The Lighthunters—being impervious to Variant abilities, highly trained in combat, and as yet unknown to the rest of the world—were the biggest secret weapon. With deadly proficiency, they incapacitated the confused Variants, who couldn’t figure out why their abilities had suddenly stopped working.
My heart skipped a beat when I caught sight of Dot and Charlie, walking slowly hand in hand at the edge of the fighting. I ducked as all manner of winged creatures came flying through the now wide-open space where the glass used to be. Several wings clipped my head and shoulders as pigeons, woodpeckers, kites, hawks, and eagles swooped down on our enemies.
Even Olivia and Henry were there, not that I should’ve been surprised—they’d both worked for Melior Group at one time. They stuck close to Dot and Charlie, shooting anyone who came close with lethal accuracy.
Lucian had stayed behind, even though doing so had probably pissed him off. But we needed him on the outside. He was managing communications and organizing all he could between the different groups that had come together.
Ed and his brother were there too. Ed was keeping one hand on his brother’s shoulder, transferring Light to him, as the bigger man used his strength ability to barrel through assailants, knock people unconscious with a single punch, and throw tables as if they weighed no more than a sheet of paper.
Kyo, Marcus, and Jamie were leading the Melior Group agents who had gone rogue to join this fight. They were in their element, working perfectly as a team, almost every gunshot meeting its target.
Mr. Takata’s people were at the same level—highly efficient, deadly, precise. Mr. Takata himself was in a room in the basement, near where they sorted the luggage, with his wife and Vital. His sole focus was on keeping everyone shielded from another potential threat like Sarah, the Variant whose ability could cause unconsciousness on a large scale. We couldn’t risk something like that happening again. Mr. Takata couldn’t isolate this many specific people to shield—there were simply too many of us to keep track of—but he could, with the help of his Vital, throw a large shield over the whole area to defend against any such remote attacks.
My eyes darted about the room. I wasn’t a fighter; I still struggled in the sparring sessions, and I hated guns, so I’d only learned the basics at Tyler’s insistence. But I was a survivor, and I wasn’t completely helpless.
I let my glowing Light surge through me and tipped my head back. Replicating what I’d done on the night Alec nearly died, I drew Light from those meaning to do us harm and pushed it to those fighting on our side. But I couldn’t keep that up too long. Davis still hadn’t shown himself, and I had to conserve my energy.
As prepared and well armed as we were, we still weren’t fighting children. We were up against trained killers and people with formidable, dangerous abilities.
A man with a water ability was throwing massive sprays at Dot’s birds, making it difficult for them to fly and attack. Another person with a speed ability was blurring about the room so fast it was impossible to distinguish their appearance, but every once in a while one of our people dropped, blood gushing from a slit throat, after the person whizzed past.
Both cool water and warm blood splashed me, making me wince as if I’d been slapped. I wiped the mess off my cheek but refused to look at my palm as I rubbed it against a dry spot on my shorts.
A middle-aged woman took slow, careful steps through the chaos, her hands clasped in front of her. Every time someone went for her, she cocked her head to the side, and her attacker dropped to their knees, whimpering in terror. I wasn’t entirely sure what her ability was, but I didn’t want to find out.
Both sides were taking heavy losses.
We couldn’t keep going like this.
“Alec!” I yelled, even though he was standing only a few feet away.
“I know!” he growled as he reloaded his weapon.
“We got you covered.” Tyler stepped to the side, and Ethan and Josh shifted to cover the gap Alec created as he turned to face me.
One second my head was spinning from all the chaos, all the violence around me. The next my head was spinning because Alec was kissing me. His mouth devoured mine, intense and urgent. One of his hands gripped my hip while the other still held on to his gun. For few blissful seconds, there was nothing but Alec.
I let the Light gush through our connection. He really didn’t need to kiss me to get it. I could’ve given him all he needed with a simple touch. I could’ve done it without touching him at all. No, Alec was kissing me so intensely because he needed it—needed the comfort before doing the one thing he hated most: using his ability.
