Sacrifice (15 page)

“Which is why you don’t want to be with me right now.”

“If I have the chance to grow stronger, I don’t want to risk it. But be careful to keep him from touching you as much as possible. There’s a rush of power, as you just discovered, and it can be quite addictive. Mixed with Raphael’s insanity…”

Just what she needed. A crazy addict. “But what about you and Raphael? Do you two affect each other?”

“No, because we’re on opposite sides. Think of all four elements as points on a square, and our energy flows counterclockwise. Fire is at the top and water is at the bottom, polar opposites. Raphael and I are polar opposites. We exert no control over one another.”

“You know all of this and I know nothing. It’s so goddamned frustrating.”

He moved closer, his face softening. “I carry my memories from one life to the next. Once I realize who I am, I can remember all of the things I did in past lives, which helps me figure out what I can do now. But you have only this lifetime. You’re figuring it all out like Raphael and I did centuries ago.”

“And Emmanuella.”

“Yes, and Emmanuella. Although she was never around very long after all her memories returned.”

“A few times, thanks to you.” She needed to remember that.

He gave a noncommittal shrug. “That’s enough lessons tonight.” He moved toward her, his hand outstretched. “Take this, but only use it if absolutely necessary.”

She cautiously reached her hand out and he placed a folded piece of paper in her palm.

He turned and walked across the pasture without a backward glance. “See you in a couple of nights.”

Watching him walk into the darkness, she was even more confused. Alex might be helping her now, but at his core he was a monster, and she needed to remember that.

Chapter Twelve

Will woke up exhausted and with a dull headache, the sound of the shower gurgling through the bathroom wall. His sleep had been plagued with dreams of James and Emma. In the light of day, they were vague and foggy, and he was sure they were ordinary dreams. His subconscious was telling him that he feared James betrayed them both.

His subconscious had wasted its time. He already knew that.

Will reluctantly admitted that he’d hoped to dream of Emma, but there’d been nothing this time, not even her tears. Maybe she’d forgotten him already. Or maybe they were never real to begin with. He wasn’t ready to accept that, further evidence of his disconnect to reality.

Sitting up, he tried to orient himself in the crappy motel room. James sang an off-key rendition of Aretha Franklin’s
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
behind the bathroom door. Will stepped into his jeans and grabbed the ice bucket off the dresser. His throat still felt like it was on fire.

The sun blinded him when he opened the door, and he raised his hand to shield his eyes. Two men rushed him and shoved his face into the exterior wall.

“Thought you could get away, huh?” one grunted into his ear as he lifted Will’s free arm at an awkward angle behind his back.

Stupid
. He’d forgotten his gun inside. “Haven’t you heard, if you love something set it free?”

“Too bad there’s no love for you as far as Warren’s concerned.”

“The feeling’s mutual.” Will thrust his head back into the man’s nose. His would-be captor’s hold loosened and Will swung around, punching him in the throat. The man doubled over and gagged.

The man next to him reached for his gun. Will swung the ice bucket into his temple then shoved his head into the wall. His attacker’s body slumped as it slid down the wall, the gun clanging to the concrete.

Will picked up the firearm and held it to the gagging man’s head.

“Why are you here?”

“Warren,” he choked.

“What about him?”

“He wants you back.”

“Why?”

“The woman.”

Emma
.

Will’s finger tightened on the trigger.

“Having fun without me?” James asked from the doorway.

The captor reached for Will’s arm. Will brought the handle of the gun down on the man’s head. He fell face down on the pavement.

“I can’t leave you alone for a minute.” Will glanced at James, who stood in the doorway, a white towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping down his chest. He leaned over and grabbed the man closest to the door, dragging him through the opening. “Time to clean up the trash.”

Will tugged the other man inside and dropped him next to the guy on the floor. “Looks like we’re still wanted.”

James pulled a shirt out of his bag and pulled it over his head. “We need to focus on getting some dirt on these members, something to hold as leverage to get them off our asses.”

Will rubbed his temples. “It shouldn’t be hard to dig up shit on Warren. He’s a politician, for God’s sake. Isn’t a closet full of skeletons a requirement to run for a political office? In fact, Kramer said something about a current scandal involving a woman claiming to have an affair.”

Frowning, James shook his head. “Old news and dismissed by the press already. Besides, nothing sticks to Warren.” He opened a folder and flipped through several pages. “We could focus on Simmons from Simmons Industries. It looks like he’s got some shady deals involving some overseas accounts. And he’s got Warren in his back pocket. We could nail them both and take out two key guys in the organization.”

“What about his son?”

James continued reading. “Simmons doesn’t have a son.”

“Not Simmons. Warren.”

He froze, raising his head. “Alex? What about him?”

“There has to be shit on him.”

“You’re fucking insane. You do
not
want to go there. You saw what he did.”

“Exactly. Can you imagine if the media got a hold of that?”

Shaking his head, James set down the paper and placed his palms on the dresser. “I know what you’re doing, Will.”

“You don’t know shit about what I’m doing.”

“You’re trying to find
her
.”

James had started to refer to Emma as
her
, refusing to say her name, as though not mentioning her name would make Will forget about her quicker.

“I know I’m not going to find her, jackass. I’m trying to save our necks. We’re not just dealing with the Vinco Potentia, and we can’t ignore there’s supernatural shit going on. It would be a huge mistake to dismiss it.”

“So, what? You tell the media that Alex magically killed a compound full of men?”

