Twice as Hot

by Gena Showalter

Chapter Twenty

 

  A few of the brotherswill be around the hotel, on the lookout.

  A few of the brothers will be inside, watching, waiting.

  Rome will not be in the room with you. They will have hidden him somewhere else.

  Over and over Jean-Luc's warnings drifted through my mind as I strode through the Holland Hotel lobby. At reception, I asked for Matthew Brooks's room number - 618.

  The wristwatch Jean-Luc had given me showed it was 8:53. I was riding the elevator up to the sixth floor and though I was alone, it felt like a thousand pairs of eyes were watching my every move, a thousand arms ready to reach out and grab me.

  Jean-Luc knew what was going down because he'd found one of the brothers, peeked into his mind and then stolen the memory of their meeting. At first, The Multiplier had simply planned to bag me when I reached the room, a room he'd rented just for me, then use me to lure Rome into a trap. But Rome, with his ear always to the ground, learned of their intent first and tried to stop them. Alone. He hadn't trusted anyone else in the area, I guess, and hadn't wanted to wait for those he did trust to get here.

  Somehow, the brothers had gotten the better of him.

  Now they only needed me to complete their plan.

  "Why didn't they just grab me at the club?" I'd asked Jean-Luc.

  "Because they would have had to fight both you and Rome, and fighting isn't their strong suit. From what you've told me about the club, I can assume they wanted to get you drunk, abscond with you while you weren't operating at full capacity and force Rome to come to them. But even though they failed with you, Rome fell right into their hands. "

  My palms were sweating, but thankfully, they weren't icing. Yet. I tried to concentrate only on Jean-Luc's words, not my emotions. Success depended on me.

  First, I was going to find out where they'd hidden Rome. The brother Jean-Luc invaded hadn't possessed that information. Then I was going to ice those stupid brothers and send them to John, who would most likely make sure they spent the rest of their lives rotting in Chateau Villain.

  Can you trust Jean-Luc to help as he promised?

  Jean-Luc hadn't wanted to help me save Rome. That, he'd made abundantly clear when he'd crossed his arms over his chest, lain down on the bed and refused to leave the motel room.

  "Anything but that," he'd said.

  So I'd had to use the worst trick ever: "If you truly want a chance with me, you'll do this. " I told myself an agent did what was necessary to get the job done, but I still felt guilty about lying to him. He had no chance with me.

  His cheeks had colored bright red, but he'd stood, nodded stiffly and said something Rome liked to say:

  "Let's do this. " We'd spent the rest of the day figuring out the best way to handle this situation. Which, as it turned out, was tossing me into the heart of a battle. Alone.

  Unfortunately, Jean-Luc could not get close to the Holland Hotel to actually help me.

  He'd tried, and had nearly collapsed from pain. Apparently The Multiplier was using some type of device that emitted a high frequency that only dogs and people with mind-powers could hear. A frequency that caused their brains to throb unbearably. Just in case. They might not realize he'd swiped one of the brothers' memory, but knowing Jean-Luc as they did, they knew he'd be p. o. 'd and out for revenge when he "discovered" how they'd double-crossed him.

  Poor Jean-Luc. Betrayed by one of his only friends. For money.

  So here I was, on my own. As I'd feared. "One day" had come quicker than I'd anticipated. I only prayed I was ready.

  The elevator stopped, dinged, drawing my attention. The doors opened wide. I drew in a deep breath -

  calm, stay calm, this has to be believable - and sailed into the hallway. Six-eighteen was to the left, so I squared my shoulders and followed the proper path.

  When I found myself standing in front of the door, my mouth dried. But I didn't hesitate. I raised my fist, ready to knock. In the end, I didn't have to. The door swung open on its own to reveal one of the brothers. Only one. I knew, however, that the others were close by.

  He smiled at me, guilt deep in his dark eyes, and waved me in. He was not the one with freckles. "I didn't think you'd come. "

  "Well, you have information I need. Right?" I strode past him, very aware I was walking into a trap and that giving him my back was foolish. But I didn't want him to know I knew what was going on.