But we didn’t have time for this. After only a few moments, I pulled away and gave him a firm nod.
He squared his shoulders and turned, blocking me from most of the action. With a deep breath, he lowered his head and clenched his fists, every muscle in his body tensing as he unleashed the full force of his pain.
We’d been practicing as much as we could, but it was more difficult to do that safely with Alec; someone always had to volunteer to be exposed to excruciating pain in order for us to test his limits. But he’d managed to work out how to isolate specific individuals when sending out a massive blast of his power. Still, his technique was far from perfect, especially in such a hectic environment.
I felt the sheer force of Alec’s ability as it blasted out of him. Some people screamed, clutching their heads or stomachs before falling to the ground. Most just crumpled immediately, unconscious, their brains incapable of processing that much pain.
All the noise of people killing one another ceased. Bullets stopped sailing through the air. Things stopped crashing and smashing. People stopped barreling into each other. All was silent as I breathed heavily, my chest rising and falling in an unsteady rhythm.
As soon as bodies hit the floor, Tyler reloaded both his guns. “Regroup! Assume there are more coming! Let’s get the wounded to a safe distance and restrain the enemy operatives!”
I lifted my head, letting my surroundings soak in. Smoke billowed from the corridor to our left, which was choked with debris. Most of the furniture—tables and chairs, lounges belonging to various airport cafés—was strewn about or pulverized. But the worst of it were the bodies. A lot of them were just passed out, taken down by Alec’s ability, but many more were surely dead. A heavy metallic smell mingled with the smoke—blood.
Blood was everywhere. It wasn’t as obvious on the black clothing of the Melior Group operatives or Davis’s men, but it was stark against skin. It dripped off the counter near where we stood, giving Jackson Pollock a run for his money with how far and wide it had splattered.
Bile rose to my throat and saliva filled my mouth; I struggled to take a deep breath. Everywhere I looked there was blood. With every breath, I could smell it. My eyes started to water as I clenched my jaw, willing myself not to lose it. Not yet.
“Jamie!” Dot’s shrill scream echoed in the now silent, cavernous space.
Just a few yards in front of me, Dot sprinted over bodies and dropped to her knees in a slide, Kyo and Charlie hot on her heels. Her frantic hands ran all over the body of a man dressed in black. Jamie’s bright red hair stood out among the dusty gray debris.
Marcus rushed over from the opposite direction, holstering his gun. I rushed forward too but stopped just short of them. What could I possibly do?
“Was it Alec?” Dot sounded frantic as Kyo hurriedly checked Jamie. “Please tell me it was just Alec. He’ll wake up. He’ll be fine. He just needs to sleep it off.”
I hadn’t even realized Ethan and Josh had followed me or taken my hands in theirs, but I squeezed them tightly, dreading what Kyo would say next. I could see the devastated look on his face.
Kyo closed his eyes and swallowed slowly before straightening up.
“No.” Dot shook her head, her expression something between angry and broken. “No, no, no, no . . .” She kept repeating the little two-letter word as if it would bring him back, as if
the rapidly widening puddle of blood around him would magically retreat, as if his chest would start rising and falling once more.
As Dot fell apart, cradled between Kyo and Marcus, another layer of steel shuttered down over my heart.
I couldn’t afford to fall apart.
Not yet.
I needed something to focus on, so I took deep, measured breaths and counted off the people Alec had managed to keep safe from his ability.
Dot and Charlie. Don’t look.
Olivia and Henry. Bloody and dirty but still standing. Don’t linger.
Kyo and Marcus. Don’t think about Jamie.
Ed and his brother. Helping to carry all the unconscious enemies to a secure room in the back. Don’t focus on the smell. Just breathe.
Several of the rogue Melior Group agents. Is that Kane? Our ruthless trainer didn’t look injured at all as he methodically reloaded his weapons, standing tall in a sea of bodies. Don’t think about it.
And all the impervious Lighthunters, of course.
