In Destiny’s Shadow

by Ingrid Weaver

  He splayed his fingers over her breast. “No one will hurt you. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  “Anthony, stop. I don’t expect your protection. I’m not asking anything, I’m giving. That’s what love is about. I love you.”

  Joy flashed across his face. He looked younger, lighter, as if the shadows around him were lifting. But then his jaw tensed. His gaze turned fierce. “Melina…”

  “I realize this isn’t the best time to talk about this, but I don’t know how much time we have left before they take me back to the lab. I do love you, Anthony. Whatever happens to us, I want you to know that.”

  He was silent for a while. When he spoke again, his voice churned with emotion. “You asked me if I’m sorry we met.”

  “Are you?”

  “I’m only sorry we didn’t meet sooner.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “For most of my life I started each day thinking of how I would kill Benedict. Today I woke up thinking about making love with you.”

  “Oh, Anthony, I wish I hadn’t left. I wanted you so much.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and fell backward, pulling her down on the cot with him. “Do you want me without my power?”

  She stretched out to face him and fitted her body to the length of his. “You’re the same man. It’s not what you can do that I love, it’s who you are.”

  “The connection between us—”

  “The connection?” She kissed his chin. “That’s what you’ve always called it, but I call it love, Anthony. Ordinary, everyday love.”

  “No, Melina. Not ordinary. There isn’t another man on this earth who could love you as much as I do.”

  She tucked his words away in her heart. This wasn’t fair. Why here? Why now? Oh, damn, it wasn’t fair at all. If they didn’t make it out of here…

  She never knew who moved first. One minute they were clinging to each other, the next they had opened zippers and pushed aside clothing, sliding their bodies together in an urgent affirmation of love.

  There were no sparks to dazzle her, nothing but love to enhance the touch of his hands. It was more than enough. More than she’d dreamed of. It was what she hadn’t known she was seeking.

  Anthony held her as the last of the shudders faded, then helped her straighten her clothes. He stroked her hair back and placed his lips over her ear. “I didn’t believe I could feel anything stronger than my hate, but I do. I love you, Melina.”

  She smiled despite the lump in her throat. How could she feel happiness and despair at the same time?

  “If I could change anything about the way we met,” he said, “I would change the reason.”

  “Maybe we would have met anyway, Anthony. Maybe that was our destiny.”

  “All I know for sure is that you’ve shown me there’s more to live for than vengeance….”

  His words trailed off to silence.

  “Anthony?”

  He exhaled slowly, carefully, as if he didn’t want to disturb the air around them. “Melina,” he whispered.

  “What is it?”

  “I can sense the light in the corridor.”

  Chapter 14

  Melina slid her hands to Anthony’s shoulders. She could feel tension hum through his body. A tremor traveled from his shoulders to her palms. The hair at the nape of her neck prickled.

  “It’s high-voltage. I can trace the line.”

  Her pulse thudded. “How?”

  “I don’t know. It just came back. The energy’s flowing into me.”

  The hope that shot through her was so strong, it was painful. Yes. Oh, please, yes! She flattened herself against him, holding him as close as she could.

  A tickle of sensation ran down her spine. Through the layers of their clothing, she felt tiny shocks against her skin. A wave began to build. “What should I do?”

  “You’re doing it, Melina.” He hooked his leg over hers. “Just hold me. Stay with me.”

  “Always, Anthony,” she vowed.

  A breeze swept through the room, bringing the scent of dust and damp rock, making the flame in the lantern flicker. And along with the smell of the cave, there was the scent of pine, of sunshine, of wide open spaces…and perfume.

  Anthony locked his arms around her back. “They made it. They’re here.”

  “Who?”

  “Danielle and Elizabeth. I can feel their presence.”

  “Your sisters? Where?”

  “They’re outside. On top of the cliff.”

  “How did they know—”

  “I asked them for help.”

  Another shock went through her, but it wasn’t only from the power Anthony was gathering. He had asked for help? Anthony? The original lone wolf?

