02 Hunted - The Chosen

by Denise Grover Swank

  Hold on, Emma! Stay hidden. I’m coming!

  She shook her head. They would be upon her in seconds. Will wouldn’t reach her in time. Her hands trembled and the gun in her hand shook. If I don’t get control I won’t be able to shoot even one of them. Where the hell was her anger? These men took her son and were now intent on killing her to keep them apart. The pendant on her neck grew hot on her skin.

  Emma?

  She heard the confusion in his voice, but she was past the point of answering. She stepped from behind the tree, the gun still in her hand, yet she knew that she didn’t need it. It fell to the ground with a thud.

  Emma!

  Her chest burned and electricity rose until she thought she would pass out from the pain and pressure. When she saw the first man raise his gun, she held out her hands and released all the power she had. A glowing ball of energy shot forward, exploding in the trees twenty feet ahead. The force threw her onto the ground. She slammed hard on her side, her face pressed against pine needles. Blackness hovered at the edge of consciousness.

  No! Emma! You can’t pass out! I’m almost there. Get up. Run!

  She didn’t think she had the strength.

  Emma, don’t you dare give up on Jake. He needs you. Get the fuck up, Emma!

  She crawled to her knees, her lungs burning from the black smoke that filled them. The forest was on fire, the canopy over head glowing with flames.

  Yes! Get up! You can do it!

  She gagged, her head hanging between her arms. I’m too tired.

  She felt his fear and then his anger. Don’t be such a goddamned baby, Emma! Get up! Do I always have to do everything for you? God, you’re a grown woman. When are you going to learn to take care of yourself?

  She had a vague memory of him saying something similar after she thought Jake died. His words stoked her anger. Who the hell did he think he was? She stood and staggered toward the direction of the highway, away from the fire. I never asked you to take care of me, you fucking asshole! Who the hell do you think you are deciding to just leave me with that prick?

  Who knew you’d need an army to babysit you? What in the hell were you thinking, running off?

  She walked another twenty feet before she stopped, grabbing a tree to hold herself up. The fire had become unbearably hot, burning her exposed flesh. It was gaining on her. Did it ever cross your mind to tell me before you left? She hung her head over, coughing out the smoke that invaded her lungs.

  Why are you stopping? You expect me to come in there and save you again? Do I always have to save you from everything?

  Dizziness caused her to stumble. She pulled the front of her dress up over her mouth and nose, hoping to block out some the fumes, but her vision grew fuzzy.

  Sunlight burst through the trees ahead. She was so close. Save me? SAVE ME? Here’s a newsflash for you, Will. I’m fucking saving myself! She continued forward another fifteen feet, the edge still so far, before she tripped and collapsed onto the ground.

  It couldn’t end this way.

  Strong arms scooped her off the ground. For one horrifying moment, she was scared to see who had her. She looked up into Will’s blackened face and released a cry of relief.

  “You did, Princess. You saved yourself.”

  She slumped against his chest as she gave into the darkness.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Will picked Emma off the forest floor, barely recognizing her soot-covered face, her eyes wide until she looked up at him. She collapsed into his chest, her body growing limp. He carried her to his car parked on the highway shoulder and shoved the car door open. Placing her in the front seat, he stripped off the backpack that still hung over her shoulder, tossing it into the backseat. When she didn’t stir from the movement, he gripped her wrist, taking a deep breath before he checked for a pulse. Her vein thrummed faintly into his thumb, her breathing shallow. He grabbed a bottle of water and poured it onto a t-shirt from his bag, trying to wash the black soot off her face. His hands shook as he swiped, only smearing it and making it worse.

  He cast a glance to the inferno racing to the forest edge, still in disbelief that she’d created it. Good God, what had she done? She was lucky she made it out alive.

  What if I hadn’t reached her in time?

  Sirens shrieked in the distance and he knew he needed to get away, yet unsure where to go. If these people, whichever group they were, could find her here, James’s house wasn’t safe. And neither was James.

  He started the car, heading to the cabin as he called James. “I found her.”

  “Amazing. Where?”

  “You’ll never believe me. I’m almost to your house. If they found her here, you’re not safe. You need to come with us.”

  “You’re only saying that because you need me.”

  “That, too.”

  James swore. “I’ve got a life, you know. Clients. I’m supposed to just walk away from that over a—”

  “Only for a few days, maybe a week. Just until they’ve realized she moved on.”

  James sighed. “Fine, I’ll start throwing things together.”

  “Thanks, man. I owe you.”

  “You have no idea.”

  Highway patrol cars flew past Will from the opposite direction. He stopped on the shoulder and watched them zoom toward the town he’d left behind. Casting a quick glance to Emma, he pulled back onto the road. Her head slumped to the side, her breathing still shallow. She hadn’t come to and it scared the shit out of him. If it was smoke inhalation, she needed a hospital, but if it was from whatever happened in the forest…

  He wasn’t sure what she’d done, but the energy that saturated his mind through their mental connection had almost fried his brain. If he hadn’t pulled back in time, they’d probably both be dead.

