by Gray Holborn
In this very small room.
With this very dangerous man.
Whom I’d just pissed off. Who? Or Whom? I guess it didn’t really matter at a moment like this.
I cleared my throat, glancing at Rennix out of the corner of my eye while I pushed myself up from the ground. “Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Come now, Odette. You didn’t really think it would be that easy to steal from someone like me? You may have made your way up here, but I have cameras and guards everywhere. I was informed the second you left the ballroom and started roaming my halls. Halls which, by the way, are off limits to my guests.” He picked up a random chalice along one of the room’s many shelves and began tossing it back and forth between his hands. I followed the cup’s movements hypnotically. “I decided to let you roam, to see what you were after. Imagine my surprise when you almost immediately entered the plainest room in the house and quickly found the second staircase. At first I thought perhaps it was a coincidence. Or luck.” Setting the chalice back down, he stalked closer to me, at ease and unconcerned. “Then, you made your way to this room. Fine, I thought, someone must have told her where I kept some of my more valuable possessions. I’d grill my staff later to find the mole. There aren’t many who know of this room or its contents, so it wouldn’t be hard to trace back to the informant...but then you swiftly made your way to that cabinet.” He nodded quickly to the glass case that housed the neutralizer only moments ago. “And you didn’t show any interest in anything that case contained. Finding instead, almost immediately, that pendant. Even though it was hidden behind several other items and appears far less extravagant than almost every other item in this room.” He crouched down next to me, studying my face. When he tilted his head in a strange animalistic movement, I flinched.
“I….like simpler things is all.”
A terrifying grin lit his features. “I think we both know that pendant is anything but simple, Odette. What I want to know, however, is how you found it and with such ease. I am the only one in the house who knew of its location. The only one, I had thought, who even knew I was the owner of that particular...investment.”
“Luck?”
The smile disappeared almost instantly from his face. “I’ll not play games, girl. Who are you and who are you working with?”
“I’m nobody, I’m not working with anybody. I’m here on my own.” I infused my voice with a confidence I didn’t feel. Hopefully it was convincing.
Rennix’s answering growl suggested it wasn’t.
“Fine. I have ways of making you talk, if you won’t of your own volition. Though it would be a shame to ruin that pretty face.” He lifted a single finger, and I watched, mesmerized, as he transformed his nail into a claw. I didn’t realize a body-manipulator could shift in isolation like that. My heart pounded erratically as he lifted the long claw to my face, slicing gently through my mask until it fell away in pieces. “Ah see, lovely. Let’s not mar it with scars, Odette. Just answer my questions. I don’t enjoy torture.”
Sick of being the prey, I squared off, lifting my fists in preparation for a fight I knew very well I couldn’t win. But I couldn’t leave through Rennix’s magical barrier and I wasn’t going to let him torture me without putting up a fight. “Let me leave. Now.” I swung a fist at his face, catching only his ear as he dodged with ease. “Er, please?”
“The girl came prepared to play, did she? More fun for me, then.” With a cheshire grin he shook his head and I watched in amazement as he transformed into a fully-grown lion in front of my eyes. I turned to the door, and found a soundless Soren pounding furiously against the invisible barrier. He must have followed my scent or Rennix or something. I had almost forgotten he was downstairs flirting with the bartender and stalking the Inferno girl.
With a quick look his way, I screamed for him to run, tossing the necklace at the doorway—hoping the necklace might be able to reach him if I couldn’t.
Wrong. The pendant bounced off the empty space before Soren’s chest and landed on the ground. The lion and I watched as he bent to try and pick it up, his fingers grasping only air. Rennix let out a sound that I supposed would be the sound a lion made when it laughed—if lions did such things—while I raced forward and reattached the necklace around my neck. So much for trying to take one for the team.
Rennix stalked towards me, a low growl vibrating in the cage of his large chest. The moment he lunged for me, I dodged. I escaped his claws, but fell against a wooden chest. Hard. I cringed, hoping my shoulder was only bruised, not injured worse. Then again, I was likely going to die in a moment so I guess it didn’t really matter. Soren taught me how to fight against a shifter predator, but that lesson mainly consisted of running away or playing against the animal’s instincts. Neither of those options worked when I was prey trapped inside the caged walls of Rennix’s trophy room.
