by Maya Banks
effort to calm her rioting stomach.
She continued to heave until there was nothing left to come up. She felt so weak that she knew she’d never be able to walk back without Isaac’s help. And right now she wanted Isaac. Wanted his strong arms around her because he’d never let her fall.
She tried to right herself but lacked the strength. Her mother’s surprisingly strong grip helped her get to her feet and then Jenna murmured, shocked at how weak she felt and the slurring of her words, “Please get Isaac for me.”
To her ultimate shock, she saw a gun appear in her mother’s hand and then felt the cold metal of the barrel press bruisingly hard into her side.
“It’s not Isaac you’ll be going to see, Jenna, dear,” her mother said coldly. “There’s someone right outside that window who wants very much to see you.”
Jenna stared in shock at her mother, unable to comprehend what was going on.
“You can’t fight me,” she said dispassionately. “The button I scratched you with? I drugged you. You’re as weak as a kitten and if you don’t move fast, not only will I shoot you, but I’ll shoot your precious Isaac too, so if you don’t want him to die, then you’re coming with me through that window and you’re going to do it fast before he gets worried and barges in. Because if that happens? I kill him, Jenna. So get moving.”
She shoved Jenna toward the blind-covered window even as she shouted loud enough for Isaac to hear, “She’s okay, Isaac! Just getting cleaned up now. We’ll be out in a minute. She just needs to wash her face and get her bearings back.”
“Are you all right, Jenna?” Isaac called back, concern evident in his tone.
“Answer him,” her mother hissed. “And you’d better be convincing or he’s dead.”
Fear nearly made speech impossible. Her mind was cluttered with a million things, memories, brief snippets and fragments of long-ago events all coalescing into place.
“I’m okay, Isaac. We’ll be out in a minute.”
Her mother made quick work of the blinds and getting the window open and then she shoved Jenna out, following behind her. Jenna stumbled when her feet made contact with the ground, the drug making her unsteady and dizzy.
“You killed him,” she whispered. She lifted her stare and looked right into the eyes of evil. “You killed my father and you were the one who sold me to the cult,” she said hysterically.
TWENTY-SEVEN
DANE was standing in front of the television, holding a cup of coffee in his hand, as he replayed the interview that had Jenna’s mother pleading for information about her long lost daughter. He didn’t know why he was so bothered by it. They’d checked her out, dug up every nonexistent skeleton from her past, and all they’d found was a woman who’d lost everything shortly after her daughter, Jenna, had turned four.
It wasn’t personal. It never was. Suspects were suspects until they weren’t. People were investigated and either found to be a source of use or not. So why did this woman stick in Dane’s craw so badly? What was it about her eyes that bothered him so damn much?
He was about to turn the television off when he heard Tori enter the room. But one look at Tori’s mask of horror, the fact that she’d gone rigid and her face had leached entirely of color, momentarily froze him.
“Who is she?” Tori demanded hysterically. “Who is the woman on the television?”
She ran to Dane, fighting him for the remote, kicking and hitting. Never had he seen her react this way to anything. He let go, letting her do what she wanted so desperately as she hit the button to turn the volume way up. But he walked up behind her and enclosed her in his arms, afraid she’d only become more violent and hurt herself.
“Tori, honey, it’s me, Dane. Talk to me. Talk to me right now. Tell me what’s going on. Who is this woman to you? You don’t understand how important this is. If you know something, you have to tell me right now.”
She whirled around, her eyes wild with so much fear that he hurt for her. “Who is she?” she screamed.
“Who is she to you?” Dane demanded, still holding her by the shoulders so she wouldn’t do anything crazy like run out of the safe house where he was keeping her completely hidden from the public—or private—eye.
“She’s the woman in my dream,” she said hoarsely. “Don’t you understand, Dane? She’s the woman I saw being shot to death but she wasn’t wearing that. God, if we can find out who she is, then we might actually be able to save her!”
