Secrets of the Sleeper: True Nature Series: Book One

by Karen Lynn Bennett

  “Of course, I’m one lucky guy, as well! Perhaps I should take a closer look at all your friends, dearie. His aura is almost as beautiful as yours! Whatever you are, you two are amazingly similar. The Collector is going to be so happy! Of course there may be a little family drama for a bit, but I’m sure he’ll be pleased just the same. I don’t know how I never noticed him before!”

  I stared at Zander. He was like me? I choked back a sob and scooted closer, ignoring my own pain. He looked broken. Anger swept through me like brush fire.

  “Idiot!” I yelled. “You might have killed him. I think he broke something.” Gritting my teeth against the pain from my ankle, I felt for his pulse. I sighed in relief when I picked up a strong beat.

  “Oh, good! I was hoping he broke something.” Dante’s voice went up a couple of octaves. “I wouldn’t want him trying to escape before your ride comes. Now sit tight. I need to run out to the road and make a call. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in just a few minutes.” The trapdoor closed.

  “Zander!” I had to wake him up. If we didn’t want to be collected, we needed to get out of here before Dante came back. Yeah, it was a long shot, but Zander was bound to have an idea to get us out of here. And if that dream told me anything, it was that Zander had some secret abilities that would help.

  “Zander!” I wrapped his face in my hands, shaking him gently. I wasn’t sure what was broken, but I suspected he might have dislocated his shoulder.

  He didn’t budge. Whatever Dante did to him really knocked him out. I looked around the room again for anything to help me. A pack of water bottles sat on one of the shelves. I crawled across the floor, dragging my broken ankle, spewing as many Ruthie cusswords as I could remember. I pulled the bottles down and slowly made my way back. Pausing next to Zander, I carefully poked at my ankle only to find that it had been replaced by a grapefruit. I wondered if I should take off my shoe. No, I’d deal with it later.

  Taking the lid off one of the bottles, I hung it over Zander’s face. It seemed cruel to wake him up to what was sure to be excruciating pain. But, then again, if I didn’t, we were definitely becoming museum pieces.

  Biting my lip, I tipped the bottle, letting the water splash over his face.

  He woke up sputtering, trying to move away from the water. But when he moved, he yelped. As sorry as I was that he was hurt and stuck down here with me, a thrill went through me, making me chuckle.

  “Agh!” he moaned, trying to sit up, but it must have hurt too much because he let out a sharp gasp and lay back down. “That wasn’t funny! What the hell happened?”

  I realized suddenly that he couldn’t see me. The room was completely dark.

  “Zander! It’s me. I’m here with you.” I rested one hand on his chest gently, not sure where he hurt.

  “Tru?” He was turned on his side because his hands were tied behind his back. “Oh hell, he got me, didn’t he? Man! How?”

  “Don’t feel too badly. When he touches people, they pass out.”

  “I didn’t see that one coming. You tried to warn me, didn’t you?” He attempted to get up again, but fell back breathing hard.

  “Don’t move,” I said. “I think you broke something when he dropped you down here.”

  “He dropped me through that hole? Is that how you hurt your ankle?”

  My jaw dropped in shock. “How did you know I broke my ankle?” Even though I knew how from my dream, I hadn’t quite connected it with reality. The fact that he was here should have proven to me the truth of what I had witnessed, but I couldn’t quite make that leap yet.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Seriously, so many weird things have been happening to me today. I could just, I don’t know, sense it, I suppose.”

  “I know.”

  “You know?”

  “I mean, I’ve been learning so much suddenly, too. And then I dreamed that you were talking with your friend Conrad, and—”

  “You dreamed that?”

  “Yeah…weird, I know. It’s almost too much to believe, but just before you opened the trapdoor, I woke up. In the dream you were at my house and at the school, searching for me, and then you could feel my pain… I know that sounds crazy…I’m afraid I might still be dreaming…”

  Zander shook his head. “No. You’re right! I know I have a lot of explaining to do. And I have a lot of questions for you. But first things first.”

