Independence (31 page)

And then Caleb started to prowl and I knew things really were bad.

He paced back and forth, his face angry and set as he tried to think of a trap or a set-up for Marcus. A way to lure him to us so that we could end this on our terms instead of waiting for him to catch us off guard.

"
Wait!" I shouted as I had an idea. "What about Gran? Why can't she heal us?"

Kyle deflated and answered. "She can only heal supernatural things, injuries caused by someone's ability. This…this is alchemy."

"Oh…" I deflated, too.

"Let's just go to bed here. All of you," Bish suggested.
"
I'd feel better if we were all together."
"Ah,
you do care for me, you big lug,
" Kyle said in a girly voice.

"Not you, hair-brain. Maggie."

I saw Caleb stiffen with his back to me. "Not that you think Caleb can't take care of me or anything, it's just safer for us
all
to be together."

"Right," he agreed distractedly as he looked around. "There's blankets around here somewhere, I'm sure."
"I'm not staying here," Lynne said, her lip trembling. "I'm on my honeymoon! Don't I deserve to have a few days to just-"

"Lynne," Kyle said and scoffed. "Our abilities don't work anyway. No mutualizing tonight, babe."

"That's not what I meant!"
she shrieked.

He scowled with chagrin. "I'm sorry. That wasn't funny." He swiped at his hair with his fingers. "I get weird when I'm freaking out."

I used that as my chance to maybe get everyone to calm down. "Like the time you caused a mini-riot at school and all the teacher's cars got egged at the pep rally?"

He laughed in surprise. "You remember that?"
"Are you kidding?" I grabbed Caleb's arm to make him sit on the sofa in Bish's den with me. He would never stop pacing and worrying if I didn't. "You're an infamous troublemaker
,
Kyle. Everyone remembers that."

He grinned in amusement. "That
was
a good prank. Those teachers need
ed
to learn to lighten up."

"What was the prank?" Lynne asked. I leaned my head on Caleb's shoulder and felt him sigh. It wasn't because my calm was hitting him, it was just because. My back began to ache, but I tried not to notice as Caleb stuck a hand between my thighs and listened.

"Well," Kyle said and rubbed his chin, "they were taking the candy machines out of the school."

"You guys had candy machines?" she asked.

"Focus, babe," he said grinning. "So, they had this assembly saying they were taking them all out, so we retaliated
,
saying that if they were going to do that, then they should take them out of the teacher's lounge, too. They were so mad!"

"So what did they do?"

"They cancelled our pep rally stating it was academic probation for misconduct. So
we said we were having
one anyway, and when the teachers showed up to close it down, because we knew they would, we egged their cars."

"Wow. So you were like some kinda…rock star in high school or something?"
Kyle laughed so hard.

"Don't feed that ego, Lynne! Come on!" I played along.

I felt Caleb shake with a little chuckle beside me. Bish and Jen were shaking their heads as they lay on the bed.

And then it hit me.

"Ah! Dad!" I whipped out my cell, even as Bish tried to find out what I was talking about. He answered groggily. "Yeah?"

"Sorry. I know you were sleeping, but…how are you?"

"I'm fine, Maggie. Is something wrong?"

"You're not in withdrawals?"

A long pause. "Noooooo." A few whispers. "What's this about?"
"But…" that didn't make sense, "didn't you eat the breakfast that room service brought you the other day?"
"No, we had already ordered something earlier. We sent it back. What's this about, Maggie?"

I sighed.
"Nothing. We're fine. I just wanted to make sure you got there all right."
"We did. We're just tired. It was a long flight. You're sure you're OK?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," I lied. I looked at Bish. "Everyone's fine."

"All right…well, I'm going back to bed then." He laughed a little. "Good night. Love ya."

"Love
you, Dad
."

He hung up and I was relieved. At least Dad was safe.

The last thing I remembered before dozing off was Caleb laying me down and getting a blanket from Bish before coming and scooting in beside me on the small sofa. Then morning broke through the window and I remember
ed
with perfect clarity what being in serious withdrawal felt like. I shook and pressed my face into his neck, begging my body to accept his touch.

It didn't.

His fingers gripped my shirt and pulled me closer before he opened his eyes and realized what was going on.
His breath rushed out and he groaned. "Hell…holy hell."

He sat up and helped me sit up, too.
He pressed me to him out of desperation and whispered. "Maybe I shou
ld have mutualized with you
last
night. Now it looks like I may never get the chance and that's a travesty."

"Don't," I scolded softly. "We're going to do everything together," I promised. "Everything." A little boy in my arms named Rodney came to mind and I closed my eyes to keep the memory safe in my mind. Caleb joined me and we just sat, thinking about all the things we wanted one day, all the things that visions had promised us. Kyle had once told me that Destiny was a meddlesome wench. In this case, I prayed he was wrong.

We sat like that pretty much all day. We couldn't eat, we couldn't sleep, we could barely walk. Bish and Jen hadn't moved from their spot on the bed and Kyle and Lynne's pallet on the floor had been occupied since then, too. We all tried not to be annoying with the moaning and groaning, but it was kinda hard
to concentrate on anything but that.

And the worst part was there was no end in sight. And there was no Marcus either. We still had no idea what he was doing or waiting for. L
ater that afternoon, almost at d
usk, it began to all be too much. Bish and Jen got into an argument about this being his fault again. There was no calming touch to make her feel better so she got up on shaky legs and basically waddled out the back door. He followed after her slowly and feeling sorry for himself.