Dale felt the blood drain from his own face as he stared back at Tori in horror. “Are you sure about this, Tori? You have no idea how important this is. That woman is Jenna’s mother, or the woman claiming to be her. Isaac took Jenna to meet her today. The footage you’re seeing is from several days ago when she made a public plea for help locating her missing daughter, and Jenna saw it.”
Tori’s mouth gaped open. “Oh my God, Dane. You have to tell them what I saw. You have to tell them now!”
Dane yanked out his phone, and as he was pressing buttons for the secure line so Isaac would know to answer it regardless of the situation he might be in, he glanced up at Tori again.
“What was she wearing when she was shot? You said that wasn’t what she was wearing on the television program. Think, Tori. I need this information.”
“Designer blue jeans, spike-heeled boots, long-sleeved white turtleneck sweater. It’s why the blood was so vivid in the dream,” she whispered. “All the red on her white shirt. So much blood.”
Dane wrapped one arm around her, pulling her into his side, and she turned her face into his body, overwhelmed by having to describe the event that had already played over and over in her mind. He hated making her relive it, but now he realized the impact this could have on . . . everything.
“Tori, this time there is something you can do about it—I can do about it—we just have to hope to hell we aren’t too late.”
Tori stared at him with wide frightened eyes. “I didn’t see Jenna or Isaac. No one from DSS. Why did I only see her mother? What could have happened to her—I mean will happen if it hasn’t already?”
“I can’t answer that, honey. I just have to try to warn them before it’s too late.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
JENNA was forced upward as she was dragged to her feet and then pushed forward, the gun never far from a vital part of her body. She was violently shaken from the sudden surge of memories and the ugliness revealed in her mother. Jenna recoiled from something so evil, wondering how her mother could have passed off acting with so much sincerity. She’d fooled them all, but Jenna most of all.
“It’s not often I get the chance to sell my brat daughter for a fortune not once in my life but twice,” her mother sneered. “When Eduardo annihilated the compound, he tracked me down and asked me to help him find you. For a price of course,” she added with a chuckle.
“Ah, here he is now,” her mother said as she shoved her toward a group of men who’d materialized from the nearby stand of trees that divided the commercial strip from a residential area.
The man she called Eduardo, Jenna only knew as Jesus, or “Jaysus” as Isaac and the other DSS men called him in order to deflate the egotism he’d wrapped himself in by comparing himself to the son of God.
Before anything else could be done or said, Jaysus pulled out a gun and quickly fired off two, silent shots at her mother, hitting her first in the chest and then right through her head. She crumbled to the ground, her white top now crimson with all the blood erupting from the enormous wound in her chest. Jenna slid to her knees, covering her ears and shutting her eyes as her silent screams echoed through her mind over and over. She wasn’t a healer with a beautiful, miraculous gift to save life. She was dirty, tarnished, a bringer of blood and death, disguised by something that appeared to be good. She should have never left the compound. Every single innocent person who’d made the mistake of protecting her and being kind had been marked for death. She was nothing more than a death sentence and she was to blame. T
his was her penance for daring to dream of a better life and for wanting so many of the things that had been denied her.
“Get up,” Jaysus ordered, grabbing Jenna’s arm and hauling her to her feet. “You’ve cost me far too much time and delay as it is. All you’ve done is earn the deaths of every single person who came to your aid.”
“Hands up, Jesus! Back away from the woman or you and every one of your men will die.”
Jenna heard Isaac’s voice in the distance, but she was too in shock to register how close he was. All she could think was that her own mother had betrayed her not once but twice. Her mother had killed her father, the one person who’d loved her when she was a child. And now she had put Jenna in the position of losing the only person who loved the woman she’d become. She was going to lose everything and be sentenced to hell again.
Jenna found herself roughly hauled up against the muscled body of Jesus, whose stench reeked of death. To her horror, he seemed to be looking for someone among the DSS agents who’d given pursuit. Then she saw the look of triumph spark in his eyes as he held up his gun, and Jenna began screaming and kicking and fighting as hard as she could.
