Washed in the sulfurous glow of the streetlights, the front door of the stucco cottage swung shut behind Cari. Grace gulped down the lump in her throat, and rubbed out the tears stinging her eyes. Amador had sworn Tesler knew nothing about Cari, and he assigned three men from his private security force to watch over her. The girl was safe.
As safe as any psychic could be with Tesler on the loose.
The big black SUV pulled away from the curb. Hands gripped on the steering wheel, Amador fixed his blank stare on the street before them. The headlights pierced the false twilight of the streetlights, punching a path into the night. Amador had insisted on driving her to the airport, and she'd been too exhausted to argue.
"Floor it," she said, refusing to dampen the acid in her tone. "No dilly-dallying just to keep me around longer. I'm not interested in whatever wacko scheme you've cooked up."
His fingers clenched tighter around the wheel, but his voice remained eerily calm. "I know I've destroyed any chance I had of gaining your trust, but I hold out hope you will assist me, once you understand the purpose behind my actions."
She snorted, not minding in the least that she sounded like a dog rooting through garbage. "You're delusional. I've had it up to here with your machinations."
"I understand you, Grace. We've both suffered at the hands of JT and Tesler."
"And how precisely have you suffered?"
His shoulders drooped, and his expression sagged too. When he spoke, his voice flattened into a monotone. "I saw a photo of you, read your file, and I knew I had to have you as my ally. So I tried to trick you into helping me. I'm so sorry, Grace, so very sorry for what I've done to you and to Cari. I don't ask forgiveness. I simply need you to understand."
"Then explain." She slanted her head, studying him. "Start by telling me why you lied about having psychic abilities."
"It wasn't a complete fabrication. Though it was my son Evander who possessed those talents." Amador cinched tight, then slackened. "He was twelve when Tesler took him, tortured him, and finally — when he no longer offered anything of value — slit his throat."
Her heart stuttered. She stared at Amador, unable to glean anything from his face or tone of voice. Tesler murdered a child? The man knew no limits.
Amador dropped one hand to his thigh, the fingers tensing into claws that scraped on his slacks and routed the flesh beneath. "I altered the data on the DVD I gave you. I changed Evander's name to John Mendoza."
"Why?"
He yanked the wheel, swerving onto another street. She clutched her arm rest to prevent herself from flying into his lap. Well, at least his bad driving staved off the weariness mounting inside her. He said nothing for several more seconds, and then he hissed out another breath. "I suppose I wanted to erase the memories by erasing Evander's name from the records. It did not work."
The things he and Wickham said to her before rushed into her mind anew, and this time she grasped the true meaning.
Gabriel understands your predicament, Wickham had told her, he's been there before. And Amador spoke of those things that we share in common, our special connection. When he compelled her to share the pain of her parents' deaths, he apologized for dredging up her bad memories. I know how painful that can be, he'd assured her.
The empathic aftereffect of joining with the Golden Power was waning, yet his grief rolled off him onto her, weakening with each wave.
He lied to her, over and over, and she wouldn't condone his behavior. But confronted with a truth she never expected, she had to reevaluate him. Just a little.
Amador veered the car around another corner. The tires squealed. The odor of burned rubber wafted in through the vents. "Grace, please, I need your help to stop Tesler. I couldn't save my son. At least let me play some small part in destroying the man who took Evander's life."
The anguish in his voice tugged at her heart, which was stupid. Why should she sympathize with Amador, a man as dangerous as Tesler? But she couldn't help it. Memories of her parents flickered in her mind. Her gut twisted, and her throat constricted. "I'm sorry about your son, really I am. But that's no excuse for what you've done."
"I tell you this not as an excuse, but merely an explanation."
"Save it. I'm not interested." Except a part of her was, for reasons she too confusing to examine, for fear he might lure her into forgetting his abuse of Cari. Maybe he'd injected her with more of the anti-willpower drug, or maybe she'd lost her mind.
Or else her intuition was speaking to her again. Urging her to, if not trust him, at least understand his mindset. Know your enemy, right?
A yawn overtook her, and she shook herself to cast off the fatigue, but to no avail. Her eyelids had morphed into lead aprons, drifting ever downward.
Images streaked through her mind, half dream, half memory. David standing rigid as a statue in front of her, as she bid him goodbye. His blond hair glowing in the moonlight. The stoic expression on his face. Nothing revealed, nothing shared. Her warrior angel.
David. In the woods. With Tesler hot on his trail. Just like in her vision.
She jerked awake. Her heart hammered, her breaths gasped, and she gripped the cushioned arms of her chair so tightly her knuckles ached. A cone of lamplight enveloped her. A padded seat cradled her buttocks, and the chair's back supported her head and neck with equal cushiness. As she uncurled her fingers from the chair arms, the velvety fabric caressed her skin. She dragged in a deep breath, letting it out in one long, ragged sigh. Her pulse slowed, though it still raced.
Where the hell was she?
Not in the car. She blinked away the bleariness of sleep, rotating her head back and forth to absorb her surroundings. She sat in a chair bolted to the floor, beside a small window. Outside, she spied clouds scudding by in the milky glow of the moon. A jet engine whined, muted by the insulation of the aircraft.
She must be in Amador's jet.
Her suspicion solidified into certainty when Gabriel Amador strode out of a curtained doorway to her left and took a seat in the chair across from her. He cupped a bottle of water in one hand. A small table, fashioned from what looked like polished cherry wood, separated them. She straightened, smoothed her shirt, and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her heart no longer raced, but anxiety rippled through her like an electrical current.
"Why are you here?" she said. "I told you to stay away from me."
