the… cat,” I managed to wheeze. There was something odd about that jaguar, something I knew I should guess but couldn’t seem to place at the moment. The fog in my mind proved too great. I only knew it hadn’t been a dream; it wasn’t a hallucination.
“Don’t talk, baby. Save your breath. Try not to inhale the smoke.”
The bag strapped to my back bounced against me with every movement, bruising, and I winced at the soreness. Finally we reached a small doorway. No, not a door, I realized as I stretched out my arm and patted it, but a hatch.
“Get ready to slide,” Rome told me. Without any more warning, he clutched my waist, lifted me and chucked me inside.
I didn’t have time to prepare. One second I was on the ground, the next I wasn’t. Down, down I toppled. My arms flailed, my legs stretched behind me. I would have yelled or shouted, but my throat was too raw. Black walls surrounded me, hemmed me in. Stifled me.
I smacked onto a solid foundation, and my bag smacked into me.
The force of both blows vibrated through my bones. Dizzy, I remained immobile, prone, trying to breathe, trying to see, trying to will strength into my trembling limbs. At least the air proved clean and fresh, a welcome contrast to the smoke-filled rooms above.
Rome plowed on top of me, his bag slapping me in the face. The only oxygen I’d been able to draw in rushed out of me unbidden.
“Sorry, baby.” He scrambled off me, blood dripping down his side. Grimacing, he rifled through his bag.
He was naked. I had known it before, but hadn’t grasped the actuality. Rome was naked, as in not a stitch of clothing covered his magnificent body. Why? Wait. Did it matter? He was tanned and toned, and even in my weakened condition I could appreciate his hard (large) strength. I almost cried when he whipped out a pair of pants and tugged them on.
“No underwear?” I managed to sputter. A girl had to embrace a good distraction when it came along.
“I don’t wear them.” He fastened the button. “Ever. Come on. Firemen are here, and we can’t afford to be detained or spotted.”
“We didn’t-” shallow breath “-question any-” another breath “-of the bad guys.”
“There were more than I anticipated. Taking one would have slowed us down or gotten us killed.”
He helped me to a shaky stand and pulled me into motion. I wanted so badly to fall to my face, to close my eyes and sleep forever. It took a conscious effort to place one foot in front of the other. Water dripped from my hair onto my already soaked clothing. I scanned the surrounding area. Plain gray walls. Some type of machinery. The scents of soap and oil. Were we in the basement of the apartment building?
“Faster, Belle. You can do it.”
I tried to keep up with Rome, I really did, but I’d inhaled too much smoke. Racking coughs plagued me. Utter weakness had taken root in my every cell. When I tripped over a cord, I didn’t have the strength to right myself. Darkness blanketed my mind before I hit. No. Not hit, I mused groggily. Floated. Rome had caught me, his strong arms banded around me. His voice drifted through my subconscious. “I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”
If he kept calling me baby, I thought, just before darkness consumed me, I really would fall in love with him.
“COME ON. Take a drink.”
Cool liquid touched my lips before descending my raw, aching throat. I coughed and sputtered and dragged my eyelids open. Hazy light stung my eyes, and I blinked.
“Drink,” Lexis commanded, her expression stern. She loomed over me, the plastic cup in her hand poised at the edge of my mouth.
Had I died and gone to hell? I raised myself as best I could and drank. The liquid’s tart flavor filled my mouth before scraping at my throat. I winced.
“There,” she said. “Don’t you feel better?”
“No.” The word was hoarse, barely audible.
She chuckled, easing down beside me and setting the cup aside. “You scared us pretty badly.”
Images of the fire, of the men I’d hurt-probably killed-flashed through my mind, and I pressed my lips together. They were bad guys. I shouldn’t feel guilty. They’d tried to hurt me, tried to hurt Rome. Rome! His image filled my mind next, his chest bloody. Panic slithered through me. How was he? Where was he?
I tried to sit up. “Where’s Rome?” Gaze wild, I searched my surroundings. Lexis and I were the only ones present, and we seemed to be inside a cabin. Wooden walls, wooden floors. Only the barest amount of furniture: a bed, a lamp, a table and a few chairs.
“Settle down,” she said. “ Rome is fine.”
“He had a deep cut.”
“No, it was a paltry wound that has already begun to heal.”
“There was a cat, a jaguar-”
“I’m sure there was, but Rome wasn’t hurt by it. I promise. Just lie back and relax.”
“Tanner-”
“Is fine,” she said, cutting me off. “Everyone survived. All is well. It was you we worried about. You’ve been asleep almost an entire day.”