  The lantern flared, sending shadows dancing over the wall. Anthony grunted. “They’re adding their power to mine.”

  The wave changed. It became richer, higher, rocking her the way Anthony had rocked her in his arms. It flowed through her body and into her heart, carrying her upward. She squeezed her eyes shut and clung to him. Sparks burst inside her eyelids.

  “There’s the electric cable. It’s going deep.”

  On the threshold of her hearing, Melina caught a rumble. Like thunder, only slower. Vibrations traveled through the stone floor, making the cot creak, shaking the table, rattling the door. Pressure built behind her eardrums. She flexed her jaw, but the pressure grew along with the wave.

  “Have to knock out the main generator.” Anthony’s voice was hoarse, almost unrecognizable. “Hang on, Melina.”

  The breeze gusted into a wind, tangling Anthony’s hair with her own. The rumble turned to a roar. His body went rigid, straining against hers, with hers, lifting her into a whirlwind of light beyond vision, sound beyond hearing for a quivering, endless heartbeat.

  With a grating moan, Anthony unleashed the energy he had gathered.

  Release smashed through Melina’s senses.

  Steel clanged in the corridor.

  And the door of their cell swung open to total and utter blackness.

  Anthony rolled to the edge of the cot, put his head between his knees and gulped for breath. The energy he’d channeled had left him drained. The force of it was unlike anything he’d experienced before. But he didn’t have time to recover. Every second counted. They were a long way from freedom. They had to move now.

  Melina understood. She fitted her shoulder under his arm and clasped his waist to help him to his feet. She was feeling the aftereffects of the surge almost as much as he was, her cheeks flushed, her hair corkscrewed wildly around her head, her breathing as ragged as his. But together they managed to stay upright. She snatched the lantern from the table as they staggered past, and extended it toward the door.

  The two-foot long piece of steel that had barred the door was lying on the corridor floor. Anthony had never known Elizabeth’s telekinesis to work on anything this heavy or at such a distance. That energy wave he’d felt must have amplified her power along with his. It must have enhanced Danielle’s talent too, because though he could hear the voices of Benedict’s guards in the distance, luckily, this section of the corridor was deserted.

  But there was no time to puzzle over it, much less to marvel. While Melina held the lantern, Anthony closed the door behind them and fitted the steel bar back in place, hoping it would gain them a few more minutes before their escape was discovered.

  “Which way?” she whispered.

  He looked around. Outside the circle of lantern light, the darkness was total. No speck of daylight would seep this far into the cavern system. Although they were only on the second level of the stronghold, they were still a hundred feet from the top of the cliff. He was suddenly aware of the weight of a mountain pressing in from all sides, closing them in, stealing their air….

  He sucked in a deep breath. No. Not now. He had to hold off the panic. The glow of a flashlight appeared at the bend in the corridor to their left. Anthony squeezed Melina’s shoulder and turned to their right.

&nb
sp; It wasn’t the way they had come. The floor sloped downward here, taking them deeper into the cave system. The entrance Anthony had used when he’d arrived was concealed behind one of the trailers at the base of the cliff, but it was heavily guarded, so he didn’t want to risk it. As Melina had once told him, he couldn’t stop bullets. He had to find some other way out and get her to safety. That was his top priority.

  The thought made him stumble. He smacked his hand against the wall to keep his weight off Melina. This route was taking them away from the guards, but it was also taking them farther away from the lab and from Benedict. Anthony knew the chances of getting this close to Benedict again were slim. There might never be a better opportunity to kill him.

  But Anthony had meant what he’d told Melina. He had more to live for now than vengeance. He would never regret choosing this woman over Benedict.

  Anthony took the lantern from Melina and straightened up, the strength returning to his limbs. The corridor branched into three here. Acting on instinct, he again turned to his right, but they went only ten paces before the branch of the corridor ended in a door.

