Into the Fire

by Victoria Smith

  He just needed to drop her off at Jenner’s and wash his hands of her for good.

  ~ ~ ~

  Olivia paced while she waited for Luke to shower. It was pace, or sit on the bed and fantasize about him naked, wet, and soapy. What the hell had she thought she was doing by even touching him? She’d known he was dreaming, and despite how he told her he felt about firestarters, she’d been compelled to help.

  One touch and she’d been flooded with need and the inability to pull away. She would have made love with him. She’d wanted him to make love to her. Despite his hatred of her abilities, his rejection stung. Olivia choked back fresh tears. Regardless, most men wouldn’t have turned away the offer of sex. She tried not to take it personally, but history had a way of scarring a person.

  The shower stopped. She wiped the moisture from her face, resting her fingertips on her eyes to erase the evidence of her tears. She didn’t want Luke probing her for answers. The sooner he took her to Dan’s, the better. A few more hours in the car fighting whatever sizzled between them and she’d be fine. Dan would give her the antidote and she’d be good as new.

  After a mostly silent ride, Luke stopped the car alongside the road and got out. He stretched, his shirt riding up to reveal a strip of skin and some pretty impressive muscles. Olivia forced her eyes away, faking a yawn to cover her stare. She knew he didn’t want her, and yet, she couldn’t seem to stop wanting him. When was she ever going to learn?

  Luke reached for his cell phone. He spoke in clipped one-word answers before closing it and getting back into the car. “Let’s go. They’re waiting for us.”

  She put a hand on his arm as he pulled out onto the road without checking for traffic. There wouldn’t be any. There never was anymore. “Thank you. I know you didn’t want to do any of this, but you saved my life. I’m grateful.”

  He glanced at where her fingers rested against his forearm. For a second, she thought she saw the same desire that ripped through her reflected in his eyes, but when he looked up, she knew she was mistaken.

  They drove in silence for the rest of trip. As Jenner’s compound came into view on the left, he slowed and turned to her, and placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “I’m sorry I was so mean to you. It’s a long story.”

  “Doesn’t matter. Let me out here.” She moved his hand, the loss of contact hurting her as much as a knife through her skin.

  “Nope. Are you kidding? I can’t give up a chance to see one of my enemies close up.” He drove through a high gate, stopping in front of a concrete barrier while the chain link was quickly closed behind them.

  Razor wire topped both, and Olivia couldn’t help wondering if they were trying to keep people out or in. She shook her head to dispel the inappropriate thought. The paranoia was from too many years living on the edge and all the speculation going around about this place. Dan was the former governor. Of course his security measures would be extensive.

  “The Farm isn’t like this. It’s protected by the collective abilities of the residents, not semi-automatic machine guns. It’s clean, and there’s plenty of food. Are you sure you don’t want to change your mind?” He glanced at her as the gate finished closing.

  “Not a chance. I know The Farm is what some people want, but that life isn’t for me. It’s too structured and regimented. Besides, they wouldn’t accept me because I can start fires. They only want constructive abilities.” She’d checked out The Farm when she and Sandy split, thinking it would be a way to start a new life.

  A man dressed in black appeared at Luke’s window before the gate finished opening. “He’s waiting. Drive through and park in the yellow space. An escort is waiting for you.” His tone left no room for argument. Luke didn’t appear very happy.

  “He won’t be staying. His job was only to bring me here, so if you’ll open the gate, he’ll leave.” She was trying to let Luke off the hook. His opinions on her godfather had been very clear, and she wasn’t going to attempt to change them.

  “No, ma’am. He asked to see you both. Pull forward, please.”

  Luke complied, his irritation, excitement, and suspicion a palpable force. He didn’t look at her as he stopped in the yellow space and shut off the engine.

  A different man stepped forward from the end of the space and extended his hand palm up. “Keys, please.”

  Luke shook his head. “Sorry, man. Not going to happen.”

