Tegan's Return (The Ultimate Power Series #2) (17 page)

 Rita tells me to hold them straight out above the watch and to visualise my father in my mind. I do as she says. Nothing happens for a moment, but then I feel a dragging sensation coming directly from the rods. I allow my body to turn with the motion of them and they drag me around, causing me to spin in a circle several times, becoming faster and faster. The pull is so strong, I couldn't resist it if I tried. I feel myself getting dizzy, and I lose my sense of orientation. I open my eyes, and the world turns upside down in my fuzzy spinning vision.

 Then when I look at the rods I notice that they are sparkling, like those sparklers your parents give you when you're a kid at Halloween. Suddenly, the spinning stops and the rods seem to have a selected a particular direction. I'm definitely not prepared for what happens next. The rods pull on me with all the strength of a tornado and my body propels forward. My legs have no other option but to run. Sweat breaks out on my forehead as I realise I'm getting dangerously close to the edge of the building.

 I can hear Rita and Alvie call out in fright, yelling at me to let go of the rods, but it feels as though my hands are glued to the handles. I'm almost at the edge now, four, three, two, one foot away and then I slam into the low rise wall. The upper half of my body hangs off it as the rods do their best to pull me over. I'm not balanced though, and more of me is off the roof than on. I try not to look down, but it's no use. My traitorous eyes glance at the world below me and fear clenches in my gut. I'm so close to hurtling over a precipice that promises nothing but death.

 The next thing I know I'm being pulled back onto the roof, both by the waist and by the leg. Finn has his arms wrapped around me and Wolf has the end of my jeans in his mouth, helping Finn to rescue me from falling. I fall back on top of Finn and quickly crawl over onto the safety of the roof. My hands clutch my chest, where my heart is thumping loudly against my rib cage.

 “Jesus!” Rita shouts. “I thought you were done for there for a second.”

 “That's you and me both,” I tell her, wiping the sweat off my forehead. Alvie rushes over to give me a big hug, squeezing me tightly. Wolf is whining and licking me on the hand. I pet him on his soft, thick fur and the feel of his lovely coat relaxes me. It's at this moment that I realise I'd finally managed to let go of the dowsing rods. They lie innocently by my feet and I scowl at them in anger. Those bloody things almost killed me.

 “Well,” I say finally, looking at Rita, “did that fucking episode achieve anything?”

 “Yes,” she answers, and comes to sit by me. She puts both of her hands on my shoulders and turns me in the direction where the rods had just about pulled me off the roof of the building. “Your dad is being kept somewhere in the vicinity of Freemont park, which by the way, is on vampire territory.”

 I rub my head in confusion. “But, I thought it was a witch or a warlock who took him?”

 “I'd still say that's the case,” Rita replies. “I imagine they're keeping him on the South side so that if they do get caught out it will be easier to pin it on the vamps.”

 Finn stands in front of me, offering me his hand to pull me up. He's got a serious expression on his face. Perhaps my dalliance with near death has taken the wind out of his sails. “Thanks,” I whisper when I'm standing close to him. “For saving me, I mean.”

 He smirks then. “Any time, Tegan.”

 “You wouldn't by any chance want to help me look for my dad in Freemont Park, would you?” I ask him.

 He scratches his jaw. “That's a big place; it'd be like searching for a needle in a hay stack.”

 I frown and Finn's expression seems to soften. “Look, I can't do it tonight. I have to report back to Pamphrock in an hour to help with the preparations for tomorrow, but I promise I'll bring you in the morning and we'll scope the place out.”

 Tomorrow morning could be too late to find him, and I'm eager to get searching straight away. At this very moment my phone buzzes in my pocket and I step away to look at it. There's a message. From Ethan. All it says is,
Come to the club
. Memories of last night flit through my head, and a pleasant shiver seizes me down to my toes. Then another thought comes to mind. Perhaps Ethan could help me look for dad, since I now know he's being kept on vampire territory.

 I step back to Finn and reply, “That's okay, I'll get Ethan to bring me tonight.”

