Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart

by Mary K. Norris

  A nurse behind the front desk eyed them. Well, she eyed Merrick. She didn’t give Sydney the time of day.

  A stab of possessiveness went through her. She instantly shoved it away as Merrick went over to a far corner.

  She took a seat in one of the stiff-backed chairs. “We’re going to stay here and wait out the night?”

  Merrick didn’t take his eyes off the entrance. “We can take shifts sleeping. I’ll take first watch.”

  Something told her that she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. It wasn’t the constant noise or hushed voices, it was the atmosphere that put her on edge.

  “You can relax,” Merrick said after a few minutes of silence, startling her. “I’ll keep watch for Regina or anyone else that looks suspicious.”

  “Regina was the woman who shot at us?”

  Merrick nodded.

  “No offense, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep. My brain is a little overwhelmed right about now.” That was an understatement. She’d gone in knowing that they might have to fight more of Vander’s employees. But the escape she had imagined had been nothing like the chaotic run for their lives that she was currently experiencing. Not to mention being shot at was never a pleasant feeling. “I hope Luke’s okay,” she mumbled aloud.

  “That kid is resilient. I’m sure he’s fine.” He took his eyes off the front entrance to give her a small smile.

  Her heart did that stupid flip thingy again, her cheeks heating.

  She shifted in her seat, her mind going back to that moment where she thought Regina was going to shoot Merrick. She’d cried out before she’d even knew what was happening, the fear for Merrick’s life overwhelming her.

  Could it be possible that he was her Mirror Mate?

  Her stomach knotted with both dread and excitement.

  Joel’s anguished expression as the BART pulled away haunted her. He’d be so worried. She pulled out her phone before she realized that Joel wouldn’t get reception while the transit was traveling underground. She tucked her phone back into her pants and readjusted herself in her seat.

  “Are you going to tell me why you’re so fidgety or am I going to have to guess?” said Merrick.

  She crossed then re-crossed her legs, caught herself, and then glared at him.

  Amusement touched his face. “So I’m to guess? In that case I’d say it’s the hospital that’s got you uncomfortable and not our situation, which is curious considering that you told me you were a vet. Don’t you work in a clinical setting?”

  Sydney didn’t like his astuteness. “How did you get so good at reading people?”

  “I’m a PI. It comes with the territory.” He went back to watching the room at large. Sydney was just starting to relax when he spoke again. “So are you going to tell me why you don’t like hospitals?”

  So much for avoiding the question.

  She got the feeling that Merrick could wait out any question. Her fingers curled into fists. “They bring back old memories I’d rather not think about,” she confessed. Memories of Aaron with no hair being pushed in a wheelchair, his little bones sticking out against his skin, and the scent of sickness that seemed to permeate the air.

  “What happened?”

  “That’s none of your business,” she said curtly, though something inside of her said she could tell him — trust him. Still, she refused. She’d never even told Joel about her brother and now she was supposed to just open up to Merrick because she felt like it?

  She studied Merrick’s profile determined to find what it was that was drawing her in. There had to be some logical reasoning. His black hair was straggly, so that couldn’t be it, his face gaunt from his time as a prisoner — that most definitely couldn’t be it. Yet … he had a strong jaw line and the most captivating eyes she’d ever seen. Heat pooled in her belly. He was also brave and protective, a quick thinker too. Her gaze dropped to his hands. She remembered how warm they were around her own. Her breasts ached as if eager for his touch.

  Merrick stiffened.

  Sydney mentally slapped herself. What am I doing?

  “What is it?” she asked, glad her voice didn’t come out husky. She tried to ignore the throbbing of her body.

  Merrick gave the smallest nod to the far end of the ER. “See the janitor over there? This is his second time in here and his second time watching us.”

  Sydney instantly tensed. “You think he works for Vander?”

  “I don’t know.” Merrick’s head whipped around. “How do you know Vander?”

  Something like disappointment settled in her chest. He didn’t remember her?

  Come on, Sydney, that was three months ago and he was drugged up.

  She cleared her throat. “Three months ago my guild exposed the underground illegal fighting matches he held at his facility. We tried to bust the prisoners out but we didn’t have enough time. I … I saw you in one of the cells. You probably don’t remember me but — ”

  “I remember you.”

  Their eyes locked. Sydney’s breath caught. Everything she had been denying was right there staring back at her. Suddenly she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, her stomach filled with butterflies. Her gaze dipped to Merrick’s mouth. What would he taste like? She desperately wanted to know.

  She licked her lips.

  His eyes snagged on the movement. Lust sparked in his ice blue gaze. Sydney felt an answering spark inside her very center.

  If I just move a little closer …

  Merrick tore himself away.

  Sydney blinked. She was leaning heavily over the side of her seat. Mortification set in and she jerked back.

  Merrick’s face was carefully neutral. “So,” his voice was gruff, “how long have you and Joel … uh … been together?”

  Embarrassment and shame flooded her. He knew they were dating? She wanted to melt into a puddle right then and there. “Our three-year anniversary is coming up in a little over a week,” she said meekly, feeling even worse.

  Merrick’s knuckles briefly flashed white. “That’s a long time.”

