Oath Bound (An Unbound Novel) (35 page)

“He’s lying,” Kori said. “We should kill him.”

“Let’s hear what he has to say first,” I said. “We can always kill him afterward.”

Ian glanced at me in surprise, but Kori just looked mollified. “Fine.” She gestured at his torso with her free hand. “But first, strip.”

Mitch frowned. “Strip?”

“Down to your shorts,” Ian added. “The TSA has X-rays. We only have our eyes.”

Grumbling beneath his breath about how ungrateful we were, Mitch pulled his shirt over his head, then dropped it on the floor. Next he took off his shoes and tossed them into the corner, on Ian’s orders. His pants were the last to go, and when he stood in only a pair of green boxer briefs, Kori made him turn a full circle, so we could see that he was unarmed. And had chicken legs.

“Okay.” Ian lowered his aim, but kept his gun at the ready. “Talk fast.”

Mitch scowled at Kori, who refused to lower her gun. “You just got a text from Julia, right? From your sister’s phone?”

I started to nod, but one glance from Kori stopped me, and I realized that the flow of information would only go one way.

“Fine. Don’t answer.” Mitch shrugged. “I know you got a text, because I saw her send it. But the information she sent is false. Kris isn’t at that warehouse, and neither is she. It’s a trap.”

“We know,” I said, and Kori frowned at me, which is when I realized I’d confirmed that we had received that text.

“How do you know?”

“Julia would never give away her position.”

“Well, fortunately for you, I would. She’s at the Eight Street warehouse. Your brother and sister are both with her.”

My pulse leaped at the thought—could we really get them both back in one shot?—but Kori only frowned. “Why would she keep both her eggs in one basket?”

“Because it’s the only basket she has. Your mass texting initiative worked. She only has a handful of employees left. You’ve practically won already. Why do you think I’m leaving?”

“You’re deserting the sinking ship...” Kori’s frown became a sneer of contempt. “Like any rat would do.”

“Fuck you.” But Mitch’s profanity just sounded silly, with him still in his underwear. “I’ve paid my debt.” He bent to pick up his clothes, then met my gaze boldly. “Do what you want with the information—I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m out of here.”

“Don’t move.” Ian aimed at Mitch’s head, and Mitch froze. “Ladies? Verdict?”

Kori glanced at me, and I hid the jolt of glee surging through me over the fact that she was consulting me about a strategic decision. “He did pay his debt.” With information that may or may not prove valid.

“Fine.” Kori turned back to Mitch and lowered her aim to his feet. “Let the rat scurry into his corner.”

Mitch glared at her, but wasted no time retrieving his shoes. Then he backed into the dark hall, and a second later I felt his absence, though I hadn’t actually seen him disappear.

“So, now what?” I asked as Ian and Kori holstered their guns.

“Now we rally the troops.” Kori pulled her phone from her pocket, ready to dial. “If Julia really is at the Eighth Street warehouse, she’s about to wish she’d preceded her brothers into the afterlife.”

I stared at the Curtis brothers while she made her first call, recruiting friends and allies to our purpose, thinking about Julia, and how her death was so long overdue.

Better late than never...

Twenty-One

Kris

M
y eyes opened, then closed again before the world could come into focus. Two half-blinks later, I managed to keep them open, but then exposure to the bright light brought pain roaring to life all over my body.

The headache was the worst. The pain at the back of my skull was sharp and intense, but another pain mirrored it behind my forehead, dull but persistent. A sure sign that I had a concussion—that my brain had been bounced around by whoever had hit me from behind.

But for another couple of seconds, I couldn’t remember actually being hit. Or where that had happened. All I knew was that I was now tied to a chair, my hands behind my back, my wrists already chafed by my bonds.

Having been in a similar position once before, I already knew that panicking would be a very bad idea. My energy would be better spent finding a way to free myself.

“Good morning, sunshine,” a familiar voice said, and when I looked up to find Julia Tower watching me from a folding chair four feet away, the rest of my memories slid into place.

