“Hey, the fight is back there.”
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Finish the fight. I’ve got a lot riding on this!”
Voices bombarded me as I pushed through the crowd and veered and wiggled through the mob blocking my getaway. Shouts reverberated out from the speakers, but it was all white noise to me, my heartbeat thumping in my ears.
Fingers grazed my elbow, a body moved in close behind me. “I’m looking forward to killing you, like I did your human partner,” the voice mocked in my ear. My neck twisted to see a man with long blond hair and blue eyes behind me.
Maxen. The fae who killed Daniel.
He reached out for me, his hand brushed across my shoulder blades. I twisted and curved in a different direction, ducking between two large men and knocking over their beers. Cold liquor dumped down my shirt, the sharp tang rising up my nose. They turned, yelling at me, blocking Maxen’s direct path to me.
A small victory, but I was grateful for any extra moment I could break away from them. I looked up to see the exit sign only yards away.
They would pursue me to the ends of the Earth, but if I got through the doors, at least I had the chance to lose them in the streets, dissolving in the evening darkness and between the fortresses of buildings. I barreled for the doorway. The density of people thinned a little, and I impelled my legs toward my escape. Whatever Maria injected in my system pumped into my feet, driving them harder into the ground. The taste of hope dusted my tongue. Only a few more feet, Zoey. You can do this.
Suddenly several of Garrett’s men stepped in front of the door, blocking my way. Panic boiled in my head as I peered around seeing another group coming in behind me. Shit! They were surrounding me. Noooo! A bellowed scream shook inside my head. I would not let Garrett beat Ryker this way. I would not be his downfall. I would do anything to protect him.
Something deep in me broke. Pain and fire combusted inside, taking me to my knees with a cry. A scorching inferno sliced throughout my body, like a hundred branding tools. My back hit the concrete and my head bounced on the ground, but I didn’t feel anything but the scalding lava. It expanded, consuming every inch, until I thought I would melt.
“Grab her,” a voice yelled, and figures moved for me.
I’m sorry, Ryker.
The room spun and my lids fastened together as everything whirled around me. A scream budded at my lips, but nothing came out. All my senses disappeared, and I felt like I was no longer in my body.
Then a tsunami of emotions and sensations flooded back in, and I screamed. My eyes shut from the onslaught of pain. The roar of the crowd exploded then went silent.
TWENTY-TWO
The heat quickly evaporated, and I felt myself gasp for air. I could tell I was lying on a floor. Uneven wood planks dug into my shoulder blades. My lashes fluttered open and my vision adjusted, focusing clearly on a chipped white ceiling.
“Holy fuck,” a deep voice spoke from somewhere close to me.
“What?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Look,” the man said.
There was a squeak of metal. “La naiba!” The woman swore, her voice coming from somewhere above me. “You better go get him.”
I rolled my head toward the speaker. Sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning over, a stunningly beautiful woman with plum-colored hair stared at me. A sensation of familiarity tickled in my mind.
I knew her.
The animosity I felt for her was instant, but it was diluted with so much jealousy. I knew she was not a physical threat to me.
“Yeah.” A man’s face peered over me. His dark hair, eyes, and beard hit a memory. I also recognized him.
Pirate, was my first thought at seeing him.
“Damn, she looks like she’s been beaten up. A lot.”
“Go.” The violet-haired beauty pointed to the door. “If he finds out we didn’t go get him the minute she returned, he will kick both our asses.”
The man frowned. “She’s human. I don’t see what has his panties in such a twist. But if her being back makes him a tad more pleasant, I’ll take it.”
“It’s not her. It’s because of the powers.” Hurt colored the woman’s face and words.
The pirate man snorted. “Okay, Mar. You keep holding on to your delusions.” He turned and left the room.
The woman’s eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at the ceiling and let out a long exhale. Then she unfolded herself off the bed and came to my side. “Can you sit?”
I stared at her.
