by C. B. Haight
“I don’t know,” Cade answered honestly.
“We have to find out. I’m not sure I could forgive myself if he died. He was there the whole time I was connected to Jarrett. Maybe we could’ve found a way to save him but didn’t because I didn’t figure it out. We have to find out, Cade.”
He knew she was right, and he felt the same way despite what Jarrett recently told him about Cody’s alliances. He’d kept that to himself. Like Jarrett, he saw no reason to upset everyone before they knew the facts.
“We’ll keep trying,” he promised her.
“I’m supposed to help him. I don’t think I would have seen him otherwise. Only, I don’t know how to.”
He drew her in tighter and tugged the covers around them. “I’ll talk to Jeffery again in the morning and see if he’s come up with a new idea, but for now, let’s get some sleep.”
“You’re right. It’s been such a good day, and I’m spoiling it. I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. You’re worried; so am I, but we can’t do any more than we already are. We can’t help him if we go in before we’re ready. We’ll only get ourselves killed. In the meantime, we will keep looking for a way to reach him,” he insisted.
She nodded against his chest.
Cade reached over to flick off the old lamp on the table, bathing the room in darkness. Closing his eyes, he continued to play with her hair until he felt her relax against him. Plagued by thoughts of Cody, worry for Collett, and puzzling out The Faction’s leader, Niall; Cade eventually drifted off to sleep.
Collett smelled the salty sea and heard the waves below her. She felt wind against her cheeks, and she heard rumbling thunder in the sky.
Turning, she looked up at the sky and searched for lightning. Instead, she saw a familiar image. Horror gripped her upon seeing it again. Above her, a man screamed in ear-splitting agony as he writhed about in midair against whatever was causing his pain. Then she watched, helpless, as he fell to the earth.
Panic gripped her even though she knew it was a dream. It was one she’d had before, a dream in which she watched Cade die. Only this time, as she rushed over to the man on the ground, she knew it wasn’t Cade. Even before she looked at the man lying amid the tall grasses, staring unblinking up at her with accusation in his eyes, Collett understood the tortured man was Jarrett.
Collett realized that the dream had not changed since the first time this premonition haunted her. She simply knew Jarrett now, and she recognized the differences between the two brothers. Her vision of Cade dying this horrible death was, in fact, a vision of his twin, and a sense of utter failure gripped her.
She heard a comforting, accented voice in her head, “They are the answer to your question.”
Heart pounding and gasping for breath, Collett jerked awake. Normally a very light sleeper, Cade didn’t even stir. Brushing her hair aside, Collett rose. She took Cade’s shirt from the chair by the bed and, putting it on, padded over to the window. She folded her arms tightly and stared into the night sky, trying to understand why the vision came back.
If Cynda and the others were right and she had precognition along with her other abilities, there had to be a reason she saw this a second time. She felt a strong sense that she was somehow supposed to prevent it, but how? Jarrett was far more capable than her. If an unknown force caused him that much agony, then how could she possibly stop it?
Grabbing the throw at the bottom of the bed, she curled up in the window seat, spending the better part of the night trying to force herself to remember. What question? she thought.
What only felt like minutes later, a warm hand rested on her cheek. Opening her tired eyes, she blinked against the sunlight that streamed through the window where she must have fallen asleep.
She looked at Cade, who wore a worried expression on his face and asked, “Bad dream?”
“No,” she answered, unwilling to tell him what she had seen.
He gave her a skeptical look as if he didn’t believe her.
“I couldn’t sleep is all. I spent the night trying to remember,” she explained, offering him part of the truth at least.
He kissed her brow lightly. “Don’t force it. You’ll remember when you’re meant to.”
“What if I can’t? I know I’ve said it doesn’t matter, but I can’t help thinking that none of this would be happening if I had my memories.”
“I fought against members of The Faction long before I met you. The way I see it, they would have eventually come after me anyway.”