A dark apartment.

The Curtis brothers, one dead, one tied up.

Then something had hit me from behind, and as I’d crumpled to the floor, struggling to keep my eyes open, someone had stepped up behind Chase Curtis and pulled a knife across his throat.

He’d died choking on his own blood as I lost consciousness.

I’d failed Sera again.

“Time to wake up now,” Julia sang in a falsely cheerful voice, tapping pointy-toed, high-heeled shoes on the stained concrete floor, and I forced my eyes to focus. “You and I are going to have a little chat.”

“I have nothing to say to you until you send Kenley home.” My voice was hoarse, and my throat was sore, and I wondered briefly if someone had tried to choke me while I was unconscious. Or maybe my throat had dried out from lack of use. How long had I been out?

Julia made a show of sniffing the air, which was completely unnecessary for Reading. “That smells like a lie.” Her forehead furrowed, perfectly manicured eyebrows dipping in disappointment with me. “Doesn’t matter, though. I didn’t expect you to cooperate without the proper motivation. Which is why we’ve brought your sister in to help motivate you.” She gestured with one hand, and movement to my left drew my gaze toward a typically beefy guard as he pulled a curtain back from the wall to reveal a long window.

Beyond the window, Kenley sat in a folding chair, in an otherwise empty room, which had probably once been an office. She was blindfolded, hands bound behind her back just like mine, and her head was slumped as if she was sleepy. But she looked otherwise unhurt.

My relief at seeing her intact was accompanied by a mental asterisk and the certainty that that fact was about to change. Why else would Julia show me my sister?

“When Korinne was still in our company, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect the baby of the family, and I’m betting the same goes for you.” Julia glanced from Kenley to me, her neatly painted lips curled in derision. “The Daniels’ family really believes that blood is thicker than water. Doesn’t it?”

“That’s an odd criticism coming from a woman who had her own brother murdered.” I glanced at the guards stationed around the room, hoping for a reaction, but none of them even blinked, that I could tell.

“They already know.” Julia crossed her ankles beneath her folding chair. “Most of them don’t care. Jake wasn’t exactly loved by most of his employees. Those who do object to his timely demise are prohibited from expressing their displeasure by the contracts binding them to me.”

I frowned as what she’d said sank in. “She isn’t Jake Tower’s heir,” I called, loud enough to be heard throughout the room. No one reacted.

“They know that, too. These are all
my
men.”

“New hires?” I didn’t think she’d answer. I was wrong. In fact, she seemed quite forthcoming, which probably meant she was proud of herself.

“Some of them.” Julia smoothed her suit jacket over the blue blouse beneath. “Others were on Jake’s staff, most of which knows all about Sera’s surprise inheritance, thanks to the curse of instant communication.”

“So glad to hear the mass texting worked.” Surely proof that Sera was smarter than her aunt.

“Not as well as you might think. Thanks to your baby sister’s generous blood donation, I’ve spent the past three days transferring bindings from Sera to me. Starting with the gunmen in this room. None of those newly bound employees were affected in the slightest by your wireless campaign.”

“That’s not possible.” I gave my arms an experimental tug, but the bindings held tight. And they felt sharp, more like a zip tie than a rope. The irony there was that they’d probably gotten the damn thing out of
my
pocket. “Kenni’s blood can’t be used to bind someone without her will attached to it.” And there was no way in hell that Kenley wanted to give Julia Tower any more power than she already had. “You’re lying.”

“If I were, you would never know it. But as it happens, there’s no need for lies. Kenley’s will didn’t seal the bindings. Mine did.” Julia watched me, waiting to see if I could connect the dots on my own.

Kenley’s blood, but Julia’s will...

Horror washed over me, and the room seemed to spin—the result of my entire world being knocked off-kilter. It shouldn’t have been possible. “A transfusion? You gave yourself Kenley’s blood?”

“Only a little.” Julia shrugged, and the casual gesture looked strange on her. “Honestly, I got lucky. If we’d been incompatible blood types, the transfusion would have been very risky for me. But I had little choice, thanks to you and Jake’s bastard daughter.”