  In the center of the room, I took a swift inventory of my surroundings. Small, as dingy as the room Rome and I had rented, with one king-size bed, a mini-fridge, a recliner and a lamp that towered over it.

  "Why don't you - "

  Before I finished my sentence, a pair of hands grabbed each of my forearms. They were hot and moist.

  Another of the brothers had appeared.

  I released a "surprised" gasp as I switched my attention between them. "What's going on? What are you doing? Let me go. " Convincing? Not really. I'd have to step it up a notch.

  "I'm sorry about this," the first said, and he sounded like he meant it.

  Not as sorry as you're going to be.

  "We've got her. " In a snap, all eleven brothers were crammed inside the room. Good. I wouldn't have to chase any down. I heard the door shut, the lock turn.

  A few of the brothers moved in front of me. They, too, looked remorseful.

  "Why are you doing this?" I asked through gritted teeth, though I already knew the answer.

  Two gazed down at his feet. "Money. We've got a lot of mouths to feed, and Desert Gall is paying one million dollars for your capture. "

  One mil? Wow. Who knew I was worth that much? Then again, as the head of a company like Big Rocky, Candace Bright must have billions at her disposal. Maybe I should be insulted the bounty on my head wasn't higher.

  "We never thought we'd be the ones to succeed," one of them said. "You're always protected, always surrounded, and everyone who's gone after you has failed. But your friend Cody was able to lure you here, and then an old friend of ours called and told us where and when you'd be hitting town. We simply followed you. It was easier than we'd ever dreamed. "

  "You really think you'll be paid once you turn me over?"

  All eleven nodded.

  "Of course," Eight said. "Desert Gall would be known as a reneger if she didn't. " And pride was everything to Desert Gal. Jean-Luc hadn't lied about that. "Why does she want me?" I tried to pull from their clasp but they held tight. "Why not just kill me?" Maybe she'd told them why her mystery dad liked me so much.

  "Who knows? Desert Gal's not exactly the type who likes to answer questions. "

  "Maybe she wants to recruit you to her team. "

  Wasn't that always the case?

  "Now, enough talking. Someone tie her down. "

  Time for me to do my thing. I prayed, again, that it worked. "Do you have my friend, too? The one who took me to the club?" Apparently, only the leader had hidden him, so only the leader knew where he was. A precaution they'd taken, and had needed, though they didn't know it yet. They would.

  "No need for you to worry about that. Someone get a gag, too. "

  "Just knock her out. "

  "Desert Gall won't want to wait to talk to her. "

  I allowed fearful thoughts to play through my mind. Fearful thoughts that brought a sense of desperation with them, as well as love.

  Rome - tortured. There was the fear. Lexis and Sherridan - killed if I couldn't reach them. There was the desperation. All of us together - at my wedding. There was the love.

  I was summoning the wind. Seemed like the wrong power to use right now, but I had a plan.

  As they attempted to knot my wrists together, a breeze kicked up in the room, scattering the papers that had been sitting on the bed. I made a mental note to go through those later. To increase the velocity of the wind, I flashed a few pictures through my mind. Rome - bleeding, near death. Lexis and Sherridan - buried in a grave. Me - in the weddin
g dress of my dreams.

  Usually I hated summoning the wind, hated how many emotions were needed. Today, I didn't mind. As the breeze gusted left. . . right. . . I moved my head in little circles. The air followed my motions, swirling.

  The bed rattled. The papers continued to dance. Clothes ripped from hangers.

  "What the hell?" I heard.

  "Did someone open the window?"

  As the wind blustered harder, I didn't stop directing it, careful to keep it away from me. The rope dangled from one wrist; they'd never quite managed to get to the other. Some of the men cried out; some screamed. And as it raged, now pulling my enemy in different directions, sometimes slamming them into the walls, each other, and preventing them from disappearing, I allowed my fear to eclipse every other emotion.

  Rome, killed if this didn't work.

  Sherridan, killed if this didn't work.

