Muse (Descended From Myth) (13 page)

It would be a perfect villain speech if I knew who the heck this guy was. He did look vaguely familiar, but if I was supposed to have that “Aha!” moment then he had seriously over-estimated my detective skills. I decided my best response would be silence, so I just leaned back on the cream colored chair and crossed my arms over my c
hest, giving him the stink eye.

“You don't know who I am, do you, Anna?” he chuckled condescendingly. “I'll give you a hint, once upon a time you used to call me “Uncle Seb.”  That's a pretty generous clue, don't y
ou think?”

My father's Watcher, Sebastian Finn? The one who was supposedly so torn up over my parents' death that he had to retire from the Guardians? He didn'
t seem to be mourning them now.

“Did you kill my pa
rents?” I asked, my voice cold.

“I suppose you might see it that way. Although, it would be more accurate to say that I simply made it easier for them to have an accident. The car they took off in, when they went running to the Guardians for help, may have had some brake issues and bald tires. You were fortunate that they delivered you safely, before they hit that bridge abutment. But that's all in the past, Anna. You and I are going to look past all that unpleasantness and work together. We have important jobs for you, and if you're anything like your mother, then I have reason to keep you alive.”

Important jobs? Obviously he planned to use and drug me like Mina. But, I wasn't about to meekly submit to his plans. I was going to fight him every step of the way. “I don't remember my mother. I can't tell you if I'm anything like her. Someone took her from me,” I spat venomously.

“Well, I have every intention of seeing just how much of your parents' strengths you've inherited. My men say that you've already given them a demonstration. I should warn you, though. You already know what happens to Talents who decide that they don't want to cooperate with me. They have accidents. I'd hate for you and your Watcher to have a similar accident,” he sneered.

“Where is my Watcher?” I asked, trying to keep my voice level and calm. I didn't want to put Daniel in any more danger by making it obvious that he could be used against me, but I needed to know that he was okay. “If you want me to cooperate, then I want to see him. You could just be making empty threats.”  As I was speaking, Sebastian Finn pulled something out of his pants pocket and tossed it onto my lap. The silver caught the light, and I recognized it before my hand even touched it. It was Daniel's medallion. He
never
took it off. The medallion combined with the fact that I was here and not safely at home confirmed my worst fears. They couldn't use Daniel against me if he was already dead. All they could do was try to scare me and make me
think
that they had him.

“This is just a necklace. It doesn't prove anything,” I said, hoping my voice didn't sound as hollow to him as it did to me. I refused to break down in front of this man. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of witnessing my pain. “If you truly had him, you'd show him to me. Until you do, I'm going to assume that he's safe and working wi
th the Guardians to rescue me.”

“I have plenty of Guardians of my own, little girl. I'm not afraid of yours. You forget that your Watcher isn't the only person whose life you value. You have a family, and friends. I could take any of them at any time.”

He had me there. Even if I wanted to slip into another coma to escape the pain of missing Daniel, I couldn't put my parents and sister in danger, or any of my friends. They were more important than my happiness. There had to be a way for me to get away from this man, but I would need time and information to figure it out. Bringing my chin up to stare him down, I asked, “What is it that you want me to do?”

Sebastian grinned, sensing that he was winning this battle of wills. “I want you to help me facilitate agreements between parties that might not otherwise come to a conclusion that benefits me and my benefactors. Or more simply, I want
you
to tell people what they are supposed to think and do. It's quite simple really.”

Blood. I needed there to be blood on the floor, on the tables, on my fists. Everywhere but where it was now, which was inside that traitorous piece of slime's body. Instead, I was locked in a room, pacing, needing to be doing ANYTHING to get Anna back, and willing to do anything to get her back.

