But the knife in my left hand found its way to his body.
He screamed.
So easy, it would be to slip it farther up, to pierce his lungs. Then a mere twist into his heart and he’d never kill another Unbounded again. The music of the knife beckoned. He deserved it. He’d been going to murder Patrick.
I fought to step back from my desire for revenge. Wasn’t he a victim of his own lack of education? A pawn of the Emporium and other men who used their fervency to further their own agendas? But I didn’t really buy that because all the Hunters I’d met seemed to use their belief as an excuse for murder—the most heinous, horrific kind of murder. No, there was nothing redeeming about this man. Nothing to hold back my hungry knife.
Nothing except my stronger desire not to be like him.
“Mari!” Keene swept open the curtain, his gun aimed at the Hunter. “It’s over. You don’t have to.”
I let out a sudden breath, then dragged more air into my lungs. Painfully, as if it’d been far too long since I had taken a breath. I stepped back, my entire body shaking, and Keene rushed forward to deal with the Hunter.
Moments later, I was trying to pull tape from Patrick’s mouth when the door slammed open to reveal Cort and Jace with Noah between them. “Patrick!” Noah rushed forward and would have fallen if Jace hadn’t caught her. “Oh, thank, God!” With her good hand, she pulled the knife from my grasp and began working at the tape holding Patrick’s arms. After making sure Noah wasn’t going to collapse or cut herself, Jace drew out another knife and freed Patrick’s legs.
Patrick sat up and hugged Noah. “Luce?” he asked.
Noah’s smile fled. “I’m sorry Patrick. She didn’t make it. A nurse is with her now.”
Pain filled Patrick’s face. “Did the Hunters . . .”
“No!” My voice came out a little too forcefully. “It was her, Patrick. She’s responsible for her own death. She was behind everything. Those texts on the way here? She betrayed you to the Hunters. She tried to kill Noah.”
Patrick wilted and tears started down his face. He reached out a hand, stopping short of the deep gash on Noah’s neck. The bleeding had mostly stopped, but it still looked terrible. “Luce did all that?” he said. “I didn’t know she had it in her.” Was that admiration in his voice? He must really love her. “I’m so sorry, Noah.” His hands dropped to hers and clung tightly. “Why couldn’t Luce trust me?”
Noah leaned her forehead to rest against his. “I don’t know. Maybe she just never recovered from what the Emporium did to her. Maybe she had a problem separating you from that bastard who killed her child. But you’re doing the right thing. The only thing.”
I hated that Noah could still give Lucinda excuses. After over a century and a half, Noah should know better. Except I bet Cort would say that her age was exactly why Noah spoke the way she did.
“What about everyone else?” Patrick pulled away from Noah as he spoke, showing his strength and leadership in that simple question. “Susan? Chance? The other agents?”
“Susan’s the cook, right?” Jace asked. “She’s fine, and it looks like all the Secret Service agents at the house will survive as well. The paramedics think that’s because they were in awesome shape. We’re betting there’s damage, but the prognosis is good. They were giving that Secret Service agent—Chance, right?—a third bag of blood, last we heard. He’s one tough sucker.”
“Good.” Patrick managed a strangled smile. Of course, the agent who had been killed at his house hadn’t been so lucky—Lucinda had seen to that—but no one brought it up, and I certainly wasn’t going to. It could wait for another day. There was already enough guilt and heartache to go around.
Keene finished with the Hunter, having used the man’s own duct tape to secure him on the far side of the room next to the others he’d captured. He returned to stand awkwardly by the bed. “Patrick,” he said. “I’m really sorry about Lucinda. We tried . . . I didn’t mean . . .”
I touched Keene’s hand and gave a slight shake of my head. Now was not the time to confess his role in Lucinda’s demise. He’d only been trying to save Noah and me, so we could get to Patrick, but even the noble Patrick might not see it that way right now.
“Thank you,” Patrick said, his voice scarcely recognizable. “Please, I need to see her.”
