Chapter 16
For two days I managed not to think about my father, Maddox or death in general. For two days I managed to live in a state of romantic bliss, focusing only on Lewis, thoughts of his smile and his kiss. But once my eyes closed for the night and my mind slipped into dreamland, I could no longer pretend.
So it wasn’t with surprise that I found myself staring at my clock at one a.m. while the house slept silent and still. I wondered if Caroline was okay. I wondered if Maddox was well, if he was cold down there in that basement, if they were giving him enough to eat. And then I felt guilty for caring and thoughts slipped to my father. Had he died quickly or had he suffered?
And then my mind returned to Lewis, as it usually did. As thrilled as I was that he cared for me, I couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that in the beginning, Lewis had come to my school to use me. He’d flirted with me, he’d pretended he cared, when in reality he’d had ulterior motives. How did I know he wasn’t doing the same now?
With a groan of frustration, I rolled onto my stomach and pressed my face into my pillow as if that could stop my thoughts from spinning. Grandma had always made me hot chocolate when I couldn’t sleep. Funny how now that I was free of her dictatorship, Grandma didn’t seem so bad. I’d been here for two weeks and she still hadn’t called. As much as I hated the thought of contacting her, I knew I needed to know she was okay. Perhaps, deep down, I was hoping she’d offer some sage advice.
The wind howled outside, autumn in full force. The eerie sound ate at my nerves. It sounded so much like someone crying that I had to resist the urge to go looking. Unable to sleep, I pushed aside my cover and slipped out of my warm cocoon. But as I made my way out of my bedroom and into the long, dark hall, anxiety overcame my need for freedom. No matter how much I wanted it to be, this mansion would never be home.
Wearing sweats and a t-shirt, I felt under dressed as I moved through the many rooms on the first floor…empty room after empty room. No personal objects. No toys, no video games, not even a family photo. The house was silent and watchful. Not welcoming, not home. I felt like I was doing something wrong by being out of my room unescorted. Like I was invading someone’s privacy.
My foot hit the marble tile of the foyer entry and I immediately thought of the basement below and of course Maddox. Could he hear my footsteps? Or was he dead because of me? My stomach clenched at the thought. Sure, Lewis had said he was fine and of course Lewis never lied. I scoffed at my naivety. Truth was, I wouldn’t rest until I saw Maddox for myself. But how would I? The man was behind a steel, locked door.
Why I cared, I hadn’t the slightest. Lewis was right, because of this man, my father was dead. Well, technically not this man, as Maddox wasn’t much older than me. But considering he worked for S.P.I., weren’t their actions indicative of what he could do as well? If only I hadn’t seen him as a person… seen his life…his parents…his girlfriend…everything. To me he was as human as Lewis. Not a monster.
Walking into the kitchen was like traveling into the future. The room was large, the tiled floor cold through my socks. Just about everything was stainless steel, making the room feel sterile and chilly. The space was clean, but high tech and impersonal. I couldn’t help but think of our table back home; that stupid, little table where I’d had just about every meal of my life, the table that my Grandma insisted came from England. For some odd, inexplicable reason, my chest felt tight and my nose burned from the sudden sting of tears. Crying over a damn table, no less. Believe me, I knew it was ridiculous.
In that brief moment I wanted to do nothing more than return home to Grandma. But my rational brain caught up to my irrational emotions. Could I do it? Could I truly go back to Grandma and leave Lewis? Could I truly go back to my old life in which I’d had to hide my identity? I rested my hand on the smooth, polished surface of the stainless steel table. No dents, no scars, no life. Instead of family meals, I could see a person doing an autopsy.
But no. Because of the whole Maddox thing I was merely feeling a bit down. I seriously couldn’t miss my old life, could I? Sniffing, I pulled open a cupboard, looking for hot chocolate. There were energy bars and fruit, nothing fun. Who the heck didn’t have hot chocolate in Maine? I closed the door with a frustrated sigh.
