Embers & Ice (Rouge) Page 25

“Oh.” Hunter swallowed, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. No way I could ever be a mother, I’m a terrible singer. “How about I sing something else?”

  “Okay.”

  Hunter scrambled through her brain for something – anything – to sing to a boy without a mother. She wasn’t sure she believed in a happy ending to their story, but she definitely believed – as Will did – that there was a higher power watching over them. Maybe it really was an angel.

  And then she remembered.

  It wasn’t a lullaby; it was a poem she’d studied in school. Hunter had never been musically gifted, but she always imagined a tune to go with the lyrics. Now seemed the perfect time to test them.

  She took a deep breath and began.

  “There is someone who cares for you,

  Who watches you sleep so sound,

  Who holds you in their warm embrace,

  Who helps the lost be found.

  An Angel watches over you,

  With comfort and with love.

  An Angel carries you away,

  To heaven up above.”

  Hunter sniffed away the tears in her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. The sound of her song echoed in the dark cell room, the words still thumping inside her heart. And for a moment, it felt like a prayer being lifted to the heavens, to whoever was watching over them. A prayer for their survival in the escape tomorrow.

  Carefully, she twisted her head and looked down. Sammy was asleep.

  FORTY-FIVE

  The demonstrations were over. They electrocuted Marcus in almost every way possible. He took a day to recover in the infirmary; the moans Hunter had heard the other night were from him. Jet’s was a little trickier; to test the limits of his Telekinesis, they threw knives at him from every angle at impossible speeds. He dodged many with his mind, but came out with a large slice in his arm and on his forehead. Fearne was last, but her demonstration was different from everyone else’s. Instead of putting her life at risk, Dr. Wolfe did nothing at all to harm her. He simply asked her to read the mind of a volunteer scientist and that was it.

  “It was seriously spooky,” said Zac at the breakfast table the morning Hunter returned. She sat beside Will – whose eyes filled with warmth when she appeared beside him – and Sammy, who disappeared in the early hours of the morning back to his own cell.

  “But it’s over now,” she said. “It’s time to talk about the plan.”

  “Yeah, uh, about that,” murmured Zac uncomfortably. “Are you sure we’re actually ready? I mean you just got out of the hospital and-”

  “It has to be done today,” she snapped, looking at each of them in turn. Their eyes were filled with uncertainty. How could she assure them that everything would be okay when even she didn’t know? “I know Dr. Wolfe probably has wind of our escape plan, hell he might have even blocked the way out.” Chantal made a small whimper of panic and some of the others exchanged fearful glances. “But hey, we’re super-powered freaks of nature. We have power here that none of them can measure up to. If we can’t do this, how do you expect to survive in the real world? What’s the point in being special if we don’t even try? It’s now… or it’s never.”

  There was silence at the table. Hunter caught a small smile from Fearne and knew she would follow them all to the ends of the earth. Marcus and Mosi were nodding – they already had their game faces on. Chantal was with Hunter long ago. But the children were still unsure.

  “First thing I’m gonna do when I get out,” whispered Benji suddenly and everyone stared in surprise at the quietest member of the group, “is go to the zoo.”

  “Hoping you’ll find your family there?” Zac chuckled.

  Chantal whacked him. “You’re a douche, you know that?”

  He glared at her. “I suppose the first thing you’ll do is walk into the nearest Chanel store and buy yourself a season’s worth of shoes, huh Barbie?”

  “Why would I do that when I can just ask for it?” she replied, batting her eyelashes devilishly.

  “I’m going straight to the nearest fast food joint, because this shit-” Marcus shoved his tray of food away, “-is horse piss.”

  “I want to watch a movie,” said Ryo. “A really good one.”

  “Oh yeah?” Zac nodded. “Watch Die Hard. The first one, not the others.”

  Chantal scoffed. “How the hell would you know that, you got here when you were seven.”

  “I happened to be a very young movie buff,” he replied. “And I watched them with my older brother.”

  “I dunno, I prefer-”

  “Guys,” Hunter interrupted. “As wonderful as your excitement is, we need to be focused. Can you do that?”

