The Revenger (22 page)

“Let go.” Savvy looked from his hand to his eyes, letting him know she hated it.

“Maybe we should have the ladies leave,” Sagan suggested. “I don’t have time for your discipline or mine. You have something you want to say? Say it.” He put his hands on Savvy’s hips to remind her to stay still.

The man still had Juicy’s head pinned, and it looked like she was having trouble breathing.

Savvy reacted, seeing the implications of her actions clearly in her head before she set them in motion. She reached for the tablecloth and yanked it hard—like a magic trick. And despite the man’s firm grip on Juicy’s head, Savvy pulled it out with a snap.

The remains of the man’s drink and the bottle he’d poured from tilted over, splashing all over him. He released his captive, and the color flooded back into her lips as she gasped.

The man began cursing up a storm and swiping at his pants as he stood. He pushed around Juicy and advanced on Savvy.

“Come for it, big daddy. I’m begging you,” Savvy taunted.

His red aura sharpened before her eyes, fed by his anger.

Sagan stepped between them, turning to face her. “You need to go outside. And you also need to remember that your brother counts on your best behavior for his next breath.”

She peered over Sagan’s shoulder as he spoke. Both Juicy and the man drew knives from under the table. It was less than a second’s second, her hesitation, but her mind was busy.

It would be so amazing to take the knives from those assholes and hack through Sagan, turning him into bloody red ribbons
. Savvy gritted her teeth so hard they squeaked. She had to choose right now, right here whether her love for her brother, her desire to do what Kal and Sara had asked outweighed her need for Sagan’s evil soul to leave his body. She had to make her emotions, her sense of self stronger than her strange power.

*~*~*~*

Silas watched as her eyes focused behind him. He was trying to figure out how to keep her in the room—so she could see him in action—when she put her hands around his waist and pulled him in for a hug.

He reciprocated out of shock and turned to look as Savvy slipped under his arm.

She kicked backward, forcing him to take a few stumbling steps in reverse. He could hear the night light up with gunfire outside.

It was an ambush. A horrible ambush.

Savvy pulled a knife from each of her palms with a roar. She’d stopped them with her body rather than letting Cassos take him out.

“Take off the ring!” she shouted as she punched Cassos with a bloody fist and kicked Juicy in the stomach.

The doors splintered as Cassos men with guns tried to get in.

“Off, Sagan. Off!”

He believed in the talent of his men outside, but he knew she could be a monster. Whether she would kill him—that was the worst question, and he didn’t even have seconds to wonder. He slipped off the ring and put it in his pocket.

Savvy staggered a bit, as if something hit her, and she put her hands near her ears. Silas watched one of her palms heal before his eyes.

“Get down.” Savvy wiped her face with her healed, but still bloody hand, smearing the red under her eyes like war paint. The door opened, and she was ready.

With hands and kicks, she rendered the first three men in the room unconscious immediately.

Then Boston busted in, and she seemed to hold herself back.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed at her arm.

“Got to bring the asshole.” She tilted her head in his direction.

“I meant both of you. It’s crazy out there; we’re outnumbered.” Boston got low, though the interior room had no windows.

Silas met them in the middle. “How many?”

“Easily ten to one.” Boston stopped to listen to his earpiece. “It’s getting worse. We’re surrounded.”

Savvy shook her head. She looked down and kicked one of the Cassos guys who was coming to. “Keep Sagan alive. I’ll handle it.” She reached inside Sagan’s jacket and removed his hidden pistol, her bloody hands staining his suit.

Amid the explosions rocking the building, he threatened her again, stopping her hand. “Don’t think of leaving.”

She exhaled and shook her head. “Keep that ring close, ’cause the minute you don’t have it, you’re dead.”

Boston let her walk outside, and together they ducked as the door was riddled with bullet holes.

“She’s gonna die.” Silas pointed at his now loose asset, his obsession.

