Darkest Fire (22 page)
God help her. God help him! She couldn’t do it. Not now, now while the memory of that beautiful moment, when Drako had finally surrendered, was still so fresh in their minds. And with the imprint of that change so new on their hearts.
“Are you hungry?” He brushed her hair from her face, uncovering her eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Absolutely nothing’s wrong.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m not exactly overwhelmed, because this is what I’ve wanted for a long time. I’m just really, really happy.”
“Good.” He brushed a thumb over her lower lip, kissed it, then sat up. “I need to eat something.”
As if on cue, her stomach rumbled. “Me too.”
Drako helped her up and then they helped each other into their clothes, sneaking in a touch here, a kiss there. It was a way to hold onto that intimacy a little longer, the magic. Once they had all their clothes on, they joined hands and headed out of the dungeon into what had become a cool, damp night.
“What do you want to eat?” Drako asked after he’d escorted Rin to the car, opened her door, strolled around to the driver’s side, and folded his bulky form behind the steering wheel.
“I don’t know. But what I would love is to take it home where we can relax and enjoy it, maybe watch a movie.”
“Sounds perfect. How does Italian sound? There’s a great place a few miles from here.”
Visions of rich cream sauces played through her mind. “Yes.”
After a few minutes, at a red light, Drako glanced at her. “You said your sister taught you?”
“Hmmm?” Having been lost in her thoughts for a few minutes, she wasn’t sure what Drako was talking about.
“You handled that whip like a pro. How long have you been practicing?”
She fingered her cheek, which was burning. “Well, not very long, just since we, er, escaped. But we made good use of the time. I couldn’t tell you how many hours we spent working together. I learned that one of my sister’s owners taught her to be a domme. He had a lot of play parties, and evidently she was very popular with his friends. She didn’t mind it so much because she was in control. Imagine that. Some guy bought a sex slave to be his domme.” Rin stared at his profile as she talked. “She’s still dealing with some of the stuff that happened when she was being sold to one owner after another. But I can tell D/s is going to be a big part of her future. It’s the only way she feels safe in interacting with men anymore.”
“Time will help.”
She looked down at her hand, played with her ring. “I know. But I won’t stop worrying until I see her happy. I mean, genuinely over-the-moon happy. Like I am.”
He touched her cheek, coaxing her gaze back up to his face. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Rin. You give so much.”
She laid a hand over his, sandwiching it between her face and palm. “I’ve never met anyone like you either. You’ll do anything in the name of duty. You’re dedicated, loyal.”
“And stubborn, an ass,” he added, laughter making his eyes glitter brightly. He returned his hand to the steering wheel, using the other one to hit the turn signal.
“Hey, I’m not perfect either. We’re both flawed. But maybe that’s why we fit so well together.”
“Maybe.” After he navigated a right turn, he glanced at her. “Rin, I want our marriage to be different. I want to be open, honest, about everything. I want to make a new start, hold nothing back. Our marriage won’t be just one of name only. Not anymore.” She was so happy, she didn’t know what to say. “Most important, I want you to feel you can tell me anything, ask me anything.”
It had worked. Just like Lei had said. That unbelievable experience in the dungeon had changed their relationship, and Rin was beyond happy. She hated the idea of risking that happiness already, when it was still so fresh, so new. She’d waited a long time to hear these words. What if he pulled back again? Built up those walls around his heart, this time out of even stronger stuff. Would anything knock them down?
When Drako pulled the car up to a red light, Rin shifted nervously in her seat.
Drako, being the perceptive man he was, looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
This was it, her chance to try to get to the truth. It was her only hope to save him from being arrested, imprisoned. “I don’t know how to bring this up.”
“What?” A horn sounded from the car behind them, and Drako reacted, punching the accelerator. The car lurched forward. But instead of moving along with traffic, Drako turned into a gas station driveway and parked next to the air pump. Once he had the car shifted out of gear, he twisted to look her way. “Is it about what happened in the dungeon?”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed. “What is it?”
