Playing With Fire (22 page)

“Yes, yes,” Tanner praised. “It’s getting stronger.”

Rome cupped the back of my neck and massaged. “Good girl. You’re doing great.”

Around me, a fierce wind began to blow. My hair whipped from the ball cap and slapped at my cheeks. The trees danced, leaves swaying. Twigs and dirt swirled up from the ground, whirling round and round. I closed my eyes, saw myself running toward the fallen men, screaming their names.

“The wind is too strong, Viper.” Concern laced Tanner’s voice. He was suddenly shoved into the bars. “It’s going to blow us away.”

“Give some to me,” Rome said.

I visualized the fierceness of my emotions traveling out of me and into Rome, giving him pieces of the positive, pieces of the negative. He tensed the moment they hit him, and hissed in a breath.

Instantly, the churning sea inside me calmed. The emotions were still there, but they were manageable. The violence of the wind eased slightly.

“That’s it,” he said. “I’ve got it.”

With my free hand, I motioned for the wind to churn at our feet. After only a moment’s hesitation, it obeyed. We were lifted an inch or so in the air, the force of the moving current creating a solid foundation beneath us.

“Higher,” I whispered. We rose sharply, and I almost dropped my hand to my side. Almost commanded the wind to leave.

“Steady,” Rome said.

“Are you concentrating?” Tanner said. “I don’t think you’re concentrating.”

“I’m concentrating!”

“You’re doing good, baby.” Rome slapped Tanner upside the head. “Can you get us over the wall, Belle?”

To do that, I needed to make the wind swirl. What should I do, what should I do? I twirled my finger in a circle, mimicking a whirlwind, but that didn’t help. I closed my eyes and visualized it, but—no, wait! The wind began to rotate. Up, up we went.

My stomach twisted in progression with the wind, but I kept my mind on the chaos. Besides, if I opened my eyes and looked down, I might vomit or scream or any number of other things. I wasn’t afraid of heights, far from it, but my God, we had nothing but air holding us up. Wind, which was invisible. I only hoped there were no onlookers.

The top spike of the fence suddenly scraped the bottom of my boot. I gasped, but managed to keep my mind on the task at hand. My finger never stopped twirling.

“We cleared it,” Rome said.

Happiness flooded me. I’d done it. I’d done it!

“Uh, celebrating a little too early,” Tanner said, a split second before the wind ceased and we tumbled to the ground.

I hit with a hard smack. My feet absorbed most of the shock, but my body vibrated painfully. My teeth rattled, almost slicing into my tongue. Tanner humphed and rolled to his side. Rome landed perfectly, without sound, without bouncing. Just thump, he was crouched on his feet.

Damn cat reflexes.

For several prolonged seconds, I sucked air back into my lungs. “Oopsie,” I said between pants. “My bad.”

“We’ll practice the landing next time.” Rome tugged me to my feet, then did the same for Tanner. “Let’s move out.”

Once again we were in motion, remaining close to the fence, striding along its shadowed edge. We didn’t try to pretend nonchalance this time. We simply stayed out of sight as much as possible. I was so ready for this night to be over, and would have sold my soul for a little of Lexis’s psychic ability. If I knew what was going to happen before it actually happened, well, I could make sure Rome and Tanner emerged unscathed.

Row after row of sprawling homes came into view. Lights gleamed from the streets, from garages, from gardens. “Rome,” I said uncertainly.

“Just keep your back to the fence.”

When we rounded a corner, he stopped. Crouched. I glanced at Tanner, Tanner glanced at me and we both crouched beside Rome.

“That’s Dr. Roberts’s home.” He motioned to a pretty Victorian with an unkempt yard and overgrown bushes. Wraparound porch. Hanging wind chimes. Blue shutters.

I experienced a tiny flutter of shock. This beautiful mansion housed the man who’d made me what I am. No lights were on inside it. I guess I should have asked if Dr. Roberts had a family here we needed to worry about awakening.

“Is anyone there?” Tanner asked.

Rome didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze slowly scanned left and right, searching, intense. Minutes passed. Insects chirped.

Finally Rome whispered, “See that black SUV?” He pointed to the right, to a car parked in a driveway several homes away from Dr. Roberts’s.

