Love Uncharted

by Berinn Rae

  “Much better, thank you.”

  He tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “You’re very welcome.” He leaned in to kiss her and this time she didn’t pull away. She could feel his surprise at her behavior. He kissed her harder. Deeper. She still didn’t resist.

  Let him think he has me cowed.

  Desire burned bright in his eyes when he pulled away. He got up from the bed to gather all the dishes on the tray, his back to her.

  It was her only chance.

  She raced for the door. She wasn’t as fast as she wished, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Vander was faster. He cleared the bed like a hurdle. He loomed in front of her, face purple with rage. “You think to trick me?” he roared. She tried to backpedal but it was too late. His hands reached for her face. She knew what was coming.

  She screamed.

  She thrashed beneath his force as the pain enveloped her body. The fight didn’t last long. She gave out much faster now that her body could never fully recharge. Everything went black within seconds.

  Chapter 21

  The hospital room was cold and smelled of antibacterial soap. Felix hadn’t been by in years, though it always nagged at his conscience.

  The room was well kept; large for only one patient, but when Felix factored in just who had to be funding the care it didn’t really surprise him Kevin would have the most luxurious living space. Not that he counted Kevin’s current state as living.

  Felix rubbed at his hollow chest. Was what he was experiencing being separated from Cali like what Collette felt every day? Was this why Collette acted like she did? Did the restlessness, the on-edge feeling eventually lead to madness? It was as if no matter how much sleep Felix got he was never rested. He was irritable. All the time.

  He stared down at the Dreamer’s face. He looked peaceful. His limp brown hair had grown out a bit, and his eyes were closed. But behind those lids, Felix knew, was a pair of sad, blue eyes.

  He’d felt sorry for Kevin all those years ago. Blinded by his love for Collette, Kevin let her tear him down inside. He didn’t really know Kevin, but from the small glimpse he’d been given he seemed like a good man, though weak willed.

  “You were lucky enough to have found your Mirror Mate.” Felix spoke softly. “And now you’re going to help me get back mine.”

  Right on time, the clipped sound of high heels echoed down the hall, stopping just inside the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

  Collette stood in the doorway holding a handful of white roses. Felix had been lurking around the hospital for a few days now, asking nurses about visitors and visiting hours. He’d found out Collette visited almost every other day, always after dinnertime.

  “I’ve been waiting for you, Collette.” Felix could feel the anger in him swelling, that restlessness trying his already shortened patience. He wanted to throttle Collette and drag the answer he was searching for out of her. But this operation called for a gentler hand. He had to play by Collette’s rules, which meant he had to be ruthless. Callous. He had to hit her where she would hurt.

  “What do you want?” She stood frozen in the doorway, fingers white around the stems of her flowers.

  He stared down at the helpless Kevin. “I was overdue for a visit.” He pinned her with his eyes. “Don’t you think?”

  She swallowed visibly and glanced behind her, but Felix already knew there would be no one she could call. The one good thing about the extravagant care they were giving Kevin was the privacy factor. The nurse on duty wouldn’t be checking in on this floor for another twenty-eight minutes.

  He ran his hand along the edge of Kevin’s bed. “Tell me, Collette, do you still feel Kevin? Is the bond between you still there? Would you be able to tell if he died?”

  She licked her lips and lifted her chin stubbornly, but he’d already seen the flash of fear in her eyes. “You can’t threaten me with him,” she lied boldly.

  He fingered the cord clipped to Kevin’s finger to monitor his heartbeat. “Because you don’t think you love him.” He dropped the cord and waved his hand carelessly. “But you do.”

  The heart-rate monitor vanished along with the cord and the finger clip.

  Collette stopped breathing momentarily.

  Felix could feel the anger burning through his eyes. “Where’s Cali?”

  “I don’t know,” she said smoothly. Too smoothly.

  He gave a tense smile, saw the color drain from her face. “You’re lying.” He flicked his hand, and the IV connected to Kevin’s arm disappeared. “How long do you think he can last without that? Or without that?” He looked pointedly to the life support on the other side of the bed.

  Collette’s whole body was shaking.

  He took two steps to the end of the bed and then paced back up. “Do you remember me telling you I had no idea where things went when I Erased them?” He spared a fleeting glance at her. “What do you think would happen if I Erased Kevin?” He stopped his pacing to give her a questioning look. “I know you still feel the bond between you. It wasn’t severed completely when I knocked him out, but what would happen if he died? What would happen to you? Just think, whatever it is you feel connecting him to you, gone.” He shrugged. “He might live. I’ve never Erased a person before. You could tell me whether he lives or dies once he vanishes. You can put to rest the one question I’ve been plagued with for years.”

  Collette finally found her voice. “You wouldn’t.”

  Fury took root in his gut and spread like a deadly virus through his blood stream. He held his hand out above Kevin’s chest. “Where’s Vander holding Cali?” He didn’t recognize his own voice, but he was beyond caring.

  It looked as if it took everything Collette had to stay where she was. “She can rot in hell for all I care — No!”

  Felix waved his hand.

