Twice as Hot

by Gena Showalter

Chapter Twenty-Four

 

  We placed themin separate rooms, across the hall from each other, both tied to their beds, and I divided my time between them, checking on them, waiting. Their vitals were good, so I wasn't worried. I was just impatient. Again. My entire life now seemed to revolve around Rome waking up.

  Finally, about an hour later, Rome regained consciousness.

  "Belle!" His roar nearly shook the entire building. "Belle!" Currently I was in the hall, between the two rooms. Hearing him (who hadn't?), I rushed forward, my heart drumming erratically. My gaze landed on him the moment I hit the doorway. His eyes were bright, wild, his lips pulled back from his sharp, gleaming teeth. He was struggling against his bonds, about to rip free. All the while he shouted my name.

  But when he spotted me, he stilled. "Belle," he said, and it was as though his beast was speaking for him, all guttural and tormented, no longer in a frenzy but ready to pounce. "Set me free. Now. " Slowly I approached the bed. I was trembling. Did he remember me? Did he love me again? Took me several tries, a spring of blasted tears screwing with my vision, but I finally loosened the bonds. He jerked me into his arms a second later, crushing me against him.

  "Oh, God, baby. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for what I've put you through. Can you ever forgive me? I love you. I love you so much, I would die without you. I can't believe I treated you that way. Oh, God, baby. I'm sorry. "

  He did. He remembered. My tears spilled free as I hugged him back with every ounce of strength I possessed. "I can't believe you're back. You're really back. "

  "And I'm not going anywhere ever again. " He scattered little kisses all over my face, my neck, then he rolled me over and pinned me to the mattress. He peered down at me, his expression fierce. "Tell me you forgive me. Or if you can't, tell me you'll give me a chance to make it up to you. I'll do anything. You want flowers, candy, lingerie? They're yours. I hate myself for what I did to you. I love you more than anything in this damn world and to know that I hurt you like that. . . " My chin was trembling, so it was hard to work my next words out of my mouth. "You already bought me lingerie. Though you later decided I'd be better off going commando. But anyway, all I want, all I've ever wanted, is your heart. " You're supposed to make him work for forgiveness, remember?

  "Oh, baby, you have it. " He kissed me, hard and deep. "I love you so much. " Another kiss. "I'm sorrier than I can ever express for what I put you through. " Another kiss. "You deserve better than me, but I can't let you go. " Another kiss. "I love you so damn much. " I tangled my hands in his hair, smiling, giddy, still tearing like a silly watering pot. I'd wanted this moment so badly and for so long. And now, here it was. Now, Rome was mine. We were together, in each other's arms.

  "Now you won't have to go on those dates with that man. " He sneered the last, even as he gently wiped my tears away with the pad of his thumb. "Don't cry, baby. Please don't cry. " Some of my giddiness popped like a balloon, and my grin faded. "I won't go back on my word. I'm going to date him, as promised. "

  Our gazes locked, and his was like fire. "Belle. "

  "Rome. " Not even his sexiness could budge me on this. "It's going to happen, so get used to the idea. " He moved his jaw left and right, his eyes narrowing. "I'm willing to beg. " I weakened. Rome begging? So appealing. But. . . "That wouldn't change my mind. Not only will I date him, but I'll also welcome him to our team. He knows Desert Skank better than any of us. " Rome was so silent, so still, for a long while it was as if he was unconscious again. His heart kept a steady beat against my chest. His pupils thinned, revealing just how close his animal was to breaking free.

  "You're different," he finally said.

  My brow furrowed in confusion. "Wh-what do you mean?"

  "The old Belle would have told Memory Man to go fuck himself, that you'd lied to him and he'd gotten what he deserved for his actions in the first place. Now you're willing to date him. To hire him. A man who hurt us both. "

  He was right. A tremor moved through me, a new fear suddenly springing to life. I'd always assumed the success of our relationship hinged on the return of his memories. But when he'd lost them, I had changed.

  I was a different girl than I'd been a week ago. I was stronger, harder, more jaded. I was also a dedicated agent who knew loyal allies were few and far between and needed to be treated with care.

