Prevail

by Wendi Wilson

  I opened my mouth to say something, I wasn’t really sure what, but my phone vibrated in my pocket a split second before it started ringing out loud. Everyone took a step back to give me some room as I fished it from my pocket.

  I looked at the screen, my heart skipping a beat, before turning the phone outward so the others could see.

  “It’s him.”

  “Put it on speaker,” Jett said.

  I tapped the green icon, then tapped the speakerphone picture. Before I could even say hello, Dr. Patton’s voice echoed through the room.

  “You little bitch! You didn’t persuade him to do what I say!”

  A feline smile curved my lips upward. “You told me to get you the meeting. I did that.”

  “You knew I needed persuasion to turn him against Alts. He laughed me out of his office when I suggested he make an executive order to kill them all!”

  His own shouting and harsh breathing must’ve muffled his hearing because he didn’t acknowledge the gasps that echoed through our room. He continued on a tirade about hurting me, my boys, my parents, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But I wasn’t listening.

  Three things registered in my mind as he continued his blubbering. One, he thought he still held power over me. Two, he said “them” when referring to Alts, which spoke volumes. He didn’t lump me in with them. And three, just as I had always suspected, he was certifiably insane.

  Did he really try to convince the president of the United States to perform a mass genocide? A president who gives himself a leg up over everyone by using those same people the doctor wants him to kill? Even if I had persuaded President Worth to obey him, that order would never have been enacted. He’d be blocked and impeached, immediately.

  As if he read my thoughts, he rambled on, “I know, for a fact, that his Alts have persuaded congress and most of the senate to vote with him, no matter what. It would have been so simple! When I get my hands on you—”

  “You’re not going to touch her,” Wyatt growled, cutting off his tirade.

  “Oh, is that one of my dear nephews?” Dr. Patton barked. “Good. I’m glad you’re together. They can watch while I punish you for defying me. Then you can watch while I destroy them in the name of our lord God in Heaven.”

  I stabbed at the red icon on the screen, ending the call. I refused to sit and listen to his empty threats any longer. We were stronger together and he wouldn’t find us so easy to manipulate now that we were done playing his games. There was too much at stake.

  It wasn’t just my family he was threatening. We had to stop him.

  “We need a plan,” I said, tossing my phone to the bed.

  “I say we kill him,” Jett proposed, grinding a fist into his opposite palm.

  I wasn’t sure if Jett was actually serious, but I had to admit, his suggestion had merit. I shook myself, brushing off the sense of satisfaction the mere idea of killing that man gave me.

  “We can’t kill anyone,” I proclaimed. “Not even that slimy bastard,” I added, nudging my shoulder against Jett’s.

  “Savanna is right,” my dad said, his voice stern. “No matter what he’s done, murder is murder.”

  “Sorry, Mr. James,” Jett murmured. “I wasn’t being serious. I was just daydreaming.”

  His words seemed to satisfy my dad, who backed off to talk to my mom privately. I shot Jett a knowing look and he smirked at me. He was being one hundred percent, totally serious. If the opportunity presented itself and he thought he could get away with it, he’d watch his uncle breathe his last breath.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Wyatt, pat your head.”

  My parents ran out to go pick up some essentials at the store, leaving the rest of us to ourselves. After several admonishments to stay hidden at the motel, we finally convinced them we’d be fine. We had no plans to try to confront Dr. Patton. At least, not yet.

  “Wyatt, stop patting your head.”

  As poor Wyatt continued to pat his head with a frown on his face, Lizzie groaned. We decided to practice her persuasion-breaking ability, which required me to persuade someone to begin with. I’d been making Wyatt do stupid stuff for a half an hour, to no avail.

  “Wyatt, you can stop,” I said, and he dropped his arm with a relieved sigh.

  “Maybe the stakes aren’t high enough,” Jett suggested.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You know,” he said. “Remember the first time you used persuasion?”

