Soul Bound (37 page)

Lia fought to steady her breathing, to keep panic from invading her bloodstream. If she allowed her emotions to run rampant, Jace would sense them. Somehow she had to close her thoughts off to him or he’d never let her go to Cassie. She couldn’t risk her sister’s life, not for anything.

Not even Jace.

Carefully, her heart thumping in her throat, she crawled out of bed.

Jace awoke with a start. “Where do you think you’re going?” He rumpled his hair, rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

Struggling to shield her thoughts, she forced a smile. “To take a shower. You’re not planning to follow me to the bathroom, are you?”

“Don’t tempt me. If it were up to me, I’d never let you out of my sight.”

She tamped down the fear rushing through her veins, not to mention the remorse she felt at having to deceive him, and ambled to the bathroom door. “I’d invite you to join me, but there’s something I want more right now. Coffee. I saw a fast-food place down the street when we drove up last night. Think you could get us some take-out?”

Obstinate reluctance coated his features. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone.”

“It’s just around the corner. I’m safe here,” she insisted. “Besides, if there were any bad guys within a mile of this place, you’d sense it.”

He shook his head. “I’ll wait for you. We can head out together.”

“Please.” She gave him her most supplicating look. “I’m starving. It’ll take me at least half an hour to get ready. I don’t think I could last that long without my morning dose of caffeine.”

He was trying to read her; she could tell by the focused expression on his face. She only hoped she’d succeeded in shutting him out. Blocking access to her mind was an art rather than a science, and more often than not she failed.

But not this time. Eager to please her, Jace hopped into his jeans, tugged on his T-shirt, and barreled to the door. “Stay put,” he ordered, grabbing his jacket from a nearby chair. “The last thing I want is a repeat of the library incident.” With a worried frown, he locked up behind him.

Lia waited a few seconds to make sure he could no longer hear her, then she stumbled into her clothing, clumsily pinning her unruly mass of hair into a ponytail. Scanning the room, she tossed all her things into the backpack Regan had given her, ensuring she left nothing behind Jace could use to track her. The last thing she wanted was for him to come crashing to the rescue and get Cassie killed.

When she was satisfied she’d retrieved everything, she strapped the bag over her shoulder and grabbed her purse and the vial of angel’s blood Jace had left behind. The car keys sat on the nightstand. Fingers shaking, her nerve-endings rubbed raw, she swiped them and sprinted out of the motel room, heading for the emergency exit, which led to the parking lot.

As soon as the voicemail had ended, a plan had begun to form in her mind. She didn’t have any weapons on hand, only the meager vial of angel’s blood. It wasn’t much, barely three ccs, but she had an idea how to make it count. If she blew the speed limit, she’d have just enough time to stop by her place and get what she needed.

She was through hiding. She’d done things Jace’s way, and look how that had turned out. Thousands had lost their lives, and now Cassie was in danger. The time had come to do the only thing her conscience allowed, regardless of the risk it entailed. She just prayed Jace would understand.

Jace squinted against the bright glare of the morning sun and hurried back to the motel room, as fast as he could without drawing undue attention to himself. All around cars whizzed by, the drivers eager to get wherever they were going. A soft breeze blew, and the salt-laden air carried an unmistakable hint of pine buried beneath the predominant stench of car exhaust. He was far more aware of smells since his transformation, could peel away the scents as if they were layers.

Sounds, too, were louder, as clear as a bell. He could hear a car’s motor revving from several blocks away. So when he approached the room, holding a paper bag and two coffee cups on a disposable tray, he knew immediately something was wrong. The place was dead quiet. No faucet gushed, no hairdryer hummed, no footsteps shuffled across the wall-to-wall carpet. Not bothering with the key card, he mentally unlocked the latch and charged in.

“Lia?” He dumped the bag and tray on the nightstand, noticed that the car keys he’d left there were missing. But more alarming was the fact that he didn’t
feel
her.

Fear fisted in his gut. Had someone taken her by force?

There were no signs of a struggle, and he knew damn well Lia would fight like a madwoman if someone accosted her. He sensed no dark energy in the room, just the mild, soothing thrum of Lia’s lingering essence.

