“Begging is good.” His eyes glinted with mild
amusement. Viciously, he added, “Now do it on your knees.”
Pride was inconsequential. Ava Rose was all that
mattered. I dropped to my knees, grabbed his legs, and said, “I beg of you,
Kieran. I surrender. Do not hurt that innocent little girl. Please. I will link
with you willingly.”
Clicking his tongue, he shook his head like I
was a stupid, naïve girl. Eventually, he stepped backwards out of my grasp and
started to walk away. Collapsing into a ball, I wrapped my arms around my knees
and broke into uncontrollable sobs. I’d failed. I couldn’t even begin to
imagine what he was going to do to her. I wanted to die right there on the
spot. This would break me. I would never make it back from this. I knew it as
certain as I knew the sun would rise each morning.
“Bringing the child down here will take too
long,” Kieran said, stopping mid-stride. “And we need instant gratification.
Besides, the girl has grown on me.”
Uncovering my face, I sat up.
He turned and looked down at me. “I’m not quite
ready to destroy someone who
loves
me. James,” he said into his walkie-talkie, “cancel that last order.”
“Kieran,
thank you,” I whispered.
“This has nothing to do with you,” he said with
a shrug. “Aria, have you decided which of our two Guardians you want to link
with?” he asked, his eyes never leaving my face.
“Yes,” she said.
I almost stopped breathing as a slow, cunning
smile spread across his face.
“Good. Leave that one in the cell, but you and
Aiden can bring out the other one. We’ll show Lexi what we do when she breaks
the rules.” He raised a brow. “How timely we should have an extra Guardian for
the occasion. But you probably already know that by now, don’t you? I imagine
if you made it this far, you’ve already found them.”
“It’s about time,” Aria said, popping her neck.
Spinning, she marched out of the room, and Aiden followed after her.
This time I had to jumpstart my heart with a
dash of Essence. My stomach twisted into a million knots. Ava Rose might be
safe for the moment, but Dakota and Kohana were not. One of them was going to
be forced to link with Aria because Kieran wouldn’t be available – or so they
thought. And the other one was about to be tortured by a bunch of really pissed
off Ray-pacs. This would be on me. Even though odds were good the Ray-pacs
would have killed one of my friends without my involvement, I still felt
responsible.
Feeling queasy, I stood up and pleaded again.
“Kieran, you don’t have to do this. Please don’t do this.”
In a split second, he was in my face. I’d sensed
him coming but stood my ground without wavering. “This one is completely on
you,” he spit out. “And if you know what’s good for Ava Rose, you’ll take what
I’m about to give you. No resistance. And for once…no retaliation.” He raised
his hand, and I knew he was going to slap me across the face. But as I had no
bargaining power left, I did as he said and remained perfectly still. I’d
gambled one too many times and gotten away with it. I’d left his condo and
wandered into his compound which was strictly forbidden, and somehow Izzy was
still alive and Ava Rose remained asleep in her bed.
The blows were powerful. First, he slapped me so
hard across the face I thought my head might fly off. Then, full-fisted, he
punched me in the gut. He showed no mercy and treated me no different than he
would a 200 pound male Guardian who was fighting back. I spiraled through the
air before slamming into the wall. My head cracked open, and blood gushed
everywhere. I must have broken my arm too, because it hurt something crazy and
looked mangled. The other Ray-pacs cheered during my beating and even urged him
to continue when I was flat on the floor. I was relieved when he said something
about not wanting me too banged up right before we linked.
My first
impulse was to heal the wound, but I was afraid he might consider even that
small move an act of defiance. For the first time in my life, I asked permission.
“Kieran, can I please heal my injuries?” My voice sounded wobbly, and I was too
shaky and in too much pain to stand. Even my arm was starting to swell.
“You sure are a fast learner when you choose to
be,” he replied. He drummed his fist against the table where the dead Innocent
was laying. I could tell he was contemplating whether or not to allow me to
heal myself.
Chewing on my lip, trying to ignore the wave of
dizziness sweeping over me, I waited. I was afraid I was going to pass out
before he made a decision one way or the other. So I made an independent choice
and directed small flickers of Essence throughout my body, especially to my
head. Not enough to heal my wounds but just enough to keep me conscious. I
continued to act drowsy, though, swaying back and forth like I might lose
consciousness.
Obviously, he didn’t want me out cold, because
he said, “Fine, heal yourself now and get over here.” I complied, rose to my
feet, and went over and stood next to him. His face loomed before mine. “I want
you wide-awake when we torture this Guardian. You will watch every minute
without looking away or we’ll bring others in here and keep killing people off
until you can watch from start to finish.” At that point, Kieran had us all
move out to the corridor.