“A day?” I allowed her to ease me back onto the mattress. God, I hated being this weak, this vulnerable. I stared up at the domed timber ceiling. “Where are we?”
“My cabin. It’s on the outskirts of Madison. But don’t worry,” she
added. “No one knows about it, not even John. Rome built it for occasions such as this. I made sure Tanner and I weren’t followed, and knowing Rome as I do, he did the same.”
“Where is he?”
“I sent him and the boy to gather supplies. They were driving me crazy with their concern for you, and the cave is only a short walk away.” She busied herself tucking the plain brown covers around me. “ Rome found the cave years ago and has stocked it with every item a person in hiding might need.”
Lethargy beat through me, beckoning me to sleep a little longer. My eyelashes fluttered shut, heavy with exhaustion, but I forced them open. Forced myself to concentrate on her words. “Why were they concerned for me?”
“Well… ” She paused, cleared her throat. “You stopped breathing several times.”
Stopped breathing? My hand fluttered to my aching throat. Dear Lord. I’d come close to dying, and I hadn’t known it. I wouldn’t have had the chance to tell my dad or Sherridan goodbye. Wouldn’t have gotten to see them one final time. “I want to call my dad,” I said, suddenly filled with the need to hear his voice.
“Before you do,” Lexis said, an odd inflection in her voice, “ Rome would like to talk to you about him.”
“Why?” I jolted upright, and the hasty action cost me dearly. Dizziness and nausea blasted me; bright lights winked in front of my eyes. I rubbed my temple with one hand and clutched my stomach with the other. He’s fine, he’s fine, he’s fine. “Why?” I repeated, the word no more than a tortured moan.
“There’s no reason to worry. Your dad is alive and well. I promise.”
My heart drummed in my chest, and cool prickles rolled in my veins as I stared into the green depths of her eyes, trying to glean the truth. She appeared sincere, and I decided to believe her. Slowly relaxing, I flopped back against the pillow. “What’s wrong with me? Why am I so weak?”
“Smoke inhalation is our guess.”
I frowned. “Shouldn’t I be immune to that? I mean, I started the fire.”
Her delicate shoulders lifted in a shrug. “ Rome said you’re probably ultrasensitive to pollutants now. While you can withstand the fire itself, the ensuing smoke devastates you more than other people because you are now one with Mother Earth. Pollutants now hurt you as much as they hurt the world.”
That made sense. I didn’t like it, but it made sense.
Lexis turned away from me and walked to the room’s only window. She separated the brown curtains, peeking out. Whoever picked the brown color scheme needed a serious spanking. Talk about bland. Must have been Rome, since Lexis’s taste-as proved by her apartment-was colorful and expensive. So, Rome needed the spanking, did he? My pleasure.
“Is someone coming?” I asked.
“No.”
A thick blanket of silence descended over us. I shifted uncomfortably on the bed. What was she-
“I love him,” she blurted out.
O-kay. Going there, were we? Better to get it out in the open, I guess, than to let it fester between us. “I realized that within an hour of meeting you. So why did you cut him loose?”
She laughed bitterly. “I’m psychic, which is both a blessing and a curse. I-I knew before I married Rome that I wasn’t meant to be with him, but I did it anyway. I hoped I could make him love me the way I loved him.”
My brow wrinkled in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
She tossed me a sad half smile, and my chest actually constricted in sorrow for her. The pain in her eyes was staggering. “We were together for several years, married several more, and then I got pregnant. Yet all along I knew, deep down, that if I didn’t walk away from him, he would be tied to my side when he didn’t really want to be there.”
“I’m not usually this dense. I hope. But I don’t get what you’re trying to tell me.”
I didn’t need an empath to help me read her emotions at that moment. Her shoulders slumped as her sadness deepened. “ Rome likes me. He might even love me, but it’s not the kind of love a man should have for a wife. I knew, I always knew, that there was someone else for him. He didn’t. He thought I was the one, but he would have learned the truth soon enough. And he would have stayed with me despite wanting-no, craving-this other woman.” She wiped a tear from her eye with a trembling hand. “I couldn’t have endured that.”
Her words were both wonderful and terrible. She wasn’t the right woman for him, but was I? I couldn’t kiss him without starting a fire. Trouble followed me everywhere. I was currently jobless. Not exactly great girlfriend material. Still. I wanted to be the right woman. Badly. If I wasn’t… My stomach twisted.
“Who is right for him?” I found myself asking. My fingers clutched the sheets as I waited for her answer. I hoped; I dreaded.
“Maybe you. Maybe someone else. I don’t know who.”