“Zoey?” Her voice was sharp and rung crisp in my ears. “Hey,” she shouted at me again. Loose strands of indigo tresses trickled my arm. Her hair is so beautiful. Unlike mine, her hue was naturally that color. There is a reason my hair is a similar color as hers, I know it.
“Zoey!” A hard slap zinged across my cheek. Like being dunked in ice water, my mind was shocked out of its anesthetized state, letting images and memories flood back in.
Holy shit.
I was back in Peru, in the room I shared with Sprig and Ryker.
Ryker! My heart screamed, and I lurched to my feet.
Amara stepped away, startled by my sudden movement. “Are you all right?”
“I’m back.” Relief teetered on the cusp, hoping it was not a dream. I grabbed Amara’s arm. “You’re real.”
She eyed me skeptically. “Yeah.”
I dropped her arm, curling over myself as happiness gripped my air passages. “I’m back,” I cried with relief and joy. The fire in my veins had relinquished its hold, but I could feel it was replaced with a heavier presence—Ryker’s powers. Whatever barrier I had been keeping around them, protecting them from me, had shattered into a million pieces.
The last time Maria inserted a needle in my arm, I was able to jump the next day. Once again whatever she gave me seemed to prompt Ryker’s abilities to acclimate to me. This time it was for good.
“What happened to—” Amara’s sentence trailed off as the sound of footsteps bound up the stairs.
“Zoey!”
Ryker.
The door swung open, and the enormous Viking pushed into the room and stopped. He stood in the entry, his gaze locked on me. Croygen stood behind him, his expression bemused.
Breath evaporated from my throat. I wanted to run to him, but the feel of Amara’s eyes boring into me kept my feet in place.
“Bhean,” Sprig squealed from Ryker’s shoulder and scrambled down, running for me. I bent down and picked him up. His tiny arms wrapped around my neck. “Sprite-spit, I’ve missed you. Don’t ever leave us again.”
“I missed you too.” I hugged Sprig, but my eyes were latched on Ryker’s.
His white eyes roamed over me, and his feet moved till they were flush with mine. His hand clutched my cheek. “You’re hurt.”
“I’ll heal.” I swallowed over the lump in my throat. Ryker dropped his arm back to his side. Seeing Ryker, feeling the warmth of his body near mine, made me want to throw my arms around him, feel his wrap around me, and never let go. But neither of us moved.
“Where have you been?” he whispered. His fingers twitched, coming back for my face, but he stopped himself, guiding them through his hair.
“Seattle.” I already wanted to forget every memory of the place. But I made a promise to a girl, a girl who would think I simply up and ran, leaving her my promise behind. “It’s a long story, and I will tell you everything. But the most important thing right now is I saw Garrett. He knows. He almost caught me... and he saw me jump.”
Ryker shifted back, a wall falling between us. “Garrett saw you jump? If you could use the magic, why didn’t you come back here sooner? How could you leave me... us like that?” Ryker motioned between him and Sprig. “We thought you were stranded somewhere. Hurt. Not able to get back.”
“I was.”
Ryker ignored me, continuing with his rant. “The only reason I didn’t think you were dead was because I still didn’t have my powers back. I was sur
e if you didn’t come back, it was because you couldn’t.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I was helpless. I couldn’t sense you anymore. I had no idea where you went, and I couldn’t leave in case you came back here.”
I smacked his chest, his mouth clicked shut, almost like I hit his reset button. “Shut up, and I will explain.”
He breathed in, waiting.
“When I jumped from here, for some reason I went to Marcello’s warehouse.”
“He’s still alive?”
“Uh... yes, but Maria is now running it. Actually, a man named Duc is.” I waved my hand. “Not important right now. Maria caught me. Their underground fighting ring has expanded. I was unable to jump or glamour and was forced back in...” Ryker knew of my fame as the Avenging Angel. He seemed to understand what it meant for me to be caught by them again. “Garrett was at the fight.”
