Silenced (25 page)

Jameson pulls a gun. I barely have time to blink before Juliet closes the distance between them, snaps the gun out of his hand and aims it at his head.

“Get down.” Juliet hovers over him.

He lowers himself to the floor, arms raised above his head.

“Give up all your weapons.” She cocks the handgun. “Right now, please.”

“Juliet… Ms. Burke. Please, don’t do this.”

She just stares at him. All three of us know how this is going to go. After a few minutes, a shaking Jameson starts to remove all his weapons. He slides them away from himself. Juliet bends over to retrieve them.

Before she heads back to the door, I call out, “Hey, wait a second.”

She slightly angles toward me, half her body still facing the door.

“What’s going to happen to him?” I cross my arms over my chest. “To the witch.”

She turns her head more so that her eyes gaze directly at me. There is a slight tension in her jaw that tells me everything I need to know. That witch, whoever he was, is dead. I swallow and drop my gaze to the floor. Juliet leaves, letting the door swing shut behind her.

“Damnit.” I punch the circular desk and close my eyes.

I stay like that for a few moments, when the sound of feet slipping on the floor meets my ears. My head snaps up. Jameson is making a run for it. I smile and whistle.

Not that kind of whistle. He isn’t mine. Yet. But, for some reason he does stop and turn before he reaches the door.

I stroll closer to him. “Where ya going, there?”

Jameson backs into the glass double doors. His face is almost purple. “Come on, man. You don’t need to do this.”

He isn’t wrong. Not that it’s going to help him.

“Why don’t you step away from the door?” I hold my hand out to him. “I promise it won’t hurt.”

His face contorts into what can only be disgust. “Fuck you if you think it’s going to be that easy.”

I want to laugh, but I don’t see the upside of being a dick.

“Okay, man, just relax.”

“Nah, fuck you, asshole.” His murky gray eyes narrow at me. “You don’t tell me shit. Fucker.” He spits at my feet. “And what you gon’ go and kill me for? To fight for the wrong side, that’s why.”

That gets a pause from me. I don’t know what passes across my face, but whatever it is must amuse Jameson because he laughs.

“Or are you too stupid to know that you’re on the wrong side?”

I wince and grab for him. My hand closes into a fist around his neck, and his eyes bulge. He beats at my arms. I barely feel it as I drag him closer.

“Of course I know it,” I hiss into his face before letting him go.

He stumbles forward, gagging and gasping for breath. I watch him for a few moments. For some reason, the longer I watch, the angrier I get. The longer I watch, the longer his words have to bounce around in my head. Finally, I grit my teeth and grab him by the collar again.

“Come on, man,” he says as I drag him away from the door. “Please, please don’t do this.”

“Shut it.” I slam him into the wall on our right, farthest from the door.

His expression falls, and his lips begin to tremble. “P… Please. I have a d…a daughter.”

I place my hands on either side of his head. “I said shut the fuck up!” Saliva sprays him in the face. I clamp my hand over his mouth. “Don’t say another frickin’ word.” I’m breathing hard. I have no idea why I’m letting this guy get to me. But he’s getting to me. I have to get this done.

I have to get it done quick.

I can’t think about his innocent daughter bawling because a monster killed her daddy. I can’t think about the fact that what he said to me is true.

I can’t.

And yet, I am.

“Fuck!” I clamp my hand harder over his mouth.

He lets out a tiny whimper, which only works to piss me off.

“Do it,” I mutter to myself as Jameson’s eyes bulge.

Just fucking do it
.

You need the juice.

He’ll die anyway.

Nothing you can do
.

“Fuck!” My scream bounces off the walls. I press my hand into his face hard enough to leave a handprint, then push away from him. “Fuck!” I punch the wall next to him, then cover my face with an arm.

He starts panting. Then, his feet pound against the floor as he runs. I look up.

Dumbass.

Why is he running that way?

I take off after him. His hand is on the knob. He’s about to push it outward.

No.

Before he can make another move, I pucker up and whistle. His body thuds to the ground at the same moment a bullet pierces the glass. Shards fall like jagged hail all around us.

I keep whistling, taking all of him into me. I breathe him in and bury the pain.

There wasn’t a damn thing I could do.

I take him into me and forget the fear and guilt.

He was dead, anyway.

When I’m done with him, I glance up and meet Juliet’s icy eyes. Both of her hands are over her ears. A gun is folded up in her right fist.

I stop the song and straighten. Glass crunches under my feet as I move out to meet her, Kiwi, and Tripp and Lee.

There never seems to be a damn thing I can do.

We’re on the road for a little over an hour before Tripp announces he has to take a piss. They are the first words anyone has uttered since we set out this morning, or at least the first words I’ve noticed. Kiwi speaks in to her wrist comm and relays the information to the other two vehicles.

A few minutes later, we pull over to the side of the road. I get out and the harsh sun wraps around me and squeezes. Despite the fact that it’s still early morning, the sun is high, punching the landscape with its heat. I start to sweat almost as soon as I’m outside. Using my hand to shield my eyes from the sun, I stumble away from the car and head for the back of the last vehicle in our convoy.

When I get there, I see Lee has the same idea. He gives me a tight smile, which I return, then trudge a few feet away from him. Once I’m far enough away, I whip it out and relieve myself right there on the pavement.

