She nodded and Will pulled her into his arms and kissed her gently.
“What was that for?”
He brushed the hair off her cheek, staring in her eyes with a look of affection Emma couldn’t deny. “I just want you to know I’m here.”
She allowed herself this moment, hating herself for being weak enough to want more. Yet she couldn’t commit to him, no matter how much part of her wanted to. Whatever Will felt for her wasn’t real and she couldn’t let herself forget it. If the mark were to disappear tomorrow, who was to say he’d still love her?
They told her grandmother goodbye and Will gave her his cell phone number in case anyone came looking for Emma. She watched the house as Will pulled away, doubting she’d ever see her grandma again. It was too risky to come back. She couldn’t jeopardize her safety.
Once they were back on the highway, Will reached into his pocket and placed the necklace in her palm. “You should probably keep this.”
She took the pendant, surprised that it felt so warm. “Did this feel hot when you held it?”
“No. If anything, it felt cold.” He turned to her. “Why? Does it feel hot to you?” He took it from her and turned it in his fingers. “It’s cool.”
She took it back and held it in her fisted hand. Within moments it became unbearably hot, burning her skin. “Feel this.” She grabbed his hand and placed his fingertips on the area on her palm.
His eyes widened. “Maybe you shouldn’t hold that thing until we figure out what it is.”
“My mother wore it for months and nothing happened to her.”
“She got pregnant and became a bitch.”
“Some might argue I got there without a heated medallion.”
He looked straight ahead but his body stilled. “Are you telling me that you think you’re pregnant?” His words were deceptively calm.
She sighed in frustration. When would she learn to censor her words? All the years she spent on the run, she never let anything slip but mere weeks with him and words just tumbled out. “No, I am not. I’m saying I already got pregnant out of wedlock and some people would call me a bitch.”
“First of all, it’s funny hearing you say something archaic like ‘out of wedlock’ and second anyone who calls you a bitch doesn’t know you very well, which I suspect accounts for every person on the planet with the exception of Jake and myself.”
His words were true, yet painfully so. A reinforcement of how screwed up her life really was.
“I’m just saying maybe you shouldn’t wear it until we learn more about it.”
She stuffed the necklace into the pocket of her skirt. Will was right. They already had enough trouble to deal with. “So what’s our plan for tonight?”
“I want to sneak into my apartment once it gets dark. I live in Westport so there’ll be crowds of people to get lost in on a Saturday night. But I’m still worried someone could be watching the building. I’m trying to decide whether to bring you inside with me or not.”
“Of course I’m going with you. You think I’d miss an opportunity to see your man cave?”
“It might not be safe, not if we’re ambushed.”
“So you plan to just leave me somewhere while you run off to be ambushed?”
He scowled. “No. I don’t know. I need to figure out what’s safest for you.”
“What’s safest for me is to stay with you.”
He paused then cast a quick glance in her direction. “My gut says to keep you with me.”
“Well, it’s settled then. We stick together.”
***
They parked in a lot on the edge of Westport and walked the streets, waiting for night to settle in. Will watched for anyone following them and while he didn’t see anything, his instinct told him they weren’t alone.
“How do you feel?” he asked Emma. “Any nausea?”
Her eyes narrowed and he suspected she was about to make a snarky reply, but she gave him a small smile. “No. I don’t feel anything.”
She’d been quiet since the visit to her grandmother’s. He suspected what she needed was more time to process what they’d learned. Too bad time wasn’t a luxury they could afford.
Once the sun had set they headed to Will’s apartment. He still scanned the crowd, but it was Saturday night. People were everywhere.
A couple of blocks from his apartment building, he found a group of teenage boys and he offered them money to fake an argument outside the front entrance of the building. Once they created a disturbance, Emma would go in the door first and Will would follow a minute behind. It was a decent plan, but Will knew it wouldn’t take much for it to fall apart.
The teens stopped several feet from the door and began shouting, while Will waited with Emma around the corner. He bent down and pulled his handgun out of the holster on his ankle, grateful the darkness helped hide it. Two more teens walked up, adding to the confusion.
“Time to go,” Will whispered in her ear.
Emma turned back to him with a tight smile then walked toward the door.
Will watched her as she made it to the door and slipped inside, disappearing from his sight. He was tempted to go after her but told himself to calm down. She made it in without getting shot or chased. That was the hardest part.
The teens were beginning to draw a crowd. Will walked to the door, glancing over his shoulder one last time to make sure he wasn’t being followed, and slipped inside.
***
Emma’s throat tightened and her pulse pounded in her head as she stood in the lobby of the apartment building and listened to the arguing teens outside. What if something happened to Will?
Her senses were on alert, her nerve endings raw. The feeling that something was off niggled at the back of her brain although she didn’t feel nauseous. She hadn’t felt the sign since the day she was shot and she’d begun to wonder if it was a reliable barometer.
Will entered the lobby after what seemed like minutes later, but in reality was closer to thirty seconds. He looked behind him as he shut the door to the chaos on the sidewalk outside. When he saw her, his jaw relaxed. He pulled the gun from underneath his shirt and pushed the button at the elevator bank.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his eyes shifting around the room.
