Henshaw hauled Ari through the trees.
Branches and stones littered the ground. Heat baked the woods. Sweet and earthy smells mixed unpleasantly with the odor of sweat.
Ari’s legs were heavy, her feet numb.
Henshaw and the other man were barely winded. The two men dragged and shoved her up the rocky, mountain trail.
Partway up, guards with guns stood outside an opening.
No. Not a cave. She stumbled.
Henshaw glared. His fingers bit into her arm. “I’m not carrying you. Stay on your feet or I’m dropping you off the ledge.” He jerked is chin at the other man. “I’ve got this. Get on the radio. Tell the others to haul ass. We need them up here now. Tell everyone to keep their eyes open for trouble.”
Henshaw shoved her into a gaping hole in the mountain.
The top and sides, reinforced with wood beams and metal braces, seemed to close in on her. Round lights, hanging every few feet from up above cast shadows.
Ari’s heart pounded faster. She grew lightheaded. Heat rushed over her, but a chill clung inside her. She forced her legs to cooperate. One step. Then another, deeper and deeper into the cave.
As they moved forward, the tunnel widened into a chamber.
Kell sat in a large wood chair dressed in black tactical gear. The back of it had points rising up as if he wore a crown on his golden head. “I’m surprised she’s still walking, Henshaw. I would have expected you to have her pleading for mercy by now.”
Nausea rose as Kell’s grin widened. A demented, evil king. So different from Dalir. How had he and Dalir come from the same parents?
Henshaw pushed her forward. “She said she has a message from your brother.”
“Oh really?” Kell mocked. He stood and sauntered to Ari. His cloying sweet cologne mixed sickeningly with the damp, earthy, moldy smell of the cave. “What did he say?”
Ari’s mouth dried out. She’d focused so hard on getting there, she hadn’t figured out that part. By what Taliana had said, she’d assumed a sign, a vision or something more would come as soon as she saw him.
“Speak up.” Kell backhanded her.
As Ari fell to her hands and knees, she saw stars. A metallic taste pooled in her mouth. She blinked back tears. No matter what he did to her, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
Kell ambled back to the front of the chamber and dropped into his seat. He spoke to Henshaw. “Get more guards up here. I want this mountain secure.”
“Already done.” Henshaw’s gaze cut to Ari. “I’ll take care of her.”
A tremble rocked Ari’s arms. He’d make good on his earlier promise to cause her pain. She was here to stop Kell from hurting Dalir. She wouldn’t if Henshaw got his way.
He reached for her.
“Leave our little visitor.” Kell twirled the tip of a dagger on the arm of the chair. “I could use an amusing distraction.”
Henshaw sneered. “I’ll be back to take out the trash.” His footfalls echoed as he stalked through the tunnel.
The sound reminded her of Lauren hammering nails in the sunroom at The Drift. Warmth. Light. The recollection replaced the haze and shadows in the cave. To think, she’d viewed all that happened before then with Dalir as complicated. She couldn’t have imagined this moment, facing his brother.
“So.” Kell leaned forward. “Has your memory returned about what you’re supposed to tell me?”
Ari wiped blood from her lip with the back of her hand. She stood. “Give up.”
“That’s the important message? Okay.” He lifted his hands in mock surrender as he strolled toward her. “Dalir is coming. Oh my, it’s all over. I’m so scared. I give up.” He cupped her chin. His gaze hardened. “That will never happen. Not in a million years. Dalir was foolish to send you, and you were stupid to come. You have no idea what you’re up against.”
Coldness slithered through her mind. Kell pawed through her thoughts.
She couldn’t stop him.
“Oh, that’s interesting.” A silvery light glowed in his eyes. “Dalir didn’t send you. Taliana did. She came back from the grave for revenge, did she?”
A dull pain spread through Ari’s skull. She clawed at his wrist. “Let go.”
He tightened his grip. “Wait a minute. There’s more. You’re special. You can sense emotions. See thoughts. No wonder Dalir’s so attached. You probably remind him of Taliana. But you’re a weak, wannabe oracle. What could you possibly accomplish?”
