Hunted tgl-3 (9 page)

“Oh yeah. But why now?” Kim asked. “Why not last month, or when we started after Jarvis Island? Are they after the ones who haven’t canceled or the ones who already did too?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions yet.” Bran’s expression grew thoughtful. “We need to confirm this first. This is only one case.”

“Two if you include David Lee,” Remy said, entering the room. “Someone needs to talk to Izzy. She’s determined to heal that child when it’s obvious it’s not going to happen. I think we should either call an ambulance or drive Mrs. Watts to the hospital before we check on the others.”

“Call the ambulance,” Bran said and got to his feet. “Where’s her phone?”

I didn’t like the calm way they were taking the woman’s refusal. We were doing the woman a favor. Besides, we had already healed her kids.

“No,” I interjected, getting up.

Everyone turned to look at me.

I stared right back at them. “I don’t know how we’ve done things before, but we are not leaving. Remy, don’t fix her van. We are not doing anything more for her until she cancels that contract.”

Uneasy silence followed my outburst.

“Lil,” Bran warned, closing the gap between us.

“Red, where did that come from?” Sykes asked.

“Yeah, you’re usually the voice of reason,” Kim added. “You and Bleeding Heart Izzy.”

“It’s time we stopped being nice and make them face the consequences of their actions. Izzy already healed three of her children, and you and Remy restored her house. It’s time she did something for us.”

“I’m liking this new you,” Sykes said, smirking.

Bran scowled. “We can’t.”

Sykes squinted at him. “We can’t like the new Lil, or can’t blackmail Mrs. Watts?”

Bran glared at him. “We can’t blackmail or coerce Mrs. Watts. Remember free will? Lil will erase her memory, then we will leave and revisit her some other time.”

“I’m not erasing her memory. Let her have nightmares for all I care.” I teleported to the bedroom before anyone could respond.

Mrs. Watts knelt by the bed, her boys watched from her side, while Izzy worked on Michele. The girl’s eyes were closed, her expression peaceful as though she were asleep. Izzy, on the other hand, was a mess. Sweat dotted her forehead and her hands trembled. I checked her psi energy. It was dimming, which meant she was growing weak.

“We are leaving,” Bran whispered as he walked past me. He put his arms around Izzy and said, “That’s enough, Izzy.”

“No,” she protested. “I healed the others. I can do this.”

“Her situation is different,” he insisted, his voice gentle but firm. “There’s nothing you can do for her.”

“Of course there is,” Izzy snapped.

“You healed her brothers and her little sister, Izzy,” I added. “That’s plenty enough. We need to get out of here and focus on the de…” I remembered Mrs. Watts’ boys.
Go play outside
. I waited until they filed out. “We need to confirm that the lightning demons are messing with our humans, not waste our time and energy on something we can’t change.”

Bran threw me a warning look, then turned Izzy around. She was shaking so badly, she stumbled. He pulled her into his arms and murmured, “It’s okay. You did your best.”

Watching them reminded me of why I loved Bran. It wasn’t just his looks. It was moments like this, when he showed his loving, caring side. The thought that there were demons trying to stop us from canceling all his contracts filled me with rage.

I picked up the cell phone from the dresser, where Remy had placed it, and thrust it toward Mrs. Watts. “Call for an ambulance to take your daughter to the hospital.”

“Why? Your friend will heal her.”

“No, she will not,” I snapped.

“Why not?” she asked, looking confused.

“Because you are ungrateful,” I snapped.

“Lil!” Bran and Izzy said at the same time.

I ignored them, my gaze not leaving Mrs. Watts. “She’s already healed your other children and she’s so weak she can’t even stand.” I took a step closer and thrust the phone toward her. “Take it and do it. Now.”

“Lil!” Bran barked again.

I ignored him. Mrs. Watts swallowed, glanced at him then me. Something in my expression had her snatching the phone from my hand. She ran out of the room. When I turned around, both Bran and Izzy were staring at me with shocked expressions.

“What?” I asked.

“What’s gotten into you?” Izzy asked.

“Reality.”

“You are being cruel,” Izzy snapped. “Deliberately cruel. That’s so unlike you.”

