Chapter 53 #2
“Show me where he is,” Avery begged. “Show me. I know I wasn’t there– I’m sorry. I didn’t know…I would have come for you. Both of you. He never let me see…Le–”
“You caused the massacre,” I said in a strangled whisper. “You caused our pain and suffering. How dare you speak to me…like you can save us?”
Avery shook his head frantically. “No. No, it wasn’t…there wasn’t supposed to be a massacre that day. I was only there for my Ward. I didn’t know the two of you were there–”
“You ordered the deaths of dozens of people!” I cried, becoming increasingly agitated by the ramming against my mind.
He wasn’t waiting for an answer from me, he was going to take it whether or not I wanted to give it.
As usual, someone was underestimating me, only he had no idea what he was messing with. He couldn’t even sense that he wasn’t getting through to me.
“I didn’t,” he said desperately. “It wasn’t supposed to happen that way. She just–” He cut off abruptly, shaking his head. “I would have come for you. Please tell me his name. At least tell me his name. I can find him and explain–”
“He hates you,” I whispered. “He would never speak to you.”
Avery looked almost devastated for a moment, then he rammed against my mind again, and this time, I responded, pushing back so hard he visibly flinched.
When he recovered, his eyes turned wild. He shook his head, narrowing his gaze slightly as he looked me over, seeing me in a new light.
“You’re a Telepath,” he said slowly, then nodded. “That figures. Ben always–”
He was cut off as a heavy door creaked, revealing Alexander.
I took two steps back, closer to where Aiden lay behind me. Nothing would happen to him on my watch, but I didn’t know either of their affinities. If Avery was truly a Telekinetic like Landon had believed, then I wasn’t sure I’d be able to fight him.
“Avery, there you are,” Alexander sounded relieved. “There’s a situation–” He stopped as he saw me, then grinned. My stomach began to churn as I took another step back, my calves brushing against Aiden’s unconscious form. “I see you’ve found each other. So what do you think?”
“What do I think?” Avery said quietly. His tone was different now, something lethal laced beneath his words. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
This…was a very dangerous man.
The danger was palpable, the air growing thicker by the second as his mood shifted. I kept my breathing steady as I checked Aiden behind me. He was still fine. Still asleep.
My mind raced, trying to come up with ideas for how to get us out of here without being able to teleport. The best I could do was teleport us all over the room to evade the other two men. I didn’t want to kill them unless I had to.
“I’ve brought you the phantom,” Alexander said, tilting his head slightly. “That’s what we’ve been working toward, is it not?”
“The phantom–” Avery froze, turning to face me slowly, almost robotically.
I gulped.
His piercing gaze looked me over with new interest, finally resting on my eyes.
“How do you know?” he asked, without taking his eyes off of me.
“Holmes,” Alexander replied. “She found the signature after the attack and then confirmed it while they were off galavanting in Alaska.”
I turned a fierce glare on Rafe’s father.
“We were helping people,” I whispered. “Your people.” I turned back to Avery, whose expression had gone carefully blank.
“I didn’t hurt them,” he said, his tone flat.
“No,” I said slowly. “But you know who did. You enable them. You don’t have control over your toys like you think.”
Avery’s eyes flashed, his armor cracking just enough that I could see some of the man underneath. He was concerned about me, and my opinion of him. He didn’t want me viewing him negatively, and he didn’t want to be the outlet for my ire. He was afraid of me, but not because of my affinities.
He turned to Alexander. “She’s right.”
Alexander looked shocked, then blinked a few times. He adjusted his tie a bit nervously before speaking. “About?”
“I don’t have control over my people. It’s obvious.
” Avery clasped his hands behind his back and began to circle Alexander, and holy shit.
He looked like a shark circling a turtle, and I needed to get us out of here, fast. Aiden was closer to consciousness now, and I cursed myself for not having practiced waking people.
I’d only ever focused on knocking them out.
“How long have you known of her relation to me?” Avery asked quietly.
“Her…what?” Alexander, to his credit, didn’t know what the fuck was going on. I’d always thought Rafe was exaggerating just a bit when he called his father an idiot. “She’s the phantom. The one you’ve been searching for?”
I could see my hair beginning to float in my peripheral vision, and I took another shaky breath. My affinity was reacting to my fear, and there was no way for me to hide it.
Clenching my fist, I took hold of Aiden using my affinity, pulling him as gently and slowly as possible as I looked for a way out of here. I was pretty sure we were in the lower level of the East wing, but that would mean the dungeons were close, and with the fire…
“She’s mine,” Avery said, stopping me in my tracks, stopping my very breath. “When did you know?”
The implication was clear, but I was still missing some details. Sure, we’d joked Alexander had some type of crush on me, but this wasn’t funny at all. Rafe would’ve exploded.
Rafe.
Stay away. Not safe.
My heart pounded, my legs going shaky again.
“Does Richard know?” Avery asked, his voice still quiet.
Alexander finally realized how much danger he was in. “No, no I had no idea. We had no idea, I swear, Avery, listen to me–”
“Haven’t I done enough for you?” Avery said.
