Allegiant (40 page)

He moves his legs beneath mine and wraps one
arm around my waist. He slides his other arm under my knees and
stands, lifting me and holding my body against him. I curl one hand
behind his neck and set the other against his pounding heart. He
kisses me again as he carries me away from the couch and into the
bedroom.

“
Are you ready?”

I tighten my ponytail as I walk toward the
foyer. “Yep. Ready to catch me a shark.”

“
It’s more like a marlin or
a tuna,” Dane says. He opens the front door. “Did you grab the
sunscreen?”

I hold out my hand. “Got it.”

He makes sure the door is locked from the
inside. “This is your last chance to back out.”

“
You wish,” I say and push
against his arm to get him moving. Last night’s decision has
created a monster; he’s been trying to get me to forego the fishing
trip and stay in. “Like I said before, you shouldn’t have told me
what you had planned. I want to go; I’ve never been.”

He smiles and shakes his head.
“Stubborn.”

“
Who’s being stubborn?” I
push him harder. “Move!”

He laughs as he steps outside. I follow
behind him, grabbing the door handle as I go. Suddenly, he stops
short, and I nearly bounce off his back.

“
What are you doing here?”
Dane snaps.

“
Well, it’s a pleasure to
see you, too,” I hear a male voice chuckle.

I can’t immediately place the person behind
the voice, but I know I’ve heard it before. Tension radiates off
Dane as I remain behind him, unseen. I decide to stay put.

“
May I come in?”

“
I was just leaving. I have
an appointment.”

I hear footsteps. “It took me awhile to find
you,” the gentleman says. “You could at least afford me a few
minutes of your time.”

Dane lets out a heavy breath. “Did she send
you?”

“
Of course she did. Do you
think I run around looking for errant employees for the fun of
it?”

The light dawns and my stomach twists. Mr.
Meyer is standing on our doorstep.

“
Listen, I’m sorry about
the way I left.”

“
Your lack of
professionalism was a bit shocking,” Mr. Meyer says. “You gave me
no notice and quit over email? I would never have expected that
from you. I had quite a mess to clean up with the Harris
account.”

I take a step back. Should I run and hide or
stay and defend Dane? Defending him sounds like the better choice.
Besides, I owe him.

Dane scoffs. “Harris will be fine; you have
everything I was working on. Designers are a dime a dozen; go find
yourself a fresh college grad. Besides you should be thanking me.
You can get away with paying the newbie a lot less.”

Mr. Meyer sighs. “This isn’t about money or
the company. This is about my daughter.”

“
We’ve had this
conversation,” Dane argues. “I can’t believe you flew all the way
down here! Teagan and I…I don’t love her. She doesn’t love me. It’s
done.”

I hear another step. “My daughter is
distraught. I poured over at least a hundred flight manifests to
find you. Can I at least be allowed inside to sit down while we
discuss what may or may not be?”

I know Dane doesn’t want to let him in for a
number of reasons, namely me. I decide to take one burden off his
back and step around him, exposing myself to Teagan’s father. “Come
on in.”

When Mr. Meyer’s eyes meet mine the look on
his face is indescribable. Obviously, he recognizes me from the
charity dinner, and he’s surprised to find me here. Has the
realization finally hit that Dane is no longer in love with his
daughter?

“
What are you doing?” Dane
turns and asks, blocking me.

“
The man asked to come
inside. You’re being rude.” I widen my eyes to subliminally send
him a message.
It’s okay.

Dane sets his jaw and shakes his head
infinitesimally. His expression screams that it’s not.

“
Emma.”

Mr. Meyer’s voice pulls our eyes away from
each other, and Dane looks confused. “How do you know her?”

Teagan’s father looks at me pointedly. “Who
else knows you’re here?”

His tone sends a chill down my spine, and I
don’t think twice about answering. “No one.”

He looks between Dane and me, clearly
agitated. “It’s imperative that I speak with both of you.”

I step back to allow him through the door,
and Dane begrudgingly does the same. It’s clear he’s unhappy, but
what if we can put this whole Teagan mess behind us? If we can
convince her father that it’s over maybe he can, in turn, convince
her too.