  I did. I was with Jett and he was playfully stalking me. I didn’t know him that well and it made me nervous. I lost it and yelled at him to stop. He froze in his tracks and couldn’t move until I drummed up enough emotion to reverse the order.

  “You’re right.” I looked at Lizzie. “When you broke their persuasion, your emotions were running high. That’s how it was for me at the beginning. I couldn’t stop it from happening when I was angry or scared, and I couldn’t make it happen unless I had heightened emotions, either. Not until I figured it out with a lot of practice.”

  “So how do we make the stakes higher? Get her emotionally involved?” Beckett asked.

  I thought about it for a minute, and the first things I could think of that made Lizzie show real emotion were named Silas and Slade. Something was going on with them, something that made Lizzie Williams blush. If that wasn’t an emotional response, I didn’t know what was.

  I looked at Lizzie. “I have an idea, but you have to promise not to get mad.”

  “What is it?” she asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

  “You have to promise,” was my only reply.

  “How can I promise not to be mad when you won’t tell me what it is?” When my only response was a hard stare, she threw her hands in the air. “Fine. I promise.”

  I took a deep breath before shooting an apologetic glance at my boys. Jett arched a brow and the other two just looked confused. I mouthed the words “trust me,” and turned to focus my attention on Slade.

  “Can you please go stand by the door?” I asked.

  He complied, no persuasion needed, a curious expression on his face. I moved over to the far wall, putting as much distance as possible between us. My heart started thumping in my chest.

  I hope I don’t end up regretting this.

  “Slade,” I said aloud, infusing power into the words, “When I say the word go, I want you to walk toward me slowly, counting to three between each step. If you reach me, you have to kiss me.”

  His eyes seemed to glaze over as he nodded. Simultaneously, the room exploded with denials and my name being echoed by several people. I ignored them all, except for Lizzie. I looked at her, my eyes begging her to believe in herself.

  “You can stop him. I know you don’t want him to kiss me any more than I do.” My look turned knowing, and she reddened a bit. “Feel the emotion, wrangle it, push it out of you. That’s it.”

  Wyatt, Beckett, and Jett had quieted, but they still wore unhappy expressions. I smiled at them and, completely synchronized, they shook their heads at me. They didn’t like it, but they wouldn’t interfere.

  I looked back at Slade and widened my stance. “Go.”

  “One, two, three,” he counted before taking a step forward.

  “Slade, stop,” Lizzie said.

  “One, two, three.” Another step.

  “Slade, stop. The persuasion is broken.”

  “One, two, three.”

  It was not a large room, and his three steps had brought him halfway across already. My palms started to itch. I started to second-guess myself, unsure how far I should let this go. I really, really didn’t want to kiss Slade Madsen.

  “Stop,” Lizzie ordered, her voice firmer.

  Another count. Another step.

  “Slade, please.”

  Another step and he was only a few feet away.

  “Lizzie, he’s going to kiss me. Has he kissed you, yet? Do you want to see his lips on mine? When you haven’t even felt them yourself?”

&n
bsp; “One, two, three.”

  Lizzie’s arms straightened at her sides and her breath huffed in and out. I could almost see the anger pouring off of her. She was royally pissed. I was going to be in so much trouble with my new friend.

  “Now, Lizzie!” I shouted. “Break the persuasion!”

  When she didn’t respond, I opened my mouth to give Slade the order to stop. No way was I going to let him actually kiss me. I had to speak fast, before it was too late.

  “Slade, stop!”

  Lizzie screamed it, every ounce of emotion she felt exploding from her like a volcano. Time stopped as Slade’s mouth paused a few inches from mine. So close, I could feel his breath against my skin. Too close.

  His eyes widened and he jerked back, striding across the room like he couldn’t get away from me fast enough. His face was red as he stared at the floor, glancing up at Lizzie through his lashes every few seconds.

  “You did it!” I exclaimed, clapping my hands.

  Lizzie growled at me.

  “You promised,” I reminded her.

