by Lark Brennan
The night swirled inside his head, points of light, clouds of darkness, and the rumble of the earth tottering on its axis. The stillness of his body amplified the sensation of weightlessness. How many bones were broken? Could he move? His brain dismissed those questions as irrelevant and bathed in the oneness of the world around him. Floating above, the scene below him came into focus.
Lex skidded to a stop next to him or what had been him. The corporeal Bodie lay on his back, eyes closed. She knelt next to his shoulder and felt the side of his neck for a pulse.
“Goddamn you, Bodie. You can’t die on me.”
So he had no pulse. The information only mildly interested him.
She shifted so she could press the heel of her hands into his chest with practiced efficiency—one, two, three, four. “Beat, damn it, beat.” He lost count. She knew what she was doing. “Don’t you dare die.”
His shield had dissolved and left him open to her emotions. The warmth he’d felt when their minds joined on the hill filled him now. Instead of pulling back, he floated closer.
The pumping stopped and she bent over his head. Her lips brushed his in a soft kiss and his mouth tingled to kiss her back. She positioned his chin and breathed into his lungs, filling him with an ache of longing. A tear hit his face and ran down his jaw.
She lifted her head and stroked his cheek. He felt the warmth of her hand, the gentle brush of her fingers on his face. I’m here, he tried to say with no voice.
“I love you,” she whispered. “Please don’t die.”
Could he? He felt another presence and looked up toward the villa. No one was there. Then a soundless voice spoke in his head. Your choice this time.
His choice to live or die.
Lex returned to working on his chest. Her back rose and fell in an even rhythm. “I’m not giving up on you, damn it. I’ll never give up on you.”
In a flash of clarity he knew what he was feeling were his own emotions, not hers. That warmth he felt was something tender, protective. Love?
A silver cord shimmered in the moonlight from him to the tattoo on his forearm closest to his elbow. The way back. His choice. Yes, he wanted his life back. He wanted to go back to her. For her.
The jolt of re-entering his body stunned him and pain lanced his shoulder blade. He gasped, gulping in the cool night air.
Lex took his head between her hands and kissed his face—eyes, nose, cheeks, forehead, and finally his mouth, all while crying for joy, murmuring endearments in a jumble of French and English.
He tried to open his eyes but nothing happened. His body felt heavy and numb, and no amount of concentration budged so much as a finger. This couldn’t be happening. He hadn’t returned to his body to be trapped here as a vegetable. He would have laughed at the irony but that, too, was impossible.
Running her hands over his arms and legs, she gently checked for obvious broken bones or bleeding wounds before stroking his cheek. “Wake up, Bodie. Please, wake up.”
“I’m so sorry for everything,” she whispered. “You sacrificed yourself for that ship and I know that was what you had to do. But you’re alive and that’s all that matters.”
She took his hand in both of hers and brought his fingers to her lips. The warmth of her breath on his skin seeped through his hand and into his arm like a light illuminating a path in the darkness. His fingers closed over hers and applied pressure.
“You can hear me,” she said.
Sensation crept along his nerve ways spreading through muscle and skin in pins and needles until feeling returned with an exhilarating vengeance. He opened his eyes and stared into her lovely tear-stained face.
“Hey,” he managed.
Still clutching his hand, she blinked back tears. “Hey, yourself. You scared the hell out of me, Dr. Flynn.”
“I scared the hell out of myself.” He squeezed her hand. “Thanks.”
“For what?”
“For reviving me. For bringing me back.” He tried to sit up and she pressed him back to the ground.
“You’re hanging tight until we find out if you have any broken bones—specifically neck or back.”
“Neck and back are fine. A couple ribs are cracked and my right scapula—wing bone. Otherwise, only scrapes and bruises.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You can’t know that.”
And yet he did. “Trust me. If anything important is busted, you can give me a burial at sea.”
“I will, you stubborn idiot.”
He pushed himself to a sitting position and this time she let him. His broken ribs shot stabs of pain through his body and he clenched his teeth to control it before climbing gingerly to his feet. “We need to check on Mark.”