  Sunny, orphaned and alone because her parents would be killed if this didn't work.

  Me, alone. Trying to go on without them but not wanting to.

  Ice created a thin luster over my body, the wind whipping it off me and spraying it in every direction.

  Whatever it hit, it completely surrounded. One at a time, the men were frozen in place. On the bed, against the wall, on the floor. With Matt Damon.

  Focus, Jamison. Where was I? Oh, yeah. In the middle of icing my enemies. Seeing them like that caused satisfaction to fill me. Prematurely. Because, with the satisfaction, the wind died and the ice stopped.

  One man was still at normal temperature, able to move.

  He pushed to shaky legs, wagging his head to regain his bearings. "That hurt!" he growled.

  "You think so? Well, just wait until I show you my next trick. " I reached into my back pocket and withdrew my Taser. I had the clamps in his nipples, volts of electricity zinging through his body, before he could take a single step in my direction. He trembled until his knees collapsed. I did not remove pressure from the trigger until he hit the floor face-first.

  I knew that wouldn't immobilize him for long, though, so I strode to him, flashing more of those terrible, fearful thoughts in my mind.

  By the time I reached him, I had an ice ball in my palm. "Enjoy," I said. I threw it down at him and he was instantly encased in a thick layer of arctic fury. Sometimes I suspected the four elements I produced were alive. I think they sensed body heat or even the shape of people, objects, which was how they knew exactly how much of a mass to cover.

  There. It was done.

  Sighing, forcing my mind to blank and my emotions to numb, I gazed around the room. The men were scattered about, all frozen in different positions. This did not give me the satisfaction it had just a bit ago. I was actually a little. . . sad that it had come to this. I'd liked these men at one point. Had even compared them to my precious Tanner.

  "It didn't have to be this way," I muttered.

  I continued my search until I found the stash of computer software under the bed. Bingo. I pulled out the laptop and shut it down, hoping that would be enough to stop the. . . whatever it was from buzzing Jean-Luc's brain. There was also a tiny black box with multicolored buttons. Tense, expecting a boom, I pushed power on that, too, and it switched off.

  Thankfully, I did not blow up.

  I withdrew my cell and phoned Jean-Luc. Only took a single press of a button as he was now in my Fave Five. (He'd made sure of it. ) He answered on the second ring.

  "All clear," I said, removing the rope still dangling from my wrist and tossing it to the floor. "Room 618. "

  "I'll be there in ten. "

  We hung up.

  I phoned John next and let him know I had some scrims ready for pickup.

  "Nice work. I'll have someone there within the hour. "

  "Great. Thanks. " I hung up before he could ask me about Rome.

  All right. I had about thirty minutes, then, because I didn't want Jean-Luc around any other agents. They would not be as forgiving as I was. Not that I'd totally forgiven him. Of course, I could lie about his identity, but I'd eventually be found out and that could land me in prison. No, thank you. I had work to do. People to save.

  To that end, I needed to find the leader. The one with the freckles. Matthew. I stuffed the cell back into my pocket, strode into the bathroom and grabbed one of the glasses resting on the counter and a rag. I filled the glass with hot water and moved back into the room, pouring it over the frozen faces, melting some of the ice, until I spotted that speckled half-moon. My luck was holding, because they belonged to the brother on the bed. Made things easier.

  "Let's get this interrogation started," I muttered, pouring more hot water over his face and wiping frost away with the rag.

  Eight glasses were required to finally melt that last layer around his eyes and jaw. By then, I was straddling his chest and sweating, but my victim was awake.

  "Wh-what happened?" His teeth began chattering.

  "I happened," I said. "Now, no more questions from you. You kidnapped Rome Masters, and you're going to tell me where he is or you're going to die. "

  "I'm n-not telli-ing you anything-g. "

  "I don't have a lot of time," I said, "and the longer it takes you to answer, the angrier I'm gonna get. I don't know if Desert Gall told you, but I have power over the four elements. That includes fire. When I get mad, things start to burn. So you can remain cold in your ice shell or you can feel the skin melt from your bones. Up to you. "

  He pressed his lips together, but there was fear in his eyes.

