Spectral

by Duffy, Shannon

  Seriously, dude? I already feel bad enough. I wanted to believe him because if I did, then that meant Roman did love me. But too much had happened in such a short time—I didn’t know who to trust anymore.

  Chase took my hand and pulled me toward the glider with him. “C’mon. We gotta go. At least we’ll get out of here.”

  I closed my eyes for a second, willing the lump in my throat away, and then walked hesitantly to the gliders with him.

  Chase kissed my cheek. “Everything will be okay.”

  Stefano snapped him into the seat of the glider and began giving him instructions on how to fly the thing and which direction to head.

  I heard the door to the rooftop smash against the wall again. I twisted around, panicked. Roman stood there watching me, worry etched across his face. His dark hair blew back in the wind, eyes penetrated on me as if looking straight through to my soul. I didn’t know what to think or feel. I didn’t know what was real other than the pounding of my heart, and the tingling in my legs that urged me toward him like a magnet. But something held me back.

  “Roman?” I said. “Are you coming?” No matter what, I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him and with Aunt Eva and her minion Dmitri in the same building, I didn’t want him left stranded.

  I remembered there was only enough room for three people on the gliders. If I had to, I would stay if that was the only option. After all, the chaos was because of me.

  Roman smiled hesitantly and began walking toward me.

  Behind him, the door swung open. A pair of black polished boots stepped over the ledge. My eyes leapt to Paolo’s face.

  “Good man, Roman,” he said. “You found her!”

  A swift freeze gripped my heart. I couldn’t keep up with my own emotions. Safe, not safe; in love, not in love, back in love. Now in extreme danger. Did he lead Paolo straight to me?

  I turned to run, but something hit me in the stomach, immobilizing me just as I watched Stefano shove Chase’s glider over the edge of the rooftop.

  My body shook violently. Beams of iridescent light gripped me like tentacles, causing me to lift a couple of feet off the ground. Words defied me and, unable to speak, I was only a witness to what was happening, locked in some sort of sizzling electrified beam. I was trapped.

  Pain seared through me like a million knives being jabbed into me all at once, but I had no voice. I could only scream on the inside. My blood rushed through my ears like a raging river.

  A series of disconnected images played before my eyes. Jayden’s sweet freckled face lit up in a stream of giggles, Roman playfully biting my lip, Aunt Eva’s red shoe tapping against the leg of the table at an increasing rhythmical speed, and Grandma Raine’s whispered words that spewed from her mouth in a hiss, Jewel’s the Spectral…she bears the mark!

  Blinding white light burst in front of my eyes until I couldn’t see, and all I knew was pain. In that moment, I knew I was dying. Tears fell in tracks down my cheeks as I recognized I would die broken hearted, and having completely wasted my life.

  A loud zapping sound filled the air and my vision returned. Roman’s hand was outstretched into the crackling thick beam of light that gripped me, partially blocking it. My body was still locked, and I trembled as I heard Paolo shout indiscernible words at Roman.

  “Stefano, save Jewel!” Roman yelled, and then he leapt in front of me into the snapping beam of electric energy, blocking it from reaching me. I crumbled to the ground, breathless and gasping for air amid Roman’s blood curdling screams.

  Stefano scooped me into his arms and carried me at lightning speed. He strapped me to the yellow-winged glider before climbing in beside me. His arms and legs moved with accurate precision and amazing speed until they were a mesmerizing blur. He moved so swiftly, it was then I knew his endowment. His was speed of movement.

  The pain washed away until my body only felt numb as Stefano scurried over the rooftop.

  “Roman!” I called, my voice but a whisper amid the whistling of the wind now skating past my face, and the whipping blur of the yellow and blue wings of the glider.

  Roman saved me. Whatever happened at Taylor’s house, he never intended for me to be sent to Russia or to get hurt.

  Roman loves me. The proof of that told in so much more than words could ever say.

  He actually sacrificed himself for me, and one of the last things I had said to him was that I hated him. And now he was being tortured and left for dead alone on the rooftop. My head drooped and swayed like a ragdoll in the rushing wind.