  Collette dove across the room to cover Kevin’s body with her own. Felix stared down at her with dead eyes.

  She stared up at him with a mixture of horror and hate, her eyes rimmed with red. “You’ve always accused me of being capable of horrible deeds,” he whispered to her as he knelt. “How does it feel to be the one to bring it out of me?”

  Her hold tightened around Kevin’s thin shoulders.

  “Where. Is. Cali?”

  A tear leaked from her eye, but she didn’t release her hold on her Mirror Mate. She glared for all she was worth and finally in a broken voice said, “She’s being kept at Vander’s home.”

  He stood and pulled out his phone. “What’s the address?”

  She rattled it off. He started to make his way to the door when her voice followed him, threatening. “You better watch that you don’t bring my wrath down upon you.”

  He turned on his heel and made it to the bed in two easy strides. He dropped down so he could stare into her face, close enough he could see the flecks of gray and blue swirling together in her eyes. “No, Collette,” he hissed softly. “It’s you that should watch out so you don’t bring my wrath down upon yourself.”

  • • •

  The bread was stale when Cali bit into it. She had no idea how long it had been sitting out, or how long she’d been unconscious. All she knew was that when she woke up she was blessedly alone. There had been food next to her bed, and she’d eaten as much as she could. She felt better after she finished eating.

  She experimentally got to her feet. Her legs shook slightly, but she was able to hold herself up. She wasn’t back to full health by any means, but she had enough strength to try another escape. She made her way over to the door and leaned her ear close to it. She inhaled deeply and felt the familiar prickling at the back of her neck. She reached out carefully with her powers, searching for any sound throughout the house, but she couldn’t stretch her powers very far. A headache was already making itself known, and she needed as few distractions as possible. She’d just have to take it on blind faith she wouldn’t run into anyone.

  The door was unlocked.

  She peeked out i
nto the hall and, like everything inside her room, everything she saw in the hall was made of wood: the floor, the banister directly across from her room, the walls, and even the decorative tables that lined the hallway. Sconces in the shape of faux candles were the only light besides the few rays of sunlight that spilled in through the half moon window facing her. She crept out to the banister to scope out the bottom floor. The thick curtains did a good job of blotting out a majority of the light, but a few stubborn rays pierced through, adding a hallowed feel.

  There wasn’t a soul in sight.

  Where was Vander?

  She closed the door to her room so that if anyone walked by they wouldn’t know she was missing. Over the banister, she kept an eye out for any movement and her ears open for any sounds. She was tempted to open some of the closed doors she passed on her way to the stairs, but the risk of running into Vander was too high.

  The stairway was lined with original eighteenth century oil paintings that looked to be framed in pure gold. Cali stood there in astonishment before slowly making her way down step by step. The paintings got older the farther down she went, but halfway down was when she heard the footsteps.

  She turned and tripped, falling hard on one of her knees and hissing silently in pain. She scrambled the rest of the way up the stairs and barely made it when Vander appeared from a room on the right. He looked tired as he ran a hand down his face. He passed the stairs and Cali exhaled in relief. He went through a doorless threshold and disappeared from sight.

  She strained her ears to hear where he’d gone. There was a creak from a door, a brief moment of silence, and then the soft clip of a door being closed.

  Cali didn’t waste any more time. She took the stairs down two at a time, nearly jumping down the last four. The landing jarred her knee, which was already throbbing from her fall. She nearly lost her footing as a wave of dizziness hit her. She was pushing her body too hard, too fast, but it was better than the alternative. Being stuck here.

  When she reached the solid mass of wood that posed as the front door she cursed. There, mounted on the wall next to it, was a keypad.

  Son of a bitch.

  She could try messing with the pin and risk sounding an alarm, or she could check for other exits.

  She went with the second option and followed Vander’s path through the arched threshold. It opened up into a formal dining room. Straight ahead was a door in the corner, a brilliant white beacon in a home of despair. Vander must have disappeared through there.

  Did the door lead to a garage? Was this her only way out?

  There were more rooms branching off from the dining room but she didn’t see any backdoors. If she followed Vander she’d be able to study what he was doing and gauge how much time she’d have to look for an alternate escape.

  Hell, she might even luck out if Vander had left and all she had to do was follow him out the garage.

  But of course luck never was on Cali’s side when she needed it.

  The door opened soundlessly, thanks to her powers, to nothing but a long metal walkway, complete with railings. At the end it looked as if it opened into a large space but Cali stayed where she was.

  Did she really want to spy on Vander when he could potentially spot her?

  The idea terrified her. Already she could feel her limbs weakening as phantom hands cupped her face. Her stomach gave a sick twist. She backed up until she hit the wall and closed her eyes.

  “Breathe,” she told herself.

  All she had to do was get through this, and she’d never be at the mercy of that man again.

  She opened her eyes and caught sight of a computer screen inside another little room across the way. The small area housed a computer monitor, drawers, and old-looking books stacked neatly in a bookcase. An office.

  Would there be a phone?

  Cali made it halfway across the dining room before she realized she hadn’t memorized any of the guilds’ numbers. The only number she knew by heart was her parents’. She could call 911, but the thought of regular people coming into contact with Vander sounded like an all-he-could-eat buffet.