“You had a choice.” I tried to move my legs, and discovered that my ankles were tied to the legs of the chair. “You could have chosen not to be a maniacal bitch.”

“Trust me, my way was easier.”

“So, what, you took a transfusion of Kenley’s blood, then sealed the new contracts yourself?” I said, and she nodded, looking more than a little proud of herself. But I could see what she was trying not to show me. There was a reason we were in a warehouse rather than in the Tower basement. “This is all you got away with, isn’t it? Just these men? You didn’t have time to reseal most of the bindings. Sera still holds them, doesn’t she?”

Julia’s scowl could have peeled the paint off a car. “Not for long. You’re going to bring her to me.”

“Never gonna happen.” My legs had less freedom than my arms. By my best guess, they were duct-taped to the chair legs, over my jeans.

“Oh, it will. But first, I need a little information from you, so we’ll all be prepared for my darling niece’s arrival.” Julia recrossed her legs in the opposite direction. “Does Sera have a Skill?”

I stared at her in silence.

“Are you really going to make me repeat the question?”

I shrugged as best I could with my hands tied at my back. “I don’t see what good that would do.”

“It wouldn’t do you any good at all. But I’m sure your sister would appreciate your candor right about now.” She made another off-hand gesture, and one of the guards turned and opened the door he stood next to. A moment later, through the glass, I saw the door to Kenley’s room open, and he stepped inside.

“You touch her, and I’ll kill you,” I spat, openly struggling against my bindings now, though I knew I had no shot at breaking them.

Julia gave me a small smile. “You’re going to try to kill me anyway, and I have no intention of touching your sister. But Lincoln has been looking forward to it all day. So, you answer my questions, or he’s going to give your sister something to cry about.”

He wouldn’t kill her. Julia couldn’t let that happen, without losing every binding Kenley had sealed. But he could hit her. Or cut her. Or burn her. And Julia would let him.

It killed me that I hadn’t been able to protect Kori from Jake’s fury—I hadn’t even known she was in danger until it was nearly over. But Kori was a survivor—a fighter with tough skin and even tougher insides.

Kenley was none of that. I couldn’t let them hurt her. But I couldn’t betray Sera, either.

“Does Serenity have a Skill?” Julia repeated, watching me while, in the other room, Kenley squirmed in her chair and said something I couldn’t hear through the glass.

When I didn’t answer, Julia rolled her eyes and dug something from her jacket pocket. Some kind of small remote. She pressed a button, and there was a short buzz of static, then my sister’s voice came over the tiny speaker, fuzzy with static.

“—there? I can here you breathing. Say something!” she screeched, and if she’d looked drowsy before, she sounded terrified now.

“Kenni!” I shouted, and Julia frowned at me.

“She can’t hear you. Answer the question. Does Sera have a skill?”

I couldn’t lie to Julia—a Reader—and get away with it. And I couldn’t refuse to answer without getting Kenley hurt. But I knew I’d hesitated too long when Julia picked up her remote and pressed a button, then spoke into it as if it were a handheld radio.

“Kenley, can you hear me?”

Through the window, Kenni’s head pivoted toward a corner of the room I couldn’t see, where—presumably—the speaker was mounted. “Fuck you, Julia!” she shouted, and I almost laughed out loud, in spite of the circumstances. She’d sounded
so
much like Kori!

“Your family resemblance is showing,” Julia warned. “Speaking of family, I have your brother here—”

“Kenni, just hang on. I’ll get you out—”

Julia spoke over me. “And you have his stubborn streak to blame for what’s coming. Lincoln?” She released the speaker button and Lincoln nodded.

“No!” I shouted, and Julia held the remote up, so I could see that her finger was still off the button. Lincoln couldn’t hear me.