“I’m fine.”
The elevator doors opened and they walked in the empty box. Will pushed four, the top floor. He lifted his gun when the doors closed. “Stay in the front corner until I know it’s safe.”
“Do you think someone will be waiting?”
“Do you feel sick?” It was a ridiculous question. They both knew if she felt sick she would have been heaving on the floor already.
Emma shook her head. “No.”
“Humor me and hide in the corner anyway. Okay?”
The elevator stopped on the fourth floor. Emma backed into the corner by the control bank while Will hung to the wall on the opposite side. The doors opened and he poked his head out, looking around.
“It’s safe.”
Emma followed him out. The elevator opened in the middle of the hallway and Will turned left.
“I’m in 421. On the end.”
“How are you going to get in? I know you don’t have a key.” She knew all he had were the Camaro keys.
“I have it covered.” He stopped about ten feet from his door and pulled a Swiss army knife out of his pocket. Crouching down, he jammed the blade between the baseboard and pried up the carpet then pulled out a silver key.
“Impressive.”
Will grinned and tilted his head. “I have a few skills that come in handy. If you’re nice, I’ll show you a couple of them later.” He glanced up and down the hall. “Okay, let’s go.”
When they reached his door, Will placed Emma’s back against the wall, on the side of his entrance. “Stay here until I know it’s clear.”
Her heart sped. “Will, be careful.”
His shit-eating grin lit up his face and he winked before glancing down the hal
l again. After he unlocked the door, he swung it open. Greeted with silence, he turned to Emma and whispered. “Stay here, I’m going to check the inside.”
She nodded, her sense of dread deepening.
Will came out several seconds later and pulled her in, shutting the door behind them.
She expected a bachelor pad, messy and with dorm-style furniture. What she found looked like a Pottery Barn catalogue. A tailored brown leather sofa, flat screen TV, pictures hanging on the wall, decorative lamps.
“Wow,” she said, swiveling to take in the room.
“Don’t be so surprised,” he laughed. “My sister did it.”
Emma’s head jerked up in surprise. “You never told me you had a sister.”
Will walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer door. “Yeah, well I do.”
Irritation tugged at her frayed nerves. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Will shrugged. “It never came up.”
She leaned against the kitchen counter while he pulled out a half gallon of chocolate ice cream.
“I always pictured you more of a vanilla guy.”
“Shows what you know.” He opened the lid and dumped the ice cream in the sink, a Ziploc bag of cash appearing at the bottom.
She was suddenly aware of how much she didn’t know. “Any other siblings I don’t know about?”
Will turned on the water and rinsed off the bag. “Nope, just my sister.”
Given the fact that their lives were in danger, his not sharing he had a sister seemed like a minor issue. Yet it wasn’t. If he expected her to share her previous life with him, he should be sharing his, too.
He brushed past her, through the living room and a door she suspected led to the bedroom. She followed, curiosity getting the better of her. She stood in the doorway, grasping the doorjamb in her hands as she watched him open a closet door. The bed had a low wooden headboard and was neatly made with an ivory duvet cover. The nightstand held only a lamp and a clock. A tall dresser across from the bed was clutterless. It looked totally unlived in.
“Do you have a maid?”
Will snorted. “God, no. I can’t afford to have someone snooping around.” He pulled a case out of the back of the closet and dropped it on the bed. He spun the code to the lock and opened it after it clicked.
“You’re telling me you live this way? Impeccably clean?”
He looked up surprised. “Yeah, I was in the military, remember? Impeccably clean was beat into me at boot camp.” He pulled several guns out of the case and laid them on the bed.
Emma wandered into the living room and opened the sliding door to the balcony, needing to clear her head. Seeing where he lived brought home the fact he had a life she knew nothing about and it overwhelmed her.
She stepped onto the balcony, feeling the wind in her hair. The evening air washed over her along with the sounds of music from the bars. She braced her hands on the railing and looked down at the people below then up to the stars. The moon rose in the sky, nearly full. It had nearly been a full moon when everything began less than a month ago.
“Emma, what the hell are you doing?” Will’s angry voice came up behind her as he pulled her back into the apartment.
Emma stumbled backwards, stunned.
Will reached over and slammed the sliding door shut. “You could have gotten shot.”
“There’s no one out there. I would have felt sick and I don’t.”
“I don’t want to take any chances.”
Emma jerked out of his hold, pissed at him but also herself. She hadn’t been thinking. When it came to Will, she found herself doing too many stupid things. And that was dangerous.
He shook his head in irritation then turned and headed for the bedroom. “Let’s just get my things and get out of here.” He came out with a duffle bag flung it over his shoulder, grabbed the bag of money off the counter, and stuffed it into the bag. With a sigh, he took a look around the room.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Emma knew why he sighed, even if he didn’t tell her. He’d never be back. He was saying goodbye to everything. Because of her.
Chapter Eight
They left the apartment and took the dark stairwell to the emergency exit, adding to the foreboding that already bombarded her. Something was about to happen. It hung heavy and oppressive in the humid night air. Her thigh burned and she reached down and touched the pendant, still in her pocket. It was hotter than before.
