The End of Darkness (12 page)

She finished the kiss and backed up. Her eyes were clear again. “I knew you were different.” She shook her head in an exaggerated way. “I never imagined quite 
how
 different. I'm not sure I understand everything you told me, but I do know something horrible is happening that's affecting a lot of people. And I know that whatever you are, you are a good man. Take me, Pope.”
 

He blinked, taken aback by her command. “Here? Now? I have to get back—”

She laughed, full and robust. “I mean, take me with you. I want to stop these people.”

A mix of relief, joy, and fear mingled in his chest. He nodded. “Let's go back to town and find Yurek. He is no doubt looking for me.” 

They spotted him before he saw them. Suza remained several car lengths back as Yurek drove through town searching. At the end of his pass through the main street, he continued on, heading toward Las Vegas.

She peppered him with questions and took each answer in. “Will Yurek tell the others about you?” 

“It is doubtful. That would mean admitting he'd failed, and our government doesn't tolerate failure. He will try to kill me without the others knowing.”

Midway to Vegas, Pope and Suza looked at each other. 

“Did you feel that too?” she asked.

He nodded. “The energy got lighter, like we reached the outer edge of Darkness.”

She turned back, her expression troubled—and determined. “We have to stop this, Pope.”

“There's too much at stake to fail.” 

CHAPTER 11

Lanna returned not long after they heard the door close upstairs. She’d changed into a tight sweater that accented her cleavage and small waist. She had a nice figure, Magnus would give her that. But her icy blue eyes, pale complexion, and white-blond hair reflected the lack of warmth in her soul. She reeked of the same desperation he'd seen many a time, and that was bloody unattractive. Still, he had to pretend she was all that if they had any hope of getting out of there.

She visually checked their restraints before unlocking the cell door. Holstered on her hip was a knife. Once inside, she relocked the door. That would be problematic, though he was sure he could wrangle the key unless she tossed it outside the cell.

One step at a time.

She prowled closer, taking him in as though he were some specimen. He wondered if this was how some women felt when a guy leered at them. 

“Some of the people with us have Darkness, too,” Lanna said, nodding toward the tunnel door.

He raised an eyebrow. “You have others locked away in the tunnel?”

“No, they're part of the group who…they're near Vegas. So far they haven't come in through that door.” But the possibility worried her, by the crease of her forehead. She seemed to push that thought away. “I haven't seen any of the Darkened ones over there Become, but I've heard they're dangerous.” She raised her hand toward him, hesitating only an inch from his face. Probably remembering that her husband would know if she touched him. “Are you dangerous, Magnus?” 

He played into her game, trying not to let his focus stray to Erica. “Very. But only to the wrong people.” 

“What animal do you Become? Nester used to be something resembling a bear, but since he's been sniffing Darkness, it's warped him into some grotesque creature.”

“I'm a mountain lion. Sleek, fast, with fangs and claws. Too bad I can't show you.”

She made a 
tsking
 sound. “No, you can't. If it were up to me, I'd release you and screw your brains out.” She traced her finger down her throat. 
 

“It is up to you. We're alone, aren’t we?”

She chuckled. “You just want me to let you go so you can haul ass.”

“Can you blame me? Your husband's going to kill me. I don't particularly like that idea. Maybe I can take you with me.” Erica stiffened, but he kept his heated gaze on Lanna. “Your husband obviously doesn't appreciate you.”

Something changed in Lanna's expression, a raw and oh-so human need. “I couldn't,” she blurted out, but the idea clearly intrigued her. “I just want to experience passion.”

“And what do I get out of pleasuring you?” Besides the chance to escape. Her need for fantasy might cloud her judgment, but she was no fool. She'd be suspicious if he were too willing. “A guy likes sex wherever he can get it, sure, but it's a bit difficult to get in the mood when you've got a hatchet hanging over your neck.”

Lanna flicked a glance to Erica. “I won't let Nester kill her. I know you're protective, that it's your nature. And she's terrified of dying the way her companion did. I can save her that.”

“Deal.”