He sat down next to her. “Because I met you, I have Jarrett back in my life, we have a chance to end The Faction once and for all, and more importantly, I have you as my wife. Really, there are more good things than bad.”
“And what about Tracy, James, and Ashley? What about Jenny? What about Cody?” she asked.
“Tracy, James, and Ashley are fine. So what if their lives are a little disrupted. They’re alive and well, and together. That’s more than a lot of people can say. What happened to Jenny and what’s happening to Cody is wrong, no doubt about it, but that’s why this is important. There are so many other Cody’s and Jenny’s that we can help if we end Niall’s reign over them. You know that. It’s just hard because it’s personal.”
“I can’t help thinking about it. What they did to him, what they’re doing still—”
“We’ll figure out a way to get to him,” he promised, not knowing if it was even possible.
Resigned, she stood. “I guess we better get downstairs. Jarrett’s likely already waiting.”
He scooped her up and made his way to the bed. “I think we have some time yet.”
Collett read his thoughts and knew his motives were not all selfish. Cade wanted to delay training to distract her from her worry and protect her from unnecessary pain. She smiled and loved him more for the effort. “He’s not going to be happy with us if we aren’t downstairs on time.”
“He’ll have to get over it. I have something much better to do right now,” Cade replied, grinning wickedly.
Niall examined his handy work. Cody was barely recognizable. They’d drugged him to keep the pain down so she couldn’t sense or find him until Niall wanted her to. It was easy enough to cut off her connection when he was around, but he couldn’t be here constantly. He had pressing obligations. Niall had an organization to run, people to kill, and plans to finish.
Nonetheless, he’d been instructing them on how to inflict the most possible pain without killing the boy. For this event, he wanted Cody coherent. A thousand years of experience offered him knowledge of exactly how to hurt him while still making him usable. He also knew exactly how contact her now that he knew she’d been visiting Cody. Victor stood with him today, and Niall noticed he couldn’t even look at the prisoner. Niall was pleased with his response.
When Victor first returned without that traitor, Jarrett, in tow, Niall became furious. Then Victor confirmed through choking gasps that The Hunter, his Hunter, had teamed up with his twin and Collett. Niall still considered killing Victor purely for the satisfaction—until he told him about Collett’s visit to Cody. In that instant, everything changed. Niall finally had a way to bring her to him, and when he did, he would end her once and for all. The traitor would be an added bonus.
“Everything’s ready, sir.”
“Wake him then,” Niall ordered.
Training started much later than Jarrett would have liked, and after a quick lunch, the group took too long to regroup. A call from Cynda and Rederrick’s children during lunch had created quite a buzz. Jenny began talking in her sleep today. From what he gathered, the housekeeper was asking for Sam, her deceased husband. The doctor’s felt any change was a good sign. Plus, she was moving more instead of simply lying still. She would jerk slightly or twitch her fingers.
Jarrett found it hard to care. His concerns were here, and he knew nothing of this woman besides what they kept telling him. It wasn’t that he was callus, but they were runnin
g out of time. That, coupled with the fact that Collett was making strong progress, made him anxious to get back to work. His annoyance showed through, even though he tried hard to hide it.
He snapped at the group twice already, and he knew he was being more ruthless against Collett. So when she fell to her knees after he struck her lightly on her ribs, he let go of a low growl. “Get up!” She didn’t move. Even though he’d become more tempered over the last month, today was pushing him to his limits. He strode around to face her. “Get—” the demanding words died in his throat. “Cade!”
Collett’s eyes were open, but she stared unblinking at nothing. Cade and the others came running, and seeing her that way sent panic coursing through his brother. He rushed to her, but Jarrett pulled him back. “Don’t touch her!”
Looking at him incredulously and trying to push him aside, Cade snapped, “We should get her inside!”
“Look!” Jarrett snarled and pushed back. “Look at her. She’s breathing like we taught her. She’s concentrating and in control, for now. If you touch her, you’ll break her concentration. She’ll absorb your emotions.”