When Aria appeared with Kohana, I gasped. I’d
thought for sure she was going to choose him as a partner because male-female
links tended to be stronger, but for whatever reason, Aria had chosen Dakota.
That meant Dakota was safe at least until the full moon. For a moment, relief
cascaded through me. She was a friend of sorts, and she’d helped me get to Izzy
in time. But I instantly hated myself for feeling that way. While I wouldn’t
have to witness Dakota being brutalized, I’d still have to watch them torture Kohana.
He was a Guardian, and his life was worth no less than Dakota’s. My mix of
emotions was overwhelming.
Aria dragged Kohana down the hallway toward us.
He was shouting and kicking all the way. But when he caught sight of me, words
failed him. He stared in shock, and I’m sure I gazed at him with a similar
expression. “Lexi?” he finally said. “What are you doing here? What did they do
to you?”
I realized I probably looked a complete mess. I
had dried blood on my hands and probably on my face as well. Not to mention my
hair was a matted web. “I…I…” I didn’t know what to say, and my voice trailed
off. I couldn’t reassure him that everything was going to be okay. And I didn’t
want to lie to him anyways. But I also didn’t want to tell him they were going
to kill him. Before I could think of something appropriate or encouraging, Aria
shoved him into the room. It was much the same as the one we’d just come from,
except it was bare and empty.
“This just gets better and better,” Kieran
commented, and I looked sideways at him. “It appears you and this Guardian know
each other. What a small world, huh?” He looked pleased. “This will be a lesson
harshly learned, but maybe you’ll think before you act next time. Isn’t there a
saying, something like: tell me and I’ll forget, but teach me and I’ll
remember?”
“What you’re about to do sickens me,” I muttered
under my breath.
He laughed uproariously. “I’ll need to harden
you up or you’ll never make it as a Ray-pac.” I refrained from spitting in his
face, but it wasn’t easy. His voice turned hard, and he leaned close to my ear.
“Live and learn. And
don’t
break the
rules again.”
I crossed my arms and turned away.
“Do you want me to give him back his Flair?”
Aiden questioned Kieran. I’d thought maybe Kohana’s Flair was defensive, but if
it was offensive, it would make sense that Aiden would have absorbed it to keep
Kohana from using it on them in the corridor.
Glancing at Aria, Kieran shrugged. “Aria?”
She clasped her hands together excitedly. Her
olive-green eyes were barely visible beneath all the heavy black make-up. It
was like she’d intentionally smeared it around her eyes. Flashing a contrasting
bright white smile, she said, “Absolutely. What fun is a game of cat and mouse
if the mouse doesn’t have any advantage at all?” Suddenly she sobered up and
looked at Kieran, “But,” she paused, “if he dies, his link with the girl will
break. Do we have to be concerned about her dying, too? I don’t want to be left
without a partner.”
“No,” Kieran said without hesitation. “When
their link snaps, she’ll hurt, but she’ll live. I expect she’ll grow weaker and
weaker, but it’s highly unlikely she’ll die before the two of you link.”
I cannot describe the horrors I witnessed in
that room. Aria toyed with Kohana for a while and then Aiden came in and they
teamed up on him. Filled with revulsion, I watched silently as tears cascaded
down my face. My emotions ran the gambit. I was sad and angry at the same time,
but I was also disgusted and shocked. Kieran had threatened to hurt my family
as well as bring in other victims if I stopped watching or closed my eyes, so I
was forced to watch young Kohana suffer mercilessly at the hands of the
Ray-pacs. In the end, when he lay dying, they pounced on him and drained him of
his Essence. The whole experience was something I hoped never to witness again.
My need for revenge grew ten-fold.
Afterwards, Kieran escorted me back to my room
in the condo building. Grief-stricken, I was quiet all the way there. He mused
that it was probably a good thing I’d found my way to the compound, because I
would be there soon enough for our ceremonial “linking.” It sounded like he had
some kind of big spectacle planned. Why we needed to be down there, I had no
idea. But with Kieran, nothing was ever as simple as he made it sound.
He deposited me at my own room and said, “I
don’t want you bothering Ava Rose tonight.” He pointed at Vincent who was
sitting outside Ava’s bedroom, looking bored. “If you so much as step out of
your room before 7 a.m. Vincent will notify me. At which time I will make a
phone call to my people in Tacoma, and you can say good-bye to daddy. Got it?”
I nodded and gulped. Then he insisted I retrieve my cell phone and bring it to
him along with my key card. That really frustrated me. My only link to the
outside world now was Ash. Thank goodness I still had that.
