Redemption (The Chosen #4)

by Swank, Denise Grover

  His words ripped her heart into shreds. “I swear to God, Alex—”

  His voice lowered. “Haven’t you figured out that there is no God? The only deities are the sadistic bastards you’re about to face. Is Shreveport really the next city? Did you make that up as part of the trap?”

  “It’s real. We lived there next.” Where the hell was Will? Was he so angry with her for not touching Alex that he left her here? Maybe he thought she was getting what she deserved for not following through with his plan.

  “I think I was a little hasty when I said I don’t need you for anything.” An evil grin lifted Alex’s mouth. “I’m curious if killing you kills Will. But for now, I wonder if he feels what you feel.” He took a step toward her again and grabbed her wrist. “If I hurt you, does it hurt Will?” His hand tightened, the pressure intense.

  She gasped from the pain. “Alex, please.” Will!

  “Don’t beg me, Emma. It only pisses me off.” He bashed her arm into the handrail, pushing her hand backward until her arm bent at an unnatural angle.

  Intense pain shot through her wrist and her knees buckled.

  Alex jerked on her broken hand and she screamed.

  “Can you tell if it hurts him, Emma? Don’t you have a connection?”

  “I can’t… feel him…” Her vision was fading. No, she couldn’t pass out. She tried to find her power but only came up with small sparks.

  “Try harder.”

  Will!

  “Maybe the pain wasn’t strong enough.” His hand cupped her head, striking her right temple into the wood panel.

  Lights flashed in her eyes, but she clamped down on her feelings, trying to keep them from going out to Will. If he was going to help her and he did feel her pain, it would incapacitate him.

  “Can he feel that, Emma?”

  “No,” she groaned, leaning against the side of the elevator car and sliding down.

  Alex gripped her arm, pulling her upright before he slammed her hard against the steel handrail. The rod shoved into her ribs, an intense pain blazing across her side. She screamed.

  “I hear broken ribs are painful. Is that true? Can Will feel this one?”

  “Alex,” she sobbed. Fear and pain were all she could feel. She tried to push through it. She needed to think. Alex wanted to hear that Will would feel her pain. She knew she should lie but her pain-numbed mind couldn’t respond.

  The elevator car shook and Emma’s legs gave out. She fell to the floor, pain slicing through her side and arm.

  Alex’s head jerked up and he grinned. “Will’s back.”

  A stream of water shot through the metal doors, gouging a hole that grew larger and larger. Alex jumped to the side, out of harm’s way. Droplets of water rained down everywhere.

  Emma tried to get up, crying out from the intense pain. Her chest froze, stealing her breath. Her right hand hung at an awkward angle, and she tried to push up with her left hand while water collected in the bottom of the elevator car.

  Her lungs struggled to breathe, and she realized Alex was using the limited air in the box to combat Will’s water stream. Will had almost completed cutting a large circle into the door, but Alex’s efforts slowed him down.

  Emma had to stop Alex, but her pain muffled her power.

  Anger. She needed to focus on her hatred. Her power burned brighter, but was it enough?

  Steeling herself, she ignored the agony in her side and climbed to her knees.

  Alex turned to look down at her, irritation on his face.

  Lunging forward, she reached for Alex’s arm with her uninjured hand. She forced her energy into his skin. Alex jerked back, and she dug her fingers deeper. The smell of burnt flesh filled her nose. Her stomach rolled, but she held on, determined to buy Will more time.

  A gust of wind threw her across the floor. Her head hit the wall, the piercing pain adding to her hurts. Black spots obscured her vision as she looked up at the elevator door, hoping Will had made it through. The stream of water had stopped and Will was pushing the cut section into the car. Her eyesight faded as a face appeared in the opening and she realized she was hallucinating from her head injury. The person trying to help her wasn’t Will.

  It was Marcus.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Emma’s stunned face was the last thing Will saw as the elevator doors shut.

  Son of a fucking bitch.