He began to pace again, not seeming to notice that I was slowly inching away from whatever the fuck this was with Aiden in tow.
“I gave you your affinity back after your Key stole it from you. I promised you North America. I gave you the position at the WAA. And it wasn’t enough?
You wanted my daughter as well? I never would have promised her to you if I’d known. ”
“I– I had no idea. None. She doesn’t even resemble you. I didn’t know–” Alexander stuttered.
“She doesn’t resemble me?” Avery’s voice cracked through the air, his anger turning into something closer to fury. Then he shouted, “Look at her!”
I flinched from his shout, and both men finally looked at me. If Avery had noticed I’d moved about five feet in the last few minutes, he didn’t show it. Instead, he looked at me with more concern, wondering why I was flinching, no doubt. I was almost pissed enough to tell him.
“Avery, Richard doesn’t know.” Alexander turned back to the Crusader after giving me a long look. “Please. Don’t punish him, too.”
Holy shit. I pulled Aiden further, closer to the door.
“You’ve been a good friend, Alex, so I’ll let you decide. Would you like me to deal with you, or my Ward?”
Alex was trembling, he looked right at me, saw how I was slowly making my way toward the door. My eyes locked with his, pleading for him to let me get out of here. I had no reason to believe he actually cared about his son, but it was worth a shot.
Rafe needs me, I said to him. Rafe is in the dungeons right now, and there’s a fire. He’s trapped.
Alex’s eyes flared, and then he clenched his jaw.
“There’s a fire in the dungeon?” Alex whispered harshly, training his dark gaze on the Crusader.
Avery shrugged.
“My son is down there!” Alex shouted, making me flinch.
Avery very slowly shrugged again.
“You…” Alex’s face turned bright red. “Your Ward is a spoiled brat,” he spat. “And your Tempest is a disaster. You’ll never control her. She’ll only lead you to your deaths.”
I didn’t understand any of that, except that Avery apparently liked nicknaming people. I pulled Aiden further as Avery scoffed.
“How dare you–”
“No,” Alex cried. “No. I’m done. You’ve taken everything from me. My Key, my son, my reputation. I have nothing left!”
Rafe, I don’t know where I am, I called out to him.
Only terror came back to me. I cringed.
Wyatt, I tried.
Skye, stay away. I’m getting us out.
I don’t know where I am. Crusader is here. He knows who I am.
Wyatt didn’t reply, and as I reached the door, Alex and Avery began shouting at one another. I pulled the door with my affinity, then pulled Aiden through.
I flicked my wrist, bending the ornate metal doorknobs until they twisted together, effectively locking the door.
I pulled Aiden along as I scrambled down the hall, still not knowing where the fuck I was.
I could probably get us back to the ballroom, but I still needed to find a way down to Rafe and Wyatt.
I was in a fucking snake pit. I didn’t know who to trust.
I rounded a corner I recognized, where Aiden had smashed the electrical box that locked the doors. I swung around another corner, and–
There was no way.
No fucking way at all.
What the fuck was River fucking Mac doing here? And he was dressed for the gala? I ignored his sharp appearance, shaking my head in disbelief.
“Skye,” he breathed, then shook his head frantically. “No. No. What are you doing here?!”
“I don’t have time for this,” I snapped. “My other two Links are burning in the fucking dungeon right now.”
“They…no. Fuck. Your Links? The Prince and–”
River reached out, and although it wasn’t threatening, my affinity jolted. His hand barely touched my arm as I whipped around, then squeezed my hand into a fist to hold him still.
River froze like a statue, his eyes widening as he realized what I’d done.
“Holy fuck,” he breathed. “You’re the fucking phantom.”
“Don’t make me kill you,” I said shakily. “Just go, River. I have to save my Links.”
“Skye,” River said, his blue eyes wide. “I…wait. I can help.”
“I don’t trust you,” I said, using my affinity to lift Aiden again. “Stay away from me. I’m serious. I don’t want to kill you.”
“Skye, I can help you. I know this building.”
I shook my head, keeping my hold on him while I stalked down the hall with Aiden.
“Skye,” River raised his voice slightly. “If he catches you, he’ll kill you. He’s going to steal your affinity, and it’ll kill you.”
I stopped, the weight of Aiden almost too much for my weak knees.
“Why are you trying to help me?” I demanded.
“Just look into my mind, Skye. I’ll show you the map of the Palace he made.”
We stared at each other, and I shook my head in agitation. We were wasting valuable fucking time while Rafe and Wyatt were burning below us.
I had no reason to trust him. He was a dick to me at every turn, he’d punched the wall next to my head, and now he was here at this gala that had clearly been a trap. But I’d never met a Telepath that could hurt me.
“Will…will it hurt?” River asked at the same moment I pushed into his mind.
“Show me,” I snapped.
River clenched his jaw, but showed me an extremely detailed map of the Palace.
It was hand drawn inside a notebook, with eraser marks and pencil smudges littering the margins.
He showed me a mental image of the dungeons next, with red X’s marking something important, then other markings showing tunnel openings.
“Did you look yet?” River asked.
I didn’t answer.
I teleported.