The Reckoning (Unbounded Series #4) (10 page)

“Do you know how to remove them?”

Jeane’s blue eyes glittered with an emotion I couldn’t name. “I’m assuming you have a binding you need to get rid of, but all I can say is that I don’t know how. Most of Delia’s assistants either died or remained faithful. Those seemed to be the only choices available.” Again the mocking tone. “Except for me, apparently.”

Ava was silent for a long while, studying Jeane. Finally, she came to a decision, which I silently agreed to. “Delia placed a binding in my granddaughter’s head.”

Jeane leaned suddenly forward. “Let me guess—the representation is a snake.”

“That’s right.”

“She always uses snakes.” Jeane rolled her eyes. “Little imagination, that one.”

Ava nodded and continued. “This is definitely not a typical binding because it isn’t there to prevent Erin from spilling any secrets, but it
is
growing, and neither of us has been successful in removing it. However, we have been able to contain it somewhat by using a similar binding made from Erin’s thoughts.”

“If Delia isn’t hiding information, then she’s using the binding as a portal, and once it’s large enough, she’ll be able to connect with it and control you.” Jeane’s eyes met mine as she shook her head. “I’m sorry. There’s really nothing I can do.”

“Well, it stopped feeding when you came into the room,” Ava said.

Jeane relaxed again in her seat. “Ah. Well, yes. By now the binding has some power of its own, but it will be interrupted when I’m around. It can’t feed without its link to Delia, however thin the connection between them might be. The effect is more apparent if I’m trying.”

All at once Ava’s presence disappeared from my mind. I could no longer sense Ritter, and even my friends’ life forces were suddenly snuffed out. A deep sense of loss came over me, as if I’d lost the ability to speak or to walk, to touch or to see. Blinded as if I’d been cast into a dark pit.

“Stop it!” I said. Mentally, I cried out at the gaping blackness that now existed where before I’d experienced an entire range of feelings and perceptions. Everything in me that was Unbounded begged to permanently erase this new risk.

Jeane only smirked.

I launched myself at her, my hands going around her throat. Her chair went hurtling backward with my momentum—with her still in it. I went forward with her, exerting more pressure on her neck. Her chair slammed against the wall and we stopped with a jolt.

I pushed harder, but my mind was still dark.

Jeane tried to fight back, but she was weak and slow. She barely had a hand up before my ballistic knife was out of my boot and aimed at her heart. It wouldn’t permanently kill her, but it would give her a lot of pain and me more than a little satisfaction. It would put an end to her effort to null us.

I heard Ritter come toward me but still couldn’t feel him with my mind. I felt frantic, unmade.

“Okay!” Jeane choked past my grip.

All at once, it came flooding back. The life forces, my connection with Ritter. Ava in my mind.

“Don’t,” I gritted, “do that again. Ever.” With tremendous effort, I made myself release her.

The others were staring at me with different levels of surprise—Ritter with a slight smile playing on his lips. Only Ava really understood my reaction because she knew what our gift entailed.

“Okay,” Cort said slowly and soothingly, as if I were a wild animal, “I’m assuming that Jeane just gave you an example of a targeted nullification.”

“Right.” I sat hard in my chair, still gripping the ballistic knife. The safety it represented soothed me.

“I’m sorry,” Jeane said, pulling her chair back up to the table. I noticed she was closer to Dimitri now and as far from me as she could get without moving to another seat completely. “I didn’t mean anything by it. You didn’t have to go all Amazon on me. There are some people who enjoy having a break from their abilities.” Her gaze went to Dimitri, suddenly shuttered by lowered lids. “Imagine spending the night with a woman whose body doesn’t cry out for comfort or healing but only for your touch.” Her eyes went to Cort. “Or imagine not having to see connections and patterns for just one night while you lose yourself in the arms of a beautiful woman.”

