Sienna sat, holding the single spark of power, watching it wiggle and twist in her hands. It grew in her palm, warming her, until it felt solid. She pulled at it, tugged until it stretched and then grew, falling down over her fingers like a single strand of spider web. It flowed from her fingertips, wrapping around the shard. It was just one strand, one anchor point, but it was strong enough. She pulled on the strand, reeling the piece back toward her, then raised her hands in her mind.
Sienna opened her eyes. A faint shimmer glittered the air around her, and in the middle of it hung a burnt orange shard—dangling in the air. She gasped, and the piece jerked, plunging toward the ground. Sienna jerked, pulling back up on the strand in her mind. The shard stopped its descent. It hovered there, turning and twisting right in front of her eyes, as easily as it did in her mind.
Oh, my God.
She was doing it!
At her excitement, the pot shard tinkled to the ground, shedding small sparks as it fell. As it hit the ground, Sienna felt the sparks meld together and flow back into her. As she had the night before, she’d lost concentration and lost the connection. But this time, she’d felt the power leave and then flow back to her. She knew where it was, and how to find it again. It didn’t need to burst out of her anymore; full of anger and uncontrollable. She could hold it, shape it.
But there was so much to learn. Could Isobel do this, too? They were clones, right? Didn’t that mean an exact copy? But Isobel was so much more powerful than she was. If she could do what Sienna could, she doubted Isobel would have left a single one of them standing. And yet here they were. What was she missing?
The screen door behind her banged open and Sienna jolted from her thoughts. “Crap!”
“Sorry,” Payton said. Her eyes were puffy, either from crying or lack of sleep—probably both. She looked down at the boards of the porch, nudging one of the shards of broken pot with her toe. “Were you practicing?”
Sienna nodded. She sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. “I mean, it’s not perfect. But it’s something.”
“Huh. What worked?”
“You actually, well, your idea. I let go of the anger.” She gestured at the bits of broken pot strewn about the porch. “Well, not at first. First, I tried anger and broke Jace’s little pot.”
Payton laughed and sat down next to Sienna. “Thing was ugly anyway.”
“See! That’s what I thought, too.” Then she remembered who she was talking to. Sienna smiled. This time, Payton hearing her thoughts didn’t feel like an intrusion. Instead it was almost fun, a joke between friends.
“I can see it, you know,” Payton said. “Each time, as you unlock a new part of your mind, I can read it. It does all come down to emotion for you, but not just feeling the emotion; controlling it. Let the sensation wash over you, but tell it what to do, not the other way around.”
Sienna cocked her head to the side. “So I just feel it in my mind?”
“Yeah, almost like your hands are touching it. Think about what it’d be like moving your hands over it. You’ve got this.” Payton nudged her with her shoulder. “I think you’re almost there.”
“Alright,” Sienna said. “Just sit back a bit. I don’t want to stab you with a piece of Jace’s ugly pot.”
Payton trotted down the stairs and stood on the gravel drive in front of the porch, not bothering to hide her laughter. It ran through Sienna, warming her in the morning light. Payton was humoring her, but she wasn’t the slightest bit worried about flying pottery pieces. She trusted Sienna. That felt good. Payton—everyone here—had been a great mentor. She could do this.
Sienna closed her eyes. Would two grains of power do it this time, or would it take more? She reached down, dipping her hand back into the light, this time grasping several tiny grains of light. She carefully picked one up, twirling it in her mind.
Terracotta had such a distinctive texture, it didn’t take much for her to picture the pot in her mind, or to extend the strands out again, this time multiple light paths sneaking out, picking up every remaining piece.
“There’s my girl.”
At Payton’s praise, Sienna opened her eyes. Chunks of the pot, large and small, floated in front of her eyes. This time, she wasn’t letting them go. She didn’t have to. They held steady in her mind. She moved them in her imagination, and the pieces followed, slowly at first, but then faster, until the entire mess was spinning four feet off the ground. “Hey, Payton! Check this out.” Sienna turned to where Payton had moved to, and bolted toward her, ignoring the crash of broken pieces crashing back against the wooden boards.