I touched the bandage plastered over my right shoulder, checking to see if the blood had seeped through again. I kept opening the wound back up because I couldn't force myself to keep still long enough for it to clot properly. The attack kept playing through my brain on an endless loop. Especially the part when the van carrying Anna jumped the curb and drove away, leaving me bloodied in the dirt with only one of her abductors. Mike had taken his shot and caught me in the shoulder, but that hadn't kept me from landing on top of him and beating him unconscious. One of the guys from inside had jumped me from behind and tried to choke me out with my chain, but when it snapped, he ran off. I should have chased after him, but I was still beating on Abernathy at that point and I assumed that at least one of the other members of the team would have pulled their heads out of their butts and gone after him. You know what they say happens when you assume. No, instead of arriving in time to help me save Anna, they arrived in time to keep me from killing Abernathy. Gabriel had taken over interrogating him, trying to figure out where they were taking Anna. I knew Gabriel well enough to know that he was actually
talking
to the bastard instead of interrogating him the way he deserved.
I
would be using pliers, a car battery, and a few gallons of water. If there wasn't information soon, I was going to break down this door and find my way into that interrogation chamber. He could still talk without teeth or fingernails. It was driving me crazy, knowing that somewhere Anna was alone and scared, maybe even hurt. They could be doing anything to her and I couldn't do a thing to stop it. I didn't even know where to start looking. Plus, now I knew for certain that this was an inside job. If one Guardian was involved then there could be more. Who could I trust? Was that the reason they locked me up in a bedroom? It wasn't like I could just lay down and take a nap!

“Hey, I know you're out there! Open the door or I'm breaking it down. You know I can and I will!” I threatened. I'd used up my last shred of p
atience about half an hour ago.

The door unlocked just as I was about to ram my uninjured shoulder against it. Stefan, one of the wide eyed novices Gabriel had brought along to run errands and to be eyes and ears on campus, stood there cringing, like he expected me to beat him. I reigned in my fury, trying to save it for the appropriate target, but it wasn't easy. “Thanks, Stefan. I really appreciate this. Don't worry. It won't come back on you. Have they learned anything from Abernathy yet?” the name spat of
f my tongue like it was poison.

To my surprise, the kid looked almost as furious as I did once he heard the name. “He hasn't given up anything, Sir. We'd like to help you go after Anna, er…Miss Saint-James, she's too important to sit around waiting like this. We have some ideas.” Around the corner of the hall, three other young novices stepped out, puffed up
and ready to take on the world.

“I'll take all the help I can get. First, show me where they're questioning Abernathy. I have a few questions of my own.”

The five of us charged through the apartment building and up to the third floor. Once we got to the apartment where Stefan said Gabriel and the others had Abernathy, I tried the door. To my surprise, it opened. A small cluster of older Guardians sat around the dinette table playing cards. One stood guard at the bedroom door, looking bored. Everyone froze once I stepped into the room. “Anyone touches me, I'll break their arm,” I snarled, heading towards the bedroom. No one did. I could hear Gabriel's voice through the closed door. He sounded angry, but not angry enough.

I slammed through the door with a crash that had probably been heard all over the building, but that was the point. “What is this, good cop, bad cop?” Abernathy smirked. His face was already purple and swollen from the beating I'd given him earlier, but I had plans to make it look much worse. Gabriel tried to step between us, but I neatly ducked around him and drove my fist into Abernathy'
s gut, just below his rib cage.

“I'm not a cop, good or bad. That means I don't have to follow any of their rules. I promised that I'd kill you, and I have every intention of making good on that. If you give me a name and something to follow up on, that will distract me enough to give you a little more time. Right now, I'm real impatient and time's something I'm not likely to give you.”

Abernathy was too busy wheezing for air to respond just then, so just for fun I threw a left hook into his cheekbone. It needed more color.

“Wait,” he wheezed, as I cocked my left arm for another jab. “Wait.”  Gabriel stepped up beside me, sliding me a disappoint
ed glance.

“Talk fast, like I said, I'm impatient.” I was bristling, unable to care that Gabriel wasn't happy with my tact
ics, especially if they worked.

“I made a deal with Sebastian Finn. All I was supposed to do was look the other way when they came to make contact. They usually just make them an offer and then go on their way. I figured they'd just bribe her like the others,” the traitor whined.

“Like
what
others,” snarled a voice beside me. I was shocked when I realized the voice was actually coming from Gabriel. “Are you saying that
all
of our Talents are in danger?”

“I'm saying they're getting paid off to make things happen. It's not like they don't do whatever they want normally. They're just getting paid to do it for these guys and their Guar
dian gets a cut.”

The punch that knock
ed him out didn't come from me.

“First, we find Sebastian Finn and get back Anna. Then we are going to tear this organization apart until we've rooted out every last Guardian or Watcher who had a hand in this travesty,” Gabriel declared, storming out of
the room with me on his heels.

