‘I thought you had backup?’ Matt called.
‘I do, but she doesn’t have time.’
Matt ran ahead and Aurel sped up his pace.
At that point I’d never felt anything like it, it was like my cells were decaying, there was burning and then numbness and then a wave of tremors that rolled through my body and nothing else worked. I could no longer keep my eyes open or reach out for him.
But the one constant that kept repeating itself, was fear. Insurmountable terror. Memories, all the things in my life, every moment I’d been afraid, kept repeating, breaking me down, pulling me into the darkness.
‘Focus on me!’
I couldn’t. There was so much, everywhere I turned, every time I blinked, new pain would fill my veins and new images would tear through me. Iraq, watching Alex die. Feeling Illarion slip away in my arms. Troy…Death. Torture. Pain. Dalca.
No. God…I couldn’t do this again. Not anymore, please.
‘Ace!’
My eyes focused on him and every time he looked at me, a new horror would fill his eyes breaking down the walls I tried to build and each time another wave of searing pain rolled through me, I grew weaker and finally, I closed my eyes.
‘No. No, Ace, don’t you fall asleep.’ He shook me as we ran. ‘Don’t give in, stay with me!’
With each passing minute, it was getting worse and that thought shook me to the core. What if this was it? A new, weaponized Serum, something we’d missed…maybe this is how those Sensitives died…maybe this was…no…there was no pain when they died. This was something was new; this was something else…
‘Ace!’
It was one, long, continual kaleidoscope of pain and horror and it was taking me down with it. Not in a blaze of glory, not saving my friends or protecting the world like I was meant to.
Here we were, in the city of love and all I could think about was how much I hated everything that led me here.
No. I wouldn’t let it take me. There was too much I needed to do. To say.
Illarion…no…God.
There was so much I wanted to tell him, so much I wanted to say and apologize for. I was lying when I said I didn’t know what I wanted, I did, I do. Illarion…
Aaryon, please let me see him one more time. Please, just one more time.
***
Aurel
Her blood was all over me and with each shaky breath, my hands trembled in my lap. I’d never seen anything like it, her eyes… Christ.
She’d had that look on her face, the one that said she was as shocked about what happened as I was. Something new, sinister had been brewed up. Those rounds were unlike anything I’d ever seen.
What the hell was in those bullets?
‘Hey.’
My head shot up, meeting Matt. His eyes were tired, full of shock, eyebrows arched with questioning like I’m sure mine were.
‘How are you doing, Matt?’
‘Honestly, I don’t know.’ He glanced down the hall to the room Ace was in. ‘How about you?’
My mouth was still dry from the hoarse yelling and panic, but my body was slowly coming back online. Everything was starting to function properly again.
‘You should go and clean up. There’s a bathroom.’ Matt nodded to the door a few feet away. ‘You need to take care of yourself.’
‘Yeah, you’re probably right.’ I said looking down at my shaking hands, ‘I’ll be quick.’
Disappearing into the small bathroom, I pressed a hand to either side of the basin and exhaled, looking myself over in the small mirror.
The look of horror in her eyes wouldn’t leave me. I couldn’t shake the image. I couldn’t switch off seeing her aura pulsing erratically.
Pulling my eyes away from my own reflection, I quickly scrubbed my arms and splashed some water on my face. I pulled out a bunch of hand towels and dried off.
The trashcan opened when I waved my hand over it and my breath stalled, making me stop and stare. It was full of bloodied paper towels.
Christ.
This wasn’t the first time seeing someone wounded in action, I’d spent the better part of my youth running around the desert with assault rifles. This shouldn’t have been as shocking as it was, yet it wasn’t the injury, or the blood that had me trembling. It was the way she looked, the way she pleaded and faded away, becoming someone I couldn’t recognize.
A tap on the door shook me from the trashcan. I dropped the towels in and slammed the lid shut.
‘Any news?’ I asked Matt.