“I have a better idea,” Jeffery stated. “Let’s try to find out if we can see what she sees.”
Jarrett scowled. “How?”
“Nate, go get the salt. Cynda—”
“Got it; I’ll take the left,” she said while using her feet to cut a line in the snow.
“Cade,” Jeffery called, “you make a line on the right, like the triangle we used to find Jarrett. Rederrick?”
“Already there, I’ll make the bottom.”
“We have to hurry,” Jeffery insisted.
Jarrett watched in fascination as they worked in sync to draw a triangle in the snow around Collett. Nate came out right away and began dumping salt in the lines. Jeffery took a place at the top point and began moving his body in a sort of Ti Chi like dance.
“We don’t have any of his blood,” Cade expressed with concern.
“We won’t need it; she’s already connected,” Jeffery told him, not breaking his rhythm.
Cynda stood at another point, and Cade knelt beside Collett.
“There are enough of you to lend us strength and still stay balanced,” Jeffery said. “Pair up and take a point.”
Delphene stood on the remaining spot near Jarrett, and he took an uneasy step toward her while Nate took a spot near Jeffery, and Rederrick joined Cynda.
“Jarrett, take it off,” Jeffery ordered.
“Excuse me?” he snapped back.
“Take off whatever it is you have that blocks magic. It won’t work if you don’t.”
Jarrett hesitated.
“C’mon, Chère, trust goes two ways,” Delphene taunted.
Jarrett reluctantly reached under his shirt and pulled out the green amulet that hung at his neck. He stared at it. Then in an act of trust greater than any he’d displayed in over a hundred years, Jarrett pulled the chain over his head, giving away his final secret. He dropped it on the ground behind the line of salt. Immediately, he found himself in a cloudy, misty place where he could hardly make out the people around him.
He could see a surgical table and a battered, broken boy that lay atop it. A big, burly half demon stood nearby with a sharp instrument in his hand. Looking at the horrid condition of the young man on the table made Jarrett marvel that he was still alive, much less awake.
Then, without seeing her, he heard Collett speak, “It’s okay, Cody. Tell me what they want from you.”
“I don’t want to help him,” he said in stuttering, pain-filled words.
“I know, but you can tell me. I’ll be careful,” she cajoled in a soothing tone.
The burly man standing near him began to lower the tool again. Fear erupted in the swollen, disfigured expression of the young boy, and he began weakly struggling against his bonds.
“Please! Cody, you can tell me. Don’t let them hurt you anymore!”
“I…don’t—” he began to say, but it changed to a grunt and a moan as the man cut him.
For a minute, everything went black and Jarrett thought they lost the image, but then it came back. Unable to watch Cody’s torment, Collett had shut her eyes.
“Cody, tell me. I won’t get hurt; I’m stronger now. Please, tell me,” she begged him.
“He’ll kill you all…” Cody ground out through his teeth.
“It’s alright, tell me what he wants.”
“To talk.”
“To talk?”
“He— he says he can tell you—who you are,” Cody managed to say.
Unsure of how to respond, Collett said nothing.
“He says,” Cody paused to pant through the pain, “if you’ll come talk… come talk to … to him. Then he’ll. . . let me. . . go with you.”
“Okay Cody, that’s good. We’ll go together. What else does he say?”
Cody rolled his head. “If—if you don’t…”
“If I don’t what?” she encouraged gently.
“Come. . . he’ll keep hurting me, and—” Cody gasped and coughed, and the pain the movement caused him was evident to anyone watching. “If I—if I die. . . he’ll find someone else…”
“Alright, Cody, we’ll come; I’ll come. Where, where should I go?” Collett urged.
“Don’t—don’t go. Please,” he began crying desperately, and guilt poured from him in waves.
The big man began to lean again. No, she thought, no more!
“Cody! Cody, where do I go?” she shouted at him. “You have to tell me.”
“What?” He seemed confused for a minute.