Ryker lifted his finger and gently touched my broken lip, his frame protectively curved over me. Amara rustled next to me, and Ryker stepped back. I looked between them, feeling my jealousy growing. What happened while I was gone? Did she convince him they should be together again? Did he sleep with her? I shook my head, deposing the thoughts. This was not the time.
“Seeing him triggered me to jump again.” I gulped, staring at my feet. “And there is something else you should know.”
The room was silent. Sprig clung to my neck, causing sweat to build along my throat. Amara and Croygen watched me, waiting for my words. Ryker’s entire physique was rigid, his jaw rolling with aggression.
I anchored myself, taking a deep breath. “I have them now.”
“You have what?” Amara folded her arms.
My regard caught Ryker’s, his gaze really sinking into me. I was about to change everything between us. A couple of words, and I would have my murderer standing across from me, no longer my friend.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he let his head fall forward. “I know.”
“What happened?” Amara’s gaze ping-ponged between us.
“She has my powers, Mara.”
“She’s had your powers for months now.”
“No. She has them completely. As they are no longer mine. Not unless I kill her.”
“Then do it.” Amara threw her arm up toward Ryker. “Because now she is killing you.”
“Amara,” Ryker growled.
“Kill Bhean?” Sprig peeled away from my neck, sitting back on my shoulder. “Are you serious? You would never do that, right?”
Ryker licked his lip and stared at the ground.
“He has to,” I stated to Sprig, not letting myself think of or feel what it really meant.
“Well, tough imp jerky! You don’t have your powers,” Sprig screeched. “Deal with it.”
“Sprig.” I placed my hand on his paw, trying to calm him. “It’s the only way to get them back. He will slowly die without them, and I already am.”
I already am. The words rang in my own ears. If I were dying, why did I feel the exact opposite? I felt healthy. More alive than before. No headaches. My fingers went to my nose. It wasn’t bleeding. Was that because his abilities had fully acclimated to me now? My mind reflected back to every nosebleed I’d had since obtaining his powers in Seattle.
They only came when I jumped. No other time.
What if I weren’t dying, and my symptoms had more to do with my body responding to the magic?
No. I couldn’t go there. It probably wasn’t even true. I shoved the thought away. I didn’t want to hope for something I couldn’t know for sure. He had to kill me to get his powers back. The only thing making this a tad easier for him was the fact I was dying anyway.
Daniel had said seers were immune. They lost my fellow experiment brothers and sisters because we could not be saved. They had already tested Sera and me, and we hadn’t responded to fae blood.
A gasp throttled my throat.
Oh no.
“What?” Ryker moved back to me. “Are you all right?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I need to use the restroom.” What I really needed was to run.
Ryker didn’t believe me, but he let me go without a word. I placed Sprig on the bed and dashed for the bathroom, slamming the door.
I went to the mirror. My refection showed a girl who had been beaten a few days ago when it actually had been fifteen minutes prior. My hair was filthy, still sprinkled with glitter Maria put in it. The tips of my fingers explored my healing skin while Daniel’s words came back to me.
“Going through my father’s research, I learned people with the sight, seers, are those rare people who are immune to fae blood. It doesn’t kill you, but you also would not benefit from it either.”
I couldn’t believe I didn’t think of it before. I’m so stupid! It was right in front of my face the whole time. I fell against the door and slid to the floor.
Fae blood.
One word changed everything. Transferring them through blood was not how I got Ryker’s powers. If it was, I probably would have been resilient to it like a normal seer, but I got his powers another way—from a current of electricity charged through Ryker’s body into mine. Transferring them magically to me. Fae magic relocated them into my body, which was more powerful than anything on this Earth, including my DNA.
Deep down, I had known it. I could feel the transformation, the way my body healed like a fae, but I pushed it off with the excuse the change was only superficial. I no longer got tired like I did before I met Ryker. The migraines had lessened and even the nosebleeds were different. I did not want to believe. Everything would be easier if I were dying. Dammit. Even good news flipped on its head and turned on me.