“Yes.”

“Definitely belongs to Vincent’s men. Be careful. No telling what kind of scrim agents he has inside.”

“How can you tell?” I studied it, but it looked like every other expensive car in the neighborhood.

“One, I know Vincent well enough to be sure he’d keep men here to watch for Dr. Roberts. Two, his agents are still inside the car. If you look closely, you can see the exhaust fumes. I’m betting they’ve been turning it on and off for the air conditioner. Plus, I can smell the amount of coffee they’ve consumed.”

Ugh. Coffee. After what had been done to my grande mocha latte, I’d probably never want to drink the stuff again.

Tanner pressed deeper into the darkness, his gaze darting nervously. “What should we do?”

“Belle, do you think you can make it rain? A hard-ass storm just like we talked about at the cabin?”

“It will hail,” I warned. “We won’t be able to run through it without getting hit.”

His lips lifted in a slow smile. “That’s exactly what I want. Lots and lots of hail. Trust me. It’ll be okay. Just make the storm as fierce as you can without blowing the houses away.”

“The weather channel is going to have a field day with this,” Tanner said drily. “I hope you both realize that. Everyone who knows about the formula will suspect Belle was here.”

“It’s a chance we have to take.” Rome turned back to the house.

“What about the people in the SUV?” I asked.

“I’m going to leave them to you,” Rome stated.

“What?” I said, surprised.

“What?” Tanner seemed equally taken aback.

“I’ll disable their car and knock them out.” I knew what that meant. Kill. “If one of them wakes up,” Rome continued, “you two are to take care of him.”

Tanner and I shared a wry look. Yeah, he was really letting us take care of the bad guys in the car. We got his leftovers, if there happened to be any. Knowing Rome, there wouldn’t.

“This is going to work out, baby, you’ll see.”

I admit it. I love it when he calls me “baby,” and he seemed to do it more when we were in dangerous situations. “Be careful, okay?” I wrung my hands nervously. “There could be armed men in the house, too.”

His lips twitched. “Could be? No, there are.”

My mouth fell open. He said it so casually, as if it was perfectly normal. “Maybe we shouldn’t—”

“Create the storm, baby, and I’ll signal when it’s safe to enter the house.”

“You going to distract everyone with another explosion?” Tanner asked drily.

“Hopefully not” was the only answer Rome gave.

I wanted to protest, but didn’t. He was the expert here. He knew what he was doing. He knew how to survive. After all, he’d been doing it for a long time. Forcing my attention from him, I blinked up at the night sky. Stars twinkled from the black velvet. I didn’t ask Rome to filter for two reasons. One, once the storm erupted he needed to leave. And two, I didn’t want him to diminish my sadness in any way. The more intense it was, the more intense the storm would be.

My emotions were already frayed from their use and abuse today, but I dragged them front and center once more. Concentrating on all the things that saddened me, I drew forth a large wave of sorrow, plumped it with more depressing images, encouraged it to grow. It sprouted wings inside me, spreading. Spreading.

“That’s it, Viper. Let it flow.”

Overhead a crash of thunder boomed. Lightning bolts lit the sky, one after another. Fat droplets of rain began to descend, slowly at first, then gaining in speed and density. My chin trembled and tears flowed down my cheeks. I’d never been this sad in my life. I verged on total depression. Feelings of aloneness swamped me. Feelings of helplessness consumed me.

“Stay safe,” Rome breathed into my ear. He kissed my lips and was gone, disappearing into the darkness like a nocturnal phantom.

Rain pounded the ground, soon joined by the hail I’d predicted. The golf-ball-size ice smacked everything in its destructive path.

Tanner and I huddled under a tree. Its thick branches shielded us from most of the ice, but the rain managed to slip past the leaves and soak us. I shivered with cold as I searched the streets and houses for any sign of Rome, but I couldn’t see him. The SUV stopped humming with life, I noticed, the black plumes of smoke disappearing. The rear wiper stopped in the middle of its glide.

I didn’t see any movement in the car, though. Several more minutes passed. I didn’t see any movement outside the house, either, but suddenly I heard the growl of a jungle cat echoing off the walls and into the night.