  “That’s like the lock on Benedict’s conference room,” Melina said, pointing to the electronic pad beside the doorframe. “I think it scans his thumbprint.”

  Something flickered on the edge of Anthony’s consciousness. It was a sensation more than a thought, drawing him forward like a candle in a window on a starless night. There was no threat here. The room behind this door wasn’t a dead end, it was an entrance. He sent a pulse of energy to activate the tumblers of the electronic lock, then put his fingertips against the door and pushed it inward.

  Four steps led downward into the blackness. Unlike the marble of the corridor, the floor here was natural stone, as were the walls. The room was empty except for another door at the opposite end.

  He took Melina’s hand and opened the other door. A puff of incense-laden air rolled over them, along with a musty, ancient scent. Anthony extended his senses and scanned the darkness. There was energy here, yet its source wasn’t electrical. It was older and deeper, droning through the very stone that surrounded them. It wouldn’t harm them. He led Melina inside, closed the door and lifted the lantern high.

  The walls of the room were lined with treasures representing every major culture in the history of the world. Artifacts of all sizes were displayed on pedestals, in cases, or rested on the floor. Some Anthony could identify, like the Hopi medicine doll and the Toltec ceremonial dagger. Some he couldn’t, like the weathered block of granite near the door and the wooden table and chair that rested on a platform in the center of the floor.

  “Oh, my God,” Melina whispered, pressing close to his side. “What is this place?”

  “It looks as if we found Benedict’s trophy room.”

  “These must be priceless.”

  “I doubt if he paid for them.”

  “Why would he keep these things in a room like this? It’s all bare rock, like the one…”

  “Like the room where he wanted to keep me,” Anthony finished for her.

  “Oh, God. And those display cases are like the boxes in the lab where—”

  Anthony grasped her chin and gave her a hard kiss. For her sake as well as for his. There was only so much horror that either of them could take.

  She shook his arm. “We’d better go back and try another branch of the corridor. It doesn’t seem as if this is a way out.”

  He looked around. On first glance, it appeared as if she was right. The walls were shadowed with alcoves, but none appeared to lead to an exit. The ceiling arched higher than the one in his cell, yet it was still low enough to make his hands sweat. He was about to turn away when his gaze was caught by a large circular shadow in the center of the ceiling, directly over the platform that held the wooden table and chair.

  The flicker in his consciousness that had led him here flared from a candle to a beacon.

  Anthony climbed on the table and hoisted the lantern. It wasn’t a shadow, it was a natural chimney, wide enough for a man to climb through. Steps were chiseled right into the rock sides, forming a spiral staircase.

  He stacked the chair on top of the table so he could get a closer look. The wood made an odd, chuckling sound as it took his weight, but it held. With his head and shoulders inside the chimney, he extended his hand to the first step. The stone was worn as smooth as satin, and emitted the same energy he’d felt when he’d entered the room. This staircase was old, perhaps as ancient as the village that was nestled into the cliff somewhere above them. It must be an escape route built by the Anasazi, a secret path through the cavern to the exit at the base of the cliff. The exit was blocked by Benedict’s men, but what about where the route started?

  His pulse raced as he looked into the blackness overhead. The corridors of the stronghold had been tiled in white and they had been bad. The cell had been worse. But the thought of willingly climbing into that tunnel…

  “Anthony, what do you see?”

  He lowered the lantern and looked at Melina. The answer was easy. “I see the woman I love.”

  Her smile put the lantern to shame.

  Anthony dried his palm on his pants, took a deep breath and held out his hand. “Are you up for another hike?”

  At any other time, Melina would have marveled at the history she was passing through. The Anasazi had fashioned their escape route with care, carving steps into the rock where the way was too steep, and smoothing out the cave floor like a sidewalk. They had marked the correct path through the winding maze of short tunnels and interconnected chambers by painting the outlines of their hands on the walls. Racing through this without pausing to pay her respects felt as wrong as running through a cathedral.

  But she knew there was no time to spare. She hoped the spirits of the ancient builders would understand.