We spent an hour performing every kind of search we had access to. The novices had planned to trace Abernathy's cellphone history, and were busy tracking down those leads, as well as following up some property searches online. Gabriel was calling retired Guardians, looking for someone loyal who had information. I was trying to track down any active Guardians who weren't where they should be. Everything we discovered pointed toward Chicago, but it was getting hard to narrow it down from that. Chicago is an awfully big place. It would be next to impossible to just go there and start searching. One of the novices was able to come up with two addresses in the Chicago area that were owned by Finn's company, or a shell company owned by his company anyway. It was enough for me. We had someplace to start and at least I wasn
't sitting on my hands anymore.

If that didn't work, I had a lead on Marcus Stonebraker, a Watcher who had recently taken a flight from Vegas to Chicago O'Hare with his Talent, Mina Strahovski. He wasn't answering his phone and she hadn't attracted any attention that I could find. She had a history of
attracting a lot of attention.

We loaded into a small private plane just outside of Muncie and headed north. Gabriel and I had taken the novices with us, operating under the idea that they had the physical energy to handle a rescue and were the least likely to be involved in any corruption. They, at least, were still passionate
idealists.

I sat next to Gabriel on the flight, fidgeting and tapping my foot the entire time. Fea
r and nerves had me strung out.

“Daniel, if they want to use her, then they have no reason to hurt her. Quite the opposite, actually.
They will need to keep her healthy and strong. I'm sure we'll find her soon,” Gabriel reasoned.

“Like he needed to keep her parents safe, Gabriel?” I countered. I was convinced that Finn had orchestrated the acciden
t that claimed Anna's parents.

Gabriel had no argument to counter my theory, so he let me twitch and worry without interrupt
ion for the rest of the flight.

Sebastian Finn let me go back to my “room” while he prepared for my first job. He claimed that he'd had people watching me while I was on campus, so he hadn't believed me when I'd tried to convince him that all I could do was inspire artistic creativity in people. He'd just scoffed and threatened some more.

I'd pushed around inside the minds of the two guards who brought me back to the room, just a little. I wanted to see if they'd notice. So far, they hadn't seemed to notice at all, and I'd managed to convince them that they should treat Mina and me politely, and to plant a reluctance to drug us. It was the best I could do subtly and quickly. I put Daniel's medallion around my neck, tucking it under my shirt against my skin. I needed to keep it close
to me, to keep remembering him.

Mina was still sprawled on the chair where I'd left her. She was asleep, her dark eye makeup smeared across her temple and her hands tucked up under her head. The translucent silver and gold cords that snaked in and around Mina were all tangled up in complicated knots, and that seemed wrong to me. I couldn't see my own cords except as they related to other people. Mina's didn't seem to connect to anyone but herself. I had an idea that I might be able to help her just like I could help regular people. Would it be invasive if I did it without asking her?

“Kinda creepy to stare at people when they're sleeping,” she slurred, cracking one eyelid.

“Mina, if I could help you by using my Influence on you, would that be okay?” I asked, trying to speak loud and clear so that she woul
d understand in her hazy state.

“Can't help me,” she muttered. “I'm a Talent. Doesn't work on each other.”

“I think I can. I just want to try to work out some of the knots. Do you know what I mean?”

“Knock yourself out. Isn't gonna work, but at least let me sleep while you do it,” she said as she folded herself into the chair a bit more, knees almost to her chin and closed her eyes again.

I didn't have a clue where to start or even
how
to start. It wasn't like I could actually touch the cords, they were just energy. I looked them over for a while, then picked a point to start on. I looked at it like one of those printed mazes, where you have to follow the line in loops and twists to figure out where it starts and ends. Once I'd traced a cord from beginning to end, I tried to straighten it back out. There weren't any clocks in the dingy apartment, so I have no idea how long I worked. By the time I was done my eyes felt gritty and my head was pounding again. I stretched out on the couch to rest my eyes and dozed off.

The locks rattled and two men dressed in suits came in through the apartment door, carrying a garment bag and a shoe box. Mina was still curled up in her chair, but the suits didn't mess with her. “Boss says you need to put this on and be ready to go with us in fifteen minutes. We've got an appointment to make,” the first guy said, waving the garment bag at me.