I tried not to think about any of that. I had to focus.
I had to figure out the game Marcus was playing.

Caleb went out to check on Jen when they didn't come back after about twenty minutes. I heard Caleb's thought of
panic right before I heard nothing. It was like his brain just turned off. I stood and held onto the chair arm to keep me steady before making my way out the back door to find him.

The sun was beautiful as it sank into the water and left the sand in an orange glow. "Caleb?" I called and heard nothing. The wind whipped. My back hurt so badly, I debated just hunching down right where I was, but Caleb wasn't answering my call or my heartbeat, which was going crazy. Something was wrong.

"Caleb!" I called more frantically and heard the
dark laugh
as I turned. I gasped in utter horror as I saw Marcus up the beach, standing over Caleb with a baseball bat. Even from this far away, I could see his evil smile. He waved for me to come.

What could I do but go? S
o
,
that's what I did.

Caleb was alive, I knew, but seeing him like that on the sand hurt my heart. I wanted him to stand up and break all of Marcus
'
teeth. That's what he would have done if he was conscious. And I hated the fact that whatever was about to happen, Caleb would blame himself.

I got closer and Marcus practically danced with anticipation. Once I got close enough to see the color of his eyes, he started his rant. "Hey there, human. Oh, wait. That's me."

I gulped and stared at Caleb on the sand. I wanted to run to him so badly, but I held off, hoping for my one shot to end this.

"
What do you want, Marcus?"

Before he answered, I made myself get
angry. I got white hot angry and tried to use my ability to lift the bat and beat him senseless with it. But it barely lifted itself in his hand. I felt drained and a failure.

He tsked me. "Your abilities not up to par? That's what happens when you can't get your significant's touch. Sucks
,
doesn’t it?"

"What do you want?" I yelled.

He leaned his head down and looked at me right in the eye. "I want him," he kicked Caleb's shoe, "to watch you die.
Slowly.
"

"I know," I said, "we saw the vision."

He stepped toward me. "Then you must know that I was going to do this."

The
bat swung hard and even though
I put my arm up to shield myself, it was like using a feather to stop a bullet. I felt my arm crack before I was out cold.

When I came to, I was off to the side behind some bush
es in the sand and I could hear
Marcus' voice. He was talking to another man. I looked around and barely suppressed my gasp at seeing Caleb at the new man's feet. I recognized him as one of the ones who had helped them at the compound when they kidnapped me.

My hands were tied as I lay in the sand, and I spit out dirt and sand, but it was hopeless. They turned to find me awake and Marcus grinned. "Showtime, little Maggie.
" He bent down on his haunches. "We…took care of the concierge and the guard that was outside your room. And this nice, private beach is completely empty of anyone to hear you scream.
"

He picked me up by my arm and
didn't
gr
unt
or hiss. M
y body
didn't burn
him
anymore because he was human.
I could
barely hold myself up
as
h
e pushed me hard and hissed for me to stand
on my own
. I saw Caleb jerk, too. His eyes opened and he looked around. When he
saw Marcus behind me, his face contorted with pure rage. "You are a dead man."

"The Jacobson
prince
awakens!" Marcus taunted. "Glad you decide
d
to join our party. It's just getting started. If I'm right…
" H
e looked ac
ross the beach and smiled. "There
they are! The lovebirds have returned. I knew they
'd
be heading back soon."

I looked over, dreading,
but knowing what I'd see. There
Bish and Jen were. They were making up on the beach…just like the vision
, holding each other and completely oblivious
. I closed my eyes to stop the tears, though I deserved every ounce of pain I felt. I had failed them. I had failed us all.

"No," he barked and glared at me. "You look
. You watch them as they die
all because you had to have your precious Caleb
."

He gripped my shirt front and turned me toward them. The one helping Marcus
stomped his boot on Caleb's chest to hold him down. I whimpered and tried to shake free of his grasp, but he was just stronger than me when I was this weak.

Marcus grinned and got right in my face. "It's your fault ya know. Not just this whole thing, 'cause that is, too, but this. The way your bodies have turned against you and you can't figure out how I did it. Well, I'll tell you." He got as close to my ear as he could without touching it. "It's your blood." He laughed. "And mine.
It's amazing, isn't it? Something
that seems so small and insignificant is what keeps us alive, is what feeds our bodies and makes up our very core. And it's powerful and can
be
used in ways people never imagine. And now your blood is the very thing that will be your demise. It’s the very thing I used against you to make it so very easy to kill you."
Even in my weak state, I managed to spit in his face. "Just kill me and get it over with."

He wiped his face with his palm and sneered, "No, this way is much more fun." He looked over at Caleb. "Later after we've killed your brother, Caleb will get to watch as you're tortured and he won't be able to do anything about it."

I shivered at the thought and couldn't look at Caleb. I'd lose it if I saw his face right now. I tried to keep it together and think. It started to sprinkle.
I shivered for more than one reason as I tried to keep my sanity.

"And on with the show!" he bellowed gleefully and bowed dramatically to his friend. The man smiled as he pointed his gun. I yanked at Marcus' grip, but it was hopeless. Caleb bucked and punched at the man's leg just as he aimed for his first shot, but he couldn't aim right with Caleb's movements. He reached back to kick Caleb's head and it was as if time stood still as my mind took ov
er. I swung around, roundhouse kicking
Marcus in the neck and then circling once more to do the same to his friend. But Caleb was already ahead of the g
ame and punched the guy in t
he only place guaranteed to make a man fall to his knees.