The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) (31 page)

She wasted my food. Now I was pissed.

“Dammit!” I rose to my feet like a phoenix. “I wasn’t
finished
with my meal yet.”

“Oh, does the little princess want more eggs?” Jada
taunted.

“Yeah, actually I do. Thanks.” I waved her off like a
servant.

It was only a blink, the calm before the storm where
you could hear everyone suck in their breaths, then the storm
crashed onto the shore.

People wailed with excited cheers as Jada flung
herself over the table, her nails coming at me like missiles.

Finally.

The guards yelled as they moved away from the
walls.

I snapped up the empty tray on the table and swung it
at her face. The plastic vibrated as it made contact with her
head.

Hoots and whistles buzzed in my ears along with the
adrenaline. The noises became background as I focused on my target.
I needed to learn her weakness.

Jada continued to smack talk, but she did not
hesitate in striking out at me. She had the tendency to claw at me
in between punches. Old schoolgirl fighting—scratching, pulling
hair, and nail gouging.

I nailed her in the eye, knocking her across the
table. Her back slipped over gooey oatmeal, and orange juice
spilled into her eyes. She touched the back of her head, where
oatmeal and egg clung to her curls in globs.

“You bitch.” She grabbed a tray, ramming it into my
stomach. I curled over. She flew at me, knocking us both to the
ground. She seized my hair, banging my head against the cement. I
curled my elbow in, stabbing her in the soft part of her throat.
She rolled to the side, coughing. I took advantage, obtaining the
upper hand, literally. I climbed on top of her, my hand connecting
with her mouth, cheeks, and eyes.

The girls cheered as we fought.

“What the hell?” Carlos’ voice reverberated from the
doorway. “Stop this!”

The guards who had been letting us go at it suddenly
jumped in, trying to split us apart. “Get a hold of her.” My body
was pulled back, a voice yelling in my ear. But I wasn’t done. She
needed a final lesson.

“Stop.” Carlos grabbed for my arms, trying to contain
them.

“No.” The word almost came out inaudible.

“Okay, I warned you.”

Suddenly my body was on the ground, twitching and
flapping around like a fish. Pain so intense I couldn’t see
pummeled down each vein, shredding them. My muscles seized, ripping
the air from my lungs. My eyes were still open, but I could not
focus on anything. My thoughts retreated to the faraway depths of
my mind.

Finally, oblivion consumed all my senses.

I scanned the area. The off-white walls were blank,
but I knew them well. The DMG training room was like a second home
to me. The floor was adorned with black mats, which Daniel had
thrown me down on way too many times to count. A girl stood a short
distance away, her back to me.

“
Hello?” I called out.

She turned around, and I let out a gasp. The girl
staring back at me was me.

“
You are a pain in the ass, Zoey Daniels.” She
walked to me.

“
Excuse me?”

“
You are trapping us in this hell.”

“
Since this is a dream, it’s you who dragged me
here.” I motioned around the room.

“
No, not here, here.” The other me rolled her
eyes. “I mean here as in this prison camp you have stranded us
in.”

“
Do you think I want to be here?”

“
No, but you are the one keeping us here.”

“
What?” I exclaimed. “How am I keeping us... me
here? I have a monitor strapped to my ankle and over seven guns
trained at my head at any given time. How is it my fault?”

“
Because the decision is yours.”

Annoyance at myself was growing, shifting my weight
between my feet.

“
Don’t you see? You’re the one blocking it,” her
voice echoed my irritation.

“
Blocking what?”

“
The magic.” Without warning she swung her arm. I
barely ducked in time, feeling her arms skim over my head. I jumped
up and danced back. A smirk grew on my other self’s face. “Stop
fighting it. Let it in... don’t you feel it? Wanting to come out?
To be part of you? As soon as you heard about him, how it was
killing him, you cut it off.” She lunged forward, and I fell,
somersaulting backward till I was on my feet again, pushing her
back.

“
You don’t think I haven’t tried to bring the
powers out? To get the hell out of here? But nothing
happens.”

She wrapped her leg around mine and ripped my feet
out from under me. I hit the mat. “The problem is you can’t lie to
me. I know.” Her hand came for my throat, and I rolled out of the
way, bounding back on my feet. “You’re blocking them because you’re
too scared to fully accept them. To take them from him.”

I hooked my arm in a punch as she bobbed near. She
weaved out of my reach.

“
He has made you weak,” she sneered. “Love has
turned you soft.”

“
Love?” I scoffed. “You think I’m in love with
him? I care about him a lot, but—”

“
Yeah, keep telling yourself that.” My twin
circled me, trying to move in closer. “It’s killing you. Holding on
to the idea of one, while loving another.”

I immediately wanted to dispute her claim. Daniel
was the only man I would ever truly love. The image of his smiling
face, all he had sacrificed for me. Guilt twisted my stomach. No.
Only Daniel. I cared for Ryker, but not loved. I did not throw that
word around. Love was frightening and held enormous power for me.
Only two people ever reached that level with me. And after losing
them, there was no way I’d let in a third.

Especially Ryker.

There was no doubt he’d wormed in enough that I
would do anything for him, protect him with everything I had, but I
did not love him. I couldn’t.

