Touching Darkness (21 page)

Nicholas jerked his head to look behind him.

“What? Is someone following us?”

“I thought I saw something…never mind.” He settled his hand on the bottom of the steering wheel. “Yes, Eric attacked Jerryl—”

“While he was making love with his girlfriend!”

“It was unprovoked in that moment, but he had to take him out when he was vulnerable. Eric and Jerryl had a personal vendetta.”

“I heard Jerryl talking about that. He
was
after Eric, hated him. And he tried to kill Eric's sister. But Eric doesn't sound like a good guy, either.”

He let out a breath. “I have a hard time with him, too. I'm a black-and-white kind of guy. Either you're good or bad. The Rogues…I'm sorry, Livvie, but they're the better side. Your father is hunting them down because they're a threat to his program. He's crossed the line, now and twenty-five years ago, and he'll do anything to keep his program secret. He had our parents killed, the ones in the first program. He had me finding the women so an assassin could take them out. These women aren't cold-hearted terrorists. They heal, they love, they're scared, and they're angry.”

She couldn't believe her father would kill innocent people. There was more to it, maybe a misunderstanding. Now Nicholas was taking her to the enemy's den.

She shivered. “Where are we?”

“Annapolis.”

“Is it really safe there? Sayre can't get in?”

“Jerryl got in once, when he tried to get Petra to kill herself, but he had a psychic connection with her. I don't think Sayre will be able to get to you.”

“I hope not.” The words came out so soft and high-pitched, the fear so audible, Nicholas gave her thigh a squeeze of comfort.

A few minutes later, he said, “I'm going to have to ask you to look down, Livvie.”

She lay down, her head on his thigh, and closed her
eyes. Dread tightened her chest. She could hear the tires crunch on gravel, then the sound of a garage door open and close.

“Stay there for a second. I've got to find something to use as a blindfold.”

His regret at doing so was clear. She sat up in the seat but remained in a bowed position, remembering when he had donned a blindfold and jumped from the balcony. Now she knew he'd been using his psychic ability to find that ball.

He opened her door a minute later. “I found a clean rag in the tool chest.”

Flashbacks of when Sayre had tied the bonds around her shot panic into her stomach. But this was Nicholas. He wouldn't hurt her.

The fabric was soft over her eyes. He knotted it at the back of her head and braced his hands on her face. “Are you okay?” Her nod was noncommittal.

Her legs were still wobbly when he helped her to her feet.

“Trust me,” he whispered, the words vibrating into her chest.

“Right now, you're the only person I do trust.”

He pulled her against him and smoothed her hair from her face. It was a tender action that softened her fear a little. “I know you'd never tell your father where the Rogues are, but they don't. I just want you to be prepared. They'll be angry at me, but they won't hurt you.”

“I hope you're right.” It hit her then. “Because…to them, I'm the enemy. If I told my father where they were…”

His voice sounded grave. “We would be dead.”

He held her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “I wouldn't have brought you here if I wasn't sure.”

He led her outside and across an expanse of grass. They stopped, and she heard him doing something.

He pulled her into what felt like a closed-in place that smelled of gasoline. He closed a door, she guessed, and opened another one. “You're going to step down a ladder. I'll be right below you if you lose your footing.”

Had he noticed her shaky legs? He placed her feet on the top rung, and she felt her way down. She wasn't quite relieved when they reached the bottom. She was closer to seeing the Rogues. He led her down what felt like a damp, cool, underground tunnel. She wondered if they were in some bunker or hidden tunnels from an old war. To help the unease, she brought a song to mind that they'd played at the roller derby bout: “Headlong” by Queen.

Their footsteps echoed on concrete walls, and she saw faint light down by her feet in the gap beneath the blindfold.

He stopped a couple of minutes later. “We're here. Stay back for a few seconds. Let me tell them before they see you.”

She heard beeping sounds, like a keypad being punched. Then a sliding sound.

“Nicholas!” a woman said. “Did you find Olivia?”

“Why didn't you call and let us know what happened?” a man asked.

Nicholas said, “I'm sorry. I was distracted.”

“Oh, my God, what happened?” Yet another female. “Someone beat the hell out of you.”

These people, they were concerned about Nicholas. And about, apparently, his quest to save her. Hadn't he said Lucas and Eric had helped?

“I'm all right. And so is Livvie. And…she's here.” He tugged her forward. She heard the door slide closed behind her, making her throat tighten in panic. He removed her blindfold.

