Spectral

by Duffy, Shannon

  Chase’s face turned red. He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Now I was even more curious. What was he so afraid of that made him too uncomfortable to spill?

  “Don’t be embarrassed. I know his visions feel completely real. He did it to me on the plane, too. Was it snakes?” I asked, trying to think of what it could be. “You were screaming to get them off of you.”

  He shook his head again.

  “Spiders then? Like tarantulas or something?” I pressed.

  Chase pressed his back into the door. He twisted his lips as if considering telling me or not. “It was moths, okay?”

  I covered my mouth and gave a muffled laugh. “Seriously? You’re a black belt and you’re afraid of moths?” I stretched my eyes wide when he didn’t flinch. “For real?” My head pulled back an inch.

  Chase scowled at me. “Hey we all have our vices, right?” He burrowed his hands in his pockets. “Look, when I was like four, my little sister dumped her ladybug collection all over me. It was a huge jar of them. Scared the shit out of me at the time. Suckers still creep me out. So what I saw was like hundreds of moths crawling all over me.”

  I inched my fingers up his arm while sounding out the creepy music from the movie, Jaws. He batted my hand away, and then joined me in laughing. With all that was going on, it felt good to laugh at something silly, even if only for a moment.

  Chase pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips lightly against mine. I relaxed into him, enjoying his soft warm kisses, and the crush of his body against mine. I definitely cared about Chase. It wasn’t the same gaga feeling I felt for Roman, but I obviously fell for the wrong guy and maybe that deep feeling would come with time for Chase.

  Yeah, if you manage to live through the next few days to find out, that is.

  Leaning back, he held me by the shoulders. “Ready?” he asked.

  I checked my watch and nodded. “Ready.”

  I tugged up the hood of my sweatshirt, making sure all my hair was tucked in. I swallowed hard and turned the handle of the door. A part of me wondered if it was just another trick, but I had nothing to lose at that point. The door opened quietly. The narrow hallway was dimly lit and thankfully empty. There were no windows and I began to wonder if we were underground. Why didn’t Dad tell us the way out? Why didn’t I ask?

  I groaned. We made our way forward, slinking against the side of the wall.

  At the end of the hall, we had no choice but to turn left. I peeked around the corner to see a wider hall with a large room at the end of it. I could barely make out the murmur of voices coming from the room. Paneled lighting lined the ceiling down the center of the hall that hummed and flickered. I was thankful for its faulty wiring in that moment. Halfway down, there were two elevators on either side.

  My heart leapt. A way out!

  I squinted, scanning as much of the room at the end of the hall that I could. Although I didn’t see anybody, I could still hear voices, so I knew at any moment they could pop out and catch us. I nodded to Chase and stepped carefully out from behind the wall, heart hammering. We made our way to the elevator and I pressed the button. It lit up, and then a soft metallic hum sounded out.

  Chase laced his fingers through mine and watched over my head toward the room where the voices were coming from. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t bear to look. I kept my eyes zoned in on my blurry reflection in the metal elevator doors. Focus.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered in my ear.

  The doors finally parted and we dashed inside. I jabbed at the plastic button marked with the letter G. Clutching the handrail as the doors closed, the elevator then began to rise. I sighed, leaned back and tilted my head upward in a silent prayer of thanks. I instantly snapped to attention, realizing I was looking straight into the lens of a camera. A small squeal passed my lips.

  Chase spun around. “What’s wrong?”

  I pointed to the camera perched in the upper corner. “There’s a freaking camera!”

  “Dammit!” Chase pulled me tight against the wall beneath the camera, but I was sure it wouldn’t hide the two of us.

  And then I heard it. The metallic hum of the other elevator as it whirred to life. Panicked, I pivoted around and pressed the button over and over, as if the more I pressed, the faster the elevator would move. Sweat beaded against the back of my neck. “They’re coming! They must’ve seen us.”

  Chase grasped my hand and we stood in front of the doors, waiting for them to open. Seconds seemed like hours. “Get ready to make a run for it!” he encouraged.

