She needed to help him.
But what could she do?
There was screaming, a shout of pain. Gunfire. And then—
It was silent.
“Is he dead?”
Sophie blinked four, five, six times. She wished she could see better from her position on the rug. She was almost positive she would have rug burn, but she couldn’t care. Not now.
Michael was dead? That couldn’t be right. She strained her eyes, but there was nothing that sounded like him, nothing that affirmed he was alive.
“Let me check.” A pause. “No pulse.”
Sophie’s heart stopped.
“We shot him eight times,” the same voice continued. “Six in his chest. No way could anyone survive that.”
“Dispose of the body out the back. We can’t let anyone see that.”
“Yes.”
Sophie heard the door open, shut. Then: “Get that tart bitch from the bed. This is going on much too long. If we want Jane Cabot, we need to get word out to that shifter that we’ve got Sophie and will exchange her for Jane.”
“Sir?” a man asked. Sophie heard footsteps getting closer. “What do we do if he rejects your exchange?”
“He won’t.” A pause. “Because we will tell him Ms. Harper will die if he doesn’t agree to our terms. And it won’t simply be a threat, Lionel. Ms. Harper is rare, indeed. And I think I just shot her other half. But Jane is the key to everything. Jane is key to getting that. I will do what I need to do to get her. Do you understand? The technology is being built to protect our men and women. I don’t need physicals. I need the mentals. I need Jane.”
Sophie pushed her brow up. Jane was the reason for all of this. Wait, no. Not Jane. Arbuckle wanted to control minds, literally, and he wanted to use Jane to do that. She would be his secret weapon.
“Found her!”
The voice ripped her from her thoughts, and she didn’t even have time to cling to the carpet before someone grabbed her ankles and dragged her out from under the bed. She grunted, almost screamed, but didn’t. It was like it got caught in her throat.
Because she saw his body.
When she stood, she nearly stumbled. If soldiers hadn’t caught her, she would have fallen.
Michael was dead. There was no way he was alive, no way he could survive what they did to him.
His pale green eyes stared up at the sky, unmoving. A tommy gun lay on his left side, just out of reach of his hand. There was blood everywhere. Cillian’s death had been much more graphic, but this death made Sophie’s stomach turn over just as the other.
Michael was dead. Michael was gone. She couldn’t wrap her head around it.
Luckily, she didn’t have to. At that moment, the door burst open. Sophie’s body tensed, ready. She wasn’t sure if it was more of Arbuckle’s men, but she had to be ready. Just in case.
36
The minute Jane and Daryl reached AckPec, Ethan was there to greet them. In a manner of five minutes, he updated the pair of what happened with Sophie, Will, Michael, and Arbuckle. Immediately, Jane’s thoughts went from pure and utter bliss at the depth and connection between her and Daryl to pure and utter panic for her friend. Her mind sharpened its focus. She couldn’t think about her favorite tattoo on Daryl’s body or wonder when would be the most appropriate time to be with Daryl again in the most intimate ways.
She had to focus on getting Sophie back.
God, if it’s not me kidnapped, it’s her. Can’t we ever stay on campus at the same time? Is that so hard to ask?
Apparently, it was.
“Where are they now?”
At least someone had the good sense to ask the most obvious question. Jane shook her head. Focus. She needed to focus.
“The Grand Hotel,” Ethan told them. They were headed to the garage and Jane hadn’t even noticed. It wasn’t until they were piling into a golf cart did Jane realize they were going after Sophie right this second. “I’m not certain of the room number. I only know this because Jason informed Brielle, and they both informed Will. Well, I should say Brielle informed Will and Will informed me.”
“Where are they now?” Jane asked, sliding into the back seat.
Ethan turned from the passenger seat so he could look at Jane. “Brielle is with Will; Jason left for home,” he answered. “Brielle insisted she go with Will. On the off chance that something has happened to Sophie, Brielle will be able to heal her.”
“I don’t understand,” Jane said, shaking her head. “How did this happen?”
“Arbuckle threatened Jason’s family,” Ethan replied, “in order to get Jason to lure Sophie to the hotel.”
“But why does he want Sophie?” Daryl asked, giving Ethan a quick glance before looking back at the road. Golf carts weren’t known for their speed, but Daryl was giving it everything he got as he made his way to the Grand Hotel.
“He doesn’t want Sophie,” Ethan said, looking back at Jane. “He wants you. He’s using Sophie to get to you the same way Michael used you to get to Sophie.”
“This is exasperating,” Jane muttered to herself, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Unlike Michael, I’m certain Arbuckle will be happy to have the pair of you,” Ethan pointed out. “You are both rare females of the peculiar species. Not only would he be able to run physical and psychological experiments, but should he ever be interested in offspring and procreation, you and Jane would pass your genes on to your children.”
“We will discuss procreation and children no more,” Daryl insisted, his Russian bleeding through.