  Would Rome like who I'd become? He'd seemed to be falling for me again, but then, he'd been a different Rome.

  "Does this mean what I think it means?" a familiar voice suddenly asked.

  My gaze swung to the door.

  Tanner stood in the center, grinning. "The Viper - Cat Man nuptials are back on, I see. My bad for losing faith and canceling everything. While I'd love to stay and witness the rest of your reunion, you need to get up. We've got scrim ass to kick and two damsels in distress to save. " He hadn't called Lexis a bitch; that was an improvement. Probably proved how concerned he was - or how much he now liked Elaine.

  "We'll finish this conversation later," Rome said, his tone hard.

  I could only nod, my mouth dry.

  "Everyone know the plan?" Rome asked.

  We were packed inside a black Hummer - me, Rome, Tanner, Elaine, a fully recovered Jean-Luc and two male PSI agents I'd never met before. They were brothers (I wasn't sure how I felt about that, considering my last encounter with supernatural brothers), young, smooth-faced and a little arrogant.

  Apparently one, Christian, could create light, and the other, Hans, could create darkness. (Yes, their last name was Andersen, and yes, their parents were sadistic. ) John had thought their abilities might come in handy on our journey.

  Would have been nice if John had sent an agent who could swoop into a body and repair any damage. I could have used that kind of skill a few months back when Rome was shot. I could use that type of ability on my dad, actually. His ticker could be strengthened and I could stop worrying about it giving out every time he decided to buy - and take - a black-market Viagra. And who knew what kind of state we'd find Sherridan and Lexis in? I might need someone with healing powers then, too.

  I sighed. I seriously needed to cut some of the worry out of my life. I'd thought I had. With Rome's latest recovery, I should have been swinging from stars. Since his parting comment an hour ago, though, my nerves were once again raw.

  And what the hell was I going to do with the Shadow Boys? They were another worry I didn't need, as they'd probably just get in the way.

  Night had fallen - I couldn't stick to my own timetable, it seemed - providing dark all on its own, and the moon was high, cascading over the mountains and glistening off the snowcaps. The beauty of the land seemed out of place, considering we were headed to a war.

  "The plan," Rome growled.

  "Not to die," Tanner piped up helpfully.

  "Leave our personal bullshit in the car and do our jobs," Elaine added.

  "Obey your every command," Jean-Luc said, "even though you might be wrong and such arrogance could get us killed. "

  Hearing his voice, I flashed back to when I'd walked into his recovery room, his dark eyes peering over at me.

  "I still love you" had been the first words out of his mouth.

  "I'm not going back on my word," I'd told him, exactly as I'd told Rome. "Soon as we rid the world of Desert Roach, we'll go on those dates. "

  "I hope you're ready to be romanced. "

  I had offered him a smile, but I'm sure it hadn't reached my eyes.

  "You're begging to die," Rome told him now.

  "Which is counter to the plan," Tanner said.

  I rubbed my temples to ward off the oncoming ache. I sat beside Rome, who was driving the car. Our relationship might be a jumbled mess right now, but I reached over and squeezed his hand. If I needed the contact, and I did, he must, too. His fingers twined with mine, holding me captive.

  "Listen up, kiddies," I said. "You all know what to do. So do it whether you like each other or not.
/>
  Let's bring our girls home. Alive, as the plan states. "

  We parked about a mile from the compound where our girls were being held - which meant we were about a mile from the middle of nowhere, mountains all around us - and hiked to the electric fence that surrounded it. From the photos Cody had sent, we knew it was two stories, one of them underground.

  We knew it was heavily guarded by men with guns, and we knew there were planes ready to whisk Desert Hussy away if danger was suspected. So we had to get inside silently.

  Once, I'd gotten Rome and Tanner (and myself) over an electric fence by forming wind under our feet, lifting us higher and higher before lowering us (not so gently) to the ground. This time, I couldn't do that.

  With as many cameras as there were monitoring the area and the guards pacing back and forth across the parapet on top of the compound, that would place us directly in the line of fire.