  He tried to grip the doors, forcing his weight into the opening, but he knew enough about elevators to know it was helpless. Panic swirled in his head, before he quickly shut it off. Emma was trapped in the car with Alex. She might have been safe if Alex still believed that she’d left Will to seek Alex’s help, but Will had blown any chance of continuing that charade. And now she was at Alex’s mercy.

  Will swiveled around trying to find something to open the doors until he remembered the maintenance closet down the hall. When he got there, he threw the door open, rummaging through the contents.

  “You need to use your power.”

  His heart jolting in alarm, Will glanced up to find Marcus standing in the hall.

  “Will, you need to learn to rely on your elemental power, not your human skills.”

  “I’m all ears, Marcus, but we’re in a basement. Where am I going to get enough water to help me do anything?” Will picked up a mop. It had a long handle but would break in half if he used it as a lever. Throwing it across the closet, he swore. He’d wasted close to a minute and was no closer to helping Emma than before. What he really needed was an elevator key.

  “Will, you need to trust your powers. They’ll tell you what to do.”

  “Right now, they’re telling me nothing.”

  Will! Pain stabbed his arm and he looked down in surprise. His arm bore no wounds—then he realized that Emma was the one being hurt. He was feeling her pain through their connection. “I have to get her out of there!”

  Marcus grabbed Will’s shoulder. “You go to the floor above and get into the elevator shaft. Climb down and go in through the trap door on top. I’ll draw Alex out.”

  “How can I trust you? She’s Aiden’s daughter. How do I know you won’t kill her if you get the chance?”

  Marcus put a pair of gloves and a long piece of metal into Will’s hand. “Because I can’tkill her, remember? Plus we need her. Now go!”

  Will hesitated until she screamed his name into his head again, the pain in his arm sucking his breath away before it vanished. Alex was going to kill her.

  He ran up the stairs, taking two at a time, to the floor above. Exiting the stairwell, he was grateful the hall was empty. He threw the gloves onto the floor and examined the metal object Marcus had given him. It was an elevator key. He didn’t stop to wonder what Marcus was doing with one. Instead, he inserted it into the hole in the top of one door and let the end drop, twisting the tool to unlock the door mechanism. When he felt it release, he pulled the doors open.

  The shaft was pitch black. Groaning, Will realized he’d left the flashlight with his toolkit in the basement. At least he had his gun tucked into the back of his pants—he’d gotten it out of the toolbox in preparation for his encounter with Alex.

  Emma, I’m coming. It was too far to jump without risking an injury. He remembered the gloves Marcus had handed him and put them on. Standing at the edge, he hesitated for only a moment before he jumped into the shaft, grabbing the cable and wrapping his legs around it.

  Emma’s muffled scream rose up for the elevator. His heart raced as he realized that she’d closed their connection. Why?

  Another sound filled the space, something Will couldn’t determine. It sounded like a drill. He shimmied down the cable, quickly found the trap door and tried to open it, surprised when it didn’t budge. He managed to lift it an inch before the suction in the elevator pulled it closed.

  Goddamn, Alex.

  If Will had thought to find a fire hose, he could have brought it down and manipulated the water pressure to open the door. That didn’t do him a
ny good now.

  The drill sound stopped. Will tried the trap door again, caught off guard when it flew open, all resistance gone.

  Alex stood directly beneath him, emanating a blue glow. Emma lay on the floor in an awkward position.

  Rage consumed Will and a guttural sound rose in his throat as he directed his power toward Alex.

  Alex’s eyes widened as he looked up. The pooled water on the floor swirled up to Alex’s face and into his mouth and nose. Will felt Alex’s power push the water out, but Will held on. Water whirled around the car, stinging Will’s face as he leaned down.

  Not in the elevator, Will. You’re going to hurt Emma even more. Let me get him out.

  Marcus was right. Will dropped his hold on the water.

  Alex bent over, coughing and gasping for air.

  Marcus’s hand reached into the opening and pulled Alex out of the elevator.

  Will jumped through the trap door, landing in several inches of water, soaking his shoes.

