Ignited (34 page)

He smiled down at me. “Does that mean you plan to crash a car through the museum?”

Sean overheard that, and his eyes met mine in the rearview mirror again. I smiled innocently. To Asher, I said, “Ha, ha.”

Sometime later we arrived back at the O’Malley house. Sean and Seamus exited the car, but I stopped Asher before he could follow them.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

A brief flicker of pain whispered through his eyes, but he hid it quickly. “Sure. What is it?”

I hadn’t told Gabe about this, but it was the reason that I’d wanted Asher to go in his place.

I hitched a leg up on the seat so I could turn to face him. “I need to ask you something and you’re going to hate it and it’s completely unfair to you and I’m so sorry, but there’s nobody else I could trust with this.”

“What, Remy?” he asked with a concerned frown. “You know you can tell me anything.”

The idea had come to me after I’d left the Phoenix in the sitting room this morning. It might not work, but it was all I had to cling to. I met Asher’s green eyes, letting him see all the hope in mine and then I leapt. “I need your help. I think I know how I can be free of all of this, but I can’t do it alone.”

“Whatever you need. I’m in,” he said without hesitation.

Relief flooded through me that I wouldn’t have to convince him to do this. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.”

At exactly 5:46
P.M.
that night, I walked into the Great Court at the British Museum with Lucy at my side. My sister’s head tipped back as she stared upward, and I followed her gaze. I had never been to the museum, but it had been Lottie’s idea to meet here. It was public, but it would offer places for our people to blend in and avenues for escape. We’d walked through the floor plans, but that wasn’t the same as seeing it in person. The Great Court had a glass and steel roof, and in the center of the court was a round, cream-colored building. Two large staircases wound up each side to gain entrance to the Reading Room.

“We’re all in place, Remy,” Gabe said. Seamus had given us tiny earpieces to communicate with each other. It was the next best thing to having Gabe beside me. He injected a note of humor in his voice as he asked, “Why did I agree to this plan again?”

I turned my head, acting as if I spoke to my sister as we walked across the Great Court. “Because you think it’s brilliant.”

“Right,” he said. “That must have been it.”

Lucy shook her head at our nervous banter, and I led the way to the staircase on the right.

“I wish you didn’t have to be here, Lucy.” We’d tried to think of another way to show Franc that I was naïve, but this had been the biggest gesture I could have made. At the very least, Franc would believe he could use her against me.

“I know,” she answered. Her voice only shook a little, and I wished I could hug her.

Swarms of people surrounded us as we climbed, and it was difficult to pick out one face in the crowd. My heart skipped along at an urgent pace, and I gripped Lucy’s arm, reminding myself that we weren’t alone. Somewhere behind us, Sean and another man followed at a distance in case Franc had decided to overtake us on our way in. I didn’t look for them, but I was relieved to know they were there.

Inside the Reading Room, my gaze was once more drawn upward to the blue, cream, and gold papier-mâché-domed ceiling. Bookshelves lined the curved walls on three floors of the round building. On the bottom floor, tables and desks had been arranged for visitors to read at their leisure. The grandeur of it was at odds with our purpose for being here.

We made our way to the bottom floor, where tourists took pictures and some locals sat at the tables with books propped open in front of them. Right away I spotted Franc sitting alone on one side of a long table. Stationed mere feet behind him, Xavier and Mark sat like two vultures waiting to pick apart a carcass. They had chosen a spot well away from anyone who might overhear our conversation.

My father was nowhere in sight, but then we’d expected that. I just prayed he was still alive. With one last shared glance with Lucy, I pushed her toward the front desk, well away from my grandfather and his men. Then I touched the phone in my pocket, hitting the speed dial for a number that would be our insurance. That was when Franc spotted me. A satisfied smile slanted across his face, and I could see his thoughts flashing across his face.
Poor naïve Remy, falling for my tricks again. See how I’m going to use her.
He thought he had me trapped. Duped.

And that was going to be his downfall.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-
NINE

I
squared my shoulders and strode forward. My grandfather watched my approach, and something new flared in his eyes when he studied my face. Caution, maybe.