I gripped my stomach, hoping the puny action could prevent it from twisting painfully. Obviously, Rome had discovered his prey.
He’ll be okay, he’ll be okay, he’ll be okay.

Another growl.

A tortured scream.

Tiny flickers of light flashed from Dr. Roberts’s windows, as if someone—or multiple someones—were firing several rounds. The rain stopped as fear held me in its tight clasp, but I forced my sadness to return. Rain fell again.

“He’ll be okay,” Tanner whispered, voicing my thoughts. “He has to. I mean, he’s Agent Kick-ass, isn’t he, with an impenetrable force field or some kind of shit. Right?”

“Yes.” The word sounded broken, hollow. A tremor raked me. Two men stumbled out of the SUV, blood dripping from their necks. Both had weapons drawn.

Without thought, I stretched out my hands. I don’t know what I expected to happen, and wasn’t given a chance to ponder. A bolt of lightning instantly slammed into the first man, throwing him backward and into the other man. The two sailed several feet before hitting the SUV. Both slumped to the ground.

“Holy shit, Viper. How did you do that?”

“I don’t know!” I said, pointing my hands toward the ground before they could do any more damage. “Come on. Rome needs us.”

“He didn’t give the signal.”

“I know.”

“Oh, hell.”

I sprinted into action, racing into the thick of the rain. No, not rain. With my fear, the rain had turned to snow. The cold infiltrated my bones.

When I reached the porch, I withdrew the Taser Rome had given me. If I’d had a gun, I would have pulled it out, too. I would have shot someone, with no hesitation. And yes, now I knew for sure I’d stab someone, if necessary. Anything to protect Rome.

Tanner stepped up beside me, panting. Water dripped from his hair onto his face, and ran like a river from the clothes now plastered to his body. “We opening a can of whoop-ass now?”

“Fo sheezie,” I said.

He paled, but slid a gun from the waist sheath hooked to his side. He rolled the…whatever the hell that was called. Cylinder? I don’t know.

“Locked and loaded,” he muttered.

I hadn’t realized Rome had given him a gun, and blinked at it, stunned for a moment.

He kissed the barrel. “I’m a wild man, Viper, and I’m ready for action. Let’s get this showdown started.”

I positioned myself beside the front door. It was opened slightly, so getting in wouldn’t be a problem. “Guard my back, you hardened outlaw. Okay?” I could hear the scramble of feet, the scrape of furniture. At least there was no more gunfire.

Tanner closed in behind me. “I used to hunt with my dad. I’ll hit anyone who aims at you, promise.”

I couldn’t believe I was doing this, but I didn’t want to leave Rome in there alone. No telling how many men he was up against. “On three. One. Two. Three.” I kicked my way inside, Taser raised and ready for action. The lights were out, but my eyes had already adjusted to the darkness so I could make out the total chaos. Overturned tables and chairs, pillows strewn in every direction.

It was oddly silent now. The sound of footsteps had faded.

Suddenly a huge, black blur sprang at me. A part of me realized it was Rome in his jaguar form, but the rest of me acted on pure, terrified instinct. Those lethal claws were coming at me, and Rome might not realize exactly who it was he was attacking.

When he hit me, his massive body knocking me down, I allowed my instinct free rein and nailed the beast with the Taser, shooting volt after volt of electricity into his heart. We fell to the ground, the cat roaring and convulsing.

Behind me, a shot suddenly rang out, the sound so loud it nearly busted my eardrums. In the next instant, a human man (who, I would discover, had been about to shoot
me
) collapsed on top of me and the now-immobile cat.

S
O
I’
D
T
ASERED MY
boyfriend. Other girls have done worse. I felt bad, really, but I wasn’t going to beat myself up over it. He’d come at me, claws and fangs bared.

Anyone else would have done the same thing.

Yeah, he’d been in the process of saving my life. Had I known that at the time? No. Had he given me any type of warning? Again, no. I might feel (slightly) bad about this, as mentioned above, but I wouldn’t accept blame. Rome was the only one at fault. Well, the assassin who’d been behind me was at fault, too. But not me!