Six people stood in a large room, and instantly their looks of concern morphed to shock.

One man wasn't just shocked; he was pissed. He was big, with light blue eyes and bright blond hair. He stalked up to
Nicholas, his mouth in a snarl. “You brought her
here
?” He pointed to her but kept his fiery gaze on Nicholas. “You brought
her
here? Are you shittin' me? Are you
frigging shittin'
me?”

Nicholas pulled her close. Was he worried they'd hurt her?

“Eric, calm down. She can be trusted. She's been in the dark since we hit Annapolis.”

So that was Eric Aruda. He was good-looking in a fierce way, with a square, muscular build and a face to match. “You just brought the enemy into the one safe place we have!”

“I have to agree.” This from the man she recognized as Lucas—who gave her a shudder because he looked like Sayre. Except his eyes were beautiful, not flat. “Bringing her here was a bad idea. Even with the blindfold, she now knows enough to give him clues.”

Eric kept jabbing his finger at Nicholas. “This is what I keep telling you all about letting your emotions get in the way of logic. I don't even know if
you
can be trusted yet, and you bring
her
here. Well, guess what? The only way to keep our location safe is to keep her here.”

Everyone looked at Eric in surprise.

Nicholas's shoulders tensed. “What do you mean by that?”

His voice lowered, along with his chin, as he leveled a hard stare at Nicholas. “She's not leaving.”

G
erard Darkwell punched in the number from which Olivia had called. Then he called her condo and her cell phone. No answer anywhere. She'd hung up on him. Was he losing control over everyone? She was his daughter!

Nicholas's warning and her feelings for him were messing with her mind. Had she really been nearly raped by Lucas? She'd sounded scared, and she was calling at five in the morning from a location other than her home. Something had happened.

Wait a minute. Maybe she hadn't hung up on him. Maybe someone else had.

He tried her cell phone again. “Dammit!”

He threw it on the bedroom floor, where it bounced off the plush carpet. He had to find her. Jerryl and Nicholas, his remote viewers, were gone. But he had Fonda. She wasn't as good as they were, but she was learning. And besides Sayre, she was all he had. He didn't want Sayre to know about Olivia, so he called Fonda at home.

“Did something happen?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Olivia is missing. I think the Rogues have her. She was able to call me, but we got cut off. I need you to astral project to her.”

“I'll call you back.”

Fonda could project her soul to another location by focusing on an object or person known to be there. The only drawback was that she could be seen. She'd been practicing and popped into his office by mistake. It had been eerie; she looked like a ghost. But she couldn't stay anywhere long, not yet, anyway. He hadn't really worked with her much because he'd been too involved with Jerryl. And, he had to admit, he saw her as weaker because she was a woman, and a small one at that.

Fonda, though, possessed the same kind of fierceness Jerryl had. When she mastered her skills, she would be an amazing weapon. Especially now that anger had set her ablaze as much as Eric had set her lover ablaze. He hoped she would make Eric her blood feud.

Fifteen agonizing minutes dragged by before his phone rang. His first hope was that it was Olivia. It was Fonda, the next best thing.

“I was able to find her.” She sounded breathless.

“Is she all right?”

“She's in a car with Nicholas. I projected into the backseat.”

Fear paralyzed him. “I knew it. When he pretended to warn her about someone hurting her, it was a ploy to get her out of here. She was so sure he wouldn't hurt her. Now he has her, and he's probably taking her to the Rogues.” Would they kill her to spite him? Or try to ransom her for…what? His daughter's life for his? For the files that no longer existed?

“I had to be careful; I didn't want him to see me like he did when I projected into his room. His arm was pointed in her direction, like he was holding a gun on her. I leaned around the seat to make sure she was all right. She looked scared. But not of Nicholas. His hand was on her leg, in an affectionate way. A protective way.” Her voice caught. “Like Jerryl used to touch me.” She grew silent for a moment. “She's with him voluntarily.”

He was so shocked he actually stuttered. “I…d-don't believe it.” Not his daughter. “How could she…?” He couldn't wrap his head around it. If Lucas had just tried to rape her…but no, she didn't think it was Lucas. Now she would be going to their lair, and no one would protect her. Frustration and helplessness swamped him. “Report to the estate first thing tomorrow morning. We've got work to do.” He would have her try to get into their hideout, though he wasn't overly hopeful she'd succeed. No one else had.

“Sure thing.”

