Vivid Avowed (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 3)

by Kaydence Snow

  What’s her problem? She was probably one of Ethan’s exes. They’d significantly backed off when it became known I was his Vital, but some of them were still salty.

  I tried to put it out of my mind and think about the pasta waiting for me at home, but when their chatter turned to whispers and then complete silence, a cold chill shot down my spine. I attributed it to the sudden gust of wind, which made the branches above dance grotesquely, but still found my steps speeding up. My emotionless shadow matched my pace.

  Any fatigue I’d been feeling was chased away by adrenaline. I looked at my agent again, letting my worry and uncertainty show. He kept his stern gaze fixed ahead and didn’t even meet my eye. I eyed his gun and told myself this was why he was here—to protect me if anyone tried anything—but the unsettling feeling wouldn’t go away.

  All my senses were on alert, my ears listening for any little sound, but I dared not turn around again. As my steps almost doubled in speed, I could clearly hear theirs keeping pace behind me.

  We rounded a bend, and the brightly lit square and a corner of the admin building came into view past the trees.

  “What makes you think you get to decide who can have Variant abilities and who can’t?” a deep male voice growled from behind me.

  My heart flew into my throat as the female voice added her own hateful words. “You arrogant bitch!”

  Instead of telling them to back off or putting himself between us, my supposed protector chuckled.

  I didn’t think, didn’t turn around to argue, didn’t even falter in my steps. I just dropped my bag and books and took off running.

  My sparring may not have been advancing as well as Kane wanted, and my upper body strength still left much to be desired, but I could run. I’d been doing it for years, and it was one thing I had confidence in. I took off so fast and so suddenly that I halved the distance to the end of the path in no time.

  But just as fast as I’d taken off, I ground to a halt. Something wrapped around my ankle, and I flew forward. My palms and cheek slammed against gravel.

  I didn’t focus on the pain shooting through my wrists and head or the fact that all the air had been pushed out of my lungs. I immediately started pushing myself up.

  But once again I found myself flying—this time up instead of down. Whatever had wrapped itself around my ankle snaked up my leg and banded around my middle, lifting me clear off the ground until my feet hung below me uselessly.

  I thrashed and wriggled as a scream tore through my throat. Desperate, I reached for my distress beacon necklace, but as my hand closed around it, another two branches snatched my wrists and yanked my arms behind me.

  I was being restrained by the very grounds of Bradford Hills Institute—tree branches, vines, and shrubs moved like tentacles on a sea monster to hold me hostage.

  Tyler’s name came out on a screech. He was the closest, in his office in the building I could see right there, but I had no idea if he’d be able to hear me.

  “Would you shut her up?” the agent growled, his youthful features twisted with hate.

  The girl took her scarf off and handed it to the other guy, who rushed up to me. He had to reach up, but his rough hands tied the scarf around my head, the light fabric shoved into my mouth.

  The chick wasn’t saying much. The muscles in her forearms strained as she held her hands out in front of her, teeth gritted, panting. Clearly, she had some kind of plant-control ability similar to Dot’s animal control—the flora to Dot’s fauna—but it didn’t seem as though either of the guys was her Vital. She looked as if she was using all she had to hold me up. Impressive, to be sure, but I didn’t know how long she could maintain it without a Light boost.

  The Light!

  I gasped. I wasn’t completely powerless, despite being bound and gagged.

  I dared not close my eyes for fear of missing what their next move might be, but I concentrated as hard as I could, tapping into my own Light deep inside me.

  I was going to drain that bitch of every last drop until she released me.

  “Shit!” The guy who’d gagged me threaded his hands into his hair, panic evident in his wide eyes. “What the fuck do we do with her now?”

  The agent answered. “We get her to Damari so he can fix us.”

  “How? Do we knock her out? How do we even get her past the guards at the gate? How do we even contact Damari? I don’t know him personally, do you? And what about . . .”