Tanner switched on his flashlight and moved it over Rome, whose body still vibrated from the electrical charge. What did that mean? Crap, maybe I needed to examine him or something, and make sure I hadn’t damaged him worse than I’d thought.

While I scooted out from under him, as well as the dead body draped over his back, Tanner’s babbling assaulted my ears. “I shot him. I shot him dead. One bullet, just
boom.
Did you see me?”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” I said. God, Rome weighed a ton. “He was a bad guy, and he wanted to hurt us. You had to kill him.”

“Beat myself up?” Grinning like a loon, he whooped. “Did you see my kick-ass aim? I had my eyes closed, but it was dead center—excuse my pun—and he went down like a horny boy in a whorehouse.”

The implication of his words slammed into me harder than a bullet, and I gasped, my mouth agape. “You’re telling me you aimed that gun in my general direction and your eyes were closed?”

Some of his excitement waned, and he gulped. “Well, yeah.”

“The fact that you could have hit me doesn’t bother you?” My eyes narrowed on him, the rims burning. “The fact that you could have hit Rome doesn’t freaking bother you?”

Tanner’s chin raised stubbornly. “What would a bullet have mattered? You Tasered him.”

My jaw clenched. “For God’s sake, he was coming at me.”

“Yeah, to help you. And how did you repay him? By frying him up like an egg.”

“Shut up and get over here. I need help. My legs are trapped under two tons of cat.”

Tanner kicked the dead guy off of Rome. “I think the pussycat’s coming around.” He bent down and clutched Rome by his—its—head and shoulders, lifting. “My God,” he grunted. “You weren’t lying. What kind of cat chow has this heifer been eating?”

I wiggled free and glanced at the cat. He’d stopped shaking, at least, but his eyes were slitted on me. His lips were pulled back from his teeth in a lethal snarl. I’d never been Tasered, but I knew the electrical currents had rendered him immobile. Thank the Lord. He might have pounced on me for real if he could move.

“What?” I said to him, all innocence, with fluttering eyelashes and a dainty shrug. “This is your fault, and you know it.”

Tanner released Rome, who thumped to the floor. “Oops. Sorry.”

Licking my lips, I glanced around the room—anything to keep from looking at Rome. “Are there any more bad guys in the house?”

“Not that I can see,” Tanner replied.

“So…what should we do next?”

“Aren’t we, like, supposed to question someone and look for information about the doc and his evil potions?”

I nodded. “Yes, of course. While Rome’s recovering, why don’t you look for a survivor and I’ll search for the information.”

Tanner’s head canted to the side, and he surveyed the destruction. “Uh, I’d rather search for information.”

“Fine. Jeez. Let the delicate woman search the menacing criminals for signs of life.”

“Thanks,” he said, flouncing off, his flashlight in hand, leaving me in the dark.

“Tanner!” I shouted at his retreating back.

“Don’t make an offer you don’t want accepted,” he threw over his shoulder. He disappeared down the hall.

“Smart-ass,” I muttered. To Rome’s prone body, I said, “We really need to teach that punk some manners.” I reached toward the wall, feeling blindly for the light switch.

Rome growled.

My hand stopped in midair. “No light?”

Of course he didn’t answer.

“Blink once if you want me to leave the light off, twice if I can turn it on,” I said, turning on my flashlight—duh, I’d forgotten I had one, too!—and shining it in his face. Well, I needed
some
light, whether he wanted me to have it or not.

He blinked once.

Great. I got the privilege of finding a live body/killer with only a flashlight. Yippee for me. “Growl or something if you need me,” I sighed. I planted a kiss on his nose and scampered off, only thin beams of amber illuminating my path.

The house had wide, spacious rooms that looked very much like the foyer, with furniture overturned and broken glass scattered in every direction. I counted nine of Vincent’s agents, both upstairs and downstairs. Rome had made short work of them, and though he’d wanted to keep one alive, none had survived. The ones I’d heard moaning earlier were now quiet.

I bumped into Tanner in the master bedroom. He
oomphed,
but didn’t remove his attention from the far wall. He had something long and blue in his hands. When I saw what held him enthralled on the wall, though, I forgot to ask him about the blue thing.

