Guild of Truth 01 - Silent as the Grave

by Mary K. Norris

  “Both. I wouldn’t keep sniffing around someone like Vander Donahughe. You won’t be able to escape his clutches twice.”

  “And how is it fair that all the people you’ve helped him capture haven’t even escaped his clutches once? How can you save me and not feel guilty about leaving countless others?”

  “Easy.” He turned to her as he opened her door. “I’m a villain, remember?”

  “Trust me.” A new voice came from behind Jente. “I’ll never forget it.”

  Felix’s fist slammed into Jente’s face.

  Chapter 23

  Jente staggered back.

  Felix wound up for another hit.

  “Felix, wait.” Cali grabbed his arm. The shock of his skin against hers after so long sent a jolt all the way down to her toes. His eyes latched onto hers, the blue and green of his eyes filled with too many emotions for her to filter them all, but she knew he’d felt the shock too. “Don’t hurt him. He helped me escape.”

  “He was also the one who put you there.” His voice was fierce. How had he known that?

  Cali had never seen Felix this worked up before. He was terrifyingly beautiful in his rage, but underneath it all she could see the dark circles below his eyes. His five o’clock shadow was darker than usual, and his hair looked as if he’d woken up scant seconds ago.

  She cupped his face. Her lungs could barely get enough air to breathe. “I’m okay.”

  He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it. He whirled around, Cali following his gaze.

  Jente was gone.

  “Fucking little bastard,” Felix growled. “How do we know he’s not in here somewhere?” Cali closed her eyes and strained her ears, searching for that low rumble. Her neck tingled, and far off in the distance she heard the start of Jente’s motorcycle.

  She felt an unwanted pang in her chest but pushed it firmly aside. Jente wasn’t some puppy that needed to be coddled. He made his own choices, and she wasn’t going to bemoan the idiocy of them.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Felix pushed the door closed behind him and stepped closer until there was hardly a breath between them.

  Her heart lodged in her throat. Heat pooled low in her gut as need consumed her.

  “I went looking for you,” he continued. “I got Vander’s address out of Collette but by the time I arrived no one was there.”

  A spike of fear. “You went to Vander’s home?”

  He could have been captured.

  His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight to his hard body. “I had to find you. I’m so sorry I ever left you, Cali. So sorry.”

  She pressed her fingers to his lips to quiet him. “You paid my rent.” She let her hand drop to trail down his chest. His heart thundered beneath her hand.

  He frowned. “Of course I paid your rent.”

  “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” She pressed her lips to the pulse in his neck.

  Felix hissed. His arms tightened around her.

  “Cali,” his voice was strangled. “I’ve been driven mad this past week. I don’t think … ” He swallowed. “I want you so bad.”

  She could feel the moisture gathering between her thighs.

  “But — ”

  She cut him off with a hot, open-mouthed kiss. “No buts,” she spoke against his lips. “I need you, Felix. I need you to erase all the memories I have. I need you to erase every touch, every taste … ”

  Felix pulled back, his eyes dark with the promise of death. “Did Vander … ?” His gaze dropped below her waist, the question left unspoken.

  She shook her head. “He never got a chance to go that far.”

  His tongue delved between her lips.

  Her head spun, her hands getting caught in the tangle of his hair.

  She pulled back to tear his shirt from his body. She wanted to erase every memory of Vander and replace it with Felix. She wanted to taste every inch of him. She kissed a trail down his chest as her hands worked the waistband of his jeans.

  “Cali … ?”

  She shoved his pants down along with his boxers. His cock stood thick and erect. Her hands wrapped tightly around him.

  His head fell back on a groan.

  “I want you, Felix.” Her breathing was ragged and she sank to her knees.

  “What … ?” His words were cut off with a shout as she took him deep into her mouth. His hand shot out to steady himself against the wall as she sucked him. He was too big for her to take completely so she used her hand to pump him hard and fast. He was trying to keep still but after a while his hand slid into her hair, his hips thrusting to meet her. He was helpless under the power of her mouth, and maybe that was exactly what she wanted. After being held at someone else’s mercy for so long, she wanted to be in control of something. Someone. She loved the idea of Felix helpless against her, but what she loved even more was the man himself. He’d saved her countless times, he’d taught her how to control her powers, he’d paid her rent. She wanted to show him just how much he meant to her. She took him as deep as she could. His body shook as he moaned her name.

  When she finished, she kissed a trail back up to his mouth. He crushed her against him and lifted her until she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  A few seconds later her back hit her mattress. Her jeans were magically gone, and Felix replaced her panties with his tongue.

  At that first, wet stroke electricity shot through her veins. She jumped but Felix held her thighs open to him as he pushed his tongue inside her. Her body was aflame as he worked a finger into her, his mouth settling over her clit. She arched her back as pleasure exploded. He rode her through it, not stopping his assault until she was boneless.

  He crawled up her body, his knee wedging her legs apart. She must have been laying there in a daze for some time because he was already hard again.