  I didn’t really expect her to not be upset with me. I’d basically outed her feelings for at least one of the Madsen brothers without her permission. I felt guilty about that, I really did, but it was the only thing I could think of that would work.

  When she didn’t respond, I tried again. “Lizzie, I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.”

  “Can you guys please leave us alone for a while?” Silas asked, drawing everyone’s attention.

  I nodded as my boys stood and followed me to the door. Before we walked out, I turned to Lizzie, Silas, and Slade and apologized again. The boys nodded, not really a sign of forgiveness, but an acknowledgment, at least. Lizzie refused to budge from her angry stance.

  Jett pulled me through the door and closed it softly behind us. With a firm grip on my elbow, he pulled me through the door to the other motel room, which Wyatt was holding open for us.

  Time to pay the piper.

  “Would you have let him kiss you?”

  I looked at Beckett, and the hurt in his eyes nearly did me in. I ran forward, locking my arms around his waist.

  “No, of course not. I was about to stop him, but Lizzie beat me to it.”

  “You must have wanted it on some level, or you wouldn’t have thought of it.”

  I released Beckett and flipped around in an instant, my temper exploding. I stalked forward, poking Jett in the chest. My chest heaved in anger as I spoke through clenched teeth, “That is the worst thing you’ve ever said to me. I’ve never wanted anyone besides you three. Never before, never after. You’re it for me.” I pulled the necklace they gave me out from beneath my shirt and read the inscriptions. “Always together, devoted forever.”

  “That’s how we feel about you,” Wyatt said from my left.

  I kept my eyes on Jett as I replied, “And I, you. Never doubt that.”

  I was suddenly in his arms, his lips warm and demanding against mine. My anger drained away in an instant. I ran my hands up his chest, my fingertips exploring the muscles as they made their way up, over his shoulders and into his hair. Groaning, he pulled back a couple of inches to look into my eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “It made me crazy, watching him get so close to kissing you.”

  I pressed my lips against his and pulled back. “I’m sorry, too. I kept seeing little glances and blushes between the three of them. I figured something was going on and thought I could use whatever it was to teach Lizzie to use the power.”

  A hand on my wrist drew my attention and I looked over at Wyatt’s smiling face.

  “My turn,” he said, pulling me out of Jett’s embrace.

  Laughter burst out of me as he lifted my hand into the air and twirled me into his arms. His hands slid down over the cheeks of my butt, pulling me into him so that our bodies were flush against each other. My humor died just as quickly as it came.

  Heat. Need. Desire. Those are the things I felt as his lips claimed me, his tongue delving in to taste the inside of my mouth. A moan vibrated between us, but we were so close I wasn’t sure if it came from him or me.

  I jerked as a body pressed against my back and a warm mouth nipped at my neck. Looking to the side, I saw Beckett’s face, his eyes closed in pure bliss as his tongue licked at my skin. Suddenly, Wyatt’s mouth was on the opposite side of my throat, sending shivers of pleasure through each one of my nerve endings.

  I met Jett’s eyes over Wyatt’s shoulder, expecting to see anger, disgust, even jealousy… but I saw none of those. Pure, unadulterated lust shone there, the silver rings around his irises nearly glowing. He opened his mouth and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. A jolt of pleasure shot straight to my core.

  “Wait,” I breathed, so quietly a normal person may not have heard it.

  But my boys did. A chill rushed over my body as Wyatt and Beckett’s body heat deserted me. I stumbled to the bed, sitting on the edge while trying to get my shit together. Short bursts of air puffed past my lips as my heart threatened to pound out of my chest.

  “Savanna, I… I’m so sorry.”

  I looked at Beckett, studying his red face and guilty expression. “For what?”

  “I don’t know what happened,” he said, rubbing his fingertips across his brow. “You were kissing Wyatt and I…”

  He trailed off, but Jett finished for him. “He got so turned on, he couldn’t resist touching you.”