He had to keep in mind that Lanna could sense emotions. He didn't need any special ability to see that his cooperation pleased her. She came closer and took out the keys he wanted so badly. He stilled his own enthusiasm at the thought that she was releasing him. His arm fell to his side, prickling as the blood returned to it. The cuff was still tight around his wrist, curbing his abilities. 

She drank in the sight of him. The woman was starved for sex, no doubt about it. And from the way her fingers flexed, she wanted to touch him so bad she ached. She visibly forced herself back and, surprisingly, approached Erica, who regarded her with suspicion. Erica's eyes widened, she gasped, and then her pupils dilated. Lanna released her cuff from the bar, though again it was still around her wrist. Erica wasn’t in there anymore. For the first time, he saw no fear, want, or suspicion on her pretty face. It was eerily blank.

“What did you do to her?” he asked, his chest tight.

Erica straightened and walked toward Magnus. “I'm in her head, controlling her.” Erica's voice sounded different, and then it hit him, that she was 
in
 Erica. “I haven't used this ability in years. I can't use it with my own people, and I'm not allowed to use it on the regular humans.” Erica’s smile was stiff. “But now it will come in handy. I can experience everything without violating Copeland's stupid rule.”
 

He didn't like it, even if he had touched Erica. And deep in her blue eyes he saw stark terror. She stumbled toward him, her body falling against his. Lanna laughed through Erica. “I am so out of practice.” She remained against him, her hands sliding over his shoulders, hips grinding against his pelvis.  

Suddenly her fingers gripped him so hard that her nails jabbed into him, and an unholy scream tore from Erica's mouth. He saw her in there, trying to take control as she grabbed her head and thrashed her body so violently she knocked Lanna to the floor. 

Lanna scrambled to her feet, knife ready. She opened the cell door, ran out, and closed it behind her. She was stunned, but Erica was still freaking out, muttering, “No, no, no, not again!”

He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer. “Erica! It's all right.”

Except it wasn't because they'd probably blown their chance to use Lanna's lust to escape. She'd run up the stairs, obviously shaken, but right now all he cared about was Erica. 

She blinked, coming back to herself. Her face was pale, and tears streaked down her cheeks. “She got into my head. 
Controlled
 me.”
 

This vulnerable side of the tough woman reached out and grabbed his heart. He tugged her against him, using his free hand to stroke her back. “It's done. She's gone.”

He kept stroking and whispering inane words meant to calm until she stopped shaking and whimpering. Her hand rested against his chest, and her fingers flexed and contracted involuntarily. 

“I can't imagine how freaky it was to have someone inside your head,” he said trying to understand her reaction. He knew her brother Jerryl had gotten into one of the Offspring's heads and tried to get him to kill his friends. Eric Aruda had fought the bastard's directive and shot himself to save them. 

She pulled back, wiping her hand across her eyes. He didn't release his hold on her though, letting his hand slide to her shoulder. 

The words she'd screamed came back to him. “You said not again.'“

She shook her head. But it hit him then, the man he'd just been thinking about who could get into people's heads. 
Her brother
. 
 

“Jerryl got into your head?”

She wrapped her arms around herself, and in her eyes he saw shame and pain and anger all twisted together. “I’m not talking about this with you.”

He couldn't resist needing to figure it out. Figure her out. “Have you talked to anyone about it?”

She kept her gaze averted. “No one who believed me.”

“I believe you.”

She shuddered at those words, and he could see her struggle. “Why do you care?”

“I don't know, but I do.”

She still stared at a spot a couple of feet to the right of him. “I couldn't push him out. I wasn't strong enough when he…”

“When he…“ He didn't want to hear this, but he needed to. For some reason he needed to know the shadows this woman harbored. He had a feeling they were even darker than what he held.

“He made me do things to him,” she whispered. “Sexual things. And I couldn't fight him. I was a kid. I didn't have any power then.”

Magnus's hand tightened on her. “Sick son of a bitch.” He held back the violence that boiled inside him at the thought. 

