Branded (The Branded Series) (29 page)

“And that's
why we have to test you before we take you back to Los Angeles,” he said as he
pulled out a silencer and screwed it onto the end of his gun.

“What are you
doing?” Anna cried as Ryan extended his arm and held the gun against my
forehead. “No, please don't!” Anna was on her knees pleading as the tears
rolled down her face.

“Anna, I'm
going to pull this trigger, and you're going to prove to me whether or not you
have a gift. If you
are
gifted, you’ll be able to save his life just by
thinking about it. And if you’re right, and you aren't
gifted, there
will be one less Gifted One in this world.”

Anna put her
head in her hands and sobbed. “Please don't! I don't know how to help him! I'm
begging you, please don't!”

Ryan’s finger
slowly suppressed the trigger and the sound of a click was heard, and then Anna’s
scream, “NO!”

Everything was
dark. Was I dead? Was this what it felt like to die? But I could still hear
voices. Then I heard Ryan's laugh. “I knew it!” he shouted.

I pried my
eyes open and saw Anna slowly lifting her head. A frantic look in her eyes as
she saw me staring back at her.

“Are you
sure?” Ryan’s right-hand man said as he reached for the gun and checked the
chamber. “Do you think it got jammed?”

“What are the
chances of that?” Ryan asked, grabbing the gun back. “Well, let's try it again,
shall we?” He fired the gun again. And again, nothing happened.

“Let me see,
Ryan. Maybe it's jammed.” Right-hand took the gun from Ryan and pulled the
trigger again. This time, the bullet flew from the gun, over my shoulder and
pierced the guy standing guard at the door. Ryan and his right-hand both ran to
help their friend.

“Reed! Are you
okay? Shawn, what the hell did you do?” Ryan shouted as he shoved Shawn out of
the way.

“I . . . I
thought it was jammed,” Shawn stammered, dropping the gun to the floor.

During the
commotion, and with only two guys holding me down now, I easily broke free of
their hold and brought them both down. At the same time, an engine noise became
louder and the yacht began to rock with waves. Nick, Claudia, Noah, Rachel and
Ms. Peters jumped onto the deck from the neighbouring speedboat. I left the two
criminals on the floor and went to Anna, wrapping her in my arms. She squeezed
me as I stroked her hair.

“I thought you
were going to die!” she cried into my chest.

“Anna, I'm so
sorry,” I murmured as I held her closer, not wanting for a second to let her
go. Her body trembled beneath mine.

Noah and Nick
stood at the back of the room, holding down the two guys that I had fought off,
while Ms. Peters calmly talked to Ryan who was sitting on the floor holding
Reed in his arms. Rachel stayed at the back of the room, close to Noah, her
arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

Ms. Peters
interrupted my moment with Anna. “Jake, come heal Ryan’s brother. He’s fading
fast.”

Ryan’s
brother
?
“No way.” I held up my hands in protest. “After all they just put Anna through?
And you want to
help
them?” What was she thinking?

“Vengeance is
not yours,” she spoke calmly. “Come. Now.”

I unwillingly
left Anna's side and pushed Ryan out of the way as I knelt down beside his
brother. It took longer than usual to heal him, probably due to all of the
negative thoughts I had to work through first. A few minutes later, he was
sitting up and rubbing his chest where the bullet hole should have been.

“Thank you,
Ms. Peters. Thank you,” Reed grovelled at her feet.

“Don't thank
me yet, Reed.” She pursed her lips. “You know what this means for you, don’t
you?” she said, shaking her head in disapproval.

Ryan helped
Reed up as another speedboat approached and four men appeared in matching suits
and sunglasses. They slid handcuffs on Ryan and his gang and led them off the
boat onto theirs. Ryan turned back and searched the room for Rachel. Finding
her, he said, “I’m not done with you yet.”

Noah went at
him, but Nick and I intercepted.

“You’re just
going to let them go?” Noah snapped at Ms. Peters. “Shouldn’t we give them a
beating or something first?”

Ms. Peters
shook her head and smirked. “They’ll be taken care of, Noah. You did your
part.”

Rachel threw
her arms around Noah. “I am so glad they are gone and that everyone is safe.”

“Yeah, that was
pretty intense,” Noah agreed.

“Jake, you
have some explaining to do.” Ms. Peters directed me back to Anna who was
sitting in the chair, staring at the floor.

I walked over
to Anna and pulled her up into my arms again—where she belonged. I kissed her
head softly and closed my eyes as I took in the scent of her hair.

“So this is
what you've been keeping from me?” she finally asked.

I took a deep
breath and filled her in on everything, from Ms. Peters and Rachel seeking us
out, to all of our gifts, to why I couldn't be with her. She watched me,
straight-faced, as I told her the long story.

When I was
finished, she stared at me for a minute and then looked around the room at
Nick, then Claudia, then Noah, Rachel and Ms. Peters. I could see her
processing everything I told her. Then a familiar smile crept over her face as
she said, “So can we be together now?”

“Yes, ma'am!”
I lifted her high in the air and swung her around as she squealed. “But wait,”
I said as I stopped and put her down. “First I have to heal that cut lip of
yours.”

Anna touched
her lip with her finger and noticed a dab of blood. I leaned down and kissed
her passionately for a moment, healing her back to her perfect self.

“Okay, break
it up,” Noah teased.

Anna jabbed
her finger toward Noah. “You! No wonder you do so well in French class.
Cheater!” she laughed. “And Rachel and Ms. Peters as a mother-daughter team.
That was a surprise. I didn't see that coming at all.” Then she looked at Nick
and Claudia. “I always knew there was something intimidating about you two.
Claudia, so I guess you can read my thoughts right now?”