Through the earpiece, Gabe warned, “Remy, pull back on the ferocity. You look like you’re going to kill the man as soon as you’re close enough to wrap your hands around his neck.”

That was the opposite of what we wanted Franc to think. A little anger would fly and would even be believable, but my grandfather had to see me as beaten. So worn out and out of options that I would deal with him. I lowered my gaze to the floor and slumped my shoulders. My gait slowed as if I dreaded nearing him. It helped that I wasn’t alone in this confrontation. We hadn’t known how many people Franc would bring, and his group could easily outnumber our reinforcements: Gabe, Asher, Lottie, Lucy, Seamus, Sean, Edith, Brita, Ursula, and Seamus’s Protectors. Some of Seamus’s Protectors occupied nearby tables or blended with the crowd. Franc had no idea because he didn’t know the O’Malleys or the potential Phoenix existed.

Gabe, Asher, and Lottie hid out of sight since they could be identified, but I could feel them watching over me and that gave me courage. Still, when I looked up, all traces of emotion had been smoothed away except defeat. My heart beat frantically in my chest when I slid into the seat across from my grandfather.

We stared at each other, taking in the differences that the last months had made. Franc’s shock of white hair had been trimmed close to his head, and he’d grown a beard. The white and gray whiskers loaned him a doting grandfather kind of appeal, and his brown eyes reminded me of my mother for one painful moment. It was his wide shoulders and hulking height that prompted me to remember that he was a threat and not the gentle giant he appeared. Words like
gentle
and
doting
didn’t describe the kind of man he was. For a moment, my anger threatened to resurface.
Remember the plan, Remy. First, get proof of life. The whole plan is pointless if my father is dead.

It hurt to even think that word, and that pain echoed in my voice. “Where’s my father, Franc? You agreed to bring him.”

My grandfather paused in his examination of my features, and I wondered what changes he’d noticed in me. Grief had acted like waves smoothing glass; sometimes I felt worn down to nothing. Other times, anger made me feel like glass before the water could soften the jagged edges. I threw one quick glance at Lucy to check on her. My sister looked scared but sturdy as she watched us, and I’d never been more proud of her.

Franc raised one gray brow, silently mocking me. He thought that he could push me around and I wouldn’t fight back.

I stood. “You didn’t keep up your end of the bargain. Deal’s off. We’re out of here.”

He laughed with a twisted kind of affection. “You haven’t changed, I see. Sit down.” I ignored his command. All amusement fled from his face, and my pulse sped up at the dangerous look in his eyes. He repeated, “Sit down,” in a soft voice.

Despite myself, I dropped into my chair with a thud that shuddered up my backbone.

“Remy, let’s get a few things straight. You’re not in a position to bargain here. You will walk out of this place with us, and you’re going to do it without calling any attention to us. Do you know why?”

A trickle of sweat slid down my back, my terror palpable as I shook my head.

My grandfather produced a phone from his coat pocket, pressed a few buttons on the screen, and then pushed it across the table. The phone’s screen showed a video feed. The camera tilted, panning indiscriminate shadows and light in a dizzying manner. Then Franc said, “Show Remy’s father,” and the camera moved up and stilled on a face.

My heart crashed to my stomach when I glimpsed my father for the first time in six months. I choked and reached for the phone to get a closer view, but Franc gripped my wrist.

“Calm down, or I take the phone away,” Franc warned, glancing around to ensure I hadn’t drawn attention to us. Nobody seemed to have noticed my outburst.

I bit my lip and nodded. Franc removed his hand, and my gaze slammed back to my father. They had tortured him. Both of his eyes had swollen shut, blood crusted at the corner of his mouth, and bruises of varying colors mottled the skin that I could see. Yellow, green, purple, red, pink. The colors meant he had been beaten so often that new bruises layered over the old ones. What kind of pain had he endured? Acid swished in my stomach, and I swallowed.

“Dad,” I said, my voice cracking on the word.

My father’s head turned in different directions as if to determine where my voice came from. “Remy? Is that you?”

“It’s me, Dad. I’m here.”