  “I’m afraid I must insist. It’s policy.” The guard shook his hand a little as if expecting Luke to toss the keys.

  “Good for you. Not going to happen. You can try to take them, but I don’t recommend that. She’s a firestarter, and she’s been poisoned. If she doesn’t get the antidote soon, this whole place is going to be blown sky high. Now quit wasting my time with ridiculous bullshit and take us to Jenner.”

  “If you’ll follow me.” The guard turned, lining up his boots before heading down an outdoor corridor.

  Several large, open rooms were on each side of the wide hall. Various lengths and types of knives covered a long table at the back of the first one. The second room was similar in size, but a lot like her martial arts studio with mats on the floor and sparring bags against the wall. A prickle of unease climbed Olivia’s spine. Dan had always been a peace lover. He’d originally disapproved of her interest in martial arts, until the day someone had tried to mug her in the mall parking lot.

  This place wasn’t like him, but then, times had changed. Despite the way she’d tried to rationalize the weaponry, the unease remained. The guard opened a door, motioning for them to follow. He led them through a maze of hallways and closed metal doors with electronic locks. A set of huge ornate wooden doors, carved with the same symbols Dan had tattooed on his back and arms, waited at the end of the last hallway.

  The doors opened as they approached, the white tile floor turning to lush black carpet that cushioned her steps. Her disquiet increased despite her attempts to shove it back. She was only feeling it because of the poison and Luke’s distrust of her godfather.

  Leather furniture was arranged in several seating areas, a dark wooden bar situated at the wall in the center of each little living room. As they reached the rear of the room, the guard stepped back to stand behind Olivia, and Luke gave her an “I told you so” expression.

  A single wooden door opened to her right, and Dan stepped through. His smile was enormous as he held his arms out for her. Olivia went to him, hugging the man who was nearly her father and letting the discomfort go.

  “I’ve been so worried about you,” he said as he studied her. He smiled, hugging her again. “You’re okay, right?”

  “I have to have the antidote quickly. I’m almost out of time.”

  He nodded, then motioned to the guard who’d brought them. “It’s being prepared now. Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Luke. He helped me get here.” She noticed Luke had pasted a congenial smile on his face, but doubted he was as comfortable as he pretended.

  “Your man said you wanted to talk to me?” Luke didn’t offer his hand.

  Dan nodded. “I wanted to meet the person everyone’s talking about. There are a lot of rumors about you. I guess I should say, ‘I thought you’d be bigger.’” He laughed, clasping Luke on the shoulder.

  “You know you can’t believe everything you hear,” Luke said, obviously forcing himself to be polite.

  “Don’t I know it? You do a lot of good work out there. Keep it up.” Dan patted Luke’s shoulder and moved away. “Thanks for taking care of my girl.”

  An awkward silence crept in. Luke cleared his throat. “Keep her safe. I’ve got some things to do.” He nodded at Dan before turning to her. “Walk me to the door?”

  She fell into step beside him, her arms crossed over her chest as she glanced back at Dan. Neither spoke until they reached the last sitting area before the door.

  “You’ll be okay?” He grabbed her hand and squeezed.

  “Positive. You saw him. He’s not over-the-edge-craz
y. He’s the same Dan he always was. No worries.” Did she completely believe that? She shifted her weight to her other foot, fighting the sudden urge to run. She couldn’t. She had to get the antidote and fast.

  “Okay then. I’ll be on my way.” Luke didn’t let her hand go. “I hope you’re right about this.”

  “Be careful. And thank you again. I don’t know what I’ll be doing after I get the antidote, but I plan to stay in the network.” She tried to smile, but the fuzzy feeling had started in the back of her brain again.

  “I figured you would. You be careful, too. You know how to reach me if you find yourself in another situation. I’ll let you know if Matt digs up anything on Kenneth.” He nodded, and then squeezed her hand and released it. “I’ll call your ex and let him know you’re in good hands.”

