Hunting the Shadows (13 page)

He’d gone up against killers. Gone up against men who had been trained to be cold-blooded murderers and still…this one man had power over him.

Broderick had cared little for the “brat” he’d taken in. But at least, he’d gotten some praise over the years. Stefan and Rick certainly hadn’t had any. It was as though Broderick refused to be proud of his sons and what they could accomplish. There was always something they did wrong. Some weakness they needed to work on. Genetics was simply a fact, nothing more. It didn’t make the man a parent.

“I’m doing what’s necessary.”

He was manipulating her. He was the one who’d locked her away all those years ago. What else was he going to be responsible for?

“Amy will work with whatever scientist I assign to her. Why? Because otherwise there will be consequences. Consequences she’s not going to like. I’ll make the psych ward seem like a vacation to her if I must.”

“Don’t do this to her.” He instantly regretted the words. Damn it. Broderick was right. She’d made him care. Made him look beyond her as a subject. She was…his. “She’s not like the others.”

Broderick lifted a brow. “Oh I assure you, she is. But that’s not what we’re discussing.”

“She’s my case.” When Broderick said nothing, J.C. continued, “Do you really want to restart it all? Because you’ll have to if you hand her off to another scientist. Had I known it was a test, I wouldn’t have interfered. My only thought was to protect a valuable asset of the Council.”

And he would kill to keep her safe. The moment the thought popped into his head, doubts slammed him hard. What made him think that he could protect Amy?

Broderick frowned and grabbed a skunk skull from the counter. After a moment of tense silence, he set it back down. “See to it that you don’t interfere in my tests again. This is your only warning, J.C.”

* * *

J.C. shouldered his way into Rick’s lab, ignoring the lab assistants who scattered at the sight of him. He probably looked less than civil. He most certainly didn’t feel like sitting down for tea and biscuits. He shoved Rick against the wall, snarling as he tightened his hand against the man’s throat, holding him there.

He didn’t restrain himself, couldn’t.

Rick would probably go scurrying back to his father to tell him that the re-programming had failed, but he needed to know that J.C. wasn’t going to lie down and take it. No one messed with those under his care.

“What the hell is your problem, Gurvitch?”

Rick swallowed hard, his throat muscles constricting as he tried to breathe. J.C. tightened his grip then let go and stepped back. Rick slid to the floor. When the wheezing finally stopped, Rick glared up at him. “Me? What the hell is yours?”

“You didn’t tell me Broderick set up a test for Amy. I want to know why. Now.”

Setting a hand on the wall, Rick pushed himself up onto his feet. He rubbed a hand over his throat, swallowing again. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist playing white knight. She wasn’t your case. She was mine and you stole her.”

He stared at Rick in disbelief. “So what, this is a literal version of ‘if I can’t have her, no one will’? She could have died. I thought we were being attacked by the enemy.”

“Oh please, it got her out of her shell didn’t it? She’s so damn whiny about not hurting others, it’s the only way to get results with her. I was finally getting her to do what I want, then you happened to come along and what J.C. wants, J.C. gets. Despite all the hard work I put into training her, my father simply gave her to you. It’s not right.”

“Amy isn’t property.” His hands clenched. “Your work ethics are appalling. You shouldn’t even have a lab.”

“She’s who she is because of
me
. She wouldn’t have even known what she was capable of if it wasn’t for me.” Rick stepped closer until they were face to face. “
I
made sure she didn’t end up lost in the system. I saw the potential in her when no one else did. But you see her as damaged goods, don’t you? You saw her as weak and vulnerable, needing protection. You couldn’t resist taking her in.”

“You had no right to use violence and threats to get her to cooperate.” The feel of his fist against Rick’s jaw fed the rage within him, the force of his strike knocking Rick back again. It was the wrong move, but J.C. didn’t care.

This man had put Amy through hell.

“Come near her or mess with me again and you’re going to get a firsthand experience of what I’m capable of. Step out of line again and you better run.”

* * *

J.C. shot a glance at the clock, frowning at the time. Amy had been outside on the balcony for over an hour. He filled a mug of boiled water and added the package of instant hot chocolate. After stirring the hot liquid, he carried it from the community kitchen, stepping out into the night, the air dampened with the smells of autumn and rain.

