The MORE Trilogy (15 page)

It wasn’t a lot of room, but Ava feared it was her only chance. She lunged for the gate, grabbing the edge of the fence to pull herself through. A band of iron locked around her waist, and she felt herself thrown back against the wall, the huge man smiling wickedly as her head cracked against the brick. Her vision swam as she swallowed against the nausea bubbling inside her.

“You didn’t really think you’d get away?” he taunted. “You’ll never escape me.” He stalked toward her, reaching out with a beefy arm, his massive form looming even larger in the dim light from the single bulb over the back door. He raised his hand, and Ava knew the strike was coming, as he’d threatened. She clenched her eyes shut, throwing her arms up in front of her face on instinct, a scream dying in her throat.

Then, a muffled thud, and the blow she feared just didn’t happen. She huddled against the wall, trembling, only to wince as a hand closed on her arm.

“No!” she gasped, her eyes flying open.

“Ava, it’s okay.” Caleb’s eyes, warm and concerned, filled her terrified gaze. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“Caleb?” she stared at him, shocked and confused. “What happened? How did you—?”

“We have to go,” he said, turning away abruptly. “We need to get out of here. The others will be coming soon.”

“ ‘Others?’ ” She stumbled slightly as he tugged her forward. “I don’t understand.” Her eyes widened as she spotted her attacker slumped against the far side of the dumpster, bleeding from a gaping wound at his temple. “Holy . . .” she breathed, glancing up at Caleb. “Did you do that?”

“No,” he replied grimly. “I think maybe
you
did.”

Caleb couldn’t believe what he’d seen, but the fact was, there was no longer any denying it. Somehow, Ava had disabled Tiernan—six foot six of solid muscle and she’d tossed him aside like a rag doll.

And she had no idea she’d done it.

It would not sit well with the Council. Besides exposure, their biggest concern had always been untrained abilities—those with power who knew neither how to use it nor control it.

Ava, it appeared, fell under that category.

He held her arms lightly, looking into her eyes. “I know you have a lot of questions,” he said, glancing over at Tiernan’s slumped body once more. “I promise, I will answer them. But Ava, we need to get out of here now.”

“But how . . . ?” She couldn’t take her eyes off Tiernan, so Caleb shook her slightly.

“Ava, focus,” he said firmly. “You have to trust me. I will keep you safe, but we need to go.” He stared into her eyes, imploring her. “Trust me,” he repeated, and finally Ava nodded slightly.

He took her hand in his, peering around the corner of the fence before they took off running.

Ava clung to Caleb’s hand as they raced across campus, still stunned and confused by what had just happened. Her mind swirled with questions, but she couldn’t even catch her breath to voice them. Not that Caleb would answer, anyway—at least not yet.

He’d promised to tell her everything. And Ava meant to ensure he fulfilled that promise.

It didn’t make any sense. Why would anyone want to take her? What kind of
testing
had the monster-man been talking about? And what happened to him anyway? Caleb said he thought she had incapacitated him, but Ava never touched him. If Caleb hadn’t done it, who did?

Ava’s breath caught, her stomach turning wildly, and she came to an abrupt stop.

“Ava?” Caleb tugged on her hand. “We have to keep going. My car’s up ahead.”

“Just a second,” she said, holding up a finger. “I . . . I think I’m going to be sick.” She bent over, pulling free of Caleb’s grip and resting her palms on her knees, breathing deeply.

Caleb muttered something under his breath and she felt a cool hand slip under the hair at the back of her neck, fingers pressing softly. “Just listen to my voice,” he said quietly, soothingly. “Breathe in and out. Relax.” Caleb continued to murmur, his voice a hypnotic buzzing in Ava’s ears. A strange warmth flowed from his fingers, trickling along the surface of her skin and deep into her muscles, and after a moment, the tightness in her stomach loosened, the nausea ebbing away as her breathing slowed. With another deep inhale, she straightened, and Caleb’s hand fell back to his side. “Better?” he asked.

“What did you . . . ? How did you . . . ?”

Caleb shrugged, not meeting her eyes. “It’s kind of a relaxation technique.” He scanned the area behind her, grabbing her arm as he turned away. “Now, come on. We have to go.”

They came to a black sedan, and Caleb yanked the keys from his pocket, unlocking the doors with the fob in one motion. Ava fastened her seatbelt as Caleb pulled out onto the street, tires squealing slightly.

“Where are we going?”

Caleb ran a hand through his hair, checking the rearview mirror. “I’m not sure yet.”

“You’re not sure?” Ava repeated. “Caleb, maybe we should go to the police. Nick, at least.”

“Nick can’t help you,” he snapped. “The police aren’t trained to deal with these people. I am.”