  “I’d appreciate that.” Her heart beat faster as the physical connection broke. She didn’t want him to stop holding her hand. She didn’t want him to leave.

  Luke stopped mid-stride, his shoulders straight as he took a deep breath. He turned, grabbed Olivia’s face, and kissed her. She melted in his arms, wanting to go back to that crappy motel, regardless of how he felt about her ability to start fires. The heated images returned to tease and torment as he licked her bottom lip and moved away. Luke slammed one side of the heavy door behind him.

  Olivia wanted to throw herself down on the black leather couch and cry, but she didn’t have time for that. She had to have the antidote. Already her brain filled with cobwebs and hundreds of tiny fires that begged to be released. She returned to Dan, who smiled gently at her.

  “Nice guy, huh?” Dan took her hand and motioned to the door he came through.

  Olivia walked with him. “Yeah. He’s a good one.”

  “Let’s get you fixed up. So, how’d you end up poisoned?” The carpet turned from plush black to blood red as they traveled through yet another maze of halls that confused and threw her off balance, thanks to the crap in her system.

  “Sandy’s boyfriend. I don’t know why.”

  Something unreadable crossed Dan’s face as he held a stainless-steel door open, but he’d been so angry at Sandy for hurting her, she expected some kind of reaction from him. “Well, we’ll get that poison out of you and then figure out what to do about that.”

  She nodded, tensing slightly when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. “I’m so thrilled you’re here. I hoped you’d come eventually. I’ve missed you. I talked to your dad yesterday. It was good to hear his voice.”

  “I’ve missed you, too. How are you feeling?” She relaxed.

  This was Dan. He was not a monster. She concentrated on his physical health. He seemed completely well, with no trace of whatever illness he’d claimed. All she could sense was his willingness to help her and his genuine happiness that she’d arrived. That sense could be skewed though. She’d have to reassess once she got the antidote.

  “Much better. I can return to office soon.” He opened a door on his left and motioned her through. “I’ve been talking to your cousin, Franklin. He’s the governor of Midcentral. Do you remember Franklin?”

  She nodded numbly, her brain sparking. “I haven’t seen him in a long time.”

  “He’s interested in my training program. Says he wants to use my strategies to help the people in his sector use their abilities to the fullest. Isn’t that great?”

  It wasn’t, but Dan thought it was. The room was like an upscale doctor’s office. Dan entered behind her and motioned to the examination table covered in dark blue leather. She wanted to ask him why he had such expensive trimmings when his call to the people had been about equality and sharing the wealth. Some people barely had enough money for food. Dan might not be responsible for the way things had gone the past few years and the over-taxation of basic necessities, but he’d never lived extravagantly before.

  “You’re going to give me the antidote?” She sat on the table, something hard digging into her behind.

  “No. The doctor will. But I’ll stay with you, if you don’t mind.” He sat on a comfortable-looking chair not far from the examination table.

  “Not at all.” She wiggled back a little, hoping to find a comfortable spot.

  As she adjusted herself, Dan opened a black door in the wall and pressed a button. Something snapped underneath her. The table split, enclosing her wrists and ankles with shiny silver shackles. She yelped and looked over to Dan, but his smile never changed.

  Damn. Why hadn’t she listened to Luke?

  Chapter 4

  “What’s going on?” Between the drug’s effect and the potential sting of betrayal, Olivia had to work at sounding calm. “You’re not giving me the antidote? You know how dangerous that is.”

  “You’ll be receiving the antidote. No worries there, Buttercup.” He pressed another button on the wall.

  “Then why the hardware? Does the new formula hurt now or something?” She tried to sound trusting, but the excited vibes Dan put off made that difficult.

  “Please be patient. No more talking.” Dan hit the button again, cursing in frustration.