Jesus merely knocked her away, instructing his men to handle her while he took careful aim and shot.
A cry of pain rose from the distance and a roar of rage and grief bellowed from Beau.
Oh no. Oh no! Jenna turned, scrambling against her captor’s hold as she watched a barrier being formed around Ari, but it was too late. She was lying on the ground in a pool of blood.
Beau’s gaze found Jenna’s through the chaotic turmoil, his eyes begging her. “She’s pregnant,” he said, his voice cracking. “We only just found out. Please help her. You have to save her and our baby.”
Jenna fought against the drugs that had slowed time and the entire world around her. It all seemed like something straight out of a nightmare, and for a moment she closed her eyes, praying she’d wake up in Isaac’s arms, being soothed while he told her it was just a dream. That she was safe. But when she reopened her eyes, she knew it was only too real. And she had to act fast if she was going to save Ari.
Isaac motioned desperately for his men to get into the best position to take out Jesus and his men the moment they got a clear shot. He could see Jenna struggling against the effects of whatever drug her bitch of a mother had given her at the restaurant. This was all his goddamn fault. None of it had seemed right from the very first, and worse, he’d allowed Jenna out of his sight, believing that nothing could happen to her in the small confines of the bathroom with him standing right outside. Damn him for not being more observant. For not insisting on taking care of Jenna himself. He’d let her and every single member of his team down and he’d never forgive himself.
The bastard had done his homework on DSS and he’d taken out the biggest long-distance threat to him at the very first opportunity. Ari.
Isaac watched, even as his men grimly reported in that no clear shot was available and they couldn’t simply start picking off Jesus’s men, because then Jenna would die.
Jenna straightened in Jesus’s hold and shot him a look of pure hatred. It was a look that told Isaac she was about to act and he silently pleaded with her not to incite the man’s anger even more. They just needed to buy more time. Just one slip-up and they’d take the son of a bitch out and lay waste to every single one of his men.
“Let me heal her,” Jenna said coldly.
Jesus laughed. “You’re in no position to be making demands. I’ll kill every last one of them and not give a shit.”
“Then you’ll lose what you most want. Me,” she said, shrugging indifferently, as if she didn’t care one way or another.
He actually looked confused for a moment and then laughed again, though this time it sounded nervous and not at all confident.
“I don’t lose. Ever,” he said, grabbing her arm and shaking her like a rag doll. “Especially when I’ve had to work this hard to get what I want.”
Both Zeke and Dex had to hold Isaac back when he went crazy, trying to get to Jenna.
“You’ll get her killed,” Dex hissed. “Hold it together until we are able to make our play.”
Isaac hated that they were right, but he hated even more having to see that bastard’s hands on her.
Jenna stared coldly at Jesus until his eyes narrowed in question. Her voice was soft but full of promise as she spoke loudly and clearly so that everyone could hear.
“Nothing you’ll ever do to me will make me perform for you. I’ll let every single person you bring me to heal die, and that includes you,” she spat.
“You say that now, but you’ll be singing a different tune when I’m finished with you,” he said menacingly.
She didn’t react to his threat and continued to stare at him unflinchingly, her voice and demeanor calm.
“The beatings, the torture, the brainwashing, every single thing they did to me while I was their prisoner worked because I didn’t know any different. I had no knowledge of the outside world, and I knew I had to endure and play their game until I could one day escape.
“If Ari and her baby, Isaac and all the others die, then I have nothing to live for anyway. You’ll have taken every single thing that matters most—the only things that matter to me in this screwed-up world—so it doesn’t matter what you do to me. I’ll never give in,” she vowed, her voice so cold and defiant that the drug lord seemed genuinely flustered.
And it froze Isaac to the bones, because he knew she meant every single word of her threat. He knew she would defy Jesus until her very last breath. Never in his life had he been this terrified. So unsure of himself and utterly helpless to save the woman he adored beyond measure.