Rin dragged the back of her hand across her face, smearing tears over her cheeks. “I wish this wasn’t necessary.”
Drako’s eyes narrowed even more.
“I wasn’t exactly honest with you.” Rin took a few deep breaths, let them out. “Lei and are weren’t kidnapped by Campioni. Another man did. He told me things about you.”
“What things?”
“He said your name isn’t really Drako, and you aren’t a jeweler. He said you’d stolen something very dangerous, and you’re in danger now because of it.”
Something flared in Drako’s eyes. Rin waited for him to deny what the man had said. She prayed it had been a lie and Drako would tell her everything was going to be okay, that she had nothing to worry about.
“What else did he say?”
“He said there’s going to be a raid, that the thing you’d stolen belonged to the United States government and they were coming to get it back, before it landed in the wrong hands.”
“The government?”
She nodded. “The FBI.” Drako hadn’t denied anything yet. Why hadn’t he? “He said he was telling me because he’s worried about your safety.”
A deep crease appeared between Drako’s brows. “Did this man tell you his name?”
“He said he’s your uncle.”
The crease became even deeper. “My uncle?”
“He looked a lot like you. His name was Bob Zacharias.”
Drako’s lips thinned. His fingers curled tighter around the steering wheel. “That’s impossible. My uncles are both dead. He lied.”
She wanted to believe that. But after what she’d learned about her sister, and knowing she tended to believe what she wanted, rather than the truth, she asked, “Why?”
Staring straight ahead, Drako shrugged. His indifference, however, wasn’t convincing. “To manipulate you into helping him. What did he want you to do?”
“Convince you to tell me where the thing you’d stolen is being hidden.”
Chewing on his lower lip, Drako shook his head. “If he was really my uncle, he’d know I wouldn’t tell you that. I can’t tell anyone.”
“Then it’s true? You’re not Drako Alexandre? You’re Kane Zacharias? And you did steal something, whatever it is?” Rin’s heart was thumping so hard in her chest, she felt her breastbone being bruised from the inside. “Are you in danger?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
Drako’s gaze snapped to hers. His stare was hard, sharp, almost intrusive. “On a lot of things. How much of what you told me earlier is true?”
“Most of it. I got a call from Lei and went to the coffee shop to pick her up. I was drugged, taken to a house. Lei was there, and she knew all about you. Agent Zacharias showed me some things, a video from ten years ago, your military records. He asked us to help him find out where you’re hiding the weapon or whatever it is. I didn’t tell him I would. And then we escaped.”
Drako’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit. He didn’t want you to find out where we’re hiding anything.”
“What?”
“Oram knows we won’t tell anyone, not even our wives. He just wanted you to get me away from my brothers long enough . . .” He jerked the car’s shifter into gear and slammed his foot on the gas pedal. “We need to get home now.”
“Why? He said the raid was going to happen tomorrow. He’s waiting for me to tell him where the—”
“No, he’s not.” Driving like he was trying to win the Indy 500, he crammed his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone. He handed it to Rin. “I need to keep my eyes on the road. Call Malek and Talen and warn them Oram’s on his way.”
“Okay.” With one hand, she scrolled through Drako’s saved phone numbers while she held on for life with the other. She found one of the brothers, hit the button to put the call through, and waited, hoping Malek would answer. “Drako, is everything going to be all right?”
“I wish I could say yes, but I don’t know.” Drako zigged and zagged through traffic.
One ring, two, three, four. The call went through to voice mail. Rin hung up and tried Talen’s number. “Would it have been better if I’d told you about Agent Zacharias sooner?” she asked.
“It’s not your fault. If I’d opened up to you earlier, you wouldn’t have been afraid to tell me what happened. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, anyway. We’ve just got to deal with what comes, as it comes.”
