Price was spoiling for a fight because he needed something he could fight. This whole adventure with Percy had put him on the sidelines while I was battling on the front lines. He’d not been able to lift a finger to help, and it was killing him.
Except, all along he’d been my anchor. I knew I could count on him to be there for me, to heal me, to hold me, to accept me, and above all, to love me. He hadn’t tried to change me, to turn me into something I wasn’t. He’d let me be myself, even though it tore him to shreds.
My heart swelled and my chest hurt. God, I loved this man.
I wound my arm around his neck and pressed myself against him. “I will never let you lose me,” I said against his ear.
His hands clenched on me, then he pulled me back into his arms. Shudders ran through him.
“You don’t stop. You don’t back down.”
“Tell me what will help.” In that moment, if he’d asked me to crawl into a bunker with him and never come out, I would have. Anything to stop the worry bleeding his soul dry.
His chest jerked as he gave a silent bark of laughter. “How does full body armor sound? Maybe a tank, snipers, and a couple dozen body guards?”
“You name it. If you ask me, I’ll do it.”
He went still. “You mean that.” Cautious wonder filled his voice.
“I should warn you that I may argue. In fact, it’s likely. Possibly with name-calling and flying debris.”
He chuckled. “I can imagine.”
“Tell me what will help,” I repeated, relieved to hear the brittle tension leaving his voice. He was still drawn too tight. I wanted, no, I needed to take care of him, to pull him from the edge. The same edge I’d pushed him to, my fault or not.
“Just—”
Words seemed to fail him. He swallowed and pressed his lips to my hair, inhaling my scent. He stiffened again and pushed me away. He caught my wrist in his hand. Blood drenched the rag I’d taped around my thumb, and more trickled down over my hand. “I’m an ass,” he said. “We need to get you to Maya.”
“That seems to my theme song lately,” I said lamely. Then, not willing to let the conversation go, “Price—”
He cut me off. “Shut up.”
“But—”
He put his fingers over my mouth. “I didn’t fall in love with the Riley you might become if I twisted you into the right shape, I fell in love with you, the cocky, irreverent, bullheaded Riley who scares the living shit out of me and gets into trouble like nobody’s business. I’m not asking you to change. I don’t want you to. I’m a big boy. I’ll handle it.”
I smiled so wide I thought my face would crack and my heart would stop.
I barely heard the noise as something clattered loudly on the concrete floor.
Then everything changed.
Chapter 21
I was no longer standing in the middle of the room with Price. I was hanging upside down over a man’s shoulder while he carried me across a snowy parking lot. It was dark. My hands were bound at my sides and my feet were tied together. I was looking straight at some guy’s ass, and he was kidnapping me.
I twisted my head. I wasn’t the only one they were taking. Madison, her father and sister, and Percy had also been bound. I didn’t see anyone else. I wriggled and jacked my legs up, but my captor only clamped his arm tighter around my knees. I twisted my hips, levering myself so I started to roll of his shoulder. He swore and hoisted me up with his arm, then with his other hand, he grabbed my bloody hand and squeezed hard. White fire spun through my head, and I screeched.
“What’s the problem, Riggs?”
Dalton. Un-fucking-believable. He’d come back, only this time, he wasn’t trying to protect me.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” my captor said.
“Don’t damage the goods. The boss won’t like it.”
Fear chilled the swagger in my captor’s voice. “Yessir.”
“Get moving, then. Nice to see you again, Princess.” Dalton patted my ass and walked away. The bastard carrying me followed him.
My mind flipped rapidly through my options. That sound I’d heard just before I found myself being carried must have been some sort of spell to incapacitate us. Dalton had had time enough to get us out of the hangar, and no doubt had left everybody else tied up.
Help wasn’t coming.
Unless . . . Two people might help, if I could help them first. I was sure that ever-careful Dalton would have nulled Leo or knocked him out. I’d nulled Luke. Both of them had magic that could free themselves and everyone else, but first I had to get rid of the nulls. I’d start with Luke, since I knew exactly what kind of null I was up against.
I reached out with my senses, but I was too far away. I had a way to go farther, if I didn’t kill myself trying. I dropped down into trace mode and focused on my belly null. There wasn’t a lot of power left in it, but what there was, I used to reinforce the skull null. If I did this right, I could ride the wave of magic of the skull null out until I could reach those circling Luke’s neck. I could drain their power and pray he’d realize he had the use of his magic back. After that, I’d do the same for Leo, if he was nulled and not—
I gasped, my blood freezing. He could be dead. They could all be dead. My reaction was electric and instinctive. I bucked and twisted, unleashing my null. Pain swept over the group. The man carrying me crumpled to his knees. I fell into the snow and rolled onto my back. I flung my senses out along the wave of null magic, searching for the two necklaces around Luke’s neck. It took only a matter of seconds to home in on them. They had to be suppressing the pain of my scalp null. Good. When he started feeling pain, he’d know they’d stopped working.
I ripped the power of the nulls out, channeling the energy into the skull null. I was too weak from blood loss and using it previously to let it stay active for long. Once I passed out, it would eat me. Not even a stronger null could stop it.
