Forsaken (33 page)

That
last bit was said for the benefit of Rachel, but she just gave me
another of those sad smiles and pointed to my phone. I didn't
understand what she was trying to say until Adri cleared her throat.

"Actually,
I think you should let her come, Alec. I can't explain why, but she
needs to be there. Dominic, too."

My beast growled with suspicion. "What
aren't you telling me, Adri?"

"The
old man who saved us, he said you needed the people who loved you
there when you stood up to Agony."

It
was a moment I'd been anticipating for more than two days, but it was
still harder than I'd expected to hear the location of my death
confirmed. I took a couple of deep breaths and nodded to myself. It
was only right that those who loved me should be present to see me
finally atone for all of my mistakes over the last couple of months.

"Okay.
Rachel can come. Get to the garage, sis. Donovan and I need to talk
for a second once I'm done with Adri."

Rachel
nodded, but just before she turned around the corner, she looked back
at me with a look of disappointment. "Donovan loves you too,
Alec."

I
looked over at the man who had raised me and registered for the
first time just how tired and old he looked. Somewhere along the
line, while I'd been sulking like a thwarted teenager, he'd started
showing some of the signs of whatever had been eating away at Rachel
and the others.

"Would
you like to come with us, Donovan?"

He
knew about Kristin's dream. There was no way he should have been able
to find out, but I was sure that he somehow knew. I got a short,
choppy nod and a half bow. "Indeed, Master Alec. I would give
anything in my power to avert it. Nothing short of a direct command
from you will keep me from being there by your side."

I
clasped Donovan's forearm with my free hand, nodded and then gently
pushed him towards the door. All of the friction we'd been
experiencing over the last few weeks was nothing compared to the bond
we had. It was sad that it required things to get this bad before I
saw that.

"Please
get the rest of the pack up. Addison stays here with Mother, but
anyone else who wants to come is welcome. It's not mandatory
though."

Adri
hadn't said anything while our little drama had played out in
Donovan's office, but I hadn't forgotten her.

"Adri,
where are you headed?"

"Chicago.
I hope that's okay."

"It's
perfect. I'm starting to feel like someone has attached strings to us
all though. Nothing to do but dance to the music until it stops. I'm
going to do everything I can to make sure someone is waiting for you
when you land. His name is Shawn Bishop. If he's there, he'll get you
somewhere safe until I can get there with the rest of the pack. If
he's not there, then I'll try and have someone else waiting.
Hopefully with more drugs and some medical experience."

"Okay,
I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours then?"

"Yes.
We shouldn't be much more than an hour behind you."

I
hung up and almost ran over Kristin, who'd been standing in the hall.

"I
just had the same dream again, Alec. It cut off sooner, but I think I
know where it takes place now."

I
managed a smile. Kristin went to such efforts to present a hard
exterior to the world, but that was all undermined by just how hard
she tried to keep everyone around her safe.

"Thanks,
Kristin. It takes place in Chicago, I already know. I'm about to get
on a plane, but I expect Agony will show up just a little while after
I arrive."

"Why
would you be headed to Chicago right now? You'll die!"

"I
suspect you're right, but the price of not going to Chicago is too
high. Go find Ash and tell him that I release him from his promise.
The two of you are free to disappear into the woodwork again."

I
dialed Shawn's number before I was even out of sight of Kristin.

"Hey,
Shawn. It's Alec."

"Hey,
Alec. What's up?"

I
took a deep breath and then just launched into it.

"I've
had a couple of people in New York for the last little while. They
both got hurt and are flying back west, but I need somewhere to put
them until I can join up with them and make sure Isaac doesn't lose
control of his beast."

"You're
thinking we could take them in?"

"Yeah.
The people with them have enough sedatives to keep them under control
for about an hour and a half, but it will take me longer than that to
even get to you."

Shawn
was quiet for several seconds. I covered a quarter of the length of
the house by the time he responded.

