Jace (14 page)

Mara peered through the
rectangular window by the front door. Inside was dark—too dark. It looked like
someone had cut the power. Even the light over the stove was off. Only the gray
stormy sun peered in rays through the windows casting the house in eerie
shadows. And then her whole world came crashing to a halt. Corey stepped out
from the kitchen. Seeing him for the first time after so long literally felt
like her world came crashing down. The utter despair she felt shook her. She
wanted to run and cry and hide from him. The emotions were just as sharp as
they’d been when she left him seven months ago. So sharp. Tears burned in her
eyes, her jaw twitched with the need to sob, and her stomach squeezed so hard
with nerves she gagged, nearly vomiting.

And yet, through all that, she noticed
he looked the same. She looked so much different than that depressed,
bedraggled naive woman she’d been when she was with him. How did he not change
at all? He was still tall and thin, but that slenderness hid deceptive
strength. She knew firsthand. He was hard and strong. His hair was shaggy blond
and hung slickly down his face. He wore military garb—his old camo. He was
decked out with guns, knives, a Kevlar vest. He’d come here for war.

Then he turned and went into
the living room where she couldn’t see him.

Shaking, she made her way back
down the stairs and around to the back of the house. She kept the gun pointed
down in a two-handed grip, her finger on the trigger.

The deck was mostly collapsed,
but it was still connected to the back of the house. Mara needed to get in
there. It was the only way back in the house. She set to work knowing she’d
need two hands for this venture.

Mara put the safety on the gun
and stuck it in her pocket. She used both hands to start climbing the rumble.
She knew it was stupid, but the man she loved was inside and she wouldn’t leave
him again. She hadn’t wanted to begin with, but when he kissed her and told her
loved her, she was hard-pressed to deny him anything.

Mara grabbed onto two planks of
wood then stepped off the ground. The whole deck shuddered under her weight and
she stifled a scream, barely. There wasn’t enough time for her to plan this.
She had to move quickly before this deck and her fear immobilized her. Mara
climbed the deck. Her hands got stuck with splinters that penetrated deep into
her palms. Her foot poked an open nail and still she climbed the rubble. She
was only feet from the door. She grabbed the ledge just as the deck groaned one
last dying breath. It collapsed beneath her, sounding like a great tree being
felled.

She hung from the door by her
fingertips. With a grunt she held on for dear life. Glass cut her fingers
causing slick blood to spill. Her arms burned like hot pokers were shoved down
her arms from shoulder to fingertip.

Teeth bared, Mara slowly pulled
herself up scraping her feet against the concrete of the basement wall to
propel her body up. There was no way to avoid it, so she lurched forward
without caution.

Glass from the PVC bomb
littered the floor across the entire room. Her arms were cut open, the skin on
her hands split, and more cuts jabbed her knees. Still, she crawled through the
rubble until all her body was in the house.

She panted as she carefully
stood in the glass, her eyes darting around the house. She forced her breaths
under control and pulled the gun from her pocket. She tried to listen for
anything but all she could hear was the crack and boom of the raging
thunderstorm. The power had been cut. Not even the fridge whirred.

Mara ducked low and darted into
the kitchen. Once she stepped out of the glass she very carefully pulled the
little shards out of her skin. The house was dark with only shafts of gray
light peering through the windows and doorway. Mara kept her back to the wall
and sucked in her breath as she peered down the hallway. All the doors were
closed except for her bedroom.

There was a cell phone in her
room. If she got to it she could call the police. The hard metal gun made her
palms sweat. Water dripped down her face and trickled into her eyes making them
sting.

Mara crept down the hall on the
tops of her feet. She breathed as quietly as she could but still her breaths
sounded louder than the crash of her heartbeat. She paused outside her door to
peer inside. The crashing of her heartbeat was so damn loud the rain sounded
distant. She peered, saw nothing, then opened the door fast with her gun
pointed out. Nothing. Moving in, she checked the bathroom—empty.

Where the hell was Jace? Was he
still in the basement? Was Corey down there with him? If Corey did anything to
Jace she didn’t know what she’d do. It’d be all her fault.

Mara fished her cellphone out
of her luggage. She tried to use it but the battery was dead. Shaking and cold,
Mara paced back and forth as she tried to figure out what to do.

Then a door slammed so close
by, Mara had to bite her hand to keep from crying out. The house grew
chillingly silent again. Only the patter of the rain could be heard. Mara made
her way back into the hallway and headed for Jace’s room. God, she hoped this
wasn’t all some terrible idea. Sucking in several sharp breaths, she braced
herself then opened Jace’s door.

She ducked inside and aimed
around the room looking for any movement. She moved inside, keeping her eye
under the bed and on the bathroom. She leaned into the bathroom first and found
it clean and the same under the bed.

There was only his office which
Mara never saw him use and the basement. Lightning flashed outside, lighting up
the room. She took a step toward the hallway and caught sight of Corey’s
terrifying face. The lightning faded and the room was cast back in gray
shadows. Mara screamed and raised the gun and shot. She didn’t hesitate for a
moment.

But Corey was gone. She heard
his fading laughter. Panting, Mara squeezed the gun so hard her hands hurt. Her
eyes were wide, breaths erratic and body stiff as she walked one step at a time
toward the bedroom door.

Like she’d seen in the movies,
she leaned up against one side of the doorway. The hallway led up to the front
door. She could see the glass scattered from the kitchen to the living room. If
she could stand on the other side of the door then she could look down the
hallway to Jace’s bedroom and office. But that meant she’d have to cross the
open doorway where she’d just seen Corey.

Lightning crashed again. The
hallway lit up with no sign of him.

“Tick tock, Mara.”

Her lip trembled at the evil
whisper that seemed to come from inside her head. Or had she really heard that?