  I knew he couldn’t see me, but his face was turned toward me and it almost seemed like he was looking right at me. Tears were slipping down my cheeks and I was glad he couldn’t see them.

  “Tru,” he continued, “I want you to know that you’re important to me. I haven’t been messing with you. In fact, I think that whatever has been going on between us—whatever this is—I think it’s been going on for a long time. I think you’re the reason I came here in the first place. I just didn’t know it until now.”

  I didn’t know how much I wanted to hear something like that until he said it. The floodgates opened and I dropped my head into my hands with a sob.

  “Shh…don’t cry.”

  “I don’t know why I’m crying! I care about you, too, but I was just so confused. Dante said you were playing me. I hated you. And now this!”

  He tried to pull his arms apart and bit back a cry. “Yeah,” he panted. “My shoulder may be broken.” He lay still for a moment. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. But, first, I want to know what he’s done to you. Did he touch you—”

  “No! No, thank God!”

  Dante hadn’t gone there, thank goodness. The thought had crossed my mind that he would, especially when he’d thrown out that “let’s get to know each other” comment.

  Zander let out a long sigh. “I was so worried. I looked everywhere for you.”

  “I don’t even know where I am, so how did you find this place?”

  “Again,” said Zander, “all I can say is that I just knew, or I guess I just felt where you were and followed my way here. I know that sounds really weird, but I can’t explain it any other way.”

  Wow. Maybe that was one of his special powers or something. “Okay…Dante was right, you’re gifted, too. You must have abilities like him, like me…although I don’t do anything special, just see in the dark…” I was rambling. I let that sentence die in the darkness between us.

  There was a long pause.

  Finally he spoke, and I let out the breath I was unconsciously holding. “I don’t think that’s my gift, although it’s pretty cool—”

  “So you have them!”

  “Yeah, but…that’s not what I do, at least until now.”

  “But you found me! You could tell what was wrong with me! That’s not normal, right? Maybe you find people!”

  “Tru, it’s only ever happened with you.”

  That shut me up. What did that mean? Only me?

  He squinted. “Wait a minute. Did you say you could see in the dark? Because, that could be pretty useful right now.” He tried to pull his wrists apart, but grunted in pain. “Damnit!” He breathed hard, through the pain. “My shoulder is really killing me. I can’t do anything with it like this!” He tried to sit up again. “Agh!”

  “Here, let me help you.” I scooted closer, letting our hips touch, and helped him to sit up and lean against me, almost in my lap. We both paused to sigh loudly as that blissful hum enveloped us, blocking out the pain of our injuries for a moment.

  “So not the way I imagined the next time in your arms,” Zander said with a chuckle.

  What the fried chicken? Did he just say what I thought he said?

  When I remained silent, he tried to twist around to see me, which jostled his shoulder, causing him to suck in a ragged breath. “I don’t suppose you could untie my wrists?” he asked.

  Tears were leaking out of my eyes again. I wasn’t sure if it was the gratitude that I wasn’t down here alone, the “in each other’s arms” comment, or that I could see how much he was hurting. Strangely, my shoulder was be
ginning to throb and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold him up much longer.

  “I’m so sorry you followed me here,” I croaked, tears clogging my throat. Gently, I held his shoulder, afraid to cause more pain if I moved him to get to the rope around his wrists. I let my head lean into his, wishing that he was all better, that his shoulder was fixed, that we were both better and leaving this place. I just knew that he would have been able to get us out of here if he wasn’t so injured. I sent a quick prayer up toward heaven to fix Zander.

  “Tru—” Before he could say more, warmth spread from my fingertips. I gasped. Golden strings of light were wrapping around him, concentrating on his injured shoulder.

  Zander’s body clenched, and he unconsciously grabbed my leg just above my swollen ankle. I cried out as all the muscles in my body tightened and my teeth clenched.

  When we both started breathing again, we were sprawled out on the floor and I immediately noticed Zander’s hands were no longer tied. The rope lay off to the side, the bindings torn. He sat up easily this time and, with a quick rip, broke the rope wound around his ankles.

