Flicker (43 page)

              There-- her power brushed over Rashid's, feather-light, and she felt his awareness of her. She couldn't see where he was, but she followed her sense of him, and it wasn't long before she rounded a pile of debris and found herself standing in a clear area several feet in diameter, staring straight at him.

              By the dim illumination of a small, battery-powered lamp set atop a footlocker, Elise could see both Rashid and Alex clearly. The former was seated in a moth-eaten armchair that looked like it had been dragged out of an office waiting room. The latter-- Elise had to bite down hard on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from running to him. Alex was slumped uncomfortably in a folding metal chair, his arms twisted behind him and bound together, his ankles tied to the legs of the chair. He was filthy, and his t-shirt and jeans were torn beyond any hope of recovery. There were dark stains around many of the rips that Elise didn't want to think about-- but beneath, his dirty skin was unblemished. She felt a brief moment of gratitude for their healing abilities-- but it wasn't Alex's predicament that had Elise's heart in her throat. She was chilled by his limp posture, his drooping head, and the way his eyes gazed, unfocused, into the dark void. He didn't even glance up at her.

              Elise tore her eyes away from the wreck that was her friend-- her love. She had more pressing matters. She had a role to play.

              When she stepped into view, Rashid rose from his seat, bowing as gracefully to her as he had when she met him at his car on Monday. “Miss Whitfield. We've been expecting you.”

              She should have laughed at his cliché portrayal of a villain-- but some clichés exist for a reason, and his low, menacing voice sent a shiver of real fear up her spine. “Rashid.” She greeted him with a short nod, fighting to keep her voice steady. She'd thought it would be hard to keep her attention away from Alex, but she found that she couldn't stand looking at him the way he was now-- his zombie-like state terrified and repulsed her. Suddenly, it was all she could do to suppress the shot of rage that went through her; she wanted to kill Rashid for doing this to him.

              “It took you quite a while to get here,” Rashid said blandly. “We were beginning to think you might not come.”

              Elise breathed deep and forced the knot of horror that was coiled around her heart to relax. She would need all her charm and wit to get through this encounter. Tilting her head coyly to the side, she looked him up and down. “I had some thinking to do,” she said, her tone musically absentminded, as if she couldn't really be bothered to focus entirely on their conversation.

              “I am sure you did,” Rashid smiled the same predator's smile that Alex gave her-- the one that made her uncertain whether he wanted to kiss her or eat her. Elise swallowed hard. “And what did you decide?”

              Elise shrugged, a shadow of her usual grace making the motion as nonchalant as possible. “Alex did get to me first, you know,” she said, feigning evasiveness as she wandered further into the space Rashid had cleared for himself. “He taught me so much, he moved out in the open-- he seemed the stronger option."
              Rashid chuckled. "And now?"
              Elise flicked her eyes over Alex dismissively. "You've certainly proved your point," she said coolly. Pointedly turning her attention back to Rashid, she arched an eyebrow at him. “I do have a few caveats of my own before we enter into any partnership.”

              Rashid looked at her hard. “I hardly think you're in a position to bargain, kitten,” he all but purred. Elise narrowed her eyes and planted her hands on her hips.

              “Just hear me out.” At his nod, she lifted her chin and proceeded in a clipped, professional tone. “I will not be anyone's puppet or pawn. I know very little about this world, and that frightens me-- for a decade or two, I'll have to lean on you. But that does not mean I will allow you to dictate to me. If we're in this together, we are equals. Understand?”

              By the time she was finished speaking, Rashid was laughing. “All right, kitten, you've made your point. Of course you won't be a figurehead-- I need you. You, sweetheart, not just any powerful woman.” Elise could tell how elated she was making him-- his smile actually thawed his intense eyes. Her next words melted it off his face.

              “You will release Alex,” she said firmly.

              “Now kitten,” he held his hands out reasonably, but his eyes were stern. “You're saying all the right things, but this change of heart comes in a questionable time. I assure you, you can have an active role in supervising his condition-- but I am going to be holding onto dear Alexander for a little while. Just to ensure your continued cooperation-- you understand.”

