Chapter 43 #2
The sound shattered the control Nicolas had regained on Jade.
Until he returned his focus to Theo, and then Jade’s own mind came back to her, like he had trouble holding both of them at the same time.
But he could do it, more than she’d ever heard of a sorcerer to be capable.
All of this was coming straight from him. She was no match for his magic.
Jade turned on Nicolas and pressed the gun against his heart.
A fogginess settled on her mind. She could identify it now at least, but it was still a challenge to overcome.
Which meant she couldn’t let him live. As long as he was alive and close to her, she would never be free of his influence.
He could have her do unspeakable things, as he’d nearly done just now. She wasn’t safe near him.
“Are you really going to kill me, Jade?” The smoothness of his voice didn’t betray the grief in his eyes. Like he knew he’d lost her.
Jade worked past the guilt and pity building in her heart, though she couldn’t determine whether it came from his influence or if she genuinely regretted what she was doing. Nicolas hadn’t deserved the tragedies in his life, but neither did that excuse him from those he was responsible for.
“I don’t have a choice,” she answered, fighting to maintain control of her mind, sensing the weight of his magic on the edges of her consciousness.
The shadows of lamplight cast on the angles of Nicolas’s face made him appear even more menacing as his eyes narrowed and his mouth curled into a snarl. “So be it.”
In a flash, he grasped the gun pressed against him and twisted it, wrenching Jade’s arm up.
She cried in pain as he strained the muscles and tendons in her arm.
Her body turned along with her arm to relieve some of the strain, but she managed to maintain hold of her weapon.
Nicolas pushed her to the ground, and Jade rammed into a chair on the way down.
When she whipped her head back up to locate him, she found him at the lamp, the room’s only light source.
She lifted her gun, but before she lined up a clear shot, he extinguished the lamp, and the room was plunged into darkness.
“No!” Jade cried, not prepared to accept defeat. She wouldn’t lose the assassin this time. She couldn’t.
Theo groaned in pain somewhere near her, and all of her thoughts refocused. Jade scrambled back to the bedroom and retrieved one of the lamps inside, bringing it to the main room and setting it on the floor beside Theo. She kneeled beside him to examine his wound.
“Oh, Theo.” Her words came out in a distressed whisper. “I’m so sorry.” He’d taken her bullet right under his collarbone, and even in the dim light, she could see how much crimson blood stained his dark gray military uniform. It had fanned out from the wound and ran down the front of his jacket.
“You’re losing blood fast,” she said, recalling where Nicolas had kept his medical kit and retrieving it. She pressed clean cloths against Theo’s wound, and he hissed, but his blood soaked them too quickly. “We have to get you back to base.”
“You . . . have to . . . go after him,” he said through sharp intakes of breath.
Jade delicately placed her hands on either side of Theo’s face, her eyes staring intently into his.
“I’m not going anywhere without you.” She leaned in to kiss him, firmly and sincerely, then brought her gaze back to his.
“Let’s get you out of here.” She scooped her arm around Theo’s back, lifting him up so that he propped against her left shoulder.
He walked well enough beside her, but she still wanted to offer the support for both his physical pain and any emotional damage she had caused. How could she have ever in her right mind not only pointed a gun at Theo, but pulled the trigger?
But that was the thing: she wasn’t in her right mind.
How long had Nicolas been controlling her? From the moment they met? Before? Had he hidden in the shadows and guided her exactly where she needed to go on her missions? The thought made her sick, like she needed to take a scalding shower to rid herself of the lingering traces of his influence.
Now was the perfect time to search his bunker for all the evidence they needed to accuse him, but Jade didn’t have that luxury. Theo needed prompt medical attention. Inevitably, by the time they came back, likely with a whole squad at their disposal, the place would be wiped clean.
“I’m so sorry, Theo,” she whispered as she helped him toward the door. “For all of it. I never should have trusted Nicolas. I never should have done all of this alone. So much could have been avoided if—”
“I know,” he replied gently. Jade glanced up to see him peering down at her, compassion—not anger or disappointment—radiating from his features in the meager light. “Let’s just do what we can about it now, all right?”
Jade nodded, feeling less sure than she expressed to Theo, but she would do everything in her power not to fail him again.
They left the bunker and stepped into the tunnels, but before turning in the direction of the way back, Jade peered down the length of the tunnel to her right.
Nicolas had once mentioned that the tunnels ran underground between several farmhouses, connecting bunkers for various families.
There was no way of knowing where he had gone, no way to pursue him down here.
Just like that, Nicolas was gone without a trace.