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘But Illarion’s on his way.’
‘Okay. Good.’
Together we sat, silently waiting, watching.
Doctors came and went, a few nurses gave some updates and other than that, nothing.
It was maybe six hours since I sat and since Matt brought us coffee after coffee that I saw Illarion storming down the hallway, his jaw set into a hard line and his eyes flaring.
‘Anything?’ he asked.
‘She’s stable.’ I followed him down to the room. ‘She’s asleep.’
‘What happened?’ he kept his voice low.
‘Ambush, shit load of Collectors.’ I looked down the hall at Matt, he was glued to his spot, staring at the floor.
‘What happened, why were you in the street?’
‘Ace freaked.’
His mouth twitched.
‘She was interrogating Xiao, she lost control.’ Matt added.
Illarion ran a hand over his jaw.
‘She said she didn’t use her Darkness anymore, I can see why, she lost it. Her eyes weren’t hers, man, she’s not stable.’
‘She’s under a lot of pressure.’
‘Even more reason to get this under control, what I saw scared the hell out of me, Illarion, that shit was not normal.’
Illarion looked away. He didn’t want to admit it, but I saw the resolve. He could see it as much as I could.
‘Matt and I are going to head back to DC. Belfort’s demanding a rundown.’
‘Go.’ He nodded. ‘I’ll stay.’
‘Okay.’ I pressed a hand to his shoulder. ‘I’ll let him know you two will fly when she’s better.’
Chapter Nine
Ace
Asoft, warm hand found my cheek and then another holding my hand. My eyelids were heavy, my throat raw and scratchy like I’d eaten a bag of razors.
‘Lyubov?’
‘God, my head.’ I ground out, surprised at the effort it took to speak again. ‘Wow.’
‘Don’t try to speak.’
Don’t need to tell me twice. I groaned and slowly eased my eyes open. I blinked a few times before my head caught up with my gaze.
Illarion was sitting beside me, and I was in some sort of hospital bed, though it didn’t look like any hospital I’d ever been in.
It was nice, the walls were a pastel blue, geometric paintings lined the walls in assorted sized frames and textures, large flowerpots with wisterias sat in the corner and a large, cozy looking armchair with cushions beside it. The French did everything nicer.
‘What the hell did they shoot me with?’ My eyes travelled back to Illarion.
He grimaced, holding up a report which was thicker than a drugstore paperback.
‘Long story short—it was encoded to your DNA.’
‘What?’
Christ my head was splitting, if I wasn’t lucid and talking, I’d have thought for sure that I was dead. And I was glad to see that my vision wasn’t red now either.
‘If anyone else had been shot with that bullet it wouldn’t have had the same effect.’
‘It was designed for me?’
‘That’s the way it looks.’
‘What about the eye thing, I heard Aurel say something about it.’
‘Whatever the drug was, it seemed to scramble everything inside you. You were bleeding from your eyes and nose.’
‘That’s…horrific.’
‘When Aurel called me, Ace,’ he sho
ok his head and looked down at our hands, ‘I’ve heard him rattled before, but not like this.’
‘This is really bad news.’
‘I’d say so. Yes. I haven’t heard of a weapon like this.’
‘This isn’t the first time we’ve been caught unaware.’
‘No, it isn’t, but it’s the first time we’ve been completely blind.’
‘I refuse to let this scare me, Ila, I don’t want to live like that.’
‘Maybe being scared is good, it means we’re on guard.’
‘It means I keep living in that prison he put me in.’
He turned his face down and gripped my hand tighter.
‘Where are we?’ I changed the subject.
Illarion repositioned himself in the small armchair so that he was closer, but he didn’t let go of my hand which I became very conscious of.
‘My contact sent in an extraction team. They picked you up a few miles away. Aurel got you to the limo and they brought you here.’
‘Aurel?’
‘He’s fine, he and Matt took the first plane back.’
‘Is Matt okay?’
‘They’re both okay.’