So there was still hope, but there was also doubt. A sharp ache tore through my temples. Cringing, I covered my eyes with the crook of my arm. Best to change the subject before I induced a brain aneurism from overanalyzing. “I’m sorry about your home. You were right. I torched it.”
She waved her hand through the air. “It was only a building. Rome and Sunny are safe. That’s all that matters.”
I didn’t want to like her, I really didn’t. After everything she’d revealed, however, I found that I did. Despite my (alleged) jealousy. She could have railed at me for holding the (temporary) affection of the man she loved. She could have thrown me out. Instead, she gave me that sad smile.
“I think you have two admirers,” she said, wistful. “Tanner was so worried about you.”
“Well, I like Tanner, too. He’s a good kid.”
“He’s not a child. He’s a man who just has a bit more maturing to do.”
Her affection for him was clear.
“His abilities are raw,” she added, “hardly developed, but I think with the proper training he could do great things.” A warm chuckle escaped her. “ Rome almost knocked him out.” Her smile spread all the wider as she returned to the bed. “Tanner kept saying you would have been perfectly healthy if Rome had let you leave with him, and I think it hit Rome hard. He has always been a protector, yet he had enough faith in you to utilize your… skills.”
There was just enough hesitation in her voice to suggest I didn’t really have any skill, but I still experienced a tendril of pleasure because Rome had trusted me. The pleasure was quickly followed by prickles of disappointment. “I hate that I did so little to actually help, and so much more to hinder. The only reason he and I stayed around was to question one of the men, but I ended up freezing or barbecuing everyone there. And then-”
Lexis suddenly straightened, and she lost her good humor. My words ceased abruptly. “What? What’s wrong?” I demanded. I guess I was coming to rely on Lexis as Rome and Brittan did.
“The door is… ” Frowning, she closed her eyes and an aura of stillness came over her. Several seconds passed, and her smile returned. “The men are about to return. As Tanner would say, Rome is pi-issed.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
AS PREDICTED, the door burst open. Rome stalked inside, dragging a protesting Tanner behind him. When the door closed in their wake, he pushed Tanner into a chair and dropped a heavy bag at the boy’s feet.
“I’m not afraid to use my lethal kung fu moves on you,” Tanner growled.
“Stay,” Rome growled back. “And don’t speak for the rest of the day.” He pivoted toward me, and when our eyes met his expression softened. “You’re awake.”
I sat up slowly and finger-combed my hair, wishing I had a mirror. I probably looked like crap, while he looked edible. He wore one of the black T-shirts he favored, and black slacks. I would have liked to see him in stone-washed jeans, but he only ever wore pants. And no underwear, I suddenly recalled, my cheeks heating.
He approached me and settled at the edge of the bed, a whisper away. My heartbeat accelerated, nearly exploding from my chest when his arm brushed mine. Always there was thi
s electric tingle between us.
“How are you?” I asked, drinking him in. His face glowed with healthy color. He didn’t appear strained or hurt. In fact, he looked perfectly normal. Well, as normal as a dark angel could look.
“I’m good. Just a twinge in my side. How are you?”
“Better.”
He reached out and smoothed a hand over my cheek, his gaze becoming fierce. Lethal. “You scared me. Don’t ever do that again.”
I shivered at the savage intensity he projected. “I won’t.”
His blue, blue eyes bored into mine as he laced our fingers together. “When you passed out… ”
I squeezed his hand.
“Ah, look at the little lovebirds,” Tanner cooed. “Want Lexis and me to leave?”
“Yes,” Rome said, not switching his focus from me. They didn’t leave, unfortunately, but stayed where they were. With absolute tenderness, Rome ’s thumb played across my palm. “Belle, do you feel well enough to go outside and practice using your powers?”
At the moment, with his strength seeping into me, I felt capable of anything. “Sure.”
“Good. After yesterday, I need to know how you’ll hold up. Besides, I don’t want to head into the city until dark, so we’ve got time to kill.” He turned to Lexis. “Did you tell her about her dad?”
I stiffened with renewed fear and felt a cool draft gust through my veins.
“No,” Lexis said. “I knew you would want to explain.”
“Someone better tell me what’s going on with my dad before I freeze this entire place.”
With his free hand, Rome hooked a strand of hair behind my ear. “He’s fine, but I’m afraid Vincent might try to use him to draw you out.”
A lump formed in my throat, and my hand flew to my mouth. If my dad were in danger, I’d-I’d… I’d simply die, and take everyone responsible with me. “We can’t move him from the center. His medication is there. His nurses are there.”
Playing With Fire (tales of an extra ordinary girl) Page 18