by Rise of Hope
“I…” Devon frowned. “These—these powers, what are they exactly?”
Noah leaned back in his chair, flicked Seth a glance that had him grinding his teeth. “I don’t have all the answers, none of us do. What I can tell you is that our males seem to have abilities that are based on the physical, females abilities that use the mind.”
Seth mentally rocked back on his heels. That was a hell of a lot more than he knew. Then again, he’d never asked. Even after all this time, he’d never asked Noah or any of the guys a single thing about himself, about them or what they could do. He pushed out a rough breath. He’d never been able to reconcile what had happened to him. The why of it. And it ate him up inside. Still. He’d told himself countless times he wasn’t interested, that he didn’t want or need answers, but a part of him was as hungry for information as Devon probably was. Yeah, that was the part he rarely listened to.
“Males? Females?” she breathed. “You make it sound as if…”
“We’re a different race. Yes.”
Okay, that was his cue to leave.
“That—that’s ridiculous,” she stammered.
Yeah. He tried this tack himself, countless times. It was a dead-end street straight to nowhere.
“Is it? Really?” Noah countered. “You can so easily discount what you’ve seen, what you’ve experienced? What you can do?”
“But… How is it possible?” she asked, her voice hushed, almost a whisper.
Here it comes.
“You’re Vadïm, Devon. I’m—”
“Vadïm?”
“Yes, although there’s not that many of us left, not anymore.” Noah looked at him. “That we know about anyway,” he added and Seth knew it was for his benefit and not exactly subtle.
“I’m guessing you’ve always known, deep down, there was something you were missing, something elusive, a part of you that knew you were different. Haven’t you felt that simmer inside yourself, that restless energy you’ve never known what to do with? How to placate? It’s your abilities. I don’t know what—”
“I—they, Micah and Seth, said I have the power of suggestion.”
Noah merely nodded. Christ. Seth bet the fucker had known about that too. Somehow. It would have been useful information to have—it definitely fell into the “need to know” category.
“You should probably get some rest,” Noah added. “I have a room organized for you and some clothes until we have an opportunity to get you something more permanent. There’ll be time enough for questions and you’ve already had a hell of a lot to process. I know there must be a great deal you want to know, need to know, but—”
“Is it wired?” Devon’s voice was low and Seth tensed at how devoid of emotion it was.
Noah frowned. “Wired?”
“My room here. Will it be wired?”
Noah looked to him, then back at Devon. “Why would you even ask such a thing?”
“At—at the compound, my quarters…” Devon looked down at her hands. “The entire place was constantly monitored, openly, but there were hidden cameras in my rooms and I…”
Bastards.
Jesus, there was no telling what else they’d done to her and the fact that it made him wonder, that it got to him, pissed him off.
“No.” Noah’s mouth tightened. “You room isn’t wired and it never will be. I guarantee it.”
Devon nodded, turned to look at him then and his heartbeat went thundering through the roof at her expression.
“First I want to know what I am to you.”
Of all the things she must have wanted to know, of all the questions she could have asked, she asked that one. Again. He still didn’t feel inclined to answer.
When Seth didn’t say anything she turned to Noah. “What am I to him? What is he to me?”
Seth took a step forward. The last thing he wanted was for Noah to start spewing his bullshit about that. “Christ, Devon—”
“So he hasn’t told you,” Noah cut him off.
“And that would be what exactly?” he snarled.
“The marks don’t lie, Seth, but even without them you’d know. Am I wrong?”
The fucker really was getting a superiority complex and if he wasn’t so determined to leave, he’d want to know how the hell Noah had known about them in the first place. He may or may not get an answer. As it was, he wanted to be gone.
“You’re a manipulative bastard, you know that?” he shot back through clenched teeth.
“And you’re a dumb fuck. When are you going to wake up? You’re Vadïm, Seth. Nothing you do or say can ever change that.”
“All of us—you, me, Micah, Christian, the others—we were all dumped somewhere, little more than babies, like bags of unwanted trash. Our people? Our fucking race? Well where the hell are they now?”
“I have some theories.”
“Theories? Great, just great. After all this time, you have theories? Jesus, Noah you’ve been digging and searching for years and for what? What do you really have to show for it? I don’t know what you hope to accomplish with all this, but let it go. Let everyone get on with their lives and let it go.”
“I can’t do that,” he ground out. “I’m finally starting to make some progress. Denying who you really are won’t change anything. And it isn’t living. It’s hiding your head up your ass.” Noah motioned to Devon. “Look, Seth, open your fucking eyes, we’ve found one of our women. Even you can’t deny that any longer.”
Seth clenched his jaw so hard it hurt. The overwhelming need to look at Devon was there again. He ignored it, turned for the door.
“So you’re going to let them win, Seth?” Noah asked quietly.
“Who the fuck are ‘they’?” he snarled.
He knew he’d walked into Noah’s trap when he smiled slightly. It was more than he’d ever asked before, more interest than he’d ever shown. And did the prick have to gloat?