  Emma’s face was pressed to the floor, her mouth and nose submerged.

  Fear bearing down on him, Will pulled her onto her back and found a weak pulse on her neck. Had she inhaled water? Without even thinking, he called to the water in her lungs and throat, drawing it out of her in a rush of fluid.

  Emma gasped and coughed.

  Will, I need you. Marcus shouted in his head.

  Emma was breathing now, but she obviously wasn’t okay. Will didn’t want to leave her, but Alex was in the hall, and he was the one who’d done this to her. Will glanced toward the opening in the doors, and Emma touched his arm.

  “Go.”

  He hesitated for a moment before he jumped to his feet and climbed out the hole into the hall. Alex had cornered Marcus against the wall. While anger darkened Marcus’s eyes, he wasn’t defending himself.

  Water flooded the hallway floor. Will didn’t think, he just called up his power and forced the water into Alex’s back, tearing through his right shoulder blade and exiting through his chest.

  Crying out in pain, Alex turned to Will. “You.”

  The air around Will stirred.

  Blood poured from Alex’s wound, plastering his dark t-shirt to his chest. “Three against one is hardly fair odds. Somehow I figured you were more honorable than this, Will.”

  “Nothing personal, Alex, but I’ll do whatever it takes to protect the people I love.”

  “You didn’t protect Emma in the elevator now, did you? Tell me, did you feel it when I broke her arm and her ribs?”

  A rage burned deep within Will, and he tried to dampen it. Alex wanted him to get angry.

  Trust your power. Marcus stood behind Alex, staring at Will. Why the hell was he just standing there?

  “You worried about fighting an unconscious woman and an old worn-out element, fine. Let’s make it you and me, Warren. What do you say?”

  A slow smile formed on Alex’s face, his eyes squinting. “Are you sure you don’t need Emma’s skirt to hide behind? She does have a mighty fine ass underneath.” The wound on his chest, visible through the hole in his shirt, was almost healed.

  Could Alex heal himself if he was using his powers for offense? Will let his energy build, intending to find out.

  The air began to swirl.

  “I could have had her in the elevator, especially when she was nearly unconscious from the pain I gave her. But don’t you worry. After you’re dead, I’ll be sure to screw her before I kill her, and this time she’ll beg me for it first.”

  Will took slow shallow breaths, trying to ignore Alex’s words, but the thought of Alex touching Emma enraged him more.

  He was in a basement. Where was he going to get more water? Emma had always called out to things that gave her power. Could it be that simple? He let his power search for a moment and he nearly staggered with the results. He felt energy swishing in the pipes in the walls. He heard it running in the pipes in the street. He felt the water droplets in the air, all waiting to do his bidding.

  The sound of clanging metal in the air behind Will drew his attention and he turned to see tools flying through the air toward him. Thinking that he needed to stop them, he called to the water in the wall. The pipe burst, spraying water into the air and forming a wall. Will ducked as the tools slammed into the water and stopped, except for a hole that allowed a pair of pliers and a screwdriver to pass through.

  The pliers hit Alex in the temple while the screwdriver embedded in his chest. His eyes widened in surprise. He pulled out the screwdriver, tossed it to the floor and laughed. “That all you got, Davenport?”

  The air in the room began to churn, picking up tools down the hall. They circulated around Will and flew at him one by one. He ducked and weaved to avoid the first two as he reached into his power. Water rose and slammed into the air current, whipping the tools into the wall and floor. Will beckoned more water, from the ceiling and the floor, flooding the room more quickly than he thought possible.

  Emma was still in the elevator.

  Marcus, get Emma out of here!

  Marcus, who had been in the corner, moved to the elevator opening and ducked inside.

  The water level rose to over the tops of Will’s feet. He bent, grabbed the screwdriver from the floor and held it in a defensive stance.

  Alex laughed. “You think you’re going to stab me, Will? All of this power and you resort to your human resources. This is why you don’t stand a chance.”

  A gust of air slammed Will into the wall. He gasped. When he tried to take a breath, his chest constricted.