“Want to talk?”

She didn’t jump at his approach, did nothing but look out at the dark silhouette of trees and mountain ridges. “About what?”

He shrugged, handing her the mug. “Whatever has you out here alone,” he murmured. He stepped close, placing his palms on the rails on either side of her. Cocooning her against his warmth. He brushed his lips over her temple. “It’s been a long day.”

She looked back at him and he saw a glimpse of something, a flicker of a shadow in her eyes. “It’s just…all of this.” Her voice hardened. “I killed a man yesterday. I shouldn’t care. It was me or him. But I made the decision to end his life. Not Broderick or Rick. Me.”

He ran his finger along her jaw, feeling the tension there when she gritted her teeth. “Is that really what’s bothering you? That you had to do something out of necessity?”

She sighed. “No, I suppose not.” Her fingers tightened around the mug as she lifted it to her lips, tasting the hot liquid with a tentativeness that drew his attention. Surprise widened her eyes. She swallowed more, her lips curving. “Oh. This is good. What is this?”

“Hot chocolate.” He’d forgotten. She wouldn’t have had such delicacies as chocolate all her life and it warmed him that he could share moments like this with her. It was dangerous thinking. “Finish what you were saying.”

Her eyes flicked to his then back over the balcony into the darkness below. “I don’t understand. Someone hired those men to hurt me. To kill me.”

He rested his chin on the top of her head. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Including himself.

Nudging her away from the rail, he lowered himself onto a bench, waiting until she followed him onto it to catch hold of her ankles and lift her legs up.

“What are you doing?”

“Relaxing you.” He tugged off her shoes and socks, drawing her feet into his lap. His thumbs massaged her arches. “Broderick sent those men to test you.”

“Why?” Anger sharpened her tone.

“He wanted to see what you could do outside of a lab setting, without the restrictions of being told.” A muscle ticked at the edge of J.C.’s jaw. He shifted his attention, concentrating on her ankle and the tight tendons. “I wasn’t supposed to interfere. You were supposed to handle all three men.”

“I’m going to kill him.” The venom in her words made him smile. And yet, actions spoke louder. She didn’t have it in her to be a killer. He’d witnessed that. Oh she could do the act, but her conscience wouldn’t let her get away with it.

“If that were the answer, someone would have killed him long ago. He’d just be replaced. Sometimes, it’s easier to deal with the enemy you know than one you don’t.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“Is that what you want? Would you rather I lie to you so you can live in a little fantasy world where none of this exists? It doesn’t work that way and I won’t do it. You need to know the threats so you’ll be ready. You don’t want to live with your head under the blanket all your life, afraid of the monsters.”

He moved his hands along her ankle, up her leg to her knee, then kneaded his way back down.

“No, you’re right. I don’t.”

He stretched his legs out, locking them at the ankles as he leaned back. “Is that all that’s bothering you?”

Her lips curved wryly. She lifted the mug to her mouth. “No, that’s not all that’s
bothering
me. Killing that man came too easy. What’s becoming of me, J.C.?”

“You’re not a killer. Trust me, your soul isn’t as dark as you think it is because of what you’re capable of doing.”

“It’s not the first time I’ve killed.”

The words were so low he barely heard them. “What do you mean? In Testing?” He’d read her last report. Because the details had been lacking, he’d logged into the Centre network and watched the video. He hated what she’d been subjected to, that someone had used her trust and twisted the good inside her.

“No. Before the psych ward got all strict and gave their doctors and guards wrist bands to block me from entering their minds, I’d been friends with another patient. He was a low grade telepath next door to me. We used to talk at night, but he was black marked.”

He sensed where this was going. He squeezed her ankle lightly before making circular motions with his thumb and fingers over the sole of her foot, adding slight pressure to her heel.

“He was taken down into the labs. Because he had some telepathy, they wanted to monitor him while he was awake in order to figure out more about how it works. They were cutting into his skull. He was awake with a weak anesthetic… He felt it.” She swallowed and closed her eyes tight. “I couldn’t let him suffer.”