“Lexi, I
hope you learned something tonight,” he said as I slapped the phone into his
hand. “Mostly – don’t challenge me again. I’ve been more than patient. We only
have one more day until we unite; see if you can follow the rules. And I
wouldn’t consider contacting Ash if I was you; otherwise, you leave me no
choice but to torture either the Amethyst or the child, or both – in front of
you.” He reached out and tugged on my matted hair. “If you push me to that, I
will be the one taking care of business, and I’m not nearly as gentle as Aria.”
I cringed. There had been nothing gentle about
the cruelty she’d inflicted upon Kohana.
“Get yourself cleaned up and get some sleep,” he
ordered. “We’ll meet up tomorrow and discuss our union.” Stepping back, he blew
me a kiss. “And Lexi,” he paused, a smirk on his face, “sweet dreams.”
Closing the door behind me, I leaned against it
and slid to the floor. It was time to call for back-up. I needed my friends and
I needed them here tomorrow. And maybe anyone else they could muster up.
Regardless of the risks, we had to take out these Ray-pacs once and for all.
Kieran would have no way of knowing I’d spoken with Ash. Slumped on the floor,
I broke down and cried for some time.
Eventually, I threw off my shoes, crawled over
to the bed, and climbed on top of it. I needed to mentally prepare myself for
breaking the news to Ash. Where would I start? And how would I keep him calm
enough to listen? Except, before I could organize my thoughts and contact Ash,
he contacted me.
“Lexi,
what the hell is going on? Tell me you and Ava Rose are not with Kieran right
now.”
What? My thoughts ran rampant. How did Ash know?
When he asked me again in a frantic voice, I
couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear. I confirmed Ava Rose and I were with
Kieran, and curse words exploded from Ash’s mind and into mine. To say he was
furious was an understatement. Had I been in his presence, no doubt his face
would have been red with fury, and I’d have been taking a violent shaking. I
wasn’t surprised when he vowed to throttle me the next time we met up. In no
mood for a tongue-lashing, I demanded he stop bullying me and listen up. Giving
explicit instructions, I told him to round up the Bellingham Circle and get
everyone on a plane bound for Oklahoma City. I said it had to be done prudently
because Kieran seemed to have eyes everywhere. I promised I’d tell him my
entire story once he’d set my plan in motion.
His response was not what I expected.
“I can’t
do that, Lexi. I’ve got a situation of my own right now.”
“What?
What do you mean you can’t do it? What kind of situation?”
Sitting up, I
moved to the edge of the bed and dangled my feet over the edge. My toes touched
the cold stone floor.
“Two guys
just showed up on my doorstep. They told me they work for Kieran and that he
has both you and Ava Rose holed up somewhere. I didn’t think their practical
joke was very funny, so I roughed them up a bit. But they swore it was true.
Right now, as we speak, they are making a phone call – supposedly to Kieran –
so they can prove it.”
His voice sounded rushed and agitated.
“They said Kieran has a message I might
want to hear before I make any rash decisions. That’s why I’m asking you what
the… Hold on a sec.”
His voice clipped off and disappeared.
I waited none too patiently. Having cracked
every joint I could think of, I moved on to biting my nails. What the heck was
going on? Why would Kieran have guys at Ash’s place? Whatever his motive, it
couldn’t be good. And the timing was way too coincidental. Had Kieran guessed I
might contact Ash even though he’d explicitly told me not to? After everything
I’d witnessed in the compound, how could I not? I wondered if Kieran was trying
to beat me to the punch or if this was simply part of his original plan.
“How screwed up can this get?” I uttered,
plaiting my fingers through my matted hair in an attempt to break apart the
knots. My stomach rumbled. Somehow I knew things were about to get even worse.
I’d waited too long to call for help, and now I might have just lost my trump
card – my Circle of Guardians. Currently, Kieran was winning this game. And
while that was infuriating, it wasn’t nearly as distressing as knowing I wasn’t
going to be the only one who turned up the big-time loser. There were a lot of
other lives at stake, too.
Ash swore loudly again and said angrily,
“Is Kieran in a position to harm you or Ava
Rose right now?”
“Yes,”
I
answered meekly, reflecting on how Kieran hadn’t allowed me in Ava’s room and
how I was confined to my own bedroom until morning. He was smart. Smart,
conniving, and sneaky.
A few more expletives invaded my mind and then
Ash said,
“Lexi, not only did I just hear
from Kieran. I’m also watching video footage of you and Ava with him. I’m going
to have to make a choice when this clip runs out.”
“Okay,”
I said, trembling.