20
R
in rode the entire way home with her eyes squeezed shut. She hadn’t prayed in eons, but that didn’t stop her now. She prayed up a blue streak, making all sorts of promises to the Almighty if he’d give what was beginning to look like a desperate situation a good ending. At the very least, she prayed the people she loved—her sister, Drako and his brothers—would be kept safe.
in rode the entire way home with her eyes squeezed shut. She hadn’t prayed in eons, but that didn’t stop her now. She prayed up a blue streak, making all sorts of promises to the Almighty if he’d give what was beginning to look like a desperate situation a good ending. At the very least, she prayed the people she loved—her sister, Drako and his brothers—would be kept safe.
Supposedly, the big raid was going to happen tomorrow, so even though Drako thought they might be raiding today, she held out hope that he was wrong. That hope was shattered when the car turned onto their street and Rin saw all the black SWAT trucks. The road was completely blocked off by police cars, angled across the width to keep any vehicles from coming in or leaving.
“Ohmygod,” she whispered, slapping her hands over her mouth. “What’re we going to do?”
Drako jerked the car over and slammed the gear shift into park. “I have to help my brothers.” Leaving the car running, he pushed open his door.
“No!” Rin threw herself toward him, catching his sleeve in her fist. Before he could pull himself free from her grasp, she looped an arm around his neck. “You can’t rush into that mess. They’ll arrest you. Or . . . or shoot—”
“I have to.” He’d never looked so torn, so desperate. “Rin, the man isn’t my uncle. He’s dead. And that’s not the SWAT. It’s a secret group that’s been trying to get their hands on something for a very long time. They’ve killed before. They’ll kill again.”
“More reason to stay out of the way.” She squeezed her hand, tightening her hold on his shirt.
“No, if my brothers die, I won’t be able to protect The Secret. I can’t do it alone.”
She yanked, desperate to keep him from leaving her. “So, let them have it. Who cares about some stupid secret weapon or whatever?”
“I wish it were that simple. But it isn’t. If The Secret falls into their hands, there isn’t a man, woman, or child alive who won’t suffer. This is what I was born to do, to set my life aside to protect The Secret. I can’t just walk away.” He fought out of her clutch, bending to look into the car. “I’m sorry, Rin. Very sorry.”
“I love you, Drako Alexandre.”
“No matter what happens, don’t come after me. Stay here. Stay safe. Just in case . . . I don’t want you to be hurt.”
Sure her world was about to shatter around her, she watched her husband run toward a house full of men with guns. She didn’t want to think of any “just in cases,” but as she sat in that car and watched dozens of men swarm her home, she couldn’t help imagining all kinds of horrible outcomes.
How ironic, she was once again waiting for Drako to pull off some miracle, just like she had the first day of their marriage. Then, it had been her sister’s freedom, her future at stake. Now there was so much more to lose, including her sister’s life. She hadn’t heard a word from Lei since she’d left with Drako.
Hands shaking so badly they were hardly useful, she dug through her purse, found her cell phone, called Lei.
No answer. It went straight to voice mail. Either the phone was shut off or Lei was talking to somebody else. Rin checked her call log to make sure Lei hadn’t been trying to get in touch with her.
Nothing.
Rin literally clawed at the seat as she stared over the back. Her lungs were barely inflating. Her nerves were stretched to near snapping point. All kinds of horrific images were playing through her mind.
More men in black charged up to the house. Those guns were going to be pointed at Drako and his brothers, and maybe her sister too. Everyone she loved, everyone who mattered in her life, was inside that house.
She belonged there with them.
This time she couldn’t stand by and wait, watch. No way in hell.
She didn’t bother shutting the car door. She just ran, arms and legs pumping as fast as she could make them. Her lungs burned with the need for air and her stomach lurched into her throat, but she didn’t stop. She kept her eyes focused on the open front door and kept going, following the zigzagging path Drako had taken up to the house, using trees and shrubs for cover.