 He doesn't seem happy with this, but he just shrugs and turns away from me. Alvie and Rita are almost finished packing away all of their stuff, as well as those infernal dowsing rods. It'll be a cold day in hell before I go near those again.

 We make our way over to the door that leads back inside the building, when suddenly it bursts open and a security guard steps through with a gun held in both his hands. He aims it at me and my friends.

 In a loud and hostile voice, he commands, “Hands in the air, all of you.”

 In my head, I'm thinking,
Okay Rita, now would be a good time to whip out that confusion spell
.

Drowned

Silently, Rita hands the bag she's holding to Alvie. Wolf steps forward and begins growling low in his throat. The guard eyes the massive dog warily and seems to take a step back. Alvie begins to rummage in the bag and whips out a small bundle of fabric that's tied in a knot. He hands it to Rita and she takes it absently, her intense dark eyes focused on the security guard.

 The guard lifts his gun higher and shouts, “I said put your hands in the fucking air, now!”

 Rita ignores him and holds the bundle in her outspread palms, whispering something quietly in Latin. The only word I can make out is
turbatio
.

 Next she pulls the knot loose and blows out the contents, which seems to be a handful of white dust. It travels straight to the guard, each granule latching onto his face, and then his eyes begin turning frantically in his head and he drops to floor. His whole body spasms fitfully.

 Fear seizes me. “What the hell did you do to him Rita?”

 “He'll be fine in a half an hour. Now come on, we have to get out of here. He probably called for backup before coming out.”

 Everything moves so rapidly then. Finn grabs a hold of my hand and drags me down the stairs. All the while I feel like I might explode from the adrenaline that's rushing through my veins. When we get to the elevator Rita hits the button for the ground floor, and the descent feels like it takes forever. Once we get down I can hear sirens coming from out on the street, and we all run like our lives depend on it, back to the side door we first entered through.

 Finn doesn't lead us out the front way, but instead to the back of the building, where we all hop over a high wall. Finn has to give me a step up because I'm useless with the whole athleticism thing. We rush past the next building and out onto a different street, where cars pass on the road and people walk by casually. We stop running then and walk, all in a group, not saying a single word. Once we've gotten a safe distance away from the sirens Finn tells us he's going to go back for the van and that he'll meet us at the house later on.

 Rita flags down a taxi, but then I remember that I need to go to Crimson to see Ethan, so I get another for myself. Rita hugs me and wishes me luck with finding my dad over on vamp territory. She says she'd go with me, only it isn't safe for her to cross the river. For a brief moment I feel liberated by the fact that I don't have to abide by the segregation. Although that might not last for much longer, especially if the vampires find out I've been secretly working for the DOH.

 I jump into my taxi just as Rita and Alvie are pulling away in theirs, and I say a silent prayer that we didn't get caught. I tell the driver where to take me. Then I think of the security guard and hope like hell that Rita was telling the truth and that he really will be okay in a half an hour. But at this a disturbing thought hits me. The security guard had obviously seen us on the cameras, cameras that will have recorded our faces.

 I sweat even more profusely, causing my short hair to stick to the back of my neck. How dumb was I going along with Rita's plan to break into the building? I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner. With shaking hands, I pull my phone out of my pocket and hit the speed dial for Finn's number. The taxi driver is having an animated conversation with someone on his Bluetooth, so he's not paying me any attention.

 “Miss me already?” He answers smugly, although he sounds a little out of breath.

 I completely ignore his smart-arse comment. “Finn, what about the cameras in the building? They'll have recorded our faces. Why didn't we wear masks or something?”

 He laughs. “What do you take me for? I'm hacking the security system as we speak.” I can hear the clicking of laptop keys in the background as he goes quiet, mumbling code or something under his breath. “Yes, yes come on you beauty,” he says quietly to himself. I sit back against the leather taxi seat and listen. I can't help the small smile that touches my lips. Finn just never struck me as the kind of man to be into computers. I guess people will surprise you every day.