  “What just happened?” I demanded. “How did you do that?”

  Zander laughed, joy in his voice. “Awesome! Now I get it!” He reached out to me, feeling for my arm. As soon as he touched me, he smiled and looked into my eyes. Looked into my eyes. I realized he could see me.

  “How? How can you see me?”

  “I don’t know, but when you touched me, like skin to skin, I started noticing the shelves across the room. I thought I was just becoming accustomed to the dark. But when you let go, the lights went out again. Tru, you are amazing!”

  I smiled, not understanding where this was going, but grateful he seemed happy with me.

  “What are you talking about?”

  He rested a hand on my cheek. “Remember your hands at school? How they magically healed? Remember your arm in your backyard? How it healed?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “You! Tru! It’s you! You healed me. You healed yourself!”

  Was it possible?

  “Okay,” I said. “That would be a cool power.” I thought about what Dante said I did for Bobby. Could it be true?

  Zander laughed loudly, and then sobered, glancing toward the trapdoor. “And now, I’m going to kill that crazy bastard!” He stood up, pulling me with him. My ankle felt completely normal.

  “He’s not up there. He said he was going to the road to make a call. But that was awhile ago. He could be back any second.”

  “Perfect!” Zander’s grin was predatory. “Now you’re going to find out what I can do.”

  He pulled me into his arms, hugging me tightly. I squeezed back, burying my face in his neck, enjoying the spicy scent of him. He pulled back and tilted my chin up.

  “We have a lot to talk about, but I want you safe and as far away from this psycho as possible. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I agreed, drinking in his blue eyes and messy hair.

  Then he let go of my arm. “Stand back there by that shelf.”

  “You can see it?” I asked.

  “I remember where the door is.”

  “But, it’s pitch black in here.”

  “Just stand back. I don’t want you to get hurt if I knock something down.”

  I backed up to the shelf, unsure what Zander planned on doing.

  With a grin, he leaped up toward the trapdoor. I gasped as he broke through and grabbed onto the edge of the floor. He pulled himself up and wrenched open the rest of the door. A second later, a long ladder was lowered down to me.

  With a giddy exclamation of “Sweet!” I climbed out of the cellar.

  Zander snatched me up as soon as I reached the floor. He ran his hands down my arms, then my sides and legs, confirming that I was indeed healed. By the time he looked me in the eyes again, my face was beet red. He laughed, cupping the sides of my face.

  “I love the way you blush at everything.” He further shocked me by dropping a swift kiss on my nose. “You really did it! You really healed us! You’re amazing!”

  There was so much I didn’t understand, but being surrounded by my blue-eyed boy was one of the happiest moments in my life. However, it was over as soon as it started.

  A car engine rolled up to the cabin. We pulled apart.

  Zander kept me next to him as he quickly assessed the room. On the other side of the trapdoor, now just a ragged hole in the ground, sat a wood-burning stove and rack of fireplace tools. Zander ran over and grabbed the iron poker.

  “Get behind the door,” he whispered. We could hear footsteps approaching. I slipped across the room and flattened myself against the wall between the doorjamb and the window. Zander headed over to the door, lifting the iron poker.

  Out of the Fire

  Zander didn’t give Dante a second chance to surprise him. When he stepped into the cabin, Zander was already swinging his weapon. But the guy had quick reflexes. He must have glimpsed something from the window. He ducked and rolled, missing a deathly blow by millimeters. Dante quickly scrambled to his feet, already reaching behind his back. He came up with a pistol before Zander could take another swing.

  “No!” I gasped as Dante leveled the gun at Zander’s head. His eyes radiated pure panic and I knew any hope of escape was disintegrating fast. I felt completely helpless and tried to move closer to Zander, but a small shake of his head stopped me.

  “Don’t even think about it, superman,” warned Dante as Zander took a step. “Why don’t you toss that stick of yours over there.” He pointed to the left, away from me.

  I met Zander’s eyes for a second. Sadness. Regret. Disgust. He threw the rod against the far wall.

