Rockwell Agency: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  It didn’t look like there was anything wrong with him, except that his eyes were closed. She could feel his pulse, slow as it was, in his neck, and she began to hope—somehow—that Agnew hadn’t killed him. He had just rendered him unconscious. But that didn’t make any sense, because Agnew had spoken the words that he would cut out Liam’s heart.

  And then it all became much too literal. As she stared down at him, blood began to seep through Liam’s shirt, and when she ripped it open, tears streaming down her face, she saw there, over his breastbone, a blood-red etching in the shape of a heart, positioned right above where his heart was beating. The blood flowed red, and thick, and so fast that her hands trembled, as she tried to press against the seeping wound. She knew it was no use—it was magic that made him bleed and nothing short of flame was going to sear the skin enough that the bleeding might stop. She would never be able to stop the bleeding with the pressure of her hands.

  Hannah looked at Agnew, who stood not far away from them, and the hatred that she felt was stronger than any emotion she’d ever had before. “You will rot in a grave before I am done with you,” she screamed at him through her tears and her panic. “You will get what you deserve. I will end you for this! I will destroy you!”

  “I am already destroyed,” Agnew said, sneering at her. “Your threats have no meaning to me. I was destroyed before I was born—a child that nobody loved or looked after. A nothing. I was meant to be something. Look at me. Look at what I can do. And yet no one ever noticed. How can you destroy what has never been acknowledged?”

  Hannah didn’t have time for his riddles. Liam’s blood was spilling out over her hands, and his pulse was getting weaker and weaker by the minute. He only had seconds left, and she had to decide. Did she shift again so that she could breathe fire on his wounds and hope that he had not lost so much blood that he would die anyway, or did she try to kill Agnew and hope that, with his death, the effect of his spells would disappear? And what would happen to him if his spells did disappear?

  She didn’t know, and she didn’t have time to imagine it.

  Hannah had to act, and her gut told her to kill the man who stood in front of her because searing Liam’s wounds was only going to help him temporarily. She had to get him out of this hellhole and to someone who could help him live. And there was no time at all to spare.

  Jumping up from the ground, Hannah whirled on Agnew. She was naked, and seething, and covered in blood, but she couldn’t have cared less what she looked like, or what he saw. “You think you’re the only one in the world who has had a hard life,” she screamed at him. “You think that any of that gives you the right to take from others what makes their lives worthwhile? I would rip you from limb to limb if I could, and I wouldn’t lose a moment of sleep, and if you must know—I don’t take that lightly. I don’t believe in ending human life. I have a shred of decency within me. But people like you—you kill that decency. And taking your life will be the best thing I’ve ever done.”

  She did shift now, sweeping back up into the air. Fury burned inside of her, and she pulled all of her strength into her center, letting it fill and vibrate within her, ready to unleash.

  And she did unleash—all at once. Fire poured from her throat and her wings fanned the flames. She grabbed the fire with her mental power, and she sent blast after blast at Agnew. He erected a wall of water, but she breathed fire that was hotter and stronger, and she sent it hurling at him with more force, and soon he was cowering behind the wall as the wall of water started to break down. She bombarded him, breathing pure heat into flame and thrusting it towards him with her tail, and with her mind, and with her wings, coming at him from all angles.

  The rage that she felt only made the flames hotter, and when they started to break through the wall of water and touch Agnew’s skin, he screamed with agony and began to tremble. He tried to erect another spell, but his magical powers were faltering. He had expended so much, with nothing to restore him, and once one spell had been broken, it was hard for another to take its place.

  Hannah didn’t let up. She gave everything she had, turning all of her power, and her anger, and her strength into a weapon against Agnew. But she didn’t want him to die by fire. She wanted him to look her in the eye before he went, and she wanted him to know that he had lost, and that he deserved to lose, and that she, Hannah Pierce, had been the one to take him out because he had touched what was more precious to her than anything in the world.

  She snapped her jaw shut, cutting off the stream of fire that was flowing down at him. Instead, she swept down herself, and she knocked him over backward with her head, landing on the ground and crawling on top of him, so that he was pinned, and her face was inches from his, her eyes boring into him.

  Agnew tried to whisper some words, and a few stones trembled and the ground beneath them shook vaguely, but she knew that she had won. She knew that his power was weak now, and whatever spells he cast would have no effect.

  Hannah shifted, human eyes staring down into human eyes. Agnew looked up at her, a shell of the confident maniac he had been, and Hannah sneered at him. She spat on him. “Rot in the earth.” She brought her arm down with brutal force on his throat, crushing his larynx and every bone in his neck.

  His head lolled to the side, and his eyes went blank, and Hannah sat back, staring down at the man she had killed and feeling nothing but rage.

  And then the room exploded around her.

  Chapter 35

  Liam

  The first thing that Liam saw was a bright, blinding light that filled the space around him for as far as he could see. He had no recollection as to how he had gotten into this blinding space, and his body hurt from head to toe, but he also felt liberated. He didn’t know why or how, but he felt free.