  I wished I had died back there with him.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The dark water rippled in the wind far below as we flew overhead. We passed over a long bridge, heading toward a huge building. It had giant towers with bulbous heads that looked like soft serve cones dipped in gold. Other towers were tipped in a vibrant green. I realized I was looking at the Kremlin.

  As beautiful as the city lit up at night looked, my stomach twisted into knots. Roman’s tortured screams echoed in my ears. I could only blame myself. It was one of those moments I felt completely sorry for myself, and wished I could drown my sorrows in a bucket of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream, then lay in bed for a month. Or two. But still, that wouldn’t save Roman from Paolo’s death grip. The thought of him going through the pain I’d endured made something die inside of me.

  Ahead, Chase flew his glider as though he’d done it his whole life. Chase Quinn, the normal, down to earth guy, who was gorgeous, amazing, and supportive in every way. I cared about him so much—but it was different than what I felt for Roman.

  And now that I’d found out Roman had been truthful, I knew what I had felt with Roman was real. Now, I’d not only hurt Roman, but I’d have to hurt Chase, too. I couldn’t hook up with him considering how I felt and what I’d caused. Roman was gone, and I was broken. An epic failure.

  “We’re going to land soon and head to Sheremetyevo International Airport,” Stefano called loudly to me. “We have to hustle to catch a cab. It’s about eighteen miles from here.”

  Chase looked back over his shoulder, his arm muscles flexed from his grip on the glider. Stefano made hand signals telling him to land up ahead.

  We landed in a patch of grass several feet from a quiet road. Chase came down a little hard, stumbled, but quickly jumped up and waved, indicating he was okay.

  Stefano’s movements became a blur again until the next thing I knew, he had untangled me from the glider and we stood beside it. I blinked my eyes and rubbed them, trying to regain my focus.

  Chase stared at us wide eyed. “I won’t even ask,” he said, as he headed toward us shaking his head, “I seriously just want to go home.”

  The moment he said the words, he looked at me and frowned. I figured he felt badly for saying it, because technically, we both knew I didn’t have a home to go to. I couldn’t go back to Pomona Park and I could only hope to someday find my real family.

  “But of course I’ll help you, Jewel. Home can wait,” he added, reaching out to brush away the ribbons of hair that blew across my face.

  “No, it’s okay, Chase, honestly. You should go back to Florida. I’ll figure it out on my own.” Truth was, I didn’t want anything to happen to him because of me. I’d caused enough problems already; I didn’t want to drag him or anybody else into my nightmare any longer. Besides, I needed to stand on my own two feet. Roman wouldn’t want me to give up. I needed to be strong. I took in a deep breath.

  Chase furrowed his brows and shook his head, but I turned my attention toward Stefano. “What about Roman? We just can’t leave him.”

  Stefano began walking toward the road, waving his hand over his shoulder for us to follow. “There’s nothing we can do for him now,” he called over his shoulder. “And I promised him I’d get you to safety.”

  I dashed around in front of him and pushed both my hands against his chest, knocking him back a step. “What’s wrong with you? Are you out of your mind? You have no
freaking idea how painful that thing is. I won’t leave without him!”

  “You can and you will.” Stefano sidestepped around me and continued walking. “Either Roman is dead or he’s under arrest. Either way, you can’t help him now.” He turned to face me, but continued walking backward, the smug look on his face making me angry. “The only thing you’d do by going back there is screw things up even worse.” Stefano stopped walking, and threw his hands up in the air. “You know, right about now, I think your nickname should be Chaos. Continue to not listen, and your nickname will be Armageddon.” He raised an indifferent shoulder.

  I blinked in stunned disbelief. “Thanks a lot.”

  Chase came up beside me. “Hey, man. Don’t say stupid shit like that.”

  I really didn’t want another fight breaking out like back in our little Russian prison earlier between Dmitri and Chase. “Stefano, I want to go back and turn myself in,” I said. “It’s me they want, not him.”