Noah nodded. “I’ll go with you. I probably should let that nurse bandage me up anyway. She wasn’t happy about me leaving. Jace gave me curequick, and I can feel I’m healing, but stitches will help.”
“Wait. There’s a man out there at the nurses’ station,” I said.
Jace shook his head. “Not anymore. We rounded up five Hunters before we got to Noah. Lucky she texted, because your GPS signals vanished before we made it up here. Had us a bit worried. We had to track her instead.”
“It’s their transmitters—some kind of blocking technology.” I wasn’t surprised to see Cort already studying one of the devices. “Doesn’t seem to need wires like the one we use, but it kept me from shifting to Patrick.”
“We’ll take them with us.” Cort switched off the one near him and picked it up. “Hmm, surprisingly heavy. Definitely new technology, but if they aren’t in sight of one another, or if something steps in the way, they can’t work. Still, they have their uses.”
Yeah, I thought, like today.
Patrick’s pants were buzzing, and in a daze he pulled his phone from his pocket. He stared through the cracked glass at a message. “Looks like my dad’s gotten wind of this. He wants to know if I’m okay.” He handed the phone to Noah. “I really can’t deal with that right now.” With effort, he swung his feet off the bed and stood.
“That means Secret Service is about to descend on us.” Cort handed the blocking device to Jace. “Go with Patrick and Noah just in case we have any stray Hunters out there. But grab a few of these on your way out and stash them someplace. I don’t want to lose this tech to the government.”
As Jace exited the room with Noah and Patrick, Keene’s eyes followed them—unreadable like they’d been after the explosion in Morocco. “It’s good you stopped Lucinda when you did,” I said softly, “or Noah and Patrick might not have a future. And they will, you can see that, can’t you? Give it a little time.”
Without a word, Keene picked me up and set me on the edge of the tall bed. Carefully, he eased up the right sleeve of my blouse, where I noticed for the first time that blood had leaked through the gauze and was running down my arm. He found a pair of scissors in the mess around us and began cutting off the bandage. “Looks like you ripped out the stitches.”
“I don’t want any more. All I need is a good night sleep with no bad guys showing up. Can you do that for me?”
He studied me for several seconds in silence, then nodded. “Okay. For now, I’ll just wrap it tight enough to hold back some of that blood.” From an inner pocket, he pulled out a small vial filled with a clear substance and handed it to me before resuming his examination of my wound. I swallowed a mouthful of the sweet curequick. It was so thick, it almost made me gag.
On the other side of the room, Cort finished picking up the transmitters. He motioned to our three captives. “Jace and I’ll be back for these guys in a minute. Or the police will be.”
Keene nodded at his brother. “Just make sure they know the guy in the black T-shirt is a combat Unbounded. He’ll need special attention.”
“Ah, that explains the hog-tying. I wondered about that. The ripped sheets must mean you ran out of rope.”
“I can only carry so much. I’m not Ritter.”
Cort’s lips twitched. “Nope. You’re not quite that obsessed. Yet.” It was good to see them joking, and my worry for Keene eased.
After Cort was gone, I kicked Keene’s leg lightly. “Will you finish poking around there already? That hurts.”
“Just need to wrap it now. Looks like the exit wound is healing nicely, and the artery must have had time to seal or you would have lost more blood and passed
out already.”
“I nearly did when I tried to shift to help Patrick. Took me a couple tries.”
Keene’s face drew in concern. “Maybe my synergy—”
“It’s not you, it’s me. Before when I’d shift, I’d pass through a place I call the in between. Cort says it’s like opening a wormhole or something. Yeah, I know, that’s so Star Trek. But now when I shift you and the others, I’m folding the new location around me instead. I don’t see the in between. I’m not sure what that means.”
Keene’s hands stilled as he considered. “Different process, I’m betting. Maybe pulling takes more energy, or maybe just a different muscle.”
“That’s what it feels like. The in between is easier, so I want to try moving us that way.”