  When she healed him, she had glowed, a bright yellow light emitting from her body like an aura. Energy had burst from her hand into his body. It had to take a massive amount of power to create the firestorm in the woods. And it came from inside her. No wonder she’d been too tired to walk. She probably had nothing left.

  She needed food and he wondered when she’d eaten last. He’d know if he hadn’t left her. Brushing a blackened strand of hair off her forehead, his fingers trailed down her cheek.

  She stirred as his hand left her face.

  After Emma healed him, she told him her headache went away with his touch. Had she said that to make him feel better or had it really happened?

  He turned down James’s gravel road and slammed to halt in front of the house. Unbuckling their seat belts, he pulled her over onto his lap. Her head leaned against his chest, her legs draped over the center console. He tilted back her head and cupped her cheek.

  “Emma, you’re safe. I need you to wake up.”

  She moaned as her eyelids twitched.

  It was working.

  “Come on, darlin’. I need you to wake up. I need you.” He pressed his lips into her forehead, tasting smoke and perspiration. His eyes sank closed and he pulled her closer, his hand trailing down to her neck and resting on her chest. He needed her more than he’d ever needed anything in his life.

  “There you go again, always trying to feel me up,” she murmured, her voice raspy.

  He lifted his head to look into her eyes. “Thank God,” he exhaled.

  “About time you showed up,” she said before she coughed, leaning forward to catch her breath.

  “Well, you know, better late than never.”

  He held her against his chest, his arms wrapped tight around her, needing to feel her warmth an affirmation that she was alive.

  Her body wracked with coughing. He pushed the door open and carried her out of the car to get fresh air into her lungs.

  “Will, put me down. I can walk.”

  He considered protesting but dropped her legs. Her body slid down the front of his until her feet touched the ground, yet he couldn’t bring himself to let go of her.

  “This scene might be a bit more
touching if you two didn’t look like you’d been rolling around in charcoal.” James said from the porch. “What the fuck happened?”

  “There was a fire.”

  “No shit. The police scanner is lit up with it. I suppose you had something to do with it.”

  “Trust me,” Will said, leading Emma to the porch. “You don’t want to know.”

  James raised his eyebrows.

  “Why are we here?” Emma stopped at the bottom of the steps before breaking out into another round of coughing. “I’m not staying here with him.”

  Will tightened his arm around her waist. “Emma, we’re not staying here. We’re going to take a shower and leave.”

  She conceded, allowing him to usher her into the house, past James. Will shot him a glare, warning him to keep his mouth shut. James shook his head and chuckled.

  Will took her into the bathroom and had her sit on the side of the bathtub. The short walk zapped what little strength she had and her body swayed until she leaned her head against the tile wall.

  “Emma?”

  “I’m so tired,” she mumbled.

  She needed food. He ran into the kitchen and made a sandwich and returned to the bathroom to find her slumped against the wall.

  “Emma, I brought you a sandwich. You need to eat, okay? Just a little bit,” he said, raising it to her mouth.

  To his relief, she grabbed it and took several bites and seemed to regain some strength.

  “You eat the rest while I go pack our stuff, okay?” He stood and watched her, waiting for her reaction.

  She gave him a small smile. “Go. I’m fine. You’re just across the hall.”

  He gave her a long look before he walked out and shut the door.

  ***

  Emma still couldn’t believe Will had found her. How had he done it? As much as she hated to admit it, she’d be dead if he hadn’t shown up when he did.

  Thinking about what she’d done turned the lumps of sandwich in her stomach to stones. Had she killed those men? She had no choice, not that she even understood what she’d done. Where had that come from?

  The pendant.

  She stood up and stared in the mirror, hardly recognizing herself. Her face was almost completely black, spots smeared where Will had rubbed against her. Her clothes were covered in soot. She smelled like a bonfire. But the pendant glowed a fiery reddish-orange against her chest. She wondered how Will had recognized her in the forest, but she suspected there weren’t many women running for their lives in the woods. Her heart lurched. Maybe there were. What if she’d hurt other people by what she had done?

  Raphael had told her she’d gain other powers. Who knew it would include throwing massive fireballs? That wasn’t true, either. A glowing orb came out of her, not flames. She looked down at her hands, turning her palms over in amazement. How could her hands cause so much destruction? She turned on the faucet, wringing them in the water. Raising her gaze to the mirror, she stared into the face of a woman she didn’t recognize. Evidence of her crime covered her body, the river of tears streaming down her cheeks a poor penance for her deeds.

  Her power was a harbinger of death.

  The room closed in and the smell of smoke and grime made her gag. She turned on the water and stripped off her clothes, tossing them into the trash can. Stepping under the scalding water, she sobbed as the water washed away the soot but not her guilt. Then Will’s arms were around her, holding her naked body to his, his lips finding her face, chasing away the demons that haunted her.

  How could she have considered leaving him?

  Her hands reached for his cheeks, pulling his mouth to hers, desperate. Why was she always so desperate for him? Shouldn’t that tell her how much she needed him?

  He responded to her demands, with an urgency of his own. She knew he’d been terrified of losing her. She felt it through their connection in the woods. She’d just never realized how strongly he felt.