When Dane closes the door, Mr. Meyer turns
to me. “We’ve never been properly introduced.” He extends his hand.
“My name is Luke Meyer.”

I take it and nod. “I’m familiar. Emma
Donohue.”

He grips my hand. It’s not painful, but it’s
not an ordinary handshake either. I meet his eyes with a
questioning look.

“
Your friends call me
Lucas.”

At first his comment doesn’t register, and I
maintain my puzzled expression.

“
I assume you received the
money I sent.”

Fear consumes me. I try to yank my hand
away, but he maintains his firm grasp. Dane immediately steps to my
side.

“
I’m not here to hurt you,”
he says sincerely. A familiar, calm feeling radiates up my arm and
then travels down my body. Reiki.

“
I had no idea you were
here,” he says. “I came only on my daughter’s behalf.” His eyes
flash to Dane. “I was clueless that James’ Emma and yours were one
in the same.”

Dane looks blindsided, yet he sets his hands
protectively on my shoulders. “Let her go.”

Lucas obliges, allowing me to step back
against Dane. “I thought…at the dinner…”

“
I was there to pacify
Jack,” Lucas says. “I normally don’t attend frivolous work
functions. But, he asked that I check on you to make sure you could
be trusted.” He smiles at me in a genuine way. “I told him his
worries were unfounded.”

“
Who is Jack?” Dane
demands.

“
Jack is a Garrett’s twin,
a Guardian,” I say. “He doesn’t like me.”

“
Ah,” Lucas disagrees, “he
likes you just fine. You can trust that his intentions are pure. He
only wants what’s best for his brother.”

Dane steps to my side and takes my hand in
his. He looks at Lucas with disdain. “And just who exactly are
you?”

Lucas regards him. “First and foremost, I am
a husband and a father.”

“
And?”

“
And I am also one of The
Allegiant.”

My knees feel weak at hearing him admit
this. I didn’t realize how much fear of The Allegiant I held in my
heart. James and Garrett did an excellent job of placing it
there.

“
Speaking of,” Lucas says
as if he has read my mind, “they’re safe. You don’t need to worry
about them.”

“
On the
contrary.”

Dane and I spin around at the sound of a new
voice behind us. A man materializes with broad shoulders, sandy
blonde hair, and blue eyes. Dane clutches my hand and my heart
completely stops as two more men appear beside the first, one on
his left and one on his right. All three of them are intimidating
figures, tall and muscular. One has dark hair while the other’s is
so gray it’s nearly white.

“
Excellent job,” the sandy
blonde says over our heads to Lucas. “You’ve practically led us to
them.”

Blood pounds behind my ears. I look at
Lucas, and he appears defeated, but not fearful.

“
You’ve been spying on me?”
he asks, offended.

The dark one scoffs. “You didn’t think we’d
catch on? You’re not above us!”

“
It was just a matter of
time until you tripped up,” the blonde one says. “Thankfully,
patience is one of our many virtues.”

Lucas remains confident as he defends
himself. “Before you do anything rash…”

It’s too late. I barely see the blonde nod
and in the blink of an eye the other two men spring into action,
grabbing Dane and me and wrenching our hands painfully apart. They
hold us by our shoulders, across the room from one another, while
the third man renders Lucas immobile by light that emanates from
the palm of his hand. I can see Dane’s eyes fill with panic as he
struggles against his captor, but it has no effect on the Guardian.
I don’t even bother to move against mine; if Dane can’t break free
surely I don’t stand a chance. Terror and utter sadness threaten to
crush my chest.

My captor speaks and his voice rumbles over
me. “Kellan,” he says, pulling the sandy blonde’s eyes our way.
“Shall I do it now?” His grip around me tightens and fear cuts
through my body.

“
You’re right to be
afraid,” Kellan says, giving me a tiny, malicious smile. “This is
going to be incredibly painful.”

