Authors: Joan Swan

Blaze (12 page)

BOOK: Blaze

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She hadn't heard him. If she had, she'd have picked up and run with it. Could he have found protection against his stupid self?

“What about him?” Grateful for the change of subject, Luke tapped into his Internet browser and Googled “Greek translation.”

“He's . . . special. I mean, he's . . . like us.”

For some reason, that resonated with him. “Why would you think that?”

“He has the mark. I found it when I was washing him.”

Luke looked down at the boy sleeping against his chest. “Where?”

“Same place as yours.”

He set his phone on the dash, repositioned Mateo's limp body, and pulled at the waist of the boy's jeans. Sure enough, on the front of his right hip, where his leg met his pelvis, faint purplish marks stained his skin.

Luke's own scar heated as if in response to the connection. He hit the overhead light to get a better view.

“See?” Keira said. “It's the same. The wings, the body. Looks just like aâ”

“Phoenix.” He looked up at Keira, shocked, suddenly breathless. “What's his power? What can he do?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Silence filled the car. The road noise joined the tension, creating an ominous air.

Luke's cell rang. He answered, distracted. “Ransom.”

“Do you have her?” Mitch asked, voice filled with concern.

“Yes, I have her. She's . . .”
A pain in the ass
. “Fine.”

“Same to you, Ransom,” she muttered.

Luke rubbed his eyes, reminded himself to pull up that shield before he thought something, dammit. Then he refocused on wrapping his mind around everything that had happened. Everything that could still happen. “There was a problem at the airstripâ”

“I know. Marquez called me. Listen, just keep driving straight to Teague's. I'm waiting for information, but should have something by the time you get here.”

Luke ran a hand over Mateo's head. “No, we can't go there. Too risky.”

“This place is a fortress. There's nowhere safer.”

“These people want this kid bad, Mitch. They've already killed dozens to get to him. I won't risk Teague and Alyssa's family.”
My family.

A long silence fell over the line before Mitch asked, “What kid?”

SEVEN

K
eira drove in silence, stealing glances at Luke every few minutes. Okay, maybe it was every few seconds. He hadn't spoken again since he'd hung up with Mitch. She wanted to talk to him about her confrontation with Tony in the car. Then again, she didn't. Seemed the more they talked, the more they argued. And since he was definitely in a mood, their already high probability of fighting doubled.

His frowning face glowed in the light reflected from his phone as he continued searching translation websites. Without looking up from the phone he said, “Bad man.”

“Huh?”

“That's what he's been saying.
Kakos andras
. Bad man. And
kakee andras
is bad men.”

She thought back to the moments she'd heard Mateo think or say the wordsâon the chopper, when Tony walked into the ER. “But . . .”

“How would he have known?” Luke turned off the Internet and rubbed his eyes. “I don't know, but I can't think anymore. Hawthorne is coming up. We need gas, need to get this kid something to eat, and figure out where the hell we're going. I'm fresh out of ideas for the next step.”

The edges of town passed by the windows in a dark blur. Keira spotted a Chevron and pulled up to a pump. Aside from a cashier lingering in the snack shop, the station was deserted.

She turned off the car and looked at Luke. “I'll get the gas if you take him to the bathroom. He hasn't peed in hours, and I don't think I'd be a very good mentor in that department.”

Luke grinned, the first real grin she'd seen since they'd set eyes on each other earlier that day, and her heart tightened uncomfortably. “I suppose. Come on, champ. Let's take a leak.”

Keira rolled her eyes and pushed her door open. “Spoken like a true male of the species.”

Mateo woke up, his dazed dark eyes darting around like little arrows. He held out his arms to Keira and pushed off with his feet, forcing a grunt from Luke.
“Thia.”

She took hold of his hands and squeezed. “Shh, you're okay. Look.” She pointed at Luke, and Mateo settled right down. “When you get back, look up that word,
Thia
. And will you drop money with the cashier before you go to the bathroom, please?”

“Here's a lesson, kid: they never stop making demands or asking for money. Get a good job when you grow up. And remember, civil service pays crap.” Luke tsked and pulled the wad of twenties he'd taken from Tony's wallet out of his pocket, tipping his head in consideration. “Except for maybe shadow DARPA agents. That might be the way to go.”

“Don't put more crap in his head.” Keira climbed out of the car. “You're going to ruin him.”