“What are you looking for?” Olivia’s voice reached out from the dark.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, the girl liked to shock me. Still, my heart lurched and I spun around, searching through the dim light for her shadow. She was hunkering over the counter at the end of the room, drinking something. Probably blood.
“Looking for hot chocolate,” I admitted.
She sipped, a loud slurping sound that wasn’t exactly attractive. “Don’t have any.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, partly from anger, partly because I was cold. I couldn’t even get a damn cup of hot cocoa. “What are you drinking?”
“Green tea.”
We were silent for one long moment as I debated whether or not I wanted to lower my standards to green tea. Definitely a no. I wasn’t in the mood for something that was good for me.
“Good night,” I muttered and turned to leave. I was so not going to hang around and try to make conversation with Miss Dour Teen U.S.A. She could seriously be the poster child for teenage depression and I didn’t need anything else to worry about.
“You saw him?”
I froze. “Who?”
When she didn’t respond, I turned. I could barely see her face, and of course I couldn’t read her thoughts. Surely she wasn’t talking about Maddox.
“That man, the S.P.I. agent,” she said.
Shocked, it took a moment for me to answer. “Maybe,” I mumbled, wondering if she was tricking me into admitting something I wasn’t supposed to speak about. I wouldn’t put it past her.
She straightened, her body stiff, as if somehow I’d annoyed her. “Oh please, like it’s some big secret, like I can’t know.”
I flushed. That’s exactly what I’d been thinking, but I wasn’t going to admit it to her. Did she know? Could she tell me anything? “I didn’t mean…just forget it.” Having had enough, I started toward the door again, only to pause, realizing she might actually know more than me. “Is…is he okay?”
“Who?”
I turned toward her. Was she intentionally being obtuse? “Maddox, the man downstairs. Is he okay?” I felt like I was in freaking Alice in Wonderland and having a chat with the Mad Hatter.
She shrugged and dumped her tea into the sink. “Wanna check?”
Trepidation fought with excitement, a tingling thrill that coursed through my body. “What? How?”
“Uh, you go into the room.” Sarcasm dripped from her tone and I could just imagine the look she was giving me. She was such an obnoxious brat. Unfortunately if I wanted to sleep, I didn’t have a choice but to go along with her. That didn’t mean I trusted her. Was she setting me up for a fall? I’d deal with the consequences later; I had to know if Maddox was alive.
“You have the code?” I tried not to sound eager.
She shrugged, making her way toward me. “Sure.” I read the arrogance in her voice, as if she was saying, don’t you? She paused near the window, the moonlight highlighting her round face. “Well? Do you want to go see him or not?”
She was daring me. In most instances I would have walked out the door and ignored her taunt. The problem was, I needed to know how Maddox was doing. “Will we get in trouble?”
“If we get caught.”
I had to trust her if I wanted to see Maddox. But trusting Olivia was impossible. Hell, trusting anyone in this house was becoming rather like jumping off a twenty story building in hopes that you’d suddenly grow wings; not a good idea. Still, my curiosity got the better of me. I could peek, just look in the door, make sure I hadn’t killed the agent and then maybe I’d be able to sleep tonight.
“Okay, let’s go,” I rushed the words, worried I’d change my mind.
r /> She didn’t hesitate, the bad ass that she was, and started down the hall. I followed more cautiously, my wide gaze darting from shadow to shadow, waiting for the moment we’d be caught. And let’s face it, this was like a horror movie, so we would be caught. When she pulled open that basement door, I was finally able to breathe with some normalcy.
At the keypad, I watched as she typed the numbers. “Ten,” she glanced over my shoulder. “Twenty-five and thirty-six.”
Olivia was being helpful, way too helpful. Still, I committed the numbers to memory. I wasn’t about to ask her for help if I decided to come down here again. Not that I would come down here again…
“Better block your thoughts, just in case. We never know what they’re truly capable of.”