“She’s our only chance right now, or we’re all gonna die,” Boston countered. “And then the assassin will have a textbook-sized list of people to kill.”

The screaming outside, where Savvy had gone, was inhuman—a combination of disbelief and pain that made both Silas and Boston cringe.

The gunfire seemed to be tapering off, and Silas was about to try to peek outside when the motor of a vehicle crashing close to the side door shook the paintings off the wall.

Boston shouted, “It’s her! Let’s go.” The man shuffled him into the backseat like a president in danger before crawling over him to return fire.

As soon as they were in, Savvy look off like a madwoman.

“Boston?” she called, her eyes never leaving the road.

But he didn’t respond, too busy taking out the Cassos detail following in fast cars.

“Sagan?” she said, meeting his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’m about to pass out. Can you drive?”

He crawled over the seat to find her bleeding from multiple gunshots. He locked eyes with her again, just in time to see them roll back in her head as she lost consciousness.

“Shit!” He grabbed the steering wheel and pulled her to the passenger side. He settled behind the wheel and hit the gas pedal, tearing through town as his helicopter appeared above them in the trees. He headed straight for it as Boston leaned over to check on Savvy.

“I’m out of ammo,” he reported as he felt for her pulse.

The helicopter came in low, and the cars behind them instantly began trying to retreat, squealing their tires and leaving smoke trails. The snipers in his choppers brought hell down upon the cars as Silas kept driving, all the way back to his compound.

“She alive?” he asked, unable to look at her as he drove.

“Yeah.” Boston put pressure on the gunshot wound in her shoulder. “You still got the ring? We should get her away from that maybe…”

Silas thought about tossing the ring out the window, but he pulled it out and slipped it on instead. What she had done, the army she’d stopped, was terrifying. He couldn’t be unprotected from her.

“Tell the chopper to pick me up at the fairgrounds. I’ll get away from her for a little while.” Sagan pulled through the gates, which had opened at precisely the right time. He tore up the driveway and slid out, getting on his cell phone to call Doc while he got in his Ferrari.

In the rearview mirror he watched as Boston took Savannah from the Suburban. She was magnificent. Her head lolled, dangling at an impossible angle, the spotlights catching the steady drip of blood from her elbow. He put the pedal to the floor and blew back through the gates, eager to get her the space she needed to survive.

The Cassos had blown everything to shit and taken an unprecedented chance at killing him. Why were they so eager? Bizarre. Nothing about it made any sense. Maybe they were on to him, knew about his plans for Compound E. But they certainly hadn’t seen Savannah coming. He couldn’t help but swallow a smile. As long as she healed, tonight would be a success.

Wakes

When Savvy woke, it took a few seconds for the room to come into focus. After a moment she found her hand resting on Trooper and Boston sitting across the room. A surge of raging energy that desperately wanted a red-auraed outlet told her Sagan and his ring were gone. There was no filter at the moment, which was both good and bad. She closed her eyes and willed herself not to act, reminded herself of the need to protect Tobias by keeping those around her alive. The combination of catching her breath and putting up her guard was not even close to reflex yet.

Her gunshot wounds were not nearly as painful as when she realized that Kal and Sara hadn’t come to her as a reward for pounding through so many red auras.

“No.
No
!”

Boston looked alarmed as Savvy covered her face with her hands. Trooper began to whimper.

“What? Pain? You need the doctor? He just left. Savvy, what?” Boston sounded frantic.

She knew she really should soothe him. Instead she felt her chin start to shake. Biting her lips, she pulled her knees up to her chest and sobbed. She needed them. She needed what they gave her. They were the life in her heart. The moments of nearness to them kept her soul intact.

Over the sounds of her weeping, she could hear Boston on the phone, asking for help. Trooper licked her face, probably getting a tongueful of tears. She tried to steady her breathing, tried to think about what had happened at the restaurant.

