No Peace for the Damned (16 page)

Theo opened the door wider. The moon shone brightly, high in the sky among a million stars. Silently, Theo moved. From the silo to the woods, he disappeared into the night. I knew the landscape well, but moving with Theo brought with it a whole new excitement. His grace and intensity were intoxicating. Once inside the tree line, he stopped against a thick maple, taking a moment to breathe through the pain of his injuries.

What had they done to him?

Without the benefit of my own eyes I couldn’t explore his body to see the severity of his injuries. And he was trained enough to know that looking at your wounds only made the pain worse. So after a couple of heartbeats, he was ready to move again.

Straight ahead until you cross a small creek. You can get a drink and then head west toward the highway
.

How far?

About two hundred yards to the stream and another half mile to the road
.

It was a haul, but he refused to show any wear. With another deep breath he was off. I stayed quiet while he ran. His movements were so smooth, so quiet, that if I hadn’t been with him I would have thought any noise he made was from any other night creature living on the estate. The babbling of the creek, once it hit his ears, made him run faster. Only when the water was in sight did he slow. Just inside the tree line, we paused and listened.

Is there anything?

I listened closely. No one had left the main house, but two of the guards at the security station were talking about the silo camera suddenly shutting off. They were drawing straws to see who would check it out.

They know the camera is broken. They haven’t started the cart to head over there yet, but one of the guards is on his way to the maintenance garage. It will take at least seven minutes for him to reach the silo
.

Nothing right here, though?

No, but you need to hurry
.

Without a sound he moved to the creek. He cupped his hands and drank in the cool water. The refreshment was instantaneous. I couldn’t feel the burn of his throat, but I could feel his satisfaction as if it were my own. He rose from the creek without gorging himself, drinking only enough to quench his thirst and keep his head clear. That more than anything else told me about his life. You can be trained to fight and to move and to think on instinct, but only someone who has suffered actual starvation would know his limit before making himself ill with overconsumption.

West?
he asked, already moving in that direction.

Yes. It’s a way, but just head in a straight line and you will hit the wall before the highway. There are cameras and guards that patrol the wall so I’ll let you know when we’re close
.

It was dark under the trees. The moonlight provided little light through the full branches. He had moved a fast one hundred yards when a black shadow rose between the trees ahead. It was impossible to make out in the darkness, but it appeared to be larger than a human. Thicker. Theo moved in an arc around the shadow.

What is it?

I tried to use his sight to make out the shape. Bigger than a person. A work truck, maybe? We were almost on it before realization hit me, and my mind was paralyzed with terror once more. Theo froze with me. His heart sped up and his silent breath stopped completely as he tensed for a strike.

Danger?
It was a feeling inside him rather than an actual thought.

It took more than a couple of heartbeats for me to recover enough to respond.

No. No danger. It’s…it’s just a shed
.

A shed? Then why…?

Just keep going!

He paused a moment longer before survival took precedence over easing my fear and he was moving once again. By the time we were close enough for me to make out the wall patrol I was nearly composed again.

Stop
. He stopped.
There’s a guard fifty yards away but I can’t tell if he’s coming or going
.

Theo stood rooted while I listened to the guard’s movements.

Moving away. He already passed by here
.

Theo took a step forward.

Wait, the wall is covered with cameras. Not a single inch isn’t under constant surveillance
.

Then how…?

You have to let me take over. The only way past the cameras is for me to create an illusion. I have to have complete control to do that
.

Theo tensed. He could not, would not give me complete control of his mind. And how could I blame him? I sure as hell wouldn’t have done it. But I truly didn’t know of another way to get past the cameras.

He didn’t think the words but I could read his distrust clearly: I was a Kelch. This could be a ploy to invade his thoughts and gain access to Network secrets. But then I could have picked anything out of Thirteen’s head at any time over the last several months.

The confusion of the bond between us flitted in his thoughts.

His mind shifted. Focusing on our strange connection, his breathing staggered, his stomach clenched. And his reaction only fueled my own.

Mag!
Shit. Had I thought that out loud?
Just do it and get us out of here!

Are you sure?

The moment we are past the wall, that very moment, I want back in. Not a few steps past the wall, not once we get to the highway, but the very instant we are past that wall, I’m back. Agreed?

Absolutely
.

He nodded and closed his eyes. With a deep breath, I felt him blank out his thoughts. I slid right in. It was incredible, easy. I had never taken over another person’s mind so completely. It was like stepping into someone else’s life. His memories, his feelings, his senses—I could sense the core of who he was. Driven and capable, strong and loyal, trained and determined. I could recall every one of his memories, even those he had blocked, but I refused to
breach that level of privacy. I could also feel the pain of his injuries and a wave of respect washed over me. His physical control was incredible. It was like wading through the essence of Theo, his soul, almost. And my heart swelled as the bond between us grew even more defined.

I located the cameras hidden among the trees. Instantly, I created a camouflage. The cameras would see nothing more than the stagnant vision of the bare white wall. Then in a leap I moved Theo’s sculpted body over the eight feet of brick and stone that enclosed the estate.

I stretched as I landed on padded feet. His muscles flexed and his body pulled at my will, running us just beyond the property line.
God, the way his body moved
. Now that we were safe, I really needed to focus on bringing him back. But maybe I could, just real quick…

I ran my hand down the front of his shirt. His stomach muscles rippled underneath the cloth. I brushed fingertips along the edge of his waistband. What would it feel like to touch the skin there? I shuddered.