“Then what do you propose?” Jesus asked, arching one eyebrow at Jenna.
“An exchange,” she said softly. “You let me heal Ari and you let everyone go without further incident. In exchange, I’ll go with you and do whatever you want. You’ll always have leverage over me because I’ll do anything to keep them alive, to keep Isaac alive.”
“God damn it, no, Jenna!” Isaac shouted hoarsely. “You aren’t going anywhere with that son of a bitch!”
Her gaze found Isaac across the distance and instantly her eyes filled with love, so much love. “It’s my choice to make, and I choose to save Ari and her baby and the rest of you. You are all the very best part of my life, and knowing that you’re all alive and well will be all I ever need. I can survive anything as long as I know you’re all safe.”
Then her gaze turned back to the drug lord and her eyes narrowed in warning. “Don’t ever think of double-crossing me, because if at any time I even think you’ve broken your word, I’ll let you or anyone else die without a single regret, even if it means my own death.”
There was grudging respect in the drug lord’s eyes but also a smugness, as if he believed he still held the upper hand. He was a fool. Jenna was being absolutely honest in that she felt she had nothing to lose if everything was taken from her. Isaac knew because if he lost her, no force on earth would ever stop him from seeking vengeance, even if it cost him his own life. Because without her, he had no life. No reason for living. None of the reasons he’d worked and been so passionate about his job at DSS would sustain him if he lost the one person who mattered most to him. Just as Beau, who was kneeling brokenly over Ari, would never survive the loss of his wife and child. As much as he hated Jenna bargaining with the devil over being able to heal Ari and give her and her child a chance, he knew that in Beau’s place he would beg, give anything, make any promise even to the devil himself to ensure that his wife and child survived.
Finally the drug lord nodded his head. “All right. We have an agreement. You may heal the woman, but not fully,” he said, his tone a warning. “I’ll not have her well enough to use her powers against me, and I’m well aware of her abilities, so don’t try to fool me by downplaying them.”
Isaac glanced at Caleb, shooting him a warning stare. It was obvious Jesus
had studied up on DSS and knew of Ari’s power, but he hadn’t even looked in Ramie’s direction or mentioned her name. As their gazes locked, Caleb nodded his understanding and pushed Ramie back, obscuring her from view as he slowly retreated while attentions were focused on Jenna and Ari.
Yes, Ari was likely the most powerful weapon in their arsenal, but only as it pertained to brute force. Ramie was every bit as powerful and every bit as valuable a weapon and if, God forbid, this went like Jenna wanted and they weren’t able to stop Jesus from taking Jenna with him and escaping, they’d need Ramie to locate her.
Jenna looked in Gracie’s direction to where she was solidly behind Zack, who acted as a barrier between her and danger, risking his body for hers.
“Gracie,” Jenna called out loud enough to silence the others, who now looked at her with even more curiosity.
Some of Jesus’s men shook their heads and muttered that Jenna was loco. That she was of the devil and would bring death upon them all. This angered Jesus and he barked an order for them to shut up.
But his men were right—only it wouldn’t be Jenna who brought death and the bowels of hell down on their heads. Isaac and his men would be the ones to carry out that mission, and it would be the most satisfying mission of his life.
“Does he tell the truth?” Jenna asked Gracie in a solemn voice.
Gracie peered around Zack’s back much to his protests and then stepped out to the side, nearly causing Zack to lose his mind. But Gracie had decided that if Jenna had risked so much in order to save Ari, she wouldn’t be the only one to do so.
Gracie reluctantly nodded, staring at the drug lord with a mixture of fear and disgust. “He speaks the truth.”
Jesus was visibly confused as he yanked his gaze between the two women. Then he frowned, his brow crinkling as he stared at Gracie, as if finally realizing her ability.
“If you think to change the deal in any way, I’d advise against it,” Jenna said, steel in her voice. “If you don’t keep your word, then neither do I.”
