Authors: T.M. Franklin
They made their way out of the wilderness, farmland and scattered houses eventually condensing into neighborhoods.
Ava tensed as Emma turned and pulled into the driveway of a brick rambler settled on a narrow strip of grass between two larger homes in the center of a cul-de-sac. “This is a Rogue stronghold?” she asked with a surprised snort.
Emma laughed. “Hardly. It’s just a neutral place for you to meet our father.”
“Are my parents here?”
Emma shook her head and shot her an apologetic look. “You need to speak to him first.”
Weedy flowerbeds bordered the walkway to a faded red front door. Emma didn’t knock but glanced at Ava before she turned the knob.
Something drew her in, like invisible fingertips clawing at her gift and pulling her forward. She stumbled over the threshold as she tried to resist.
“It’s unsettling if you’re not accustomed to it,” Emma whispered as she gripped Ava’s elbow to steady her. “You’ll get used to it. Try not to fight it, and you’ll feel much better. I promise.”
Ava didn’t think she had much choice, actually. The power flowed over her, settling her gift, but not in the same way as Caleb’s. Where his power seemed to fit with hers, interlinking like pieces of a puzzle, Borré’s—if that’s what it truly was—stretched over her body, enveloping her like a second skin. It didn’t seem to be trying to control her, though, not like Emma’s. It was more like a layer of warmth that seemed to seep into her, blending with her blood and merging with muscle and bone.
Like it’s part of me.
Emma didn’t take the lead but watched her, smiling softly as Ava took a few tentative steps toward the back of the house.
He was drawing her closer, calling her without words, her gift reaching toward the relief that he promised. The ache in her muscles eased.
The living room to her left had no furniture but was marred by a mottled brown stain in the middle of the carpet. The house was older, not really run-down, but musty with disuse as if it had been empty for a while.
She shivered as she entered a narrow hallway lit by a bare bulb in a fixture overhead, the glass cover missing.
Fingertips brushed her palm, and Ava’s gift surged, taking her breath for a moment. She looked down to see Emma gripping her hand. Ava pulled away, ignoring the hurt look on her sister’s face.
“I was only trying to help,” Emma whispered.
“I don’t need any help.”
She emerged into a large room, split into a kitchen on the left, and a family room with a vaulted ceiling on the right. Like the rest of what she’d seen so far, this room was devoid of furniture, but a man stood against an unlit fireplace on the far side of the room.
Ava wasn’t sure what she’d expected—someone larger, perhaps, more like Tiernan, or more evil-looking, although she couldn’t imagine what that meant, but the man who stood waiting for her with a half smile on his face didn’t look overly evil, and he wasn’t particularly intimidating.
He looked . . . normal. About six feet tall with wavy brown hair, dressed in a pair of jeans and boots, a black T-shirt and leather jacket.
“Hello, Ava.”
She started when she realized he was closer than she’d thought. She kept moving toward him, however, until she could make out the black and hazel-gold of his eyes.
Elias Borré
.
He reached out with one hand, and she froze.
He smiled and tilted his head, his hand still extended. “I don’t want to hurt you. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
“Where—” Her voice cracked, and she shook her head, a little dazed, as she swallowed. “Where are my parents?”
Borré frowned. “They’re fine, I assure you. I wish them no harm.”
“You could have fooled me.”
Borré dropped his hand, a flash of something—irritation, Ava suspected—lighting his eyes as they narrowed slightly.
Ava winced as her headache sharpened, piercing, before it settled back to a low throb.
“I am many things, Ava, but I am no liar,” he said in a low voice. “If I tell you I mean them no harm, no harm will come to them.” He turned, ran his fingers across the fireplace mantle, and examined them with a frown, smearing his thumb and forefinger together. “Of course, that is as long as no one does anything to change my mind.” He wiped his hands off on his jeans and turned back to her.
Ava’s fear and anger swelled, her gift growing to respond.
The windows rattled and Borré’s smile widened. “Impressive,” he said.
A crack formed in the sliding glass door, splintering outward in a web as Ava fought to control her power.
Borré’s hand shot out to grip her wrist and the door exploded outward, a shower of broken glass tinkling on the patio.
Then, as quickly as it rose, her gift withdrew, collapsing within her so quickly her knees buckled.
Borré’s grip kept her on her feet, his fingers pressing harshly into her skin. He drew her up and laid his other palm on her head.
“What are you—” Ava tried to pull away, but Borré was stronger than he looked. She couldn’t move, frozen under his touch and the intensity of his gaze.
A flood of warmth surged up from her feet, as if he pulled it through her, soothing heat skirting along muscle and bone, up her spine, and out her scalp. Her body tingled, muscles contracting and relaxing, her head lolling back on her shoulders as a wave of comfort swept through her. She blinked and realized she was lying on the floor and looking up at Borré and Emma. Her whole body felt heavy, loose-limbed, and it took a moment before she could even sit up.
“What did you do to me?”
“How do you feel?” Borré asked.
Emma was watching her with wide, excited eyes, fingers clenching as if she itched to reach out and touch her.
Ava turned to Borré. “What happened?”
“How do you feel?” he asked again, emphasizing each word a little more.
Ava closed her eyes and tried to take inventory of her still tingling body. “I feel—” Her gift swelled within her, but didn’t act out. She was in perfect control. “My headache . . . it’s gone,” she said quietly as she opened her eyes. “I feel . . . I feel better than I have in months, actually.” She hated to admit it, but it was true. No pain. No nausea. If anything she felt stronger, more powerful. Clear and focused.
Borré reached out to help her as she made to stand, but when she stiffened, he backed off.