I stood and stared at the bag they had shoved into my hands, wondering if I should go along with this or not. I couldn't tell what was inside. It could be anything from a skimpy cocktail dress to a gorilla costume. Okay, it probably wasn't heavy enough for a gorilla costume. I grudgingly accepted the shoe box and walked toward the bathroom. If I opened the bag and it was something too sketchy, then I could always refuse and try to fight whatever Finn had planned. One of the henchman started to follow me, but I shot him a glare. “If you think you're coming into the bathroom with me, I can tell you now it's not going to happen.” Luckily, he didn't push the issue.

I dropped the shoe box on the counter top and unzipped the bulky bag. I was shocked to see that the outfit inside was actually a light gray woman's business suit. A light blue blouse with a delicate pearl necklace also dangled from the hanger. The shoes were very expensive, but conservative, black pumps. I dressed quickly, not wanting one of the guys to barge in on me. “Five minutes,” a voice barked from outside, “and make sure you do your hair and makeup professional like.”

In five minutes? Right. Mina did have some makeup, but the colors were all too dark for me. I washed off my face, put on a little eyeliner and lip gloss and brushed my hair into a quick ponytail. That was as good as they were going to get. The shoes were a little small for me and pinched my toes when I walked, but the rest fit decently.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked my captors, as they stuck a bag back over my head a
nd led me out of the apartment.

“You'll just have to wait and see,” came the gruff reply. I was hustled to the elevator and then into the back seat of a car. They made me lay down across the seat and handcuffed my arms behind my back. We drove for a while. It seemed like maybe thirty minutes in lurching stop and go traffic. I didn't usually get car sick, but I also didn't usually have to ride rolling around in the backseat with a burlap sack over my face. I was feeling really queasy. I wanted out
now
. But, the guards wouldn't answer any of my questions, so I eventually stopped asking. The only thing they'd said as we pulled away from the building was, “You do anything to draw attention to yourself and we put a bullet in your Watcher's head, then your mom gets the same. Got it?” I couldn't take the chance that they weren't bluffing.

I felt a bump, then the car slowed and moved down an incline and it seemed like the inside of the car got darker. I was fairly sure we were in some kind of parking garage. I heard one of the guys turn and he pulled the bag off my head. “Sit up and turn around so I can undo the cuffs,” he ordered. “Do it slowly and don't try anything. We're going to go up the stairs and you aren't going to say anything to anybody. You aren't going to do anything that makes anybody up there even
think
you're going to say something to them.”

“Yeah, I got it, best behavior, act naturally,” I gasped, drawing huge breaths of fresh, cool air into my lungs. I turned so they could undo my cuffs and tried to rub some feeling back int
o my hands and stiff shoulders.

“Fix your hair, too,” the driver said, eyeballing me in the rear
view mirror.

I glared, swallowing the profanity that threatened to spill out. I fixed my messy ponytail. “If somebody hadn't thrown a bag over my h
ead, it would look just fine!”

They flanked me as we walked out of the underground parking structure and into an elevator. The driver hit L and we rose a few floors. When the doors opened, the driver put his hand out to keep me from exiting and held the doors open for someone. Sebastian Finn stepped into the elevator, wearing a cashmere coat over a very expensive suit. My Dad is a judge, I spend a lot of time around men in suits, so I know the difference, unfortunately. This one was easily $4000 or mo
re and professionally tailored.

Once the doors closed, I smirked, “Nice suit, for a criminal. We here for a court date?”

Finn smiled coldly at me, compressing his already thin lips. “Yes, actually, though I'm not the one on trial, my client is. You're here to make sure that the verdict is in his favor.”

I couldn't keep the shock and revulsion off my face. I'd grown up in a house where the justice system was revered. I couldn't imagine doing anything to interfere with a judge or jury. My dad, he'd probably disown me if he ever found out! I had an inkling that this case wasn't something I could have an easier time justifying, either. Maybe if it was something like a divorce hearing, or a lawsuit for damages, I could force myself to go through with it. But what if it was a criminal trial? What if I was supposed to let a murderer, a pedophile, or a rapist loose on the streets? Could I live with myself aft
er that?

“What do you want me to do? There's only so far you can push me, you know,
” I said through gritted teeth.

Sebastian Finn got into my face, his nose practically touching mine, his hot breath brushing my lips. “I will push you until you break. Until you figure out that the only way you get to have a life is if you're living by
my
rules. You will do exactly
what
I tell you to,
when
I tell you to do it, or your first punishment will be very, very unpleasant. Do I make myself clear?”