  Plus, there were twenty-foot-tall lamps strategically placed to chase away night's gloom. Suddenly I was glad for the Shadow Brothers. On our trek, Hans kept us wrapped in an umbrella of dark the entire way, no matter if someone tried to flash a light at us. It was eerie, though, because I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. Christian could have lit up our little circle, he'd explained, and no one would have been able to see inside, but combating his brother's all-encompassing darkness would completely wipe him out.

  Hans, who could see through that dark as well as create it, had had to guide us. "Left turn in five steps," he would say. "Straight, ten steps. "

  "Belle, Elaine, you ready?" Rome whispered.

  I would have looked at her nervously but I couldn't see her. We didn't want to disable the fence; that would have alerted our targets to our presence. So we had to get through it with the electricity still pumping and without killing ourselves.

  I heard a whoosh of material and suspected Elaine was removing her gloves, maybe stuffing them in her pockets.

  "Be careful. " Tanner's voice, serious and grim, echoed through our circle.

  "I will. " She must have reached out and wrapped her fingers around the links because suddenly I could hear the chains rattling ever so slightly. Then I heard a little gasp escape her. The rattling increased. She was drawing the energy into herself, away from the fence.

  Someone - Tanner? - shifted from one foot to the other, clearly agitated.

  I fumbled around until I ran into him, squeezed his hand to offer comfort, and withdrew the wire cutters Rome had given me before we'd left the airstrip. I was shaking, but moved quickly, not wanting Elaine to have to touch the fence any longer than necessary.

  You control fire. You can summon storms. Electricity was nothing. Please let it be nothing. The moment the metal came into contact with the fence, I felt the volts enter me, going straight to my core and searing.

  I cut back a yelp.

  Elaine must have increased her rate of absorption because I could feel the jolts leaving me and flowing back into the fence, which then must have slid back into her, because once more the rattling increased.

  Just like that, I calmed. Had she not dulled the sensation, I think I would have dropped, wiped out for the rest of the night. As it was, I was sweating, burning up really, my muscles spasming as little shots of pain flickered through my veins.

  With Hans guiding my movements, I cut a circle big enough that even Rome, massive as he was, could crawl through. When I finished, I fell away from the fence. "Now. " Elaine fell, as well, smashing into the ground. Both of us lay there, panting shallowly.

  "You good?" Tanner asked.

  "I'm - "

  "Not you," he told me.

  "Just need. . . a moment. . . " Elaine said.

  "Thanks for the concern," I muttered.

  "Belle, how are - " Rome and Jean-Luc began in unison. Both stopped abruptly.

  Then Rome was kneeling at my side. He could see in the dark better than anyone I knew. Well, except Hans. He reached out, cupped my chin, hissed and jerked away.

  "What?" I demanded, concerned.

  "You're electric. "

  "Elaine, too," Tanner said with his own hiss of pain. "I can feel it even through her clothes. " I turned in the direction of his voice. There, a few feet away from me, I could see little sparks rising from Elaine's body - pinpricks of gold, like lightning bugs flying around her. They were lovely. Probably deadly. And they were flying off me, too.

  "How are you feeling?" Rome asked me, drawing my attention back to him.

  Through the flickers, I could make out his concerned features. "I'm okay. But damn. Cody lives with this every day. I'm not sure how he's survived. "

  Jean-Luc knelt at my other side. He watched the byplay between Rome and me, anger in his eyes. "If you need anything, let me know. "

  "Let me know," Rome corrected tersely.

  Slowly I sat up, rubbed my temples as a wave of dizziness hit me. "Enough of that. I'm ready for action. "

  Rome shook his head. "The guards will see you coming. You and Elaine have to stay here until the charge wears off. "

  Oh, hell, no.

  Before I could utter a protest, though, he slapped a revolver in my hand. The metal vibrated with energy.

  "Shoot anyone who approaches you. "

  I sputtered, trying to stand. My muscles didn't cooperate, my knees buckling under my weight. "Without Hans hiding us in shadows, we're targets. "

  "Cody's taken care of the cameras. All that remains are the guards. If you lie down and be still, you'll look like rocks from a distance. Granted, rocks with fireflies hovering around, but rocks all the same.