He’d never done the procedure, but he’d heard of others who did. It was one of the reasons he wanted to destroy this place and take down the Council.

“I was so deep in his head that I got locked in. I couldn’t get out and when they began cutting, I felt it. I was there…through each dissection they made with those sharp scalpels.”

Her voice snagged, tears spilling from her lashes. Setting her empty mug aside, he twisted, easing her body toward him until she was in his lap. Her face turned, pressing against his throat.

“I’m sorry.” His words sounded so lame. Sorry didn’t cut it. The procedure was barbaric. The Council had no qualms about getting information however they needed to. Torture was nothing to them, especially when they weren’t the one who inflicted the suffering. They could hide behind the order and still go back to their beds at night and sleep without a second thought.

“I couldn’t take it anymore. I was the one who fought the scientists and guards every time they came in my room. I was the one who used my abilities against them and yet, they took him away. All because he wasn’t as strong psychically.” Her breath hitched. “I shorted out his synapses.”

“You killed him.”

She nodded as she chewed on her bottom lip. “He was suffering. I almost killed myself in the process. An aneurysm ruptured and I slipped into a coma.”

“How old were you?”

“Seventeen. When I woke up, I freaked out. The doctors tried to contain me but I struck out telepathically by accident. I didn’t know what I was doing or what was happening.”

“It wasn’t your fault. You know that right?”

“He was innocent.”

“Innocence doesn’t matter to these people.” She glanced up and he wiped the tears from her cheeks. Reaching out, she touched a scar that ran along his arm to his wrist.

“When I first woke—” Amy skimmed her fingers around his arm, following the curved line, “—I could barely use my abilities. It didn’t take Rick long to figure out what I’d done and he wanted to repeat it. I refused…until the other day when he forced me to simulate a stroke in that patient. I’m dangerous.”

He frowned. “You are. That doesn’t make you a monster though. You’re a good person, Amy.” Better than him.

“Thank you.”

He lifted a brow. “For?”

“Being you.” Her hand found his. “For telling me the truth. I’m not good at this. I can’t put my emotions aside and forget when someone tries to kill me.”

He stared down at their intertwined fingers, rubbing his thumb along hers. “Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t. It’s who you are. Don’t ever let anyone change you. Broderick is going to try. That’s guaranteed. But I’m going to be here for you.”

“Why me?” she asked and shifted to face him. “Other than the fact that I can get in the head of killers, why are you trying to help me? You didn’t have to bring me outside, but you did.”

He chuckled. That was the golden question, wasn’t it? “Because you’re smart and beautiful…” She tilted her face up at him. Lifting their hands, he pressed them to her cheeks, “…and you don’t know the meaning of personal space.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“You bring something out in me. A side I thought was destroyed by Broderick and the Council long ago.” Easing his hand free from hers, he feathered his thumb along her jaw. Maybe he was helping her because she saved him from Ashton. Or was he trying so hard because of Leila?

“You can be really sweet, Jaegar-Caleb Nikolaiev.”

“Don’t let that get around.”

She laughed, the sound of it tightening his chest. When she smiled, he traced her lips and remembered the feel of them against his.

He angled his head down, his mouth pressing lightly to hers. She didn’t move away but lifted her arms, wrapping them around his neck to pull him closer.

The kiss was light, a brush of mouths that tempted and drew a response from him. He pressed his tongue against her lips and the moment she yielded with a sigh, he slid it inside to taste. Chocolate and vanilla. So sweet that he cupped the back of her head, shifting her so that he could have a deeper taste.

His other hand slid down her back, guiding her body, directing her onto her knees to straddle him. He nuzzled her throat, nipping at her pulse.

“J.C.?”

He lifted his head. “Yeah?”

“Do that again.”

He hardened at the simple request and bent his head, focusing on the spots below her ear until a shiver worked its way through her body. She offered more, letting him have as much access as he wanted. J.C. smiled, dragging his mouth down over her soft skin to the opening of her shirt. He wanted to touch. Wanted to taste.

“You make me feel.”

He looked up. “What?”