Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart (22 page)

“Ha!” Cali crooned triumphantly. “Who says we need Joel for all the computer hacking?” She turned her laptop around to show Sydney the address.

Sydney studied the map on the internet. “Are you sure?” She stared at the rundown area of Santa Ana.

Cali glared at her.

Sydney backed off. “I’m just making sure.”

“Well, I’m almost positive this is where she used to live.” Her chest puffed up proudly. Felix came up behind her and gently bopped her on the head with the newspaper. Cali whirled in her chair, obsidian eyes sparking. Felix met her challenging eyes with a confident smirk.

Sydney could feel the sexual tension between them and carefully looked away. Is that what everyone else felt when she and Merrick locked eyes?

No wonder everyone could see through your lies.

Both Cali and Felix had eyed them peculiarly when they’d walked in. Sydney still worried that they’d been able to tell that she’d had sex with Merrick.

“You sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Felix broke his staring contest with Cali.

“We’ll be fine.” Merrick pushed off the counter where he was leaning in the kitchen, keeping his distance.

Felix looked to her. “Syd?”

Felix might have forgiven Merrick for last night but that didn’t mean he’d forgotten. He wouldn’t show open hostility but he didn’t mind openly questioning Merrick’s authority. He wanted to make sure she was okay with being alone with Merrick. After what had happened a few hours ago, she was more than comfortable being alone with Merrick, but she couldn’t tell them that. Felix didn’t trust Merrick because he didn’t know him, but he trusted her.

“We’ll be fine,” she assured him.

That was all it took. Felix nodded. He handed her the address. “Let me know if you guys find anything.”

She tucked the piece of paper into her pocket. “Of course.”

By the time they reached Santa Ana it was well into the afternoon. The cloudy sky made it seem later than usual and Sydney hugged her jacket closer to her body as the wind kicked up. Merrick wound an arm around her shoulders. A jolt of pleasure raced through her.

They walked in silence for a few steps before she spoke. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For not doing anything in front of Cali or Felix.”

His body stiffened. He dropped his arm from around her. “Sure,” he said curtly.

He started to walk faster. “Wait, Merrick.” She pushed her legs to move faster. It didn’t help. She broke out into a light jog. “I didn’t mean anything by that.” She’d upset him and she didn’t know why.

“I know exactly what you meant, Sydney,” he ground out. “I shouldn’t have expected anything more, really. You wanted my help, I told you my terms, you met them, and here we are.”

His words were like a slap to the face. “Excuse me?”

They had reached Collette’s house. It was a rundown home with broken windows and dead grass. Sydney didn’t even give it a spare glance. She raced after Merrick.

He was already inside when she caught up to him. “How dare you think I’m someone who exchanges sex for favors. Is that really all you see me as? A prostitute of some sort?”

Tears were creeping up her throat and she wanted to scream because of it. How could her life have turned so dramatically so quickly? They’d been fine five minutes ago.

• • •

Merrick saw the glistening of tears starting in Sydney’s eyes and looked away. His hands curled into fists. He wanted to punch someone out, preferably himself. He’d been the one to make her cry.

He strategically avoided answering her question. He’d been an idiot to think that Sydney would want him over Joel. To think that she was different from all the other women he’d dated. She was ashamed to be with him, didn’t want the others to know that she’d sullied herself by sleeping with him.

He ground his teeth and stormed deeper into the house. “Split up,” he barked and left her in the entryway.

He’d been a fucking moron. And here he hadn’t even needed to read her clothing to learn about her regret with being with him — her embarrassment. She’d outright told him.

At least she was honest.

Merrick grunted. It was his own fault, really. He was the one who’d wanted to fuck her so badly. Did he really think that she’d choose him for good?

But then why did she run to him first last night when he’d returned with the others from the hospital?

Women.

Now he remembered why he’d avoided them. They caused nothing but pain.

Fool.

He slammed his fist into the closest wall. Plaster cracked and a low groan went through the house. He shook out his hand to ease the stinging and continued into some large living area. Piles of old clothes and random belongings were in each corner. A worn duffel rested in front of the fireplace.