 “Did you get the van?” I ask, as he continues tapping away at his keyboard.

 “Yeah I just pulled off into a car park down the road so that I could get this done,” he answers, but I can tell that he's still focused on what he's doing. Then he continues, “I think the police are searching the building right now. It doesn't look like they've tried to view the security footage just yet, but the bastards won't know what hit them. Once I'm done with this the whole system will be scrambled.”

 I breathe a sigh of relief. I feel bad for the police who are going to be searching for us, but it's not like we stole anything. We just commandeered the roof for a while.

 All of a sudden Finn lets out a whoop of triumph, so I take it he's successfully fucked up their footage. I say goodbye, laughing at his lone celebration, then hang up.

 The taxi pulls up outside of Crimson and I pay the driver. There's only about five or six people waiting to get in. Dru nods to me as she sees me approach. She's by herself on the door tonight.

 “Hey,” she says as I step in front of her.

 “So you're working for Ethan now?” I ask her with a grin.

 “Yeah,” she pauses to look me up and down. “You look like you just ran a marathon, hun. What's up?”

 I dab my sweaty brow and shrug, going for nonchalance. “It's been a rough night,” I answer, looking away from her and out at the street. I'm still jumpy that a police car is going to come speeding down the road at any minute.

 “You want to talk about it?” she asks, a concerned look on her face.

 “Not really.”

 “Okay, well Ethan's in his office if that's who you're looking for. Oh and I'll warn you that the she-bitch is around, so watch your back. She's got a hard on for you.”

 I visibly deflate at the news that Eliza's in Crimson tonight. Does that woman ever leave the place?

 I look back at Dru. “Thanks for the heads up.” Then I move past her into the darkness of the club. Taking a peek at the VIP section, I notice that there aren't very many vamps here tonight, which is always a good thing. For me anyway. Thankfully I don't see Eliza anywhere. Maybe she left already. Here's to wishful thinking.

 I slip off my coat and drape it over my arm because it's way too warm in here, especially after all the running I've just done, even if I did get to sit down in the taxi for a few minutes. Sneaking past the staff door, I head straight for Ethan's office, but as I near it I hear voices arguing. I stop a foot away from the slightly open door and listen.

 “I can smell her all over you
Ethan
,” a high pitched voice grits out. Eliza. Oh shit, is she talking about me? I look behind me, back down the corridor, and consider leaving. But my curiosity gets the better of me. I stay still and listen.

 “This really is none of your business, Eliza dear,” says Ethan. He sounds smug or self-satisfied in some way. Perhaps he enjoys making Eliza mad.

 “None of my business? Are fucking serious? Ever since that piece of human garbage walked into the club the other night it's like I don't even exist to you anymore. Do you expect me to just take this? I'm the daughter of the Governor for crying out loud!”

 “There was never anything between us,” Ethan says then, his voice low and exasperated. “I've told you this time and again. Just because I might have flirted with you, it doesn't mean I want a relationship.”

 “You're a two-faced bastard, you use people. You made me believe you liked me so that you could get in good with my father. You're a snake.”

 “Myself and Jeremy have been friends for a very long time. I do not need to pretend to be interested his daughter to get into his good graces. And I have never been the kind of man to sleep with a woman in order to further my professional status, if that's what you are implying. Don't get me wrong, you are a very attractive woman, I'm just not interested.”

 Eliza's voice drips with hatred when she responds, “You're just like your father, going around sleeping with human whores, diluting the bloodlines of our species, birthing more of those vile half-breeds.”

 Ethan seems angered now. “My sister is one of those vile half-breeds Eliza, so don't ever refer to the dhamphirs in that way in my presence. I will
not
tolerate it.”

 “Oh, and what if I do?” Eliza snaps.

 “I will inform Jeremy of how you have been trying to lure me into your bed for months. You know he frowns upon you having relations with those who work with him. You need to go and find yourself a nice blue blooded young gentleman, that's what would make your father happy.”