  They nodded.

  “Now, when I give the signal – or whenever the distraction begins – deactivate your restraints. Marcus, do you have the key?”

  He nodded and patted the pocket on his hip. “I don’t take it off me.”

  “Good. You all have very useful, very defensive powers. I’m sure you can figure out a way to run from the guards. Hell, some of you will be gone in seconds-” she nodded to Ryo and Benji, “-but what’s more important than anything is this: to stick together. I don’t want to lose any of you in this escape. We’ve already lost some.”

  They grunted complaints and even Hunter had to admit she didn’t give a rat’s ass whether Jet the snitch and his psycho girlfriend came with them or not.

  “Please, please, I’m begging you not to run. There’s a place we have to meet if something goes wrong. It’s the safest place I know.” She pulled out the address and started passing it around the group. “Memorize it. It’s our rendezvous.”

  “How do you know it’s safe?” asked Ryo.

  “Because the person who’s providing the distraction gave it to me.”

  “You trust this person Hunter?” asked Chantal.

  “With my life,” she nodded. “Mosi, you have the way out right?”

  He shot a glance at the door. A few of the Men in White moved around the room and Hunter felt jitters in her stomach. We have to hurry, the distraction could happen any minute now.

  “It’s a little complicated, and we’ll make ourselves known as soon as we hit the elevator, but we’ve got Marcus to shut off the security and get the elevator running. If we can find the right exit in the labs, there’s a staircase that leads above ground. If not, there’s a sewer system directly above us. After that, I’ve got no idea what’s up there.”

  “I’ll take care of that,” she said to reassure them. “Remember to stick together, okay? Use your powers in any way you possibly can, even if you have to use them offensively. Do everything you can to get out.”

  Slowly and unsteadily, they agreed. She tried smiling in encouragement, but it felt like a grimace, so she put her game face back on.

  “We’d all better eat, who knows how long it’ll be until we get a decent meal like this.”

  Zac snorted, and some of them chuckled at her sarcasm, and the mood was lifted. Uneasiness still flowed between them, but the thought of what awaited them in the outside world was well worth the gamble.

  “Can we get our powers back now?” Zac moaned. “I’m itching again.”

  Ryo and Benji nodded in agreement. Hunter glanced around at the older ones. Will gave her a nudge at the table, and she turned to the door.

  Steel had just stationed himself by the entrance. He muttered into his earpiece as his eyes shot daggers at their table. He raised two fingers to signal to the other Men in White, who immediately sped to the door and were out in a flash.

  Something wasn’t right. Hunter waited, feeling the gazes of the others burn into her skull, but she wasn’t sure it was time yet. Dr. Rosenthal said she would know when the opportunity arose.

  Then it happened; a rumble beneath their feet. The trays and cutlery on their tables started quivering.

  And from somewhere deep down in the pits of the Death Caves, there came a tortured, infuriated, hair-raising roar.

&nb
sp; Hunter looked at the group, nodded to Marcus, steadied her beating heart and smiled, feeling more alive than she had in months. “You heard the dinosaur,” she said. “Time to go.”

  FORTY-SIX

  He’s crazy. Bat-shit, out-of-his-mind, dingo-ate-my-baby crazy.

  No matter how many times Jenny repeated that in her mind, it didn’t change their situation in the slightest. She was still under ‘observation’ by the FBI. She was still aching all over from her recent heart attack. And they were still in a chunky SUV driving across the country with a federal agent in the driver’s seat.

  Jenny glanced at Eli on the opposite side of the car. He was staring out at the dark night, his eyes drooping shut every few seconds then snapping open again. After Joshua’s FBI friend – since when did he ever have an officer of the law as a friend? Since when did Joshua have friends? – took them out of the interrogation room and told them to pack up their bags and jump in the back of his car, Jenny knew Joshua was up to something. He wouldn’t just get arrested for the sake of helping the Feds out. He had a plan; she could see it in his eyes. But in showing this guy all of the secrets he’d fought to keep, what good did that do but get them into more trouble?