Uncomfortable tingles swarmed from where he touched her. Taliana said her gift was her strength, but she was no match against Kell. “I may be weak, but you’re worried.” The words shot out before she could stop them. Her intuition sparked to life. “If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have ordered more guards for security.” A flicker in his gaze backed up the inkling. “And you wouldn’t be a coward, hiding from Dalir in a cave.”
“Shut up.” He shoved her against the wall.
Jagged edges of rock jabbed into Ari’s back. Air whooshed out of her lungs.
“You think you’re good at head games.” His gaze flicked over her. “Fine. Let’s play.”
The lights clicked off.
Wind whistled through the cave.
Water dripped.
“So.” Kell’s voice echoed from across the chamber. “You hate enclosed spaces. Don’t you?” His unhurried steps crunched on the dirt floor. “And nothing can be more claustrophobic than a cave.”
Ari forced air into her lungs. This wasn’t like any of the other times. She wasn’t trapped in a tiny space. She was in a huge cave with plenty of room. And Kell. Ari crept along the wall.
His hot breath scorched her cheek.
She scooted back.
Kell grabbed the front of her shirt. “I bet this is exactly like it was for you in the shed that day as a little girl. No light. Stale air. Confusion and fear gnawing at you because you’re trapped inside and can’t get out. What did the kids call you? Weirdo? Or was it freak?” He spun her in circles and then let her go.
Her head swam. As she struggled to regain her equilibrium, she twisted her ankle. Ari sunk her teeth into her bottom lip, stifling a yelp.
“Are you having fun yet? I am.” He hummed the song from that awful day a long time ago.
When he stopped, the song remained implanted in her thoughts, growing louder and louder. She wouldn’t go there with him. Couldn’t let herself get caught in the past. Dalir had mentioned she’d kept him out of her head, but how? She had to kick Kell out. “I control my memories. Not you.” Her mind grew silent.
“Bravo.” Kell clapped. “Did Dalir teach you how to shield your mind? Good move, but not good enough. There’s so much more you need to remember.” A flash of light briefly illuminated the chamber.
Darkness engulfed her again like a cold heavy blanket. Goosebumps spread over her.
Kell dragged her by one arm. “Those kids hurt you before they made you pay. You cried like a baby.” He yanked her viciously in the opposite direction.
Pain searing through her shoulder ripped out a scream. Tears threatened to fall.
He chuckled. “Looks like I win the game. Time for me to claim the prize.”
Something metal, most likely the dagger scraped along the wall. Ari hobbled, gripping her injured arm. He was going to kill her. Where was Taliana? This couldn’t have been what she intended.
The scar on Ari’s palm tingled. The hilt of a knife formed in her hand. It was Dalir’s.
“When the time comes, what you don’t have will be revealed to you.”
She’d never intentionally hurt anyone physically in her life. Never even considered it because of the mean things that others had done to her in the past. Bile rose in her throat. Her hand slickened with sweat. The memory of Dalir, lying dead on a pile of stones emerged. Tears wet her cheeks. He’d give up everything to protect her. And she’d do the same for him. Ari surrendered. She immersed herself in memories of Dalir. Laughing with him. Teasing him. Telling him her secrets and fears. She relived how their arguments had melted in the heat of passion. Ari opened herself to all of it and the love that bound them together.
Kell’s snarl reverberated. “He’ll never have you. You’re mine.”
A spiral of light coiled tighter and tighter around Ari.
“Trust that you’ll know what to do.”
Taliana’s words brought calm. Erased pain. Ari gripped the dagger and raised it above her head. She closed her eyes and held onto the image of Dalir, lying with her on the ridge by the lake, smiling down at her. An internal alert sounded. She struck downward.
The dagger cleaved through clothes and flesh without resistance. Cartilage and bone popped.
Wetness sprayed Ari’s cheek.
The lights flickered on.
Kell stared at the dagger burrowed in his chest. Skin stretched tautly over his cheekbones as he bared his teeth. “You bitch.” He snaked an arm around her waist, crushing her against him. Dalir’s dagger sunk in to the hilt.
Kell jabbed at Ari’s side.
Fiery agony radiated through her.
He smiled. “I told you he’d never have you.”