At that moment, they pulled up to the Grand Hotel, the golf cart a block away. Gunfire broke out, and without thinking, Jane jumped out of the golf cart and started heading to the hotel. She thought she heard Daryl yell after her, but she couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that Sophie was in there and she needed help. Her mind was already working to locate Sophie’s specific location. Third floor. She couldn’t tell what room, but she would know it when she saw it. Instead of the elevator, she took the stairs. Her back screamed in pain, not used to such strenuous physical activity in such a short amount of time, but she pushed through it. Adrenaline coursed through her, probably protecting her from the pain and the fatigue.
Once she reached the third floor, she started passing doors. They were white with numbers engraved in gold platelets hanging on the door. She stopped in front of 322. Not because she located Sophie, but because she could hear screaming.
Again, without thinking, she used all of her force to break the door off of its hinges. She still wasn’t used to telekinesis, but she had been practicing moving objects with her mind and felt she had enough force and intent to get it done.
The noise from the door startled the occupants inside allowing both Jane and Sophie to spring into action. Jane focused on the military men, reaching into their minds and compelling them to drop their weapons. There were only a handful of them, but she already started to feel the fatigue start to build. If she didn’t focus, she would pass out. Once their weapons were down, she compelled them to leave the island.
Sophie, on the other hand, was able to grab Arbuckle’s neck, now that she was free. Her fingers started to squeeze, and from the snarl on her face, she looked like she was ready for the kill.
“Sophie!” she said.
Sophie’s eyes snapped into Jane’s, and while her grip lessened, there was no way Arbuckle would be able to break free.
Jane nodded and took a seat. She tried to regain her balance, tried to move past the dizzy feeling that suddenly consumed her. That was when her eyes saw the body.
Michael.
Without fully realizing just what she was doing, Jane began to crawl over to it. His pale green eyes stared up at the ceiling. There was a gun by his hips. Bullet holes, at least eight that she could count, littered his torso. Dark blood spilled out of him, but it didn’t look like it was flowing anymore.
He was dead. Michael was dead.
“What the—”
Jane turned to Sophie, but she was busy with Arbuckle. Her green eyes looked back down at Arbuckle. To herself, she said, “What the hell happened?”
“Soph.” Will entered the room, frantic. Jane watched as he stepped over to Sophie, but at the last minute, held back from enveloping her into a bone-crushing hug. “You’re okay.”
The amount of relief in Will’s eyes was immeasurable, and Jane felt a smile tug onto her face at the sight of it.
“I am.” She nodded once, and Jane noticed the corner of her lips flickering up, like she was trying to contain a smile but couldn’t. Her eyes looked over at Daryl as he walked in. “What do we do with him?”
“We find out what he knows,” Daryl said. “Then erase it from his consciousness.” He stepped over to Arbuckle and hate flashed in his black eyes as he peered at the general. Jane recognized the look he had given his brother the previous night when he used Rose to get information out of Marvin. “Do you know who I am?”
Arbuckle had his own version of hate on his face. That, alone, told Daryl he knew exactly who Daryl was. “I do,” he said. “Let me tell you something, son. If you—”
“Actually,” Daryl interjected. “Let me tell you something. I have been around much longer than you have, and I will be around much longer than you will be. You are panpi, a mere human. While I respect humanity and all the abilities we have—because, yes, peculiars are a part of that humanity—and the advances we have made in a variety of fields, I do not understand this mentality that you think you can control everyone and everything simply because you wear a uniform representing a certain country. I respect the United States military—though I’m technically Russian—I fought in both World Wars, and I’m a veteran of this country. I’ve been loved and hated by my country in the same manner that you have. But just because I’m much older, much wiser, much more experienced than you will ever be, does not mean I get to dictate how you should act. It does not mean I get to regulate what you do or who you’re with or what you believe. I have no right inhibit you from doing something for yourself, even if I don’t understand or agree with it.
“The best thing about this country is that we are granted freewill. And you wish to take that freewill away because you think you have that right. In the entire time I’ve known you, I have not heard you once ask us what we want. I have not once heard you ask if you would like to partner with us to conduct experiences. I have not heard you ask us if we prefer to remain hidden within society or if we think we should reveal our true nature. You wanted to do it your way from the get go. And therein lies the problem. You had your chance to learn about who we are, what we are, from a physical, scientific, and psychological aspect. Ethan is the most intelligent man I know on the subject, and he is the most open-hearted person I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I honestly believe he would have worked with you. But the minute you started making decisions about our bodies without our consent, you fucked yourself.”
Jane blinked. Daryl had just said a bad word. Daryl rarely said bad words, and when he did, Jane thought it was actually kind of hot.
“Do you know what I’m going to do to you?” Daryl asked, completely oblivious to Jane’s hungry stare.
Arbuckle continued to look at Daryl with a steady gaze. Jane had to give the guy credit; he wasn’t intimidated by Daryl in the slightest. Or, if he was, he didn’t show it.
“Kill me?” he guessed with a sneer.