She was hoping, with the melee, nobody would notice the petite woman racing toward the house. She was almost there. One second, the big, yawning, black gaping doorway was bouncing closer, the next the world was a blur, and then some green grass flew up and smacked her in the face.
So much for hope.
It took her less than a second to realize what had happened. Somebody had tackled her from behind. And her lungs had completely collapsed. Lying flat on her stomach, she fought to inflate them.
“Where do you think you’re going?” asked whoever had knocked her off her feet as he yanked both of her wrists behind her back and bound them.
“My husband. My sister,” she said between frantic gasps, spitting dirt and grass out of her mouth. Her nose hurt like a sonofabitch, and she was still seeing stars as she was hauled to her feet and shoved forward, her captor’s hand holding onto the plastic bands circling her wrists. “I’m not a criminal.”
“That may be, but you’re running into the middle of a police raid, Miss. We can’t have you doing that.” He steered her toward a black camperlike vehicle, shoved her inside. “Look who I found skittering around outside like a little mouse?”
She found herself standing in some kind of mobile police station, face-to-face with the man who had claimed to be Drako’s uncle. “You!” she shouted, teeth gritted. She fought against the man still holding her. “You lied to me!”
The man smiled.
How she wished she could kick him in the balls. She threw herself forward, hoping she’d catch her captor off-guard and get a shot at the bastard grinning like he’d just been told he’d won the lottery. No such luck. All she managed to do was hurt herself, the tension yanking on her shoulders so hard she staggered backward, falling against the man behind her.
He wrapped an arm around her neck and squeezed, threatening to cut off her air supply.
She froze in place, her sense of reason finally kicking in. She’d let her emotions get her into this situation, but she’d have to think her way out. “Okay, okay. I’m not going to fight anymore.”
Agent Zacharias—or whatever his real name was—motioned to the man holding her. “Leave us.”
The thick arm slid away from her neck, and Rin sucked in a few shallow gasps, staggering forward to lean against a bench seat bolted to the vehicle’s floor. She glanced over her shoulder, toward the exit, down at the bottom of three steps.
“It’s locked,” he said.
“From the outside?”
He shrugged. “You’re free to try it if you want.”
She did. Locked. Bastard. “You used me.” She stomped back up the steps.
“Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“Because most of what I told you was true. The Secret doesn’t belong to Drako Alexandre, or any other man for that matter.”
“This isn’t a real SWAT truck. Drako told me.” Another glance around almost convinced her otherwise. Sure looked real.
He didn’t look worried that she knew it wasn’t a real police vehicle. “If you try to convince any of those men out there that this is anything but what they believe, they’ll laugh in your face and then haul you to the nearest hospital for a psych evaluation.”
“And you’re not Drako’s uncle. He’s dead.”
The man shrugged. “Sometimes the ends justify the means. Even men you respect believe that. Ever been to a doctor? They cause pain sometimes, don’t they? But they do it to heal you, to save your life. This is no different.”
“Drako said The Secret needs to be protected, that it’s dangerous.”
“Sure, that’s because that’s what he’s been told.” The man stood, strolled toward the back. He pulled open a panel, stuck his arm into the space behind it, and produced a cola. It seemed the camperlike vehicle had some of the luxuries of a regular camper, like a refrigerator. “Nobody actually knows if that’s true.” He returned to his seat. “Who’s to say all those ancient cultures perished because of The Secret? Nobody’s alive to say one way or another. Written testimony didn’t exist. There are no records, only conjecture.” He opened the can, took a couple of gulps. “In the meantime, mankind is denied a power source that could put an end to gas shortages, global warming, and break the grip the Middle East has on the U.S.’s economy. Imagine a world where there is enough energy to fuel every need, and it’s free. There would never be the need to drill into wetlands or haul millions of gallons of oil back and forth across oceans.”
Rin could hardly imagine all of that. Was it possible? She had a hard time believing it.