She walked to the broken window, the cool air refreshing on her cheeks. Everything seemed brighter, sharper, the details of every sight and every sound more defined, even without accessing her Race gifts.
“It’s how you were meant to be,” Borré said quietly, and she realized he was standing right behind her. “It’s the way you were created to be.”
And just like that, the awe over her sudden change fell away. “I want to see my parents.”
“In time,” he said, and she could hear the disappointment in his voice. “First, I need something from you.”
She turned to face him and squared her shoulders. “What?”
“A simple task, really,” he replied, returning to his spot by the fireplace.
Emma watched them both but stayed in the shadows.
“What task?”
“I assume you are familiar with the Protection Bureau?” When Ava didn’t reply, he shrugged slightly. “The Bureau monitors the perimeter of New Elysia, both via cloaks and more conventional methods. I simply require access to those monitors.”
“You plan to invade New Elysia?”
“You make it sound like an act of war,” Borré said, shaking his head. “I mean to liberate our people. The Council is no longer acting in their best interests.”
“And what happens to them?”
“What do you care? From what I understand you’re no friend of the Council.” Borré crossed the room and looked out the window. “I have no desire to hurt any of them, but I will do what I must to help our people.”
“Yeah, you’re a real patriot.”
He flashed her an irritated look. “You want your parents released unharmed. You bring me the codes to access Bureau surveillance and you get your wish.”
“And how exactly am I supposed to do that?” she asked.
“I’m sure you’ll find a way,” he replied. “From what I understand you have quite a few connections in high places.”
She thought of Caleb . . . Madeleine. “But they’re not just going to give me the codes.”
He slapped a hand against the wall. “Well, you’re simply going to have to figure it out, aren’t you?” He rolled his shoulders and lowered his voice. “Be convincing. Use the gifts that I gave you. Find a way. Oh, and Ava?” He appeared calm once again and approached her, looking into her eyes. “I will know if you betray me. Make no mistake, if you try to warn Madeleine or the Council or that Protector of yours, I will know. And your parents will suffer for your indiscretion.”
“If you hurt them—”
“It’s not up to me, Ava,” he said, his voice deadly quiet. “This is all up to you. You can save your parents, save yourself, by joining me and taking your rightful place. Or you can choose to turn your back on your birthright and lose everything.” He ran a hand through his hair and smiled. “But take some time to think it over, all right? Say, twenty-four hours?” He motioned to Emma, who came to stand at his side. “Your sister will take you to a safe place to . . . contemplate your situation, and she can answer any questions you may have.”
He started for the door, and without thinking, Ava reached out with her gift to stop him in place.
A sharp, stabbing pain sliced through her skull, and Ava fell to her knees, gripping her head as she screamed in agony. She curled in on herself, the pain echoing through her body in throbbing waves as her vision blurred. She didn’t know how long it was before the pain eased, and Borré’s booted feet appeared before her eyes.
“I wouldn’t do that again,” he said. When she whimpered, he crouched down and tilted his head to look into her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you, Ava. It hurts me, too, don’t you see? But discipline is important for a child. You know, spare the rod and all that—” He waved a hand. “Children need to learn, and how can they learn if they’ve never been taught?” He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. “You have a little—” He motioned toward his own nose as he handed her the cloth.
She wiped at her upper lip, red staining the white cotton.
Borré stood, and she rolled onto her back to look up at him. “Now you’ve learned,” he said, straightening his jacket with a flick of the wrists. “I’m confident you won’t make the same mistake again.” He turned on his heel and stalked down the hallway, calling over his shoulder, “Twenty-four hours. Think about what I said,” without breaking stride.
Ava heard the front door open and close before Emma fell to her knees beside her.
“Are you all right?” she asked, hands fluttering around Ava’s face as though she was afraid to touch her.
“He’s insane.”
“He’s our father.”
Ava rolled away from Emma and pulled her knees into her chest. “God help us,” she murmured.
Chapter 12
“We have to get out of here,” Sophie whispered, glancing out the crack in the door at the two huge men standing guard before closing it with a quiet click.
“You should let me try—”
“No!” Sophie belatedly realized she’d answered Isaiah’s thought rather than spoken words.
He’d been practicing since they arrived at the mansion, and Sophie had to admit she was surprised by how quickly his gift had grown stronger and evolved beyond simply reading minds to projecting his own thoughts as well. She’d even caught herself getting him a bottle of water out of the refrigerator before she realized he’d planted the idea.
“It’s because of him
.
”
“I know.”
They’d met the man Ava told them about—their father, Elias Borré—and although Sophie’s head had told her not to trust him, her body seemed to innately do just that. She’d relaxed, her gift growing stronger but more under her control somehow, and Isaiah had confirmed he felt the same.
Borré had assured her it wouldn’t be long before their blocks were lifted. As soon as they’d proven their loyalty, they could take their places at his side. Sophie, however, didn’t plan to stick around for that. The guy was seriously creepy, and she knew Ava had to be out of her mind with worry.
“I think—” Sophie raised her brows in question when Isaiah raised a hand and pointed toward the ceiling.
“They’re listening
.
”
“How do you know?”
Isaiah rolled his eyes.
“Duh. I’ve been eavesdropping on the guys outside
.
”
He reached out to touch her hand.
“Borré will be back soon with the girl—Emma. We need to be gone when they get back.”
Sophie nodded. She knew he was right. Ava had told her a little bit about Emma and what she could do. It wasn’t something she wanted to risk. To be used against her will—
“Hey.”
Isaiah shook her arm gently.
“You have to let me help.”
“No, it’s too dangerous.”