“Thank God you’re alive,” he said hoarsely. “Is your sister with you? And Laura?”

That last question almost stole my ability to speak, but I pushed the words out of lips that felt swollen. “We’re safe, Dad.”

I couldn’t tell him about Laura. Not like this. I glanced over my shoulder and met my sister’s worried stare. My lips trembled, and I wanted to run to her and celebrate because our father really was alive.

A hand touched my cheek, and I flinched. Franc tugged my face back toward him, and I wanted to punish him for putting his hands on me. He assumed that I wouldn’t use my powers, and the arrogance made me want to show him how wrong he was. My father’s battered face flashed in my mind, and I shoved my rage down.

“I know you won’t believe me, but I never intended to hurt you,” Franc said. “I want us to be a family. I love you, Remy.”

He swiped a thumb across my wet cheek, and his brows lowered in sorrow. I could almost believe he meant it if I didn’t know the truth about him. Except I knew what he was capable of. One quick glance at my father’s face proved it.

“Can you tell where they’re keeping Ben?” Asher asked over the com.

There were no clues in the small amount of background I could see behind my father. I snatched the phone off the table. “Where are you, Dad?” I asked in a rush.

My grandfather eyes narrowed, and he spoke to the person on the other end of the line. “Hang up the phone, Alcais.”

Alcais.
We’d been sure he would appear.

Before Erin’s brother could comply, my father said, “A parking garage. Franc left here about thirty minutes ag—”

The call disconnected. I shivered at the promise of retribution that crossed my grandfather’s face.

“The Bloomsbury Square Car Park is the closest public garage,” Gabe said. He sounded like he was running. “We’re on our way there now. Seamus says there are seven levels, and this may take a while. You need to stall your grandfather.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where my father is,” I said in a shaky voice.

Gabe understood the double message. “Got it. Hang in there. Asher is there if you need him.”

“Do what I ask, and I’ll take you to him,” Franc said.

“If you didn’t plan to keep up your end of the deal, why bring my father with you?”

Franc shrugged, and I guessed, “It’s the Morrisseys. You promised them they could have me. You plan to betray them, and you can’t go back there now.”

At least, that was what I’d thought would happen. It had been the biggest gamble in this plan, but I’d been sure that Franc wouldn’t hand me over to the Morrisseys. It would be giving up his greatest asset, and he would never do that. Once he had me, he would have to get the hell out of London, and what better way to control me than to threaten my father?

“You’re afraid of the Morrisseys,” I said. “You’re afraid of what they’ll do to you when they find out that you’ve double-crossed them.”

Franc folded his hands, and he almost looked tired. “Stop fighting me, Remy. You’ll only make things worse for you and your sister. Mark, go get the girl,” he ordered.

Mark started forward, and then drew to a halt. “Where is she?”

Franc’s gaze flicked over my shoulder, and he frowned. Mark and Xavier twisted about to scan the room. I could have told them it was useless. The second we had learned my father’s location, Lucy had run. Her presence had only been necessary to convince my grandfather that he was in control of this meeting, and now it was up to me to stall things until my friends found my father.

The corners of Franc’s mouth tightened in a tense scowl. “Where is she?” he asked me.

In a car with Lottie getting the hell away from here.
I shrugged.

A hand landed on my shoulder, the hold grinding the delicate bones in my collarbone together. I winced, and Xavier said, “Time to go. We’re beginning to draw attention.”

My grandfather nodded and rose. I couldn’t refuse to go with them without raising their suspicions. They had my father and, as far as they knew, I was alone. The best I could do would be to slow our progress to the garage. So I stood and the four of us walked toward the exit. Xavier walked beside me, his arm thrown across my shoulders in a bruising grip, while Franc led the way and Mark followed us.

“Six people just got up to follow the four of you,” Asher warned from his hiding spot. “All Protectors, I think. I have to change locations so they don’t spot me. Go ahead and lead the way to the car park. We’ll overtake them there once Gabe finds your father. I’ll be right behind you.”

That meant that I would be on my own for the walk to the garage. Me against eight Protectors and my grandfather. The odds sucked.
Stay calm, Remy.