Deciding to go on the offensive, since I doubted Rennix would expect that, I lunged for him, fists raised. And, honestly, punching a lion in the face was a lot like punching a human in the face. It hurt. A lot.
With an annoyed grumble, Rennix lifted a paw and sliced my side. I wasn’t sure how deep it was, and the adrenaline running through my body prevented me from feeling the extent of it, but there was blood. Like a lot of blood. And my beautiful dress was torn and ruined. El would be so disappointed.
Desperate, I started picking up random objects along the shelves, bathing the room in dust as I whipped them at Rennix. He dodged most of my attempts, but I grinned with pained satisfaction when a particularly large stone ball hit him in the side, forcing out an annoyed grunt of discomfort. I was probably bleeding to death, but basking in the enemy’s pain dissipated some of my fear. It was the little things.
I looked back at Soren, watching as he ripped against the wall next to the barrier. He was in his panther form and, briefly, I looked at both of the beasts and found them beautiful. Not many humans could say that they died at the hands—er, paws?—of two predatory cats.
Not that anyone said anything after they were dead.
Pressing my hands against my side, I studied the bloody trail around the room, like I was painting a grotesque, abstract masterpiece with my body. Until I looked back up at Soren and found him no longer alone. There was a man, looking on as Soren dug his way slowly into the wall separating him from my invisible cage.
And then I blinked and both the man and the panther were no longer there.
Good. Hopefully Soren got away. It was good that he wasn’t here, wasn’t around an angry Simba-supe who was about to eat me alive.
Safe. He was safe.
My fingers brushed against a long, old knife. It may have been old but it was sharp and it looked deadly. Wrapping my fingers around the handle I braced myself to meet the lion’s next lunge with a heady thirst for blood. I positioned my arm discreetly to slice his underbelly while he attacked. If I was lucky, maybe I could take him out with me.
I dodged at the right moment, slicing slightly off center along his ribcage. He let out a prominent growl that told me he was done playing with his prey. His next blow would be the killing one. I lifted the knife, staring at my blood-caked hand in a sort of horrified fascination, and bent my knees, ready for my final strike. I felt a rush of guilt run through me—I didn’t want to hurt a beautiful lion and I didn’t want to hurt Rennix either. I’d entered his home and stolen from him, knowing full well that he was a territorial jungle predator. Still, my hand raised, poised for attack as he lunged—because my survival instincts were stronger than my remorse.
Until I was blocked suddenly by a man’s broad chest, with strong arms wrapped around me.
And as I fought to get loose, I felt my world go dizzy and clear all at the same time, while a profound sense of thereness and then not clouded my mind. No longer fighting to get free, I clung to the strong arms for stability, closing my eyes tight against the intense wave of nausea. I would not throw up. What an awful thing to do and feel right before you died.
At least these arms smelled good, like the ocean and warmth. There were worse scents to die smelling.
My eyes opened, slow and sticky from being closed so tightly. Before getting my bearings, I leaned over and threw up, no longer able to hold power over the nausea.
A large hand rubbed circles along my back, silently providing comfort, and I was struck by an icy feeling of familiarity—comforting and terrifying. When I peered up, my throat burning and stomach still churning, I met a pair of concerned black eyes.
“Michael.” The word was a croaky whisper that barely made it past my lips.
Chapter Twenty-six
I stood up instantly, if not not shakily. My hands balled into fists, my body rigid in a defensive posture. “What’re you doing here?” I turned my head, taking in the serene desert landscape around us, not a soul in sight. For a brief moment, I allowed myself to appreciate the exquisite clarity of the moon and stars, so big and beautiful. Perhaps even more so moments after I was sure I’d taken my last breath. “Where are we?”