  Stefano cocked his head. “Okay then, Armageddon it is,” he said with a huff. “If you go back—Little Miss Armageddon—they will kill you and stillkill Roman. He’s a traitor now, get it? Traitors don’t last long in the Augusti Forza. We pride ourselves on loyalty and trust. You break it, they break your neck.”

  I gasped and covered my mouth.

  Stefano twisted back around, heading toward the road. “Just trying to follow my cousin’s request,” he said. “I swore my loyalty to him a long time ago, but trying to save your ass is becoming a pain in mine. Let’s stop debating and get out of here before it’s no longer an option.” He raised his hand in the air, waving me forward.

  It hit me that he said “we” pride ourselves. As in Stefano’s a part of the Augusti Forza, too. I realized he had every reason to be snappy with me. Roman must’ve roped him into helping me, so now Stefano was considered a traitor to the Augusti right along with Roman. Paolo definitely had to have seen Stefano on the roof.

  More guilt. Great.

  When I didn’t move, Stefano stopped walking and turned to face me again. He pressed a fist to his mouth, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply. When he dropped his hand, he released a heavy sigh and an exaggerated shrug. “You’re really testing my patience which happens to be something I’m totally short on—especially today. C’mon, already. I promise that once you’re out of here, I’ll see what I can do for Roman if it’s not too late. Right now, I need to focus on getting you out of Russia. Throw me a bone, will you? Or do I have to drag your sorry ass outta here speedy style and leave your friend here in the dust?”

  Chase looped his arm through mine and tugged me forward. “Motor mouth isn’t taking you anywhere you don’t want to go, but I think we should listen to him. He did get us away from there, and it seems like he knows what he’s doing. You have the map to your parents, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Right. Well, if you find them, they’ve gotta know what to do. I mean, they’ve been involved with this stuff all their lives.” He pulled me to his side and gave me a shoulder bump. “And they’re your family.”

  I hoped he was right, but I remembered Roman said my parents had stopped searching for me recently. My chest grew tight; the thought hanging heavy on me like a cluster of dark clouds on a humid day. But it was the only choice I had. We followed Stefano through the grass to hail a cab.

  ***

  The airport teemed with people bustling around with multi-colored luggage. We stood just inside the glass doors and the whoosh of air as they opened and closed reminded me that I was nowhere near safe yet.

  Stefano handed me a plane ticket to Italy and a passport. “Get the dagger as quickly as you can and catch your flight.”

  I handed him back the passport that no doubt was a fake. “I already have the real deal. Dad gave it to me.”

  Stefano grunted. “You won’t be using your real name today. Your ticket is in the name of Maria Ferrari so you’ll need this passport to go with it. There’s people looking for you, remember?”

  I took the passport back and put it in my jacket. Another fake name and hopefully the last. But I couldn’t argue with Stefano’s logic. The more incognito I could travel, the better.

  Stefano nodded to Chase. “Sorry, dude, but like I said, you weren’t in the plan. But if I were you, I’d head in the polar opposite direction from her,” he motioned toward me.

  I grunted. “Thanks for the ticket and passport, Stefano. But maybe you should take your own advice now. You know, and head in the opposite direction?” I rolled my eyes. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful for everything he’d done, because I honestly was, but he was really starting to piss me off.

  “I can take care of myself, thanks,” Chase said as he slid his arm around my shoulder.

  “Suit yourself,” Stefano turned and sauntered away.

  The knot in my stomach grew as the echoes of Roman’s screams replayed over and over again in my mind. “Stefano?” I called.

  He spun around to face me. “Yeah?”

  “You’ll try to help him, right?”

  Stefano’s lips formed a straight line. He looked at me a moment and nodded.

  “Promise?”

  He threw his hands up in the air. “I’ll do everything I can, but I can’t promise it’ll do any good. It might be too late.”

  I drew in a ragged breath. I knew the thread of hope I was holding onto that Roman was somehow saved from that death grip thing and just thrown into prison was thin. But I couldn’t give up. If I made it through my quickening and came into my full powers in one piece, I was coming back to rescue him.

