See How She Runs (22 page)

I arrived at the diner almost four hours
later. I had almost stopped in Port Angeles to grab some food, but
thought better of it. The fewer stops, the better probably. I
walked inside and found a booth, hoping against all hope that Mike
would come in. The waitress came by to take my order and I asked if
she had seen a man named Mike that day.

“Oh, honey, you just missed him by an hour.
Is your name Izzy by any chance?" the lady asked.

“Yes, ma’am," I said skeptically.

“Well, Mike left something for you. Let me
go grab it. He said you might show up here someday."

As the lady walked away, I wondered what
Mike could have left me. I also wondered how long it would take to
cook my burger. I was famished. She returned with my drink and an
envelope and left me to my discoveries.

I opened the envelope, not sure what I might
find. All that was inside was a key and a map of how to get from
the diner to his house. Well, that was a relief. I was glad that it
was not some cryptic message about the fate of the world or
whatever. I was getting sick of surprises.

My burger came a few minutes later and I
took the time to devour it and every single last French fry. Their
greasy goodness sunk into my stomach, making me long for a nap.
Well, I did have a map to a house. Perhaps Mike had a couch that I
could become acquainted with quick like.

I left the diner and headed over to Mike’s
place. I found it after passing the turn off three times. I parked
along the street in front of the small, shingled house. The house
itself looked like it had seen better days, but I supposed that it
matched Mike’s personality in a strangely accurate way. I walked up
to the door and knocked. I was so stunned by who opened the door, I
did not know whether to scream or run, but neither choice was mine
to make.

**********

TWENTY ONE

I was jerked into the house before I could
cause a scene. I stood there, dumbfounded, unable to process what
my eyes were seeing. There, in Mike’s living room, was Xavier. I
looked around expecting to see Mike tied up. Instead, he was
reclined in a chair, smoking a cigar. I looked around the rest of
the room and saw three more men who were easily a foot taller than
me. I looked back to Xavier who was smiling down at me
maliciously.

“Told you I would find you. All of that
running was for nothing after all," he said, sending chills down my
spine.

“What is going on here, Mike?" I demanded. I
wanted an explanation. I also wanted to shove Xavier’s nose into
his brain pan, but I was not quite tall enough for that.

“Oh, honey, how did you not know? You really
are just as dumb and trusting as that other lot. The Corporation
has been paying me quite well to keep tabs on you and feed them
inside information about what was happening within the Council. As
soon as you started to show signs of being a seer I contacted
Xavier and had him added to our delivery route. You didn’t go there
just by chance Izzy," Mike said around his cigar.

“But what about your sons? What about all of
those years I worked for you? Are you telling me you are okay with
just handing me over to these guys? Do you even know what they will
do to me?" I asked. I was afraid the tears would start sliding down
my cheeks at any moment. I had to keep it together. I had to find a
way out.

“Oh, my sons are alive and well, Babycakes.
These big guys have kept my family’s pockets padded for quite a
long time. And yes, I know exactly what they will do with you and
quite frankly I just don’t care. You were a paycheck," Mike said,
uninterested.

I felt like a part of my heart was
physically being ripped away. A man I had thought of like a second
father was nothing more than a deceptive manipulative ass like the
rest of these guys. I thought back to the email and to everything
that had happened. Xavier had set me up. He had known he could not
get to me when I was with Kennan and Ian. He had played on my
weakness. I had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. It looked
like I was the catch of the day.

In a rare fit of rage, I grabbed Mike’s
cigar and shoved it down on his arm hard, putting out the embers in
his skin. I wanted him to be reminded of me every single day for
the rest of his miserable life.

Mike yelled out. “You little bitch!"

He struck out at me and Xavier
intercepted.

“Now, Mike, let’s all keep a level head
here. Izzy is just a little spirited. But don’t worry, we will work
that out of her before too long. Now go rinse that out before it
gets infected." Xavier dismissed Mike with a flick of his hand and
moved towards me.