Next, she rotated in her chair to focus on Ritter, which made me want to tear her eyes out. “Imagine not having your senses divided while you make love to the woman of your dreams, concentrating only on the pleasure instead of the dangers that might be lurking around the corner. You can’t turn off your combat senses, but I can. That allows you to feel other things more . . . profoundly.” She rolled her neck, laughing lightly, the sound full of promise, but she faced the table again when Dimitri and Cort responded only with expressions of discomfort and Ritter with a slight sneer. “Anyway, I meant nothing by my demonstration.”

Despite her annoying behavior, I knew what had to happen. “She’ll come with us,” I said to Ava.

Behind me, Ritter bristled, but it was Ava I had to convince. He wouldn’t be in charge until Venezuela.

She doesn’t seem to have much fighting ability,
I added silently to Ava,
and she’ll only be a pain to Marco or whoever stays behind.
Aloud, for the others, I added, “There are bound to be Emporium agents guarding the plutonium factory. We might be able to use her.”

“Assuming she can be trusted.” Ritter of course, and I would be a liar if I wasn’t glad that he didn’t want her along.

Jeane’s lips tightened. “Look, if this hurts Delia, I’m in. After that, I make no promises. I don’t much like your hospitality.” Her hand stroked the red welt I’d imprinted on her neck, though it was already starting to heal.

Ava looked at Dimitri, obviously seeking his opinion. There was more between them, an unspoken attraction, but I hadn’t yet determined if they were aware of it themselves. He arose and came to stand between me and Jeane, placing a hand on my face. “I don’t feel the parasite feeding now, so I can verify that much. But it’s still there. Like a heavy, cancerous mass. Keep in mind that having Jeane along is only a temporary fix—like your box.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Cort said. “The patterns around Jeane seem to be the opposite of the binding. She may even be the key to getting rid of it altogether.”

“How?” Jeane and I spoke at the same time.

Cort shook his head. “That I can’t say. We’ll need to experiment.”

Ava stood abruptly, her decision made. “Okay then. Jeane goes to Venezuela.”

FOR A MOMENT THERE WAS
silence as everyone adjusted to this new plan. “But you go too, Cort,” Ava added before any of us could weigh in. “Ritter won’t be able to keep an eye on her, so that will fall to you.”

“What about our trip to Washington?” Cort asked.

“I’m sure the president can rustle up some authorities on plutonium and nuclear weapons, even if they don’t have the experience you do. If not, well, keep your phone handy.” Ava’s gaze went once more to Dimitri. “Guess we’re flying commercial to DC.”

“Won’t be the last time.” His grin was warmer than the exchange called for, and I wondered if there was some private story behind it.

“Help Jeane get ready,” Ava said to Cort. “Stella should be able to set her up with some clothing. You have less than three hours to get to the airport.” To Jeane, she added almost as an afterthought, “Ritter will have full authority on this op. He won’t ask you to do something twice.”

Jeane gave Ava her open-mouthed, innocent smile. “He won’t have to. Once is all he’ll need.” Sexual overtones oozed from the words.

Without replying, Ava motioned for Cort to take Jeane away.

“I’ll go order our tickets,” Dimitri said, following them out the door.

Ritter stepped close to where I still sat, bending over to whisper in my ear. “Next time push an inch lower on her neck. It’ll hurt more—right before she passes out.”

I snorted a laugh, wishing we were alone so I could show him just how much I appreciated his statement. But already Ava was standing by the door, her arms folded as she apparently waited for Ritter to leave.

Ritter’s hand passed casually over my lap, depositing something small and warm and hard. My fingers closed over it. “I told you I’d get you another knife.” His breath was hot on my ear and sent fire running down my neck. “It’s special. Don’t touch the tip.”

The courtship of a combat Unbounded required the gifting of weapons that were valuable or important. Accepting them was paramount to accepting a proposal. This had first caused me turmoil, but I was long past that. I gripped the small casing. “I’ll be careful.”