“Oh, yes, this is so me. The new me.” I refused to look at Bran, but when I turned, I did it so fast the room swam. I thought I heard Bran said something, but I had already teleported.

“You have to cancel it before the paramedics get here, Mrs. Watts,” Kim said as I hovered above them in energized state.

“Will my Michele get better?” Mrs. Watts asked.

“No, she’ll not,” Kim said impatiently. “There’s nothing we can do about your daughter’s cancer.”

I thought of a way to make Mrs. Watts cancel the contract. Through the window, I could see Remy’s psi energy next to the children near the van. Bran and Izzy entered the room, then left. They were probably searching for me.

“So why should I cancel the contract?” Mrs. Watts insisted. “What is the benefit to me?”

“Uh, you’ll get your soul back,” Sykes said. “You know, that thing inside you that makes you human, that makes you have compassion, kindness and—”

“Can I sell it back to you again to save her?” Mrs. Watts asked, cutting him off.

“We. Are. Guardians,” Kim said through gritted teeth. “We’re
not
in the business of buying and selling souls.”

“But I signed with one of you before,” Mrs. Watts insisted, desperation in her voice.

I materialized beside her. Surprised, she took a step away from me, tripped on a toy and plopped on the couch behind her. “What part of ‘he doesn’t work for demons anymore’ didn’t you get?” I asked.

“But—”

“Mrs. Watts,” I said, getting in her face and forcing her to lean back. “My friends have the ability to heal and restore things, but there’s a lot more that
I
can do. A lot more and a lot worse.”

My hand shot up and everything in her house lifted off the ground, including her TV console. Her eyes widened. I wiggled my finger and tiny bolts of lightning zipped between the bobbing things.

“You see, my friends here are pure Guardians. I, on the other hand, have demon blood in my veins and a massive headache that’s refused to go away, so you do not want to mess with me. Those three children Izzy healed can easily become ill again like that.” I snapped my fingers. Everything came back down with thuds, a few missing their places and crashing to the floor. “Then I can do things to your head that you’ll beg me to kill you.”

Mrs. Watts swallowed, his gaze swinging from me to my friends. “Can she…?”

“Oh yes,” Sykes said, grinning.

“Don’t encourage her,” Kim snapped. “She’s not herself.”

I glanced at Kim and chuckled. “Actually, Kim, I am.” Turning, I studied Mrs. Watts. “So what is it going to be, Mrs. Watts? One sick child or four?”

She swallowed.

“You’re wasting our time, Mrs. Watts,” I snapped.

“That’s enough, Lil,” Bran said.

Mrs. Watts looked at him with relief.

“Don’t look at him. He’s not going to help you.”

“Lil!”

I glared at Bran and for one brief moment, my sight blurred until all I saw was a shadow where his face had been. Dizziness washed over me again. His thoughts, along with the others’, crashed into my psyche, but they were jumbled and didn’t make sense. My knees gave away.

I’ve got you
, Bran telepathed me just as he pulled me against his chest.
You are okay
.

Calmness settled on my mind as his psi energy blended with mine. Cool hands touched my forehead and voices echoed in my head as though filtered by a mist.

“She’s burning up,” someone said in a distorted voice.

“We’ll finish here, then take her home,” another added.

My vision and hearing cleared. The headache was slow to react.

“She’ll be fine,” Bran reassured them.

“She fainted, Bran,” Kim insisted.

“And her eyes glowed just like they did on the island,” Izzy added.

“I’m fine,” I finally spoke, but my eyes stayed locked with Bran’s. I tried to disengage our energies but he wouldn’t let me. I could have pushed him out of my head, but I might have ended up hurting him. I wiggled, hoping physical distance would do the trick, but he refused to let me go.
You can’t do this
.

Says who?

You’re sharing a burden that’s not yours
, I insisted.
You’ll get my headache and mess up your powers
.

So what? You and I are mated/or better and for worse
.

I frowned.
We are?

Yes, so sit back and let me take care of you
.

Reasoning with him was getting me nowhere. It was time to lay on the guilt.
You are draining my energy, something you swore you’d never do
.

He grinned.
Nice try. When we are done here, I’m taking you home, where you’ll stay until your powers stabilize
. He severed the link.
Can you take care of Mrs. Watts ‘memories without turning her into Mrs. Hyde again?