  “Shut the fuck up!” said the agent. “I’ll take care of the guys at the gate, and we can worry about the rest after. Just help me find something to tie her up with. Elena can’t hold her forever.”

  I bit down on the scarf and narrowed my eyes. Just as I began to glow, footsteps came thudding toward us.

  I kept my focus on the Variant in front of me, letting my instincts take over and latching on to her distinct energetic signature. Then I pulled.

  She gasped, her eyes going wide, and wrapped her hands around her middle, as if the action could hold the Light in. But it was at my mercy; she was powerless to stop me now.

  The branch around my middle loosened, making it easier to breathe, and the vines circling my wrists were no longer cutting off circulation.

  I’d never pulled Light like this before—from a single, direct source that wasn’t one of my Bonded Variants. Sure, I’d pulled it from other Variants in Davis’s lab and in the gun fight as Alec lay dying at my feet, but those times I’d simply pulled from all directions, letting the Light drain anyone it recognized as a threat.

  This was different—it was personal. I wasn’t trying to boost my guys’ powers, to give us the upper hand in a life-or-death situation. I was using my glowing ability as a weapon, homing in on the one person who posed the biggest threat to me and coaxing the Light right out of her.

  It was almost too easy.

  She fell to her knees and sat back on her heels, folding in on herself. Her arms stayed wrapped around her middle.

  As several Melior Group guards ran toward us, she completely lost her grip on her ability. The branches and vines detangled and retreated slowly.

  The guards had their guns drawn, yelling at everyone to get down on the ground, but they didn’t seem sure of whom to point the weapons at.

  On the one hand, it looked as if I was being attacked, but on the other, I was glowing like fucking plutonium as the plant life lowered me to my feet. Meanwhile, the agent who’d turned on me was yelling that I needed to be restrained, confusing the crap out of his colleagues.

  The girl—Elena—wavered and toppled to the ground.

  “No!” I shouted, dread crawling up my spine to grip my throat. I shut my glow down immediately and stopped pulling Light from her.

  I’d wanted to defend myself—I couldn’t just hang there and let them kidnap me. It was never my intention to kill her.

  I rushed forward, but a black-clad woman stepped into my path, pointing a gun at my chest. “Do not move!”

  I froze and put my hands up, but I shifted from foot to foot, my darting eyes trying to take it all in, trying to see if I’d just killed someone.

  One agent had a gun trained on me, and the other was checking to see if Elena was OK. When she coughed and moaned, I breathed a shaky breath of relief as my tears spilled over.

  Other people started pouring onto the narrow path from both ends, drawn by the shouts and commotion. The two agents were struggling to maintain control of the situation.

  “She’s the dangerous one!” Elena’s friend gestured to me, his other hand in a fist by his side. “We should be tying her the fuck up. Handing her over to Davis Damari. Don’t you assholes want abilities?”

  “I’m human, dumbass!” another guy shouted.

  People started yelling over one another, ignoring the firm demands of the armed guards to remain calm and step back. Some of the Variants seemed to know the couple, and most of them wanted my head—or my Light, as it were.

  As more and more people piled into the tight sp
ace between the trees, it started to feel like the beginnings of a mob. Someone should really run and get the torches and pitchforks.

  I took tentative steps back, the leaves and twigs crunching under my feet, as the angry, arguing crowd closed in. More guards arrived, but short of firing weapons, there wasn’t much they could do to stop what was fast turning into a riot.

  A Variant with super speed blurred through the crowd, and I suddenly found myself restrained once again, my wrists in a tight grip and my shoulders pulled back.

  People in the crowd cheered, started pushing forward.

  The guard pointing a gun at me faltered, looking between me and my captor with uncertainty. “Everyone calm the fuck down and step back!”

  But the yells and angry words of the crowd drowned out her voice. Scuffles began to break out.

  “Let me go or I’ll drain you,” I growled, doing my best to look at the asshole holding me. I caught a glimpse of stubble, a sneering mouth. “I’ll drain you like I drained her.”

