Grace glided back into her body, no pain, no pressure, just a gentle slide back into herself. David's final words, a warning to be careful, replayed in her mind, bouncing off the empty spaces inside her, the holes left behind by his absence. Their connection resonated in the background, but without direct contact it diminished to a distant echo. She sensed his presence in the world, nothing more.
An ache sprouted in her chest, deep and spiritual, rather than physical. The ache built into a heart-rending throb, tearing her hard-won composure to shreds. I miss you, David, I'm coming for you soon so please wait for me, please. Would he hear her promise and her plea? No. Not with their connection reduced to a trickle. She'd done all she could for him, for the moment.
A weariness blanketed her, with almost suffocating pressure. She sank to her knees, then reality burst into her mind, sharp and bright and agonizing in its abruptness. The basement. In Amador's house. She slumped on the concrete floor, shoulders hunched, pangs webbing out through her knees from their collision with the hard surface. Amador knelt before her with his lips parted, his wide eyes fixed on her, face warped by panicked emotions she preferred not to decipher.
He stretched out a tentative hand to touch her arm, but pulled it back at the last instant, hovering his hand a few inches from her. "Are you… unharmed?"
She made a rude noise. "Yeah sure, I'm great. You suppressed my powers with your EM doohickey, drugged me into unconsciousness, held me against my will, and led Tesler straight to me. Your concern is touching. Thanks a bunch."
Amador flinched and lowered his hand. "I understand you hate me, and you should, but I have done these things to protect you, in my own way." He bowed his head, draping a hand across each knee. "You may leave this place whenever you wish. No one will stop you. However, Tesler's men are still hunting for you and I cannot call them off."
"I figured." She sat back on her heels and sighed. "I need to get to Montana, fast."
His head popped up, his eyes bright with curiosity. "You found David?"
"Yes." She'd keep the details to herself, though his desire to know crackled in the air. The Golden Power might've deserted her — thank heavens — but it deposited a trace of its energy within her, something she could neither erase nor explain. Amador's emotions slipped inside her, wending their way past her defenses and into her psychic essence. His need and desperation scratched at her, but she suffered no confusion over whose emotions were whose. "Can you provide transportation?"
"Of course. It is the least I can do, to make up for… what I've done."
Sorrow burned. Regret pinched. She shoved aside the invasive feelings, and the urge to chastise him for daring to suggest he might make amends so easily. It'd take a hell of a lot more than a ride to Montana. "I'd appreciate that."
He rose, towering above her. "I'll have Wickham arrange for my jet to take you wherever you need. You may leave within the hour."
With that, he strode toward the door.
"Wait." She heaved her body up off the floor, against the wishes of gravity and exhaustion. "I want to see the girl. Cari."
A muscle in his jaw twitched. His hands clenched, then slackened. Squeezing his lips into a tight smile, he said, "Of course. Follow me."
She marched out the door behind him, up the concrete steps, and down the hallway to a closed door on the left. He dug a key ring out of his pocket, jangling the keys as he selected the appropriate one. The grandfather clock she'd heard earlier bonged from somewhere nearby, muted by the walls. Amador shoved the key into the door's lock with a chunk. Then he hesitated, casting her a sidelong look. Her newfound heightened intuition kicked in, warning her with a tingle on her skin. He didn't want to her to see the girl, which she'd already known, but now she realized why. A fireball erupted in her chest and she clamped her jaw tight against the rage, balled her hands into fists, but the inferno blasted away her self-control.
"She's broken," Grace said, squeezing the words out between her teeth. "You pushed her so hard for so long she snapped. I've met others that's happened to. But they were tortured by Tesler and JT." She stomped one pace closer to him. Her hot breaths ricocheted off his cheek. "You did this to her. Admit it."
His expression fell into one of utter despair. His lower lip trembled, and moisture glistened in his eyes. "She is damaged, but not insane. I admit I abused this girl for my own purposes, and I have no excuse for it except to say I had no notion my tactics would harm her so terribly."
