Eternity

by Tmonique Stephens

  It didn’t take her long to realize she was lost. After the first turn she knew it, but denial was better company. Turn after turn, instead of working her way out of the maze, she found herself deeper. She’d rather spend the night here than call for help and have Roman rescue her. A twig snapped and her head turned toward the sound.

  “Hello? Anyone there?”

  The air charged with a strange energy that brushed along her bare arms and made her hair stand up. Panting—on the other side hedge—she heard the heavy, raspy breathing. Something crunched and a low growl sounded near her.

  Quietly, she turned and tiptoed in the opposite direction. Whatever it was, matched her footsteps exactly. From a walk, to a jog, then a run, she darted through the maze and crashed into a wall that the light from the lanterns didn’t touch. The branches scratched her arms and snagged her hair. The more she pulled, the more entangled she became.

  The hedges shook, then bent inward, over her. She screamed and yanked hard. Pain seared the back of her head as hair ripped from her skull. But she gritted her teeth and pulled herself free. Landing on her hands and knees, she scurried forward before lunging to her feet. Behind her, the hedge crackled and snapped. Something burst through. Shrouded in darkness, she couldn’t see it, watching her, stalking her.

  “Stella!”

  “I’m here!” She screamed, running as fast as could.

  An animal roared behind her.

  As she raced down a path, the glint of a sword slicing through the hedge halted her. In a wide circle, the blade cut through the dense foliage. “Roman?”

  “Move back,” he ordered from the other side.

  The sword stabbed through the foliage and traveled in an arc. A chunk of hedge fell at her feet leaving a hole large enough for her to fit through.

  “Give me your hand and I’ll pull you through.” Roman’s hand shot through the opening. She grabbed it and within seconds was on the other side wrapped in his arms. “Are you all right?” His hands raced over her body, checking for injuries.

  “Yes—” She nodded brokenly.

  “Go!” He pushed her behind him. “Two rights, two lefts and one right will lead you out.”

  “But—” She didn’t want to leave him.

  “Leave me!” he ordered again, then began hacking his way through the wall.

  Stella didn’t wait. She followed his instruction and five minutes later she burst from the maze. Thane, Quin, Hector and E.J. came running up to her. “What’s happened?”

  “I think it’s the animal that attacked us. It’s in the maze, with Roman.” Both men moved together toward the entrance, but she stopped them. “You need a weapon.”

  E.J. pulled a gun from the small of his back and ran in.

  “Daniel—” Thane yelled.

  She turned in time to see Daniel coming from the house.

  “—keep her safe.” Then Thane ran into the maze.

  She stared at the man standing next to her. He looked so much like Roman. They could be twins.

  “I need to get you to safety.” He took her arm and pulled her behind him.

  “But Roman, we can’t leave him.” Stella turned back.

  “Thane and E.J. have his back. He’d want you out of danger. Come.”

  Too tired to argue, she didn’t fight him, she followed.

  Nothing moved. The birds, the crickets, even the evening breeze stilled. Moments ago, he sent Thane and E.J. back to the house. Armed only with a gun between the two of them, he ordered them to return with swords. It was a ploy to get them out of the way. Immortal, his life was expendable, theirs weren’t, but now the maze was silent. He tracked the animal through the maze only to lose it. Instinct told him the beast was still here. Frustrated, he continued to search, unwilling to give up. He heard his men coming up behind him. Someone shined a light in his face.

  “Did you find it?” Thane asked.

  Both had guns tucked into their waistband and swords clutched in their fists.

  “No.” He ground his teeth in anger. “Where is Stella?”

  “Daniel’s with her,” Thane answered.

  Roman nodded. “Fan out. We’ll search together.”

  Each man took a section. Though intricate, they had all decoded the mystery of the maze years ago. Three entrances, two exits. Roman heard his men and knew exactly where they were. Eyes attuned to the darkness, the shadows held no secrets as he walked the twists and turns. He reached the gazebo at the center before E.J. and Thane. Then stopped. In the dim glow from the hanging lanterns, stretched out on one of the stone benches, he saw her.