Merrick frowned and stepped deeper into the room. The scent of unwashed bodies lingered in the air and he knelt down next to a pile of clothing and picked up the top piece. He rubbed the fabric between his thumb and forefinger but got no impressions off of it.

“Sydney,” he mumbled. She was using her powers.

He dropped the shirt and got to his feet. It didn’t matter. He didn’t need his powers to know that there were squatters in this house. The only thing he had to worry about was when they’d come back.

He listened carefully for Sydney and heard distant shuffling from another room. Satisfied that she was safe he moved upstairs.

He searched for any kind of master bedroom that might still hold something of Collette’s. Or if he was lucky, something useful of Kevin’s. When he found the master bedroom it was completely ransacked, so he moved on. He lucked out on the second guest bedroom.

An old dresser was propped up against the far wall. He strode toward it and pulled open drawer after drawer. Old rags littered the floor. It looked like whoever got this room didn’t want to bother folding their clothes up to use the dresser. That was fine with Merrick — the fewer people to touch the dresser the more likely he was to find the impression he was looking for.

The last drawer held an old-fashioned brush, with soft bristles and a decorative backing. He snatched it up. A personal object was even better than the dresser.

“Drop your powers,” he yelled down to Sydney.

There was an answering gasp. His shout must have startled her. A few seconds later his neck started to tingle. He gripped the handle on the brush, picking up on numerous hands. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Collette’s face, searching for her through a sea of people.

He opened his eyes.

Nothing.

He eyed the brush. Maybe he’d been wrong and this was one of the squatters’ personal objects. He put it back and ran his hands along the dresser. He flipped through all the people searching for money and found a faint imprint of two young men moving the dresser from the master bedroom. Grandsons. This was ttheir grandmother’s dresser.

Merrick stepped back. This was not Collette’s house.

A stifled cry from downstairs caught his attention.

“Sydney?” He raced for the room he thought she’d be in and came to an abrupt halt when he reached it.

Two homeless men were attacking her. One held her against him, his hand over her mouth as she kicked out at the other one who was trying to tie her feet together.

Merrick’s vision turned red.

The men spotted Merrick and froze.

“I-I told you there was another one searching for our stash,” the man holding Sydney said to his companion. “We should just kill them both and move on. They know where we live now, we’re not safe.”

“Shut the fuck up,” the man at Sydney’s feet said. While he was distracted she kicked out and nailed him in the jaw, snapping his mouth shut.

Merrick pounced. He grabbed the side of the man’s skull and shoved it straight into the wall. His eyes rolled back and his body dropped.

Merrick turned around to the man holding Sydney. His face was sunken with malnutrition, emphasizing the dark circles under his eyes. He moved his hand down to her throat and squeezed. “Not another step.” He started to retreat and slipped. He dragged Sydney down with him and Merrick lunged for her. The druggie screamed and tried to pull Sydney by her hair.

She cried out and clawed his hand. He dropped her and ran.

Merrick let him go. “Are you all right?” He dropped to Sydney’s side and helped her up. She was covered with dirt and dust.

She was shaking but sat up on her own. “Fine.”

Merrick helped her to her feet. “Let’s go. This isn’t Collette’s house anyway.”

She stared up at him, incredulous. “It’s not?”

He shook his head. “I found an original piece of furniture in one of the upstairs rooms that belonged to an old woman who used to live here.”

Sydney massaged the top of her head. “Looks like Cali wasn’t as computer savvy as she thought.”

Her hand moved to her neck and rubbed gently. It was an angry red and Merrick’s rage returned full force as he yearned to go after the one he let get away. The back of his neck prickled.

But instead of going on the hunt he found his hands reaching out to carefully touch her neck. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked softy. “No scratch marks? No broken skin anywhere?” The men had been filthy and there was no telling what they could have passed on. Probably a zombie virus.

Sydney gazed up at him with those guileless green eyes of hers. “I thought you were mad at me?”