  She picked at invisible lint on her pants. “It is.”

  A brief quiet settled over them.

  “You know, you’re really going to need to get some sleep. If you don’t you’re going to be too exhausted tomorrow to do anything.”

  “I know,” she sighed. “I just have to calm myself first, then I should be all right.”

  He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “It might help if you focused on something else other than whatever is bothering you.”

  The trouble was there were too many things bothering her. Her memories of Aaron, her relationship with Joel … him.

  “Why don’t you tell me about what kind of powers you have?” Merrick said. “You already know mine.”

  She smiled at the much-needed distraction. They were in a corner far enough away from the other patients that they wouldn’t be overheard. “I’m a Shielder. My power negates everyone else’s around me when I use them.”

  He looked mildly impressed. “So when that man grabbed you at the station you didn’t feel anything?”

  “No. What does he do anyway?”

  “He causes pain.”

  She swallowed thickly. “How long did Vander have you for before he moved you?”

  He shrugged. “There’s no way to keep track of time, but I’d guess a month give or take.”

  She processed that for a minute. Four months total. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to you,” she voiced the one regret that had been haunting her all summer. “We wanted to free you, the woman I was with and I, but we thought for sure you’d be rescued by the police. We never knew Vander moved you until we couldn’t find you in the hospital.”

  “You searched for me?”

  Her cheeks flamed. “Yeah.”

  He started to reach for her, then stopped. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his scrub pants. “Thank you.”

  She
didn’t know what to think of his small slip. Did he want to touch her like she did him? “Where are you from?”

  “Anaheim.”

  Her body traitorously perked up at the realization that he didn’t live very far from her. “Were you working on any big cases before Vander took you?”

  That half smirk was back on his face. “Are you interrogating me?”

  “It’s only fair after you questioned me during a rescue mission.”

  “In all fairness you didn’t answer all my questions.”

  “I did too,” she protested.

  “You told me you were rescuing me ‘out of the goodness of your heart,’ when really it sounds like you were doing it for your ‘guild.’”

  “Technically it’s both. The Guild of Truth has vowed to stop Vander at every turn, plus we wanted to save those that we let down back in Irvine.”

  “The Guild of Truth? As opposed to Vander’s Kratos Guild?”

  She stiffened in genuine surprise. “How do you know the name of Vander’s Guild?”

  He watched a nurse wheel a patient through the swinging double doors. “Because he wanted me to join it.”

  She gripped the arm of her chair. “And what did you say?”

  He gave her a flat stare. “What do you think I said? I denied him.”

  Sydney sagged in relief, the wheels in her brain turning. “Did he say why he wanted you to join?” If he was building another facility to run illegal fights then the guild needed to know about it. They needed to cut him off before he could even start.

  “He wanted me to find something for him — a journal from an old employee that’s in a coma.”

  Her stomach turned to ice.

  Her feelings must have shown on her face because Merrick turned his full attention to her. “What is it?”

  What were the odds? “I think I know which employee Vander is referring to.”

  “Who is it?”

  “His name is Kevin Bauer. He’s been in a coma for a few years now because my best friend, Felix, put him there. He was a full-forced Dreamer, someone with the ability to see the past, present, or future,” she explained at his puzzled expression. “Kevin’s Mirror Mate was a woman named Collette — she had a sick obsession with Felix and wanted him to love her. He didn’t and to punish him, Collette tried to have Kevin kill him. Felix fought back and nailed him in the head with a chair as he ran for his life. That’s why he’s in a coma.”

  Merrick cursed. “That’s some life your friend’s got there.”

  “That’s not the half of it. Three months ago Vander went after Felix’s Mirror Mate, Cali, because he thought she was his. He later found that he was mistaken, that Kevin had lied to him, but still he sent Collette after both of them. It was through this whole mix up that we formed the Guild of Truth. We learned of Vander’s dealings and vowed to stop him. Cali put a stop to Collette but Vander got away.”

  “Collette … ” Merrick frowned. “I know that name.”

  “She was Vander’s right-hand woman for a while. She could create Illusions with nothing but a thought and a wave of her hand.”

  The muscles in his neck strained as he clenched his jaw. “Now I remember that bitch. She was the one that lured me to her with a false case. She had all the documentation but when I touched the paperwork I couldn’t get a reading from it.”

  She nodded. “Probably because it wasn’t real.”

  He inhaled deeply as if to calm himself. “So Vander is looking for this journal that was written by a … Dreamer? Why?”

  “I wish I knew. We have a Dreamer in our guild, her name is Niella. She keeps a little notepad on her because I think it helps keep her sane. She’s never told me but I think she writes down everything she Dreams so she can differentiate between what she Dreamed and what is real. I can only imagine that Kevin did the same thing, writing down everything he was asked to Dream about.” That’s when it clicked. “He hasn’t given up on finding his Mirror Mate,” she whispered.

  “What?”

  She grabbed his arm. A flare of desire shot through her. Merrick’s eyes flashed. She released her hold. “Vander hasn’t given up looking for his Mirror Mate,” she repeated, trying to sort it out through her jumbled brain. “He went after Cali because he thought she was his Mirror Mate but when he found out she wasn’t, the guild and I thought he’d simply drop the issue. Now he’s looking for Kevin’s journal because I bet you anything he’s looking for any clue as to her whereabouts.”