“No—”

“Because how are you going to prove that? Not to mention the crime scene has almost certainly been cleaned up by now. Warren’s been tied to so much shady bullshit that always gets swept into the corner while the circus clowns waltz in and distract the crowd. Warren’s the master at it. So even if the media got wind of it, and actual bodies were produced, guess who was in the compound at the same time? A couple of ex-Marines from the special forces who happen to know a lot of creative ways to kill a man and who just so happened to be locked up at the same time and escaped.”

Will ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, you’re right, but I still say we can’t dismiss it.”

“Oh, trust me, I have no plans to. I intend to keep him in plain sight. From a distance. I know a cobra’s dangerous, but that doesn’t mean I have to cage it. I can let it slink off into the forest and terrorize other creatures.”

This was all backward. Will was the leader of the two and James usually followed, further evidence of Will’s decline.

James looked up, determination in his eyes. “I’ve figured out what we need to do. You’re right. We need to think of the bigger picture. We need to focus on our end goal.”

Will cast a glance at the unconscious men on the floor. “I’m listening.”

“Our end goal is to extricate ourselves from the Vinco Potentia without repercussions. We need to make them trust us.”

“What do you propose?”

“We go back to one of your original goals before you lost your memory. We find Emma’s son, Jake.”

That was the last thing Will expected. “Holy shit.”

“Now hear me out. We find him and prove to Alex that we’re on his side. Alex gets his son back. The Vinco Potentia gets the boy and we prove ourselves useful.”

“You don’t know that. You said they never wanted the boy. You said they wanted Emma.”

James shrugged. “When plan A doesn’t work out, you go to plan B. The boy can be their plan B.”

“I’m not so sure we should hand him over to Alex. Shouldn’t he be with his mother?”

“Alex is his father. If they want to have a custody dispute, they can take it to court. But this way we prove ourselves friendly to the Vinco Potentia and Alex. It’s a win-win.”

After listening to Emma cry for Jake for hours in his dreams, Will wasn’t certain he could give Jake to Alex. But they could concentrate on getting Jake first, then figure out who to give him to.

“Small problem,” Will said with a grimace. “We don’t have a clue where Jake is.”

“So we focus on what we do know. We know the Cavallo took him. Then Alex took Jake from them and went to Montana. The next time we saw Alex was days later in South Dakota and we learned from Kramer that Jake was no longer with Alex.”

“So either Alex gave him to someone or they stole him from Alex.”

“And you don’t think Emma has him?”

Her cries still echoed in his head. “No.”

“We need to figure out who else has a motive, and our best source is Emma.”

Will’s breath hitched in his throat. “You’re saying we should find her? You think she’s going to agree to getting her son back and then turn him over to Alex?”

“No, I have no intention of finding her. Even if I did, I don’t have a fucking clue where she is. But she might have left clues when she was with you. We backtrack and retrace your steps with her.”

“How can we do that when I can’t remember any of it?”

“We focus on what we know. I know you were at the compound with her. And while you were there you saw the book, which we went back and stole.”

Will nodded. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“I know you were in Arizona at some point looking for the boy, but you said he’d been moved, which he had. To Montana. I don’t know what you did after you left Arizona, but you went to your apartment right before you came to see me. We should go to your apartment and see if either of you left any clues there.”

Home. He released an exhale of relief. Finally, something solid from his past to latch on to.

***

“It’s a little thing, Emma. Why do you refuse me?” Raphael stood in the backyard with his feet shoulder width apart, hands on his hips.

She blew a strand of hair out of her face. “I’m not refusing, Raphael. I’m trying.”

Raphael’s eyes narrowed as he scanned her up and down. “You look exhausted, my love. I thought you planned to get a good night’s sleep.”

“I did, Raphael.” She lied, which killed her, even if it was a lie to Raphael. She’d stayed out in the pasture half the night learning to focus and control her power. By the time she’d gone to bed, she’d made real progress. Unfortunately, none of her improvements showed today in Raphael’s presence. Which wasn’t surprising after Alex’s revelations.

“Then why can’t you move a stupid log, Emma?”

He’d been ordering her around all morning and afternoon, becoming more and more irritated with her lack of development. Her temper snapped. “Maybe I’m not supposed to move a stupid log, Raphael. Maybe that’s in your job description, not mine.”

He moved next to her before she had a chance to react and threaded his hands through her hair, jerking her toward him. She rose on her tiptoes, crying out before she could stop herself.

Raphael smiled, his eyes filling with perverse pleasure. “We must learn to work together,” he said in a soothing tone, then jerked harder. “Your lack of cooperation is disconcerting, my love.”

She gritted her teeth, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out.

“I want you to move the log, Emma. It’s such a little thing to ask.”

“I…can’t…” she panted, her scalp screaming in pain.

“You can.”

“You’re earth…I’m…fire…”

He paused, then loosened his hold. “Perhaps you’re right.”

“Let me try…”

His hand dropped, releasing her.

Stumbling backward, she seethed in anger. Her chest burned and a golden glow surrounded her. While biting back her tears, she reached out her hand and shot a mass of energy toward him.

His reaction was delayed half a second and he jumped sideways as he reached for her, making the ground shake.

She struggled to stay upright. “That good enough for you, Raphael?”

He laughed, taking a step toward her. “Looks like someone found herself.”

“You stay the fuck away from me!”

He took another step. “I think you’re ready for the second step.”

Sucking in several short breaths, she watched him, her nerve endings screaming in anticipation. “Stay back.”

“You’ve asked for this, Emma. Don’t you want to learn how to get power from another source?”

She did, but not from him.

He took another step, less than an arm’s reach away. He was too close.