  Trust me. You'll be fine. If I thought for one moment you were in danger, I wouldn't leave you here.

  Now, when we've taken out the guards on the parapet, we'll flag you and you can come running. " With barely a pause, he said, "Team, let's move out. "

  No one protested. Which surprised me. I expected Jean-Luc to fight to stay with me, and Tanner to fight to stay with Elaine. But clearly, they thought we were safer here and were eager to end this war.

  They climbed through the hole in the fence Elaine and I had provided for them, disappearing in Hans's shadows like dark phantoms.

  "Are you fucking kidding me?" I gasped out, rolling to my stomach to make myself more rocklike.

  Elaine did the same. "They're going to need us," she whispered fiercely. "I mean, the plan was for me to drain as many guards as I could to minimize the threat. Right now, they're outnumbered. They'll have to shoot, and that'll make noise, silencers or not. "

  Outnumbered didn't begin to describe it. Basically, Rome was on his own out there. Tanner was only just now learning to shoot (properly) and I had no idea if the Shadow Brothers, young as they were, had any combat skills. Jean-Luc didn't care if Rome lived or died. And while I trusted Rome to get the job done, I knew our team would fail without him. We had to have him alive and well. Uninjured.

  "We can't just stay here," I said, studying the terrain. Rocky, on a steep incline.

  "No, we can't. Tanner needs me. He's still not at full strength, though he won't admit it. " There was roughly one hundred feet between the fence and the parapet, then a staircase leading to the top. "We'll have to haul ass, and our bodies will probably hate us, but if we move just right, the guards might think we're lightning bugs. "

  "Well, with the lamps they'll be able to see us, not just the sparks. " Good point. "Shit. What are we going to do?" Rocks and twigs were digging into my belly. The ground was cold, hard and a mocking reminder that I was currently doing nothing to help my friends. Worse, the more time that passed, the less aid Elaine and I would be able to provide. Rome would have already inserted himself into the thick of battle.

  "Maybe we can throw rocks at the bulbs?" she suggested. "It'll dim the light. "

  "That might announce our presence. Unless. . . " An idea began playing through my head. "I'm going to make it storm. We'll be harder to spot if the guards have water in their eyes. Also, we
can break the bulb closest to us and maybe they'll think it was lightning, rather than an intruder. " She reached out, feeling for a big enough rock. "You take care of the rain, I'll take care of the bulb. "

  "Consider it done. " For once, I didn't lament about how to get the job done. I closed my eyes, picturing Rome and Tanner shot during this battle. Lexis and Sherridan broken beyond repair. Poor, sad, motherless Sunny crying on my shoulder. My chin began to tremble. My eyes began to fill with tears.

  A few drops of rain splattered on the top of my head and sizzled. Ouch. Was that what Cody felt when he touched water? I did my best to direct the rest of the droplets away from Elaine and me, even as I did everything in my power to intensify my sadness.

  Would Rome and I ever get back together? Truly together? Would he still want me after I went on those three dates with Jean-Luc? Not that anything would happen on those dates - unless Lexis was right.

  She isn't, can't be - but some men couldn't stand the thought of another man looking at their woman, and Rome was more jealous than most.

  A fine sprinkle started up, just ahead of us.

  Satisfaction wanted to fill me because the storm had begun, but I couldn't let it. That would cause the rain to stop. Rather, I needed it to intensify. Sad, sad, sad. Me, all alone. Rome, back with Lexis or even with some other girl. Me, never seeing him again. Never seeing his daughter again. Never being held by him, loved by him. Him, realizing he didn't want or need me anymore. Him, realizing he hated the girl I'd become.

  I kept those terrible thoughts playing through my mind, tormenting me. Tears ran down my cheeks in rivers, burning, even as the sky opened up and poured a deluge of rain onto the land. Hail even fell, slapping into the ground. I couldn't keep it away this time, there was simply too much, and damn, did it hurt.

