The Twelfth Keeper Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Belle Malory

  Oz handed it back to her. “There’s your answer.”

  A slow, dark haze disrupted her line of vision. It was official, she wanted Phoenix dead. She would kill him herself, if she had to. Snow was everywhere. There had to be a way to manipulate it.

  There wasn’t much they could do at this point either. Agents had spotted them as soon as they pulled up, and they were already treading towards their vehicle. They could try to run, but probably wouldn’t succeed, plus Nika would have to leave her aunt behind, and Kennedy doubted she’d be okay with doing that.

  Nika climbed out the door and drew her hands up over her head. A blast of air came out of nowhere, shaking the car. It knocked the agents off their feet, tumbling into the snow. Apparently this was Nika’s way of letting them know she wasn’t happy with the situation.

  “What. Just. Happened.”

  Oh right.

  Oz.

  Kennedy cleared her throat, feeling a little uncomfortable. She’d never been in this situation before, never had to explain the things they could do. So far she’d been the only one who needed explanations, and boy how she remembered listening to those all too clearly. No explanation could overcome the shock of seeing someone manipulate an element. “So, um. Yeah. There is a reason why we’re keepers. They don’t pick your average Joe for this kind of position.”

  Oz lifted a shaky hand and pointed it towards the scene unfolding outside of the car. “Wind. It was like a massive wind.

  She had been in his shoes not long ago. Watching Alanna freeze water right before her eyes, and then watching Colton melt it back down hadn’t been an easy thing to process.

  “Let me be the first to tell you, buddy, you’re gonna need some time to digest this. We’ll talk more later.” Kennedy opened the door and jumped out, Oz still mumbling shock-induced ramblings behind her.

  She hurried towards the house, hearing the sound of Nika screeching. Eva was there on the porch, a troubled look pulling her mouth into a frown.

  “Kennedy, there you are,” called a familiar voice from behind. “Wait up just a moment.”

  She spun around, looking through the crowd. A man in a military uniform pushed through, trying to catch up to her. She didn’t know him very well, but recognized him from Level 3. It was General Vickard’s son. He’d been promoted to sergeant since the last time they spoke so she rarely saw him around anymore.

  “Hey, Deacon. What’s going on?”

  He rested a hand on her arm, steering her to the side. “We need some information. The woman who lives here isn’t talking, and by the sound of it, Miss Orlov isn’t being cooperative either.” He tilted his head at the sound of Nika’s raised voice. “Do you mind answering a few questions for me?”

  “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not answering anyone’s questions until I figure out what the hell is going on. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Professor Mason promised me time to convince Nika to come back on her own. No one has the right to force her.”

  “I’m afraid that’s not true,” said another voice.

  Dr. Sigly appeared out of nowhere, a small briefcase in her hands. Kennedy almost groaned at the sight of her.

  “Dominika is a ward of the military. Her residence is unique, considering her position, but she doesn’t have the right to choose her own residence. Professor Mason should have known better than to tell you otherwise.”

  How could that be? Nika was an adult. She had turned eighteen earlier this year. “Are you saying all the keepers are wards of the military?”

  If that was the case, there was going to be a problem. This was supposed to be a job, not slavery.

  “The military has custody over you, Miss Mitchell. You’re still a minor, but no, the keepers over eighteen are not wards of the military.” She placed a hand on her briefcase. “Dominika’s circumstances are different. She has a long history of mental illness.”

  Kennedy rolled her eyes. For God’s sake, she knew people called Nika a psycho behind her back, but she didn’t think they labeled her one officially as well. “She is not crazy, okay? She’s…eccentric.” The image of Nika biting her trainer’s leg popped into her head. Eccentric could be a tad bit of an understatement “And a little violent too,” she allowed. “But definitely not crazy.”

  “Those are things only a qualified medical professional can determine.”

  “And who is her doctor? Let me guess—you?”

  “Yes.”