“I can
take out these two low-lifes on my doorstep and proceed however I see fit. Of
course, if I do that, then Kieran has promised he will kill Ava Rose and you’ll
never be heard from again. Or, I can go quietly with these guys right now. They
will take me on a plane to who knows where, hopefully to you. But in this scenario
I must leave everything behind, including my cell phone, and I’m not allowed to
communicate with anyone. Oh, and just so you know, I’m not supposed to contact
you, either. If I do, then the consequences will be just as severe. So keep
your mouth shut about our conversation and act normal,”
he said gruffly,
barely containing his rage.
“My time is
about up. Do you see that I have any other way out of this?”
I clutched the comforter and clenched my teeth
. “No. There’s nothing. All that is true.
Only things are much worse. He’s already killed a Guardian, and he will kill
Ava if it means getting what he wants. But I don’t know if you should go with
them. I think he’ll kill you and her, regardless. I just don’t know.”
I
rubbed my temples, tears sliding down my cheeks again.
“Can you get word to someone? Jason? Or Madison even?”
“I don’t
see how at this point. Give me a few minutes. Once I’m on my way with these two
goons, you and I are going to have a serious discussion. And you better be
ready to talk. I want every detail, starting from the day you left Bellingham.
Got it?”
“Yes.”
I reached for the pillow and hugged it tightly. “
I’m sorry.”
It was probably a good half hour before Ash contacted
me again. Lying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, I told him every detail.
I started with that first phone call from Kieran and explained how I’d
fabricated a story about my sick uncle. Then I told him how Kieran had paraded
Ava and me around town all week, about the horrors in the compound basement,
and finally how Kieran planned to link with me. At that bit of information, Ash
snorted loudly.
I knew he was more furious than he’d ever been
before. Not once did he interrupt my story; I even thought I could hear his
uneven breaths. After I finished talking, there was a long stretch of complete
silence between us. I waited as long as I could and then said cautiously,
“Ash? Are you there? Did you get all that?”
“I’m
here,”
he responded crossly. “
I’m
just so angry right now, Lexi. I’m working hard to control my temper so I don’t
blow. I don’t know why, but not once did I consider Ava Rose might have been
kidnapped by Kieran. He’s such a whack-job, though. I could kick myself for not
thinking of him in the first place. And now that he has you, Izzy, and Dakota
too, the stakes are far too high. As if that isn’t enough crap to deal with, I
can’t believe this Neo guy is back in the picture.”
Rolling onto my side, I said wearily,
“I know. It’s too much to take.”
“Well,
we’re going to have to take it. Take it and deal with it. Because it’s real.
Right now, I’ve got some questions for you, and then we need to start thinking
about how we’re going to get out of this latest disaster – alive.”
He drilled me for quite a while. After that he
berated me for lying, I deserved it, so I took it. Besides, his temper was
nothing compared to what Jason’s would be when he found out.
If
he ever found out. In a way, Ash was
the battle preparing me for the war with Jason. Another reason I succumbed so
easily to Ash’s harsh criticisms was because I understood he needed to blow off
some steam. In the process of fleeing Bellingham with Kieran’s men, Ash had no
physical release. If he had, he probably would have beaten the two guys within
an inch of their lives and then fried them to a crisp with a few energy
spheres.
There was another lapse in our conversation when
he boarded the plane. When he spoke with me again, they were airborne. In a
rush, he apologized for lashing out earlier and admitted he probably would have
done the same thing had he been in my shoes. I asked about Jason and found out
he’d been irritable ever since I’d left town. Apparently though, Michael and
Sienna were visiting. They’d flown in from Maine the night before, and that had
improved Jason’s mood. Ash worried that when Jason found out I’d been lying and
had willingly surrendered to Kieran, I might need more protection from him than
I was ever going to need from Kieran. While I knew that was true, I couldn’t
spend any more time thinking about it. Instead, I changed the subject and gave Ash
all the information I had on the Ray-pacs and their individual Flairs.
“It sounds
like we only have three things going for us at this point,”
Ash said when I
finished.
“First, Kieran can’t be sure
whether or not we are communicating back and forth unless one of us slips. So
we need to be vigilant and act surprised if something comes up. Second, he
doesn’t know you can’t link with him. And third, because he can’t sense our
link, you should be able to take him out. And by that I mean kill him, Lexi…”
“I know. I
will. No problem.”
“Good. You
need to do it when he tries to link with you because that’s when he’ll be
powerless and that’s when he’ll be least expecting it. I’m assuming Kieran
plans on killing me, especially since I screwed him over by not handing you
over on a silver platter before.”
He was silent a moment.