Mara stepped back from the wall
and quietly walked to the other side of the door going way around the doorway
in case Corey lurked ready to grab her. It was even darker here at the back of
the house. The woods were thicker and more trees blocked the sunlight from the
house. It made for a great master bedroom but terrible when you were trying to
fight a mad man.

Mara pointed the gun, breaths
stuttering as she waited for that lightning.

Boom-kerr!

Lightning struck again and the
flash of silver light shot around her. Corey stood right there. He smiled and
moved so fast it made her look pathetic. The light faded back to flash but he’d
already grabbed her wrist and yanked.

Mara pulled the trigger. The
black room lit up in an explosion of light and smoke. It smelled acidic like
sulfur.

She hit him in the chest, heard
his grunt. Then he dove for her, crashed her backward into the bedroom dresser.
Mara yelped in pain at the wood digging into her back. They fought with the
gun. She could see his bright eyes, always so bright. She’d once thought they
were beautiful—now they made her sick to her stomach.

She fought and kicked and
grappled with him for control.

“Tick tock, Mara. Tick tock.
Your time is up.”

Oh God, his voice!

It was as real as ever. Mara
leaned forward and bit down hard on his lip until blood burst in his mouth. He
screamed and tore away. Mara took the opportunity to punch him over the bloody
wound that covered his shoulder. He grunted and doubled over in pain.

Mara sprinted the hell out of Jace’s
room and saw the basement door open. She went down it while taking the steps
two at a time. She was moving too fast, breathing too hard, shaking too much.
She had to calm down but she couldn’t.

“Jace!”

For a man tied to a chair and
looking bloody he sure didn’t look happy to see her.

“What did he do to you?” she
cried. His eyes were swollen and a ruddy red color. Blood drizzled from his
nose and his mouth was a mess. A deep slash slit his eyebrow.

He jerked in his chair, nearly
coming out of it. “What the fuck are you doing here? Get the hell out of here
before he comes back, Mara.” He struggled to stand through the binds. Real fear
shone in his gaze. “Get out of here right now. Get the fuck out of here!” he
half-yelled, half-whispered.

Mara couldn’t stop touching
him—or stop looking for a knife. “Where’s a knife? I need to untie you.”

“I don’t think that will be
necessary, Marabell.” Corey’s voice still managed to make her freeze for a
moment. Jace didn’t look down at where she knelt in front of him. Mara had to
be strong here. She made her blood thaw. She would not let Corey into her life
anymore. She had to end this once and for all.

Spinning around on her knees,
Mara pointed the gun at Corey. He smiled, looking handsome as ever with his
wide smile and straight teeth. He pointed a gun at Jace.

“I gotta say, Marabell, I’m a
little
disappointed in you. I mean…after all this time you finally fuck something
other than one of your toys and he’s black.”

Mara did not move. His taunts
would not goad her into responding.

“I think we need a little
music, don’t you, babe?” He started humming.

The hairs on the back of her
neck stood up on end. It was the same song he hummed while beating her the day
of their last fight.

Mara put pressure on the trigger.
Corey tsked and then fired. Her scream of terror was only barely louder than
the blast from his gun or the sound of Jace’s grunt.

Corey laughed and dashed for
her. He tackled her, shackled his arms around her waist and started rocking her
side to side. She fought him hard but he was bigger, stronger. He always was
able to make her feel so weak and little—not like how Jace did; with him it was
different. With Corey, it made her scared.

He breathed in the scent of her
hair with a sigh. “Oh how I missed you, my babygirl.”

His grip around her was
excruciatingly tight making it difficult to breathe. Mara reached up and
grabbed fistfuls of hair and yanked hard tearing shreds. He only jerked up
until her feet were no longer on the floor and shook her hard like a ragdoll.

“Jace?” she asked, her voice
hoarse.

Corey laughed and began dancing
them around the room, letting her muddy, bloody feet kick out around them as
she fought.

“What a stupid name. Just like
Mara. Your name is
not
Mara. It is Marabell, isn’t it, Marabell?”

She refused to respond.

Still, he swung them in circles
making the room spin and spin. She couldn’t hear Jace. The thought came
immediate and strong—he was dead. Corey had shot him and now she couldn’t hear
or see him.

“I’m so angry, Marabell, girl.
I’ve looked for you for so long. There were some days I thought I’d never find
you.” He laughed. “But then I’d look harder. You hurt me so bad when you left
me. Do you have any idea how bad you hurt me, Marabell?” he hissed between
clenched teeth.

Suddenly one arm left her. Only
it came back quickly as he slammed his fist into her ribcage. The bone jarred
so hard she was sure it split some. Mara cried out in agony as the pain sapped
her strength.

“Jace?”

Corey held her like a damsel
who’d fainted. He spun her around in circles. She was helpless but to watch the
room spin and spin. It was so dark, she couldn’t find Jace. Then so suddenly
she was free.

Her legs couldn’t keep up to
the spinning momentum of her upper body and her legs gave out. She collapsed
only to be grabbed and lifted. Corey ran his hands all over her face, opening
her eyelids so she had to see him. He cupped her ass and squeezed her breasts
with a possessive touch that made her skin crawl like thousands of ants
trekking up and down her spine.

“Missed you so much, babygirl.
It was so lonely without you. Don’t worry, I’ll make you pay and then we’ll go
home and everything will be just like it used to.”

A bubble of laughter escaped
her.

Corey bared his teeth at her. “What’s
so funny, girl?”

Mara couldn’t believe it. She
was laughing. Her rib was cracked, her body hurt and cut, the love of her life
was most likely dead or bleeding out as this maniac danced her around a
basement—and he thought they were going to be together. The idea was so
hilarious, she couldn’t stop laughing. She laughed right in his face. And his
expression of pure
doubt
was priceless.