  Kennedy couldn’t help but roll her eyes. That woman shouldn’t be allowed to treat patients, let alone be an authority on anyone’s mental health.

  “I’m sorry this didn’t turn out how you expected, Miss Mitchell. Unfortunately, that’s the way it has to be.” Dr. Sigly nodded once to Deacon, then left them, disappearing into a heavily tinted SUV.

  Deacon scratched his chin, looking uncomfortable. “Look, I can see you’re pissed. If you want, I can tell my commander there was no time to brief you.”

  She wasn’t pissed. She was levels of anger beyond pissed, but none of this was Deacon’s fault. He was just doing his job. “No,” she sighed. “Go ahead and ask your questions.”

  Behind them, Nika’s screams grew louder. Kennedy turned to see them stuffing her into the back of one of their vehicles. She was kicking and screaming and throwing around spontaneous gusts of wind. It looked like it was taking an army of DOE agents to subdue her. Oz was there too, looking frantic. The enormity of what he saw back in the car had left his face. “Get your damned hands off her!” he shouted as he took a swing at one of the agents.

  They didn’t show Oz the same amount of patience. They jolted him with a Taser, rendering him limp. He fell onto the snow, motionless.

  “Sorry, Deacon, I gotta go.”

  She sped towards the car they had placed Nika into, unsure of what to do. All she knew was she needed to put a stop to this before it got any worse. How she was supposed to accomplish that, she had no idea.

  A hand clamped onto her arm from behind, swinging her around. Phoenix was there, pulling her towards him. “Thank God, you’re okay,” he breathed.

  She placed both hands on his chest and shoved as hard as she could. “How dare you,” she spat, shoving him again and stepping out of his grip. “Don’t touch me. Ever. Again.”

  Being in Phoenix’s presence made her feel like she was on the brink of losing it. Her whole body trembled, wanting to scream and cry at the same time. This morning she resolved to forgive him, had wanted to forgive him, and still wished she could. And it was his stupid fault she couldn’t. Why did he have to go and do something like this?

  She ripped the brace off her arm and threw it at his feet. “A tracker, Phoenix? Really?”

  Whereas he seemed relieved to see her a moment ago, he transformed into someone detached and cold.

  “I didn’t think I’d actually have to use it,” he said. “You gave me no choice.”

  Good grief, it almost sounded like he was blaming her. She nearly choked on that one. “Mason gave me approval to be here. Who are you to say I can’t be?”

  “He didn’t give you approval to chase after Maxwell Ryder.”

  She wondered how he found out so quickly. It didn’t matter though. She would defend herself. “He didn’t tell me not to go after him either.”

  It wasn’t much of an argument. Whatever. That was all she had at the moment.

  “Your decisions were reckless, Kennedy. You put yourself and others in danger so you could fulfill Dominika’s fantasies of revenge. And yes, we know how she blames Ryder for murdering her family. The simple truth is that there’s never been any hard evidence to back up that claim.”

  Kennedy gaped at him, unable to believe he could say something so ridiculous. “The facts alone are suspicious enough to call for an investigation. He bought Penelope Little’s land. The man on the bike worked for Ryder Industries—the same man who tried to blow you up. His own son hates him. On top of that, Nika believes he’s responsible for the deaths of her family. H
ow can all of that not be incriminating?”

  “I know how it looks, but it’s not enough.” Phoenix ran his hands through his hair, his hard resolve beginning to shatter. “Look you don’t know what you’re dealing with here. The man develops more technology for the government than all other companies combined. His name carries around as much weight as a high commissioner or a president. Everyone is too scared to incriminate him for anything. What you did was stupid, Kennedy. More importantly, it could’ve gotten you killed.”

  “Gee, thanks,” she said, scowling at him. “Good thing I don’t really care what you think.”

  She started to turn away, only to come face to face with two DOE agents. “We’ll escort you to your car, Miss Mitchell.”

  No way was this happening.

  For a moment, she stared at the snow, trying to create a few giant snowballs to knock these guys around with, but it wouldn’t budge in its frozen state. Russia was such a useless country.