Maybe she’d just gone to get something—a tube of toothpaste, some floss, a pair of pantyhose. But why wouldn’t she have waited for him, and why hadn’t he seen it coming? Her ability to shut him out seriously pissed him off, especially since she seemed to have unlimited access to his thoughts.

And now she’d resorted to lying to him. That was why he hadn’t been able to read her. She hadn’t wanted him to get breakfast. She’d wanted him gone.

Damned if he knew why, but he sure as hell was going to find out. She couldn’t have gone far. He could track her. All he needed was to get his hands on something she’d left behind. Anything would do, even a hairpin. He could probably find her without it, the way he had the night he’d shown up on her doorstep, but a physical object would make the search so much easier, the compulsion so much stronger. He began a sweep of the motel room, looking for a forgotten item. Unfortunately, Lia had been very thorough, only confirming his suspicion that she’d left of her own accord. But most incriminating was the missing vial of angel’s blood he’d stored in the nightstand drawer last night.

Worry and frustration worked hand in hand to aggravate him, but beneath that disappointment began to fester. Lia was the only person he trusted, and she’d purposely deceived him. She’d lain beside him last night, curled up against him like he actually meant something to her. Then in the morning she’d looked him straight in the eyes and flat-out lied.

Maybe she’d finally come to her senses, realized how bad he was for her. What sane woman could love a monster? What woman would readily give up her home, her career, her family, for a life on the run, a life of never-ending war?

No, that wasn’t it. Lia didn’t tuck tail and run. If he knew anything about her, it was that. The missing vial of angel’s blood worried him. Why would she take it, unless she anticipated needing it? Chances were she’d raced toward danger rather than away from it.

The tidal wave of wrath unleashed upon the hospital yesterday was proof that Athanatos was on to her, which made her an even greater target than before.

Jace had to find her, whether she wanted him to or not. Lacking an object to guide him, he had no choice but to rely on instinct and reason. Delving deep within him, he sought out the magnetic connection that would lead him to her.

Come on, Lia. Where are you?

A bolt of energy tore through him. He followed its invisible pull out the door, to the emergency exit, then down to the parking lot. As he’d expected their rental was gone, but a wide selection of vehicles idled in the lot. Briefly, he considered running like last time, then decided to jack a car instead. Most of the vehicles were old, rusted from years of use and neglect, except for one—a ’76 Camaro, which was surprisingly well maintained. With the right level of concentration, he was able to coax the motor to life.

Flooring the gas pedal, he careened out of the parking lot and shot down the street in pursuit of the one woman who could never escape him.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lia made it to Cassie’s apartment with fifteen minutes to spare. Located a stone’s throw from the waterfront, the small high-rise boasted expansive balconies that offered spectacular views of the Willamette River. It was on just such a balcony that Cassie stood, oblivious to the world around her. What struck Lia as odd was that the passersby appeared oblivious to her as well, as though they had no idea that a woman stood ten stories up, preparing to freefall to her death. Diane’s doing, no doubt.

Lia’s gut response was to call out to her sister, to beg her to step off the ledge, but she tamped it down. There was no telling how Cassie would react upon seeing her. The last thing she wanted was to trigger her jump.

The elevator took forever to come, so she opted for the stairs. Shades of gloom draped the steep staircase as she raced to the tenth floor, her heart clamoring. Swinging the door open with a desperate shove, she shot out of the stairwell and sprinted toward Cassie’s partially open door, where soft light glowed in silent invitation.

In the hallway, right in front of Cassie’s apartment, a male body lay sprawled. Lia recognized him instantly. She’d seen him before at the Watchers’ complex—the blond guy who’d imprisoned her that first day when she’d tried to escape Marcus. Only yesterday he’d fought alongside them. Now he was nothing more than an inanimate shell, empty, void of life or thought.

Her fingers tightened around the syringe she had hidden in her pocket. She swallowed the lump of bile lodged in her throat, crept forward. With an emboldening breath, she pushed the door open and entered the apartment.

