Deception (19 page)

She'd tried physical strength and it had gotten her nowhere. She’d tried defiance and it had gotten her punished. Time to move on.

Her magic wouldn't compare to his, but he couldn't read her thoughts or see her body, so as long as her aura wasn't drawing his attention, she might have the element of surprise on her side.

Her sense of touch told her they were still flying, and she wondered if she’d be able to stay in the air if she managed to get away from him. Flying involved both mental and physical strength, and she severely lacked the latter. Oh well. Falling to her death was a risk she was willing to take.

First thing’s first, she needed to make sure he still had her mind blocked. The bastard could be listening to everything she was thinking, wickedly laughing in his head as he considered ways to punish her.

She tested the skull shield, pushing the call out hard, because if her mind wasn't blocked, she refused to waste the opportunity by sending a halfhearted message.
'Quin!'
The name reverberated in her head, bouncing off her throbbing brain, but she stayed stationary and silent.

Finley hadn't said anything or changed the pressure he held her with, so if she wanted the element of surprise, now was the time to take it. She needed ammunition, so she turned her mind to unpleasant memories. She remembered all the disrespectful things Finley said to Quin. She remembered his arrogant speech explaining why people should fall at his feet. She remembered the way he'd talked in front of Alana, and the way the child had cringed away from him. Then she remembered her nightmare and the trouble it had caused Quin. She didn't have to remember the physical pain or the mental and emotional anguish, because she was living them.

The masochistic exercise worked. She was locked and loaded like never before, and while the raging fire didn't hurt her, it was sure to burn the hell out of him.

She couldn't brace herself or breathe deep. That would ruin the entire thing, so she stayed inert, mentally steeling herself for the silent countdown.

One . . .

She directed the flames toward exposed skin.

Two . . .

She slowly filled her lungs.

Three!

The inferno rolled from her body, charring everything in its path, and Finley roared as the smell of burning flesh and hair invaded her senses. Her stomach lurched. Then she was falling, appearing in mid-air as a scream rippled from her mind and lips.

“Quin!”

She flipped and found the ground, but agony and terror had her in their clutches and she couldn't stop her plummeting body. She tried to push herself forward, but the resistance felt like thick mud and gravity outraced her magic.

Her world grew greener as the earth grew nearer. Oh god. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to watch.

'I love you, Quin,'
she sadly projected, clearly seeing his face.

Something hooked her waist, knocking the air from her lungs as she doubled over, and pain coursed through vibrating bones as she threw out her hands, bracing for another hit. She imagined herself bouncing from limb to limb of a tree before falling to her death. The image actually flashed through her mind like a reel of a movie – rough bark tossing her about as sharp twigs ripped chunks of hair from her head. But this wasn’t a movie, and reality was much worse.

Still hooked by the waist, something curled into the hair at the base of her skull and yanked. Oh shit. She hadn’t hit a tree limb. Finley had caught her.

She screamed, drowning in pain and rage as she opened her eyes. They were rising again.

The fingers in her hair tightened and jerked, pulling her ear to his lips. “Big mistake, Layla. Do you have a death wish?”

“Yes,” she cried, and he shook her head.

“Well I don’t.”

Her insides broiled with licking flames, and she screamed until her lips were magically sealed. The shriek gurgled in her mouth as the fire dissipated, then ice took its place, pressing on her bones and slowing her blood flow.

The quick shift from hot to cold was way worse than one or the other, and somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered where he’d learned his torture methods. The ice switched back to flames, and she shuddered, going limp and useless yet again.

Quin made it back to Layla's last known location without any news from the others. Having no other plan of action to follow, he flew east, veering slightly south with the intention of covering a hundred miles then working his way north. It didn’t make sense for Finley to head for the ocean or back toward Oregon, but there was a wealth of land in the north Cascade Mountains to hide in.

The longer Quin flew, the more lost he felt, but finally, blessedly, he heard her. Just his name. She'd screamed it, and the terror in her voice froze his lungs. Her second call was heartfelt and resigned to doom.
'I love you, Quin.'

His throat tightened as his stomach flipped, and for the first time since he was a child, his flight skills wavered, nearly dropping him out of the sky.

He steadied himself and mentally called her name. Nothing.

He couldn’t deny the fear – the gut-wrenching possibility he’d heard her take her final breath and project her final thought, but he refused to accept defeat.
'Hold on, Layla. I'll find you.'

He hopefully waited for a reply, but didn’t get one, so he searched for his family's minds and found Serafin's
. 'I heard her. She's east, toward Mount Rainier. I'm not waiting. I can't. Get a message to the others then follow. If I hear her again and need to change my path, I'll mind-search you to let you know, but if I don't find you quickly, I'll go without you.'

'I'll do my best to keep up,'
Serafin agreed.

Quin didn't respond. He was already speeding toward his angel, desperate to prove she continued to breathe.

Chapter 13

Quin reached the northeast border of Mount Rainier National Park two hours before sundown. The entire time he'd flown over the thick mass of overgrown trees and around mountainous ridges, he'd searched for Layla's presence, for clues to where she’d been and where she’d gone, but he hadn’t found a trace of evidence.

He halted and hovered, fighting the depression threatening to engulf him. She'd been gone for more than three hours – three heart-wrenching and suffocating hours. He hadn't heard her voice since her heartfelt show of devotion entered his head like a final farewell, and he was traveling on guesswork, which could take him in the opposite direction he should be going.

He closed his eyes and visualized the local terrain, pinpointing possible locations Finley would choose to rest or heal. Layla would fight, and Quin had no doubt she'd inflict damage.