“He said it was okay because we had different fathers. I'm not sure how he knew that, or if it was even true.”

He stroked his thumb over her shoulder, his stomach turning. “Who did you tell?”

“Jerryl threatened to kill me if I did, but finally I went to my father. He told me I was just jealous because Jerryl was so good at everything, that he got all the attention and I was making this up in an ugly attempt to get some for myself. Our stepmother didn't believe me either, since she always sided with my father. They thought Jerryl was a hero. He'd saved a boy from drowning when he was eight, pulled him from a lake. I got into trouble a lot, wasn't doing well at school. Early on, he would get into my head and make me do things like tear my clothes off and run screaming through the house. Of course they thought I was mentally disturbed, so my allegations fit that diagnosis. All Jerryl's plan, I'm sure.”

Magnus hurt for her, for that girl he was imagining. “Your life must have been hell.”

“I left at sixteen, stayed with some people who let me work at their store to earn my keep. I was okay then.”

But she wasn't okay. Now her shields made sense, as did her need for human connection. When she reached out though, she had no idea what to do, especially with her shields up. If only he'd known, but it wasn't like she would tell some guy she'd met in a bar. Aye, maybe he was a drummer psychologist.

She swiped at her face. “Why are you being so nice? I probably ruined your chance to escape.”

“
You're
 free.”
 

She seemed to just realize she was no longer cuffed to the bar. She took a step back, and he had to force himself to let her go. She held out her hand but still couldn't produce a glow.

He let his arm remain aloft. “And my hand is free. It's a start.”

She studied him, as though she wasn't sure what to make of him. “You're not like anyone I've ever met.”

“I could say the same.”

She went to the cell door and tried it. “I'll bet.” She turned to face him, her eyes red and wet. Somehow it was beautiful on her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I'm glad you told me.”

She shrugged, but her cheeks reddened. “What does it matter? We're going to die here anyway.”

“We don't have to.”

He nodded to the vent in warning, and she came close again. He wished he could pull her closer but that was probably pushing it. He did put his mouth to her ear, letting his jaw brush hers. “We've got three people to deal with: cold, crazy, and horny. We need to play their dynamics to our advantage. Lanna is our best hope. She's got a weakness we can exploit. And she doesn't have a deadly ability.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Copeland told her to shoot us if that guy comes here. Why would she need a gun—or knife—if she can blast us?”

Erica nodded. “True.”

“If I can make her believe that I'd take her away from two men she obviously doesn't like, she'll release me. But I've got to convince her I want her.”

“But that means I have to let her into my head.”

“I don't like that part either, but it's the only way she can live this fantasy of hers. And it weakens her.”

“No, I can't. I can't go through that again. It's too much like Jerryl, making me do things…”

He lifted her chin to make her look at him. “But I'm not Jerryl, and I won't do anything you don't want. Let her get caught up in the heat of it. Before she goes too far, I'll tell her I can't touch an unwilling woman. While we're discussing it, you knock her to the floor and nick her keys. Once I'm out of these cuffs, I can Become.” She still looked terrified. “You know you can kick her out.”

“That's because I took her off guard. Next time she'll be ready to fight me.”

“If there's some other way, I'll try it. Any ideas?”

She studied the cell, chewing her bottom lip. After a minute, she shook her head. “I can't come up with anything else.”

He ran his fingers down her arm, circling her wrist gently. He felt the raised scars. She was a fighter. And potentially someone who had wielded her power to kill. “Do you want to survive?”

She glanced at the tunnel door. “I want to stop whatever's going to happen.” She would do it to save others. 

He turned her hand so that her palm faced up. She bore a scar there, too, of her power. “You're not afraid to die?”

She shook her head. 

“You're not afraid to kill either.”

She shook her head again without hesitation. 

A weird combination of fear and pride twined through him. “Was that why you were following me? To kill me?”

“Only if you were the Heart Ripper.”

“You thought I was the serial killer?” He almost laughed at that.

She, however, looked dead serious. “Because you said there was something wrong with you. Then you went to the park where two of the victims were found.”