Inky darkness surrounds me as if the very
sun has been extinguished. I am blind, my eyes slowly beginning to
burn. It’s as if a match has been lit inside my skull, and the
flame is crawling along my optic nerves, incinerating them.
Blinking does nothing to soothe the intense ache behind my eyes, so
I close them tight, praying for tears to put out the fire. None
appear.

An image is placed behind my sightless,
burning eye sockets; I know this because I physically feel it. It’s
like my mind is a View Master loaded with a picture reel, and what
I see defines the meaning behind Kellan’s threat of pain. I realize
this torture will be infinitely more mental, more emotional than
the initial threat could allow me to comprehend. The flames in my
head change direction to consume my heart as I’m forced to memorize
things I’ve never seen before. My chest constricts as I try to
scream, but I am rendered incapable as bile rises in my throat. My
legs give out as the images change:

James lying in his casket, so swollen and
caked in make-up that he’s barely recognizable.

James naked in the morgue on a silver table,
his face sliced, his chest badly beaten and bruised.

Paramedics holding his limp body drenched in
blood, his legs twisted in an unnatural way.

His open, lifeless eyes as he stares into
nothing, slumped in the front seat of his truck.

“
Enough!” I hear a voice,
and my vision immediately returns; I’m on my hands and knees in
front of the dark haired Guardian that held me. I concentrate on
breathing as the burning pain inside me fizzles.

“
I’m here! You can
stop!”

The pain leaves my body.

Lifting my head, I find James in the middle
of the room, his eyes trained on me with a look of desolation.
Relief washes over me at seeing him whole again, and I push myself
to stand despite my shaking legs. I want him to know I’m okay, and
I can handle this. The Guardian behind me collects my shoulders to
restrain me a second time, but not as strongly.

“
That was quick,” Kellan
says to James, impressed, as he continues to hold Lucas immobile.
“Now if you would just lead us to your former mentor, we could end
this little game.”

“
I’m willing,” James says.
“But I don’t know how.”

“
Abraham,” Kellan calls to
the Guardian that holds Dane then looks in my direction,
“Ethan.”

Both men release us, and when they do, Dane
is in front of me in an instant, frantically gathering my face in
his hands. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

“
I’m fine,” I say, although
the images seared into my brain will haunt me forever.

A sharp intake of breath redirects my
attention, and I look around Dane to see The Allegiant standing on
either side of James, one of their hands on each of his shoulders.
They must be doing to him what they did to me and he closes his
eyes, clenching and unclenching his fists. My gaze jumps to Lucas,
still frozen by Kellan, then back to James. I’m helpless to stop
any of this.

“
I feel the bond,” Abraham
finally says. Ethan nods in agreement.

“
Well, what are you waiting
for?” Kellan snaps. “Fetch him.”

The Guardians disappear, and James slowly
opens his eyes. He blinks to focus his vision and then turns toward
Dane and I. Crestfallen, his clear blue eyes lock on mine. “I hope
you two will be happy together,” he says, his voice heavy and stuck
with emotion.

It’s in that moment that I know, without a
doubt, what he was shown. What else would cause him pain to reveal
Garrett’s bond? Both Abraham and Ethan touched Dane and I; they
read our minds, they saw what happened between us. James just
received a first row seat to last night’s show. The urge to throw
up overcomes me and I swallow, breaking out in a cold sweat. It’s
one thing to hear what happened. It’s quite another to witness it
firsthand.

“
Aw,” Kellan interrupts,
mocking us. “Do I sense a love triangle?”

Both James and Dane shoot him an irritated
look. Kellan gives me a once over and then leers. “She’s pretty;
I’ll give you that.”

His comment makes my skin crawl.

His tone changes as his eyes leave mine and
harshly turn to James. “Might I remind you that your feelings for
her are forbidden? You’re aware of this, yet you continue to feel
the way you do? Act the way you do? And now you’ve taken part in
this scheme? Enabling renegades? You should be banished!”

James lowers his eyes. He can’t defend
himself; Kellan will know he’s lying. He clenches his hands into
fists again, as if preparing for what’s coming. He always said he
would be punished if The Allegiant discovered his actions, and my
heart races in anticipation of the worst. Is Kellan going to hurt
him right here, right now?