He hung up. His knees buckled, and he slumped to the floor. Nicholas had obviously brainwashed Olivia in a much stronger way than he ever could have. She was lonely, susceptible.

Or…she had simply betrayed him. The thought of it stabbed him like a sword through his heart. He would get his daughter back. Then he would deal with her as she deserved.

 

Olivia moved closer to Nicholas, pressing her body against his. Hadn't she known this was a bad idea? She had escaped one dangerous situation only to be thrust into another.

One of the women turned off a news story about a cult's mass suicide.

Nicholas tightened his arm around her waist. “Once we tell you what happened, you'll understand why there was no other place I could take her. If you don't…you'll have to fight me to keep her prisoner.”

She swung around to face him. He would do that to protect her? Yes, she could see he would. If he would have killed Sayre, he'd probably do anything. For her. Like he'd described the female Rogues, she was scared. She was angry. And…she looked at Nicholas. She didn't want to, but she loved. Loved him?
Great time to realize that.

She faced the group. “I'm not going to tell my father about this place. I don't want people killed, not even you.”

Eric crossed his arms in front of his chest, making him look even bigger. “Not even the vicious bad guys. That's what you think we are, don't you?”

Lucas held out his hand. “She's here, so we might as well listen to what they have to say.”

“Wait.” Olivia stepped forward. “Nicholas was cut pretty badly. He needs it cleaned and dressed.”

Nicholas had been standing so close to her, no one had seen the bloody sleeve. When she stepped away, she heard two of the women gasp.

A tall woman with long, straight blond hair walked over and took his hand so she could see the cut better. Nicholas grimaced at the movement. She winced at the sight of it. Then she closed her eyes and waved her hand over it. The wound just…disappeared.
Vanished!
The woman lifted her hand to his face and did the same to the bruises. She opened her eyes and smiled.

Olivia's mouth gaped, her eyes wide. She reached out and ran her fingers over Nicholas's unmarred face. “I can't…” She was too stunned to finish.

Nicholas looked at his arm, dirty but no sign of the cut. “That's amazing. Thank you, Petra.”

Petra turned to the others. “I discovered I can heal smaller wounds without taking a hit.”

Petra heals wounds. That's how Lucas and Eric didn't die.

Eric threw up his hands. “Great, now she knows something else about us.”

The shorter woman with frizzy dark blond hair waved her arm toward the other side of the big space that Olivia could now see was divided into dining room and living area. “Let's sit down and talk. You both look like you're going to fall over.”

Somehow, this basement dwelling looked cozy. It was decorated with bright, vivid paintings, the walls done in different colors. There was a pseudowindow on one wall that was so real she could almost smell the fresh air.

Eric might be angry, but the rest of them looked worried—because of her. To them, her father was the big, bad wolf. And so was she.

A screeching sound came from a hallway leading off the main room. “What's that?”

The dark blonde waved her hand in dismissal. “It's my parrot, Orn'ry. He hates being left out.”

Eric narrowed his eyes at her. “Don't you even think about bringing it in here.”

She met his gaze with equal hostility. “Fine.”

“Popcorn!” it called in its parrot voice.

“Dead bird!” Eric called back.

“Kill the bird, kill the bird!”

Eric rolled his eyes in an
I'd love to
way.

Nicholas drew her to the end of a big pit group, tucking her into the corner and sitting next to her. Feeling his body pressing against hers gave her strength to deal with those angry or worried faces.

Nicholas asked her, “What do you know about the Rogues?”

“Not much. I work—worked in the administrative side, mostly dealing with the contract employees. My father kept me out of the program itself.” Her voice got softer. “Now I see why.”

Lucas sank onto a chair in front of an easel in the corner, and the dark blonde-haired woman settled on his lap. His expression was rigid.

Olivia met his gaze. “I'm sorry for what my father did to you.”

“I appreciate what you did.”

Her gaze moved to the woman with him. “You must be Amy. I never forgot Lucas calling out for you in his delirium.” Amy, too, looked haunted by that thought.

Eric remained standing. “Speaking of prisoners…do you know what your dear father was doing to Lucas? Shooting him up with some substance that's tearing his
mind apart. Rand here was also a prisoner, but he got off a little easier. Your dad only gave him hallucinogenic drugs to see if they would enhance his psychic abilities.”

She wanted to deny that her father would do such a heinous thing. Before she could even finish the thought, a memory jumped to mind. Her hand went to her mouth. The injection Harry was supposed to give Lucas the night the Rogues broke him out.