Chapter Thirty
Bodie reached his hand down to help Lex to her feet.
“Are you crazy? You’ve got broken ribs!” She pushed herself to her feet and brushed her hands on the seat of her pants. “From here on in, you don’t do physical labor—no lifting, pushing…”
“This isn’t over. We have to go back in.”
Dread pooled in her stomach. Her brother was still inside and so was Tolian. If Tolian killed Mark, all their efforts would have been for nothing. The Durand Protector in her knew what had to be done. “Let’s do it.”
Once back inside they hurried to the kitchen entry and she took the tranq gun and the Beretta out of her pockets and handed him the pistol. As they passed into the hallway she listened for noise that would clue them into what was happening in the front rooms of the villa. The only sounds were Bodie’s breathing and the waves breaking on the beach below.
“It’s awfully quiet. Too quiet.” She opened her senses and concentrated. “There’s a powerful force ahead.”
“Tolian or Mark?”
“There’s no way to tell.”
“He could be waiting for us.”
Bodie didn’t have to use the Brazilian Sentier’s name for her to understand. “It’s possible.” She stopped and put a hand on his arm. “In case I don’t get to say this later, I wouldn’t trade having met you for anything in the world.”
His eyes shone down on her. “Me either.” He bent and pressed his lips to hers. “When this is over, I’ll do that right.”
If they lived that long. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
Cautiously they passed through the long formal dining room and paused to listen. A soft clicking sound was barely audible above the waves.
“The battle’s over,” he whispered. “Wait here and run if you hear Tolian. I’ll try to keep him busy until you get away.”
“We go in together.”
“No. Let me do this.” His jaw flexed and his eyes hardened with determination.
She swallowed her protest. He was willing to sacrifice himself to protect her. She had to respect that. And yet, her duty as a soldier was so ingrained in her, abandoning him wasn’t an option. “You go first and I’ll be back-up.”
“I want you safe. He can only kill me…”
She fought a shudder at the memory of Tolian’s threat. “I’ll be careful.”
He nodded, took a deep breath and stepped into the villa’s great room. “What the fuck…?”
Unable to resist, she followed him and stopped dead. “Jesus.”
The place looked like a tornado had ripped through it—furniture tossed and broken, walls battered, glass shattered. And in the middle of the chaos, Mark worked at the computer console in front of a cracked but still functional monitor.
A massive weight fell from her shoulders. They were safe and Tolian was gone. “What happened, Mark?”
“A shit storm nobody won,” her brother replied bitterly. He turned to them. “Good job, Bodie. Your powers have come along nicely since you left Fat Dog.”
Bodie stared at him. “You know what I did?”
He nodded. “Tolian was royally pissed off.”
“Where is he?” she asked.
“Gone.”
“Where?” she and Bodie asked in un
ison.
“No idea. We were having a discussion,” Mark gestured at the destruction, “when Bodie pulled down the delphic. Apparently the son-of-a-bitch had skin in that game and when the smoke cleared, he’d vanished.” Mark’s voice was steady but she heard the anger and disappointment. She also saw the dark red stain blooming on the shoulder and arm of his shirt.
She moved closer, stepping over what used to be the leg of a chrome coffee table, and Bodie stayed by her side. “You’re hurt.”
“Old wound re-opened. I’m fine.”
Two men appeared at the side door leading to the courtyard. She recognized her cousin instantly. “Victor! What are you doing here?”
He grinned and ambled toward her. “Swat team duty. Mark called me en route to meet him here.” He hugged her and kissed each cheek.
“I thought I heard a gunfight.”
“Yeah. Three Dissemblers arrived via the beach just as we got here. Are the guys sleeping out back your handiwork?”
“Mine and Bodie’s.”
Victor extended his hand. “Victor Durand.”
Studying him cautiously Bodie took it. “Bodie Flynn.” He glanced from her to Mark. “Is this the team that’s taking the laser?”
“That’s your call,” Mark replied. “Do you know how to operate it?”