‘Belfort is going to chew them out. And then me.’
‘He won’t.’
‘It’s my fault we were out there.’
‘Aurel told me about Xiao.’
Ah there it was. I looked away and pulled my hand free from his. God this was a mess, so damn embarrassing. And worst of all, the lecture from Illarion. The, I’m not mad, I’m disappointed spiel.
‘Hey,’ he said gently. ‘You with me?’
‘Yeah.’ I said. ‘It was a mistake. I lost control.’
‘It was more than a mistake, Ace. You could have gotten him killed; he’s not prepared like we are.’
‘I know that.’
‘I’m not lecturing you,’ he said defensively, ‘Why didn’t you say something to me?’
‘What was I meant to say?’ I shot back. ‘That I’m losing my mind, that I’m afraid of being out in the field because of the freak show I’m running?’
‘You’re not a freakshow.’ He eased my face back to his. ‘But I sent you here on a job, I signed you off.’
‘And this makes you look bad.’
‘I don’t care how it makes me look, that’s not what this is about. It’s about vouching for you and vouching for your safety and theirs.’
I shut my mouth.
‘As much as I dislike having to play their game, we have to. It’s not my choice, but we have to honor it.’
‘I know.’
‘Ace, you can talk to me, you should know that by now.’
‘I don’t want to talk about this, not now.’
He nodded and dropped it. But he continued to stare like the disbelief of my stupidity and instability was too much to comprehend. Finally, he placed his hands over his bent knee and got up.
‘Get some rest, I’ll come back a little later.’
‘Okay…’
Illarion disappeared, the door closing with a quiet thud. Pressure clamped down around my throat making my chest feel like I was stuck under a collapsed building, and I’d felt that more than once.
Lifting myself up on my elbows, I craned my neck around. There was nothing in the way of entertainment. My purse was gone and I sincerely hoped Aurel placed it somewhere safe, and my clothes were replaced with the daggy hospital gear.
I should have had some personalized scrubs made up by now. This was becoming far too common even for me.
When I could comfortably peel myself out of the bed, I padded over to the window and sat on the ledge.
Gentle plumes of smoke from nearby houses billowed into the pristine blue skies. We weren’t in the city anymore, but the view here was even more beautiful. The Eifel Tower could be seen on the horizon and the cityscape beside it. But here, there were trees, fields as far as the eye could see and cottages lining all sides. Rolling meadows and picturesque scenery that belonged in the pages of an Enid Blyton book, coasted across the horizon.
A smile found its way to my face as a pressed my forehead to the cool glass. How did I get here? How did I allow myself to fall so far down the rabbit hole? How did I get to the point where I allowed my ego to put my friend’s lives in danger?
Guilt and anger soured my stomach.
I couldn’t blame Dalca for this, he had a part to play, no doubt, but this, everything that led to this point was on me. I was the one who was desperate for information, I was the one who wanted nothing more than to end this. It would have been my name they’d tell his family…to explain how my arrogance and carelessness got him killed.
My reflection caught my eye in the pristine backdrop, there was so much beauty out there, so much wonder and awe and then, when I searched the dark green eyes staring back at me, I saw nothing but disgust and shame—that was all me.
***
A nurse came in a few hours later and helped me into a change of clothes, a more comfortable tracksuit and sweater type deal. She also looked more stylish than the hospital staff usually did, then I caught a glimpse of the signage behind her through the cracked door.
It was a rehabilitation center. Right. Made sense, all the scenery and comfortable décor.
‘I trust you’re feeling a lot better?’
‘I am, thank you.’ I gave her a small smile.
‘Good, I will bring you some food and then your friend will be allowed back.’
‘Allowed back?’
‘Visiting times for our guests are only between certain hours.’
Of course, rehab, my cover. I was probably in here under the guise of someone else.
‘Did my friend say when he’ll be back?’
‘Yes,’ She handed me a pair of slippers. ‘He said he’s visiting with your family and then he’ll be here.’