  Roman rushed to her side and thanked god when he felt a pulse. No blood, but a bruise marred her forehead. He picked her up and turned as E.J. and Thane emerged from different sides of the gazebo.

  “Oh shit” was all E.J. could muster.

  “How did she get here?” Thane shined a light on her face.

  No time to answer, Roman brushed them aside and rushed from the labyrinth. The moment he emerged, Hector cried, “No,” and rushed forward to take his daughter.

  “We need to get her inside.” Roman sped past both Hector and Quin, and carried her into the solarium. He laid her on a chair and turned to Hector. “She’s alive.”

  Eyes wide, limbs trembling, Hector didn’t appear to hear him. Roman turned to E.J. “Get me ice.”

  “I thought she went home,” Hector whispered coming out of his stupor.

  “We all did,” Roman said.

  “She hates the maze, always gets lost. Why would she go in there?” Hector kneeled next to Roman and took her hand. “Will she be all right?”

  Bianca groaned and touched her head. “Roman,” she whimpered.

  “Tell me what happened,” Roman asked gently. She groaned again and reached for Roman until he held her hand.

  “I don’t know?” she whispered and cried out when Thane placed an ice pack on her forehead.

  “Why did you go into the gazebo?” Thane’s voice cut through the hushed tones.

  Everything about this was wrong, Quin thought, watching this drama unfold. Was he the only one thinking normally?

  Suddenly, Roman stood and looked around the room. “Where’s Stella?”

  “She’s with Daniel,” Quin said as his iPhone chimed.

  “I was walking with Daniel and I can’t remember,” she mumbled, wincing.

  Quin fished the vibrating phone out of his pocket. The database search was complete and his computer had deposited a report in his mailbox. A quick scan of the document left him gasping.

  “What?” Roman’s hard voice broke through his stupor.

  But he couldn’t answer him. Not yet. Not without more proof. He raced through the house and up the back stairs to his Hive: a wall of computer monitors, connected to processors and a server that, not only ran the company, but also all of RockGate and several other Nicolis holdings.

  He entered the room and froze mid-step. The dark monitors and quite processors unnerved him. A twenty-four hour operation, his systems were never offline. Someone had deliberately unplugged him. No time to re-boot everything, he ran to his bedroom and retrieved his laptop.

  Quin pulled up the completed data and stared. The DNA from the Pamela Buckley’s house matched the DNA on Roman’s shirt, which matched the DNA from Quin’s private database that held all the Nicolis Security employees. He pressed the print button for a hard copy and yanked the pages from the printer. He turned and plowed into E.J. Thane stood next to him.

  “What’s wrong?” E.J. steadied him.

  “Where’s Daniel!” Quin cut E.J. off.

  “Calm down,” Thane ordered.

  “Why?” E.J. asked.

  Quin pushed them both out of the way. He leaped from landing to landing as he ran back downstairs. Breathless, he ran through the house and into the garage. He jerked to a halt in front of the open space that used to have a Mustang. A bellow echoed in the mansion and he knew the mess he was about to wade in. Back in the house and up the stairs
, he didn’t stop until he entered Stella’s bedroom.

  Roman snatched him by the collar and dragged him close. “Tell me,” he growled in his face.

  The words didn’t want to come but they had to. Though his heart hurt, he opened his mouth and said, “Daniel’s The Strangler.”

  CHAPTER 20

  “We should go back.” Guilt chewed at Stella and worry frayed her nerves. She left him in the maze with that monster. He could be dead.

  “Roman wanted you safe. RockGate is breached so I had to get you out of there.”

  “But . . . what if he’s hurt.”

  Daniel laughed. “You do know he’s immortal, right?”

  “. . . Yes, but—do you think he’s okay?”

  “Roman’s fine. He’s Superman.” Daniel chuckled.

  “. . . Yeah.” But even he had kryptonite.

  “After meeting Bianca, I’d thought you’d want to leave.”

  She did, but not like this.

  “Especially with Bianca still living there.”