Ramrod straight in his chair, he studied her without expression. Why did men love to give her the stoic treatment? "You were in no condition to travel alone. I couldn't wake you, and I will not abandon you on this plane without knowing you will awaken at some point."
"You could've called a doctor."
He shrugged one shoulder. "No physician can heal psychic wounds. Whatever you did to save David, it drained you with devastating effect." He offered the water bottle to her. "Drink this. You should replenish your fluids."
She stared at the bottle, her anxiety surging. Drugged? Ah hell. If he wanted to drug her, he could've done it while she was unconscious. And her mouth was dry. Snatching the bottle from him, she unscrewed the cap and swigged several mouthfuls. "Thank you. For the water, and for the ride." She watched a slender cloud slip past the window. "Where are we headed?"
"You said Montana, so I instructed the pilot to chart a course for a private airstrip owned by a trusted ally. It's located near Bozeman."
"Close enough." She didn't understand how she knew David's location, and she couldn't recite the coordinates, but she sensed his whereabouts. She'd given up understanding what the Golden Power did to her. At least for the moment. Once she had David back, and Tesler was dealt with, she'd examine her brushes with limitless power.
Brushes? Maybe that word applied to the first instance. This time, however, she succumbed to the power completely.
The old anxiety buzzed in her veins, electrifying her skin. The sour taste of acid infiltrated her mouth. She gulped down another mouthful of water. The acrid flavor lingered.
For David, she would risk anything. Even if it creeped her out big time and made her long for a nice dark corner to hide in.
No hiding. With David in the woods, like in her vision, the premonition still might come true. Tesler sought David, and he would stop at nothing to capture him and use him for leverage, to draw her into the open. It might work too. She knew it. Confronted with a choice to save herself or David, she'd choose him.
Amador leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. Hands clasped, he fixed his dark eyes on her. The lamplight ignited paler specks in his irises she'd never noticed before. Dark caramel dribbled onto coffee, that's what his eyes resembled. A silly image, but somehow it suited him.
"How long was I out?" she asked.
"Two hours. We've nearly reached Bozeman."
Her stomach sank as the jet pitched into a descent. She sipped the water, but her insides refused to calm. "When we land, I go alone. You stay here."
"Please, Grace, allow me to help you." He scooted forward to the edge of his seat and eased a hand down onto her knee. "I wish no harm to David. I will do whatever I can to protect you both."
What about Sean and David's new friend? She bit back the question, unwilling to reveal any more just yet. Then again, if she intended for the lot of them to flee on Amador's jet, he'd find out soon enough. She grumbled out a sigh. "David isn't alone. He has two others with him."
"They are all welcome on my jet." He swept his arm through the air in an expansive gesture. "As you can see, I have plenty of room."
She counted the empty seats aligned in rows and the pair flanking a sofa. A dozen chairs. Yeah, he had room all right.
Goose bumps prickled her arms, as the hairs on her neck stiffened. Amador's attention, riveted to her, triggered a physical response. She folded her hands on her lap. "Why did you drug me?"
He drooped in his seat, closing his eyes as he shook his head. "It was a terrible mistake. I'm sorry." He raked a hand through his hair, mussing it. "I hoped the serum would help you with your powers, yes, but mostly I wanted to make you more receptive." He covered his eyes with his hand. "To me."
"You were trying to seduce me?"
"No." He pulled himself up and met her gaze. "I needed you to believe me, to help me. The serum seemed my best option to make that happen. Time is running out, Grace. For all of us."
His words penetrated her soul, pins and needles jabbed into her core. "What do you mean time is running out?"
He exhaled, and his shoulders slumped again. "Tesler. He plans to capture you and mine your brain for the secrets to psychic power. He already knows how to shatter minds and bend them to his control. Once he has what he needs from you… " Amador grasped his knees. "He will create an army of psychics who obey his will and his will alone. The Golden Power will make it possible."
The world lurched around her, though the jet stayed level. She gripped the arms of her seat, hanging on until the spinning ceased. An army of brainwashed psychics. Tesler in command. Her breaths quickened, her pulse too. Heartbeats thundered in her ears, raged through her veins, and scorched out her thoughts. She'd seen what Tesler's methods did to psychics. Andrew Haley, coerced into reading minds, catapulted straight into insanity. And her own brushes with the Golden Power tainted her with a sourness she could not shake. If Tesler mined her for answers, unlocking the secrets to imbuing anyone with psychic abilities and to controlling those subjects, then he could rule the world. Literally. Plant a damn jeweled crown on his head and genuflect before the master.
Hell no.
Grace shot to her feet, hands clenched at her sides. "We have to stop him."
Amador sighed. "It will not be easy. He'll fight and claw and destroy anything that gets in his way. Even you aren't strong enough to stop him." Amador eyed her, his lips compressed. "Unless… "
"I use the Golden Power again."
"Yes."
A shudder racked her body, knocking her off kilter. She dropped back onto her seat. She vowed to never ever use the Golden Power again. But her sabotage of Tesler's facility wouldn't slow him down for long. He'd hunt down David. Punish him. Leverage him.
And she'd cave in to Tesler's demands.
Which left her one option.
Tap into the ultimate power, no matter the cost. If it meant insanity, fine. If it molded her into something else, something more and less than herself, then she'd swallow the consequences whole. Even if it choked her.
She glared out the window, into a night as thick and suffocating as a drenched wool blanket. "I'll do it. To stop Tesler, I will tap into the Golden Power."
And if it mutated her into a monster, heaven help the rest of the world. She squeezed her eyes shut and beamed a message out to David, praying he'd receive it.
Kill me, David. If it comes down to me or the world, kill me.