  Merrick pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m trying to follow you but I’m a little confused about what a Mirror Mate is.”

  “A Mirror Mate is a destined soul mate of sorts. When the two individuals find each other and bond completely they increase each other’s power. That’s why Vander wants to find his so badly. He wants to expand his power.” She needed to tell the guild as soon as possible. If Felix’s theory proved true, then the whole reason Kevin lied to Vander about Cali was not only to get back at Felix, but to protect humanity from Vander ever becoming full-forced.

  “And how do you know who your Mirror Mate is?”

  Sydney’s mind was going a mile a minute. “Hm? Oh, usually there’s an instant connection. A deep awareness of each other after you set eyes on one another or touch.”

  His expression turned guarded. “What kind of connection?”

  As if against his will he trailed the back of his fingers along her forearm.

  Sydney repressed a shiver but she could tell he felt it.

  Those intelligent eyes watched her, taking in too much, putting together the pieces.

  Uh-oh.

  Did he know?

  Did he suspect, like she did, that they …

  She swallowed thickly.

  Chapter 6

  The tension between them was broken as the janitor wheeled over his cart.

  Merrick snatched his hand away and shot to his feet.

  Sydney could only sit there in a daze, her body humming beneath her skin.

  The janitor put his hands up, clearly startled at Merrick’s aggressiveness. He was an older man with graying hair and dark brown eyes. “I didn’t mean to startle you, son. I just thought that you’d want a more private room to rest between your shifts is all.”

  He gestured to Merrick’s scrubs.

  Sydney felt her eyebrows rise. Merrick shot her a “what do I do?” look and she had to hide her smile behind her fist.

  The janitor didn’t notice their hesitancy. “There’s a room in the back currently empty. It’s got a cot. I know it’s not much but it sure beats these piece of shit seats. Pardon my language.” He nodded in Sydney’s direction.

  She waved him off. She was more than used to Cali’s and Felix’s cursing. In fact, everyone in the guild had a pretty colorful vocabulary except her.

  She watched as Merrick mulled over the janitor’s offer.

  A few minutes later they were led back to a secluded room with dim lights and a scantily dressed cot. There were a few chairs and side tables, and a small TV mounted in one corner.

  Merrick moved a chair in front of the door. “I figured the further away from prying eyes, the better.”

  The cot was a little stiff. Sydney gave it an experimental bounce. “That sounds reasonable to me. I have to admit I’m a little surprised the janitor didn’t question you about working here — he just saw the scrubs and instantly assumed.”

  He took a seat across the room from her, near the door. “I know, he didn’t even say anything about my bare feet. In fact, look what he gave me.” He held up the blue coverings for shoes and slipped them over his feet.

  At least now it wouldn’t look so obvious that he wasn’t wearing shoes. And the whole ensemble did make him look like a surgeon, or at the very least a nurse.

  “You should probably get some sleep now,” he told her as he rested his ankle across his knee.

  She leaned back and tried to get comfortable. She wanted to bring up Vander again but didn’t know how to breach the subj
ect without including Mirror Mates. They had to find that journal first. If there was any clue in it as to where Vander’s soul mate would be, then they needed to get to it before he did.

  Sydney spent the next hour or so attempting to fall asleep. No such luck. Every time a nurse wheeled past their room she thought it was Vander’s people looking for them.

  A warm hand on her shoulder nearly had her jumping out of her skin.

  “Hey, it’s just me,” said Merrick.

  She sat up. “Is it my turn to watch?”

  He took a seat next to her on the cot, his body so close she could feel the heat from him. “No, it’s not your turn. You haven’t slept a wink.”

  “How did you know I wasn’t sleeping?”

  “Your breathing,” he said as if it were obvious.

  “If it’s not my turn to watch then why did you come over here?” Did her voice sound a tad nervous?

  “To try to help you fall asleep. Now, lie back down.”

  Her heart started to pound.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, seeing her terrified expression. “I’m not going to jump you.”

  Was that a stab of disappointment she just felt?

  Despite herself she looked at his crotch where there was obvious evidence that he did want to jump her.

  “You know, your staring at it isn’t going to make it any better.”

  Horrified, and with her cheeks burning, she went to scramble away.

  “Hey.” He caught her easily. “You don’t have to run.” He put a pillow in his lap and patted it. “Try resting your head against me.”

  She stared at him incredulously. Was he kidding?

  He smirked. “I’m serious. Give it a chance, for five minutes at least. If you can’t fall asleep then I’ll go back to my side of the room. Fair?”

  She kept eyeing his lap.

  Why are you so scared? You’ve cuddled with Felix tons of times. This is no different.

  Then why did it feel like she was betraying Joel?

  “Five minutes,” she conceded and curled up on the cot. She hesitated before letting her head rest against the pillow. Her shoulder pressed against the side of his thigh, the heat of him calming a tension deep inside of her.

  She focused on his steady breathing and found her eyelids drooping.