“I dare you to try,” Cara growled.
“Your emotions weaken you, Cara,” Comune said calmly. “I can see his injuries upset you. He can be used to force you to do our bidding. This is why we don’t feel. So we’re not taken advantage of, weakened.”
In a fit of anger, she screamed and raised her hand palm out. Comune went flying across the room and landed against the stone of the fireplace with a grunt of pain.
“You will not touch him!” she shouted.
Comune stood slowly, wobbling slightly from the force of his body hitting the wall. She’d only thrown him as a warning. She could’ve thrown him through the wall but had restrained herself for now. If they continued to push her, they would see the full extent of her capability firsthand.
These emotions didn’t weaken her. They terrified her.
“Finish him,” Comune said.
Cara again raised her hand and threw the three men who approached her out the large plate-glass window that overlooked the terrace. Three others came forward, and she moved her palm toward them, forcing them across the room and through the wall.
Two lay motionless. Shards of wood protruded from their chests, and blood covered their shirts. Comune raised his blaster, but Cara knocked it from his hand, sending it flying across the room. Using her mind, she lifted him off the floor and slung him against the wall.
She held him there, choking him. As her anger grew, her mental grip on his throat tightened. His face turned red, but no fear shone in his eyes as he struggled. He was a true Mundi. He felt nothing.
Cara let him drop to the floor as four others attacked her. Reaching out with her hand, she mentally pulled the fireplace poker toward her. She wrapped her fingers around it and thrust outward toward the first Mundi to get to her, forcing the poker deep into his chest. Blood spurted out and covered her hand and arm. She ignored it, shoving the horror she felt at her actions to the back of her mind as she pulled the poker from the man’s chest.
He fell to the ground motionless. Cara gripped the poker like a baseball bat. With a growl of anger, she swung, catching the next Mundi across the face, sending him back several feet, where he fell to the floor, lifeless.
She quickly scanned the remaining men’s belts, looking for more blasters. Very few Mundi carried them. They preferred hand to hand. Looked as though Comune had been the only one.
“Come on, you son of a bitch,” she snarled as another approached.
Cara raised her hand and sent him flying through the patio doors. A large piece of glass lodged in his neck. Blood soaked the terrace as his body jerked and heaved one final breath.
Cara turned to face the next set to approach. They wouldn’t give in. Mundi never did. They didn’t feel fear, so why would they? They were sent to do the elder’s bidding, and they would succeed or die trying.
* * * *
Sidious secured the small shuttle craft into place at the far side of his private hangar on Daego, which was attached to the lake house by an underground tunnel. Alex paced restlessly behind them. The closer they’d gotten to Daego, the more agitated Alex appeared.
Sidious liked Alex, but right now, all that pacing was about to get on his last nerve. “Alex, if you don’t stop, I’m going to cut your legs off at the knees.”
Alex snorted before shooting him a look of censure that Sidious could see clearly in the reflection of the front glass. Sidious turned the chair and stared at him. “What’s going on with you?”
Alex frowned. “Something’s wrong.”
Taron turned his chair as well and nodded. “I feel it too. Did you check the security system for the lake house?”
“Yeah,” Sidious replied. “It’s armed. Nothing seems out of place.”
“Yet something
is
out of place,” Taron mumbled.
Marcone caught sight of Beena entering the hangar through the underground tunnel. She looked pale and scared. She leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath.
“Shit,” Sidious said as he pushed out of his chair.
“What?”
Taron turned to look as well before quickly shoving past Sidious to get out the door. Taron and Sidious both rushed toward Beena, Alex close behind.
“Beena,” Marcone said as he grabbed Beena’s arms, helping her to straighten.
“It’s Hayden,” she panted. “He’s in trouble.”
“How many?” Sidious asked, knowing instinctively the Mundi were here.
“Too many,” she sobbed. “And she’s fighting them alone.”
“Cara,” Alex said just before taking off down the tunnel.
“Alex,” Taron yelled as he reached out and gripped his arm, stopping him dead in his tracks.
Alex turned and snarled at Taron. “The Mundi will kill Hayden and take Cara with them back to Bellara!”