  At that moment, Jean-Luc soared inside the room as if he owned it. Who would have thought I'd be so happy to have him with me? Just like yesterday, using my powers had drained me. And with my adrenaline rush crashing, I knew I didn't have much longer.

  "Thank God," I said. He didn't double over, so I knew I'd successfully switched off whatever had been hurting him.

  My victim's face was mostly blue but laced with hints of red. When he spied Jean-Luc, he flinched.

  "I'm s-sorry, man," he said. "H-hated to use you, b-but. . . "

  "But you're greedy. Give me five minutes," Jean-Luc told me, his attention riveted on the bed. "I'll have all the information we need. "

  Those dark eyes darted from me to Jean-Luc, Jean-Luc to me.

  "Jean-Luc, ma-man, you know I - "

  "Save it. I asked for your help and what did you do?" The betrayal in his voice, the hurt, had my chest aching. "At one time, I would have taken a bullet for you. Now I'm on her side, and what she wants, she gets. No matter what I have to do to obtain it for her. " He reached out. When his fingertips brushed The Multiplier's face, he disappeared as if he'd never been. Only his scent remained behind.

  I watched, wide-eyed, knowing that must have been what had happened to Rome.

  A few minutes later, Jean-Luc reappeared in the exact spot he'd left, looking as if he'd just read a newspaper.

  "I didn't take anything," he told me as if reading my mind. "I just peeked at the last few days. Rome is in the room next door. They drugged him with his own sedative. " Uh, what? "Say that again. "

  "Next door. " Unhappy, he motioned with his chin. "I swear. Drugged but alive. " Too easy,my brain screamed.

  He read my thoughts on my face. "You'd think it was a trap, but no. Matthew was rushed, scared of being caught by PSI and unsure of what to do. He decided to keep him close. " Jean-Luc stared over at the connecting door through narrowed eyes.

  "For my peace of mind, keep a gun on him," I told Jean-Luc. I jumped to my feet, my knees almost collapsing, and approached the connecting door. I half expected it to be locked, but the knob turned easily. Shaking, I palmed one of the knives I'd brought.

  Nervous as I was, it iced a little.

  Gulping, I pushed open the door. Hinges squeaked. I entered the darkened room, stepping only inches inside before pausing and listening. My ears twitched at the sound of deep, even breathing.

  I kept the knife raised as I felt t
he wall. Finally I encountered a light switch and flipped it on. And then Rome came into view. Though my knees threatened to give out again, I managed to lumber to the side of the bed and drop down beside him with a whimper.

  His wrists and ankles were bound, as they'd planned to bind mine, so I hurriedly cut the ropes away. He slept through it all. Still, I dropped the knife, my eyes closing as relief washed through me. A tear even slid down my cheek. He was alive. He was alive!

  "Thank God," I breathed.

  "You still love him," Jean-Luc suddenly said from behind me. Not a question, but a sad statement.

  Gradually my eyes opened, but I didn't look up. My gaze locked on Rome, on his chest lifting, drawing air into his lungs. "Yes. " I couldn't deny it, didn't want to deny it. I'd almost lost him.

  "Why? He's okay-looking, but he's arrogant and demanding. You deserve someone who will worship you. "

  In sleep, Rome's features were relaxed, his lips soft. Kissable. Earlier, I'd thought about the fact that we had nothing in common but sex. I'd thought our relationship in serious jeopardy. But now, having almost lost him, I couldn't make those things matter. For whatever reason, we just fit.

  If nothing else, the battle with The Multiplier had made me realize how desperately I wanted Rome in my life. I didn't care that Lexis had had a vision of me marrying someone else. I didn't care that I might not be the love of his life. He was mine. I would fight to make things work.