Dalton’s crew had left behind another dozen nulls. I couldn’t tell which might suppress Leo’s power. One by one, I destroyed them. Each took a toll on me, wearing me down. I fed their power into the skull null, but it didn’t matter how strong I made it if I was too tired to turn it off properly, or if I lost consciousness. It would eat through all the new power and then start back on me.
I worked through the first six. Sweat dampened my body, and it turned to ice in the near-zero temperature. The seventh and eighth took considerably longer. I shivered, and my focus slipped. I caught myself, and the ninth and tenth went swiftly, as fear hardened my resolve. My focus fractured on the eleventh, and I felt minutes ticking away as I made my sluggish mind pull apart the spell and draw the energy into my own null. Finally, I was at the last one. I closed my eyes, unable to keep them open. I no longer shivered. I lay on the snow, unable to feel anything, even the molten pain of my missing thumb. I must have smashed it when I fell.
I don’t know how long the last null took. I only knew when it released. I made myself deactivate my skull null. It took me four tries. I rested after the first two. The third time I dozed. I woke with a start. I had no idea what pricked me back to consciousness. Maybe the agonized sounds of Dalton’s people. Maybe the whimpering cries of Madison and her sister, or the strained breathing of their father.
I was so tired. So very tired. I felt warm and so comfortable. But I had one last task, one last thing to do. What was it? The null. Yes. I fumbled at it with my mind. Thick mists crowded thoughts. Sleep, they told me. Rest.
I almost gave in. Then I remember that I promised Price he wouldn’t lose me. I couldn’t let him down. I made myself focus. One last push, and the thing was done. I opened my eyes, the black sky brilliant with stars. Diamond dust. Sparkle dust. If I’d had the strength, I’d have laughed at the irony.
Movement stirred around me as the debilitating pain I�
�d broadcast ended. Dalton shouted orders, called names. Confusion. That was funny, too.
“What did you do?” he leaned over me, his silver eyes flat. He didn’t wait for an answer. He grabbed my arm and dragged me upright, then hoisted me over his shoulder.
He started slogging forward, calling his people to follow. “Make sure you have Percy and the others. We want them all!”
We might have gone twenty steps when the night turned orange. Fire roared in a ring all around us. Flames reached high into the air. From upside down, they seemed to lick the stars. Dalton turned.
I heard shouts. I told myself to wriggle and buck, to get free of Dalton’s grip, but I had nothing left in the tanks. I might as well have been a wet blanket for all I could move at that point.
More shouts, and a few shots popped off. Snow melted, and the air turned humid. I waited for Dalton to do something, but he didn’t move. Then feet splashed toward us through the rotting snow, and once again, Price was there. He pulled me off Dalton’s frozen shoulder and stood me on my feet. I sagged. He held me, slashing at my bindings with a knife. He cut my wrists apart and then my legs.
“Talk to me, baby. Tell me what’s wrong. Did they hurt you?”
“Tired,” I whispered, barely able to make my lips bend around the words.
I don’t know if Price heard me. He swung me up into his arms. My head fell against his shoulder. Now I could see that Leo had done what I’d hoped. He’d caught Dalton and his team in shackles made from the metal of their own guns. He now cut Madison free while Touray freed her father and sister.
“Riley needs to go, now,” Price told his brother.
“A minute. Who are these people?” Touray asked.
“This one’s Dalton, the one who was leading her bodyguard squad,” Leo reported, coming to stand in front of the man in question. “The one she thought was working for you.”
Touray looked demonic in the flickering shadows of the fire. “Who are you working for?” he demanded.
Dalton’s mouth pulled into a flat smile. He didn’t look scared. Didn’t even look a little bit nervous. That made me worry.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” he replied.
Touray shrugged. “Very well. There are ways to take what you refuse to give.”
“You can try.”
His total lack of concern didn’t seem faked. My worry tightened.
“Damned right, I will.” Touray turned his back on Dalton. His own people had arrived on the scene and were gathering up the prisoners. “Take them to the bunker. We’ll get answers there.”
Another day I’d have flinched from the cold brutality in his voice. At the moment, I couldn’t manage to scrape up even a little bit of fear or judgment. I was surprised I was still conscious. I didn’t think I was dying. Not this time. Vaguely, I wondered where my thumb might be.
Taylor appeared out of nowhere with blankets. She shook two out and wrapped them around me, then helped wrap Madison; her sister, Robin; and their father. He was looking haggard, and his breathing was harsh.
“We should get in out of the cold,” Taylor said. “Turn the flames off, would you? We don’t need the fire department here,” she told Luke. Her voice was thin and strained, but she remained ice cold. Whatever else you might say about her, when the shit hit the fan, my sister had nerves of steel and brass balls. She’d fly a helicopter into a hurricane without breaking a sweat.
The flames doused at once, but sirens blared. Too late for discretion. Touray turned to Price. “Get Riley out of here before the cops arrive. Leo and Taylor, you go with them. Take Madison and her family with you.”
“The hell I will,” Taylor said. “This is my place and these are my people. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’ll stay, too,” Leo said.
