The Takeover (32 page)

Or should have. Instead, Stefan held onto the staff, bringing it around to slam into my stomach. The air whooshed from me, followed by intense pain. He raised his staff again for what should have been a killing blow but stopped a foot from my head.

He barked a laugh. “Not bad.”

I couldn’t answer. All I could do was to stand there, gasping to find breath. He must have held back with that last punch because however much it hurt, I was pretty sure my ribs weren’t broken. At least I wouldn’t be spending the next hours unconscious somewhere. I had to admire his restraint.

Stefan gestured for Edgel to take my bo staff. Both men closed on me, and I felt a momentary panic until Edgel strode away. “Why are you really here?” Stefan asked.

“Because,” I puffed, “Jeane betrayed me once again. I’m sure you know she was with us in Morocco.”

“Ah, but only because she hated Delia. Do you really expect me to believe that Jeane bested you?” He snorted. “You can’t fight like that unless you’ve trained hard enough to beat the average Unbounded. Jeane’s vicious, but even if she’d nulled your ability, you could have beaten her without raising a sweat.”

Finally, air seemed to work its way back into my lungs. “So I used Jeane. I’m here to discuss a deal.”

He rotated and started toward a stack of towels on a shelf against the wall. I scooped up my blouse and followed, pain grabbing somewhere inside my chest. I purposefully allowed the space between us to increase, keeping hold of Edgel’s mind, just in case. Stefan was like an exotic animal, and I didn’t know if at any moment he might turn and rip me apart.

“Fortunately, we don’t need anything from you or the Renegades.” He swept up a towel and dabbed at the sweat on his face. “But I can use more sensing Unbounded. Your grandmother’s genes might be strong enough in you to help us with that.”

I ignored that. No way would I be his breeding machine. “That’s it? You don’t even want to hear my offer?”

He smirked, his handsome face becoming threatening. “Unless you’ve all decided to give up the fight, or move to, say, Africa—no, that’s too big—maybe Cuba. Yeah, we could let the Renegades have Cuba.” He dried off his neck and bare chest before tossing me a clean towel. “Okay, give it to me. What are Ava and the rest of your Renegade friends offering?”

My fake offer was a complete cease-fire—but only if they agreed to stop killing mortals. Part of that involved creating a focus group to compose a treaty detailing mortal rights. I had comprehensive suggestions about who to have in the group and ten basic rights to which every human should be entitled, but it was all make-believe, because we could never trust any promises the Triad might make.

Edgel approached us with a glass full of amber liquid and handed it to Stefan, who downed it in one long pull. Must be scotch. It wouldn’t give him much of a buzz, but I remembered he loved it. “Another,” he said to Edgel before looking at me expectantly. “Well?”

I shook my head. “I can only present my offer to all the Triad members. Sorry,
Father,
but that is my directive.”

The skin around his eyes crinkled with his amusement. “I could make you tell me,
Daughter.
” His gaze went past me to where Lew still presumably waited.

“With your pet there?” I let my disgust show on my face and in my voice. “We’ve met before. He can’t break me.”

Stefan’s blue eyes wandered over my face. “There are many ways to break a person.”

“I would kill him first.” I meant it. Lew and I still had unresolved business. “But at present, I don’t have anything to hide from you or him. The offer I have is genuine. For the whole Triad.”

Stefan’s nostrils flared and danger ignited in his eyes. “I
am
the Triad. Tihalt does what I say.”

“And David Ropte?”

“I guess Jeane told you he took Delia’s place. Well, make no mistake, he’s no more than a pawn. He and Tihalt both do what
I
say. For now, he’s exactly where I want him to be.”

Could he be telling the truth? Or trying to make his position seem stronger? Either way, I certainly wouldn’t disabuse him of the idea that Jeane had been my informant. “What about his ability?”

“I’m sure Jeane filled you in on that too.”

“Actually, she didn’t remember what his ability is.”

Stefan shrugged, apparently not finding that as odd as I did, that Jeane wouldn’t know her own sibling’s ability. But it bothered me. She must have lied.