  She sucked in a quick breath as he slid the tip of himself into her. He didn’t go any farther. He gave short little thrusts that had her biting back her cries of pleasure. When she thought she’d go mad, he slid in a little farther and repeated the same torture.

  “Felix, I can’t take it anymore.”

  Their eyes locked and she felt a quiver all the way down to her soul.

  His face was tight with held-back desire. “You want it hard and fast?”

  The words were practically a growl.

  “Yes.”

  He pulled out of her. She nearly cried out at the loss. He flipped her onto her stomach and pulled her hips up. He pushed in to the root from behind.

  Cali’s scream was muffled by the blankets, and she fisted the sheets as he thrust into her just like she wanted him to. The bed rocked beneath them as sensation built higher and higher until she couldn’t take it any longer. Pleasure ripped through her.

  Felix came a second later before nearly collapsing on top of her. His body was so hot it was like a furnace. She wanted to lose herself in the protective heat of his body and never resurface.

  He rolled onto his back, taking her with him so that she was snuggled against his side. She still had her shirt on but was too lazy to take it off. Instead she wrapped one of her legs around his and rested her palm over his heart. It beat strong and fast beneath her hand and, unbidden, her mind went back to that day Collette had visited her at Vander’s.

  Could it be possible that Felix wasn’t her Mirror Mate?

  They’d had incredible sex a handful of times now and still there was no shining light from above, no chorus of angels.

  Does it really matter if you’re soul mates or not? You want him, yes?

  More than anything.

  And just like that, it didn’t matter what anyone said. She was going to stay with Felix for as long as he’d have her.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  She picked her head up to stare him in the eye and noticed for the first time the fading bruises along his jaw.

  “What happened?” She touched one that was still a little y
ellow.

  He caught her hand in his and laced their fingers together. “Are you trying to avoid my question?”

  “Is it working?”

  He mirrored her grin before his face grew serious. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

  “It?”

  “You’re time with Vander.”

  She didn’t say anything for a few moments. She didn’t want to talk about it but suddenly she was. She confessed every little detail, starting from the first moment she’d woken. She thought retelling it would make it worse, but with every word gone from her lips it was like a weight was lifted from her shoulders. Felix remained silent as he listened. Every now and then he’d give her a reassuring squeeze to let her know she wasn’t alone. When she finished, Felix still didn’t say anything. He simply rolled her beneath him and kissed her. Soft and gentle. It melted her insides and made her throat close up.

  Afterwards all she could do was stare into his endless blue-green eyes. Raw emotions swirled, hinting at all the things that remained unspoken between them.

  Felix opened his mouth. “I … ”

  From the front of her apartment, Felix’s cell phone went off.

  He swore, the moment between them broken. “It might be the guild.” He disappeared out her door, and the sound of his phone cut off as he answered. The conversation didn’t last very long. He stood in her doorway with his clothes in his arms. “Joel needs us.” He dropped the clothes at the end of her bed and dug for his boxers.

  She sat up, her head only spinning slightly from the exertion. “Did you tell them about me?”

  “At the end, but I ended the call before Joel could blow my eardrum out.” He threw her panties and jeans onto the bed, and she pulled her underwear on.

  “So who gave you those bruises?”

  She sighed in disappointment as Felix covered all that rippling muscle with his shirt.

  “Joel and I had a bit of a disagreement while you were away.”

  “Joel gave you those bruises?” She shimmied into her jeans and searched her room for a hair tie. “Did it have anything to do with going after Vander? I understand if they don’t want to continue with their plan to take down the Kratos Corporation. Vander’s a bad man.”

  “What was your first clue? When he kidnapped you, tried to kill you, or tried to steal your soul?”

  “I’m serious, Felix. You don’t know the kind of power he has, both physically and through his company.”

  “And if our plan pans out the way we’re hoping it will, we’ll be eliminating one of those powers.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Now come on. We have a major conglomerate to dismantle.”

  Chapter 24

  Felix opened the door to the clinic for Cali.

  A blonde blur shot past him and nearly bowled her over. “Cali!”

  Cali’s expression was priceless, and Felix had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. She had no idea what to do as Sydney hugged her for all she was worth.

  Finally he decided to help her out.

  “Where’s my hug, Syd?”

  His question had the desired effect. Sydney released Cali to put her hands on her hips. “You weren’t missing for a week.”

  Cali stealthily moved away from Sydney as if she were afraid she’d be hugged again. Felix held his hand out to her, and his jaw nearly hit the floor when she made her way to his side. She didn’t take his hand, but Cali wasn’t one for public displays of affection. Which was why it was so fun to lace his fingers through hers when she least expected it. She jumped away from him, snatching her hand back. He could have hung on but they had more important things to do.

  Joel was behind the reception desk with his laptop out, Niella right next to him.

  “It’s good to see you back, Cali,” Niella said with genuine sincerity.

  The two of them shared a smile that had him wondering just when that friendship had blossomed.