  “You’re a child playing in the big leagues, Will.” Alex slinked toward him, his eyes glowing with power and hate. “This is nothing. I can create tornadoes and hurricanes. I can destroy towns and cities. It’s all within my control. Yet, we’re in a basement playing with tools.”

  Will tried again without success to suck in a breath. He forced a wave of water up, intending to smash it into Alex, but Alex sent a gust of air to intercept it, sloshing the water into the wall.

  Alex took a step forward. “It’s too bad it had to end this way. I was hoping you’d be more of a challenge.”

  “What about me?” Emma called from the hole in the elevator. “I suppose I wasn’t much of a challenge either.”

  Startled, Alex turned toward her, and his hold on Will loosened. Will took a deep breath and rammed the screwdriver between Alex’s ribs.

  Alex’s mouth dropped open.

  Will stabbed him again, holding the handle flush against Alex’s chest. Alex’s blood pumped onto Will’s hand in massive amounts. He’d pierced Alex’s heart.

  “That’s not enough.” Marcus stood behind Emma, his face grim.

  Alex fell against Will, his legs buckling.

  Marcus moved closer. “It’s not enough for him to bleed to death. He still might recover.”

  Blood poured down Will’s arm, into the water.

  Terror filled Alex’s eyes, but Will steeled himself. This had to be done.

  Emma stepped through the hole, holding her hand against her side with a grimace. “What do we have to do?” Her voice was cold and distant.

  “To disconnect his power, you’ll have to make sure his brain is no longer functional.”

  “Like a zombie?” she asked, her voice expressionless. She kept her gaze on Alex’s face.

  “Not exactly like a zombie.” Marcus paused. “If he has enough brain damage, he won’t be able to regenerate. Even though you feel your power in your chest, the true source is your brain.”

  “Emma,” Alex pleaded. His voice was weak and his face pale. “Do it. Kill me and you’ll get my power.”

  She froze.

  Will watched in horror. That was the last thing he expected Alex to say. Was it a trick?

  Emma’s eyes hardened. “Why would you offer that?”

  “If I die now, I’ll live in the afterlife. If I die later…you heard the shadows.” His voice was raspy and he coughed, spitting up blood. “I have to say the t
ransfer words first. The words to give you my power. You can use it to save Jake.”

  This didn’t make sense. Why would Alex do this? “Don’t trust him, Emma,” Will growled.

  She ignored him. “You found the words in the book?”

  Alex grinned, blood running from the corner of his mouth and down the side of his face.

  Emma looked over at Marcus. “Is it true? Can he do that?”

  Marcus’s face hardened. “Yes, but…It can’t be you. It has to be Will.”

  “Fuck that.” Emma pulled Will’s gun out of the back his jeans before he could stop her. She turned off the safety and slid back the rack, pointing the gun at Alex’s head. “Start talking.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed with hatred. “I thought you were the decent one of all of us.” He closed his eyes and a glow emitted from him.

  “With the shadows as my witness,

  I give to you an irrevocable gift

  Power and elemental control,

  And all that is mine.”

  Alex closed his eyes and mumbled in a language Will didn’t understand.

  The glow around Alex faded and Emma’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the gun. “Now?”

  “Emma, wait!” Marcus took a step forward. “It’s a trick!”

  Alex grinned but hatred darkened his eyes. “You don’t have the guts.”

  Emma pointed the gun at Alex’s head and pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession, her hand jumping with the recoil.

  Alex fell from Will’s grip, landing on his back in a pool of water.

  She stared down at him, the gun still in her hand. “Is that enough?”

  Marcus shook his head. “Let Will do it.”

  Her hand still extended, she continued to stare at Alex. “I asked if it was enough.”

  Will reached for her hand. “Emma, I’ll—”

  She looked up at him, anger making her eyes glow with power. “You’ll what? You’ll do it? The fuck you will.” She shot Alex in the head three more times. “Is that enough?”

  “Yes, Emma,” Marcus said softly. “It’s enough.”