He dropped his hands to her shoulders, not realizing his mistake until the fabric touched his skin.

He was instantly flooded with Sydney’s thoughts and emotions. He saw himself through her eyes — glorious, sexy, her fierce Mirror Mate. Her heart had torn inside her chest as he’d walked away from her earlier. She wanted him by her side. She wanted his hands on her body. He made her feel whole. His smile set her blood racing. His touch set her heart pounding. His eyes touched her to her very soul —

Merrick stumbled back, chest heaving.

Too many emotions flooded him and he couldn’t differentiate between what were his and what were Sydney’s.

“Merrick?” Concern was etched into her face. She reached for him and he hastily stepped away.

Tenderness … anger … desire … it all rode him. He was on a rollercoaster and couldn’t hit the brakes.

“Just give me a second,” he told her, not wanting to upset her anymore.

“What happen — ?” Understanding dawned and she retreated, her arms pulling in close to her chest. “You read me?”

Now it was his turn to reach out to her but he stopped halfway. “I didn’t mean to.”

“What did you see?”

Their eyes met.

He didn’t answer.

She visibly shivered.

“Let’s get you out of here,” he said at last. He couldn’t look at her for fear of what he’d see.

Had he been wrong about Sydney this entire time?

He didn’t dare hope. He pushed aside everything except their need to leave before more homeless came back and mistook them for stash stealers. He’d been lucky that the last two who attacked Sydney hadn’t been carrying.

He scanned the front yard before ushering Sydney ahead of him. She kept her distance. When they made it to her car he held out his hand to her. “Keys.”

“I’m perfectly capable of driving,” she protested.

“You were attacked, your nerves are shot. Let me drive.”

She handed him her keys. “What good are powers when you’re still helpless with them?” she asked fifteen minutes into their drive.

He watched her cross her arms over her chest and stare out the window through the corner of his eye. “You’re not helpless,” he told her. “I saw you struggle. You were outnumbered and you were still giving those guys a tough time.”

Sydney harrumphed. “They were druggies who weighed less than me and I still couldn’t throw them off.”

“True,” Merrick conceded and received a dark glare. “But you’ve also been using your powers for two days straight. Am I right?”

She fell into contemplative silence and Merrick continued to drive back to his place. “Why are we here?” Sydney asked when he let her into his apartment.

“Cali’s information was useless,” he said. “I’m going to put in some calls and e-mails to some of my contacts at the station and see if I can pull any strings to get the information we need.”

“Good idea.” She pulled out her phone and stepped into a secluded corner of his living room in an attempt at privacy. He tracked her every step, wishing he didn’t care so much who she was going to call. “I have a few phone calls to make,” she called over her shoulder.

He disappeared into his room so he wouldn’t have to hear them.

• • •

Joel stared down at his phone as it went off for perhaps the sixth time that day. Sydney’s picture and number popped up. His chest ached and he reached for his phone instinctively before he stopped himself.

He let the voicemail pick it up.

He’d acted like a royal pain in the ass last night and he was determined to make it up to her. Felix had always told him his over-protectiveness was going to bite him in the ass and now it finally had. But he couldn’t help it. He usually wasn’t so damn clingy, but with Syd’s distant behavior over the last few months he was terrified that he was losing her.

Punching out one of the men he’d helped save from Vander probably hadn’t helped either.

Technically he punched you out.

Joel tentatively touched his swollen nose. His two black eyes had attracted a lot of attention at work — so much so that his boss had called him over to make sure everything was okay. He’d even given Joel the rest of the day off.

Joel had been so tempted to find Sydney and spend his day off with her. But he still needed to cool off. He needed to think about his actions and compile an apology worth her forgiveness.

He pulled open his desk drawer and pulled out the black velvet box he’d picked up from the jewelry store after work. It was Sydney’s three-year anniversary gift. He’d had it specially made for her. He imagined her bright green eyes sparkling when he showed it to her. It’d been so long since he’d seen her eyes light up like that.

No …