“Where? Tell me where to go.”
“Go… he says go… to… to P-p-patrick’s P...” Cody struggled over every word and even groaned at the end.
“We’re going to find you. We’re coming,” she assured him to sooth his pain and panic. “Where Cody? Who’s Patrick?” she questioned with a smooth, kind voice despite feeling his trembling throughout her own body. Fortunately, the pain was muted. She knew he was hurting, knew where the wounds were and how bad, but it wasn’t overpowering her like it had in the past. She attributed it to Jarrett and his focus techniques.
“The cliffs. Go back to the cl. . . The Point. . .” His words were mumbled now. He was losing consciousness.
“What cliffs?”
“Don’t—” he started to say, but Collett could feel him drifting away.
“Cody, wake up. Which cliffs?”
“Go back… don’t—go,” he pleaded incoherently.
Collett felt herself losing the connection. Her clarity was wavering. “Hold on Cody, we’ll find you!” she promised, hoping he could hear her. “Please, just hold on.”
The next thing she knew, Collett found herself looking into Cade’s compassionate eyes while her body shook.
“I know,” Cade assured her before she could explain anything. “We saw.” She looked around to see everyone staring at her with grim, sad expressions.
With tears streaming down her cheeks, Collett wrapped her arms around Cade. “We have to help him.”
Jarrett knew, as did everyone else, that they were out of time.
Chapter 29
Everything moved swiftly after that. None of them could see the horror of something that terrible and ignore it. Within an hour, the group managed to figure out Cody’s reference to Patrick’s Point. He spoke of the cliffs in Northern California near the coastline. Within a day, transportation—via Darrin from Texas—was arranged.
Two days after Collett’s connection to Cody, they all sat in a tiny hospital room at Fort Carson. They made the added stop in Colorado upon Cynda’s insistence. Cynda refused to go to California without seeing her children and Jenny… just in case.
None in the group held any illusions about what they were going into. They recognized Niall’s excuse of wanting to talk as the lie it was, and they knew this meeting could go badly as quickly as it could succeed. They hoped the latter would happen, and they all fiercel
y clung to the hope that it would.
In Colorado, everyone managed to think positively, and Cynda and Rederrick carefully instructed their children while maintaining the belief that they would see them in a few days. All three of their grown children protested the choice to leave them behind and argued vehemently that their presence could possibly turn the tide. In the end, it was Rederrick’s plea that they remain behind and be ready to fight should they fail at Patrick’s point that ended any further arguments.
During the trip, Collett noticed a few positive things and held them in her heart as closely as she could to try to replace the images of Cody’s suffering. She watched how many times Nate stole Ashley away, and she considered the growing feelings that trickled from them as a good sign. She saw how Jarrett interacted with the others in the group, including James and Tracy, whom he’d never met. She noticed that Cade and Jarrett comfortably moved around and conversed with each other. The tense feelings they once shared were gone. All these things encouraged her in this desperate time, and she had faith that, despite the dangers, it all must have happened for a reason.
All too soon, she found herself watching Rederrick and Cynda embrace their children and offer tearful goodbyes. Both parents silently worried whether they would make it back to see them again. She felt the same feelings they felt, shared the same thoughts they had, and prayed that, no matter what, this family could be together again soon, whole and complete.
Three days after her vision in the woods, Collett sat in yet another rented SUV with Cade and Jarrett cruising down the winding curves of Highway One in Northern California on their way to Patrick’s Point. She was keeping herself as open as possible in an effort to connect to Cody again, and as a result, she could sense Cade and Jarrett’s thoughts and impressions. She smiled at how close their thoughts aligned.
Jarrett kept thinking how great it would be to drive along this road on his bike. He imagined how he could open her up and race down the winding curves with the wind rushing all around him. Cade was thinking much the same, but his mind went to the little black Camaro that Rederrick kept for him instead. He thought about the speeds at which he could zip in and out of every turn and how, right now, it would be the perfect release.