Payton lay on the ground, convulsing in the middle of the driveway.
A face appeared, so familiar that it sent a shudder down Sienna’s spine. Her eyes—no, Isobel’s eyes—were wide with madness, while she loomed over her, watching her. The burn passed through every corner of her mind, like a watery grave that would never come.
Cole!
He couldn’t think, he couldn’t breathe. If it didn’t stop . . . dear God. It couldn’t go on any longer, but then it did. He drowned for hours, coming up for air, only to drown again. There was no relief, no questions. Isobel was torturing him for the sheer enjoyment of it.
Sienna ran faster.
The concrete pressed into the back of his head when they wrenched him back up.
“How’s that feel now?” Isobel’s jacket sleeve brushed against his face as she caressed his cheek. The fabric felt like a razor, scraping down his skin.
He couldn’t answer.
“More.”
“Payton!” Sienna fell to her knees in front of her friend. Payton’s eyes had rolled back in her head, the whites of her eyes screaming from her skull. Isobel had Cole already. She’d found him and she was torturing him. Sienna had no doubt Cole would protect Payton from all of this, if there was any way he could. Did he even know he was broadcasting, or was he already too far gone to feel anything but pain?
She was going to kill the bitch.
She grabbed Payton by her shoulder, shaking her lightly. “Wake up!”
Nothing.
Sienna picked up Payton’s head, cradling it in her lap, and screamed.
Strong arms wrapped around her. “Hey . . . hey, Sienna, I’m here. What’s going on?” Jace was holding her, wrapping his body around hers from behind, shielding her.
Why the fuck couldn’t she shield Payton? What was she seeing?
“It’s her! It’s Isobel. Jace, they’re torturing him.”
“Get Payton inside, now!” Jace barked the order at Aaron and Reece, who had come bolting out the front door moments before with Keila, Emily, and Lainey soon after Jace had appeared. Aaron picked her up gently, struggling to keep her still as she convulsed in his arms.
“Is she here?” Reece turned to Sienna.
“No,” Sienna said, shaking her head. “Cole’s calling out to Payton. I saw it when it first hit. It was like Payton couldn’t hold it back.”
Keila spoke first. “She can’t.”
Aaron laid Payton out on the couch, a low moan leaving Payton’s throat with every movement. Lainey sat next to her best friend, stroking her hair and making quiet shhing sounds. Sienna forced herself to get it together. If anyone could pull Payton out, it was Lainey.
Or you. Find a bubble.
Sienna’s legs wobbled beneath her, but she forced herself to remain upright. If it weren’t for Payton, she wouldn’t have a single clue what she was doing. Already, she’d shown Sienna how to find her power, how to draw it out, and how to control it. She owed her, and she was going to stop this if it was the last thing she did.
Sienna closed her eyes and dove toward her light, scooping up a handful and refusing to allow a single drop of it to fall. Her mother had worked desperately to stop the experiments, stop Isobel and her plans, but she’d been blinded by her own anger. It wasn’t anger that was going to save Payton. Payton had saved Sienna’s life, and now Sienna was going to save hers, and, she hoped, C
ole’s right along with it.
She let everything go, all the hurt, all the pain, and all the fear. Instead, Sienna focused on what she’d found. Friendship, acceptance, and love. With Jace, it was definitely love. The light built, wrapping around Payton first, and then everyone in the room. There had been too many secrets, too much locked away. If they were going to win this war, it was going to be together. She felt every one of them, a spark of light, joined but unique. Unique and damned powerful. Sienna smiled. That was it. That was the key.
Payton’s eyes fluttered open and she struggled upward. “I know where they are.”
33
Jace
Things moved quickly after that. Payton struggled up to a sitting position. Sienna perched next to her, a look of concentration on her face. Jace was sure she had something to with why Payton had changed from a gasping, writhing mess to being awake and talking. Not that she was admitting to any of it. Lainey was looking at her sharply, but the only person who could see inside Sienna’s mind and know for sure was Payton, and her attentions were definitely elsewhere at that moment.