  I shivered, soaked to the bone in seconds. "R-ready?" I asked Elaine.

  "Y-yes. " Her teeth were chattering, too, and lines of tension branched from her eyes.

  "Fight past the pain. Hell, maybe the rain will even help get rid of our sparks altogether. "

  "I hope so. "

  The boys hadn't given us the signal, which meant they were still engaged in battle. They needed us, whether they wanted to admit it or not. Gripping the gun - it didn't vibrate this time, and the pain inside me was easing, so what I'd told Elaine had been the truth - I rose. When Elaine did the same, almost collapsing beside me, I instinctively reached out and latched onto her, keeping her upright. Thank God she was covered by long sleeves. I would have dropped if I'd accidentally touched her skin.

  A moment passed before she gained her bearings. She tossed a rock at the lamp. Missed the bulb.

  Grunted, and tossed another rock. This time she hit her target. Glass shattered, and shadows closed around us.

  My eyes were able to adjust to this darkness, though, and I saw her pull her hood over her head, shielding every inch of her but her eyes. Well, and her hands. Those she kept free - easier to incapacitate the guards that way.

  "Get ready to hurt. " As the rain beat down on us, we ducked through the fence and sprinted our way up the hill to the parapet. My muscles screamed in protest, but at least no one shot at us.

  The closer we got, the more male grunting I could hear. Grunting and growling.

  Rome had morphed into a cat.

  We raced up the stairs, nearly barreled into Tanner, Christian and Hans, one of whom cracked me in the jaw before realizing who I was. I saw stars.

  "Sorry," Christian said.

  "That's going to leave a mark. " Silver lining: my wedding wasn't happening as planned and I wouldn't have to get married with a goose egg on my chin.

  Some silver lining, I thought, my sadness deepening and the rain increasing.

  When my vision cleared, I looked around, trying to decide the best way to help Rome. Jean-Luc and I could - But there was no sign of Jean-Luc.

  Tanner clasped Elaine's shirt, jerking her beside him. "Stay here. Rome doesn't know you and might accidentally attack you. "

  "Go and get the guards," I told her. "I'll take care of Rome so you don't accidentally touch him. " She bolted forward, wrenching free of Tanner, and raced for the guards. They were weaponless, their semiautomatics already scattered over the stones. But there was a swarm of them, too many for Rome to fight on his own. I raced forward, too, only I launched myself at Rome, landing on his back and sending his feline-self propelling to his stomach.

  His face immediately swung at me, those long, sharp teeth ready to clamp down for a tasty snack. At the first pierce, slight though it somehow was, he must have realized who I was because his mouth moved away from me without hurting me further. He flipped me over, pinning me with his weight.

  I wrapped my arms around him, embracing him tightly, holding him to me. He didn't know it, but I was helping him. Or maybe he did. He could have wiggled free, but didn't. To protect me with his own body?

  The rain continued to fall, though it tapered to a drizzle. My heart was pounding in my chest, a wild, uncontrollable thump. I searched the darkness, found Elaine standing in the middle of a rapidly diminishing crowd. The guards had launched themselves at her, but as she touched them, or as they hit her, they toppled to the ground, one by one, motionless.

  Soon, she was the only one left standing.

  Tanner rushed to her, but she backed away, yanking her gloves out of her pockets. Only when they were anchored in place did she allow herself to be pulled into his waiting arms.

  Rome growled low in his throat, and I stiffened. Uh-oh. That was an angry growl. Slowly I faced him.

  Our gazes locked, my hazel against his furious blue. He was still in cat form, his fur slick and black and savagely lovely. His teeth were bared at me.

  "You needed help," I said, chin raising. "I'm not sorry. I've changed, just like you said, and I'm a better agent for it. I need to be part of the action. I need to prove I can do this. " Boom!

  The parapet trembled wildly, and someone screamed. Then debris was raining down, rocks and twigs and planks and mortar. Puffs of black smoke plumed in the air, making me cough.

  "What happened?" I gasped out.

  Tanner blanched. "The building behind us just exploded. "