“ ‘These people?’ ”

“Please,” Caleb barked, only to close his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath. “Sorry,” he said in a lower voice. “Just . . . let me think for a minute, okay? I need to think.”

Ava nodded and turned to look out the window, lost in her own thoughts. She still couldn’t make any sense of what had happened or why. Several times she turned to Caleb to give voice to her questions, but one look at his tight jaw and white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel made her re-think her intention. They drove out of town and onto the Interstate, heading west. Ava glanced at Caleb in question.

“I thought we’d find a room for the night,” he said. “I need to make some calls and figure out our next move”

“And then you’ll tell me what in the world is going on?” she asked, irritation growing with every mile. Caleb swallowed thickly, and for a moment, Ava thought he was going to try and put her off again.

“Yes,” he said finally. “I’ll tell you once we’re somewhere safe.”

Ava nodded, unable to hold back a yawn. Her adrenaline fading, fatigue set in, and she could barely keep her eyes open. Her head fell forward, jerking back as she fought to stay awake.

Caleb’s cool hand touched hers. “It’s okay,” he said quietly. “Just rest. I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Ava found herself too tired to respond. Instead, she curled up sideways on the seat, cheek pillowed on the headrest, and was asleep before she’d drawn two breaths.

“Ava?” Caleb’s voice came to her as if in a dream. “We’re here.”

She tried to wake up, tried to force her body into consciousness, but for some reason, she couldn’t manage to surface through the dark warmth enveloping her. It pulled her down, holding her tight, like comforting arms carrying her through the night.

“It’s okay,” he said, the words pooling on her skin. “I’ve got you.”

Something stirred in her memory, but Ava couldn’t be bothered to figure it out. She snuggled into the warmth, floating along for a moment before she was lowered onto a pillow of softness, something cool and fresh against her cheek. She shivered slightly, curling into herself as the warmth returned, and drifted down into beautiful oblivion.

Caleb turned from the window to glance at Ava lying curled up in bed, cheek pillowed on her open palm. He hadn’t been able to wake her when they finally reached the motel, so he’d picked her up and carried her in, putting her to bed with another quick push of peace to ensure a dreamless sleep.

It wasn’t unusual for such a use of power to drain the user. It happened to him all the time.

Caleb had been sitting at the window for a few hours now, watching for any signs that the others had tracked him. So far, they were in the clear.

So far
, he reminded himself.

Caleb had to admit he was flying by the seat of his pants at that point. Stealing Ava from Tiernan, after Ava did what she did, clearly violated the Council’s mandate, and he knew he’d have hell to pay once they caught up with them.

And he knew, eventually, they would catch up.

Unsure what else to do, he turned back to the window and pulled out his cell phone, dialing a familiar number. It rang twice before a sleepy voice picked up.

“Caleb? What the hell are you doing calling me in the middle of the night?”

Caleb smirked. “Good to talk to you, too, Bel.” He could make out a light rustling sound, then the creak of a door opening and closing. “I take it you’re not alone,” Caleb said, grinning.

“None of your business, creep,” she replied, but he could hear the smile in her voice, as well. “Now, I assume there’s a reason you’ve wakened me at, crap, is it three in the morning?”

“Sorry,” Caleb muttered. “I need help, and you’re the only one I trust.”

“What is it?” she asked, her slight accent thickening with concern. “Something to do with the girl you’ve been assigned?”

“You know about that?”

Caleb shouldn’t have been surprised. Maribel Castro knew pretty much everything about everything. A trusted associate of the Council, Bel was privy to conversations most would never hear, but she also had a few secrets of her own. Frustrated with the infighting among Council members, she’d become an active member of an underground movement to protect people like Ava. The Guardians, as they were spoken of in hushed tones, operated—if not above Race Law—at least a little to the left of it. They stopped short of openly defying the Council, but they also functioned under their own set of rules.

Caleb was the only one who knew of Bel’s connection to the Guardians, and it was only by accident that he learned of her involvement. The two were close friends, growing up together in a colony in the Rocky Mountains, and were as close as siblings, truth be known. When Caleb took up his calling as a Protector, Bel stood proudly beside his mother at his induction ceremony—his father absent, as he’d been most of Caleb’s life.

Caleb knew of Bel’s growing disillusion with the Council’s decisions and had inadvertently walked in on a conversation between her and a known Guardian one day. Bel had pleaded with him for secrecy, and Caleb granted it, no questions asked.

That was what you did for family, after all.

“There’ve been rumblings in the Council,” she said in answer to his question. “Rumors that you’ve crossed the line when it comes to this girl. They’re talking about sending someone else after her.”

Caleb sighed. “They already did. I ran into Tiernan tonight. And I’ve seen Katherine around, as well. I’m assuming they’re working together.”