  Jenny’s mind was buzzing, and it made it that much more difficult to sleep. Not to mention the pain in her chest every time they drove over a stone or a dip in the road. It was nearing three-am, and despite the fact that she needed sleep, she simply couldn’t do it.

  Agent Barry Sanders took his hand off the wheel and pressed his fingers against his ear. “Copy that Arthur. We’re about five miles outside of Spokane. I’ll need to refuel, call you when we’re at the motel.”

  “What motel?” she asked.

  Barry turned the heat up and Eli stirred in the backseat. He had a line of drool down his chin. He didn’t answer her.

  “Okay, that’s it-” She leaned forward and stuck her head between the two front seats. “Joshua, what the hell is going on? Where are we going, and how is bringing the FBI helping our situation?”

  Joshua gave her a warning look and the car turned instantly cold. “Jenny…”

  “It’s helping your situation by not arresting all three of you for fraud and kidnapping,” Barry grumbled. “And shit, Edward Cullen, you might not be able to feel the cold but we’re all losing valuable body parts here. Turn it off!”

  Joshua went rigid and immediately released the cold temperature of the car. Barry shot him a frown and went back to concentrating on the road.

  I really don’t like this guy, Jenny thought to herself, though she admired Barry’s confidence with a man as powerful as Joshua. He reeks of arrogance. “Okay, so once we complete this little mission of yours, what happens to us? To Eli and I, at least?”

  “Hmm?” Eli sat up fast at the mention of his name. “What?”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Barry replied. “But I believe we have a bigger problem on our hands, am I right Jennifer?”

  Jenny grumbled under her breath and heard him snicker. What was the point in arguing with this man? Whatever Joshua told him, he was intent on getting there and nothing she could say would change his mind. Jenny knew she should trust Joshua but something about getting involved with the government – particularly the FBI – made her uneasy. Was she going crazy? Did Joshua really know what he was doing?

  Jenny tried to relax in the tight leather seats as the SUV plunged further down the highway into the dark night, but her stomach didn’t settle even after they parked in a motel outside of Spokane. Jenny spent longer than usual in the shower and glanced through the peep-hole in the door where a local policeman had taken up guard of her door. The room was on the third floor, so there was no way she’d have any hope of escaping.

  This is stupid. What am I doing here? Suddenly I’m a criminal, and we’ve lost hope of getting Eli’s memory back or rescuing Hunter because now we have some agent breathing down our necks, and there’s no way Joshua would ever take him to the doctor’s house, or risk the doctor’s identity.

  Or would he? Was that what Joshua had come to?

  Jenny towel-dried her hair so vigorously that her head throbbed when she flicked her hair back. She was relieved she had her own room, and flopped in dry clothes on the bed where she tried to imagine that she was completely alone, and there was nothing stopping her from walking out of the hotel and… moving on.

  In the middle of her wonderings, there was a knock on the door.

  “What?” she groaned.

  “Jenny?” came Joshua’s familiar voice. He was nervous. “Am I able to come in?”

  Jenny hauled herself to her feet and dragged her legs to the door. The hotel had a strange smell, like cherries in the summer only cold and damp. The door was so thin she could almost hear Joshua muttering to himself as he so often did, and for a moment it made her smile.

  She unlocked the latch and opened it to see him still in the same shirt, tie and black pants as he’d worn two days ago when they left Dickinson. His expression was full of the usual anxiousness, and his eyes drooped tiredly from the long week of driving. She was surprised he hadn’t passed out yet.

  “Yes.” She stepped aside to let him in.

  “Um.” Joshua stared at her empty room, not sure where to put himself, and turned to her. “I just wanted to speak to you about what’s happening. I feel it’s unfair to you, after all that you’ve done to help, that you know nothing about what Barry and I plan to do next.”

  “What Barry and I? So you’re working together now, and Eli and I are just tag alongs?” She crossed her arms and glared through narrowed eyes. “Do you still even care about Hunter?”