Jason thrust a piece of paper into Payton’s hands and she sketched a basic map. “This is where they took him. There’s a front entrance, but also a way in around the back. It looks normal from the front, benign almost, but there’s a network of tunnels that lead you through to the parts of her operation she keeps hidden.” Payton tapped on a square she’d drawn on the map. “This room is where Cole’s being held. He doesn’t know the extent of the facility, but we at least know how to get to him.” She looked up. “He’s close, really close. They didn’t travel for more than half an hour after they picked him up.” She threw the pen down on the table, hard enough to bounce. “She’s been right under our fucking noses the whole time, and we missed it.” Payton’s gaze turned to Keila. “How did you not sense her?”
Keila closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. “I don’t know.” Her voice was quiet, changed from her usual brusque tone. “I don’t think I ever could. Maybe this is different, or maybe I was too busy trying to avoid being killed to notice.” Her voice cracked. “I just don’t know!”
“It’s okay,” Emily said. “You’ve done more than enough, for everyone here.”
Keila’s head shot up, locking her gaze with Sienna’s. “I can’t feel you, either of you, right now. But I found you . . .” Her forehead creased. “What are you doing right now? That had to be the answer.”
“Nothing,” Sienna said. “I’m just helping Payton.”
Keila’s eyes narrowed. “Helping Payton how?”
Sienna stayed sitting down, but her fingers resting on her knees curled, her nails digging into her thighs. Jace moved forward. If Sienna was going to stay next to Payton, then he was going to be right next to her. He didn’t care how “friendly” anyone was supposed to be. Keila was making Sienna uncomfortable, and he wasn’t going to let her.
“It’s okay, Jace.” Lainey said, almost before his feet started moving.
“I don’t care.” Jace sat next to Sienna, unfurling her fingers and holding her hand in his. He looked over at Keila. “Back off with the accusations.”
Keila’s eyes widened. “Is that what you think I’m doing?” She turned back to Sienna. “I’m so sorry. I would never . . . I just don’t understand.”
“And if you’d listened to me, I would have told you that,” Lainey muttered.
“Enough!” Emily said. Her green eyes were swirling. Jace had only known them for a few days, but he’d never seen that before. The effect was mesmerizing, if not a little fucking scary. “Fighting between ourselves is going to get us absolutely nowhere.” She threw Jace a glare before moving toward the chairs, elbowing Keila over and sitting next to her. “Something’s going on, something that perhaps we can use. I don’t know how all this clone stuff is supposed to work, but if Keila can’t see you anymore, Sienna, then you’re doing something new. Something that maybe we can use.” Emily leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and resting her head on her hands, staring intently at Sienna. “What did you think when you wanted to help Payton?”
The look of confusion was back on Sienna’s face. Jace’s hand tightened around hers. “I just wanted to stop the pain she was feeling. I wanted to protect her from having to see it.”
Payton’s eyes shot up. “So he’s still trying to talk to me? Damn it, Sienna. Turn it off!”
“Carefully,” Keila added. “I want to see if I can figure this out.”
Sienna’s eyes closed, her forehead creasing in concentration. Jace watched, and within a few seconds, something in the room changed. It all looked the same, but there was something stronger, almost darker feeling. Payton shook, a fine shiver passing over her. “He’s there,” she whispered. “But he’s not awake right now. Unconscious, or simply dreaming, I can’t tell.” A tear ran down her face.
“And I can see Payton’s powers again,” Keila said. “She’s glowing. You, Sienna, however, may as well not be here.”
“Try moving it,” Emily said. “Instead of shielding Payton from Cole, pull it over both of you.”
Sienna nodded, her eyes drifting closed again. This time, it was her hand that tightened in his. He squeezed back. She’d only just found some sort of tenuous control, and her whole world was spinning out again. He was going to be the one thing she could always rely on. A light sweat broke out across her forehead, and her hand trembled a little in his, seconds before Keila thumped down on the arm of her chair. “There you are!”