“Fine, but I want Percy out of here. Throw him into one of the vans and take him to the bunker, along with Dalton.”
“What about him?” Leo asked, pointing at Luke. I got a good look at him then. He looked hollow and worn. He was shaking. He was going to want a fix soon. He watched Madison comforting her sister and father. He reminded me of a man out in the cold, looking through a window into a room full of treasure he could never touch.
“Null him out and take him, too.”
Luke woke up at that. He gave a little shake of his head. He glanced at me and gave me a little salute, then stepped back. A wall of fire roared up between him and us. It spread outward. I didn’t doubt that when it died, he’d be long gone.
“We’re leaving,” Price said. He carried me to an SUV parked out on the street a hundred yards away.
“Are you okay, Riley?” he asked. “I need you to stay awake, baby. I know you’re tired and cold. You’re soaked through. You did it, though. I don’t know how, but you made it so Leo and Luke could get free. You’re amazing. Terrifying, but amazing. Come on, now. Talk to me.”
I muttered something that wasn’t all that polite.
His chest rumbled as he laughed. “That’s my girl. Almost there. We’ll get the heater going and have you back in Maya’s care in no time.”
“She’s going to want overtime pay.”
“I’ll pay her anything she wants,” he said, pressing his lips to my forehead. “I’ll give her the moon, if necessary.”
“How will you get the moon?”
Another rumble. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t promise her that, then.”
He paused, looking down at me. I couldn’t see his eyes. The night turned them to velvet shadow. “If she wanted the moon to make you safe and well, I’d sell my soul to get it for her.”
My heart clutched in my chest. “I meant what I said, earlier. Tell me what you need and I’ll do it.”
He took a long breath and let it out. “I just need you, baby. Just you.”
He pressed a fast kiss to my lips and started walking again. I stared up at him, so full of emotion I could hardly breathe. I couldn’t believe he’d asked nothing. He gave everything, and took just me. I was enough.
I was never going to let him regret it.
Chapter 22
“I hate this,” I announced as we drove up through Midtown, heading to my stepmother’s house. Our Saturday date with the family had arrived. Only we weren’t alone. Bodyguards traveled ahead of us and behind, with more waiting at Mel’s and along the route. Our SUV was fully protected with both ordinary armor and magic.
Price took my hand, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. “I’m not risking you.”
“I didn’t say I was arguing, I just said I hated it.” I stared out the window.
Dalton had escaped Touray’s bunker. Nobody knew how, just that suddenly he wasn’t there. Worse, he’d taken Percy with him. The idea that someone had either rescued the sick bastard or was now squeezing him for information on producing SD made me sick with fury. His tunnel headquarters had been quarantined. He’d rigged it to blow up, while at the same time releasing SD everywhere. No one could get in. The risk of getting infected with SD made it too dangerous to go look. At least Taylor was on track to recover. Cass had done her thing to pull the addiction from her mind, and Taylor was determined to fight the physical cravings. I’d tried nulling her, but it was too late to get at the drug’s magical roots. At least for now. With Percy and Dr. Inawa still out there, I was determined to develop a way to cure the addiction. I thought of Luke. I still owed him. That would be a good way to pay him back.
“That’s my girl,” Price said.
“Let’s hope you still think so after dinner tonight,” I said.
He laughed. “I already know Leo and Taylor. Surely your stepmother and other brother aren’t terrifying.”
“That all depends on your point of view.”
I adored Mel. She’d loved me like a daughter,
and she’d always respected me and done everything she could to protect and care for me. She was also an FBI reader with a spine of steel. She wouldn’t bat an eyelash at facing down a Tyet army all alone. Price had no idea what he was up against if she decided she didn’t like him.
I sighed. Didn’t matter. One way or another, I’d bring her around. I sure as hell wasn’t giving up Price.
“Two weeks,” he murmured, lifting my hand to his mouth and kissing the back of it.
A shiver of hot anticipation ran through me. Since the incident at the hangar, I’d not seen a lot of him. Mostly I’d been with Maya—who’d reattached my thumb—or sleeping or telling what had happened to me. The part about traveling through the spirit world had turned Touray white. He hadn’t told me why. Not yet. But I had a feeling that conversation was coming soon. I was sure it had something to do with the Kensington artifacts and finding the superweapon that he wanted to use to bring the other factions of the Tyet to heel. It was the reason he’d wanted me in the first place. The artifacts could be put together to make a weapon that would let him squash his Tyet enemies and take over Diamond City. He needed me to find the rest of them, and the instructions on how to use the weapon once it was built.
Right at the moment, I was willing. Another Percy couldn’t be allowed to exist. Hell, the first Percy couldn’t be allowed to exist, and yet he was back out there. Then there were all the kidnappings and murders, the shakedowns of store owners, the many illegal manipulations and games, and the fear. Too many people living in fear. I didn’t know if I was going to like the future that Touray had in mind for Diamond City, but I’d fight that battle when I got to it. For now, he was the best hope I could see, especially since he listened to Price, and I’d sure as hell make sure he listened to me. Between the three of us, maybe we could help.
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