I stepped away from him, trying to wipe away the film I felt on my face just from having him violate my personal space. The elevator was moving up, taking us to a courtroom where I would have to come to a decision. What would Daniel tell me to do? I had to come up with a plan, some way to stall or make it look like I did what I was told wit
hout actually doing any damage.

“You're an intern with the firm Finscher, Price, and McCowen. You are going to sit at the defense table next to the defendant and take notes. When the Prosecutor gets up to deliver his closing argument, every member of that jury is going to feel doubt. You're going to help them focus on that doubt. When the Defense presents his case, they're going to feel sympathy for him and for his client. That's all I require of you this time. Do you understand?”

“And what happens if the verdict doesn't come back the way you want it to?” I asked.

As the elevator doors slid open, he turned to me and smiled his reptilian grin. “You'd best hope that you don't have to find out.”

Thirty minutes later, I found myself seated next to an accused child pornographer who was doodling images of teddy bears and balloons all over his legal pad. I tried to block him out, and block out as many of the details of the case as I could.

There was no way I could do this. I couldn't let this guy go back onto the streets to prey on other innocent children. I just couldn't. I thought back to other cases my dad had talked about. What could cause a mistrial? Or what would delay a trial once it was already several days in? I thought of a few possibilities, but most of them would alert Sebastian Finn that I hadn't acted as instructed. I could play on whatever feelings of guilt the monster next to me had until he confessed and plead guilty. I could make the Defense attorney slip and say things he shouldn't during his questioning and closing argument. I looked at the Judge, who seemed to be sweating pretty heavily, even though it was a bit cool in the courtroom to me. He had heavy jowls and a walrus mustache, with very little hair on the top of his head, which was also flushed and sweaty. He looked like a heart attack waiting to happen. That's when it hit me, a trial can't continue without a judge. A man his age, in his condition, must spend a lot of time worrying about his health. Today he was goin
g to start worrying a lot more.

The Prosecutor was still questioning a forensic computer analyst about the images found on the Defendant's home computer and several laptops. I had some time before I was supposed to be doing anything e
xcept pretending to take notes.

Was there a way to push the Judge into
thinking
he was having a heart attack or would that make him actually have a heart attack? I started focusing, detailing images and pushing them at the Judge, symptom by symptom. His arm hurt, he had a feeling like he had the worst heartburn, he felt light-headed and dizzy. He was clammy, and breaking out in a cold sweat. It was getting worse. He needed a doctor. The Judge looked uncomfortable, but so far he hadn't budged. Finally, just when I thought I was going to have to come up with a different plan, the Judge interrupted testimony and called for a recess. Thank you!

After a long wait and a lot of noise coming from the adjoining chambers, the bailiff came out to speak to the Prosecution and Defense and inform them that court would be adjourned for the day. The trial would recommence at 8 a.m. tomorrow. I was marched from the courtroom by Sebastian Finn and his two lackeys. No one said a word to me un
til we were back at the car.

“You will
finish
this in the morning. If I find out that you had anything to do with the delay today, I'm going to cut off your Watcher's fingers in front of you,” Sebastian Finn snarled. “It's time that you stop pinning all your hopes on him showing up to rescue you anyway. My men grabbed his little sister yesterday. Even if he did get away from us and try to get to you, do you really think he'd sacrifice
her
for you? You're working for me until I decide otherwise!” He turned sharply on his heel and stomped off.

Could he really have Daniel's sister? Did he have Daniel after all? It didn't make any sense to take her if Daniel was dead, but she could certainly be used against me and maybe even the other Guardians. Somehow, I'd have
to find a way to help her, too.

We left the parking garage without the bag over my head. I looked around wildly, trying to figure out where I was. Bright light gleamed off of tall buildings, modern squares of glass and metal. I wasn't anywhere close to home. Chicago? Could I be that far away from home? My head spun, there was so much traffic, so many cars and people everywhere but I didn't dare contact anybody. Not yet, not until I could be sure that I could get away and take Mina with me. After we'd gone a short distance, the driver pulled over and I was forced to put the bag back over my head. My wrists were re-cuffed but in the front this time. The claustrophobia I'd felt on the way to the courthouse wasn't quite as bad since I could use my hands to brace myself against the car's lurching, but it was still there. I couldn't do this again in the morning. I had to find a way
out of that apartment tonight.