Claudia
laughed. “Not really. They're all over the place. But mostly I can tell you are
the happiest you've ever been.”

I smiled at
that thought as I pulled Anna in closer. I wondered though if it were
my
thoughts Claudia was reading.

“Where are we
going?” Anna
asked for the third time as she sat next to me in the passenger seat, holding
my hand and tapping her knee with her free hand.

I couldn't
keep the smile off my face—sitting next to Anna Taylor, holding her hand,
knowing she would be mine forever. We shared a secret now. We had a lifetime of
happiness and adventure to look forward to.

“Patience, my
love,” I said, giving her hand a squeeze.

We pulled into
her driveway and I shut the car off.

“Why are we at
my house?” she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest in disapproval.

I leaned over
to give her a quick kiss. “Because the canoe is here. And we can't get over to
our island without it.”

Her
disgruntled look turned hopeful again as she
hopped
out of the
car. “What a great idea. I thought you were going to take me minigolfing or
something,” she laughed.

“Yes, because
I know how much you love to play minigolf,” I teased.

We raced each
other down to the dock and climbed into the waiting canoe. I tossed her the big
orange life jacket. “Put it on, Anna,” I warned.

“I don’t need
it, Jake. Besides, you could heal me if anything happened, right?” she tried to
bargain.

“I'm not
willing to take that chance. Buckle up.”

Anna sighed,
“You have to wear yours too then. I'm not going to be the only one looking like
a dork.”

We rowed
across the lake and through the canal that took us to another vast lake with
our private island. Anna looked radiant in the early evening sunset. The sun
reflected off the water and through her golden hair.

It took longer
than usual to get to our secluded piece of paradise. Spending time alone with
Anna was going to be rare from now on because she’d have to be under constant
protection with the discovery of her new gift. I knew better than to rush the
time I had with her. I paddled slowly and we watched the ducks and listened to
the loons while reminiscing and laughing about old times.

“Do you
remember the time,” Anna began as a smile sprawled across her lips, “when we
were racing down the big hill on our bikes and your back tire touched mine and
I went flying over my handlebars and face first into the asphalt?”

“Why are you
laughing about that?” I asked. “You were wrapped up in bandages for like three
weeks. You wouldn’t even go to the dance because you were so embarrassed about
the way you looked,” I reminded her.

“I just think
it’s funny because it very well could’ve been you that flipped, and if it were
you, you would’ve walked away with nothing more than a scraped knee.”

“Yeah, you’re
probably right. But if you weren’t so damn selfless, you could’ve done a
miracle on yourself and saved your face from certain punishment,” I pointed out
with a grin.

Anna slapped
her oar in the water and splashed a burst of cold water onto my face. She was
lucky I was under strict orders from the elders not to put her in any danger,
or she would’ve gone overboard.

“I see you’re
using your miracle skills on yourself now though,” I said.

“Why?” Anna
cautioned.

“Because I
can’t seem to flip this canoe over,” I said as I pretended to rock the canoe
with all my strength.

“You wouldn’t
dare,” Anna warned, bracing herself with the edges of the canoe.

I smiled. She
was so adorable. “No, I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.”

“Probably not allowed,
anyway,” she stated, with just the hint of a question in her tone. And when I
didn’t respond: “Right?”

“What?
Probably not allowed to flip the canoe on you?” I pretended to need a little assistance,
although I knew damn well what she was talking about. Anna was a very independent
girl and the idea of being under supervision and protection all the time would
quickly grow old with her.

“Yes, Jake.
Were you told not to mess around with me?” Anna demanded as she stopped rowing
and watched my face intently. I couldn’t lie. Not to
her
. She’d see
right through it anyway.

“Anna, you’re
a hot commodity now,” I started carefully, “and everyone genuinely cares about
you and your safety.”

She sighed and
continued rowing. “Well, I guess that’s the price I’ll have to pay for being
such a hot commodity.” Then she splashed water at me again. Testing me, no
doubt. I clenched my jaw and used all my strength to refrain from tipping the
canoe. Like old times.

Anna sighed in
defeat. She had wanted me to break loose. I knew her well enough to know that
her new mission in life was going to be to irritate the hell out of me to try
and make me throw her overboard, or storm away angry, or leave her stranded on
the side of the road. Little did she know that even without rules and regulations,
this girl was never going to be left behind again. She was stuck with me now.

Once the canoe
was tied, I
led Anna through the woods and to our big oak tree. When we came to the
flower-covered clearing, Anna clasped her hands over her mouth and exclaimed,
“A picnic!”

Everything was
just how I had left it a few hours before. The red flannel blanket was spread
out underneath the oak tree with the basket of sandwiches and cookies sitting
in the middle. Two glasses and a bottle of wine rested up against the basket, a
pillow for when we took our traditional nap, and one single daisy propped up
against the bottle of wine.

Anna knelt
down and carefully touched the daisy’s petals. She brought the flower to her
nose and inhaled as she turned to face me. I reached over and plucked the first
petal. “He loves you,” I said as I pulled her in.

“He loves me
not.” She pulled another petal and pouted.

“He loves
you.” I plucked another and kissed her forehead. She smiled and stepped back.

“He loves me
not.” And another petal fell to the ground.

“Baby,” I said
as I pulled the daisy from her hand, “I counted. There are twenty-one petals.
Trust me, I win.”

I was sure her
eyes moistened before she buried her head in my chest. “This whole thing is
perfect, Jake. I love that you thought of this.”

“Well, I
thought it would be nice for us to spend some time together alone so we can get
used to the idea of this new life you were just thrown into. I'm sure you have
more questions.” I pulled her down onto the blanket next to me. “I'm all yours.
Ask me whatever you want.”