  “Thanks, Stefano.” I cleared my throat. “For everything.”

  “Welcome, Armageddon.” A slight curve ignited in the side of his lip that reminded me of Roman’s mischievous smile. A sad feeling tugged at my stomach. Stefano sunk his hands in his pockets, turned and walked away.

  I shook my head, but couldn’t help but grin. “Armageddon.” I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

  Clutching my ticket to my chest like it was a prized possession, I turned to face Chase. “We need to get you a ticket to Florida.”

  He reached out and stroked his thumb against the back of my hand. “We need to get us on a plane to Italy.”

  I bit my lip. “Honestly, Chase. I need to do this alone now. I have the ticket and I know what to do.” I tried to sound confident and keep my hands from shaking. I needed to make sure Chase got home safely. Being responsible for one boy’s torture and possible death was already too much to bear.

  “You trying to get rid of me?” He arched an eyebrow.

  I leaned into him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I care about you, and I need you to be safe, Chase. I can take it from here.”

  He dropped his gaze to the floor, inhaled a deep breath, and then looked back at me. “Will you come back to me in Pomona Park when you’re ready?”

  I gulped. The ten million dollar question. The one I didn’t quite have the words for. Hurting two guys in one day wasn’t a part of my master plan.

  Standing back, I gazed into his denim blues that begged for a sweet answer. It was one I couldn’t give. “I will definitely come back to see you at some point,” I paused, sighing. “But I think we need to put our relationship on hold.”

  Chase’s eyebrows shot up. “Wha—”

  “I’m sorry, it’s just that I know I can’t give you what you want when I’m so messed up about—”

  “About Roman?” Chase stood back and shook his head, his cheeks flushing red. “That guy is twenty miles of bad road, you do know that, right?” He grunted. “You could do so much better than that dumbass.”

  “Oh yeah? Any jocks you know about maybe?” I laughed and gave him a light jab in the shoulder, trying to break the tension. I didn’t want our last memories before he headed back to Florida to be bad ones.

  “Maybe one.” He shifted and held me by the shoulders. “Seriously. You sure you’re gonna be okay?”

  I nodded. “Absolutely. I got thi
s.” The words came out so firmly, I almost believed them myself. I pulled the money Dad gave me out of my pocket. “Do you need more money for your flight?”

  “I’m good. I’ve got a credit card that’s meant for emergencies only. I think this totally counts.” He smiled and hugged me one more time. “Okay, you’re on your own. Get home to Italy and put this all behind you.” He kissed my cheek, letting his lips linger against it a moment longer. “I’ll miss you,” he said, his voice breaking.

  “I’ll miss you, too,” I replied, and I meant it.

  Yes, I would definitely miss Chase Quinn. Ever since the day I’d met him, the boy had been awesome, doing everything he could to help me.

  I watched him walk away, tugging the passport that Dad had given him out of his pocket, and then shuffling in and out of people headed toward the American Airlines counter. I watched as he gave his information and smiled when he looked back at me one last time. Then I turned and headed off to find my dagger.

  I stopped at a gift shop and scooped up a suitcase first. I obviously couldn’t walk onto a plane with a golden dagger without being arrested and thrown in jail. Against my better judgment, I picked out a purple one with white polka dots. It made me wanna gag but I figured it’d be easier to spot among the zillions of black ones on the conveyer belt. I’d have no time to waste looking for my bag when I reached Venice.

  I’d replayed in my mind Stefano’s words about where the dagger was hidden a million times. Third floor, section six, set of lockers facing west. Lucky thirteen.

  I snaked through the sea of people shuffling through the airport, all seeming to know exactly where they were going. The intercom rang out periodically with names no doubt being called for check in. I headed into the elevator and up to the third floor. The Russian chatter that surrounded me—and every face—was a constant source of suspicion and paranoia.

  The closer I got to the area where Stefano had told me I’d find the dagger, the more my heart began to race. It felt like everyone was leering at me, and I wondered if I was being followed.