  No.

  She needed to keep pressing forward. She’d be useless on Vander’s computer, anyway. She wasn’t a technical genius like Joel.

  She made her way back to the white door and stepped into the metal hallway. Maybe whatever was in this room with Vander could be used against him. It helped build her confidence and she pressed forward, using her powers to steal the sound from her feet.

  She was almost to the end of the hall when she realized she was inside a giant green house. The scent of plants was overwhelming, a mixture so broad that she couldn’t pin down a specific scent for any one plant. The arched hallway opened into a large, domed room. She found herself on the second floor. It acted as a balcony, wrapping around the circular structure. She stepped back toward the safety of the dim hallway and caught sight of Vander. He was down below, in the middle of the greenhouse, surrounded by potted trees.

  Cali had never seen so many plants before. They were everywhere, and in their center Vander stood like the sun. She didn’t notice the dead ones on the outskirts until her second sweep of the room, they blended so well into the shadows. The amount of dead plants was almost as startling as the amount of living ones. They were piled atop one another, their dead branches and leaves reaching out like rotten hands grasping for a second chance.

  She shivered.

  Vander was watering a particular large flower with a brilliant red and yellow blossom. A potted tree sat next to him, nearly too large for the container it resided in. The roots were starting to crack the plastic. He finished with his watering and moved to cup the tree like he had her face so many times before.

  The blood chilled in her veins.

  At first nothing happened and then the changes started. The leaves started to darken and shrivel. The green coloring of the tree faded. Brown took over, the texture of the tree going from smooth to dry and crisp.

  Vander’s head fell back, his chest expanding as if taking in a huge lungful of air.

  Cali hadn’t realized she’d walked to the edge of the second floor until her fingers tightened over the railing.

  He was sucking the life right out of that tree. She stood motionless as the plant withered and died before her eyes.

  That was when hands grabbed her from behind.

  Chapter 22

  Cali gasped against the hand at her mouth, her powers dropping away as she flailed.

  Her foot shot out and stubbed the railing with a horrifying ping, the sound echoing out into the dome.

  Vander’s eyes snapped open, his head swiveling to stare straight at her. Cali’s heart momentarily stopped beating. The arm around her waist tightened, pulling her closer to a warm, firm chest.

  The jig was up. She’d been caught. It’d be back to her prison room where Vander would continue to suck the life right out of her. Despite her best efforts to remain fearless, her body trembled.

  She opened her mouth to say something. What that something was, she had no idea. Would Vander go easier on her if she lied and said she’d been looking for him? Her stomach rebelled at the idea of pretending to actually like this man.

  Lips pressed against her ear.

  She caught the scent of sand and orange blossoms when a voice — Jente’s voice, whispered, “Don’t make a sound.”

  Caught completely off guard, she turned her head fractionally to stare into his mismatched eyes. They were burning with concentration.

  What was he playing at?

  She turned back to Vander, whose gaze was now flickering from place to place.

  He couldn’t see them, she realized.

  She stared down at her legs. She could still see herself but apparently he couldn’t.

  Jente’s attention never left Vander. She continued to stare in amazement as he used his power to make them invisible.

  After searching his greenhouse and failing to find what had made the noise, Vand
er went back to his plants. He moved away from the dead tree and turned his sights on the beautiful flower he’d been watering earlier.

  Cali couldn’t watch anymore. The idea that he had done that to her left her feeling nauseated.

  Jente must have sensed her need to get away. He slowly guided her backward into the hallway. His boots made the slightest thunk, but she was too overwhelmed to get a handle on her powers to even try and help make their escape easier. He didn’t release her until they were back at the door. She waited for him to open it but he just stared at her. He held a finger to his lips, then pointed down to the handle.

  Cali frowned at him.

  He rolled his eyes and forced her hand to the knob. “Use your powers,” he mouthed.

  Right.

  She needed to focus. She calmed her mind and waited a few painful moments until her neck started to tingle.

  The door swung open without a sound. Jente followed her through and shut the door behind them.

  Cali let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. Once her heart eased into a less frantic rhythm she whirled on Jente, fists balled at her sides. “What do you want? Why’d you do that back there?”

  Jente blew her off and grabbed her elbow to propel her to the front door. “Isn’t it obvious what I’m doing,” he huffed. “I’m saving your ass.”

  She ripped her arm from his grip. “I don’t believe you. You’re the one that delivered me to him in the first place. You’re probably moving me to a more secure location.” Shit! She started to back away. Jente caught her hand before she got out of reach. His fingers laced with hers. His hand was warm and dry.

  “I’m not moving you. I’m helping you. I had no idea that when Vander wanted you, this is what he would do to you.”

  Her temper spiked. “Oh, you thought I’d be staying at a five-star hotel with full room service? Bullshit. You knew what was in store for me.”

  Genuine shame flashed briefly in his eyes. “I don’t have to prove myself to you. All I’m saying is that no one should have to endure what you have. I didn’t know and now that I do, I’m getting you out.”