A throat clears. My heart punches against my ribcage, and I look up, startled. I freeze when I see what’s in front of me.

It’s a woman. An older woman. She is draped in a long, light blue gown that hits the ground. She has a matching, silk bonnet wrapped around her head and her skin is onyx. Her eyes are the strangest I’ve ever seen. They look like two milky pools. The contrast against her skin is unsettling.

I gulp, still holding Pike junior in my hands.

“Pike Richards, you seem to be finished. Put that away so we can have a little chat.” Her voice is smooth and soothing, despite the freakish fashion in which she just showed up out of nowhere.

I’m frozen. Unable to move. I dart my eyes back behind her to see if my group is okay. I’m shocked to find that they are frozen as well.

Literally.

I blink and slowly tuck my dick away. I peer at Tripp, who is the tallest. He is frozen in the midst of zipping up his suit. Slowly, I train my gaze back to the woman. I open my mouth, intending to ask if she’s responsible for the involuntary game of freeze tag, but for some reason, nothing comes out.

“I am Salya,” the woman says.

Hearing her speak is disconcerting. First, there’s a rush of power in that voice that makes me want to run like a small girl. And then there’s the fact it’s one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve heard in a hot minute. She makes me realize how much I miss the beauty in things.

I take a few steps back and nod. All I can do is stare at her like a full on mantard. After a few moments of me not saying anything passes, she laughs.

“I’ve startled you.” She walks toward me.

I try and back away but find myself rooted in place. I glance down at my feet and try jerking them up. No luck. When I look back up, the woman is almost on top of me. She reaches out a knobby, bone-thin hand and strokes my cheeks.

“My. Look at those beautiful, swirling blue eyes. Reminds me of the seas. So powerful.” She pulls her hand back. “You recently feed.”

My eyes narrow. “Who…” I scratch my eyebrow with my pinky nail. “What are you?”

Instead of answering, she just smiles again. “It’s hotter than the sea of souls in the Underworld.”

She waves her hands, and her sleeves billow. As soon as she does, my stomach lurches toward my toes and I get the sensation that I’m falling.

Then, I land on something soft. I grip the arm of a couch and dart my head around in quiet panic.

I am not where I was.

I have no idea where I am.

“Tea?” The woman—Salya—appears in front of me holding a steaming cup.

My mouth drops open and I wave her away.

“No. What the…” I glance around.

I seem to be in a room. On a couch. There are maroon walls and earth-toned furniture.

The woman sits across from me in an oversized chair and crosses her legs. “I thought this would be more comfortable.”

I rest my gaze on her and try to breathe normally. As calm as I can, I say, “Take me back. Now.”

She laughs again. It freaks me out. Reminds me of beauty, yet makes me feel like pissing my pants.

“I will take you back, Pike. As soon as I have a talk to you about your fate.”

As soon as I hear the word fate, I jump up and point an accusing finger at her.

“Oh, hell no. Take me back. Now.” I snarl the command down into her face.

She just folds her hands and smiles up at me like I’ve just offered her the most wonderful compliment in the world.

“Pike, please. Calm down. Have a seat.” She gestures at the couch behind me.

“Sit down my ass.” I scoff. “You’re one of them. You’re a frickin’ fate.”

“Astute.” She smiles again. “I can see why my sisters like you.”

I start to pace. “Your sisters, huh?”

“Yes,” she says in that lyrical voice. “They’re all rooting for you.”

“Great.” I gesture in front of me with my arms. “Send me
back
.”

“You seem nervous, Pike.”

I stop pacing and laugh as I face her. “I don’t want to know my fate.”

She nods as if she is used to hearing this, and she probably is. Nobody likes it when a fate turns up. Whatever they tell you is pretty much set in stone. And it’s rarely good news. No one knows if this is because they are all-knowing, or because they have some kind of messed up power to alter circumstance so that their premonitions come true.

I’m a fan of the latter theory, but I’ve always been a cynic.

“You’re in a very…monumental position, Pike.”

I turn and face her. “Meaning?”

“Meaning… no one has been in a position to alter the course of history in such a significant way in quite a while.” She touches the small pearl earring attached to her lobe. “I’ve come to offer guidance.”

I start to pace again. “I don’t want any guidance. I just want to get back and do what I gotta do.”

I don’t hear her move, but now she is in front of me, grasping my hands between her own. She peers up into me with those silky eyes, and I freeze.

“I implore you to reconsider,” she says.

For a moment, I can’t move. Just like when she first showed up. All I can do is stare into those moving eyes, trapped under their power. My mouth slowly starts to open. I try and pull away from her, but I can’t.

“I ask you again, Pike Richards.” Her smile is slow. “Would you like to hear your fate?”

My mouth is all the way open. I’m trying to form words with a dead tongue. Beads of sweat curve down my nose. It occurs to me that this is how they get things done. Nobody with half a brain would consent to hearing what a fate has to say because nobody wants to know how it’s all going to play out.

And a fate can’t tell you shit unless you give them permission. Kinda like vampires, only they really exist and they don’t just want into your house.

They want into your destiny.

Her smile is almost blinding by the time I find the strength to pull away. I turn away from her to catch my breath. When I look up, she is there again.

“No.” I point my finger into her face. I realize I need to slow my roll. Fates are no joke. “With all due respect,” I say with a change in tone. “Please send me back. I don’t want to know.”