I stood my ground. I refused to cower in
front of this man. Kennan may not have been able to kill him, but I
held no such reservations. I looked up at my captor defiantly. Yes,
I had been stupid and played right into his hand. But I had done so
to protect the people I loved. That was a kind of stupidity I could
live with. We stared at one another for a long time before he began
to speak.

“You aren’t at all like your mother, are
you? You are quite the feisty thing. I have so enjoyed our little
talks in the dreaming. It is such a pleasure to finally be face to
face once more," he drawled as he reached for my face to brush it
the way Kennan did.

I grabbed his hand quickly, bending it
backward almost to the breaking point.

“You touch me again and I will break you,
big man," I said, grateful for Ian and all of the small things he
had taught me about using my size to my advantage.

“Looks like you have learned some new
tricks, pet. What else has my brother taught you?" Xavier asked
with a raised brow, as though I had not even hurt him.

I was amazed that I had once thought him
handsome. He was not godlike at all. He was playing at being a god.
In my experience, the mighty have a much further to fall. I would
bring him down if it were the last thing I did.

“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know. But it was
not just Kennan, I still have other friends left, you know," I
said, being as vague as possible.

“Well, don’t worry your pretty head about
any of that now. We have a long trip ahead of us, so why don’t you
go and grab your bag," Xavier commanded.

I really wanted to inflict vast amounts of
pain on this man. I had never felt anything like the rage that had
swelled within me since knocking on that infernal door. I was
hoping that Mike would get gangrene from his burn and his arm would
rot off. I was hoping that all of the men in black suits would get
some incurable virus that would melt their organs. I was hoping
most of all that Xavier would have a run in with a rusty blade of
some sort and contract tetanus. I had never been a violent person,
but when I had nothing left, I got scrappy.

I looked at Xavier and weighed my options. I
could go along with this and not fight it, or I could try and run.
I knew from experience that outrunning a Guardian was damn near
impossible, so I decided to once again ride the wave of a
kidnapping. There really were only so many times a girl could be
kidnapped. I mean, I must have met my quota by now. Come on, Big
Man. Help a sister out a little. I sighed and motioned toward my
car.

I was awarded with an escort from the goon
squad to retrieve my belongings. I acted like I was searching the
glove box. I needed to leave a note or something in case Ian or
Kennan found the car. I scribbled on the registration the basics of
what had happened. I did not have much time since the goon squad
was growing restless. I tossed the paper down in the floorboard
under the seat so that it barely showed. I was counting on Kennan’s
obsessive nature to take over and find it.

I grabbed my bag and closed the door,
locking the keys inside. See if you can move the car now, stupid
bad guys. I mean, I supposed they could call a locksmith, but at
least I had delayed them in disposing of the car. I headed back
toward the house, only to have Xavier gesture toward a black
limousine. Well, of course. Why wouldn’t he be cruising around in a
limo? I was more than a little pissed that my first time in a limo
was going to be with an asshat like him.

I sighed, tossed my bag into the dark chasm
and shuffled in after it. I pulled myself into a back corner before
Xavier’s morose entourage climbed in. They really did look like a
crew of undertakers. I decided to name them Lurch 1, Lurch 2, and
Lurch 3. The last of the men did not look nearly tall enough to be
a Lurch, so he was instead dubbed Igor.

I sat quietly in the back seat for a long
time. The road rolled beneath us, taking me to Lord knows where. I
just sat thinking of what a major cluster this whole situation had
been. I might as well have just given myself over in Chicago. I
knew that was not true, but for the moment it felt nice to
wallow.

I was brought from my thoughts by Xavier’s
hands approaching the sides of my face. I looked at him like he had
lost his mind. I reached up and snapped his hand, sure that I had
broken at least something. Instead, he just shook his hand and
"tsked" me.

I was pinned to the back of the seat by the
Lurches faster than I could track.