  “We have to make it,” I whispered, my voice shaky. I braced myself to run.

  Finally, the doors slid open and natural light shone through the hall. We were back up on the ground floor. Chase and I shot out, hand in hand. I half expected to face Aunt Eva and Dmitri as they pounced from the other elevator across the hall.

  Instead, I saw Roman.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I stopped, stunned for a moment, my eyes scanning him. He was wearing the Augusti Forza uniform. The canary yellow shirt tucked into a pair of black fitted pants made him look different. More ridged. I swallowed hard. He had been tricking me. He was with the Augusti the whole time.

  My stomach churned, twisting into knots. I didn’t know how I could be so stupid to fall for him. Even though I’d guessed it to be true, it was still devastating to take in.

  Roman’s gaze went down my body, stopping on Chase’s hand laced together with mine. Eyes squinted, he gazed back up at my face.

  Seriously, you’re jealous now?

  I let go of Chase’s hand and marched the few steps toward Roman, temples pulsating. “What the hell did you do?” I pushed against his firm chest.

  “What do you mean?” He inched his head back, trying on a confused face. “Let’s go, there’s no time to talk.”

  I slapped him across his face. “Where’s the dagger? Give it back to me!”

  Roman touched his cheek, looking stunned.

  Chase pulled my arm back. “C’mon, Jewel. Don’t waste your time on that loser. Let’s get out of here.”

  Roman made a circular motion with his hand, trapping the two of us into one of his bubble shells and leaving Chase frozen just outside of it.

  He furrowed his brows. “Who the hell is he calling a loser? What are you doing with him anyway?”

  “What am I doing with him?” I shrieked. I gave him a cold glare and shook my head. “While I was waiting for you to come back for me—which you didn’t do—he showed up to help me. And then we were kidnapped by these Russian thugs my family sicked on me. But you were too busy after lying to me again to know what was up, right?” I pointed my finger at him accusingly. “You said it was the Augusti Forza that showed up at Taylor’s house to get me that night. But it was the Russian coven. Of course you were too busy completing your real mission of stealing my dagger to probably catch that—or even care!” My face flamed hot. I didn’t know what I was doing, I just felt out of control, and needed to let my frustrations out. “Now what, Roman? You came to get me to finish it off? Kill the abomination?”

  The very real possibility hit me and I shoved into the bubble. I needed to get away from Roman. If he was here to bring me to the Augusti Forza, I couldn’t just stand around venting at him. I didn’t want to waste any more time. I needed to get away.

  “Finish you off? Jewel, are you serious?” I looked back from shoving against the strong, inflexible bubble to see Roman’s wounded eyes. “You got it all wrong. It’s not like that.”

  I snorted. I wasn’t going to be taken in by his puppy-dog eyes any longer. I looked over his shoulder. The elevator doors were still closed, but I didn’t know how long before someone discovered us missing and would come looking for us. “Oh, I got it wrong, huh?” I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, Roman. Let Chase and I go then.”

  I glared at him and pushed the barrier again, locking eyes with Chase although he couldn’t see me. I wondered if he ever woul
d again. Roman would never let me go. I could be mad all I wanted, he didn’t care. He got the dagger as planned and now all he had to do was close the deal.

  Roman sighed and dropped the shell barrier. I tilted my head to look at him, confused. I didn’t know if he dropped the barrier because of my power of persuasion, or he did it all on his own. I figured it must be the power of persuasion.

  Chase stirred and quickly regained his composure. “C’mon.” He tugged my arm toward the exit doors.

  I looked over my shoulder at Roman as I hurried away, noting the defeated expression plastered across his face. A twinge gripped my insides, urging me back to him, but I wouldn’t fall for it. My instincts had failed me every time when it came to him. Shrugging mentally, I looked away and followed Chase instead.

  Chase reached the door and yanked it open, holding it for me to go through. I hesitated mid-way, my chest constricting, torn between the thrill of our escape and the ache of Roman’s deceit.