  A punch to the gut would’ve been gentler. She closed her eyes against the tidal wave of pain threatening to drown her. She wished it didn’t matter. Wished she didn’t care. But she did and it hurt. He lied.

  Bury it. Like she did with everything else.

  Floating like a bloated corpse, everything Roman surfaced. Everything. Two thousand years of fractured memories and shattered dreams. She got it, the anguish he suffered each time she died, but this time it was her left on the sidelines. Her heart in the blender.

  He told her to leave. And she did. He had Bianca to soothe any wounds or pain.

  BURY IT.

  How? This wasn’t the same old hurt. She didn’t know how to bury this and move forward. To what? A life without Roman.

  Speeding down the highway one word circulated in her head. Doomed. Inevitable doom. And she couldn’t shake it. Like watching a high-speed chase on TV, you knew how the fleeing car would end up, you just didn’t know where or when . . . but soon the car would crumple in an impact that snuffed out lives and left viewers gasping.

  As Daniel drove, she paid attention to the cars and trucks around her, the pedestrians crossing the street and airplanes in the sky. Something was going to crash into her, or land on her and nothing she did would change the outcome.

  Something has already crashed into you. Roman Nicolis.

  Daniel stopped in front of her building. “Go inside while I park.”

  She stared at him. So much about him reminded her of Roman. She didn’t want him in her apartment because being near him hurt, but The Strangler was still out there and that thing in the park. Better him than Roman.

  For a moment, fear paralyzed her. Too many decisions, too many things going wrong all at the same time. Afraid to be alone, she almost refused. The minutes he’d take to find parking, anything could happen to her.

  “It’s all right. I’ll only be gone for a few minutes,” Daniel prompted.

  “But. . . .” Hating the whiny, neediness in her voice, she swallowed the rest of the sentence. This isn’t the first time you’ve been here. Deal with it.

  Shaky fingers unbuckled the seatbelt and with as much dignity as possible, she climbed out of the car. Through the lobby, into the small confines of the elevator, dread chased her. She didn’t know this panic-stricken woman she’d turned into. Didn’t like her either. Stella, the loner, self-sufficient woman was gone. Desperately, she wanted her back.

  Her apartment was exactly as she had left it; Gun case in the corner where she dumped it after their time at the range and Hector’s pepper spray gift on top of the footlocker. Thanks to Roman, the rest of her tiny castle was neat and orderly. Except for an oversized shirt tossed on the back of her computer chair.

  Tears pricked her eyes. A few rapid blinks kept them at bay long enough for her to walk over to one of her living room windows and slide the gauzy curtain back. Not much of a view of the apartment across the street, but anything was better than reaching for what she shouldn’t have, couldn’t have.

  She did anyway. The cloth called to her much the same way the man who owned it did. His scent, woodsy with a hint of musk, filled her when she brought the shirt to her nose and drew him into her. Eyes closed, she could pretend he was there, with her, holding her close, making everything all right. Right now, she’d give anything to hear his husky voice but she hadn’t replaced her phone.

  A fist pounding on her apartment door broke the trance.

  “See, that didn’t take long,” Daniel said after she opened the door and let him in. “Nice place, cozy.”

  His presence crowded her. She moved to the opposite side of the tiny apartment.

  “I’m starving. Is there something to eat?” He took his jacket off, but kept his gun in his shoulder holster.

  “Yeah.” She pointed to the kitchen. “Go help yourself.”

  Nowhere to hide in the studio apartment, she went into the bathroom and tried not to cry, to suck it up and bury the misery rolling deep in her chest. The façade worked when her mother died and when her father remarried, and then died. Foster care, Mrs. Carmen and the attack, Stella had become an expert at hiding her pain, smiling through the tears.

  Not this time.

  This time the tears came along with wrenching sobs and despair so intense she slid to the floor and curled into a fetal position. She remembered the way he looked right before she fell asleep. At peace, his features relaxed, his lips parted as he breathed deeply to catch his breath and his blue eyes full of . . . she couldn’t say the word. Doubled over, she rocked on the cold floor. She never wanted to see him again, so why did she ache so much for him?