  He hesitated, the hands around my wrists loosening just a fraction, but then he yanked me back roughly.

  Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by a deafening roar behind us. The crowd immediately quieted down, looking around warily and shuffling backward.

  The roar came again, louder, closer. But I couldn’t turn to see what was making the terrifying sound. My latest captor finally released me, turning to face the new threat.

  The sound of snapping twigs and branches mingled with yet another growl as two towering, dark shapes moved through the shadowed trees.

  At the same time the grizzly bears came into the light, Dot and Charlie stepped forward between them, their hands clasped. One of the bears reared up on its hind legs, making us all crane our necks, as the other let out another deafening growl, showing its lethal teeth and jaws.

  More fearful shuffling and a few terrified shouts came from behind me, but for the first time, I wasn’t scared. These were Dot’s animals; there was no way they would hurt me. I looked into my short friend’s fierce eyes and gave her a tiny, shaky nod of thanks. She smiled, dropping her death glare, but it was Charlie who spoke.

  “Anyone who does not wish to get mauled by a bear tonight should kindly back the fuck away.” His voice was calm and even, his free hand in the pocket of his black pants.

  Tyler’s voice, on the other hand, was full of barely restrained anger. “Why is there a gun pointed at my Vital?”

  I turned to see him standing only feet away, his full focus on the agent whose weapon was still trained on me. His jaw was clenched, his hands in tight fists.

  I had an intense urge to run to him, feel his comforting arms around me, bury my face in his neck and ignore this whole fucked-up situation. But I stayed back, knowing he needed to take charge and not wanting to distract him.

  “I . . . I’m just . . . she was . . .” The agent’s wide eyes flicked from me to him uncertainly.

  “Agent, lower your weapon. That is a direct order,” Tyler barked.

  Immediately, she dropped the gun and stood at attention, her lips in a tight line. As Tyler turned his murderous gaze away from her, her eyes narrowed.

  There was division in the ranks; Melior Group was falling apart. That sent a shiver down my spine more than anything else—more than the grizzly bears, the people crying for my blood, the guns pointed at my face. When institutions and organizations of that scale and influence began to show cracks, we were all fucked. We were about three weeks away from the Hunger Games. I just wasn’t sure if it would be the humans or the Variants killing the other for entertainment.

  “I want these four detained.” He pointed to my attackers. “Bradford Hills Institute will not tolerate this kind of behavior. We take the safety of all our students extremely seriously.”

  Operatives pushed through the crowd to obey him. He wasn’t armed or in a badass black uniform, but Tyler was the most formidable, commanding presence there. I ached to touch him yet again—that authoritative power made me feel safe.

  My treacherous bodyguard had remained quiet after failing to immediately convince his colleagues to detain me. He’d shifted farther back into the crowd, but there was no hiding from Tyler. His men brought the man forward as he struggled to get out of their grip.

  Tyler looked at him as if he were a sticky piece of shit on the bottom of his shoe. “I’m going to ruin you.” His voice was low, menacing, and full of intent. “The rest of you, head back to your residence halls and expect a visit from a Melior Group agent in the next twenty-four hours. Those of you not living on campus, head to the cafeteria for temporary accommodation. The campus is officially on lockdown. No one is to go in or out.”

  Some people started to move away, warily eyeing Dot’s bears, but others grumbled about not being allowed to leave.

  “Move!” Tyler bellowed, his patience wearing thin, and the rest of them flinched and scattered.

  Once the only people in sight were us and another four agents, Tyler turned to Dot and Charlie. “You can send them home, Dot.” He gestured to the bears. “Thank you. Both of you.”

  “Anything for Eve.” Charlie wrapped me up in a hug as Dot shooed the bears away. One of them nuzzled her tiny frame with its giant muzzle as a goodbye.

  She shoved her brother out of the way to squeeze her arms around me. “Would you stop trying to get yourself kidnapped?”

  We both chuckled, but a cold, heavy weight settled at the bottom of my ribs. It could have been so much worse.