  I glanced back over my shoulder at Roman again. It was like every time I looked at him, my heart broke a little bit more. I wondered how long it would take for my heart to heal.

  “You need the dagger, Jewel,” Roman called to me. I twisted around to face him, unsure of his motives. I stepped back inside next to Chase, but kept my fingers wrapped around the door handle.

  Roman stood still, watching us in silence.

  “Do you have it on you?” I studied his features.

  He shook his head. “No, but—”

  A loud screeching of tires, followed by a crushing boom hit the pavement outside the building, and we dropped to our knees.

  Did that just really happen or am I imagining things now?

  The horrified expression on Roman’s face told me it did.

  Chase jumped to his feet. “What the—”

  I looked through the glass doors. Several cars lined the sidewalk, two of which had crashed into one another. Shattered glass covered the street. Several men from the Augusti jumped out of their cars. They must have crashed in their rush to get there. To find me. I recognized Paolo and Massimo right away. I squealed and dashed back down the hall with Chase toward Roman who was waving us back toward him.

  “Who are they?” Chase asked me, breathless.

  “Worse than the Russians, believe me.”

  Chase’s eyes grew wide. We reached Roman again. Throat burning, I glared at him. “You brought them here,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “I hate you!”

  My eyes stung. I was so seriously on the way to making that statement come true.

  Roman looked like I’d punched him in the gut, but he brushed past me and pressed the elevator button. The doors slid open immediately. “Go to the top floor, and climb the stairs to the roof at the far end of the hall.” He touched my arm and let out an exaggerated sigh. “I didn’t bring them here on purpose. Please believe me.”

  “Yeah right. Like I believe they just happened to show up right behind you?” I looked back at the front doors. The Augusti rushed up the stairs toward us. There was no other way out. We didn’t have a choice but to get back on the elevator.

  Chase scowled at Roman, but rested his hand on the small of my back, steering me inside. Roman growled, jaw clenched, but then turned and rushed in the direction of the front doors. The elevator doors slid closed.

  “Hey, Paolo!” I heard Roman call in a chipper voice.

  Asshole.

  Chase hit number forty-seven. It was the highest floor on the building.

  “You really think we should do what he says?” I pointed to the elevator buttons and shook my head. “He’s gotta be lying. He led them here. Don’t you think this could just be a trap?”

  “I know the guy seems shady, but we don’t have a choice. It’s not like we can go back to the basement, right?”

  I banged the back of my head against the elevator wall several times. “What about another floor to hide out on then?”

  Chase paced in small circles. “They’ll find us eventually. Maybe from the roof we can signal for help or something.”

  The wait was agony and the thought of the doors opening on any other floor and somebody grabbing us made my hands shake. I closed them into fists. Finally the elevator doors slid open. We stepped out onto the forty-seventh floor, ran to the concrete stairs, and up onto the roof. The door resisted as we pushed on it, but then sprung open. A gush of wind pushed the hair back from my face as I stumbled through the door frame.

  There was a guy on the roof about our age. He had turned to face us as the door crashed against the wall. He crouched in the middle of two giant hand gliders. One was bright yellow with blue tips, and the other was cherry red with a white stripe across the bottom. Its wings rippled in the high winds.

  I searched the guy’s face. Why do you look so familiar?

  He stood and cupped the sides of his mouth, yelling across the rooftop to us, “Where’s Roman?”

  And then I recognized him. It was Roman’s cousin that sang at the Phoenix the afternoon I went there with Taylor. I hadn’t seen him since, and I’d all but forgotten about him. I couldn’t be sure he was even Roman’s cousin. I mean, he didn’t look at all like him. With his shaggy dark blond hair and green eyes, he wasn’t exactly a dead ringer.

  We walked several steps closer. “Listen, dude,” Chase said. “Whatever you’re involved in we don’t want any part of it.” Chase stepped in front of me.

  I pushed my way around him. “And if you’re really Roman’s cousin like he told me, then we don’t want any part of you, either.” I eyed the hand gliders and wondered how hard they’d be to use. I wanted to get away, but I didn’t want to plunge to my death.