“I’ll also pretend like our link has
broken…act defenseless. When the time is right, I’ll strike and hopefully
destroy a few surprised Ray-pacs in the process.”
“We need
to figure out how to get Ava Rose to safety and save Izzy and Dakota, too,”
I
said breathlessly.
“We’ll
keep working on those details. Right now, you need to try and get some sleep.
Tomorrow is almost here, and that means we don’t have a lot of time. This
month’s full moon hits around 2:00 a.m.”
Feeling overwhelmed and suddenly beyond
exhausted, I couldn’t argue with that.
“Yeah, and Kieran is so psycho-crazy about linking with me, there’s no way he’s
going to wait a minute longer than he has to. I’ve also been under the impression
he’s planning some big production. Probably in the basement of the compound
with a full Ray-pac audience. As soon as his link with Aria breaks it’ll be
show time.”
“Then get
some sleep, because we have about 24 hours until that happens. We’ll talk in the
morning unless something comes up between now and then. And I want to touch
base every half hour or so tomorrow. I’m going to try my best to make contact
with Madison or someone from our Circle. I’ll see if I can borrow a cell phone
and make a call on the plane when these morons aren’t looking. Get some rest.”
“Okay.
You, too. Bye, Ash.”
My sleep was restless – full of fragmented
nightmares. In the morning when I awoke, I spoke with Ash first thing.
Apparently, the two guys had watched him like a hawk on the plane, but he’d
managed to borrow some girl’s cell phone and send a quick text to Madison. He
wasn’t sure if it went through or not and figured only time would tell. The
good news was that he’d touched down in Oklahoma City sometime during the
night. When he described his holding cell, a wave of relief washed over me. It
sounded exactly like the ones in the basement where Izzy and Dakota were being
held. Ash might be a prisoner, but he was here. And there was something
comforting about knowing I wasn’t alone. Thank goodness the compound’s heavy
duty walls only blocked the ability to detect links and not the ability to
speak telepathically.
Anxious to see Ava Rose, I took a quick shower,
dressed, and hurried out of my room. Unfortunately, that was not to be. I was
greeted by a cranky, sleepy-eyed Vincent. He was still parked in the same chair
outside her room, just as he had been the night before. Shooting to his feet,
he placed himself directly in front of her door. Stretching his arms out, as if
to bar my entrance, he rudely informed me that she was still sleeping. With a
jeering smile, he added that I wasn’t allowed to go in without permission. I
gave him a dirty look and took a step towards him. He shrank back but held his
position and informed me Kieran was expecting me on the veranda for breakfast.
I wasn’t happy about it but figured I had no
choice in the matter. During my short walk down the hallway, I mentally
prepared myself for a conversation with Kieran. I didn’t want to betray my
knowledge that Ash was here, but I didn’t really know how to play it cool,
either. Halfway there, I met Maya who was carrying a tray full of fresh fruits
and pastries. She greeted me cordially, and I opened the balcony door, allowing
her to go first.
Immediately, Kieran and I made eye contact. I
had the feeling he was studying my facial expressions and body language for any
indication of whether I’d had contact with Ash. Personally, I thought he’d have
to be a fool to think otherwise. Regardless, I decided to put on a show like I
was angry about the day before and about being separated from Ava. Which I was,
so it wasn’t that difficult. With a loud harrumph, I diverted my gaze to the
Oklahoma skyline. Rather than sitting down, I stomped over and leaned against
the railing. That back-fired. The steel railing was already smoldering hot from
the morning sun. I yelped and jumped back but smacked into a chair.
Upon hearing Kieran’s laughter, I spun around
and glared at him. Maya had just disappeared back inside. “How ironic,” he said
merrily. His face was in the shade because he had the table umbrella opened all
the way. “Sucks to get burned, doesn’t it?” He grabbed a strawberry off the
platter. “It’s supposed to hit 95 degrees today. Maybe this will be a day for
multiple records,” he surmised, shoving the whole strawberry into his mouth,
green top included. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about and chose not to
respond. “Come; have a seat, Lexi. Enjoy your last breakfast as a Guardian
member, because the next time we eat out here, you’ll be a Ray-pac.”
Wanting nothing more than to lash out and beat
him to a pulp, it took every ounce of self-control to follow his orders. After
sitting down, I looked him straight in the eye and said viciously, “We might
link, but that doesn’t mean I will be a Ray-pac. I could never steal Essence
from another person…or an animal,” I added, narrowing my eyes. “And there is no
way I will hurt, torture, or kill anyone. What’s more,” I said, picking up my butter
knife and jabbing it in the air, “I will never, ever stop hating you.”