“Now?”
I groaned. “Right now I don’t think I could shift two inches.” Actually, the curequick had begun to work, and I felt as if several jolts of caffeine had entered my system, so maybe before long I would be ready.
Cort and Jace returned with several police officers to round up the Hunters and the Emporium plant. A buzz from the hallway spilled in after them. “This place is hopping with what must be every officer and agent in Washington DC,” Jace announced with a happy grin.
“Just don’t get your picture taken,” Keene warned.
Cort laughed. “No worries, the president is with Patrick now, and they’re keeping the media at bay. We’ll be ready to leave in a few minutes. We just want to make sure they get these guys properly secured.”
Keene finished wrapping my arm with gauze, and we watched them haul away the prisoners. Once we were alone, the ensuing silence was almost more than I could stand. I eyed the pillow that had at some point fallen from the bed, wishing I could lie down and take a nice long nap—in Keene’s arms.
“So,” he said, his voice low. “You said Patrick and Noah have a future. What about us? Is that what we have? A future?”
I didn’t hesitate because I couldn’t imagine a life that didn’t include him. “Yes. But . . .”
“But what?” His expression turned solemn.
“It does make a difference, you being Unbounded.” Before he could misunderstand, I rushed on, “Mortals, they’re so . . . I mean, look at Patrick. Look at Stella.”
I was trying to say that I’d still want him if he were mortal, but that didn’t mean I was eager to experience the heartache I’d witnessed when Stella lost her first husband—and would experience again if she pursued her relationship with Chris.
“You being Unbounded,” I said, making another attempt, “is so much . . . easier.”
Keene’s head tilted as he regarded me for several heartbeats. His voice, when it came, felt like a promise. “Then that’s a good thing.”
He kissed me then, and energy thickened around us. Numbers swirled, painting the world with colors I’d never seen in such variety. His synergy increased everything in me, even the intensity of his touch.
I could so get used to this. And I’d have time to.
Exhilaration filled me. Still sitting on the bed, I wrapped my legs around him, pulling him closer until our bodies met. My heart sounded like a drum in my ears, a pounding, furious beat that pumped my veins full of anticipation.
The sensation blotted out all the horrors we’d experienced, past and present, and even the beckoning siren call of my knives, the worry I had of giving into them. Of becoming what the Hunters’ fear had tried to make me. I was a Renegade, a Guardian of Humanity. I wasn’t a monster. I’d never become the monster Lucinda had accused me of being.
We broke apart as the others returned to the room, Patrick leading the way, his face rigid, his eyes red with mourning. His bruises were much blacker now as they began to heal, but determination exuded from his eyes.
“I think I’m ready to leave,” he said. “I’ve refused my father’s strong suggestion that I continue with the Secret Service, so I’m hoping you’ll all stay with me until the laws he’s trying to pass become a reality. I have a lot more work to do with the American people to bring about the peace we’re searching for.”
I looked around at Keene, Cort, and Jace before answering for everyone. “Of course, we will. That’s why we’re here.”
“I’m staying too,” said a newly bandaged Noah. “I have a few performances I’ll have to do, but besides that, I’m free.”
Patrick nodded at her. “I’d like that.” His gaze refocused on me. “However, there is the little matter of getting out of here. It’s a circus out there. I don’t know about you guys, but after today, I could use a good night’s sleep somewhere without any media or agents or snipers.”
I slid down from the bed. “We were just talking about that. With Keene’s help, I can probably shift you out of here.”
“Just you,” Keene added. “If we give her another half hour to recoup her strength. The others will have to meet us.”
“Aw,” Jace said. “Just when I was looking forward to hurtling through space again.”
I laughed. “Maybe later.”
“I know a place we can go.” Noah stepped to a chair and sat down. Her very dark skin didn’t look paler, but it was obvious she was feeling faint by the way she moved. “One of my properties has room for all of us. Complete with the latest in Renegade security. We tried the mortal way with Secret Service, now let’s do it Unbounded style. With Mari’s help, no one will ever know you’re there. You can stay as long as you like.”