The bile he'd been battling all day rose up and licked his throat. He hated thinking about what might happen to her if she fought back.

He opened his eyes with determination. Where to go next? Pick an option and go with it.

If Finley stopped to heal, he’d want the cover of both mountains and trees. Convenient since the Cascade Mountain Range stretched out before him. He could follow the range straight into Canada.

Quin’s heart skipped as his stomach swished – a gut feeling if ever he’d had one. Following the Cascade Range into Canada was exactly what Finley planned to do.

Quin searched for Serafin's mind for several impatient minutes before finding it.
'I'm heading north, up through Wenatchee and Okanogan National Forests. Go get the others and do the same.'

'Have you heard her again?'

'No, but unless you have a better plan, I'm going to scour the Cascades. It makes sense for Finley to follow the range, and he'll have to land eventually.'

'I'll let the others know,'
Serafin agreed.
'If you find her before we get there, you need to hang tight and keep an eye on the situation from a distance. Don't go in there by yourself.'

'I can't make that promise, Serafin.'

'If you go in there and fail, he'll take her and flee. Then it would be damn near impossible for us to find her again, especially without your help.'

'No promises,’
Quin refused,
‘so hurry. I'm going.
' And he did, soaring north while hoping for a miracle.

The next time Layla opened her eyes, it was sunset and she was lying on her side on soft vegetation. Her muscles felt like flaming liquid, a cold breeze stung her skin, and she was tightly bound by . . . something. She swiveled her eyeballs, finding one half of what seemed to be an empty clearing bordered by fir trees.

She looked down, trying to see what had her tied together, but she and the bindings were invisible. She attempted to lift her head, but only got it an inch from the ground before dropping it to the grass with a pained moan.

Damn, she was sore, and it only got worse when Finley’s voice made her jolt.

“Guess you're awake.”

He was behind her, toward her feet.

“You really pissed me off, Layla. I've been annoyed with you, impatient with you, and upset with you, but until you burned the shit out of me, I hadn't been pissed at you. It would be wise of you to never try something like that again. I have a far worse punishment in mind, and it's not your death, so inciting retribution won't ease your suffering. It will only make it worse.”

She took several quick breaths to pump herself up. Then she shoved her shoulder backward and rotated her heavy body. She managed the turn, but paid dearly for it.

She cringed and turned her face into the weeds, quietly sobbing as her lips vibrated against cool vegetation. She inhaled through her nose, drawing strength from Mother Nature’s peacefulness. Then she raised her head and blinked away moisture. All she found were trees and underbrush and more trees. Then a shimmer caught her eye, and she looked down, beyond her invisible feet.

“You found me,” he revealed.

She figured her voice would be pitiful, so she tried to put some oomph into it. “Why are you doing this, Finley?” Yes, it was pitiful.

“Why are you not, Layla?”

Emotion overpowered strength, and more tears flooded her lids. “I don't understand.”

“No, you don't get it, which means you're not as rational as you should be. Rationality is a necessary trait. You need to learn it.”

“Quit beating around the bush . . . and insulting me . . . and just tell me what you mean . . . Why are you doing this?” Her diaphragm struggled to get the words out. Twenty words felt like twenty thousand.

“Because it's meant to be,” Finley answered. “Because it's what we deserve. You'll reap as many rewards from this union as I will.”

“It doesn't work that way . . . It will never work that way for me.”

“It will. Once you learn to relax. You and I are unlike anyone, and we should have the things we want, but our entire lives we've had things taken away from us. It's time to stop putting up with the bullshit, take what we want, and never let go.”

“You are so blind,” she shrieked, but it was little more than a squeak. “You're taking my life. Out of everything that's been taken away from me, you're taking the most. You're a hypocrite.” She braced for the torture, but it didn't come.

“It wasn't supposed to be this way,” he replied, sounding genuinely disappointed. “Hurting you like this wasn't my original plan, but you made it so. If you would have given me even the smallest hope, we wouldn't be in this situation, but you refused, denying me the mere inch I asked for. It became clear I’d have to take you to get you.”

“There's that word again, Finley. You're taking everything from me.”

“No, I'm giving you everything. You'll adjust, and things will get easier. Then you'll see life is better with me; that there is no life without me. I’m saving you, Layla, and I'll treat you well. That’s been my intention all along. I had plans to swoop in like prince charming and treat you like the princess you are, but my plans were changed for me.”

“Why? Because you swooped too late? Because somebody else beat you to the punch? Not so flawless, are you, Finley?”

“Stop being a bitch, Layla. We're having a decent conversation here; I’d hate to ruin it by making you scream.” He waited for her reply, but she didn't give one, so he went on. “My plan was changed multiple times by several people, but you're the one who blew it. You were never supposed to leave Oklahoma without me.”

She jerked to attention. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about your impromptu move to Oregon. It was a big surprise and an even bigger disappointment for me to arrive in Oklahoma to find you gone. I didn't see you leaving at all.”

“You were in Oklahoma?”

“Quite a bit actually. I found it to be a boring state, but there was one intriguing thing about it – you.”

“How did you know I was there?”

“I summoned visions of you.”

“But how? How did you find out about me?”

“That doesn’t matter, what matters is – I found you when no one else could. I knew you were in Oklahoma, so that’s where I went, and along the way, I spent every waking minute searching your past, finding out everything I could about you. I don't think you understand how long and hard I’ve worked for you. There have been significant stretches of time in which my entire being was consumed by you and only you. You should feel honored.”