“Hypnosuggestion has never worked on me,” he returned with increasing irritability. “Or pheromones, or any of those gifts. You tend to develop an immunity over the years.”

“So it was you who ordered the hit on Senator Burklap and his family.”

Stefan leaned close to my face. “It’s all part of the plan. We won’t wait anymore. Once Ropte’s in place, we’ll only be a few steps away.” He was right, of course, which was why I was here. But something was off with his statement.

Releasing Edgel’s mind, I concentrated on Stefan, pushing at his shield. “Then you’ll be interested in what I have to say.” If I stalled here chatting with him long enough, I might find the chink in his armor—or make my own. But now layering Stefan’s own mental shield was a spinning black barrier that I recognized as belonging to Lew.
Little weasel getting his revenge, no doubt.
Belatedly, I realized I was fortunate he hadn’t thought—or hadn’t bothered—to protect Edgel earlier, or I would have been forced to channel one of the guards instead.

I rubbed the towel Stefan had given me over my wet face, hiding my frustration. A drop of sweat drizzled down my back. “Now, if I can just freshen up before Ropte arrives . . .”

Stefan studied me for what seemed like a lifetime and then nodded. “Edgel,” he called, raising his voice, “please escort my daughter to her room. Take Lew with you.”

Edgel reached us and handed Stefan another glass of amber liquid before meeting my eyes. Hatred burned there. I knew it was because of his daughter, and it made me sad that he blamed Renegades for a problem the Emporium had caused.

Still no word about Jace, and I was tempted to sever Lew’s protection of Stefan and attempt to invade his mind anyway. But Lew would know, and there was no telling how loyal he was to Stefan. From the way Stefan acted, I didn’t think Lew had spilled my secrets—or at least not the ones that counted. He must have his own agenda.

“Thank you,” I said to Stefan, tossing my towel into the tall, plastic-lined bin where Stefan had discarded his towel.

Stefan’s smile held a hint of regret. “Maybe you will find we’re not so bad here.”

Not likely. Especially when I remembered the terrified expression on the Georges’ faces. I chose my words carefully. “Hopefully, we can come to an arrangement all Unbounded can live with.”

“Our goal of Utopia can be a reality, Erin,” Stefan said.

“The problem is, one man’s Utopia can be another man’s hell.”

“Touché.”

I went with Edgel willingly, trying not to think of how he wanted me dead. Lew followed a half step behind, his presence oily and stalker-like. It still evaded me what Jeane saw in this boy-man.

So,
Lew pushed at me, the communication seeping past his impressive shield.
Why are you really here?
The thought hung between us, not penetrating my mind, but there for the taking.

Why haven’t you told Stefan about my ability?
I countered.

Jeane told me not to.

Do you do everything you’re told?
I shouldn’t provoke him, but I couldn’t resist.

A flare of anger let me know I’d hit a sore spot. His pale brown eyes flashed.
Giving Stefan more power is not my goal.

Well, at least I’d learned something from him. Even so, I was relieved when we arrived on the next floor and Edgel opened a door for me by placing his hand on a palm reader. “Thank you,” I said. He didn’t meet my gaze.

“Tomorrow, I’ll need to see her in my lab,” Lew said in his nasal voice. “I have the Triad’s approval.” With that, he turned and strode away—or tried to. It looked more like mincing to me.

Just as I’d thought. Stefan was all courtesy in my face, but in the end he only cared about one thing: building an empire with everyone under his complete control. Jeane would never forgive me for what I would have to do to Lew if I was still here tomorrow and he tried to carry through on his threat.

“What is it with that boy and his obsession with me?” I said, not really expecting an answer.

Edgel stared after Lew. There was no expression on his face, but a sense of puzzlement filtered from behind his mental shield. Obviously, he wasn’t aware of any Triad order. Either he simply didn’t know about it, or Lew was overestimating his position.

Or maybe Lew’s permission hadn’t come from Stefan.