  Strong hands picked her up. For a moment she thought they were his. She opened her swollen eyes and searched the face in front of her.

  Daniel held her. Not the man who claimed to love her. Daniel didn’t make her palms sweat or her knees sway. He didn’t make her want to run in the opposite direction and save her heart.

  She buried her face in the hard chest in front of her and wept.

  Roman slammed his hand against the dashboard. “Drive around!” He yelled at E.J.

  “I can’t! We’re blocked in!” Rush hour in NYC had turned the streets into a parking lot. Rows of idling cars lined the narrow one-way street. They couldn’t get to the avenue and faster flowing traffic.

  In his palm, Roman nearly crushed the GPS locator that showed Daniel’s car parked two blocks away from Stella’s address. Daniel is The Strangler. Those words changed everything. Hydrogen bombed everything. And that wasn’t the worst. If Daniel was the killer, then he was also the beast. How had the little boy he raised become a shape-shifter? Fifteen blocks north of his destination, he grabbed his cell and jumped out of the car. The phone rang as he ran.

  “Roman—” Thane’s voice came across. “We’re two blocks behind you.”

  This couldn’t be the end. Not like this! Dead at his brother’s hand. In all the times he’d lost her, he wouldn’t survive this. If she died, he’d follow her. He would find a way. “Call the police. It may be her only chance,” he ordered and pocketed the phone.

  Unarmed, he ran faster. Through the crowded Manhattan streets, people cleared the way for the screaming mad man.

  Only ten block to go.

  It felt good to be held, even in the wrong set of arms. She clutched his shirt and cried until embarrassment made her stop, then finally eased away from Daniel. Gratefully, she accepted the napkin he gave her. After she mopped her eyes and cleared her dripping nose, he pressed a glass of wine into her hand.

  “Thanks,” she said, squinting through swollen eyes.

  “Drink.” He tilted the glass to her lips.

  She took a deep gulp and sighed as the wine raced down her throat and hit her stomach. Soon the alcohol would be in her bloodstream numbing the misery and then nothing would matter. She drained the glass and asked for more.

  “Getting drunk won’t help, Stella. Trust me.” He pried open the ricke
ty living room windows. Cool night air fluttered the curtains.

  “You talk like you know. So you’ve been in love before?”

  “Haven’t we all?” He sat a plate of food on her coffee table. “Eat please.”

  Stella eyed the food and couldn’t imagine chewing and swallowing. She went into the kitchen and refilled her glass again.

  “Who was she? This girl that broke your heart.” She took a gulp. “It’s none of my business, but misery loves company and you’re here, so share.” She braced her hip on the rim of the sink and waited.

  He leaned against the open doorway and watched her.

  “Come, Daniel, tell me I’m not the only pathetic, lonely being in the world.” Tears glistened and her chin trembled.

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “You’re not the only pathetic being in the world. There are a lot of us out there. You’re in good company, or bad I should say.” He looked away from her. “It was a few weeks ago,” he mumbled and refused to meet her eyes.

  “Forget it. I’m sorry.” It wasn’t fair to stir his pot of pain just so she could commiserate and she had just met the man. Her pain didn’t excuse her rudeness.

  “We met accidentally. I was doing something I shouldn’t have been doing and she caught me.” He turned sideways in the doorway.

  Daniel as the bad boy? Yep. He was built like Roman, similar mannerisms, same dark hair and blue eyes. Roman as a bad boy, quickly she pushed thoughts of him away.

  “Should I ask what you were doing?” She took another sip. Lurid thoughts surfaced. “Don’t answer that.” It would be too easy to replaced Daniel’s image with Romans’. “It’s none of my business.”

  He gave a shaky laugh. “She ran . . . I chased. Things didn’t end well when I caught her.”

  Maybe it was the way he said it. Maybe the tone or inflection of his voice or the shameful look on his face as he averted his eyes. Her throat tightened and the sweat froze on her skin. A trembling began in all her limbs. The wine started to dance between her fingers. She put the glass down