Will stuffed the gun down into his waistband, and grabbed Emma’s hand, pulling her into the parking lot.
They walked in silence, the knot in Emma’s throat making it difficult to breathe. After traveling a block, they came upon a homeless man on the street corner. His long salt-and-pepper hair hung in greasy strands around his face, his gnarled hand holding out a paper cup for donations. A folded piece of cardboard was propped next to him, The End is Near written out in squiggly capital letters with black marker. They stopped at the corner, waiting for a red light, and Emma turned her gaze in his direction and tensed. Will glanced down at her and slipped his arm around her waist.
The homeless man swung his head toward Emma, his eyes vacant as his hair fell into his face and his body began to twitch. “Woe to you, daughter of Jezebel. Woe to you, betrayer of the truth.”
Emma’s eyes widened as she looked up at Will. His jaw tensed and he pulled her to his side, his body a shield between her and the beggar.
The light changed and Will pulled her into the street. “Ignore him, Emma.”
She turned back to look again, unable to stop herself. The man convulsed and began to shout. “The fate of mankind is in your hands!”
She froze in the middle of the street, her heart racing. An electrical charge ran from the pendant up her leg.
He pointed a crooked finger, his hand shaking violently “You will be the downfall of the world.”
“Emma, let’s go.” Will tried to pull her, but her feet were rooted to the asphalt.
The current coursed through her body and her vision faded. She stood by a roaring fire, electricity tickling her skin. The choice is yours. A voice said. But you must choose. Then the image changed and she stood on top of a hill overlooking a valley. Tendrils of smoke dotted the scorched landscape below. You have caused this destruction. The death of the world is in your hands. A gust of wind swept dirt and debris around, obscuring her vision. When it cleared, swirling columns of fire surrounded her, the flames shooting into the clouds overhead. Thick smoke filled her lungs. Screams echoed in the darkness and she heard Jake’s voice calling out “Mommy!” Panic gripped her as power shot from her hands into the air, covering the world around her in a sea of flames.
“Emma!” Will jerked her arm, pulling her back to the present.
She gasped for air, afraid she would pass out.
“You will end us all!” the man screamed.
People on the sidewalks stopped to stare. The light had turned and a car’s horn honked. Emma stood dazed in the street, blocking traffic.
Will pulled her to the corner and she stumbled to keep up. “What the hell were you doing?” he asked through gritted teeth. “He’s a crazy old man. Ignore him.”
The images still played in her head, hazy and fading. She wanted to tell him what she saw, but the words caught in her throat, making her unsure where to even begin. They continued two more blocks, Will dragging her by the hand. The shadows seemed dark and menacing.
“Shouldn’t there be more people here?” Emma asked. It seemed odd there was no one around considering the swarms of people they had pushed through only a few blocks earlier.
Will’s grip tightened as he looked around. “Yeah.”
They crossed the street at a corner, cutting over to the parking lot on the other side. The car was parked several rows away. A street light overhead blinked twice then faded out with the sound of an electric zap.
The hairs on Emma’s arms stood on end. A cool breeze blew out of nowhere, whipping her hair and the h
em of her skirt. “Will…”
A man walked out from behind a car. His dark eyes glittered as one side of his mouth lifted into a grin. “Going somewhere?” Another man stepped out of the shadows and joined him.
Will pushed Emma behind him. He held up a hand, the shiny glint of the metal keys dangling from his fingers. “We don’t have anything you gentlemen would be interested in. Just let us go on our way and we’ll forget this ever happened.”
The first man laughed, a guttural sneer. “We want her. Just hand her over and we’ll be more than happy to let you go about your business.”
“Then you have a problem because the lady isn’t going anywhere with you.”
A third man appeared carrying a long metal pipe. He smacked it into the palm of his hand. The dull thud filled the quiet night. The sounds of music down the street faded to a faint roar. “Funny, I don’t see a dilemma.”
Emma’s chest constricted. Heat from the pendant burned the side of her leg.
Will let the duffle bag slip off his arm and fall to the ground. The first two men rushed him before he could reach for his gun.
Emma jumped into the street as a fourth man appeared.
Will hit the first man, with his keys in his fist. The man staggered back, yelping as streaks of blood ran down his face. The other man charged and Will staggered before punching the man in the stomach. The man with the pipe slapped it into his palm in a steady rhythm as an evil grin spread across his face. The first man got up, bloody stripes down his cheek.
Will tossed the keys into the street behind him. The metal clanged on the asphalt as they skidded close to Emma’s feet. She reached down and picked them up with trembling fingers.
“Emma! Run!” Will shouted as he reached to pull the gun from his waistband. Both men attacked at once and the gun fell to the pavement. One of the men kicked him in the stomach and Will doubled over.
The man with the pipe stepped forward and picked up the gun with an evil grin. Again, that horrible grin. He tossed the gun behind him, between two cars.
Emma couldn’t leave him, but she didn’t know how to help.
02 Hunted - The Chosen Page 7