Shoot, I hadn’t been blocking my thoughts? Heat shot to my face as I frantically tried to remember what she’d overhead, and at the same time I tried to put up that wall. The door popped open. The dim light bulb glowed harshly from the ceiling, providing the agent with no darkness to sleep. Maddox lay on his cot, facing the door. He looked huge on that tiny bed. So large, that for a moment I froze in fear.
His eyes were open as if he’d been waiting for me, and that glare was still in place. I swore he could drill a hole through my skull just by staring. I swallowed hard, my attention jumping to the handcuffs wrapped around his wrists and attached to an iron bar on the wall. To say I was relieved would be an understatement.
Olivia stepped closer to me. “I figure you have about five minutes before Aaron realizes we’re down here. If you’re caught, you better make sure you don’t rat me out.” With that said, she stepped back into the hall. I could hear the thump, thump, thump of her feet as she raced up the steps. She might have let me in, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to watch my back. Not that I blamed her for hightailing it out of there. I was about ready to run myself.
“I…I wanted to make sure you were okay,” I managed to get out.
He didn’t respond even though the gag was gone.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Slowly, he sat upright, the cot creaking a protest. I had to resist the urge to step back and slam that door shut. I could return to bed, pretend like I’d never seen him. So why wasn’t I leaving? Why weren’t my feet moving?
Because there was something about his eyes that held me captive. He was big with broad shoulders and dark hair. That scruff along his jaw was turning into a beard which made him look older than what he was. Dark and mysterious…dangerous. I suppose I would have thought he was gorgeous if I wasn’t so afraid he was going to murder me.
I took a big step backwards. “Well then, guess I’ll…go.”
I waited for him to protest, to beg me to help him. He didn’t say anything, merely sat there glaring at me. In fact, he didn’t think anything. I paused, realizing his silence was more important than I’d realized. “I can’t read your thoughts,” I blurted.
He swallowed hard, his throat working. “They taught us to block them with meditation.” His voice was deep, but rich, like honey. “The chip in my brain was for backup.”
I was so surprised by the sound of his voice that the importance of his response was lost on me for the moment. I shook my head, trying to regain control. “And…can you read my thoughts?”
He didn’t respond, just glowered at me. Worried we were running out of time, I glanced back. The basement was dark, the house still silent. I met his gaze. “Please, I need to know.”
“I can’t read your thoughts,” he snapped. “Only your kind can.”
“My kind?” I released a harsh laugh. “You say that like we’re freaks or…inhuman.”
He shrugged, smirking.
I had the feeling he was trying to hurt me. It worked. I guess he hadn’t forgiven me for breaking into his mind. Well, screw him. “You know what, I’m not the enemy here.”
He laughed and jerked on the handcuffs, his muscles bunching under the white dress shirt. “Oh really? You’re not the one who broke into my thoughts? How’d I bust my brain open then?”
I ignored his harsh words and the guilt. It wasn’t my fault; he deserved what he got. At least, that’s what I tried to tell myself. “I had help, if you remember.”
He surged to his feet, tall, intimidating. He might have only been a few years older, but he was twice my size. I refused to move back any more than I already had.
“You think they were helping?” He laughed, a deep chuckle that seemed to vibrate through my very body. “You were doing the work, Sweetheart.”
Flabbergasted, I wasn’t sure how to respond. “I wasn’t… they needed my extra ability so they…”
He started laughing again, great big laughs that would surely wake someone up.
“Shhh!” I hissed.
He merely rolled his shoulders as if to ease the ache. “You were doing the work, believe me. It was all coming from you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, my body trembling. “You’re lying.” So why did I suddenly feel sick? No, Lewis would have told me. I hadn’t been the only person responsible for making Maddox bleed. “I don’t believe you.”
He shrugged, looking completely unconcerned. “I don’t really give a crap. What I care about is the fact that I’ve had a damn headache ever since you broke into my thoughts, so thanks for that.”
