What the hell was that all about? The way Mae looked at me, like she damn well wanted to jump my bones, was downright sexy. I sure as hell wanted to jump hers and if Will hadn’t appeared when he did, I would have been using my mouth to persuade her that that was what we both wanted.
Watching her disappear through the door, I know I overstepped the mark and it can’t happen again, but resisting her isn’t easy. This whole thing was her choice, and I need to respect it. As I get to the door, Will lets it go and I have to smash my palm against the timber to stop it slamming in my face. I can’t blame him. If our positions were reversed and she’d chosen me, and I’d walked in on him making a move, I’d be livid.
I make my way to the small group where Cynnie is hunched in the corner of the bed while Lilly jabbers away beside her. Hopefully it won’t take the redhead very long to come around; she’s got nothing to be scared of here, especially not Will and Lilly. Unless it’s having your ear talked off. Will’s sitting next to Lilly and Mae sits on the second bed, hugging her knees.
I’m a bastard who doesn’t deserve the huge breath I draw in. “Just so you know, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good,” Lilly says. “To be honest, we could use your help. We’ve been trying to track down Mae’s mom and we think we’ve found her.”
I dip my head. Of course they have.
“Do you know anything about another Collective location in the city?” Mae asks, without moving her chin from her knees.
“Other than the council building? Well . . .” I mentally tick off the places I know, none of which are in the city. “Don’t think so.”
She says, “Manvyke’s been leaving the community every other day to go to some apartment in the city.”
“And?” Nothing odd about that. All those years he met me—forced me to talk—we never met on Collective territory. It wasn’t in an apartment either; the location changed every time. He could be there for any number of reasons.”
I drop onto the opposite end of the bed Mae’s on, careful to keep a respectful distance between us which Ace promptly claims. Damn, it’s good to see the slobbering mutt. I’ve missed his company. Roughing up his belly, I say, “So you think you’ve found her?”
“No one inside knows Manvyke visits this place, and she’s disappeared.”
“Your mom’s Collective?” Cynnie perks up; her shoulders straightening, her legs shifting out from underneath her to dangle over the side of the bed. “Who is she?”
“A sensor,” I answer. “The one who helped us. But, Mae, how do you know she’s disappeared?”
Cynnie continues talking like I didn’t speak. “I didn’t hear about a sensor helping you. In fact, the whole thing was pretty hushed up.”
“Really?” Mae looks her way, more than she’s doing for me. “How did they explain Jax and me no longer being there?”
“They didn’t. Manvyke’s a patriarch, so he didn’t explain a thing. Well, to us anyway.”
“How do you know that?” I ask Mae one more time.
“We had inside help.” She rests her cheek against her knee again. “It’s going to have to wait anyway. Annie can’t be the priority.”
“What?” Will’s focus snaps to her.
“Yes, she can. Nik will go straight to Manvyke and we can, too. Two birds and all that.” I drag my fingers up to Ace’s ears, which according to his sated whimper haven’t been scratched in weeks. When she doesn’t answer, Will glances my way, his blue eyes piercing me with accusation.
“Nik has one of the keys,” I sigh. “Probably the most powerful one: the sword.”
“It decimates things by turning them to liquid,” Cynnie adds.
“Shit . . .” Will drops his hand to his knee. “Damn it. We can’t let Manvyke have that sort of power.” He looks at Mae and then it clicks, the color draining from his cheeks as his expression hardens. “How are we going to keep her safe?”
Mae drops her knees and crosses her legs, her back straightening and her gaze boring into Will—glad I’m not on the receiving end of that. “I’m sitting right here, William Avery. We talked about this. I’m not a baby to be kept safe in her little bubble. I’m a fighter and I can handle it.”
Here we go; another one of his speeches.
“It’s you they want, Mae. You can’t go marching right up to them intent on kicking their butts; they’ll be waiting for you and it’ll be worse than last time. I won’t let them take you again.”
“It’s not me they want.” Her voice is cold, hard. “It’s the cover-up. Once they’ve got it, they won’t care about me.”