  Had Benedict explored this route? Had he discovered their escape? Was he following them? Or was he already at the other end, waiting to take them back to that cell in the rock?

  Anthony didn’t seem to think so. His grip on her hand was confident as he led them upward. He was certain the passage would end at the cliff village, and had assured her there was no danger there. She trusted him. She did. But she was worried about his lack of color and the clamminess of his skin. At times he had trouble catching his breath. He was probably in pain from the beating the guards had given him, as well as exhausted from that phenomenal burst of energy he’d channeled, but he brushed off her concern.

  He was the most stubborn, maddening man she knew.

  If she didn’t love him so much, she would probably grab him and shake him silly, but that would have to wait until—

  “Anthony! Are you going to take all day?”

  The woman’s voice was faint, echoing from the blackness ahead of them.

  Anthony staggered against the wall, the lantern slipping from his fingers. It crashed at Melina’s feet before she could grab it. Fire licked across the rock as the remaining fuel ignited, but there had only been a few drops left. It died in a matter of seconds.

  Yet the blackness wasn’t complete. Light came from the bend in the passageway ahead.

  “Anthony?” It was a different woman’s voice, softer than the first one. “Please, answer me.”

  Before the echoes of either cry could fade, Anthony pushed away from the wall, threw his arm around Melina’s shoulders and propelled her toward the light. “Dani! Elizabeth! We’re here,” he called.

  The beam of a powerful flashlight suddenly filled the cavern, along with the sound of running footsteps. Within seconds she and Anthony were engulfed by a pair of women. Although their embrace was meant for him, Melina was in the middle of it for the simple reason that Anthony wouldn’t let her go.

  She didn’t need an introduction. During the hike, Anthony had explained to her in more detail how he had asked Jeremy Solienti and his sisters for help. He’d also revealed Danielle’s connection to Liam Brooks, a lucky coincidence that Melina
still found hard to grasp. Yet even if he hadn’t told her anything, she would be able to guess who these women were. They had the same gypsy-black hair as Anthony, and they wore the same kind of body-hugging black “work” clothes as he did. They carried the same mixture of sunshine, fresh air and perfume that had swept into the stone room.

  And it was clear to her that they loved Anthony almost as much as she did.

  The taller of the two women pulled back to study his face. “My God, Anthony! You look like hell.”

  “Gee, thanks, Dani.”

  The second woman patted his arm gently. “We’re not far from the surface, but I brought some medication if you need it.”

  “I’m fine, Elizabeth.”

  “He’s not fine,” Melina said. “He’s exhausted and I think he has a broken rib. We have to get him to a doctor.”

  “I don’t need a doctor,” Anthony mumbled. He firmed his grip on Melina and started forward. “By the way, this is Melina Becker, the object of our rescue mission, in case you forgot.”

  Danielle clasped her in a quick embrace, then moved ahead to light the way. “It sounds as if you’ll keep him in line. I like you already, Melina.”

  Although the passage was narrow here, Elizabeth fell into step on the other side of Anthony, slipping her arm around his waist. She leaned past him to smile at Melina. “Ditto. You must be someone special if you got my brother to go into a cave.”

  “Did you secure the entrance to this passageway before you came in?” Anthony asked.

  “Give me some credit. It hasn’t been that long since we worked together,” Danielle said over her shoulder. “We found an easy path straight down from the top of the cliff to the ledge where the village is, so we didn’t need to rappel. The area is not only secured, it’s crawling with feds.”

  “We left our night vision gear there,” Elizabeth said. “We thought the flashlight would be better for you. This cave must be—”

  “What’s the situation with Liam?” Anthony interrupted. “How’s he doing on the warrants?”

  “Red tape’s no match for that man,” Danielle replied. “He’s got the place surrounded and is just waiting for the word that you two are out before he gives the signal to move in. Which reminds me…” She unclipped a radio from her belt and thumbed a switch. “Darling, we’ve got them both.”