"You
don't ever ask for any small favors, Alec. You know how the Coun'hij
will react to all of this. If they find out you've been screwing
around back East, they are going to come after you. If they find out
we helped you break the rules then they'll come after us too."

I
stopped walking for a second so I could concentrate.

"Before
you answer, you need to know that the odds are very good that Agony
is going to show up within the next three or four hours. I'm telling
you that because I want you to take care of my people, and then when
Agony shows up, you're going to throw me under the bus. He won't come
after you and your dad because he's going to be positively giddy that
he's finally got me dead to rights."

"That's
still a big favor."

"I
know it is, Shawn, but you can either agree, and then live up to your
word, or I'll hunt you down and kill you. It may be the last thing I
ever do, but I will avenge my people if anything happens that you
could have prevented."

Shawn
sounded tired all of a sudden. "Okay, Alec. I'll meet your plane
on the tarmac and then I'll keep Isaac under control and get him some
medical attention until you can come and claim him."

"Thanks,
Shawn. I'll see you in a few hours."

Tasha
wasn't in the Lilac Room. I followed her scent trail back through the
house, and it led me back to my bedroom and into my studio. She was
looking at the portrait of her that I'd been working on. The work had
captured me with a force I hadn't expected. It meant I'd spent my
last couple of days painting again. It was nearly done, even the
background.

She
stepped to the side and I took in the last painting I would ever work
on. The viewpoint was exactly as I remembered it. I'd painted her up
on the top of the mountain at the far end of the estate. She was
sitting down on the edge of the drop-off and seemed to be looking off
into the distance.

"This
isn't me, Alec."

"Of
course it is, Tasha. You were the one who sat for me when I painted
it."

"No,
it's not. The outside is me, but everything else isn't me. It's
someone else, someone more compliant and weak than I'd ever want to
be."

"I
don't see someone weak when I look at that painting, Tasha. That
doesn't really matter though. I've come to tell you that I'm flying
to Chicago."

"To
fight Agony. I know already. You do realize that you're throwing
everything away, don't you? You'd be better off disavowing Jasmin and
Isaac and then accepting my proposal."

I
shook my head. I needed to be in the air already, but Tasha deserved
an answer.

"I
can't disavow Isaac and Jasmin. Agony will kill them and never look
back. We've been through too much together for me to do something
like that to them. Please tell your mother that I'm sorry things
didn't work out differently."

"You've
decided against me, but you've never even bothered to tell me why."

I
took a deep breath and then pointed at the picture. "It has a
little bit to do with that. You see weakness; I see a strength that
is on the inside rather than on the outside, a strength that
sacrifices self rather than sacrificing others. That's what has
always bothered me about the thought of marrying you, Tasha. There
may be times when it's okay to sacrifice people, but that seems to be
your default response to everything. If I marry you, then I'll be
giving the darker, more practical parts of me the lead, and I'm not
sure I'd like where that would end up taking me."

"Death?
You think death is preferable to marrying me?"

"No,
Tasha. It doesn't always have to be about avoiding one thing.
Sometimes, it's about what you're choosing rather than what you're
trying to avoid. The truth is that this was all decided before you
even arrived here. It's just taken me a long time to realize it. You
can have the picture, but I understand if you don't want it. You
should probably take your people and leave though. It would be best
to limit any connection with me. I expect Agony will be looking for a
reason to make some hay out of what he's about to do to me."

Tasha
stormed out of the room without another word. A part of me wanted to
sit in my studio and give the moment the significance it deserved but
there simply wasn't time.

The group waiting for me in the garage was
bigger than I'd had any right to expect after the hell we'd all been
through since Agony's last visit. Rachel
and Dom were there. Donovan, too, of course. I hadn't expected Ash,
but he gave me a wry smile that told me Kristin had delivered my
message. She had ahold of Ash's arm, and while she didn't look happy,
it was obvious that she wasn't going to let him go anywhere without
her.