I shook my head, feeling cold, close to panicking. “We…I….had to. You’ll kill us.”
He lifted a dark brow and settled on the edge of the cot. The bed creaked and groaned under his weight. Even sitting he seemed huge. “Kill? What the hell kind of nonsense has he been feeding you?”
I frowned, confused when I shouldn’t be. He was trying to twist the facts. But I knew the truth and the truth was he was partially responsible for the death of my father. “Your little group killed my father.”
He was silent for a moment, but I could read nothing in his hard gaze. “Is that so?”
I didn’t respond. What was the point? He’d never admit the truth. “I have to go.” I started toward the door again, intent on leaving. I wouldn’t listen to anymore of his lies. I wouldn’t let him sway me, even for a minute.
“Ask them about George Miller.”
I froze, my heart slamming wildly in my chest. “What do you mean?”
“You think the shooting in the café was a coincidence? Or the murder? You don’t think it odd that the man shows up in your small town? No one knows him. You don’t think it weird that he starts dating one of your best friends and because of him, you finally start using your abilities?”
My blood had run cold, fear giving way to anger. “What I find weird,” I spun around to face him, “Is that you know the details of my life.”
He just smirked. Was he playing with my mind? No way George was a fraud, or planted by Aaron merely to get me to use my powers. No. It was too sick to even think about. I turned and started for the door. He might not tell me about George, the psycho murderer, but Lewis would.
“Wait,” he demanded.
There was something to his voice, an anxiousness that made me pause.
“I want to show you something.”
As my Grandma used to say, too curious for my own good, I glanced over my shoulder.
He reached for his sleeve and rolled the dirty material, the handcuff rattling with the movement. His forearm was just as muscled as the rest of him. But his muscles were suddenly the least of my worries. He flipped his arm over and I saw it…there on the underside of his forearm…a tattoo of an animal…a bird with a lion’s body.
Unwillingly, I stepped closer. It was oddly familiar….so familiar, yet I couldn’t place it. “What is it?”
“The Griffin. A symbol of what we stand for.”
For some reason I was finding it hard to breathe. I couldn’t look away from that tattoo. A picture that clawed at my memory, begging me to understand. “Why does it seem familiar?”
“Because your father had one just like it.”
/> I jerked my gaze up to him. He was completely serious. “No, he…” But even as I thought the words, a memory flashed to mind, a memory I’d always assumed was some fantastical dream. Dad had taken me to the ocean, intent on teaching me to swim. We were in Florida, some ancient stone fort nearby. I think I was four, although not positive. He’d told me not to be afraid, that he’d keep me safe, he’d always keep me safe. Was it real? Had he truly visited me?
Tears burned my eyes, I shook my head. “S.P.I. betrayed him—”
“No, we didn’t.” His hard gaze flashed with anger and something that looked suspiciously like compassion. Dare I believe him? But if he was telling the truth, what did this mean?
“I don’t believe you.”
He held his arms as wide as the handcuffs would allow. “Why would I lie to you? I have no reason.”
“You have every reason,” Aaron spoke sharply from behind me. “Get away from him, Cameron.”
Maddox’s gaze turned to steel. Before I could even blink, the agent surged from the cot, latched onto my arm and jerked me back, directly into his hard chest. A muscled forearm wrapped around my throat with enough pressure that it brought tears to my eyes.
“Leave her alone,” Aaron said softly, as if he was in total control.
Maddox chuckled, his breath warm on the top of my head. “You know I could so easily kill her.”
“And then what?” Aaron asked, holding his arms wide, a look of bewildered amusement on his face. “I’ll kill you? What’s the point?”
“At least you won’t have her ability to add your little collection.”
Even through the pain and confusion, his words bothered me. Add to his collection? As if we were priceless dolls. Maddox’s arm tightened. Air couldn’t get down my throat. I squeezed my eyes closed as blackness taunted.
“She’s just a girl!” Aaron snapped.
“And I was only eighteen the first time you and your little friends captured me.”