I was relieved when Edgel didn’t reply but waited silently until I went inside and then locked the door behind me. Scarcely glancing at the small studio suite, except to verify that no one else was inside, particularly no one who was masking a life force, I pushed thoughts of Lew and Edgel from my mind and dropped to the couch.

Time to get to work.

SEARCHING FOR MARI WAS NOT
a simple task. While examining, one by one, the shielded Unbounded in the building, I had to be careful to keep my own protection strong in case of a mental attack. I started with this floor—the fourteenth—because it seemed likely they would put all guests on the same floor. I was wrong.

I found Mari and Keene on the seventeenth floor. They were together, which was good. I’d detected no sign of Jace.

Since it was past time for me to contact Mari, she would be concerned over my delay. In fact, I could feel nervousness radiating from her surface thoughts. Concern mixed with boredom and claustrophobia—she always felt claustrophobic when she wasn’t free to shift. Her shield would be easier to breach than Keene’s would, but even then it took me a good ten minutes. She’d be excited to know it was that strong. I suspected Lew could still get through her shield, though, and that made me uneasy. For now, there was no sign of him in her mind, but I wasted no time in placing a second layer of protection around us both now.

Mari,
I said.

Relief flooded me—Mari’s relief. Something had happened.

Finally.
Mari said.
Can you come to me? Channel my ability. But you need to check for cameras there before you shift. They have them everywhere here, even in the bathroom.

I arose and made my way to the door leading to the bathroom. There, I tugged off my shoes and flipped my blouse up over the camera near the mirror before turning on the water in the large stone-encircled shower and stepping inside. The shower was large enough that I wasn’t immediately drenched as I channeled Mari’s ability and shifted.

They were waiting for me in a bedroom that smelled like smoke. One of the curtains covering the barred windows was scorched. Besides that, the room looked upscale, much nicer than the studio I’d been given. Someone was more pleased to see Keene return to the Emporium than Stefan was that I’d come.

Mari hugged me, sending pain throughout my chest and stomach. I was glad she hadn’t seemed to notice the bruises that were already appearing. “Ugh, your clothes are all wet.” She stepped away quickly.

“Not as wet as they were forty minutes ago. Stefan decided to test my combat ability. Fortunately, Edgel was there, and I channeled him.” I tilted my head toward the scorched curtains. “What happened?”

Keene grinned, and Mari laughed. “A bomb exploded,” Keene answered at the same time Mari said, “Oh, Keene was just making sure all the surveillance devices were gone. He fried pretty much everything electronic in here and in most of the living room.”

“It’s not an exact science.” Keene rocked back on his heel, hands in his pockets. He didn’t look much better than he had last night. “I confronted my father about it, and I don’t think they’ll try to put them back. They can still see the entrances.”

Mari noticed my concerned examination of Keene. “Tihalt kept him up all night doing test after test. I told him Keene needed to rest, but he ignored me. That man is insufferable. It was all I could do not to sink a knife into him. He still treats Keene like a kid.”

“To him, I am a kid,” Keene said mildly. “I endured the tests only for what he could teach me.” He stared at Mari as her blond dye job began to lift up around her, as if it had a life of its own.

“Stop that!” Mari smoothed down her hair. “He’s only doing that because he’s too tired to change the atoms in anything else.”

Keene sat on the edge of the bed, looking close to collapsing. “Actually, I’m changing the atoms in the air. I know how you women are about hair. I wouldn’t dare touch your hair in case your head burst into flame or something.”

Mari rolled her eyes and continued talking to me. “Tihalt had him levitating practically everything—including himself!”

“You might say I can fly.” Keene gave me an impish grin. “And I don’t need pixie dust. It’s still hard determining what the reaction will be, though. I sent a desk through one of his walls. Oops.”

I was betting it hadn’t been a mistake.

With a soft
pop!
Mari disappeared from next to me and appeared near the bed. She pushed Keene onto the pillows. “Get some rest!” she ordered. “I’ll fill her in.”