“Nevada. I wasn’t sure where you and the others were staying in San Francisco and figured we’d need some time and space to chat first. You can’t exactly get rid of me easily in the desert.” He paused, scratching his head. “But I promise I’ll take you to them soon.”
“And Soren?” I scanned the horizon, trying to spot his familiar pale hair and striking eyes, but all I saw was dust and the sky and Michael.
“He’s also in Nevada, about eighty miles north of us.”
I tensed. “What? Why?” I inched a bit to the right, so that if I struck Michael in the face, the hit would land.
He smiled tightly, and I was momentarily struck by his harsh beauty. He was wearing a dark T-shirt, covered by a leather jacket. Dark hair stubbled his jaw and he looked so much more fierce and powerful than he’d ever seemed when we were dating, dangerous even. I wondered how much of the sweet, bookish persona that I knew was fabricated.
“I grabbed him in his panther form. The second we landed, he tried to rip my head off. I got away before he did any real damage.” He nodded to his left arm where his jacket was sliced open and a deep-but-not-too-deep cut gleamed through underneath. He peeled the leather off, examining the cut on his arm with amused interest, his tattoos peaking out beneath his shirt, tracing his muscles in complex and interesting patterns. If anything, the claw mark almost looked like it was at home on his arm, another fierce and striking battlescar. “To be honest I don’t think he liked me much before he knew I was a space-manipulator, but his amplified hate and anger were more than I’d anticipated. I told him I’d go save you then be back when he was calm and in human form again.” He looked up at me briefly, the hint of a sly smile battling the shyness in his dark eyes. “To be honest, I wanted to get you out of there first, but I knew that once you were gone, Soren wouldn’t stand a chance and then you’d hate me even more than you already do. They’d all be on him instantly. Rennix was toying with you. I’m not even sure if he really would have ended up killing you if given the chance. The look in his eye, he was almost intoxicated with intrigue. Hey may have just kept you.” The angles of Michael’s face hardened. He shivered slightly, his next words spoken so quietly I almost couldn’t hear them. “Screw Soren’s life. The guy’s a dick anyway. I should’ve chanced the extra thirty seconds and taken you first.”
“And how is it you knew where we were?”
He reached out a hand as if he were going to caress my arm and I took a step back. He flinched and ran a hand through his dark hair, slightly more wild and luminous than it was when I knew him. Or thought I knew him. Whoever Michael was, he wasn’t the guy I befriended and dated.
“Odessa, there’s a lot to tell you. But first you need to understand that I’m not going to hurt you. Gods, I would never hurt you.” He paused, crouching down low to the ground with his elbows perched on his thighs and his face tilted up towards mine. I suspected he was trying to put me at ease, by taking away the intimidation of his height. It didn’t work. “That day, you were so angry. And I wanted to explain everything, but I knew I needed to give you a beat to take it all in. Plus your neighbor is absolutely terrifying.” He paused a moment, a smirk briefly relieving the stoic expression on his face. “When I came back, you were gone.”
“Michael, how did you know where I was tonight?”
“Raifus.”
I felt like I’d been punched.
Stunned, I dropped to the ground, a large cloud of dust painting my now destroyed dress in a sandy ash. All this time, we’d planned on Raifus helping us. Instead, he was selling us out to Michael. The enemy. Would the neutralizer even work? Was any of tonight worth it? Where did we go from here? I felt my blood rush through my veins and my head filled with a dizzy mist.
“Before you panic, it’s important for you to know that Raifus also doesn’t intend to hurt you. He’s a very complicated guy. And things, well, they are very complicated. And, honestly, if he didn’t tell me you might need an extraction tonight, you’d very likely be dead.” Michael dropped from his awkward squatting position onto his butt, the two of us sitting across from each other, covered in blood and dust and distrust. “I’ve known Raifus my whole life. He’s a bit unusual at times, but he’s not malicious. I trust him with my life.”
“Well, that’s great seeing as your word and trust mean so much to me right now. And anyway, if that’s true, why didn’t he just have you get the stupid necklace yourself? You could’ve just zipped in and out of that damn room. If he really means no harm, why did he have me do it?” I stared off at the infinite horizon, unable to bring myself to quite look Michael in the eyes.