  "Rome excites me, challenges me. And he might be demanding and arrogant, but he's also protective and loving. "

  "I can be protective and loving. "

  "But my heart will always belong to this man. " I traced a fingertip along his jawline, the stubble tickling my skin, and glanced at Jean-Luc. "There's someone out there for you. I know it. You just have to find her. "

  He didn't reply. I looked away, too afraid to watch his expression change from sadness and hope to determination and anger.

  "All my life," he finally said, "I've wanted the kind of love my fathers had for each other. I was looking for it, too, before I was captured several years ago. Do you have any idea how hard it is to fall in love with a woman when I can find out every damn thing about her? When I know exactly what she wants to hide from me?"

  "Here's a solution. Don't invade their minds. Leave their memories alone. Boom. Done. I'm a miracle-worker. "

  "And let them betray me? Hardly. That's how I was captured. I trusted a girl, told her what I could do.

  She called me crazy, so I proved my ability to her. In return, she told others and they told others and that's when OASS came after me. For my own protection, I have to know the people I'm dealing with, so I have to invade their minds. But with you, I already know and love everything. "

  "I'm sorry for your past. I am. " So very sorry. "But. . . Jean-Luc. . . you can't - "

  "Memories of you made me laugh and ache and dream again. I had to have them. I can't give them up, Belle. And after everything I endured in captivity, I deserve them. " Do not stomp your foot, do not stomp your foot. "But they don't belong to you. "

  "They do!"

  "No, they don't. You didn't live them. He did. And just as your will was ignored when you were caged, you have ignored his. You have ignored mine. " I forced my balled fists to open and ran them over Rome's face, gentle, tender. He moaned. The sound jolted through me, bringing a wave of excitement, and I straightened.

  Jean-Luc was forgotten as I leaned down and kissed Rome's lips. "Wake up, baby. Wake up for me. " He gave another moan.

  "Belle's here. Show me those beautiful baby blues. "

  Slowly his eyelashes fluttered open. His lips curled into a frown. "Belle?" This was the third time in our relationship that I'd had to watch him wake up after a life-and-death experience. It hadn't gotten any easier, but neither had my joy lessened upon realizing he was going to be okay. "Right here. "

  "Where are we?" He scrubbed a hand down his face, then stiffened. "Shit. They got me like I was a damned rookie, tackling me, injecting me with my own night-night cocktail when I tried to use it. They get you, too? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" The more he spoke, the faster and angrier the words emerged.

  "I'm fine. I swear. " I showed him my wrists, free of rope. "Just here doing a little rescue and recovery. " A moment passed in silence, his body going stiff. Then, "You saved me?"

  "Yep. " I couldn't help it. I grinned. "The bad guys are deactivated. Or, to use your favorite word, neutralized. Looks like Wonder Girl saved the day, huh?"

  "How?"

  "Is that important?" I wasn't ready to tell him I'd had help. "We won. " His head fell back against the pillow. "Shit, this is embarrassing. And what do you mean, we?" His gaze moved through the room until landing on Jean-Luc, who was glaring at him, murder in his dark eyes.

  Oops.

  Rome jolted upright.

  "He's a good guy," I said, flattening my palms on his chest. For the most part. "And he's a damn good wing man. " No question.

  "Exactly who is 'he'?"

  I purposely didn't answer. A fight would break out, and we didn't have time for that. But what shitty timing. This was the first time the two men had been together since the "incident," and we couldn't go knock-down-drag-out until everything was made right.

  "I don't know why you're embarrassed about being captured. You've had to save me a thousand times. "

  His eyes never left my "helper. " "Yeah, but you're the girl. I'm the guy. "

  "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. "

  "Why? It's true. " He reached up and caressed my cheek. I leaned into the touch, eyelids closing. "I'm glad that you're a girl. "

  "You guys might want to continue the reunion later," Jean-Luc suddenly piped up. He sounded pissed as hell. "Agents will be showing up any moment, and I can't be here when they arrive. " The two men shared a look as Rome pushed to his feet. He swayed but managed to remain upright without any help. What kind of silent communication passed between them, I didn't know.

  Then, in unison, they said, "Let's do this. "

  They shared another look, this one surprised, before we all jolted into motion.