“My God,” I said.

“Do you think I could, like, take some of this with me?”

“Eww. No. That’s gross.” The good doctor obviously enjoyed S and M. Whips, spiked collars, crops and black leather abounded. Not to mention the silver chain harness hanging from the ceiling. No wonder Lexis had said the man had a wild sexual side. Just how “friendly” had she pretended to be with him? I shuddered.

“Look at this.” Tanner held up the long, blue thing. “What is it? What are the beaded things?”

“Tanner!” My cheeks heated. “That’s a
vibrator.
” I whispered the last word, embarrassed even to be saying it.

“Really?” Grinning, he shook it. The batteries rattled. “Cool.”

“Put that down right now!”

“Hell, no. I found it on the floor, in plain sight. Finders keepers.” Grin widening, he rattled it some more—and the end fell off. A sheet of paper drifted to the floor. “Hey, what’s that?”

I frowned, bent down and pinched the paper between my fingers, shining my flashlight over it. When I realized what it was, I gasped. A note. From Dr. Roberts to…me. Well, to the Person Who Drank the Formula—my name wasn’t specified. Still, my mouth fell open in shock. He’d known I would come here. Or maybe he had hoped.

“What does it say?” Tanner asked.

“It says ‘I’m sorry.’” I swallowed and read the rest. “‘I’ve done a terrible thing to you. I was weak and let a threat to ruin my public reputation influence my work. I should have destroyed the formula when I first discovered how dangerous it was. By the time I realized the error of my ways, it was too late—the formula had been perfected, and was just about to fall into the wrong hands. Evil hands. Unfortunately, the best hiding place I could think of on such short notice was…you. You were convenient, nearby. Please don’t hate me. I’ve left you a present in my office, which is in a secret lab directly across from Utopia Café. Watch for prying eyes.’”

I paused, looking around. I could almost feel those prying eyes on me just then. “‘P.S. Sorry about the sordid hiding place. I couldn’t risk OASS finding this note, but I knew PSI would be hot on your heels and I hoped they’d know where to look.’”

“Wow,” Tanner said. “You’d think since OASS knew he was a sex fiend, they’d have looked in the vibrator, too.”

“I wonder why they didn’t.”

“They’re dumbshits, if you ask me.”

“Hey! Lexis told me the doctor was a pervert, but I didn’t think to look in the vibrator, either.” Tanner opened his mouth to comment, but I pointed a finger at him. “Don’t say it.”

He grinned. “Hey, this means the good old doc considered the employees of PSI pervs.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Belle hooked up with a perv,” he sang.

“That means you’re a pervert, too, since you’re the one who actually found the note,” I shot back.

His grin widened. “I know! Isn’t it great?”

I shouldn’t have been surprised by his happiness, the horn-ball. If I didn’t change the subject, though—vibrators, for God’s sake—we’d never get anything done. “So how’d Dr. Roberts get back into his house to hide this note?” I said, thinking aloud. “How’d he get past the OASSholes?”

“The who?”

I waved my hand through the air. “Never mind. Just ignore me.” He could have planted it before he made his escape, knowing he was going to give the formula to someone.

Tanner shrugged. “Maybe there’s another note around here, with more instructions.” He began searching the rest of the “toys,” whistling in tune with his movements.

I tapped a fingertip to my chin, wondering just what kind of confession was left for the doctor to make in a second note. I’d cause a world-wide flood if I wasn’t careful? I’d have to live in an igloo for the rest of my life just to control the fire inside me? There was a depressing thought.

“I doubt we’ll find anything else,” Tanner said a few minutes later, his voice heavy with disappointment. “None of the other toys open.”

“Just keep looking,” I said.

Tanner ran his hand over the inside of a drawer, probing for a hidden compartment. “Have you found a live body yet?”

“No,” I grumbled. I had to admit, in all my many jobs, many interviews, many hours spent scouring the classifieds, I’d never pictured myself doing this. Was there even a title for it? Certified Body Finder?

I should have preferred serving coffee to snobs. Should have preferred tweaking the odometers of used cars or making stupid balloon animals for ungrateful kids. Hell, I should have preferred sweeping disgusting balls of hair off the salon floor.