I’m not as certain of that. It would be just like Nikias to want her as a trophy just because he thinks she’s mine. Not that she is, or was, or ever will be mine. Mae is her own person.
“Hold on,” I say. “No one is going anywhere yet.”
“We have to tell Dad.” Lilly makes to move from the bed.
“Whoa, hold up.” I look to my old friend. “He knows what you lot have been up to?”
Lilly and Mae exchange a small smile. “Not exactly.”
“So why tell him now? He’ll just do the same thing he always does. Stop us.”
“Stop us from doing what?” Will asks.
“Getting that key away from my maniac family and finding Mae’s mom.”
“This is bigger than us though. We could bring Manvyke down on the entire resistance.”
“I dunno . . .” Mae’s returned to studying the floorboards. “I think we should sleep on it.”
We spend the next hour exchanging information. Talking about Nik and the sword—how it works, where we found it. Cynnie slowly becomes more relaxed; Ace deciding he likes her probably helped. No one can resist the mutt’s friendly licks. But still, she’s shifty, reminiscent of Johnny. Spinner sure as hell better have dealt with that little shit—with solitary, or something.
When it’s clear we won’t be making a move tonight, Lilly suggests we all grab some sleep. Not a bad idea. Cynnie stretches out on the bed next to Harris and I move toward my old spot, but it’s taken. Lilly’s sprawled out on her stomach, her head kinked to the side and her eyes closed, but the corner of her mouth is curled. Looks like I’ll need to find another spot. The only one in sight is her empty bed next to Mae.
Subtle, Lil.
Exhaustion slams into me the second I lay down. It’s not gradual, creeping up the way sleepiness generally does. Instead, it’s suddenly there and strong like it was sitting in the wings all along, just waiting for me to slow down. My eyes refuse to stay open and the soft breathing coming from Mae on the bed beside me lulls me to sleep.
~*~
Jerking upright, I toss the covers off and leap to my feet. Waking to the sound of one’s name being shouted sure gets the pulse racing. Sam dwarfs the doorway, looking frantic. A nervous hand swipes his jaw as he shuffles from foot to foot. “Come on, buddy, we need you.”
“What’s going on?” Mae’s on her feet too, her shoulder brushing mine in the tiny space between our beds. I tug on my shoes and jacket then pat down my pocket to make sure my clarinium’s where I left it, which it is. I stride across the room, jogging to catch Sam who’s already walking away
“What’s up?”
Sam’s brow creases. “Collective agent with hostages; says he won’t talk to anyone but Joshua. Beau says that’s you.”
“It’s Nik,” Mae says. “It has to be.”
Of course she followed; it’s Mae, and naturally Will’s hot on her heels.
“Probably.” I keep my tone even.
We rush through the halls and straight to the port room, where a small crowd has already assembled. Before I’m fully through the door, Beau’s right there slipping port bands over my wrists.
“Nikias?” I ask.
Beau twists the bands into place. “I believe so. I’ve got no idea what he wants, but he’s taken some poor couple hostage. When our men ported in, he was waiting for them and demanded to see you. Sam and Evan are ready to go.”
“I’m going too,” Mae says.
“If she’s—”
Beau cuts a look to Mae, then Will. “Neither of you are going. Just Jax, Sam, and Evan.”
Mae whines, “But I know Ni—”
“No buts.”
She clamps her mouth shut, that look of defiance so plain on her face it wouldn’t surprise me if she somehow tricked her way into porting with us.
“He won’t talk, so I have no idea what this is about,” Beau says. Ignoring the question in his tone, I make my way over to the port mat where Sam and Evan both wait, weapons at the ready. Sam drops a hand on my shoulder and Evan grabs my wrist, his pale eyes meeting mine and asking the same questions as Beau’s.
If I’m charging into a confrontation, I sure as hell don’t have enough information. So I ask, “Anything else I need to know?”
“He has a young couple tied up, and he’s got some crazy weapon that melts stuff. Whatever you do, don’t touch it,” Evan says.