She waited at the pump and watched the boys disappear into the mini-mart. Luke carried Mateo even though his broken ribs had to be hurting like hell. Sacrifice. That's what parenting was all about. And, damn, Luke would make a good dad someday. He'd been a fantastic surrogate for Katrina while Teague was in prison. In retrospect, Keira realized that Luke had found the meaning he'd been looking for in life with Katrina: a family of his own.

The death of his parents years before had hit Luke hard, but it had been his sister's suicide that had left him barren and searching. When Kat had been thrown at him, he'd stumbled and fumbled. But within days, Luke had fallen into the role of loving, doting, fun-loving, purposeful father to the then toddler. It had been a beautiful sight to beholdâagain, in retrospect.

In the moment, the ease of Luke's transformation and Keira's utter failure to follow had been terrifying. Her own lousy childhood had come back to haunt her in vivid Technicolor with the man she loved watching and a child's life affected.

When the Bureau's employment offer came through, the sixteen-week academy seemed like the perfect opportunity for Keira to take a break, make a fresh start with her career, get her head on straight. Luke had seen it as abandonment. She'd wanted to go back to them after the academy, but Luke had issued an ultimatumâthe Bureau or them. He never understood the decision had been far more complicated for her.

Luke stepped out of the mini-mart, set Mateo down, took his hand, and swung it in an exaggerated, playful arc. Mateo's curls bounced, the fluorescent lights above gleaming off the little teeth showing in his big smile. She'd never had a real family. Couldn't truly say she'd ever had even the semblance of a family. But that didn't keep a familiar yearning from pulling at her heart as she watched the two of them together.

Before disappearing into the restroom, Luke stopped, turned, and looked at her. Mateo's happiness was reflected in Luke's handsome face, and the joy shot across the distance like a light beam, warming Keira's heart. And for the millionth time in the last three years, Keira wished she'd make half as good a mom as he would a dad. But she wouldn't. Couldn't. There were just too many odds against herâhistorically, environmentally, genetically. And a child's life was not something she would ever use as a testing ground. She'd been there, done that, now she'd witnessed it as well. No child should live that way.

Disquiet created a subtle storm in her belly as Luke and Mateo disappeared into the bathroom. Keira took a deep breath, propped the pump nozzle in the tank, and started fueling.

A quick glance around the area and she realized they had limited food resources. No fast food. No restaurants. A blue sedan pulled into the station and parked two pumps back. Behind it, a light caught Keira's eye. Looked like a small grocery might still be open.

A middle-aged man emerged from the sedan, slipped a credit card into the neighboring pump, and pressed buttons. She swept his work boots, jeans, and flannel shirt with a cautious look and opened her mind. No unusual bulge in his clothing indicating a concealed weapon. No obnoxious penetrating thoughts.

Her own pump kicked off. She pulled the nozzle from the tank just as Luke and Mateo emerged from the restroom, holding hands. She couldn't help smiling even as the distant storm in her belly grew stronger. Luke was definitely dad material.

She turned to replace the nozzle. A zap of lightning shot down her spine. A clap of thunder rolled through her stomach. With a hand on the pump to steady herself, she searched for Luke, as if seeking reassurance. His eyes focused behind her, his smile gone. A concerned frown switched off all that light filling his face just moments ago. He pulled Mateo into his arms with too much force. Pushed into a run.

Behind you!

Everything collided in her consciousness at once: Luke's warning, the sensations, the man at the other pump.

She started to turnâtoo late. The man's arm cut across her throat. Metal jabbed the side of her skull. She didn't need to look to know the barrel of a gun was pointed at her head.

“Run!” she yelled before the man jerked her head back and clamped her airway.

“All I want is the kid,” the man called out so Luke could hear. “You two can go. Tony never should have involved you.”

The crack of a single gunshot sounded distantly inside her head, making her flinch. A draining sensation left her icy cold. “You . . . killed him?” She tested the words against the sensations, but this ability was still so new, she couldn't tell if they fit. “You
killed
Tony?”

“All I said was that he shouldn't have involved you.”

Keira closed her eyes, calming the panic and allowing other sensations to penetrate. The gas nozzle hung heavy in her hands. The weapon in her waistband lay cold against her spine. The man's breath blew warm on her cheek.

Find cover.
She directed her thought toward Luke, hoping he was clearheaded enough to receive it.

When she opened her eyes and tilted her head to scan the area, Luke had taken Mateo behind a gas pump on the opposite island. Better. But it would only take one stray bullet in this fuel dump to rip open the sky with a fireball.