  “That’s gratitude for you,” Roman’s cousin said with disdain. “And my name’s Stefano not dude. Where’s Roman?” he asked us again, more firmly this time.

  I didn’t even want to talk to the guy, but I knew he held the only escape for us. I bit the inside of my cheek. “He’s downstairs with his people. He told us to come up here.”

  Stefano stared at me incredulously. “Yeah, he told you to come up here so you could escape from your captors. He set this all up for you.”

  “Set what all up? The gliders?” I threw him a skeptical look. “To take us where? Why didn’t he come back for me at the party the other night, then?”

  “You mean at Taylor’s house?” Stefano studied me in silence a moment before his face flashed with amusement. “You think he sold you out? Are you kidding me?” When I didn’t flinch, he added, “You know, Roman didn’t know the Russians were there that night. He was too busy holding off the Augusti from, you know—killing you?” He threw his hands up in the air. “And the only reason he came here today was to rescue you from the Russian coven. He’s been pulling out all the stops to find you the last couple days, and he dragged me along to help, too.” He jerked his head back an inch and in a voice laced with sarcasm said, “I can see now that was time well spent. Seriously, what is up with you? I thought you guys were like into each other.”

  I stared in disbelief, my eyebrows scrunched together. That couldn’t be true.

  Could it? Did Roman really set all this up for me?

  “And what do you mean he’s with his people?” The concern in Stefano’s voice brought me back to the rooftop, but I was still shaken, unsure of what to believe. “Who are you talking about?”

  Chase eyed me strangely, and answered, “The Augusti Forza.”

  Stefano’s face suddenly paled. “How—” He put his hand to his forehead, rubbing it. “It doesn’t matter. We need to follow through with Roman’s plan. He made me promise to help keep you safe above all else…even above his own safety.” He looked me straight in the eyes. “Although I gotta tell you, you don’t seem to deserve it.”

  He scowled at me and then focused on Chase, pointing at him as he spoke. “You, my friend, weren’t a part of that plan.” He waved his hand back toward the gliders. “The yellow one is a two man glider meant for Roman and Jewel. The red
one? Well that’s a single glider and it’s got my name written all over it.”

  I folded my arms across my chest, “I’m not leaving without Chase.”

  “Well without Roman, I think you’d have a hard time flying one anyway,” he said.

  “Roman’s not coming,” Chase said. “Take Jewel, and I’ll take my chances with the other glider.”

  Stefano kicked at a small rock on the ground with a groan. He stared up at the sky a moment shaking his head, and then shrugged his shoulders and gave a slow nod. “Fine. Roman would want it that way. I’ll take you to the airport and see you off safely.” He looked at me with a disgruntled and painful look on his face. “The dagger is in a locker there. Third floor, section six, set of lockers facing west. Locker number is lucky thirteen. Roman secured it for you himself.”

  Oh. My. God.

  I wanted to believe I still had hope, but believing him meant that Roman had been telling the truth all along. And I’d just treated him like total crap! And I kissed Chase.

  Guilt hit my gut, almost knocking me over. I glanced over at Chase, a mix of worry and sympathy smeared across his face as he watched me. My eyes dropped to his lips. Yes, I’d kissed him. And I even enjoyed it. I bit my lip as a sick feeling washed over me. I did all of that while Roman had been trying to work everything out for me, still attempting to help me like he always did. And now, if what his cousin said was true, he could possibly be facing the Augusti at that very moment.

  I glanced back and forth between Chase and Stefano. “We can’t just leave Roman here.”

  “There’s no other choice right now.” Stefano started walking to the red glider, motioning for Chase to follow, but Chase stayed by my side. He shifted on his heels, lips tight.

  Stefano turned to face us, and sighed dramatically. “Jewel, they still think Roman’s onto you and that he’s on their side. We’re wasting time standing here talking about it. Besides, if you go down there now, you’ll only be signing your own death certificate. That, and giving him even more grief than you’ve already caused.” He shook his head. “And, Jewel, no offense, but that’s been quite a bit.”