  It eased her conscience as her body persuaded his to give her what she needed. She selfishly needed him, reassuring her of his love even when she couldn’t give it to him in return. This had to be enough. It was all she was capable of giving.

  Her fingers entwined in his hair and he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, her back against the cold tile wall. She didn’t care; she couldn’t wait. She needed him now.

  She opened her eyes to see his piercing her own as he entered her, fierce and possessive.

  “Will.” She dug her fingers into his back as she held on.

  Her cry caused his own guttural response, bruising her shoulder blades against the wall from the assault. She clung to him until they came together in a knot of limbs and tongues. As she spiraled down to reality, she found herself holding onto him by his hair.

  She watched for his reaction.

  Tenderness.

  He grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her lightly, a sharp contradiction to the frenzy they just experienced. He pulled back, looking into her eyes, the love so evident it drenched her. He pulled her head to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around her back as the water pelted their bodies.

  “Don’t ever scare me like that again,” he said.

  She tilted her head to look up at him and smiled. “I’ll try not to.”

  They finished in the shower and dressed. Will grabbed their bag and carried it outside where James waited in the swing, his foot resting on the porch rail.

  “I would’ve loaded the car, but you never said which one we were going to take, yours or my truck.”

  “We?” Emma asked.

  Will’s brow furrowed. “James isn’t safe here right now. If they know we’re this close, they might make the connection and find him. Besides, he can help.”

  He was right but she refused to acknowledge it so she fumed in silence.

  “We still didn’t answer the ‘yours or mine’ question,” James said.

  “Neither,” Emma said. “I have a car we can use.”

  Both men turned to her, eyes wide.

  “Trust me, we want it. It’s a bulletproof Lexus. We just have to get it.”

  James turned to Will, his mouth sagging. “Do I want to know where she got a bulletproof Lexus?”

  “She’s always been resourceful.” Will mumbled as he walked down the steps.

  She could see he was curious himself but refrained from asking. She’d have to tell him at some point, but she’d put it off as long as possible.

  “Come on, we’ll take the Camaro and ditch it where the Lexus is parked, if we can recover it.”

  Emma gave him directions to the repair shop and the three rode in silence. When they passed the still-burning forest, James’s eyes fixed on the scene, casting a quick glance at Emma before turning back. But Emma had seen the emotion behind his eyes and her blood slowed in her veins.

  Fear.

  She tried to avert her gaze from the flashing red lights of the emergency vehicles lining the highway. The pendant warmed her chest while her horror chilled her blood.

  She had caused this.

  The Lexus was still in the lot, undisturbed. Will decided that the least suspicious move would be to go inside and tell them that the Camaro needed work. He also hoped to get information about the fire.

  James and Emma got out of the car as Will started for the door. He stopped and grabbed Emma’s arm. “Maybe you should come inside with me.” His jaw locked as his eyes darted around the lot.

  She reached up on tiptoes and kissed him lightly. “I’m okay. Just hurry up and let’s get out of here.”

  He nodded and disappeared inside.

  Emma smoldered as she watched James heft a bag out of the trunk. Just the thought of being around him indefinitely turned her stomach.

  James saw her glare and lifted his mouth into a snide grin. “I’m not any more excited about this than you are.” He turned his gaze to the road. “You’re a helluva lot of trouble and I’m not even getting laid for the effort.”

  “Excuse
me?”

  His eyes pierced hers, full of hatred. “You’re fucking up his life and I intend to do everything to get him out of your train wreck.”

  Will walked out of the building and she bit back the response on her tongue.

  Will looked around again. “We’re set. Let’s go.”

  Emma climbed into the backseat and Will stood outside, confused. “What are you doing? James can sit in the back.”

  “I’m tired, so I’ll sit back here and nap. You and James can sit in front.” She cringed at the thought of James behind her, sharpening the blade he planned to stab into her back.

  Will tossed the keys to James. “You drive, I’ll sit in the back with Emma.” He climbed into the back and wrapped his arm around Emma’s back, pulling her head to his chest.

  James shook his head and pulled onto the highway, past the billowing smoke that rolled from the trees. “We’re going to South Dakota, I presume.”

  “Yep.” Will looked into the forest. “The mechanic said they haven’t figured out the source of the fire. They think it was some kind of explosion, but they don’t have any clue what caused it. He said they’d already found the bodies of six armed men, although the fire’s still burning so I suspect they’ll probably find more. The dead bodies aren’t public information yet. He got it from a friend of a friend.”

  Breath stuck in Emma’s throat. She’d killed six men and probably more. That planned to kill you. She reminded herself but it didn’t make her feel any better. How many men had she killed? Was she so callous she’d lost count?

  “They must be getting desperate to send men in broad daylight so close to town.” Will said under his breath. “They’re sure it’s connected to the gunshots and high-speed chase early this morning.”

  “Shit.” James murmured, shaking his head. “What the fuck has this girl done?”

  “It’s more like what she’s capable of doing. I have a feeling they now know she’s more than they expected.”

  “Hey, I’m right here!” Emma protested, but she trembled with the thought that Warren or the Cavallo knew about her now. They’d hunt her down even more aggressively.