  Joel came around the reception desk to give Cali a hug that had Felix biting back a growl. His didn’t last as long as Sydney’s but a handshake would have been just as effective. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  Cali managed a stiff nod. She was anything but okay, he knew, though she wasn’t going to tell the rest of the guild that. Heat bloomed in his chest every time he thought of Cali confiding in him rather than another. He wanted to be the one she went to, always. For anything.

  “What’d you find?” he asked Joel once he was back in front of his laptop.

  Cali leaned over the counter and Felix mirrored her move, only he pressed up behind her, a hand on either side of her body.

  She inhaled sharply. No one else seemed to notice.

  His body stirred to life but he managed to drag his focus away from her and listen to what Joel had to say.

  “I broke the encryption surrounding all of the Kratos Corporation’s documents.”

  “You broke into the Kratos computer system?” asked Cali.

  Felix pushed a little harder against her. “Joel has been working on it ever since you disappeared.”

  Joel nodded. “I was trying to simultaneously find your whereabouts as well as anything incriminating we could use against the corporation.”

  Cali’s astonishment was palpable. “You guys did that for me?”

  “Well, duh,” said Syd. Her voice was thick with emotion, but she did a good job covering it up with her usual bubbly attitude.

  “Now,” Joel said, breaking the heartwarming moment. “Let’s see what Kratos is hiding.”

  As Joel continued to systematically dig through all the files, the guild unconsciously gravitated closer and closer to him until they were all clustered behind the reception desk.

  Every once in a while someone would point out a file name that caught their attention, but so far there was nothing incriminating.

  “Wait.” Cali pointed to a folder. “What’s that?”

  “Blood work?” Joel double clicked on it.

  A whole slew of files popped up.

  Joel sifted through a few of the documents. “These aren’t your average medical records. It’s as if they’re looking for some kind of signature.”

  “Search for my name,” said Cali.

  Joel looked over his shoulder at her. “You?”

  Cali swallowed. “They took my blood, so they must be looking for some kind of power signature, right?”

  He typed her name into a search screen. A few seconds later, a scanned file appeared with her information.

  “Doesn’t look like they found anything,” said Sydney. “According to whatever tests they were running you came back negative.”

  “So does that mean our blood isn’t any different than anyone else’s?” asked Felix.

  “According to this,” said Joel. “Damn, look at all these blood samples.” He pulled up another window that was covered with nothing but names and strange symbols. Felix had no idea what the symbols were, but he could make an educated guess based on the colors used.

  The list was in alphabetical order. Felix’s eye caught on a name closest to the top: Kevin Bauer. His name was in green along with a red symbol that looked suspiciously like a blood drop and some other symbols. Felix pointed them out on Joel’s screen and nearly had his hand slapped.

  “Don’t touch it,” Joel snapped at him.

  “Do you know what those mean?” He pointed again, making sure his fingers stayed a good six inches away from the screen.

  “Not sure,” Joel said, distracted, as he scrolled through the list of names. A lot of names were in black. Some in red.

  Felix’s stomach knotted when he saw Cali’s name scroll past in green followed by his own.

  Joel stopped in the K’s. “Shit. My name is on here.”

  And he was green.

  How much information did the Kratos Guild have on them?

  Joel shot to the bottom of the list where the S’s were. Sydney’s name lit up green. Niella’s was black.

  “Well that’s a li
ttle comforting,” said Niella.

  Felix noticed Cali’s name was the only one with the blood symbol next to it. “Do we know what’s happened to all the people with green names?”

  Fuck, had Vander gotten a hold of them all? Was that his plan for their guild? Abduct everyone with powers and kill them if they didn’t join? There could only be one reason why there were names in red. How else would Vander know that a person didn’t have powers unless he tortured it out of them?

  His hands balled into fists at his sides.

  Joel clicked around on his laptop. “I can’t find anything about person whereabouts. That might be in a different folder. I’ll keep this window tabbed so we can cross-reference. Let’s keep looking.”

  A few seconds later a folder caught Felix’s eye. “Stop. Go back. Click on that.” He had no idea why the file caught his attention — maybe it was just idle curiosity, or maybe he wanted to see what Kratos was hiding in plain sight.

  “The building blueprints?” Joel hesitated.

  Cali backed him up. “Do it.”

  Joel obediently scanned through the documents. “This looks like any other building.”

  “I don’t think any other building has cells built into their basements.” Niella pointed to another window that was half covered by scanned files.

  “Watch my screen,” Joel warned.

  “Bite me.” Niella tapped the computer screen for emphasis. “Click this.”

  “Don’t tempt me, Niella. I will Lock your hands together if you ruin my electronics.”

  She arched her brow in open challenge.

  “I think we just found the arena Niella Dreamed about.” Cali leaned over the back of Joel’s chair to get a better look.

  Felix and the rest of the guild hunched in.

  “Look at that layout,” said Sydney. “You’ve got a medical ward, isolation cells, regular cells, prep rooms, confined rooms, some kind of living quarters … ”

  “Can’t forget the restrooms.” Niella pointed them out.

  “And of course there’s the giant arena built toward the back of the building.” Felix stared at the large, circular space on the computer screen. It dominated nearly a third of the map.