  “Kyo and Marcus are at the east gate.” Tyler stepped closer. “They’ll get you home, but you better hurry before the announcement is blasted through all the speakers.”

  Dot and Charlie hurried away, and Tyler finally held a hand out to me, his warm gray eyes full of an emotion I couldn’t nail down.

  I rushed to him, fully intending to wrap myself around him and never let go, but he took my hand firmly in his and set a fast pace toward the admin building, the four agents closing in around us.

  Twenty-Two

  I gripped Tyler’s hand and struggled to keep up, but we reached the brightly lit lobby in no time.

  Stacey was behind the reception counter, looking harried as Bradford Hills staff and Melior Group staff rushed around. She saw us but kept speaking to the man beside her.

  Tyler bypassed the elevators and ushered me into a small meeting room. He slammed the door shut with his foot and finally pulled me into his arms.

  As the announcement that the campus was on lockdown reverberated through every speaker on site, Tyler held me close. I buried my face in his neck, curling my arms around his waist and holding tightly to the fabric of his shirt. An arm around my back almost crushed me, and another pressed against the back of my head.

  His heartbeat was erratic, a staccato rhythm hammering under my cheek, and his labored breaths fanned over my hair.

  We didn’t speak. We just held each other. He was my anchor—something to keep me tethered to this world, to keep away the panic once again clawing at my throat.

  I focused on his firm grip, his warm breath, the texture of his cotton shirt in my fists. But I didn’t close my eyes. If I closed my eyes, I would start to relive it, along with all the other things that resided in that festering, fucked-up, traumatized part of my brain.

  The branches restraining me, making it hard to breathe.

  The blood pooling around Alec’s still body.

  The steel bars of a cage in a basement.

  Beth getting knocked off her feet.

  My mother’s stunned face as her hand slipped out of mine.

  I had to keep my eyes open, keep my focus on the here and now. Or I’d completely fall apart.

  After a few minutes, or maybe it was days, Tyler’s heart rate began to slow down, his breathing became more measured. My own inhalations and exhalations matched up to his instinctually.

  “Nowhere is safe, is it?” My voice was flat—just stating a fact, even if I posed it as a question.

 
He loosened his grip and leaned back. His eyes searched mine as his mouth opened, then snapped shut again. Finally he sighed and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  Tyler couldn’t lie to me—not anymore—and there was nothing else to say.

  The sound of the door opening made us pull apart, and then I was crushed to another broad, strong chest.

  Alec lifted me clear off the ground, both arms around my middle and his face buried in my neck.

  I returned the embrace. It felt good to have him holding me up—both physically and metaphorically. His strength made me feel stronger.

  The sound of a female voice made me lift my head. Stacey had followed Alec into the room and was speaking with Tyler in hushed tones, their heads bent together. A Bradford Hills Institute staffer and another Melior Group operative joined us too. The black-clad woman closed the door behind her.

  Suddenly, I didn’t want to be held off the ground like a child anymore. I wanted to stand on my own two adult feet.

  I gave Alec a squeeze and pulled back. Instead of setting me down, he lifted his face and mashed his lips to mine. The kiss was desperate—full of the fear and frustration I was feeling myself. Alec didn’t give a shit that we had an audience. He needed to feel me, safe and warm in his arms, needed to reassure himself that I was OK.

  I held the back of his head, feeling the demanding strokes of his tongue and the prickles of his buzzed hair under my palm.

  Tyler cleared his throat loudly, and we pulled apart. Alec’s ice-blue eyes stared me down, searching, but I looked away.

  “Faculty and students have all been informed of the lockdown. The protocols are being put into place,” the Bradford Hills staffer informed the room as Alec slowly lowered me to the ground.

  “All the gates are secured,” the woman in black reported, “and we have extra men in place along the perimeter. Every twenty feet, as ordered.”

  “Can we go home?” I kept my voice low, but we were in a small room and everyone heard me. “I wanna go home.”