"But even after you knew, you kept on using her." The words fired from her lips, harsher than she'd ever heard her own voice sound. A rope of fear lashed through her, breaking through the anger. Grace shut her eyes, sucked in a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. This isn't me, it's the Golden Power, it's not me. Despite believing — praying — she'd shaken off the Golden Power's hold on her, the truth gnawed at her gut. It's still inside me.
She heard the click as Amador unlocked the door, and opened her eyes. He pushed the door inward, stepped across the threshold, and moved aside, motioning for her to enter.
I'm not me anymore. The thought ricocheted in her brain, louder and louder with each concussive burst of repetition. Fear iced through her veins, chilling everything inside her. How long would the Golden Power influence her? Did it control her even now, in ways she hadn't grasped yet? Questions popped in her mind, but above all the others, a single fear lanced her heart.
Can David love me like this? Can anyone?
Amador stared at her, his face blank. "If you still wish to see the girl… "
Grace stalked past him into the small bedroom. Cari lay on her back on the four-poster bed, hands folded over her belly, eyes shut. Her chest rose and fell in a gentle rhythm. Her dark hair fanned out over the white pillowcase, the strands draped over her shoulders. Grace perched on the bed's edge, alongside the girl's hips. Cari peeked out between her eyelashes. Her body went rigid. A pallor lightened her cinnamon skin, and her lips too.
Waves of anxiety rolled out of the girl, crashing into Grace. She gripped the bed's edge to steady herself against the onslaught. Christ. What had Amador done to this girl?
Grace settled a hand on Cari's arm. "I'm getting you out of here. You'll be safe."
Amador scuffled into her peripheral vision. "Grace — "
She flashed him a scowl. He clapped his mouth shut.
"Cari is coming with me," Grace told him. Then she looked back at the girl, offering her a consoling smile. "You've been in my mind, watched me, experienced who I am. You know I won't hurt you, and I'm not with him." A hint of fiery anger singed the last phrase. That wasn't the Golden Power. This anger steamed straight out of her own heart. "Will you trust me?"
Cari swallowed, hard. Her wide eyes flicked to Amador, triggering a massive breaker of panic, but then she switched her attention back to Grace. Cari bit her lip and nodded. "I know you won't hurt me."
A mild Texas twang lent her sweet voice a melodic quality. Grace imagined the girl singing, her voice as glorious as a choir of angels. How in hell could Amador torture a lovely girl like Cari and yet claim to be nothing like Tesler? His motives, though noble in his mind, were twisted and cold.
No. Not cold. Hot with desire — for power, and for something else she had yet to puzzle out. His emotions tangled together in an ever-expanding mass, confusing her attempts to sort out what he felt, much less what he craved deep inside. A shiver frosted her nerves. Maybe she didn't want to know his innermost desires.
Hopping off the bed, she held a hand out to Cari. The girl grasped it fiercely. Once Grace helped her stand, Cari said, "I want to go home. Please. I want to see my mom and dad."
The plea in her tone snapped Grace's heart strings. She ached for this girl in a way she couldn't describe, gripped by a frantic desire to rescue her from Amador and shield her from Tesler. She slipped an arm around Cari's shoulders.
Amador hunched at the foot of the bed, impassive.
"We're taking her home," Grace said. "And then I'm taking your jet to Montana." She hugged the girl a little tighter. "I suggest you stay the hell away from both of us."
"I will arrange everything. Please wait in the living room." His shoes scuffed the floor as he exited the room. Without looking back, he said, "I know you can never forgive me, but I hope one day you will come to understand my actions."
He disappeared down the hall, his footsteps scraping on the wood.
Cari buried her head in the hollow of Grace's shoulder and wept, her body quivering with each sob.
Damn him. Amador must pay for his crimes. She must make certain of it.
But first… David.