I didn’t.

I kind of liked my current position, I realized. Maybe I
wasn’t
ready to go back to my normal life. Sighing, I stuffed the doctor’s note in my pocket. What would Rome say when he saw it? Maybe it would bribe him out of his Taser-induced bad mood when he finally came around.

As I trudged down the stairs, I ran my fingers over the bullet holes in the wall. Where was I going to find a living bad guy? The answer came to me instantly, surprising me. Grinning, I hopped over Rome’s body—which had begun the slow process of returning to human form. Big patches of fur had fallen out, leaving gaps of tanned skin and sleek muscle. At the moment he resembled a hideous man-beast. I tried not to grimace.

“Be back in a jiff,” I told him with a false, breezy air. I sailed outside. The neighborhood was calm, as if the shootout had never happened, but the man next door was standing on his porch, scratching his head as he stared out at the hail and snow covering the ground.

He saw me and said, “You one of Roberts’s girls?”

I was very thankful the two sleeping (or dead) agents were hidden by the SUV. “Yep.” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively, as I thought a hooker might do.

“Always weird stuff going on in that house.” He motioned to the ground with a tilt of his chin. “You ever seen anything like this? Snow this late in spring, of all things.”

“Very weird,” I said, just standing there.

After a moment, he shook his head and went back inside his house.

Hurry, hurry, hurry! Before he comes out again.
I raced the rest of the way to the SUV. The two men were slumped at the tires. One of them, the one I’d hit directly with lightning, was in the same condition as his cohorts in the house.

I lost a little of my giddiness. I’d killed him. Another victim of my powers.
Don’t think about it, Jamison. Remember, he was one of Vincent’s men. He wanted to kill Rome. And capture you.
With shaky hands, I checked the second man for a pulse. At the first touch of my fingers, he moaned. I sighed in relief. He, at least, was alive.

I anchored my hands under his arms and dragged him toward Dr. Roberts’s house. He weighed a freaking ton (more than Rome, even, the fatty), and I strained under the burden. He had black streaks on his face and shirt, as if the lightning bolt had ricocheted off his friend, frying him, too.

By the time I heaved him onto the porch, gooey mud covered him from head to foot, splattered over his skin and clothes. I huffed and puffed from exertion. Amid his moans, I held him up with one hand and opened the front door with the other. Thankfully, the neighbor never came back out.

My gaze immediately sought Rome. Except he no longer lay in the entryway. The only sign that he’d been there was the mountain of fur he’d shed.

Should I call for him or not? He might be searching for me, ready to attack the moment he saw me, in retaliation for what I’d done. He might—holy shit—round the corner and storm toward me, death gleaming in his expression. He was in the process of jerking a black T-shirt over his head. A pair of black slacks already encased his lower body. How many spare pairs of clothing did this man have?

His eyes narrowed on me, then flicked to the man I held. “Don’t say a word,” he snapped, his steps never slowing.

“I wasn’t.” I shook my head for emphasis. “You look great. Really.”

“How. The hell. Could you stun me?” The words left him haltingly, filled with the dark edge of his fury. He stopped just in front of me, our noses touching. Hot breath fanned my chin.

Better to go on the offensive, or he’d stomp all over me with guilt. “I think a better question is how could I not?” I released my burden, and the body thumped to the floor. I wagged a finger at Rome. “You came at me as you would a target. You should be commending my excellent reflexes in taking down an assailant.”

His nostrils flared. “Commending? Did you just say commending?”

“Your hearing is excellent, Cat Man.”

His pupils elongated, the black growing thinner, pointing on top and bottom. “What happened to waiting outside like a good little girl?”

“Tanner and I wanted to protect you. You’re not invincible, Rome.”

“But I’m damn close.” He spread out his arms, motioning to the bodies lying around us. “You wouldn’t have almost gotten yourself killed if you’d stayed where you were told.”

“And you might have died if we had stayed. There was a man about to shoot you.” I rose on my tiptoes, putting us on more level ground. “And like it or not, you’ve got partners now. We’re supposed to look after each other. That means
we
look after
you,
just the way you look after us. Don’t try to do this all on your own.”