When she’d been fighting to save Sagan, it’d given her added strength, knowing she would soon see Kal and Sara. Every gunshot was another possible way to see them. She’d killed people this time. But she had to—there was no other way to escape the restaurant and commandeer the truck.

Maybe that was it…she’d killed rather than just causing injury. And instead of a reward, a precious, mind-healing reward, she’d gotten nothing. Just vacancy. God, it hurt so much. It wasn’t legal or fair how addicted she was to them.

She now cried so hard she had trouble taking a breath. The doctor eventually came in and assessed her, despite her not helping him out at all.

“I think this is just emotional, not physical,” he told Boston after a moment.

He was right. That was her exact problem. Her entire family existed only in the emotional. She could no longer physically touch them. She had to try again, to see if she could touch them. If she didn’t kill anyone, maybe.

Boston and the doctor seemed shocked when she sprang from the bed in search of an aura. She slipped past them out of the room and staggered a bit, grabbing the handrail as she got the stairs. Trooper was hot on her heels, and Boston’s hands came to her shoulders from behind her.

“Please come back. Tell me what the hell is going on!”

The gold in his aura flowed through her; she could almost hear the goodness under his skin, mixed with the red. At least she still had that. She could still sense the auras.

Savvy turned in his arms, shaking her head. “It’s just…I lost something. And I might not get it back.”

“Your wedding ring? We can get that for you if you need it.” His handsome face searched hers as his arms held her tight, his gold getting stronger.

“No, it’s not that.” She looked away, locking her gaze on the doctor. He looked back at her hungrily. She felt like a specimen, part of a science experiment he’d like to conduct.

“Can you take me somewhere?” she asked Boston suddenly.

“Depends...yeah…sure.” He put his arm around her.

Savvy ignored the doctor and went through Boston’s room to her own. She changed out of the soft pajamas someone had put her in, gently touching the gunshot wounds that were now just faint circles peppering her torso and leg. She dressed and pulled her hair into a ponytail.

Sneakers on her feet, she leashed up Trooper while Boston waited with his car keys.

“Where are we headed?” He stepped aside as she led the way.

“I need to go somewhere with good people for a few minutes. Just down the road, maybe to the boardwalk?” She reached the garage and yanked open the door. Trooper bounced around happily. The dog seemed to love the car, which wrenched Savvy’s heart considering the ride that had brought him to her.

Boston got in the driver’s seat and hit the remote. Unlike a house garage, he had to maneuver around the other cars parked there to exit. Opulence as usual. They took one of the black SUVs that hadn’t been part of the Cassos convoy.

“How many guys died last night?”

“It was two nights ago, and on our side or their side?” Boston asked. He put the blinker on before entering the road that led to the boardwalk. It was less than a 20-minute drive to the populated tourist spot.

“Does it matter?” She reached over and smoothed Trooper’s head, which balanced on the armrest between her and Boston.

“How are you feeling?” He looked at her carefully.

“Reborn—again, relentlessly. I thought I would get to see them.” She rolled down her window and let in the morning air. “I didn’t.”

“I’m sorry. You saved him. And me.” Boston adjusted his rearview mirror.

All she could to was nod. That was what she had to do. For Tobias. For Boston’s wayward brother.

“He’s thankful.”

She shook her head at the thought. “He’s entitled. And an asshole.”

“He can hear you. Probably.” Boston pointed to the car’s fancy interior.

“And I bet he has one of those micropenises.” She gave the interior of the car the finger.

“And that’s how it is.”

Boston didn’t ask any more questions, and Savvy was happy with the silence.

Since the accident, she’d avoided places that would remind her of her family. It was like balancing on a blade with bare feet; all she could do was switch from one foot to the other. The pain would always be there. But hugging Boston this morning had warmed her a tiny bit. Just a fraction. So she wanted to try to stand near other people who weren’t so evil. She wanted to feel better. She let her fingers dance in the breeze her open window created as the boardwalk drew near.