“‘They’ are a group of wealthy, powerful men who call themselves The Assembly. I discovered their existence about five years ago, have been following their activities since. Or as much of them as I can. They’ve been targeting our women—identifying them, capturing them, holding them—for the last twenty-five years or so. They’ve had Devon since she was a baby.”
Yeah, see…that’s why he’d never asked. He didn’t want to know, didn’t want the involvement. Didn’t want to hear any of it.
Finally, he glanced at her. As much as he fought against it, he couldn’t help it. His gaze was constantly drawn to her. Despite the bombs Noah had laid at her feet, she wasn’t looking at Noah. She was looking squarely at him.
“And they had your woman,” Noah added, his voice quiet. “Not so easy to turn your back now, is it?”
“Watch me.”
“Where the hell are you going?”
Seth swung back when he reached the door. “You wanted me to acquire her, I did. That means the job’s done. I’ll expect the balance of payment wired into my account within twenty-four hours.”
Noah stood. “Dammit, Seth—”
“We’re done here. For good. Don’t ever call on me again.”
“Seth…” Devon’s soft voice had him pausing. It was probably the only thing able to stop him from slamming out of the room in that moment. He looked back and then wished he hadn’t. The look in her eyes tore him up.
“You—you’re just leaving me here?”
All at once he felt like a jerk, a prize asshole. Actually, it probably wasn’t all that sudden and he guessed he owed her something, right? But there were eyes on them and he’d never been one for seeking out an audience. Whatever he might have said would come out as dumb anyway. He didn’t need to do or say anything dumb at this stage and it wasn’t as if he had any experience with this, with any of it.
/> Sometimes life was a bitch and fate sucked. He recognized it, couldn’t do a damn thing about it. At least he could give her something. It wasn’t much, but it was a hell of a lot more than he’d ever gotten.
“It’s safe,” he offered. “I wouldn’t leave you somewhere I didn’t think was the safest place for you.”
Even that was more than he’d intended to say.
She motioned with a jerky movement of her hand. “It seems to me as if I’ve exchanged one gilded prison for another.”
Yeah, no way he could miss the bitterness. Noah’s house was a fortress, a gigantic luxurious mega-mansion, the house and grounds well guarded, but a fortress nevertheless. That’s what made it so safe. He felt a twinge of regret. He knew Noah would do anything to protect her and that probably meant she’d never leave the house again. Ever. He drew in a deep breath but it did nothing to dispel the twisting in his gut, the bitter taste in his mouth. There wasn’t much he could do about the situation. He’d done his part. He was free and clear.
So why didn’t it feel that way?
“You’ll be safe,” he said again.
It sounded lame, but it was all he had. He took one long, last look at her and forced himself to open the door.
A soft clucking noise from Noah had a haze of red sweeping across his vision.
He flexed his hand so hard on the door he wouldn’t have been surprised if the wood split under the pressure. Noah was always pushing him, goading him and it was getting old. Any other man and Seth would have laid him out on the floor. Not that Noah couldn’t have given as good as he got. They were evenly matched—now—although he didn’t know all of Seth’s moves. He’d never been that stupid. But something always held him back. And it wasn’t because he was afraid the other man was right.
“One of these days, Noah,” he forced out through clenched teeth. “You’ll push me too far and then it’ll be on.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
* * *
Devon jumped when Seth slammed the door after him, even though she’d braced for it. She had the insane urge to go after him, but reined it back. He wouldn’t welcome it, wouldn’t thank her for it.
She fought back the thickness in her throat, the sting at the corner of her eyes.
He was harsh, surly and there wasn’t a single reassuring bone in his body, so why did she suddenly feel as if she’d lost her only friend in the world? It’d always been only her, no one to rely on, no one who had her back, so she hadn’t really lost out on anything. Except it felt as if something had been wrenched out of her. She’d had a fleeting sense of trust, of connection and now it was gone. And she was alone, again, like she’d always been.
She took a deep steadying breath and choked back the emotions she’d become an expert at hiding. She’d always known, even as a child, not to show weakness, that it would be used against her—somehow. Besides, she’d never wanted to give them the satisfaction.
This wasn’t how she’d planned to escape and nothing had gone according to plan. At least she’d be sleeping in a soft, comfortable bed and not huddled in the woods somewhere, at the mercy of the elements. But she couldn’t have known the lengths he’d go to keep her. She’d underestimated that, along with the level of surveillance she’d really been under.
But it was done. She was out—at last—and rather than having to search with no real starting point for her answers, the man in front of her held the information she needed. She hoped. And she had to start somewhere.
“Vadïm, huh?” The word felt odd, but rolled off her tongue with a smooth familiarity that caused goose bumps to break out on her arms, startling her. It was as if she knew instinctively how to add the weird accent to the word.
Noah smiled slightly. “It’s who we are, Devon,” he stated, as if that should have been answer enough. “We’ve probably existed undetected for centuries.”