Patrick gave a sigh. “That sounds good. Is there room for my cook? Susan’s been through a lot today, and I’d like her to be safe too.”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll have to shift somewhere I know,” I reminded them. “We’ll go to Noah’s by car from there. At least this first time.”
“Okay. We’ll meet you back where we’ve been staying.” Cort offered Noah an arm. She smiled at him and then at Jace as he offered his arm as well.
“Be careful,” Patrick cautioned.
Noah let go of Cort and Jace long enough to hug him goodbye. “We’ll be fine.” That didn’t stop Patrick from frowning as the door closed behind them. I understood his worry. He’d lost so much today.
“I think I’m ready now,” I said.
“You sure?” Keene asked.
I loved the way he seemed to peer into the depths of my soul, unafraid of what he might find there. When I responded, it wasn’t really to the question he’d asked, but to the unasked one lurking in those eyes. “I’m absolutely sure.”
His energy gathered, stealing my breath as every bit as sensuously as his kiss had earlier. I called up the coordinates that would lead us to our destination, but hovering ever nearby were those other coordinates in Venezuela.
Soon, I told myself. Keene would be in for a surprise.
For now, I concentrated on using the in between instead of folding the location around us, hoping it would be easier. As I reached for Keene’s hand to begin the shift, my eyes snagged on the merest corner of the plastic bacon poking out of the gauze covering my wound.
Laughter bubbled up inside me. I wasn’t sure yet how to top that. But I would.
NOTE FROM TEYLA BRANTON: Thank you for downloading this book and for spending a little time with me in my world! If you enjoyed Lethal Engagement, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated. If you missed the other novellas in the Unbounded series, be sure to check out Ava’s Revenge and Mortal Brother. In the next section, I’ve included a bonus sample of The Takeover (Unbounded Book 5), a full-length novel in the Unbounded series (part of the main series from Erin’s point of view). Or you can read a bonus preview of Ava’s Revenge, a novella that shows how Ava learned she was Unbounded. You can find out more about me and my books in the About the Author section following the bonus chapters, but I also invite you to sign up for free books and other subscriber exclusives on my website. THANKS!
THE END
Sneak Peek
“We want the guards looking at you, not at your credentials,” she’d said, grinning as I tried to balance on what felt like stilts. I comforted myself with the very real possibility of using the pointed heels as a weapon.
Stella was right. The guards’ eyes had been too busy with the curves of my legs under my tight red skirt to do more than barely glance at my Homeland Security ID. A good thing, since the identification wasn’t real. They should have called to verify, even though the main office had advised them of our upcoming arrival. Just in case they did check, Stella had tapped into their communications network and was ready to give them the fake approval code she’d provided when she’d set up the meeting yesterday.
I was more worried about running into an Emporium hit team than dealing with Homeland Security. Compared to the Emporium, getting the best of the US government was child’s play.
We’d known we would have to pass through a full-body scanner when we’d entered this secret facility outside Dallas, so the weapons and communication devices we carried were disguised as ordinary items.
Not to mention my shoes.
If the Emporium showed up, Ritter, Dimitri, and I might need everything we’d brought to break Shadrach Azima out of here. He was a traitor to us, but leaving him in captivity any longer, now that he was finally out of Islamic hands, wasn’t an option. He was still a Renegade, and we wouldn’t leave him for the Emporium or the American government to experiment on.
Dimitri, our healer, was dressed as an aging, gray-haired doctor, complete with a white lab coat, a stethoscope, and a medical bag in hand. I didn’t personally know any medical employees who wore white coats into a facility, rather than donning them there, but again Stella had insisted. The broad, normally dark-haired man fit easily into the role, and the guards had given even less attention to his forged credentials as a world-renowned geneticist than mine. At over a thousand years old, Dimitri had forgotten more about medicine than mortal doctors had time to learn.
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