  She shot back an evil glare at Phoenix, arching a brow. “Seriously?”

  “Get in the car,” he said stiffly. “Or I’ll put you there myself.”

  Shaking her head, she let the men take her by the arms and lead her to another one of the black SUVs. First chance she got, she was going to have it out with Mason.

  “Kennedy,” someone gasped.

  She glanced up to see Eva helping Oz to his feet, the effects of the jolt wearing off.

  “They’re holding my brace as evidence.”

  Oh God—Ryder’s files.

  She tried to shrug away from the agents, but they continued steering her away. “I’ll get it back,” she called over her shoulder. “I promise.”

  Phoenix followed her into the back seat. He closed the door behind them, gave some directives to the driver and they were headed away before she knew what hit her.

  Everything was spinning out of control while she was stuck, powerless, in the middle of it all. Adding Phoenix into the mix didn’t help. Sitting beside him felt like sitting on a chair of thorns. There was a time when he had been her anchor, the one person who could calm her and help her to deal with the things that were impossible to deal with. But those days were gone. Now he was the catalyst of everything gone wrong.

  “They took Oz’s brace,” she said, because she needed to say something, and that was the most important thing on her mind.

  “I know.”

  The driver turned onto the main road. Phoenix shifted in his seat as he stared out his window.

  “I want it back.”

  “They’ll give it back after searching it.”

  “We went through too much to get some of the files on there. I want to search it first.” She looked at him, hoping that he would give her this one thing. “Please, Phoenix.”

  “I wish I could, but it’s out of my hands.”

  He wouldn’t face her. Kennedy bit down on her lip, turning to look out her window. She had finally managed to push him away. She told herself she didn’t care, even if she had wanted to forgive him this morning. But the truth was, this hurt.

  God, this morning she thought she loved him.

  And now her heart was breaking all over again.

  Tears glazed her eyes. She held in her breath so he wouldn’t hear it shake. Letting him know how much he affected her would only make things worse. She continued staring out the window at the piles of snow and dreary buildings, but seeing none of it.

  The Phoenix from her dream and the one in real life were two completely different people. The dream was exactly what it was, a dream. A fantasy. Some version of Phoenix she conjured up because the real one was an ass.

  It’s not like she wasn’t used to pretending. In the past, whenever the real world began to suck, she drew into herself. Usually, she was aware of it. This time, she was losing her grip on what was real and what wasn’t. She’d like to believe that the Phoenix in her dream wasn’t real. It would definitely make her feel less crazy. Or maybe that wasn’t what she wanted at all.

  Maybe she wanted him to be real.

  She desperately wanted to believe that the person sitting next to her wouldn’t always be so cold, that all of this was a temporary hell. She didn’t like what he’d done, how domineering he’d been, and how little confidence he’d shown in her abilities. He wrecked her plans with Nika, called her stupid, and then forced her into this car.

  In spite of all of those things, it scared her more to think of the future Phoenix in her dreams as some figment of her imagination.

  Twenty-Six

  The fasten seatbelt sign turned off in DOE’s private jet. Normally Phoenix and the others would’ve been cramped into a commercial plane, but apparently all the stops had been pulled for this trip. Ensuring Dominika made it back to Olympus in one piece was DOE’s primary objective. They couldn’t afford to take any more chances. She’d already caused a big scene in front of citizens; both Ryder’s son and the aunt witnessed her manipulating air—that should be fun explaining to General Vickard.

  The cruising speed kicked in, creating a sense of stillness inside the cabin. Phoenix stood and crossed over to the couch Kennedy was curled up on. He sat Ozias Ryder’s brace in her lap while trying not to disturb her. She had just fallen asleep, and after everything that happened today, she needed the rest. It had taken a lot of shouting and a call to Level 3 to get the brace back, but he’d finally managed to do it without ramming his fist into the jaw of the stubborn agent who refused to hand it over.