OK, enough of this
. Our eyes closed and I pulled back from his mind, sliding out just as easily as I had slid in. I felt his thoughts and body pull away and I knew I no longer consumed him like I had.

Theo?
I called. Nothing. I didn’t feel his presence reemerging.
Theo!

Was it good for you?
His thoughts were an octave lower now. And calmer somehow. Relief poured over me.

Theo, thank God! Are you OK? I couldn’t sense you
.

He started moving toward the glare of moonlight on the asphalt of the highway, visible just on the other side of the woods.

Oh, I’m good. That was, um, quite an experience. Having you inside me
.

Heat crept over me. Something about the way the words sounded in his thoughts made me blush. I was just about to ask what it had felt like for him when suddenly he was just…gone.

Theo? Theo, are you there?
“Theo!” The last I cried out loud as I sat straight up in my bed, my new quilt bunched in a pile at my feet.

I was in my bed at the farmhouse. The yellow curtains billowed from the open window. The clock beside my bed read 12:37 a.m.

From the kitchen through the great room, I paced. Had it been real? A dream?
Shit
.

With a burst of purpose I flew out the front door to my car. I jammed the key in the ignition, turned over the engine, shoved the gearshift into reverse—then stopped.

Where were Thirteen and the others? If Theo was really gone, where was the panic? Besides, what was I going to do anyway—drive out to my family’s estate and look for Theo along the side of the road? Yeah, right.

With heavy feet I chided myself all the way back to bed. I hadn’t even bothered throwing on real clothes. I still wore the same camisole and panties that I’d gone to bed in. These new emotions were going to be the death of me, I just knew it. I pulled the sheet up over my face and sighed.

The monitor beeped twice. My stomach dropped. Tires slowly churned over the gravel drive. The engine shut down. A car door shut quietly and footsteps moved softly to the porch.

The single beep of the alarm made me jump as the front door opened and closed.

I couldn’t move.
Theo
. His thoughts were a mess, the energy around him mangled with anger and fear and something else.

Quietly, he moved to the kitchen. Cabinets opened and closed. The small light over the stove flipped on, casting shadows in the hall outside my open bedroom door. I crept from my bed to the doorway. I could see him, leaning with his backside against the table, hovering over the contents of the first aid kit. The rips in his clothes, the blood on his hands, all conducive to my midnight memories.

Memories. Not dreams or fantasies.
Oh God
. What did this mean?

Theo hissed as he fumbled with his sleeve. Suddenly, nothing else mattered.

I went to the sink and pulled out some dish towels and a large glass bowl. I turned on the faucet and the rush of water echoed through the house. His eyes watched my every movement, his gaze hot on my back. I wet the clean towels and filled the bowl with warm water.

When I turned off the faucet, the silence was even louder than before. With a gulp I turned to face him. Time stood still when our eyes met. I carried his gaze until I stood directly in front of him. My hands shook as I lifted the wet towel from the bowl.

I had no clue if he would let me do this. And when I looked up to his face, there was a new darkness there that gave me pause. He knew now just how strong my mental abilities were. It had been a leap of faith for him to trust me while at the estate. The
pain of his wounds, the absoluteness of my power, the fact that he’d escaped—his mind struggled to hold onto what was real.

I held the dripping towel up for him to see. He frowned, but after a moment, nodded. I lowered the cloth slowly, brushing it along his shoulder and neck. His eyes shut tight and his body tensed. Gently, I pulled what was left of his shirt away from his back, trying my best to ignore his shivers so I could do what was necessary. What no one had ever done for me when I’d been hurt.

Deep gashes raced across his back. His skin was freckled with the blisters of third-degree burns. The tears in his flesh extended over his upper arms, distorting several tattoos there and crisscrossing in ways I hadn’t realized when we were running through the woods. But worst of all was the deep laceration just above his right shoulder blade. Someone had dug into his back with a perforated spear, one with tiny, razorlike teeth along the spear’s head. I knew the weapon intimately, as well as the pain it caused.

Seeing his injury, knowing how it was created, a hot anger swelled in my chest. I wanted blood. The demand was like a thirst. Someone needed to bleed for what had been done to him.

But then the shredded skin around the edge of his wound began to ooze a green metallic puss.
Damn it!
The spear had been poisoned. I leaned back on my heels with a curse. I met Theo’s gaze. “I can heal it,” I whispered.

A million thoughts passed behind his eyes. I could almost see each individual one. Finally, the line of his mouth tightened and he gave a curt nod.

I moved slowly, leaning completely over the side of his body. His heat warmed my face and tensed my body. I could place a hand on his shoulder and it would heal him, but like with Charles, it would be excruciating. Then, I’d cared more about getting the healing over with than the pain it might cause. Now, I didn’t want to hurt Theo any more than necessary. So I used my breath.

With the gentlest breeze I could manage, I blew a focused breath across his shoulder and let my power flow over him. I watched as the muscle knitted itself back together. Within seconds, new, shiny skin covered the wound. He shivered but he didn’t stop me. I crawled onto the table and curved around him, positioning myself to breathe on the rest of his injuries.

I dipped my head to his waist and caressed his lower back with my breath. I tried to focus on nothing but his wounds, but his skin was so warm, his muscles so tight. And that scent of musk and metal never faded, even with the blood and sweat on top of it. My breath turned to a subtle pant; my low stomach muscles tightened in a wonderfully uncomfortable way. And as my body responded, that electricity—that frustrating bond between us—grew even more pronounced.