A blur of motion through the window caught my gaze, and Lincoln punched my baby sister in the face. Still blindfolded, Kenley never saw the blow coming. She grunted in pain, and my pulse raced so hot and fast that my vision started to blur. Kenley’s chair rocked back and forth, and for one interminable second, I was afraid it would tip over and she’d hit her head on the floor, and if that happened, there was nothing I could do for her.

“Stop!” I strained so hard against the zip tie at my back that the plastic bit into my skin, and the sudden warmth told me I was bleeding.

If Kenley fell unconscious, would Julia make it stop? I honestly didn’t know. Unconscious people make terrible torture victims, because they can’t feel pain, but it was
my
pain Julia was counting on, and I would suffer each of my sister’s blows whether or not she was conscious.

Julia held the remote up to her mouth again and pressed the button. “Kenley? How you doing? Hangin’ in there?”

Kenley gasped and raised her head. Tears spilled beneath her blindfold and a horrible bruise was already forming at the center of the red patch on her left cheek. She turned her head to the side and spit blood on the floor—no reason not to, since Julia already had more than enough of her blood. Then she cleared her throat and sat straighter. “Just fine. Also? Fuck you. And fuck Lincoln, whoever the hell he is. What kind of coward hits a woman while she’s blindfolded and tied to a chair?”

Lincoln actually chuckled. “I only work here,” he said, examining his knuckles, and I wanted to rip his throat out and watch his blood drain onto the floor. “If I had my way, this would be an entirely different kind of...session.”

Kenley bit her lip as silent tears rolled down her face, and my blood
boiled.
I recognized Lincoln now. He was the one who’d slit Chase Alexander Curtis’s throat.

“Hmm...” Julia turned back to me. “Someone’s been spending a lot of time with her big brother and sister. But I don’t think she’s as tough as Kori, no matter what she wants us to believe. Do you?”

I didn’t answer.

“Tell me about Sera’s Skill, or we’ll find out just how tough your baby sister is.”

She was now assuming Sera had a Skill, and I wasn’t sure whether that was a bluff or a conclusion she’d drawn based on the fact that I hadn’t claimed otherwise. Julia lifted the radio to her lips again and opened her mouth.

“Yes.” I glared at her. “Sera has a Skill.” That was the truth. It just wasn’t the whole truth.

“Good boy,” she said, and I wanted to put my fist through her face. “And what is her Skill?”

But I’d figured out her game. “You already know the answer to that, don’t you?” She was testing me.

“I have my suspicions. She’s a Jammer, isn’t she?”

“Just like her father. Your brother.”

Julia nodded. She
had
known. But I was sure she didn’t know about Sera’s other Skill. No one did, other than the residents of our hideout house. And Julia couldn’t make me give her information she didn’t know she was missing.

“Sera didn’t know, did she?” Julia sat straighter, and her eyes lost focus with the thought. “She was telling the truth when she said she didn’t have a Skill, and the only way that’s possible is if she didn’t
know
she was Skilled. Which makes sense for a Jammer—there’s no intent required for her Skill.”

I shrugged. I was afraid to say anything, one way or another—Sera had obviously been blocking Julia’s Skill when she needed to get away with a lie, just like she’d done with Anne.

“It’s too bad, really, because I could use another Jammer—if she weren’t trying to usurp my position.”

“Sera doesn’t give a damn about your position, your money or your power. She didn’t ask to inherit the mafia, and she has no desire whatsoever to run it.”

Julia frowned at me. “You actually mean that. She spoke to you, didn’t she? She
confided
in you.” She frowned and glanced at the floor without waiting for my answer. “Why would she do that?” When she looked up, I saw comprehension written all over her coldly attractive features. “You’re not just trying to keep her for her Skill. You actually like her. Or is it more than that? Am I making you choose between your sister and your lover?”

“Fuck off.”

Julia laughed again. “Oh, you Daniels siblings. You’re all guns, and knives, and flying fists on the surface, but on the inside there’s nothing but mush. Gooey touchy-feely pulp, rotting you from the inside out. Your emotional fragility is what makes you so easy to manipulate. So let’s try another question. What’s Sera’s
other
Skill?”