“We know that!” Sidious snapped, trying to keep the worry for his son from having him make a stupid mistake. “We can’t just rush in there, Alex.” He turned to Beena. “You stay here.”
Beena nodded, and Sidious curled his finger, indicating Alex and Taron should follow him. “This way. We’ll sneak in through a private entrance.”
* * * *
Cara stared in shock at the dead bodies littered around the room. She felt numb inside, dead. She dropped to her knees and locked her gaze on the bloody wall a few feet in front of her. She’d lost Hayden. Her whole world felt as though it was ripping apart, and all she could do was stare straight ahead.
“Hayden,” she whispered to herself.
She would give anything to hear his voice again. Pain unlike anything she’d ever felt ripped through her gut, making it hard for her to breathe. Her hands began to shake as fear tightened its hold around her heart. She was terrified. How could this much emotion, this strong of an emotion, be good?
“My God.”
Cara glanced over toward the doorway to the den and saw a man who looked so much like Hayden. He was tall with long white hair and gray eyes. He was broad shouldered and carried himself with a grace and purpose that spoke of years of being in charge. He had to be Hayden’s father.
He rushed toward Hayden, who still slumped against the wall.
“He’s dead,” she whispered.
“No, he’s not,” the man replied. “Taron, get me Hayden’s medical bag. He keeps it in his bedroom.”
Cara didn’t even look to see the man run from the room. Her heart still ached from what she’d done. Her emotions were still so jumbled, so raw she could hardly breathe. She’d killed them all. Blood was everywhere—on the walls, on her. She raised a shaking hand and tried to wipe some away, but it had dried to her skin. With a whimper, she rubbed harder, scratching her flesh. She had to get it off.
“Cara?”
Alex’s soft voice caught her attention, but she couldn’t look at him as he sank to his knees in front of her. He cupped her face and forced her to meet his concerned stare. Tears streamed down her face, and nausea rolled through her stomach at her actions.
“How’s Hayden?” Alex asked as he continued to stare with concern into Cara’s eyes.
The man who’d left the room earlier rushed back in, carrying Hayden’s bag. “He should be fine,” his father replied.
“Can you fix him?” Alex asked as he finally turned his stare from Cara and back to the man kneeling by Hayden.
“I was trained as a medic when I was in the militia. I should be able to fix this.”
“He’s going to be okay?” Cara asked softly.
Alex turned back to look at her. “Yes, Cara. What happened here?”
She pulled from his hands and looked around the room. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I thought they’d killed Hayden. I wanted them to pay.” She still felt numb—cold. “What happened to
me
?” she whispered.
* * * *
Alex leaned his hip on Sidious’s desk as Taron paced back and forth across the room. Sidious sat in the chair, still watching the camera footage from Cara’s fight. Alex had watched a few minutes of it. He’d seen Cara fight before, but this was different. It was angry and vengeful. It wasn’t Cara.
“I’ve never seen anyone fight like this,” Sidious said as he stared at the computer screen and the footage of what had happened. “The woman doesn’t need a weapon. She
is
one. It’s no wonder they want her back. Where is she?”
“She’s, ah, on the terrace,” Alex said.
Alex walked toward the window and glanced out. Cara still stood at the rock wall, staring out over the lake. Right where he’d left her twenty minutes ago. She’d said she needed a few moments alone. Alex had thought she would be by Hayden’s side, but once she found out that he was okay, she put him from her mind. Or at least it appeared to Alex that she had. It was as though she was reverting back to her old self, and he hated to see her do it.
“What’s wrong with her?” Taron asked.
“I’m not sure,” Alex replied. “Hayden said she’d lost the ability to control her emotions.”
Sidious tapped the computer screen. “That’s obvious. She feels, and she just killed about fifteen Mundi. She’s probably trying to figure out how to cope with it.”
“Not to mention the fact she thought Hayden was dead,” Alex added. “She’s in love with him, I think.”
Sidious harrumphed. “This is a hell of a mess.” He stood and stared out the window toward Cara as well, a look of worry in his gray eyes. “That girl is dealing with things we can’t possibly imagine. She’s got to process it, learn to live with it. Otherwise she’s going to fall apart.”
Cara walked away from the wall and headed toward the house, coldness a firm mask on her face. “Or revert back to feeling nothing,” Alex mumbled.