Sienna’s eyes snapped open and she wobbled into him. Jace moved from simply holding her hand to wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Easy there, Gorgeous. We don’t need any floating couches to add to the beds.”
She gave him a wobbly smile. “That won’t happen. I’m getting the hang of this now.” She turned to Payton. “I can see him. Feel what you can.” Another fine shudder. “It’s not fun. But maybe we can look together, see something he missed, and I can stop the pain from getting too bad?”
Payton nodded, taking Sienna’s now-free hands in hers. “You got it, Sister.”
34
Jace
They left early the next morning. Sienna and Payton had sat together for most of the day, alternating between watching out for Cole, and then working on Sienna’s power when he was resting. That was how Jace was going to think of it, anyway. He was sure the big guy was going through far worse, but the girls didn’t need to know any more about it than they were already seeing through the connection. Cole would hold up. Any one of these men would die for their woman. That was obvious from the moment Jace laid eyes on them. He saw the same look on his face in the mirror, every morning since he’d met Sienna. There was something different about each of them, more than just their powers. They drew themselves to you. Even Keila, with her abrasive personality. He’d walk into battle willingly for every one of them, but he’d die for Sienna. It was an easy choice.
The sun wasn’t yet cresting the hills at the edge of the ranch when Jace pulled his truck out from the drive and onto the highway. Sienna rode shotgun, the rest of his truck filled with a small armory of “essentials.” The other couples each followed behind with a similar stash and short-wave radios to keep in touch, Payton riding with Lainey and Aaron. She was closest to both of them, and for now she seemed to be holding her own with Cole’s flashes of memory. Either that, or she still had some help. He glanced over at Sienna. The look of dogged concentration hadn’t left her face for hours. Fuck. She’d already learned how to spread her power way beyond right next to her, apparently all the way back to the other truck. His heart warmed even as worry surrounded him. She was one tough woman.
“I should go in alone.”
“Fuck that,” he said. “We’re going together.”
She turned to face him. “I can’t put anyone else in danger, Jace. Even you. I can feel Cole, too, but I’m not as . . . attached . . . as Payton is.” She swallowed. “I can find him without letting the pain get to me. I can do it.
”
He shifted gears, shooting her an angry glance. “I’m not sitting on the sidelines and watching you rush in and disappear. For fuck’s sake, Sienna, you won’t get out of there alive.”
“Then I’ll take Isobel with me.”
There was exactly zero chance he was going to risk her life. If Sienna died, then it would be the end of him, too. “I’m not losing you, Sienna. I’ve only just found you and I’ll be damned if you’re going to just jump off that damn cliff again.”
He turned a corner, the tail end of the truck swinging out. Damn it. He had to get himself under control before they attracted any unwanted attention. Law enforcement around town knew him, and he’d got away with a lot of things. A small arsenal in the back of his truck probably wasn’t one of them.
Payton and Sienna had watched carefully whenever Cole was transported somewhere, taking note of the surroundings, building materials, anything that would pinpoint his exact location. Reece had then spent most of the previous afternoon on the phone, calling in favors, until they found it. Now, he was hauling ass down the highway at nearly eighty miles an hour, toward a dirt road that would lead them to Isobel’s hideout. Just like Payton had seen, she’d been close the entire time, running her operations out of an old warehouse complex that sat at a summit of the mountains to the north.
From the main road, all that would be visible was a simple dirt road, a sign banning trespassing flitting through Cole’s mind early on. That’s what they were looking for first, then a single-wire fence at the 135 mile marker. It was discreet enough that you’d miss it entirely if you weren’t watching closely. Looking ahead, the road was empty and clear. Jace turned to Sienna again, to make sure she was okay. She’d flattened a little from just moments before, her fiery attitude fading. She was resting against the window, her eyes red and her mouth set in a thin line. He reached over, grabbing her hand, but she swatted him away, rubbing her hand over her forehead. “Is it Cole? Is he getting to you? Pull it back, Sienna. Please.”
Sienna (Dreamcatchers Romantic Suspense Series Book 5) Page 19