 “You think that just because you run your own business that you aren't just as highly born as I? You can slum it all you want Ethan Cristescu, but you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth just like me.”

 “That is of little consequence. I have always made my own way in the world. I have never relied upon my father's
wealth
or
influence
.” He seems like he's being slyly critical of Eliza now. She makes a very unattractive snort, through her nose I imagine.

 Then there is silence, and I think it might be a good time for me to leave before I get caught eavesdropping. Just as I'm about to turn on my heel, Ethan zooms out of his office and is standing before me. I jerk back in fright.

 “I thought I could smell you,” he says tenderly, dipping his head to press his lips softly to my cheek. He pulls back to gaze at me, and something touches lightly on my mental shields. 

 Suddenly, I'm transported back to last night, where Ethan had held me in his arms, looking deeply into my eyes the whole time he'd touched me and made me feel like the most beautiful thing in the world. Another image comes into view, of Ethan kissing his way down the side of my ribs, nuzzling my hip, and then pulling me into him. Yeah, I don't need a visual reminder of how good that felt. The next image almost knocks me to my knees. It's of me, lying beneath Ethan as he thrusts into me. I can actually
feel
how it felt last night. Fuck. Tingles radiate through me.

 He's using his special talent for planting images in people's minds to remind me of all the things we did together. I have never been more embarrassed in my life, because he's taking in my reaction and he's grinning because he knows how he's affecting me. My cheeks are blazing red.

 “You weren't so shy when you were in my bed,” Ethan whispers, trailing a finger down my neck.

 With mental force I push him out, and it shocks me because I hadn't known I was capable of such a thing. Ethan's eyes widen ever so slightly, and a small smile lifts up the corners of his mouth.

 “You continue to surprise me,
fata frumoasa
,” he chuckles.

 I hear the click of an expensive high heel as Eliza steps out of Ethan's office and looks at me with absolute disgust and hatred.

 “You have such tender words for her Ethan. It makes me wonder if perhaps your little pet means more to you than simply a bed warmer and a food source.” Eliza's voice cuts into me, encouraging the grimace that settles itself on my lips.

 Ethan's hand takes hold of my wrist, and his thumb makes calming circles in the centre of my palm. “Our relationship is none of your concern,” he replies, in a frightening monotone.

 Eliza glances down and makes a show of admiring her long, red painted fingernails. “Perhaps not, but I'm sure my father would be interested to know
why
you are so strangely attached to her.”

 My anxious heart leaps into action at the thoughts of Whitfield discovering what I truly am. More sweat slithers across my forehead. I'm seriously going to die of some kind of fear overdose before this night is through.

 Ethan steps in front of me now, holding my wrist firmly in his hand. His words are still laced with calm, but there's no mistaking the threat when he says, “Bringing your father into this would be a very bad idea Eliza. Remember that and remember who you are dealing with. I am not the kind of enemy you want to gain. Now, I believe you have just about over stayed your welcome on my premises.”

 Eliza visibly blanches at what Ethan has said to her. I wonder exactly what could make Ethan such a fearful enemy to have. With a hate-filled flick of her honey coloured hair over her shoulder, she strides down the corridor and out into the main area of the club.

 “You don't need to fight with her on my behalf,” I whisper.

 Ethan turns to me. “She is trying to interfere in our relationship Tegan, of course I will fight with her if she is going to attack you. But don't worry, Eliza likes to spout threats. In essence she is a coward who has spent her life hiding behind her father. So forget about her, she is of little consequence to us.” He pulls me into his office and shuts the door, before pushing me up against his orderly black desk.

 My coat falls from my arm and onto the floor. Ethan uses his knee to push apart my legs before placing himself between them and taking hold of my hips.

 “You're all sweaty,” he breathes. “Do you know how good you smell when you sweat? I got a good show of it last night. I've never seen anything more beautiful than you in my bed in my entire life, all tangled up in my sheets. But you left this morning, that displeased me. You should have stayed. I wanted to wake up with you in my arms.”