“Eve?” Josh turned to me, reaching up as if to cup my cheek. I dropped their hands and stepped back, out of his reach.
“I’m fine,” I rushed out. If I let them touch me, comfort me, draw me into their arms and hold me, I would fall apart.
Not yet. Don’t think about it.
“We need to get all our wounded to a safe place.” It was a pointless statement. We were already doing that. The more bodies we moved, the more the concrete floor was revealed. It used to be gray; now it was bathed in crimson.
Thankfully, Josh knew I needed to stay strong. He nodded and moved off, helping to carry the injured and unconscious with his ability. Ethan stayed by my side. I wasn’t sure if having one of them always beside me was a good or bad thing. They gave me strength, made me feel as if I could handle this, but at the same time, I was a giant glowing target, and anyone close to me could die at any moment. I couldn’t stand the thought of any of my beautiful, loving, kind men . . . Don’t think about it.
Not yet.
I looked around and spotted a camera near the table we’d sat at when we first arrived. The heavy timber table was the only piece of furniture still standing. I marched over, tilting my head to stare directly into the camera.
“Come and get me yourself, you fucking coward!” I yelled, imagining his face. I knew he’d be watching. I would be if I were him.
Keeping my eyes on the camera, I bent down, picked up a chair, and took a seat at the table, finally looking away to stare straight ahead.
With every steadying breath I took, I reminded myself why we were here, what I had come here to achieve. That strange calm slowly settled over me as the room was cleared of bodies. One by one, my Variants came back to my side.
Ethan leaned on the end of the table opposite me, his big arms crossed. Alec stood tall near him, his feet planted, his gun drawn. Josh was at my right shoulder, his hand resting on the back of my chair, with Ty at my left.
Dot and Charlie, Ed and his brother, Kyo and Marcus, and Nina and the Lighthunters were scattered about the room, catching their breath but on the alert.
Dot’s tear-streaked face was set in a hard, steely mask. Her men were one down, but they stood at her back, supporting her just as mine were.
Our eyes met across the room. All my deeply buried pain and worry, all my determination and barely contained rage, I saw reflected in her eyes. We didn’t get up and go to each other for a hug.
Not yet.
We didn’t say anything or even nod. We simply held each other’s gaze for a few long seconds—a moment of pure solidarity.
I understood the look on her face perfectly. And I intended to do something about it.
I wasn’t leaving here until Davis Damari showed his face. Until I did all I possibly could to remove his toxic influence from the world.
As the sun set behind me, taking the last bits of natural light with it, I looked away from Dot and narrowed my eyes on the vast open space before me. Half the lights had been busted in the battle, casting the area in an uneven, eerie light, but it was still enough for me to see my so-called father as he approached.
The sound of several footsteps preceded his arrival. He wasn’t alone.
Thirty-One
As Davis came around the corner, his expensive shirt and pristine tailored pants a stark contrast to the destruction and gore around him, I knew one thing without a shadow of a doubt.
One of us would not be leaving alive.
“Such heavy thoughts, daughter,” he called out, pretending to frown before his face split into a disturbing grin.
I stayed silent. I had nothing to say to this monster. This was another distraction technique, another attempt to get a rise out of one of us. Just like the way he’d made us all wait. It was just another stupid power play.
“Oh, got me all figured out now, do you?” His mind-reading ability was something we guarded against carefully. Lucian had been successfully avoiding it for years, but it didn’t matter anymore. I didn’t care what he knew. The games, the planning and plotting, the chasing and running—it was all over now. We had no secret twists to throw at him. We’d deliberately gone into this without a concrete plan. We were betting on our Bond connection and our ability to work well together under pressure, hoping beyond hope it would be enough.
“So sorry to keep you waiting. My last meeting ran late.” He walked forward confidently, unperturbed by the death stares and the several guns pointed at him. He was arrogant, but he wasn’t stupid, and I never expected him to waltz into this alone and unprotected. He had his own entourage.