Eric gave her a smug smile. “What's wrong? Can't stand the thought of Daddy playing mad scientist with someone's life?”

She ignored Eric's bitter question and looked at Lucas. “When you had those fevers…”

He nodded, his face shadowed. “From the injections.”

“Harry was so insistent on giving you that shot the night they broke you out. He was evasive as to what it was, but you were shaking too hard for him to administer it. I told him I'd take care of it for him, so he could eat. But something about that shot bothered me, and I was more concerned with getting your temperature down. After you were gone, Harry was worried about my father finding out you hadn't gotten the shot.” She stuck her thumb in her mouth and started chewing the nail. Had her father done all this? Was he the bad guy and these people innocent? The thought ripped at her.

“He got three of those shots.” The anger in Amy's green eyes softened. “The fourth one would have killed him. You probably saved his life. But we've got to find out what was in those injections. Have you ever heard your father talk about the Booster?”

Olivia shook her head. “I wish I could help you.”

Amy got to her feet and walked closer. “What about this Harry? Would he know?”

Olivia laughed without humor, shaking her head. “He doesn't even know
me.
” She told them about the former employees who were miraculously healed, too.

Rand's face relaxed. “None of those guys died?”

“Their injuries were gone. And so were their memories of working at the asylum. But they did have memories of working other assignments, so it wasn't as though there was a gap.”

Eric perched on the coffee table in front of her. “What the hell is going on over there?”

“I wish I knew.” She remembered the guy who'd knocked her out that night. Big guy. Big, like Eric. “You're the one who hit me with your gun.”

He shrugged. “It was nothing personal. You were in the way. Yeah, we hurt people. Shot people. Your father destroyed our families. Twenty-five years ago, he gave our parents the same stuff he put into Lucas. Within a few years, they were dead. All we wanted was the truth. Darkwell would rather kill us. So if I sound harsh, so be it. My mother burned herself to death, I'm a freak of nature, and now I'm a hunted animal. All because of your father.”

Pieces began to click into place, little suspicions she'd ignored, questions he wouldn't answer. She remembered the coldness on his face when she'd talked to him about Sayre. “I'm sorry. Sorry for what he's done.” She took a breath. “The man who attacked me tonight…” She looked at Lucas, and his face paled.

“Go ahead. Tell us,” he said.

“His name is Sayre Andrus. My father brought him into the program from prison. He's a murderer, a psychopath…and he's your twin brother.”

Lucas went perfectly still. She wasn't sure he'd heard her.

“Your identical twin. He said you were raised in a nice family and he was raised by pack rats. He was pretty bitter about it. But he's not your average psychopath. He can get into people's dreams and…make them do things.”

Lucas asked, “Like possess them?”

“That's what he did to Olivia,” Nicholas said, his hand tightening on hers.

She looked at Lucas. “My father thinks it's you, but I knew it wasn't. The way you called out for Amy, you weren't the kind of guy who could do this.”

Trust yourself.

She had, and she'd been right. With Nicholas, too.

Lucas looked as though he was still trying to wrap his head around it.

Eric's eyes glittered with interest. “This guy
possesses
people? Not just gets in their head and mind-controls them with commands?”

“I didn't hear him talking to me. I have vague memories of things, like driving to pick him up, but nothing concrete until I started to wake up.”

Eric gave Lucas a cryptic look. “Like what happened with Robbins. Your twin, who could have a strong connection to you.”

Lucas had a skeptical look she didn't understand. “But I wasn't asleep.”

Olivia looked at them. “What happened to Robbins?”

“I shot him,” Lucas said, his voice low.

Eric leaned closer. “I'll bet your father had Sayre get into Lucas's head and make him shoot Robbins.”

Rand shot to his feet. “He must be the Offspring Robbins was warning us about. Remember the word he said right before it happened? We thought he said ‘scared.' He said Sayre.”

Eric looked at Lucas. “See, bro, it wasn't you. Think about that.
It wasn't you
.”

Olivia said, “I talked to him, because I wanted to find out more about him.” She turned to Lucas. “He said he had a direct line into your head, and he was going to get into your dreams and make you take out your friends.” And her father had brought him in. She clutched her head. “I can't stand any more.” It crashed in on her like a tidal wave, crushing her beneath its strength, drowning her.

Nicholas took her hand and stood, pulling her with him. “She's been through enough. I'm taking her downstairs. We can talk more tomorrow.”