“Yes.”
Mark closed the distance between them and the two men faced off—both tall, muscular, and poised for battle. Lex slipped her hand in Bodie’s, taking his side in whatever came down next. Tension hung heavily in the air and Bodie’s grip tightened on her fingers.
“Good,” Mark said, “because I wasn’t getting anywhere.”
The muscle in Bodie’s jaw tightened. “You’re never going to use it. I’ll make sure of that.”
The shock in Mark’s eyes was genuine. “Use it? I want to be sure it’s shut down and can’t be re-activated by someone else with remote access.”
“Then you don’t mind if I take a look?”
Mark stepped aside. “Go for it.”
Bodie went to the console and began to work.
“There’s a guy named Oxley Cowan in the bunker under the hill,” Lex said. “He’s the one who built the laser. You’ll want to question him.”
“Ordinaire?” Victor asked.
“Yes.”
Victor grinned. “Already have him in the guest house.”
“Find out what he knows about the Argos, and if he can bring it back,” she said.
“Sure. I heard it was missing.” He turned to Mark. “Any other orders?”
“Ask him how to pack up the laser equipment. I’ll grill him about Tolian myself. See what you can get out of the Dissemblers.”
Victor saluted him. “Will do.”
“You didn’t happen to see a wolf, did you?” Lex asked.
“He’s asleep in the guesthouse. Friend of yours?”
Lex shrugged. “He was a Dissembler guard wolf until recently. Maybe he can catch a ride to Valtois?”
Victor winked at her. “I’ll work out the logistics with my brother. Later guys.”
When Victor was gone Lex studied her brother. His personal quest to destroy Tolian was no secret and the Brazilian Sentier rarely surfaced outside his Amazon realm. Something about Mark’s arrival didn’t pass the sniff test. “You certainly showed up in the nick of time.”
“Figured you could use some help. It was easy enough to track your ComDevs.” He met her gaze, his silver eyes concealed by blue contact lenses.
“Did you know Tolian was behind the laser?”
“Know? How would I have known?”
Not an answer. A chill washed over her. A master strategist wouldn’t walk into a situation without some idea what he’d be facing. And why come himself instead of sending Victor and his team of Protectors to do the job? Had he set her and Bodie up in order to find Tolian? No, he wouldn’t do that. He loved her.
“That should do it,” Bodie said. He slowly got to his feet. “There’s no way I can dismantle the equipment myself with these injuries. Can your people do that?”
Mark nodded. “No problem. We’ll take it to DT and you can analyze it there.”
Bodie’s eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened into a thin line. “I’m done. Get one of your whiz kids to do it. Or take Oxley back and use mind control on him. That’s what you did to me.”
Fire flashed in Mark’s eyes. “I respected your intellect and understood your abilities better than you did. I never controlled your mind.”
Lex stepped closer to Bodie. “Tolian told him you’re a telepath and you manipulated him with your psychic abilities.”
“Did he?” Mark’s voice remained even, but cold loathing vibrated in the air. He addressed Bodie. “I have read your mind. I haven’t manipulated it.”
“Why did you bring me back to life?”
Mark’s face registered surprise. He glanced at Lex and then back to Bodie. “I don’t know. I arrived too late to prevent the Dissemblers from shooting you. Maybe I thought I owed you.”
Bodie’s eyes widened as understanding dawned. “You set me up.”
“No, but Tolian targeted you because I got careless. His network turned out to be more extensive than I realized. I now know Dissemblers have infiltrated every branch of government of every major country in the world. Adrien suggested we relocate you somewhere you’d be off the radar.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about being a revenant?”
“I gave you what psychic protection I could before sending you to Fat Dog.”
Bodie held out his forearm ink. “You call this psychic protection? An anti-possession symbol and soul glue? A heads-up on the revenant business would have been nice.”
Mark grabbed Bodie’s wrist and held his arm between them. “If it wasn’t for the soul glue, you wouldn’t have had the choice of staying or going out there just now. Tolian’s a master of possession so this…” He poked the symbol sharply with his finger. “Would have come in handy had he found you before Lex gave you that shield.”