              Elise's face was stony, but her heart was racing. Rashid followed her with his eyes, but he wasn't moving away from Alex. She'd tried cooperating with him, baiting him into an argument-- he still stood beside Alex's chair as if rooted there. If Sarah was going to have room to work, they desperately needed Rashid to forget that Alex was even in the room. Elise swallowed again, wiping her palms discreetly on her skirt, and forced the smile she'd once hoped would convince Alex that she wasn't damaged. “We have plenty of time to talk about that one-- though,” she added with studied casualness. “I rather think you're overestimating his worth to me.” Elise pointedly ignored Rashid's raised eyebrow. “So there's one more...” She turned away slightly as she drew out the word in a tone she barely remembered how to use.

              Elise knew what she had to do to get his attention away from Alex. Taking a deep breath, she reached for her power. She may be a raw beginner, she thought, but there was something she'd done successfully without even thinking about it, years before she ever knew what she was. Elise wrapped her power around herself like an embrace, the vision Alex had shown her of the Queen-- that day on his bed what felt like a lifetime ago-- bright in her mind's eye.

              “Rashid,” she called softly, and heard her voice echo in the bare rafters and dank corners of the warehouse. In the dimness, she saw his eyes widen. “Come see me.” She held out a hand, and didn't have to look to know that the gesture was impossibly graceful.

              Languidly, as if he were suddenly dreaming, Rashid straightened almost imperceptibly and came toward her. “Yes, kitten?” His normally aloof tone was just a little rough.

              “I want to talk about our relationship, dear,” she purred, calling on the half-forgotten habits she'd pushed aside when she came to Willowdale. The part of her mind that flinched, that remembered and screamed and cried, she shoved deeper inside than ever before, locked in an impenetrable vault with no key-- playing this role would require her to be open to him, and she couldn't allow him to catch the slightest hint of hesitation.

              “I thought you wanted our relationship to be strictly professional,” Rashid murmured as he came nearer. Behind him, she could see that Alex was staring at her as well, his jaw open-- beyond him, she caught the barest hint of Sarah, frozen as well. That wouldn't do-- Elise needed her to work, and work fast. Swallowing hard, she concentrated, narrowing the cone of her focus until it rested sharply on Rashid. By the time he was beside her, she saw a hunger burning in his eyes that she had incited there.

              “So did I,” she  whispered seductively, making him lean toward her to hear. “But the future is beginning to look long, and a little cold.” She felt his mind pressing against hers and opened to him the part of her, so long hidden, that wanted to be held, to be touched, to be admired and loved. “What are you going to do about that?”

              He reached out, stroking a hand across her shoulder and down her side, and she willed that her shiver was one of desire. His dark-honey eyes bored into hers as his hands met at the small of her back and traced up her spine, pulling her close-- and she gasped, barely holding onto her power when he gripped her hair tightly. “Let me show you,” he sighed, using her hair to drag her head back so the words breathed across the skin of her throat. She couldn't stop the pulse of fear that shot through the core of her power when he bent her back, but she chased it instantly with a shot of lust that tightened her body and his.

              Her hands lifted, almost of their own accord, to comb through his long hair, pulling it from his ponytail and tangling in the strands as his lips brushed against her throat. Elise let out a sharp cry, gripping his hair tightly when she felt his teeth close on the meat of her neck, and she shuddered in his arms, riding the sensation as it edged the line between pain and pleasure. Suddenly, it wasn't difficult to keep her focus sharpened on Rashid-- she forgot anyone else was even in the room. A tiny voice in the back of her mind whispered a forgotten lesson that her power was a double-edged sword.

              "We'll make a good pair, you and I," Rashid murmured into her hair, the bass in his voice vibrating through her.

              Elise all but purred under his skilled touch, highly aware of every inch of her skin as his fingers moved across her body. “Mmmm,” she replied sensuously, going limp in his arms.