  When he moved, he realized that he was floating on nothing at all. There was no ground beneath him, no walls around him, and no ceiling above him. As the light began to fade, he was left with a whiteness around him that was blinding in its own way, without actually diminishing his vision.

  Liam’s first thought was for Hannah, and how he would find her amidst the light. He tried to remember where she had been and what had been happening in the moments before he opened his eyes, but his memories were jumbled and fuzzy.

  And then, instead of Hannah, Trinity appeared in front of him. She was as beautiful as he remembered. Blonde and tan with full red lips and wide eyes that looked soulfully at him. Trinity smiled slightly.

  “Hi, Liam.”

  “Hi,” he said, not understanding. “What are you—where are we?”

  She looked around and shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve been in nothing for a long time. Then I opened my eyes, and you were here, and so was I. Funny how things work sometimes. I’ve been trapped ever since Agnew killed me. I hate the dark, you know. This light is such a …relief.”

  Liam’s memories were starting to fall back into place, and he recalled Hannah flying through the air as a dragon. He remembered clinging to her leg, then falling. The pain in his chest. The blood—everywhere. Hannah above him, trying to save him. Then fading away.

  “I’m dead,” Liam said, the realization hitting him hard. “God. I died.”

  Trinity shook her head. “No. No, I don’t think so. When I died, it was only darkness. I was only just vaguely aware of time passing. It was nothing like here. Here is lovely compared to where I’ve been.”

  Liam wasn’t at all convinced. “No, I mean it. Hannah …she was fighting. And I was, too …and then.” He shook his head, a rush of adrenaline and emotion almost overcoming him. He wanted to sit down, but there was nothing but open, white air around him. “God, I lost her. I left her. I couldn’t …couldn’t stick it.” His hands covered his face. “Goddamn.”

  Walking over to him, Trinity put her hand on his arm. “You love her.”

  “So much.”

  Trinity smiled gently and pressed his bicep. “She’s lucky, then. Very few people know what it’s like to rea
lly love or be loved. If you had that for a time, then that means everything.”

  She wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t take away the ache in his chest. Yes, he was lucky to have heard Hannah tell him that she loved him and to get to say it back to her, but he was going to miss out on a life with her. A family with her. Growing old with her. He had no idea how desperately he wanted all of those things until this moment—when it was too late.

  “Agnew did this,” Liam said, jerking his head up and looking at Trinity. “Why? Why did he do any of it?”

  Trinity’s face darkened, and she turned away. “He’s always been troubled. Warped. Isolated. I handled it all wrong, you know? I should have intervened. Stood up to him. Gotten him help. I was so afraid of him, though. I always knew that he had more power than he ever let on, but he said if I told anyone he would kill me. Well, I never told, and he killed me anyway, didn’t he?”

  “Why did you write my name?” Liam asked. At this point, he didn’t really care about that or anything other than the fact that he was separated from Hannah. But Trinity was here, and it might be his only chance to talk to her. He didn’t know what happened when people died.

  “Your name?” Trinity asked, looking back at him. “Oh. I used lots of names when I wrote about Agnew. Any name but his. If he ever found my writing, or if anyone in my family ever found it …God, that would have been terrible. I would pick a name and use it for months at a time.”

  Liam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “If you hadn’t used mine, I’d be alive.”

  “If I had done a lot of things, you’d be alive,” Trinity said, sighing. “If I had done a lot of things differently, I’d be alive, too. But it was Agnew who killed you—if you’re dead. Not me.”

  “I’m dead,” he said. “I’m sure of it. I was dying, and now I’m here, talking to a dead person. If you have any reason to think that I’m not actually dead, please explain it, so that I can go back to where I am alive, because Hannah is waiting, and she might be in trouble, and if she isn’t, then it’s because she’s won, and I should be there to hold her, and kiss her, and tell her that I love her.”

  “What makes her so special?” Trinity asked, walking around in the white light as she spoke. She lifted a hand, as though trying to touch the light. But her hand merely hung, suspended.

  “Everything,” Liam said. “Everything makes her special. She has powers you couldn’t imagine. But it’s not just that. It’s who she is. She’s sweet, and she’s tender, but she won’t take shit off anybody. She’s smart, and persistent, and compassionate, and funny. She’s everything. More than that …she makes me like the person I am. I feel more whole when I’m with her. As though there was always a part of me missing, and she was the piece. I just never knew it. I was never interested in another relationship because I was waiting for her. She’s it.”

  Trinity turned around in a slow circle, in awe over being able to see again. “You sound very sure.”

  “I am.”

  “I’m sorry that she’s lost to you, then,” Trinity said, stopping her slow spinning and turning to look at him. “But at least we have each other now. It’ll make eternity, if that’s what this is, a little easier. Not being so alone.”

  Liam watched skeptically as Trinity approached, then reached for his hand, taking it in hers. “I did have a soft spot for you, you know. Agnew never let me have relationships, but now …well, I guess now he can’t touch either of us anymore. And if you really are dead, and we were put together, then maybe that’s meant to be.”