Bodie winced but his eyes never left Mark’s. Lex was still trying to figure out the soul glue comment. Had Bodie chosen to come back from the dead out there? Before she could process that thought her brother pressed his finger on the center symbol on Bodie’s forearm.
Bodie yanked his arm away and hissed. “Jesus! What…?”
“Packs a kick, doesn’t it?” Mark unbuttoned his shirt halfway and pulled the fabric aside to reveal the same symbol on the upper part of his pectoral muscle. He then popped one of the blue contracts out of his eye.
Bodie’s mouth dropped open and he stared at Mark, speechless.
“We revenants are a small club linked by this.” Mark tapped the tattoo before closing his shirt. “In times of extreme peril, we draw from our brothers’ power to survive no matter where we are.”
“You’re a revenant?” Bodie blinked and shook his head as if to clear it. “I don’t understand the tattoo link?”
Mark glanced at Lex and back to Bodie. “I’m not sure I do completely either, but we’ll talk when we have more time and aren’t standing in a Dissembler stronghold.”
“How long have you known about this place?” Bodie asked suspiciously.
“Since you arrived. When Lex wouldn’t answer my calls or texts we tracked your ComDevs.”
“And yet you knew Tolian would be here.”
Mark shrugged. “Suspected. I didn’t know for sure.”
Without warning, Bodie’s hands flashed out and he caught Mark by the neck. “You bastard. You used us for bait. You lured that evil piece of shit with your own sister.”
“Too much is at stake to ignore the few opportunities we have to destroy Tolian. I always knew where you were and, as Lex pointed out, I got here when I was needed.”
“Just barely,” Bodie growled, his hand trembling in rage. “Don’t expect anyone’s gratitude for showing up in your good old time.”
Lex laid a hand on his arm. “Bodie, please let him go.
Tolian rarely leaves Brazil. I understand why Mark had to seize the rare chance to destroy him.”
“I don’t.”
Mark grasped Bodie’s wrists and gently pushed his hands away. “The war with the Brazilian Sentier and his Dissemblers has heated up in the past two years and the Durands are losing ground. Drug violence in Mexico, the bloody conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, terrorist attacks, mass shootings in the United States—all bear the fingerprints of the Dissemblers. Tolian is the most powerful, brilliant, and ambitious Sentier ever to control the Brazilian Source. Kill him and any organization there is now will disintegrate into an internal power struggle that could last for a decade or more.”
“Not my problem,” Bodie said.
Mark folded his arms across his chest. “Really? You think you can just walk away? Tolian has you on his radar, has for years. He doesn’t forgive or forget. Sooner or later he’ll come after you. Him or his minions.”
Bodie looked to Lex for confirmation. It pained her to back Mark up. “I’m sorry. He’s right.”
The anger drained from Bodie’s face, replaced with sad resignation. “I don’t get why he noticed me in the first place. What did he want?”
The question had crossed her mind, too.
The sound of voices drifted in from the courtyard reminding her that there were still Dissemblers in the compound, as well as Cowan.
Mark glanced behind him at the front door then turned his attention back to Bodie. “A guess? With a mind like yours on board, the Dissemblers might have a chance against Durand Tech. Add your psychic abilities and the misconception that they came from Brazilian genes—you’d make a perfect right hand man.”
“I am Brazilian, or at least my mother is,” Bodie said.
“Brazilian but San, not Hi'aiti'ihi',” Mark said.
San? “You’re sure?” Lex asked.
Her brother shot her an insulted look. “Durand Bio is sure. Really, Lex. Why would you think he’s Hi'aiti'ihi'? That’s absurd. The San are earth energy psychics. He’s almost classic.”
“What’s San?” Bodie asked.
“The San are the people of the Kalahari in southern Africa,” she said, then noticed the frown on Bodie’s face and explained. “They’re earth people who have an uncanny ability to survive, even flourish, in a harsh and unforgiving environment.”