  Dante laughed, still pointing the gun at him. “Wow. I totally wasn’t expecting that. Seriously. You really surprised me. And look at you two!” He waved the gun between Zander and me. “You’re all fixed up! How do you think that happened, I wonder? Well, I can’t wait to find out, I must say.”

  “What do you want from us?” grunted Zander.

  Dante’s eyes darted between Zander and me. “She didn’t tell you? Well, I suppose you haven’t had that much time to catch up, being tied up and broken and unconscious… Anyway, you two are my golden tickets. I wonder how they’ll classify you.”

  He tilted his head to the side, staring at us.

  “I mean, you aren’t anything I’ve seen before. I’ve been thinking, and I’m not sure if you’re Idimmu anymore. But whatever you are, The Collector is going to be extremely pleased. Which means he’ll be extra nice to me!” His eyes sparkled avariciously. “By the way, how did you get out of my cellar?”

  “You should have stayed away a little longer,” Zander muttered.

  Dante cackled. “Sorry about that. But I got everything tidied up quickly once I found a patch of cell service. The Collector was very interested in you two. To be honest, I’ve never heard him so excited about one of my catches. Yes, he’s going to be very happy with me, especially once he learns who you are.” Dante waved the gun at Zander. “I couldn’t resist holding out on him about that.” He cackled. “And to think I almost lost you. I really am lucky!”

  I racked my brain for a plan. Obviously, Zander had some kind of super strength. Could he knock Dante unconscious before he did the same to him? Could I do something to Dante?

  Zander inched toward Dante.

  Dante narrowed his eyes. “Whoa, there. Not another millimeter. I’m so not messing around.” His voice had gone deadly. “I’m a very good shot, and I’m okay with just bringing in one of you if it comes to that.”

  Zander raised his hands. “Whatever your boss is giving you, I can double it.” He stepped forward.

  Dante laughed and swung his arm over to me. “That’s too funny! But I said, no moving! Either of you!” The gun was directed straight at my head, but Dante never took his eyes off Zander.

  Suddenly I was so pissed. I mean, who did he think he was? I thought of my mom, how some stupi
d lunatic took her from me. No way was I going to let something like that happen again. With one last determined look at Zander, who seemed to be begging me not to move, I launched myself at Dante, the momentum throwing both of us toward the cellar.

  At this point, my mind compartmentalized all three of our actions as if in slow motion. Dante noticed my attack a fraction of a second before I reached him. Zander moved toward us so fast, he was almost a blur. But he wasn’t faster than the bullet. The gun went off.

  “No!” Zander roared, grabbing at me as I sailed with Dante toward the hole in the ground.

  Dante fell backward over the edge, one leg still on the floor and the other dangling over the hole. He grabbed at me, catching my hair while Zander snatched at my ankle. For just a second I was being pulled in opposite directions. With a painful rip, Dante fell backward, dropping head first into the pit.

  Zander pulled me away from the hole, shaking and holding me tightly. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine, I think.” The back of my scalp stung. He must have pulled out a chunk of hair. I was probably bald on one side of my head.

  “It’s him we need to worry about,” I said. He steadied me before letting go. We both peered down into the dark hole.

  Dante lay in a halo of light, unmoving. The gun was still clenched in one hand, a chunk of blond hair in the other.

  Zander rushed down the ladder, carefully lifting the gun from Dante’s grip before he gained consciousness. He peered closely at the limp form, then up at me.

  I knew before he said anything. I could see that Dante’s neck was bent at an impossible angle.

  “Don’t touch him,” I said. I could tell he wanted to check for a pulse. But we both knew he was dead. “We don’t know if he can still zap you.”

  “I doubt it, but let’s not test it.” He climbed back up the ladder and pulled it up with him. “Let’s get you home. I’ll have Peter take care of this.”

  But I wasn’t really listening. I had backed away from the cellar, pain spreading across my abdomen. I sat in a nearby chair, dazed. I pulled my hand away from my shirt as Zander stared at me. My hand came away covered in blood.