  He had been determined to get it back for her. It was the least he could do. She probably hated him after everything he put her through. It twisted him up inside, seeing how she reacted to his nearness, how stiff her body went, and the way her jaw clenched. Everything about her showed how much she despised him. He hated it, but he couldn’t blame her. He would despise himself too, if he were her.

  “Thank you.”

  Phoenix shifted his attention to the seat behind him.

  Nika watched him beneath half-closed eyelids. “I saw you give her the brace,” she said. “Thank you.”

  He shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

  Blinking several times, she tried to open her eyes wider. “They gave me something, didn’t they?”

  He nodded once. An agent injected her while struggling to get Nika inside the plane. She had been so worked up with fighting them off that she barely noticed. “A sedative, I think.”

  Her eyes slowly closed, as if she couldn’t help it anymore. “Abusive pigs,” she muttered, drifting off.

  Phoenix figured that was the end of the conversation and was surprised when she spoke a few moments later. “What happened with her?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Don’t act dense. You must’ve done something to send her running. What was it?”

  Phoenix looked over at Kennedy, noticing she wasn’t sleeping peacefully. Every few seconds she twitched and stirred, her face tense from whatever she was dreaming about. He wanted to go over there, pull her into his lap, and stroke her hair until she was okay. But he didn’t have that right. Labels didn’t exist between them anymore. Only huge barriers.

  “Are you ever going to answer me?” Nika yawned, snuggling more comfortably in her seat. It wouldn’t take long before she was out for good.

  “It’s complicated.” That was the only answer she was getting from him. Explaining how he felt to Kennedy was hard enough. He wasn’t going there again.

  “Looks simple to me.”

  He arched a brow at her, even though she couldn’t see him. “The bloody drugs are making you delirious, Nika. Go to sleep.”

  “Very amusing, Jorgensen, but it is,” she argued. “That day with Sigly, you were her hero…and today you’re the villain. Sounds pretty simple to me. Go back to the hero if you want to keep her. Stay like this if you don’t.”

  Phoenix stared at Nika, almost in a daze. To her deranged credit, she had a point. The girl knew how to cut the situation down to its roots. It terrified him to think that she was right, th
at Kennedy thought of him as the villain. But it terrified him more to think of the danger she’d put herself in coming here, especially after he found out she was poking around in Maxwell Ryder’s house. He’d done his homework on the billionaire CEO. Too many suspicious activities were linked to his company. Too many unexplained deaths surrounded Ryder himself. Everything pointed to power and corruption all wrapped up beneath layers of influence. Keeper or not, it was risky for Kennedy to get involved with Ryder—made worse by her coming on her own, for Christ’s sake.

  So he’d reacted out of panic. He got General Vickard involved and activated the tracker in Kennedy’s brace without thinking too much about the repercussions.

  Calaya once told him being Kennedy’s hero would mean more than being the world’s hero. He supposed that day had come. One person’s life meant more to him than all others. Could be a misguided path, but he no longer gave a damn about what kind of keeper that made him. What he did care about was he’d failed at being the kind of person he wanted to be.

  Nika was right. That’s exactly what he was.

  A villain.

  Twenty-Seven

  Kennedy was surprised to see Oz’s brace in her lap when she woke up. She figured DOE’s tech department would analyze it to pieces before she ever saw it again—if she ever saw it again. Instinctively she knew Phoenix had gotten it back, but he was nowhere to be found. The normal hums and buzzes of the plane’s movement were gone, signaling they’d landed. She rubbed her eyes, looking around.

  Deacon was the only one in the cabin. He rifled around in one of the overhead shelves for his bag. “Better get a move on. Come on, I’ll take you to our platform. Our rocket leaves in an hour.”

  Kennedy nodded and stood, snapping Oz’s brace around her wrist. “Thanks. Guess I slept through the landing.”

  Deacon lugged the strap of his bag over his shoulder. “Feeling any better?”

  “Not really.” Sounded pessimistic, but hey, it was honest.