They knew each other? I barely had time to consider that comment before Maddox’s arm tightened, crushing my throat. Light faded, the world spun.
“So what?” Aaron hissed. “You’re going to kill her? Then do it.” His tone was stern. He was totally serious. I was going to die, here in this dungeon. I’d been worried I’d killed Maddox, instead he’d kill me. Lewis had been right.
Then, just as suddenly as he’d grabbed me, Maddox relaxed his hold. My body quivered as glorious air seeped into my lungs. Maddox shoved me away. Off balance and practically unconscious, I stumbled. Aaron was there, reaching for me, but I didn’t want him to touch me. I didn’t want anyone to touch me. I evaded his grasp and spun around, falling back against the wall.
“Cameron,” Aaron called to me.
I shook my head. I had to get away. Away from them. Away from this dungeon. Not looking at either man, I turned and raced through the door. Aaron would have let Maddox kill me. Maddox wasn’t on my side. I couldn’t trust anyone. I stumbled up the steps, clinging to the railing for balance. I’d been so stupid to think I could deal with this, that I could submerge myself into this lifestyle.
“Cameron?”
Lewis was there at the top of the stairs. Olivia had told him, or maybe he’d read my thoughts. It didn’t matter, all that mattered was he was there. I didn’t pause, but slammed into his hard body.
He caught me, holding me tight against his bare chest. Vaguely I was aware that he wore only cargo shorts, apparently having come from bed. He smelled warm, and wonderful and comforting.
“What’s going on?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” I sniffed, cursing the tears that were forming in my eyes. I didn’t want him to see me cry, but I didn’t want to leave him either. “Everything.” The numbness in my body was fading fast and my throat ached.
I felt his body stiffen right before he cupped my shoulders and stepped back. Instead of compassion, he looked furious. “Damn it, you went and visited that agent, didn’t you?”
Shock gave way to fury. Immediately I threw up my mind wall. “Don’t read my thoughts!”
His face flushed. “I can’t help it!”
There was only a foot between us, but suddenly it felt like miles. I pushed him aside and rushed into my room, slamming the door shut. I needed someone to comfort me, not condemn me.
Lewis had apparently never heard of privacy and opened my door, barging in. “Why, Cam? Why would you go down there? Why would you put yourself in danger?”
I stomped my foot. “Because I have a heart! I couldn’t sleep until I knew he was okay.” But we both knew what I was implying…it was there, hanging in the charged air between us. I hadn’t trusted Lewis to tell me the truth about Maddox’s well-being.
His jaw clenched. “You have a lot of compassion for the man who killed our parents.”
I flushed, feeling guilty as hell and at the same time angry that Lewis would say something so insensitive. “He didn’t have anything to do with their deaths, he’s too young.”
He shook his head, pacing across my room. “You know what I mean.”
As much as I wanted to love Lewis, there was a part of me that realized he was a tiny bit delusional. I would never be foremost in his mind and heart because his vendetta would always be first.
“How do we even know it’s the truth?” I asked softly, trying a different tactic.
He froze and looked at me like we were five and I’d just told him Santa Clause wasn’t real. “What do you mean?”
I paused for a moment, wondering if I dared to go on. Why not, I’d already pissed him off. Aaron was probably angry at me too. What did I have to lose? “I mean, who saw it? How do we know it happened?”
His face flushed with anger. “Aaron saw it! He saw the destruction! What was left after they attacked!”
What was left. My stomach revolted at the image. I pressed my hand to my gut and settled on the edge of my bed. I’d pushed him too far. Perhaps so far that we’d never recover.
Lewis snorted, obviously disgusted with me, and moved toward the door. “This isn’t some game, Cam. This isn’t some high school drama bullshit. This is real and you need to pick sides.”
“Or what?” I whispered, feeling bitterly cold, and not really sure if I wanted the answer.
He paused at the door, but didn’t look back. “Or maybe…you should leave.”