Even Daryl looked perplexed at the statement. “Why would I kill you?” he asked him. “You are a very important person in the military, to the government, and to the president himself. If I killed you, people would start asking questions. After your very public press conference, they would naturally assume a peculiar was behind the act, which means the FBI, the CIA, and other government agencies I have never even heard of would be crawling around Catalina, the academy, and poking around in our business. Unlike you, I actually give thought to possible consequences and how they affect not only me but the people around me, those I care about. I ask you again, do you know what I’m going to do to you?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea,” Arbuckle retorted. “But let me guess: you’re going to tell me?”
“Hey,” Sophie said. “You’re not being very polite.”
Jane pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, even though she didn’t quite understand the joke. Not that it mattered. Sophie got amusement from it.
“I’m going to erase your memory,” Daryl stated, ignoring the red head. “I’m going to make it so that you won’t know what peculiars are. If someone speaks to you of us, you will think they’re crazy. You will have no idea what they’re talking about. You will know absolutely nothing.”
Arbuckle’s face paled. Jane couldn’t believe a man as stoic and as determined as Arbuckle could look … distressed.
“That goes against that whole concept of freewill you were so casually discussing before,” he pointed out, his tone droll.
“Yes, well.” Daryl shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t give a fuck.”
The second bad word.
Jane grinned and didn’t even try to fight it.
From there, she watched as Daryl wiped Arbuckle’s memory. It was quick and painless. After, he was unconscious for a few moments while Daryl and Will spoke amongst themselves.
“Brielle and Jared are going to take Arbuckle to the airport and transport him back to DC,” Will announced when they finished. “Ethan already has men searching for Arbuckle’s cronies, and once they’re found, Depogare will wipe their minds as well. Is there anything else you both can think to do?”
“Where is Brielle?” Jane asked. She hadn’t seen the brunette during her time here and hadn’t realized she had come.
“Watching the rear end of the hotel,” Will explained. “Just in case.”
“I think we’re good,” Sophie said with a small smile. “Thank you for asking.”
37
Sophie didn’t understand her tears. When she watched The Lion King at age seven with her foster sister Amy, she didn’t cry when Mufasa died. Amy called her a heartless witch—she was twelve, and that was the worst swear word she knew at the time—and said she didn’t get what death meant anyway. Sophie didn’t understand what she had done wrong; she hadn’t cried because she hadn’t found Mufasa’s death sad. Crying indicated sadness. To her, death was not sad; it was a part of life. Up until that point, she didn’t have people she cared enough about to waste tears on. Even now, besides a select few, death would not bring her to tears.
But Michael’s death …
Michael’s death shook her to her very core. She had no idea why he would choose to die for her when she didn’t love him, and there was no way he could love her. He might think he did. He might assume since they were cut from the same rare cloth, he did. But he didn’t know her well enough to love her.
Yet, he still sacrificed himself for her.
That was a death worth crying over.
It was a death she didn’t understand. Why would he do that for her? It didn’t make sense. The fact that he had …
Without warning, Jane pulled Sophie into a tight hug. She didn’t say anything; instead, she held onto Sophie tight, and Sophie just cried harder. She knew Will was close by, and could probably tell that Sophie was crying as a result of Michael’s death, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. It sounded harsh, maybe even mean, but she couldn’t hide her emotions as a way to shield Will from her feelings. She hoped that Will understood. She hoped that Will didn’t see it as her having feelings for Michael, but at the loss of life in exchange for her own.
“It’s done, Sophie,” Jane murmured, but her voice sounded far away, almost like she was telling herself rather than Sophie. Like she needed to hear it out loud in order to begin to process it. “It’s over.”
Sophie nodded her head, but didn’t respond. Couldn’t respond.
It was over. It really was over.
Her sapphire eyes looked up and over at Will. He happened
to be looking in her direction, and when they locked together, her body tightened with completion. His golden hazel eyes weren’t critical or judgmental. They were soft and even a little … understanding. The revelation caused Sophie to burst as a new set of tears came sliding down her face and hiccups gripped her throat. She was a hot mess, and that was being generous.
“Come on.”
Daryl was just behind the two, surprising them both. When Sophie looked up at him through watery eyes, she couldn’t help but be impressed with just how steady he was, even in a current of changing emotions.
“What happened, Soph?” Jane asked in a quiet voice as the four walked out of the room. She had to hold onto Sophie’s shoulder in order to keep from fainting. “Pretend you’re using me as a crutch so we can talk. I know if Daryl saw, he’d carry me, and while that’s cool, I want to talk to you. Also, I don’t want him to carry me in front of everyone.”
Sophie laughed because she couldn’t do anything else. She reached over Jane’s shoulders and did as her friend asked. Daryl and Will both shot the girls suspecting looks, but resumed their own hushed conversation.
“Michael came in,” Sophie said, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know if he had a key or what. But he opened the door and started shooting. I don’t know how he knew I was there. I don’t know if it’s a thing where because we’re both physicals, we’re connected to each other in some way …” She let her voice trail off. “Arbuckle was ready to kill me if I didn’t give you up. Michael was there. He sacrificed himself for me.” She felt tears start to accumulate in her eyes, but blinked them away. “I just don’t get it, Jane. Really. I don’t understand why he would do that.”
Stranger Series Box Set Page 73