Several heavily armed people walked ahead and behind him, guns raised. Zara’s mom was keeping close to his left side, hardly able to keep her eyes off his profile, and the short, stocky woman from Thailand, Gina, was with them too. I recognized her immediately—I didn’t think I’d forget anything from that day as long as I lived.
Rick’s mother, who’d had the ability to render people unconscious, was dead—killed by her own son—and his father had been captured and was still imprisoned by Melior Group. Gina, the other Variant from that day, had a shielding ability. She may not have been able to shield as far or as well without her Vital, but I had no doubt she was keeping Davis covered.
A few other people I didn’t recognize trailed behind Davis as well.
We were at an impasse. Both sides had guns pointed; both sides were protected by formidable Variants. I didn’t think he gave a shit about his people, but I didn’t want any more of mine to die. Everyone was on alert, tense, silent.
He stopped just feet away from Alec and Ethan. I could imagine the looks they were giving him, but I kept my face neutral, my breathing calm and even.
“You wanted me here.” He spread his arms wide. “I’m here. What now?”
The smile didn’t falter, the little gleam in his eye suggesting he had something up his sleeve. That was his advantage—we had no idea what he had planned, while he could read all our minds.
But we had something he didn’t have too—we had me.
“Don’t even fucking think about it,” he growled, his amused mask slipping for the first time. “I see even a hint of illumination on your perfect skin, and my men will fire. Your telekinetic may be able to stop bullets, but can he stop them all at once?”
Without needing to hear the order, his goons pointed their weapons at my Variants—more than a dozen guns, trained directly at the people I loved most in the world. I thought Josh could stop them, but I wasn’t entirely sure. Those were automatic weapons. I had no doubt he would keep me protected, but could he keep the others safe too? For how long?
Davis gave a satisfied nod and smoothed the front of his shirt. “Good. Now, let’s negotiate.”
“Negotiate?” Tyler spoke for us all. “You have nothing we want, and there isn’t a person in this room willing to bend to your will.”
“Everyone wants something, and I promise you, I can make it happen. Money? Fame? Power? Everyone has a
price.”
“And what is it you expect in return?” I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear him say it. For once in my entire existence, I wanted to look at this despicable man and hear him speak the truth.
He cocked his head to the side, watching me for a few moments. Then, for some reason, he decided to give me what I wanted.
“I want you, Evelyn.” He folded his hands. “I think we all know why. I’ve gone as far as I can with my research and engineering team, and they can’t figure out how to keep the donor Variant alive. I need to study you to fix it.” He held his hand up, stopping any questions before they could be asked. “Because I want to rule the world. I want to walk into any room on the face of the planet and be the most powerful man there. Everyone wants power, everyone. Anyone that says they don’t is either resigned to the fact they’ll never have it or lying to themselves. I’m just willing to do whatever is necessary to get it.”
“Why me?” It was the one thing I couldn’t work out. “There are other Vivids. You could use any one of them to achieve the same thing.” There had been so many people sending me messages; surely some of them had tried to go public with their own ability to glow, despite the unrest and the fear. Davis was surely aware of each and every one.
The look that twisted his features then was so grotesque and full of rage that I wondered how far gone his mind was.
“Because you dare to defy me!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he roared, his hands clenched into fists. Some of the people around him shifted uncomfortably. Zara’s mom took a tiny step away.
“Pay attention, Evelyn.” His breathing quickened as he visibly tried to calm himself. “You’re supposed to be a smart girl. You get that from me, you know. I just told you what my ultimate goal was. I intend to be the most powerful man alive, but what’s the point if I don’t have you? I can’t very well say I am if you continue to defy me. You get that from your mother.” He wagged his finger at me, eyebrows raised, as if he were telling me off for kicking a ball inside the house.
“Don’t you see? It all started with her. Joyce made me what I am—made it possible for me to do what I do. She gave me the greatest gift, my ability. Then the bitch ran off on me!”
Vivid Avowed (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 3) Page 36