If Ryker didn’t kill me, he would eventually die. The only thing making it easier for either of us was if I were heading there anyway. I placed my head in my hands.
“Zoey?” A tap came on the door. “Are you okay?”
Leaning my head back on the door, I sighed. “Yeah. I. Am.”
The moment I stepped out of the bathroom, the shock of my return had morphed into a strained awkwardness, an unease at us having so much to say, but no one talking. There was a line between me and the three of them now. A familiarity of being in the same room together, a subtle unsaid awareness of each other’s habits I no longer was part of.
Amara’s body language screamed the loudest at my intrusion. A transparent confidence in the way she moved around the room like I had come into her territory, this was her room, and I was invading. She had taken over two of my drawers and some of the closet with her new purchases, and lined the miniature refrigerator with small cartons of milk.
“Can I get you anything?” Amara smiled over sweetly, opening the fridge, offering me a beverage like I was a guest.
“No. I’m good.” I couldn’t fight the strain in my voice.
Her saccharine smile twisted in a smirk. “Let me know if I can.”
We watched each other before she turned away, grabbed a magazine, and flopped back on the bed. “Maybe now we can get back to retrieving the stone. Actually do something.”
Ryker rubbed at his head and sighed, but did not respond. I had the feeling this wasn’t the first time this topic had come up.
“Did you come up with a plan while I was gone?” I asked, glancing around the room at everyone. “How will we deal with Vadik and get Regnus?”
Croygen huffed. “There hasn’t been much accomplished since you left. Let me rephrase that... nothing has been done.” His gaze darted over at Ryker.
“Really?” I responded.
Ryker folded his arms. “You’re surprised?”
“Yeah. A little.” I shrugged. Amara threw up her arms, like See, even she thinks you should have been doing something.
“I’m sorry I was concerned about what happened to you... finding you. Next time I won’t bother.” Anger laced his words.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“What did you mean?” he replied. “Without you it’s a little hard t
o transfer back my powers anyway. And now what is the point? Regnus can’t do anything for us. Not anymore!” He roared, causing both Croygen and Amara to slink back and stay silent.
Not me.
“So you’re going to leave him? Let him be tortured or killed? He can’t help you so fuck him?” I marched over to Ryker. The muscles in his arms twitched as he clenched them across his body harder. “And how do you know he can’t? You’re giving up? Throwing yourself a pity party because you no longer have your powers?” I punched a finger into his chest, only causing it to puff out more. “Strap on a pair!”
“Excuse me?”
“Strap. On. A. Pair,” I repeated, my teeth gritting together.
Fire rolled behind his eyes, his fury pushing the air from the room. We stood only inches apart, our chests heaving.
He took in a long draw through his nose, tipped back on his heels, whipped around, and stormed out of the room. The slam of the door shook the foundation.
Everyone stayed silent for a long time before Sprig’s voice came from the table. “Sorry, only want to know when it’s okay to talk again.” My chin jerked to him. “Too soon? Okay...” He mimicked zipping his lips closed, then quickly unzipped them, shoving a mango chip in his mouth. “Soooo good. Want one?”
I placed my head in my hands, letting a strangled laugh erupt.
Ryker returned an hour later and the friction in the cramped room only continued to rise to astronomical levels. My return didn’t only irritate Amara. Ryker’s concern and relief at my homecoming turned quickly to animosity after our fight. Strangely, Croygen was the one who was pleasant to me, even nice, which did make me suspicious. But I wasn’t about to question the only kindness coming my way. Whatever his reason was—I would take it.
To avoid the hostility from the other two, I took an extra-long hot shower, rinsing my body of filth and blood. I wanted my memories to wash away, too, but there was a girl I would not let myself forget. “I promise I will get back there for you.” I failed Lexie, I would not fail Annabeth. She might hate me for a while thinking I abandoned her, but I would go back and get her, and anyone else who wanted freedom from the Scorpions.
The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) Page 23