I rolled my eyes, but at the back of my mind I kept hearing “Mated.” When? Another lost memory? Leaving that for later, I turned to see the contract burst into flame. Mrs. Watts let out a screech.

Amazed at how much better I felt, I approached her. “One last thing, Mrs. Watts.”

She cringed, “Stay away from me.”

Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you
. I could feel the others’ stares, knew they worried about me dealing with Mrs. Watts fairly.
Don’t worry, guys. I won’t blow up her head
.

“That’s not funny,” Izzy said then added softly, “Are you sure she should do this?”

“She can handle this,” Bran answered.

“What did you do to her? Kim asked.

“I drained some of her energy.”

Silence followed. I shook my head. He really shouldn’t blurt out things like that. Only demons drained energies, and it was usually to enhance theirs.

“Dude, that’s messed up,” Sykes said.

“And demonic,” Izzy asked tentatively.

Bran shrugged. “So? She’s stable now.”

From the smile on his face, he was getting a kick out of shocking the others. Cupping Mrs. Watts’ face, I stared into her eyes and meshed our minds. Snapshots of her fake memories zipped past, most of them of her children, women friends. The most recent showed her eating dinner with her children, then waking up and finding her children sick.

Was that how my memories were? Hours of nothing mixed with a few treasured moments? Bran and I were mated. How could I forget that?

Focusing on Mrs. Watts, I let my thoughts flow into her head.
When I let go of your face, turn around and walk out the door to your van. Wait there with your children until the ambulance arrives to take Michele to the hospital. Forget you saw us or that we were here. Forget your broken windows. Only your oldest daughter is ill. She was okay for a long time, but now she’s ill again
.

When I let her go, she turned around and walked out the door without glancing left or right. She walked to the van with even, measured steps. When Remy held the door open for her, she got in without looking at him.

“What in Tartarus did you do to her?” Izzy asked.

“I just erased her memories and told her to wait outside for the ambulance.”

“But the people usually talk to us in confusion and ask who we are, what we’re doing in their home, office or wherever. They don’t walk away like zombies.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Bran cut in. “What’s done is done.” He walked to my side and touched my forehead. “You’re still feverish and—”

“Nothing.” I didn’t want to hear another lecture about going back home. “I’m fine now. We should teleport to our next stop.”

Bran frowned. “I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do, but you cannot treat humans like you just did Mrs. Watts.”

“She was being impossible.”

“I know, but you must control your anger and frustrations or they’ll control you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not responsible for what’s happening to me. Are you forgetting the transfer of the dagger’s powers into me?”

“I’m not. But I know you, Sunshine. I know what you are capable of. You can control anything.” He studied me intently, love and utter belief in me shining in his emerald eyes. His hair, shorter on the sides, swung across his cheeks as he peered at me. “You
can
control them.”

Of course I could…would with time. I reached out, twirled the lock of his hair around my finger and smiled. “Yes, I can.”

He took my hand and pressed his lips into my palm. When he stepped back, my gaze met with the others. I’d completely forgotten their presence.

That was intense
, Izzy telepathed me.

I just shrugged. My gaze met with Sykes and it was hard to describe the look in his eyes. Annoyance? Jealousy? A combination of both. I just couldn’t deal with him and his feelings.

“Okay, let’s do this.” Bran removed his clairvoyant stone and activated it. Light shot up from the core of the stone and projected a holographic image of a house. “This is Mr. Watts’ new place in Palos Verdes. The roof is flat, so let’s teleport there.”

“What happened?” Remy asked when he joined us and saw the mess on the floor. “I just cleaned this place up.”

Sykes pointed at me like a child tattling. “Lil did it.”

I laughed, happy to see him bounce back. I was also thrilled I could laugh without wincing. “But Mrs. Watts canceled the contract.”

Remy’s eyes narrowed. “You forced her?”

“Of course not,” I said. “I couldn’t see or hear a thing when she agreed to cancel it.”

Remy looked confused. “What?”

Sykes slapped Remy on the back. “Long story, dude, but the EMT is here. We need to disappear.”

The ambulance pulled up outside Mrs. Watts’ van. We dematerialized before the EMT reached the house.