  Liam pulled his hand from hers. “I just told you that I’m in love with someone, and I’ve just learned that I’m dead. And you think that asking me out is appropriate?”

  “I’m not asking you out,” Trinity said, shaking her head. “But I’ve been afraid, Liam. And now you’re here. And I remember that we were good together, in a way. I don’t want to be alone. Even before I was dead, I was alone. Don’t leave me alone anymore. Whatever you want us to be to each other—that’s fine. Just stay with me.”

  Trinity tried to put her arms around him, but Liam pushed her away. He felt sorry for her, but he had no interest in companionship with just anyone—not anymore. That wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

  “I want Hannah,” he said. “I’m sorry. I …I’m going to find a way back to her. I have to. This can’t be the end for us. You thought I wasn’t dead. I need to know if there’s any possibility that I’m not, and if there is, I need you to help me get back to Hannah, Trinity. Please?”

  “You want me to help you leave me,” Trinity said, her voice sounding hollow. “Why would you ask me to do that? You don’t have to love me, Liam. You could love her for the rest of eternity, and it wouldn’t matter. Just stay with me. Be with me. You didn’t love me before, but we were still together, weren’t we? I still made you happy.”

  Liam took a step back, shaking his head. “I’m going back, and if I can’t get back, then I’ll spend forever alone. Or however long I’m in this in-between place. I’m not—I won’t forget her so easily.”

  The look on Trinity’s face was heartbreaking, and Liam was not so coldhearted that he was unaffected by it. But he couldn’t just accept that he was stuck here forever, or accept that Trinity was now his companion for the rest of his …whatever he had left in front of him. It would be a betrayal to Hannah if he did that now or ever. He loved her. He finally knew what it was to love, and he wasn’t settling for anything less.

  He turned away from Trinity, putting her behind him, and he started to look through the whiteness, desperate for any hint of a path or anything of substance that might anchor him and help him know if he was dead, or stuck, or trapped somewhere waiting.

  Liam took a step, and then the world exploded around him.

  Chapter 36

  Hannah

  When the explosion took place, Hannah was certain that it was going to be the world crumbling down around them. That had been her one fear in killing Agnew—that his death would mean that everything snapped back into place, and they were buried far beneath the earth. The force of the explosion knocked Hannah flying, and she became disoriented, tumbling through the air and rushing through time and space far too fast. It was a nauseating feeling, and she began to get dizzy. Indiscernible shapes were flying all around her, and her vision began to blur at the edges, and then she landed hard on the ground, with no warning.

  It jolted her system, and Hannah lay there, staring up at nothing at all and gasping for air. The wind had been completely knocked out of her, and above her was only blackness. Was she dead? Had the final explosion killed her? Was she actually still underground?

  Where was Liam? The chances that he was alive were so slim that she couldn’t bear to think about it, but it was even worse to imagine that in their last moments they had been separated. Would she ever see him again? Would she be able to collect his body? Bury him?

  Tears filled her eyes, as she forced herself to acknowledge that Liam was dead. He must be dead. He had been seconds from death when she had killed Agnew, and then there was no way that he would have survived that explosion.

  Hannah sat up, feeling hollow and empty. Vaguely, she recognized that she was dressed again, somehow, in the clothes she had worn before falling down into the tunnel Agnew had created. She didn’t really care where she was or what she was wearing if Liam wasn’t going to be there with her, but she had to make some attempt to figure out her situation.

  When she sat up, Hannah was stunned that her vision began to clear and trees began to swim into view. It was dark out—like the pitch-dark of night. But she could see the outlines of the trees and the terrain around her, and she knew that she was in the bayou.

  Which meant that she was alive.

  She had been tossed up out of the earth, and she had landed in a place that she knew like the back of her hand. Hannah scrambled to her feet, her body tender from the blast but not terribly painful. Looking around, she once again told herself that she was safe
and only out in the midst of the bayou, but she could hardly believe it. If she was here—where was Liam?

  “Hannah?”

  The sound of his voice sent shivers through her, and Hannah whirled, seeing Liam’s outline, as he appeared between two trees. He was standing there, straight and tall, one hand braced on one of the trees, and her heart jumped into her throat. “Liam?”

  “Hannah,” he said, rushing towards her. He caught her in his arms, as she jumped into them, her own arms wrapping around his neck like a vise.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God—Liam. I thought you were dead. Why aren’t you? How can you possibly be …?”

  He laughed, the sound slightly strangled with emotion and with the strength of her grip on him. “Alive? I have no idea. I thought I was dead for sure. But Trinity—she knew I wasn’t. And then I was here. The world just blew up, and I was here.”

  Hannah pulled back, confused. “Trinity?”

  “I went to a place—a white place,” he said, framing her face in both hands and staring down at her face as though he couldn’t believe she was really there. “I don’t know where it was. But Trinity was there, and she was dead—obviously she was dead. And, I thought I was dead, and that I had lost you and God—Hannah.” Leaning down, he kissed her fiercely, wrapping her in his arms again.