“Come on.” The man's breath made smoke signals in the frigid air. “Let's get this over with. When the cops show up, not only do I get the kid, but you two go to jail. That's unnecessary, don't you think? I'm trying to give you an out here. Bring me the kid.”

On three, sprint to the car.
Keira counted in her head.
One. Two. Three.

She sucked air, held it, and ripped the pump nozzle up and over her shoulder. It met the man's head with a
thunk
. He grunted. Wavered. The gun drifted away from her head. But he didn't let go. She swung again. Something on his face crunched near her ear. Blood spurted. Splattered her face and neck.

The attacker's grip broke. He stumbled backward. Tripped. Fell.

The nozzle dropped from Keira's hand. She had the gun in her palm before the pump hit the ground.

“Drop your weapon.” Her demand scraped her throat. “Drop your weapon, now!”

The man writhed on the ground, the gun still in his grip. He wiped blood from his face, lifted his weapon toward her chest.

She squeezed her trigger. Again. And again. And again.

Too good. Too comforting. Too easy.

Keira didn't know how many times she fired before Luke's voice penetrated the ringing in her ears.

“Keira, stop! He's dead. Keira!”

Somewhere in her mind, she registered a hand on hers, the tug of her sleeve, warmth around her shoulders. Then she was in the car. She couldn't hear anything but that obnoxious buzz. Couldn't see anything but a fuzzy black background. Couldn't feel anything but cold. Bone-deep cold.

“Breathe, baby.” The voice came from inside a tunnel very far away. “Just breathe. You'll be okay.”

The car whipped her back, right, left. She pressed her head against the seat, closed her eyes, and used the inside of her jacket to wipe the sticky blood from her face. “I'm going to be sick.”

“Not yet,” Luke said. “Give me a couple minutes. Come on, sweetheart, breathe. Deep, slow breaths.”

Warmth crept into her lap in the form of a little body. Mateo's palms rested against her cheeks. His forehead pressed against hers.

Whatever he'd said calmed her instantly. She shut her brain down and reveled in the sensations pouring from his touch, filling her with light and chasing the dark away. She circled his wrists with her fingers, pulled his arms around her neck, and enveloped him in her arms. And as if he were purging the trauma and anguish from her body, the sense of doom lifted.

By the time Keira opened her eyes, the car had slowed. They passed through an automatic gate and crawled up a dark hill. The metal clattered closed behind them, and an unwarranted sense of safety eased her shoulders.

“Where are we?”

“One of the contacts Marquez gave us.”

How Luke had known to come here, she couldn't guess. She hadn't heard him talking on his cell. But then, she hadn't heard or seen much between the gas station and now. Couldn't remember much, either. Her brain seemed frozen in a twilight zone.

As she struggled to focus on the shadowed surroundings, her mind cleared, but it wouldn't completely engage. The dirt road ended at the door of a small building. At the edge of the headlights' beam, a man emerged from the darkness and waited as Luke cut the engine and got out of the car. Their host was built like a compact truck, dressed all in black with a shaved head and stern face. Not someone she would have trusted on sight.

The two men spoke quickly, and Keira didn't have the least interest in what they were discussing. Didn't care to know their next move, let alone take it. She needed to get into a hot shower to scrub this blood off, wanted to sink into a soft bed and forget this violent world existed.

Luke came to the passenger's door, his gaze intense and searching her face through the window. Before he'd even opened the door and dropped into a crouch, Keira felt his genuine concern embrace her. He pressed his fingers against her throat, peered into her eyes.

“I'm not a science experiment.” She pushed his hand away and sat up, turning Mateo to face Luke. “And take this guy, will you?”

“Well, there's an improvement.” He lifted Mateo, then took her arm and eased her to her feet.

Her head seemed to lift off her shoulders. She swayed. Luke secured her against his body with an arm around her shoulders. “Not quite seaworthy yet, but we've got that shower and that bed you want. You'll feel better in a few hours.”

“Stay out of my head, Ransom.”

“Okay, maybe a few minutes. You always did bounce back on a dime.”

Once she was out of the car, Keira forced herself to stand on her own. She wouldn't face this stranger like a wimp.

His sharp eyes studied her and Mateo as they approached.

“Ma'am,” he greeted, his face a solid brick of concrete, but his voice surprisingly soft and reassuring. “Hear you've been tracking through hell.”

BOOK: Blaze

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