He took another drink, then set his cola on the small counter behind him. “Guess who your husband is related to?”
“Who?”
He sat back, crossed one leg over the other. “The men who have the power now, the richest, most influential men of our world. The wealthiest families of Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the western U.S. Do you think they have an interest in keeping secret a power source that would make oil, natural gas, and all other fossil fuels obsolete?”
“Maybe. But that isn’t why Drako is protecting The Secret or whatever it’s called. He’s doing it because he believes it’s best for everyone. Maybe if you talked to him—”
The man interrupted her with a raised hand. “Kane’s been brainwashed since he was old enough to understand spoken words. No amount of talking will do anything.”
A tense silence fell between them, as thoughts churned through her mind like a wildly thrashing river. If the words she’d just heard had been spoken by any other human being, she might believe him. If she could set aside her fury and fear, she could almost believe this man, one she’d come to distrust. Only one thing stood in her way.
He’d lied to her once already. Could she accept anything he said as truth?
“Who are you, really?” she asked.
“I am who I said I was, your husband’s uncle. Full name’s Robert Henry Zacharias.”
“Drako said his uncles are dead.”
“He believes his uncles are dead. He’s about to learn one isn’t.”
The door opened, and Rin, believing Drako was about to join them, twisted to look over her shoulder. She was disappointed to see it wasn’t him, and even more upset to see the man who’d entered slide into the driver’s seat, start the vehicle, and pull it away from the curb.
Rin stumbled, a bump sending her flopping into the seat she’d been clinging to for balance. “Where are we going?”
Drako’s uncle answered, “Somewhere private, where the three of us can have a chat. Can I get you a cola? Water?”
Drako swallowed a scream of rage and curled his fingers into a fist. “He has Rin. Dammit!”
Talen, surveying the situation, waved him away. “Go on. We’ve got things under control here. Dobbs and Wilkerson are out back, taking care of the last of them. Get her back.” Drako hesitated, and Talen gave him a shove. “I said, go. Now. Before it’s too late. They’ve retreated. Battle’s over.”
Drako wanted to believe that was true, but he couldn’t quite convince himself of it.
“Where’s Rin?” Malek asked, strolling toward them. He was red-faced but otherwise looking no worse for wear. The attack had been swift and unexpected, but it hadn’t been well organized. A few bodies were scattered over the house’s first floor, the enemy’s loss, but that was the extent of the death toll. They’d come in, guns blazing, and beat a hasty retreat minutes later when Drako’s brothers and their two hired guns had returned fire.
“Rin’s been taken hostage again,” Drako said.
“What’re you doing here, then?” Malek shoved a 9mm into his hands.
Holding the gun, Drako shook his head. “I can’t leave you two here.”
“We’re fine. They’re gone.” Like Talen, Malek gave Drako a shove toward the door. “I think we’ve proven today that we’re more than capable of keeping Lei and The Secret safe until you return.”
“Dammit.” Drako hesitated for one more second before dashing toward the door. He hoped Rin had left the keys in the car’s ignition. Even more important, he hoped Rin had taken her cell phone with her. As he ran, he hit the speed dial for her number. It started ringing before he’d reached his car, sitting exactly where he’d left it, keys still hanging in the ignition.
Rin’s phone rang once, twice, three times. Just before it cut to voice mail, she answered, her voice barely audible. “Drako?”
“I’m here, baby. I’m on my way.” When she didn’t respond right away, his insides twisted. He said, shifting the car into gear and punching the gas, “Are you there?”
“I’m here. I’m scared.”
So was he. More scared than he’d ever been. This whole thing wasn’t sitting right with him. Oram was up to something. “Everything’ll be okay. Where are you?” He turned onto the main road, opting to head toward the closest freeway, hoping that was the right direction.
“In a big black SWAT truck.”
“I know. Can you tell which way it’s traveling?”
“I’ll try to look. Gotta put the phone down. Don’t hang up. Please, don’t leave me.”
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