“Maybe you should talk to her, Sidious. You know about living with past regrets,” Taron said.
“I doubt she would talk to me,” Sidious replied, then turned his gaze to Alex. “Maybe you can get through.”
He shook his head sadly. “I tried. She’s back to that stony demeanor she used to have. I’m not sure she would—”
His words died as Cara stepped slowly into the room. “How’s Hayden?” she asked softly.
“He’s recovering,” Sidious said. “He should be awake soon if you would like to speak with him.”
“No,” she said, then turned to Alex. “It’s time I returned home.”
Alex shook his head. “Cara—”
“Enough, Alex,” she said calmly. “The Mundi killed my father. It’s time they were put down.”
“What the hell do you mean by put down?” Alex asked. Her cold, emotionless exterior made him frown. What happened to her? Why had she reverted back? How was she now controlling her emotions so well?
“The time of the Mundi is done, and it’s time they knew that. I’m leaving within the half hour.”
She turned and left the room. Alex’s jaw dropped. “I think she’s serious,” he murmured.
“She’s just going to go to Bellara and wipe out the remaining Mundi?” Taron asked.
“I think she is,” Alex said with a shake of his head. “Something’s not right. I can’t let her go back there by herself.”
“You’re barely healed yourself, Alex,” Sidious argued.
Alex snorted and waved his hand. “You’ve seen her fight. I doubt I would have to do anything other than stand back and watch. I took out two. She took out fifteen. Not counting Cara, there’re only four of them left. The threat’s over, at least for me. Without the Mundi behind them, my guess is this revolt will fall back. Maybe on the way there, I can talk her into putting them in prison. I think that will make more of an impression than killing them. At least then they would stand trial for their crimes, including killing her father.”
“From the appearance of that cold look in her eyes, good luck with that,” Taron said drily.
SIDIOUS HEADED TO his son’s bedroom to check on his progress. Hayden had taken a pretty serious hit to the chest, but he’d gotten to him in time. He had no idea how his son felt about this young woman, but he knew for a fact Hayden would be pissed when he found out she’d just up and left.
As he rounded the corner of the second floor, he spotted Cara going into the room. He slowed his pace and stood just outside the door, listening.
“I know you’re still asleep,” she said, her voice soft and shaking slightly with unshed tears.
Sidious shifted and looked through the crack in the door. He watched as Cara leaned over and placed a kiss on Hayden’s lips.
“I love you so much,” she whispered, her voice breaking as tears slid down her cheeks. “That’s why I have to leave.”
Sidious frowned but remained silent. So she did still feel. She would need to deal with it and soon; otherwise it would eat her alive and cause her more harm than good. Maybe Alex could get through to her on the way to Bellara.
“It’s because I love you so much that I lost control downstairs. I didn’t have to kill them, but I did because I thought they’d killed you.”
She sniffed back more tears.
“The way I reacted terrifies me. I can’t do that again, Hayden.” She shook her head. “I just can’t.”
She licked her lips and sniffed again. “Thank you for everything you did for me.” She laughed softly. “And to me,” she added in a soft whisper. “I’ll never forget you.”
She turned to leave, and Sidious moved back quickly so she wouldn’t see him as she walked out of the room.
* * * *
Alex climbed onto the shuttle and silently watched Cara as she moved through the preflight motions. Sidious told him she’d been crying as she told Hayden good-bye, so they now knew she still felt emotions, but Alex wanted to figure out what was going through her head. Why the sudden mask of coldness?
“Cara,” he said in a soft voice.
She glanced at him over her shoulder before turning back to the console panel. “I would rather you not go, Alex.”
Alex shut the shuttle door. Cara sighed but didn’t turn to look at him.
“What’s going through you head?” he asked. “You have to talk about this before it eats you alive.”
“This war needs to come to an end. I’m better now. Obviously I can fight. It’s time I stopped sitting on my ass and did something to get my home out of this mess.”
“We can bring them to trial,” Alex said as he took the seat next to her. “You don’t have to go in there and kill them all.”
“Why not? I killed the others.”
“Yeah, and you’re obviously having a hard time dealing with it.” She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. “Go ahead. Tell me I’m wrong.”