              “But you're going to have to do better than this,” his voice was still rough, but it was sharper, his hands on her body suddenly restraining. She froze, chilled to the bone by the fear that shot through her-- he'd broken her control. “You are so very, very potent,” he whispered hotly as his arms tightened around her, becoming painful. Elise whimpered, struggling helplessly against his punishing grasp. “But you have so much to learn.” Her feet left the ground as he straightened up, pulling her with him. She kicked at him ineffectively, opening her mouth to scream-- this wasn't part of the plan.

              And then she was falling, an animal's growling roar echoing in her ears as Rashid was torn from her embrace.

              It took a second for Elise's mind to grasp what had happened. By that point, Gregory had already caught her, and was pulling her out of harm's way, deeper into the shadows beside one of the piles of crates. Elise stumbled before she found her balance, leaning on his arms as she recollected herself and looked around.

              The chair where Alex had been tied lay on its side, twisted and warped, with the ropes that had bound him in tatters beside it. A few steps away, he and Sarah wrestled with Rashid, who was roaring his fury as he swiped at them. It was immediately clear that despite fighting together, Sarah and Alex were outmatched. “It's because of your exchange with Rashid,” Gregory muttered distractedly, not really paying attention as he answered her thought. “He's on a high right now. And he sucked Alexander nearly dry while he waited for you-- Sarah had to feed Alexander just to get him on his feet.”

              Rashid's increased power was demonstrated just then as he moved faster than Elise had ever seen. One second, Sarah was raining blows on his face and abdomen, her own movements so rapid they blurred before Elise's eyes, and the next second, Rashid had caught Sarah's left arm mid-punch. She heard Sarah let out a harsh grunt, and a moment later, heard a sickening, wet crack. Gregory tensed, and Elise had to fight the urge to be sick as she saw Sarah's arm fall to her side at a twisted, unnatural angle.

              But while Rashid was occupied with Sarah, Alex had circled around behind him, and now locked his arm around Rashid's throat, bowing the other man backward as they grappled. Elise gaped at Sarah as she seemed to ignore her ruined limb and pursued the pair, taking advantage of Rashid's predicament to land a solid kick in his abdomen, and then another. Rashid crumpled in on himself, putting more pressure on his throat, and for a moment Elise thought that would be it. Her heart was in her throat and butterflies stirred up a tornado in her stomach as she watched.

              And then Rashid, still doubled over and struggling against Alex's grip, jerked and twisted and rolled his body-- and sent Alex flying over his shoulder, straight into Sarah. The latter let out a hoarse cry as Alex landed on top of her, but in an instant, Alex was back on his feet. Sarah was slower getting up, and Elise didn't want to think about the blood that was trailing onto the floor behind her as the two of them circled the grinning Rashid. The tension was nauseating, and she watched through eyes the size of saucers as Alex and Sarah closed in on their adversary again.

              Elise could see the disadvantage Sarah was at, fighting with only one arm-- so could Rashid, who focused on her with singular fury. Rashid threw an elbow into Alex's face, sending him reeling, and then ignored him as he pummeled Sarah's face and bad shoulder. Sarah tried to defend herself, ducking out of the way and raising her good arm, but in a few seconds Rashid caught her with a blow to the chin that sent her sprawling several feet away. This time, she didn't rise.

              “We have to do something!” Elise cried, struggling against Gregory's suddenly restraining grip, but as tense as he was-- she could feel the palpable force of his desire to go to his sister-- he held her tightly.

              “We can't,” he hissed, shaking her slightly to keep her attention. “If Sarah can't fight him, neither of us stands a chance. And you can't distract Rashid without catching Alexander as well.” Elise bit her lip until she tasted blood, knowing he was right but hating the feeling of helplessness that swept over her.

              Another low growl brought her attention swiftly to Alex, who had ducked under a wild swing from Rashid to bring his fist up into the other man's gut. Rashid responded with a short jab to Alex's temple that left him stumbling-- he followed it with a knee to Alex's stomach that made Elise flinch. Rashid grabbed Alex by his shoulders, forcing him to stay on his feet while he delivered a vicious head-butt, sending Alex staggering into a stack of pallets hard enough to shatter the wood. Alex fell heavily into the splintery pile, and once again Gregory had to tighten his arms to keep Elise from running to him.