‘Okay.’ I said calmly.
Family? Who the hell was he visiting? Maybe Etienne?
She handed me a couple of pills in a small cup and a glass of water. When I looked at it skeptically, she nodded encouraging me to take them.
‘They’re just pain killers, Miss Black.’
After a quick search of her emotions and aura, I took the cup and glass and downed them.
‘Now, can I get you anything?’
‘Phone?’
‘I’m sorry, phones are prohibited.’
‘Of course, they are.’
She raised her brows and I shook my head. ‘That’s all then, thank you.’
‘Okay, I’ll let your friend in when he gets here.’
‘Thanks.’
She left me alone and I snatched up the clipboard from the end of the bed. Apparently, I was Ava Black, a twenty-eight-year-old socialite from Manhattan who partied too hard in Paris and was checked in to sober up before flying home to America.
Huh. No mention of gunshot wounds or poisonous drugs. Illarion’s reach went far.
Hooking it back up, I slumped into the bed and closed my eyes. Sleep was so far from my mind, but I just wanted everything to go quiet. I tried and tried but the voices and sounds wouldn’t shut off. I could hear the nurses next door, the patients down the hall…Dalca’s taunting voice telling me that I was finally locked up like I always feared. I pressed my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes shut even tighter. When the sounds started to dull, a gentle hand shook me to lucidity.
I jolted, pulling my arms away.
Confusion took me by surprise, I’d only just closed my eyes, how did he get here so fast…?
‘I’m sorry it took me so long to get back, apparently they’re strict on visiting hours.’
‘So long? But you’re here…’
‘It’s just after five.’
‘How?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I just closed my eyes a second ago…’
His concerned gaze landed on me.
‘Never mind.’ I shook my head. ‘When are we leaving?’
‘What’s going on, Ace
?’
‘Nothing, it’s fine. I must have fallen asleep. When are we leaving?’
‘As soon as you’re better.’ He said, his worried expression still heavy. ‘You’re going to be okay; you believe that, right?’
‘I’m scared, Illarion, I think something is really wrong.’
‘Talk to me.’
‘I can’t.’
He looked at me like he was contemplating how to say whatever he was thinking, and then, he sat beside me.
‘Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out and stop it.’
‘I don’t think I can.’
‘You can, I believe that.’ He smiled. ‘Truly.’
‘Thank you.’
‘For?’
‘Coming to DC, being here in France.’
‘Always wanted to come to Paris with you.’
‘Here we are.’
‘Here we are.’ He smiled. ‘And Aurel said you were calling for me, seemed rude to ignore you.’
The previous edge that made my insides tighten was slowly melting away, in its place, a hot, fluid feeling rolled through me.
My cheeks flushed.
‘Were you dreaming?’
‘No.’ I answered honestly. ‘Praying that I’d get to see you once more and tell you…’
‘Tell me what?’
‘That I lied.’
‘About?’
He gently swept his hand over the IV taped to the inside of my elbow.
‘Not knowing what I wanted. I do know. I always have.’
He cupped my cheek and I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes.
‘Ace…’
‘I want us, Illarion. I want us to try.’
A warm smile found me and then, a soft and gentle kiss landed on my lips. There was eagerness and pleading but at the same time it was tender, patient and understanding.
‘Get some rest. We’ll talk later.’
***
Illarion
The moment we got back to DC; it was one thing after the other.
Belfort was furious, and Peyton was getting on every last nerve.
Aurel, Matt and Peyton kept talking. Over and over, trying to shut each other down and my pressure point was rising.
Riley was trying to defuse the situation to no avail and Peyton kept throwing in objective remarks about being targeted and being unsafe because of us. I pressed my fingers to my temple and took in a deep breath.
The only other person not throwing in their pointless input was Belfort. His eyes found mine and something akin to sympathy settled in them.
Jack of Hart- Wild Card Page 13