Her foot came up, slamming into my stomach. I went
sailing back, hitting the ground with a thud. I couldn’t move. My
own face came into view, leaning over.

“
It is up to you, Zoey. You can change your own
fate.” She moved closer to my face, her features turning fuzzy the
closer she got, till I could no longer make out my own
appearance.

“Hey?” the blurry figure said. I saw her hand move
and a sting zipped across my cheek. My vison cleared. Maria sat in
front of me with a frown etched on her face.

I blinked, trying to sit up. Instead, I continued to
lie there, my muscles unresponsive.

“Your body is traumatized. It will be a couple more
hours before it will fully function again.” She sat back on her
heels. “I am really sorry I missed you being electrocuted. I would
do it again simply to watch it for myself, but Duc will be here
tonight, and I need his new prize not to be shitting herself.” She
pressed her bright red lips together, barely containing her
laughter.

Oh hell
.

“Regrettably, you only peed yourself. Still funny
though.” She got back on her feet. “But because of this incident,
both you and Jada are in confinement. We need to keep order and
can’t have our girls fighting each other out of the ring.” She
grinned. She knew perfectly well bringing me down would cause a
fight. She wanted this to happen.

Maria stepped to the door and another figure joined
her. I didn’t need to see him to know it was Carlos. His hand went
to her lower back, escorting her out of the door. The door clicked
shut behind them, the room going dark.

I was back in the room where I had been before.
Though I couldn’t move, I felt the shackles back around my limbs,
the ankle device replaced by a metal one. I could also feel my
pants were soggy at the crotch. Awesome. When you are stunned with
what seemed like thousands of bolts of electricity, losing bladder
control was the least of your problems. But the chilly stone floor
only emphasized the dampness and caused my muscles to lock up
more.

It is up to you, Zoey. You can change your own
fate
, a faraway voice in my head spoke.

Was I the only reason I was still lying here in my
own urine? Was I blocking Ryker’s powers out of fear or guilt?
Because I cared too much about him? My brain wasn’t ready to mull
through heavy thoughts. Instead, I concentrated on trying to get my
muscles to move.

It took me fifteen minutes before my fingers and toes
could wiggle. In twenty, I was able to sit up but left drained. The
simple movement of trying to lift my head was like pulling it out
of drying cement. A weight of a bowling ball attached to my
shoulders made it hard to curl forward, propping myself up higher.
My arms hung lifelessly, prickling as sensation started flowing
down to my fingers. My forehead lined with sweat, I leaned back
against the wall, spent.

The door squeaked open, and Annabeth and Hiro
ventured into the room. Annabeth carried a fresh pair of yoga pants
and Red Cross issued underwear. I was all too acquainted with the
generic brand of underwear they used, stealing many myself.

“I need to get her in clean pants.” Annabeth pointed
at the cuffs around my ankles.

Hiro grunted, shaking his head.

“I can’t get pants off or on with the ankle chains.”
Her voice was soft, but determined. “I need those off. She can’t do
anything with her arms still bound.”

“I’ll be good.” The words slurred out of my mouth, my
tongue still having problems coordinating itself.

Hiro finally relented and pulled a key from his belt.
There was a moment I thought about betraying my word and attacking
him the moment he mobilized my legs. But I wasn’t strong enough
yet, and there were too many guards outside the door to get
through. My energy would be wasted, and I’d probably be beaten till
I blacked out again. I would wait. Bide my time.

My ankles were released from the binding and Annabeth
kneeled in front of me. She glanced over her shoulder. “You don’t
need to watch.”

Hiro’s eyes widened then narrowed into dangerous
slits. His face gave the impression he was horrified at the thought
he might enjoy watching me be changed. He walked out mumbling words
in Chinese. I didn’t understand them, but by the tone I could tell
they weren’t pleasant. He kept the door partway open and stood
rigidly on the other side. It was more privacy than I expected.

“Here, I brought you this.” She held out a granola
bar. “It’s all I could grab undetected.”

This girl was officially on my “favorite people”
list.

She unwrapped it and handed it to me. I grabbed the
familiar item, shoving it into my mouth. If I weren’t starving, I
probably would have gagged. Even the wrapper reminded me of the
countless days these bars were my breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I
grew to despise them, but hunger always won out over taste
buds.

Annabeth went quietly to work changing me.

“Thank you,” I forced out. It was slow and choppy,
but at least they sounded like actual words. Annabeth nodded, not
looking at me. I watched her. She possessed a quiet strength,
holding her shoulders back while keeping her head downcast. It was
like she hoped to go unnoticed, but an inner strength was ingrained
in her, something you perceived no matter how invisible she wanted
to be. Someone who probably curled in a ball and cried quietly to
herself, but rose each morning without complaint, doing what she
needed to do to survive.

“How did you get here?” Her light blue eyes flickered
to mine then back down. “I promise, Annabeth, I won’t hurt you. I
want to help get you out of here.”

“And go where?” Her brows furrowed.

“Don’t you have any family? Friends?”

Liquid coated her eyes before she blinked, pushing
the tears back, her voice barely above a whisper. “No.” She
swallowed, feeling my curious gaze on her.