  Jett’s words caused heat to course through my body. I looked at Beckett, who nodded once to confirm his brother’s words.

  “I know, because I felt it, too,” Jett added.

  “And are you also sorry?” I asked.

  A slow, delicious smile spread across Jett’s face. He shook his head slowly, his eyes telling me he’d never be sorry for wanting me. I smiled back before looking at Wyatt.

  “What about you? Are you sorry?”

  “Hell, no,” Wyatt replied, grinning.

  I looked at Beckett. “Jett’s not sorry. Wyatt’s not sorry. And me? I’m sure as hell not sorry. So, why are you?”

  The corner of Beckett’s mouth lifted slightly. “I guess I’m not,” he said. “You just stopped us, and you looked upset, and I felt like it was my fault.”

  “I wasn’t upset,” I admitted. “I felt many things but upset definitely wasn’t one of them.” I grinned at him before letting the smile drop. “Seriously though, it was a little overwhelming and I’m not sure if I’m quite ready for something that…”

  “Kinky?” Wyatt supplied when I couldn’t find the word.

  I grabbed the pillow from the bed behind me and chucked it at his head. He dodged it with a laugh and I shook my head at him.

  “Thanks a lot for reminding me of my mother and her embarrassing sex rules right now,” I said. “And no, that was not what I was trying to say. Intense was the word I was looking for.”

  They each nodded, understanding shining in their eyes. I had no idea how I ever got so lucky.

  A knock sounded at the door.

  “Savanna? You in there? We’re coming in.”

  Laughter bubbled out of me as the door swung inward and my parents strolled through the opening, shopping bags in hand. The boys tried to keep a straight face, but Wyatt failed, of course.

  “What’s so funny?” Mom asked.

  “Nothing,” I said. “We were just talking about you, and you appeared. That’s all.”

  “Oh yeah? What were you saying?” she asked, setting her bags on the bed beside me.

  “Oh, we were just wondering how much longer you’d be,” Beckett said, backing toward the door.

  “Yeah,” Wyatt added. “Savanna really wants to tell you how she finally got Lizzie to use her power to break persuasion.”

  I glared at him so hard, the fires of hell should have sprung up and devoured him in their unholy flames. He just grinned, cocking a brow at me.

  “We’ll see you later, Savanna,” Jett said, opening the door and shoving his brother t
hrough.

  Beckett brought up the rear, giving me a soft smile and a slight wave as he slipped out, closing the door behind him. Dad plopped down at the small table, crossing one leg over the other.

  “So, how did you teach Lizzie to use it?” he asked.

  Traitors, I thought, then began to explain what I’d done.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Do you hate me now?”

  When we’d all piled into the vehicles to grab some dinner at the closest fast food joint, Lizzie had ignored me, climbing into the car with my parents while I rode in the van with all the boys. I’d questioned Silas and Slade on the ride over, but they remained tight-lipped, refusing to answer any of my questions.

  So, when she headed straight for the restroom, I told the boys to order for me and followed her in. Thankfully, it was empty save for the two of us. I blocked the door with my body so no one could come in. And so Lizzie couldn’t escape.

  “Please, talk to me,” I pleaded when she refused to respond or look at me.

  Taking a deep breath and huffing it out, she turned to face me. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped a foot in irritation.

  “That was a dirty trick,” she said.

  I extended my arms, palms up. “I’m sorry, Lizzie. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I guess I didn’t really think it through.”

  “What even made you think of it?”

  “Well,” I answered, taking a small step forward, “I noticed some looks and blushes between the three of you. I assumed you had a thing for one— or both— of them and using that emotion would break through the block holding back your ability.”

  “Well, you were right,” she said, not looking happy about it.

  “Right about the block, or right about you having a thing for them?”

  She frowned at me. “Both.”

  Despite her grumpy response, I squealed with delight. “I knew it! Silas and Slade are great. Really. They are so nice and I bet they’d treat you like a princess.”