  Joshua frowned, hurt. “Of course. Finding Hunter is all I care about.”

  “Yeah, right. I should have known this would all go pear-shaped. What was I thinking?” She walked to the bed where her backpack lay open and zipped up her vanity bag, shoving it back between her shoes. “That we’d be successful in getting Eli’s memories back, and finding Hunter would be easier than finding the nearest McDonalds? That we’d all fly back to New York and life would return to what it used to be?”

  “I don’t want to go back to what it used to be,” he said softly.

  “Why not?” She whirled on him. Her anger was building from a hole inside her she never knew existed. “You won’t have to constantly watch Eli and I. You can forget everything that happened after you froze me in my hospital bed. Hunter can graduate and you won’t ever have to see me again.”

  “But I want-” Joshua caught his words before they could jump out of his mouth and his eyes seemed to grow wider. He was about to say something that terrified him, but Jenny saw the word form on his lips. She felt her entire body seize up.

  “You want to?” she breathed.

  “No.” His tone was harsh, but his watery-blue eyes gave away the truth. He was lying, and he knew it. He was simply afraid to believe it.

  “You want to,” she said again, this time as a statement of fact. Her next words came out in a breath.

  They were only a foot apart, Jenny with her back to the bed and Joshua standing awkwardly near her. A thousand emotions flashed across his face. He was struggling internally, raging a battle with the ice inside him. A magical, invisible force was pulling them closer until suddenly she was staring up into those endless, weightless, wonderfully pale blue eyes and she couldn’t control it any longer. The urge was too strong and too tempting.

  This time, Joshua didn’t freeze up.

  “I do,” he said. Then he closed the distance between them.

  Jenny flung her arms around his neck and forced her lips to his. His hands spread across her back and electricity sparked through her. Joshua’s lips moved hesitantly, as though he feared he might make a mistake, but Jenny traced her fingers down his strong cheekbone and pressed harder against him, letting him know she wanted more. In response, Joshua clung tighter and lowered his hands. She forgot about his awkwardness and the fact that he was terribly cold and ins
tead, she found herself lost. There was only warmth inside her. Warmth in her lips and her fingers and her desire for him. Jenny had never felt anything like it.

  “You once asked me…” she said between soft kisses as he breathed down upon her neck and melted her knees, “why… Hunter could overpower the fire…”

  “Mmm,” he murmured as he trailed kisses down her neck, chilling and glorious.

  “Now do you understand? She drew power from her memory of love, Joshua.” Jenny felt a shiver go through her body and she clung to him tighter. “That’s all you need.”

  Joshua pulled away. He met her gaze with confused eyes, his hands still wrapped around her back. “Wait a minute… you think I don’t love?”

  Jenny frowned. “No… well, I just thought you didn’t understand the power of love. If it’s strong enough, you can overpower the ice. That’s the answer.”

  His hands dropped and he stepped back and Jenny knew the moment was over. She killed it, with her big mouth and false assumptions. She suddenly wished she could take it all back as Joshua regarded her with painful confusion.

  “What, you think I’m some monster Jenny?” His face was a mask of hurt. “You think I have no emotions at all?”

  “No, I-”

  “I took care of Hunter’s mother when she was pregnant with my best friend’s child because I cared for Leo like a brother. I took Hunter in when her mother died in my arms because I loved Liz more than anything in this world, and it killed me to see her die!” As Joshua’s voice rose, the temperature in the room dropped. His eyes filled with tears. Jenny was so paralyzed with shock that she couldn’t think of words. “I threw away my life for Hunter, and I grew to love her like my own daughter, feeding her and sheltering her and going to fucking parent-teacher meetings and piano recitals because she needed me there!” He stabbed at his own chest, his blue eyes blazing. “I love that girl with every fiber of my being and I spent so much time trying to protect her that I have no strength left inside me to fight this evil, disgusting power that clings to my soul every single day of my existence. I lose control because I can’t stand the thought of her hurt, or in pain, or on the brink of death. Now she’s trapped in an institution that I pulled her away from when she was a child and it’s all because of me! ”