“Then how do I know you’re telling the truth?” he said mockingly to Jenna.
She nodded her head in Gracie’s direction. “Ask her,” she said defiantly.
Jesus snorted. “Oh, I’m supposed to believe she really reads minds.”
Gracie’s expression became one of disgust, and then she began to recite in great detail precisely what the drug lord was currently thinking. Like how a bunch of uppity women who hadn’t ever had to deal with a real man and who’d been allowed to get away with far too much, especially when it came to disrespecting the men who had power over them, should all be firmly put in their place by a real man like himself. She looked like she wanted to throw up when she added that there was nothing more that he wanted than to be able to fuck the truth into them all so that by the time he was finished with them, they’d know who their lord and master was.
His eyes widened, but he seemed amused and not at all regretful of the broadcasting of his thoughts. He smirked in her direction, as if to tell Gracie she was certainly included in his lascivious fantasy. Then he raised his hand. “Okay, okay, then tell me, is Jenna telling the truth? If I honor my end of the bargain by allowing her to heal the woman and allow the rest of you to go free and unharmed, then she’ll go with me without fighting and do every single thing I demand of her?”
Gracie’s eyes filled with tears, which should have been answer enough, but again she nodded and then choked out, “Yes, she will never break her word as long as you don’t give her cause to do so by breaking yours.”
“Very good,” Jesus said with smug satisfaction.
He shoved Jenna forward in Ari’s direction, his and his men’s guns trained on her and all the others as tensions rocketed in the area.
“Make it quick,” he barked.
Jenna stumbled past her mother’s body, her face whitening. She closed her eyes and continued on, squaring her shoulders even as pain burned brightly in her eyes. Pain and so much betrayal that it sickened Isaac. Betrayal he was part of, because he’d failed to keep his promise to Jenna.
“Everyone away from the woman except Jenna,” Jesus barked. “Anyone make a single move not to my liking, then I open fire and I’ll kill every last one of you fuckers.”
Jenna found Isaac standing in the distance, and her eyes filled with tears. “I love you,” she mouthed.
Before he could respond, she turned and found Beau, who was being forced to leave Ari’s side by his own men and was putting up one hell of a fight.
“Beau,” Jenna called softly.
Beau stopped immediately and turned to face Jenna, his eyes bright with tears, his face a picture of complete devastation.
“I’ll save her and your child. Please trust me. I’ll do just enough that if you get them both to the hospital, I vow on my life, they’ll be okay.”
“I’m trusting you with all that I am and all that I have or will ever have,” Beau said in an aching voice. “Please save her, Jenna. You’ll never know what your sacrifice means to me. Never. I owe you a debt that can never be repaid. But know that I will do everything I can to try.”
Jenna knelt beside Ari and gathered her hands in hers, and spoke gently to the woman to ascertain whether she was conscious or not. Ari’s eyelids weakly fluttered open and she looked up at Jenna with pain-filled eyes, tears pooling in a swirl of arresting colors.
“You have to save my baby,” Ari whispered. “He shot me in the stomach. I’m so afraid my baby is lost.”
“Never give up hope,” Jenna said. “I need you to lie still and try to believe. Have faith and don’t give up, Ari. You can’t give up. I need you to help me by doing that.”
Without further delay, Jenna placed both hands directly over the abdominal wound, blood covering her fingers and palms, and she closed her eyes, calling on the gift that at times had seemed more like a curse. But right now she embraced it for what it was. A miracle. God’s sweet mercy and grace. She sent light radiating into Ari’s shattered womb and gently cradled the tiny life in her palm, encasing her in the most radiant, warm, glowing light Jenna had ever called forth.
Isaac and the others watched, stunned as light illuminated Jenna until she appeared every bit the angel he’d dubbed her the very first time she’d used her shining goodness and light to heal him. Even Jesus looked upon the healing in astonishment, as if he truly hadn’t been certain that Jenna was all she’d been