James
was there. He gave me a nod that seemed to say he might not have come
if Dom hadn't been so determined to come, but that she wasn't the
only reason he was present.

Jess
had already loaded Andrew and his wheelchair into her Escalade. I
knew Andrew's primary concern was Isaac, but I suspected Jess was
more concerned about Isaac than she was ready to admit, even to
herself.

It
was a tiny group to be throwing into the limitless maw of the
Coun'hij, but if I played my
part correctly then maybe Agony would only require one sacrifice
today.

Adriana Paige
Chicago Executive Airport
Wheeling, IL

The
flight from New York had been nerve-racking for me. The pilot was a
solid, no-nonsense guy in his early forties who'd pulled out all the
stops to get us to Chicago as fast as he could, but I still worried
the entire time that something would go wrong.

I
injected both Jasmin and Isaac every half hour religiously and spent
the rest of my time wishing I had the knowledge and equipment to do
more than just sit there while Jasmin and Isaac slowly bled to death.

Ben
never stirred, which just made things worse. I couldn't go up and
bother the pilot just because I needed somebody to hold my hand and
tell me everything would be okay, so I was left with nothing but the
company of my own thoughts.

I
was up and out of my seat as soon as we touched down. I checked both
sides of the plane, but I couldn't see any sign of the welcoming
party Alec had promised us, until we finally pulled into an airplane
hangar that was set off a little distance from the rest of the
buildings.

My
knees nearly collapsed when I saw Shawn leaning against the side of a
large, black SUV. He waved a couple of tough-looking guys forward as
soon as the plane came to a stop. They were inside the plane a few
seconds later, and I followed them as they carried Isaac out.

Shawn
nodded to me as I walked down the stairs. "I should have known
that you'd be mixed up in all of this."

"Me?
You talk like I'm some kind of magnet for trouble."

"You
are. Every time I see you things get worse than they were before."

I
looked at him oddly. There was something about his tone that I didn't
understand. "What happened after the last time I saw you?"

Shawn
sprang forward and put a hand over my mouth as he hustled me back up
inside the plane. He motioned the pilot out and then pulled the door
closed and flipped on one of the ubiquitous white noise generators.

"You
promised not to say anything about seeing Vicki and me. I don't care
what kind of hell you can bring down on me. If you tell any of the
people out there that you saw me in New York, I will kill you."

I
should have been terrified. A part of me was, but the rest of me was
calmly analyzing his words, trying to fit them together in a way that
made sense.

"What
exactly is your power, Shawn?"

"I've
never developed a power, Adri."

He
was lying. There was no way for me to know it, but somehow I
knew
he was lying.

"I
think you just lied to me. You have a power, and it has something to
do with knowing how much of a threat Alec is."

"You're
delusional."

"No,
I'm not. There is no reason in the world to think Alec could execute
on any kind of threat to you. He's got a tiny little pack that is a
baby step away from disintegrating. You, on the other hand, are the
'heir apparent' for the largest pack in North America. I know he's
dangerous, but you shouldn't. Not like you seem to."

Shawn
grabbed me by the throat as a wave of power hit me, but the calm
portion of my mind choked out one final point.

"I'm
not going to tell anyone as long as you come clean. You're the only
liar here, Shawn."

He
released me and then put one hand up on the side of his head. "I
don't know how Alec puts up with you. You're like fifty tons of loose
brick suspended from a crane. A stiff wind could bury anything around
you in a heartbeat."

"Alec
doesn't really tolerate me these days. Now 'fess up. You can always
kill me, but that would just make Alec deliver on his threats."

"I
do have a power, but my dad and I have kept it a secret for years. I
can sense the...potential around people. When someone makes a
promise or delivers a threat, I can tell whether or not they mean it.
More importantly, I can tell whether or not they can deliver on it. I
sensed it when you threatened Vicki and me back in New York, and I
sensed it a couple of hours ago when Alec told me he'd kill me if I
let any harm befall any of you. He didn't used to act this
erratically. Needless to say, my dad is pissed."