  After slamming his palm against the panel a third time, he opened the door, yanking it shut behind him as he went through. Olivia rested her head on the contraption near her face and concentrated on Luke. He’d have a field day with the “I told you so’s,” but at least she’d be alive. She gathered her frenetic energy, doing her best to ignore the tiny fires that continually popped up as she thought about Luke driving away, and she corralled her strength enough to try to make her thoughts available to Luke. She didn’t know if it would work. Opening her mind, she got the impression of Luke’s Corvette flying down the back roads—away from here.

  The door opened, and Dan stepped in, followed by an attractive man with a busted lip. He was around her age—the doctor, she presumed. He didn’t meet her eyes as he carried a tray with two syringes. She absorbed his nuances, getting only the sense of physical pain and frustration.

  “Two doses of antidote?” She knew it wasn’t.

  “One dose of antidote is all that’s required.” Dan smiled again, showing his usual charm.

  “You do have the new formula, right? I should have asked that first.” Olivia gritted her teeth against the swirling thoughts in her brain.

  “I do. We heard they were changing things, so we worked hard to have the antidote ready when the new compliance compound was released.” Dan nodded to the doctor to proceed.

  “So why two syringes?” She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer. If she even got one.

  “You’ll see.” Dan made an impatient face directed at the doctor.

  The doctor approached her, a tiny drop of liquid clinging to the end of the needle. “It’s going to sting. You’ll have a few minutes of total disorientation while it neutralizes the poison. You’re almost critical, so it’ll probably take a little longer to work. Don’t worry. You can’t hurt anyone with this in your system. Just relax and go with the flow.” His smile was more of a worried lip movement under weary eyes.

  Olivia hissed when the needle punctured her skin and the cool liquid was pumped into her body. Swirls of flames traveled through her. Images from her life played back like a damaged videotape. The experience was similar to when she’d first ingested the poison, only now Luke was a character in many of the scenes. She saw a daisy field and sunshine, but the impression moved out of her reach. Blackness rimmed the edges of her vision, slowly moving toward the center until she could see nothing at all.

  When she became aware of herself again, things felt much different. The poison was gone, and from what she could tell, it had done no permanent damage. She kept her eyes closed as the comfort of her own sense of being bolstered her lagging spirit. Hushed, angry voices entered her awareness. She kept her eyes closed to maintain the illusion of her recovery.

  “Just give it to her,” Dan said.

  “I have to make sure the poison is fully eliminated. We don’t yet know how eff
ective the new antidote is. The results would be catastrophic if the drug’s still in her system.”

  “We don’t have time. You have no idea what power she possesses. She’s well trained and in complete control. It’s best to give it to her while she’s too disoriented to stop us.”

  “She can’t do much while in restraints, even with the antidote. What are you worried about?”

  “Maybe not, but as I told you before, I don’t trust the restraint system. It hasn’t been tested enough on people in total control of their powers. The biorhythm scanner is proof enough that technology can’t compete with these people. She can torch this place with just a thought. Give her the damned shot.”

  Fuck. What the hell was Dan doing?

  She wanted to scream and yell, but the cold, hard restraints kept her in place. She should have listened to Luke. Hell, she should have listened to her inner warnings. Dan was supposed to be a good guy. Why wasn’t he?

  “She’d be trapped in here, too. I highly doubt she’d do that.” The doctor was clearly annoyed. She was, too.

  She stayed still as someone approached, twitching slightly when she remembered that was what she’d been doing when she regained the sense of herself. She spread out her awareness, absorbing the doctor’s genuine worry about whatever drug Dan was forcing him to fill her with. The doctor moved toward the second syringe as Dan stopped in front of her and brushed the hair from her face.

  Her impression of his intentions hadn’t changed. He was filled with sincerity and love. What did that mean? Knowing she pushed the envelope for the time it should have taken to recover, she mumbled and opened her eyes.

  “Am I okay?” She managed to make herself sound out of it.

  “You’re fine, Buttercup. Very fine.” He patted her shoulder. “You know I don’t put you in the same category as the others, don’t you? I hope you can understand why I’ve chosen to eliminate most of them. It’s not your fault.”