Probably? She frowned. “But how can that be? How is that even possible? How can any of this be real?”
Something inside her reached out for the knowledge, ready to absorb it, eager to embrace it. She should have been scoffing at the very idea of a secret race of beings with special powers, rejecting completely the notion that she herself had some super ability, yet…she felt its rightness, felt it in the depths of her being, in the recesses of her soul that had been dark and empty for so long. It was inexplicable, she knew it was…but explained so much. She couldn’t dismiss what she’d seen Seth do, what she’d experienced with Micah. What she’d felt inside herself, all this time. She couldn’t.
He sighed. “All I know is that there aren’t many of us left. We’ve been scattered, driven underground. Systematically. Purposefully. Our history, our very culture deliberately destroyed. And the women, they’ve been targeted and secreted away.”
“Why?”
Noah paused. “I’m not sure.”
She didn’t know anything about this man, but he knew something and she needed answers, she needed to know anything and everything about what she was. And where she might finally belong.
“Don’t lie to me, please,” she whispered, her throat tight. “Just…don’t.”
She’d been in that dark void for long enough.
Noah paused. “I don’t know exactly what happened in the past or why, but the Vadïm began abandoning some of their children, just leaving them—hospitals, clinics, orphanages, police stations, other public places.”
“God, why?” she breathed.
“I think a parent would only leave a child under the most catastrophic of circumstances, don’t you think?”
Devon swallowed. Maybe. Probably. But what did she know?
“He’s not my father is he? The man who raised me, who I’ve lived with all my life. He’s not my father.”
“No.” His voice hardened. “Warren Monroe is not your father.”
She let out a long, shaky sigh. She’d suspected, for so long she’d suspected, but still she’d spun stories, hopes and dreams. All she’d wanted was his attention, his approval. His love. Deep down though, she’d known. Especially as he’d become increasingly distant. “My parents,” she forced out. “My real parents, do you know…?”
“No.” His mouth tightened and he shook his head. “I’m sorry. Of the men I’ve located—Vadïm men—all of them were abandoned in this way, all of them grew up in institutions, all of them have no knowledge of their biological parents. It’s as if everyone simply…disappeared. The men all carry the marks and have a gift, a special ability we call a Darce, one they’ve kept hidden, as if they knew its existence must be protected at all costs. They have an awareness of some words of an old language, an ingrained knowledge, almost instinct, as if it couldn’t be completely eradicated, but none knew who or what they were. Until I found them.”
And convinced them. The implication was there. Probably from the sheer force of his will.
“What about you?” she managed.
Everything was so fantastic, so unfathomable. Or it should have been. Again there was that inexplicable sense of acceptance. Whoever Noah was, whatever his intentions, she trusted him on some level she didn’t understand and she’d never trusted anything before. Or anyone.
He inclined his head. “Yes. I—I was a little older than the others.” His gaze was intense, unblinking. “I have dreams, memories I think, but nothing substantial.”
There was pain there and she shivered. Devon didn’t completely believe him, but she wasn’t willing to go there, not yet anyway. Somehow she thought this man’s dreams would be anyone else’s nightmares.
“How many?” she asked instead. “How many of these Vadïm are there?”
“Not all of them are here, but I’ve located nine of our Vadïm men, am in direct contact with them and have leads on others.”
So few. She didn’t miss the slight emphasis
on the “our” either.
“And the women, there’s—there’s no other women?”
“You’re the first we’ve been able to…reclaim.”
“Reclaim”? The first? Then that meant…
“Why is this…Assembly keeping women prisoner? Why were they keeping me?”
Noah’s gaze sharpened. “I believe it’s got something to do with attempting to harness your abilities.”
Until today she hadn’t known she had any such thing, couldn’t even have imagined it. Maybe that was why… Devon frowned, took a deep breath. But Monroe had known, she was sure of it. Along with all the men who came and went from the house, they’d known all along, right from the beginning what she was capable of. What had they been planning to do with her? And when? Oh God, what might they have already done to her?
She’d sensed things changing at the compound, that something had been imminent. It’s why she’d known she had to make a move when she did. She’d feared that whatever it was, she wouldn’t ever get another chance.
“And…Seth?” She stumbled over his name and felt the shudder course through her. “These markings we have, they match. What does it mean?”
“I’m sorry, Devon.” In an instant, he’d cloaked himself in the formal distance he’d worn when she first saw him. “I can’t. It’s for him to tell you and him alone.”
* * *
Devon had walked every inch of the house, had wandered into every room, had luxuriated in being able to explore at her leisure.
At the compound there had been so many off-limit areas, so much of the space restricted, that despite its size, she’d felt boxed in, claustrophobic, like the prisoner she was. She’d been confined to her quarters a lot of the time, especially at night. For her own protection, they’d said, despite how she’d pleaded, begged. Cried.
Finding the hidden cameras had once been a game to her. Until she’d realized the implications of what they were and why they were there. After that she’d never been able to let down her guard. Not once.