“You should have played nice," Xavier
scolded. I wondered what it would take to make him yell. Then I
remembered, he was devoid of all real emotion.

I struggled against my captors as Xavier
approached. I knew he was trying to hack my brain but I was durned
if I was gonna make it easy on him. I squirmed as much as possible,
but once he had a hold of my head I could not move any longer. He
braced my head painfully between his large hands.

A deep look of concentration passed over his
brow. He looked as though he was straining, and I remembered my
wards. I looked back into his eyes defiantly.

“What have you done? Take them down. Do it
now," Xavier said with more heat than I thought possible for
him.

“Sorry, I don’t know how," I said
flippantly. I was really glad my pants did not catch fire and give
me away immediately. The way the day had turned out though, I would
not have been surprised if they had.

“You are telling me you warded your head but
you don’t know how to undo it? Kennan is far too anal to have let
that happen," Xavier said, trying to pry the truth from me.

“Well, before I could learn to undo them, I
had to learn to do them. I was still working on the first part you
see, so we didn’t quite make it there. Pity, huh?" I said, just
before he struck me.

Well, it was just a banner day for me. I was
riding in a limo for the very first time. I had been hit by a man
for the first time in my life, well, if I didn’t count Ian’s
training. Oh, and I had been kidnapped. But that was more of a
repeating theme for me, so I was not sure it counted. I sat there
numb, but grateful to have my mind to myself.

He could torture me or any other number of
things. He would not use my head to screw with people’s lives. He
would have to kill me first. I looked over at him, filled with more
rage than I ever thought imaginable. I could not help myself. I
wanted this man to suffer like I had never wanted anything
before.

“So, how did your latest insurance scheme
work out, buddy?" I asked, remembering that today would have been
the bridge collapse.

Xavier looked at me confused at first and
then pulled his phone out to make a call. He spoke in Gaelic like
Ian and Kennan did when they didn’t want me to hear what was being
said. By the time he ended his phone conversation he was
seething.

He shot out with his arm out and gripped me
around the throat once more, pinning me to the seat. I could barely
breathe. I probably should not have pushed him, but quite honestly,
I just wanted to piss him off.

I looked him in the eyes defiantly and
smiled. I knew then and there that I was made of stronger stuff
than I had ever imagined. He could take everyone I ever loved.
Heck, he could kill me. But like Mel Gibson said in
Braveheart
, “He could never take my freedom." I knew that
was the truth. I was my own person, and I would fight until my last
breath to keep that freedom.

“What’s the matter?" I croaked running out
of air. “Did somebody foil the evil villain's plan?"

He shoved my head to the side, against the
window. I heard a crack before everything went dark, sinking me,
once more, into oblivion.

**********

TWENTY TWO

When I awoke, we were on some sort of plane.
I sat up and looked around, trying to get my bearings. This was no
mere plane, it was a private jet. Just add that to the list of
firsts for the day. I had never flown before this and I had quite
frankly never wanted to. I sat there, trying to control my
breathing. I would not let him know how this small space affected
me. I could not imagine what he would do with that sort of
information. I looked around and tried to twist in the seat, only
to find myself practically immobilized.

I looked down at my hands that were cuffed
to the seat. Personally, I thought it was a bit overkill. I mean, I
was on a plane, flying through the air. Just where did they think I
was going? I wasn’t dumb enough to jump out of the plane. Although,
I was desperate enough to just crash the whole thing and kill us
all. I guessed the handcuffs made sense after all.

My throat was on fire and my head was
pounding. I wondered if they kept some of those magic pills Kennan
stocked. As I was pining for some sort of relief, Xavier lowered
himself into the seat directly in front of me. He looked at me with
an expression that I assumed he meant to be soothing. He approached
me like I was some sort of wild caged animal and I reveled in
it.

I raised an eyebrow at him in question.

“Izzy, it really is unseemly for you to act
out in front of my associates. So I am going to ask you nicely to
lower your wards. I will only ask this once more," Xavier said
calmly.