I could feel him stalling, drawing lines with his finger in the ground. “Partially because I couldn’t and partially because it was a test to see if you could.”
My head snapped towards him. “What do you mean it was a fucking test? You need to be more clear than that, Michael.”
“Only you could find the necklace so easily. I could get into the house, hell into any room in the house. But I never would have found the neutralizer. As it was, it took me a good fifteen minutes to find you in that room upstairs. I was going door-to-door upstairs straining to hear voices and the fight. It wasn’t until I heard Soren screaming your name at the top of his lungs that I was able to find you.”
“Why me? Why was I able to find it?” I fingered the pendant El had given me, layered underneath the neutralizer. “Because of this? Because Raifus made this?”
Michael rolled his neck, considering. “Partially.”
“Couldn’t he have just made you a pulsing trinket too?”
“No, it’s more complicated than that. You see he was able to forge a connection with you through the pendant, he used that connection to help you find the neutralizer. All I can say now is that it wouldn’t have worked if he tried to forge that connection with anyone else.”
“So he sent us in there like freaking guinea pigs? On some ridiculous hunch that I might be able to locate the thing? With absolutely no advice on how to get out once I’d actually found it?” The nausea and confusion were quickly being overridden by a blanket of anger and pulsing rage.
“Perhaps, but he also sent me in after you. I was the fail-safe. The rest is for him to tell you. It might shock you, but Raifus isn’t a big sharer.” He chuckled softly, trying to lighten the mood. “He doesn’t exactly divulge every detail of his plans with me. I didn’t even know he’d met with you until tonight. Didn’t even know about this particular mission until tonight.” He looked down at his sand-coated fingers, considering. “In fact, that’s probably why he didn’t tell me. I would’ve stopped it. Would’ve stopped you from going. I wasn’t supposed to get as close to you as I did. We were misinformed. We thought it was Ellie, that she was the one we were looking for.”
I kept my hand pressed into my side, trying to stem the bleeding. With the adrenaline coursing through my body, I’d almost forgotten what my body had just been through. “Why Ellie?”
“Well, they’ve been keeping her hidden for six years, for one. That’s not really a normal thing to do. And second—” he paused, looking around the barren, dark desert, stalling for the words to come. “Well, that’s more complicated.”
He broke off and I knew that he wasn’t going to finish that thought, wasn’t going to give me any answers I really needed. Why couldn’t anyone just be straight with me? I was getting so sick of these half-truths. “Take me to Soren, we need to get him and I don’t feel so good.” I pulled my hand away and it was covered with blood. My head spun.
Michael jumped to his feet and swore. “We need to get you to a hospital now, Dess. Jesus, why didn’t you tell me it was so bad?”
I stood too, the sudden movement making me even more lightheaded. “Soren first. He’ll maul some random Burning Man enthusiast if he’s left alone. It’s not that ba—”
Michael lurched towards me. The last thing I saw were his dark eyes full of concern.
Chapter Twenty-seven
I fell in and out of consciousness, vaguely aware of being passed from one strong set of arms to another, until finally landing in an uncomfortable and narrow bed where excruciating pain slipped into a quiet numbness and, finally, into a dull ache. Later, whether a moment or an hour or a day, I thought I felt a soft, warm pressure on my forehead and the whispered words “I’ll be back for you” spoken softly into my ear, but the memory was fleeting and mixed with wild dreams and soft conversations filled with familiar and worried voices.
My head was pounding and I wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next year. Or five. But I opened my eyes and had to blink twice in order to process the ridiculous scene surrounding me. Luis was seated next to me on a hospital bed, lost in his thoughts. Soren was on the opposite side of the room, his gray eyes dark and glued in my direction. A small pressure on my left hand confirmed that El was sitting on the other side of me, clasping my arm in her lap. She was humming some odd pop song in a key that was definitely not right. Jax walked into the room carrying an abundance of water bottles and snacks in his arms.