He left the room so fast my eyes had trouble following the movement, but my mind followed just fine. Wherever he might go in the Fortress, I could maintain at least some thread of mental connection with only minimal effort.

Was that what Delia was able to do with me through her binding?

Ava left the door and leaned on the table next to me. “I don’t trust her,” she said. “Not completely, though I believe her hatred of Delia is real. It’d be different if we could see her thoughts and know what her intentions are.”

“Are you thinking she’s a plant?” I furrowed my brow. “I don’t see how Delia could have planned that. She didn’t know I’d get away from her in New York, much less bring Jeane with me.”

“I agree, but that doesn’t mean Jeane’s plans line up with our own. I’m only letting her go because it’s safer for you. At the rate that thing is growing, there isn’t a lot of time left.”

“That’s really why you’re sending Cort, isn’t it?”

She nodded and put her hand over mine on the table. “Erin, you are the most powerful sensing Unbounded I’ve ever met besides Delia, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I was worried.”

“When Jeane nulled my ability,” I said, “I felt like someone had put my eyes out. I can’t seem to stop using it even when my shield is up.”

“That’s no surprise. It’s just another one of our senses. You don’t think when you smell or taste something, do you?”

“How do Ritter, Cort, and the others stand not being able to sense?” And to think I’d once complained of the intrusion of others into my head.

Ava laughed as she patted my hand and pushed off from the table. “I know what you mean, but I imagine our friends feel every bit the same way about their own abilities as you do about yours. You’ve channeled most of them. Next time pay attention to how you feel about losing their abilities when you’re finished.” She held up a hand. “But go easy on the channeling until Venezuela, especially if Jeane isn’t nearby. We can’t have that snake bursting out of your box.”

I came slowly to my feet, clutching Ritter’s knife like a lifeline. “I’m going to build another box around the first one, just to make sure.”

“Well, I’ve lined it with my own binding, but that’s probably a good idea. Mine doesn’t have any life of its own the way Delia’s seems to.”

I left the conference room feeling a little at odds. I was glad to be going to Venezuela, but the idea of depending on Jeane made me nervous. If she could stop the blue lights, she could also choose not to block them. We still had no confirmation of her loyalties.

Though I should probably join the others in the downstairs kitchen, especially to say goodbye to my niece and nephew, the roof called to me. Not because I wanted to be anywhere near the height or to experience the terrible fear, but because I wanted to prove to myself that I could control something. I took the carpeted stairs, running as fast as I could from one floor to the next until I reached the third floor. But as I moved toward the utility closet that we’d remodeled to give roof access, emotion flared from the small upstairs sitting room that intersected the hallway. I halted as I passed the room.

Chris and Stella stood near the couch in each other’s arms. Stella had her eyes closed and her mouth was open as Chris kissed her. They pushed closer, the intensity of their kiss exploding until I clamped my shield shut. Even then I could feel something, and the bright glow of their life forces told me neither of them were bothering with shields.

Obviously, Stella was getting over her husband’s death.

Chris’s hands roamed over her back, pulling her tightly to him. Stella’s hand crept under his shirt.

I cleared my throat and they sprang apart. Immediately both their shields came down tightly over their minds. “Uh, a little late for the shields,” I told them.

Chris grinned at me. “Hey, Erin.” He looked at Stella again as if I hadn’t interrupted anything private. “I’d better go tell the kids goodbye and then get to the airport to check on the fueling and flight plans.” He squeezed Stella’s hand in farewell before sauntering into the hallway, winking at me as he passed. His bright whistle filtered back as he headed toward the elevator.

I waited until the glow of his life force moved to the next floor before confronting Stella. “What was all that about?” She was my best friend, but Chris was my brother, and my first loyalty had to be with him. “I know you’re not in love with him.”

Stella sighed, her beautiful face grimacing in distress. “Look, it’s not what you think.”

“What do I think?”

She rubbed her hands over her face. “It’s rather hard to explain.”