“I was wondering when you’d get here.” Diane’s icy voice floated toward her from the shadows, where she sat straight-backed on the couch, as prim as a queen.

“I wasn’t exactly in the neighborhood.”

“That’s right. You’ve been spending some time on the coast. Has the fresh air been good for you?”

Lia was in no mood for small-talk, so she cut to the chase. “What do you want?”

Diane’s frozen smile melted away. “Isn’t it obvious? You, of course.”

Beyond the sliding balcony doors, Lia caught a glimpse of Cassie standing on the wrong side of the railing, holding on for dear life. “Well, here I am, so let my sister go.”

“So soon? The party’s just getting started.”

Lia struggled to temper her emotions, failed. “This is all a game to you. We’re nothing but puppets you jerk around for kicks.”

“Believe it or not, it didn’t take much effort to get Cassie out on that ledge. Turns out she’s been contemplating taking that jump for years. Probably since the day you were born. Your sister has some major unresolved issues with you. Did you know she once considered smothering you in your sleep?”

“You’re lying.”

Diane stood and stepped into the light, straight black hair streaming down her back, dark eyes gleaming. “Believe what you will if it helps you sleep at night, but the truth is, Cassie has always lived in your shadow. You stealing her boyfriend was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

The wind made the sheer white curtains billow, carrying Cassie’s heartbreaking whimpers with it. Turning her back to Diane, Lia bit back ice-cold fear and rushed to the balcony.

Jace gunned the motor, bulleting over the pavement like a condemned man trying to outrun the grim reaper himself. On either side of him, trees and mountains streaked by in a distorted haze. Anxiety pulsed from his skin, bled from his pores, constricted his windpipe.

Why did he suddenly feel like he was running out of time?

After a few false starts, the magnetic power guiding him finally led him back to Portland. Maybe Lia had decided to return home, which was a really bad idea. He remembered what had happened when he’d decided to pay his old apartment a visit. For all he knew, one of Athanatos’s goons was staking the place out, waiting for the opportunity to nab her.

He couldn’t let that happen. He had to get to her. Fast.

Ramming his foot into the gas pedal, he rocketed forward at breakneck speed. The motor groaned in protest, but he kept right on pushing it to the max. Fear and purpose drove him, as did an inexplicable rush of urgency.

Something was going down. Something that awakened every protective instinct inside him and filled him with dread. He zigzagged his way around the occasional car on the relatively traffic-free highway, revving the antiquated motor until it roared and sputtered.

Easy there. Don’t want the car to die on you. Then you’ll have to finish this journey on foot.

Granted he could run fast, but not this fast. Right now he was going about a hundred miles an hour, nearly double the speed limit. One thing was certain; he’d picked his ride well because this baby delivered, despite its advanced years.

The problem was, it delivered too well. As he approached the exit that would lead him to Portland’s North District, a shrill siren blared behind him. A glance in his rearview mirror confirmed that a cop was tailing him.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

Muttering an oath, Jace pulled onto the shoulder. The police car skidded to a halt behind him, and seconds later one of Portland’s finest marched his way, his face set in a murderous scowl.

Guess it was time to lay on the charm.
His
particular brand of charm.

Unfortunately, this little setback would cost him several precious minutes. Minutes he could ill afford to lose.

“Cassie,” Lia mumbled tentatively. “Please come inside so we can talk.”

Cassie angled her head toward her, her gaze deep and vacant, her cheeks streaked with mascara. “I have nothing left to say to you.”

Lia died a small death upon hearing the bitterness and anguish lacing her sister’s voice. “We can get past this, work things out, like we always have before.”

“There’s nothing to work out. You won. You took everything from me. First Dad, then Mom’s love, and now Jace.” Cassie’s tone rang flat. She sounded as empty and emotionless as Diane, who now stood beside Lia, watching the scene with twisted satisfaction.

“Dad chose to leave. I was only a baby when he took off. And Mom loves us both equally.” Lia tried to reason with her sister, but it was no use. Cassie’s mind was made up.

“Right,” she sneered. “From the get-go you were her favorite. Sweet, perfect, can-do-no-wrong Lia. Probably ’cause you were the product of her illicit affair.”