Shit, shit, hell. Mae’s not coming with, but he’ll be expecting her; I bet that’s precisely what he wants. Why call for me and not her though? She’s still arguing with Beau, so I take the small window he’s brought us to grab Evan and Sam then port without her. During the short fall through space, rage builds inside me at the demand Nik’s sure to make.
When we land, shock radiates through me: at the coldness slamming into my chest; at the colors of sunrise shimmering on a lake; at the long grass that’s swishing against my legs. This is the place where my—our—mother was murdered by our father’s men, and where our baby sister lost her life. All because of me. If mother hadn’t been protecting me from Manvyke’s plan . . . my muscles tighten, my stomach clenches. I lift my hand to my wrist and tap, once, twice—
Sam’s hand yanks mine away. I can’t stay here, can’t deal, can’t face Nik. Not here, not . . .
“You all right, buddy?” Sam’s voice sounds kind of muffled.
“Yeah,” I lie, “I’m fine.”
I don’t feel fine though, I feel dizzy and cold.
Sam’s hand closes over my shoulder and he guides me toward the lake house I knew would be there before I saw it, just like the spot where my mother died. Even though it was all those years ago, the memory is as clear as if it were happening right now. My father’s most trusted guards, Kratos, Nike and Bia, fighting to drag me away; Emalee screaming my name; Kratos stabbing a sword right through my baby sister and mom diving in front of her a moment too late, then him dragging the blade across her throat. That’s when Beau arrived, which was my father’s plan all along only I didn’t realize it: activate tech, call the resistance, and have them rescue his kid.
I catch a glimpse of my brother and the cloud of shock lifts, replaced with pure rage. He’s done this on purpose, brought me here to the place that holds my worst memories. Sam pumps my shoulder. He must think I’m crazy. He’s got no idea what happened here, but now it’s time for me to man up.
His hostages are tied on chairs back-to-back and both gagged, but neither one looks hurt. Sitting on another deck chair a few feet away is Nik. He rises when he sees us, tucking his hand halfway into his pocket and leaning into the staff with his other. His stare follows us across the grassy field.
“Little brother, I knew you’d come.” He prods the woman with the handle end of the sword and air hisses between my teeth. He’ll liquefy her! She squeaks and cowers away, but not before the weapon jabs her in the side. Nothing else happens but for her fear and Nik’s laugh.
I growl, “What do you want, Nikias?”
“You know what I want. Where’s your girl—oh wait, she’s not yours, is she?” An ugly smile stretches the corners of his lips.
Sam and Evan flank me, tension radiating off them or maybe it’s mine being reflected back. I grit my teeth. “You can’t have it.”
“Really?” He cocks a brow and flicks the staff down, touching its tip to the woman’s chair. The wood instantly turns to liquid, and she screams as she falls onto her rear, her bound arms above her head, still tied to the man.
“What I want,” Nik says, “is an exchange. We have the sensor, Annie.” He spits out her name. “We know Anamae wants her and you see, we don’t want her that much. I mean, she’s fun and all . . . Father likes her, if you know what I mean.” He winks. “What we want is the Tarlequin. So, little brother, I’m offering you an exchange: the sensor for the key.” His smile returns, more plastic than ever. “You’re welcome.”
My hands clench into fists and it’s hard to keep the anger at bay, but if I let him get to me, he’ll win whatever frickin’ game he’s playing. And I won’t let that happen again. I will maintain a level head, although someone needs to tell my speeding pulse.
“Noon,” he says, “tomorrow, in that huge park by the council chambers. Just you and sweet cheeks, and no . . .” he cocks a brow “. . . funny stuff or the sensor goes poof.” He taps the staff on the wooden pillar that supports the porch and it explodes into a brown mess.
“Thanks for coming,” he says. “Guess I don’t need these two anymore.” The staff dips toward the man and I sprint toward them screaming, “No!”
My blade’s in my hand before I reach him, but just like the time with my mother, I’m too late. The man is no longer a man.
My ears ring with the woman’s banshee scream and I throw myself in front of her, but Nik’s gone.