Pure Redemption (Tainted Legacy) (32 page)

“Why involve my friends?” Ava shot out. “
I
would’ve been enough.”

Cam smiled and while it looked pained, it looked genuine. “I’m sure you would’ve been enough to encourage Gabe to do as asked. But we needed
them
to make sure
you
do what is asked.”

“And what is that?” she ground out.

“I need you to come with me.
For now. Rafe will fill you in on the rest later.
”

“Tell me where my friends are and I’ll think about it.”

Cam sneered. “Molly was right. She didn’t think you’d come for them. You have Gabe back in your life and he’s more important to you than either she or Julia.”

She knew he was using her friends against
her
. She knew that she shouldn’t let him but she couldn’t help herself from saying, “Molly would never tell you that.”

Cam tapped his temple. “She didn’t have to tell me.”

“Ah,” Ava said in understanding, “that’s what your secret little talent is then? Mind reading? Reading minds is a bit boring when you compare it to Rafe’s ability to actually
control
them. Wouldn’t you say?” Her voice was steady but inside she was quaking as her heart rattled around painfully. Her knees were weak from the terror she felt and she was afraid they would simply give out on her. If he could read minds, did he know how truly terrified she was? Did he
know that she was planning to bolt for the bedroom? Did he know what she was truly trying to do by getting him to talk?

He tilted his head to the side, his gaze bore into her. She realized for the first time that he looked frustrated. His gaze flitted to the walls and back again and the smallest of smirks found its way onto her face.

“What’s the matter? The sigils scrambling your brain?” she asked.

“How does he stand being in here?” Cam demanded as he used the back of his hand to wipe away a particularly bothersome stream of sweat.

“He’s stronger than you. That’s how,” Ava said confidently. She was sure now that Cam couldn’t hear her thoughts. He couldn’t know that Gabe wasn’t affected by the sigils at all and that neither of them knew why.

He let out a hiss of air. “Why not make this easy on both of us? You will be coming with me, one way or another. If you don’t fight me, I’ll bring you straight to your friends.”

She let out a bitter laugh. “You know what? That would only work if I trusted you. But I don’t believe that you’ll bring me to my friends even if I do go with you. So I guess Rafe isn’t so smart after all.” She turned then, ready to lunge toward the bedroom but Cam’s reflexes were fast. He lunged a fraction of a second after she did. The impact of his body on hers toppled Ava to the ground, knocking the breath out of her.

He let out a guttural growl as his body splayed out on top of hers. The surprise of Ava’s skin burning him was intense enough for him to immediately roll away. His eyes fell on the cross around her neck and the understanding was evident on his face. Ava tried to scoot backward as she pulled in a deep breath but Cam followed. His eyes were on the necklace as he reached up to tear it off.

Her heart was pounding wildly, shooting an adrenaline rush through her body. She’d backed up as far as she could. The wall was at her back. Her hand shot out at him, the blade she’d managed to pull from her pocket springing to life as it sliced across his wrist, hitting bone. Blood sprayed as he howled. Her action didn’t seem to slow him. It only infuriated him and this time when he lunged at her, he knocked the knife away, knocking her flat on her back as he
reached for the chain around her
neck.

Ava tried to kick at him but she was buried under his weight. And then, his body went flying upward colliding with the wall as Gabe flung him away. Cam grunted as he slid back down, landing on the floor in a heap. Gabe lunged at him again, picked him up and slammed his body into the wall.

Cam wailed out in torment as the sigil at his back seared into him. Ava couldn’t see the sigils but she could hear the sizzle of them and she could smell the burning of Cam’s flesh.

“I went to Hell and back for her! Did you honestly think I would just let you come in here and take her from me?” Gabe roared. He let go and Cam toppled to the floor once more.

“Are you okay?” he demanded as he rushed to Ava’s side. She had already scrambled to her feet and retrieved her weapon.

She nodded as she kept her eyes on Cam. “I’m fine. Rafe has Julia. And Molly.”

Cam had stumbled to his feet as well. He staggered as he tried to take a step toward the door. Gabe released Ava and he was on him again.

“Where are they you son of a bitch?” he asked as he tossed him into the wall again.

Cam’s scream permeated the cabin as the sigils burned him once more. “I don’t know,” he grated out. He tried to struggle against Gabe’s grasp but the sigils had weakened him. “I don’t. I swear,” he panted.

“You told me you’d take me to them,” Ava
grated out.

“I lied!” he shot out as if it should be obvious, and perhaps it should be. He writhed against the wall and let out a curdling how
l but Gabe held him steady, grinding him into the wall and into his torment. Cam gasped for air, fighting through his pain as the sigils burned.

“I should kill you just for touching her,” Gabe growled, inches from Cam’s face.

“Go ahead,” Cam
said through a groan
. “If you don’t, Rafe will. I failed him. He is not going to be happy.”

Gabe loosened his grip minutely, allowing Cam’s body to fall slightly from the wall, away from the sigil.

“What is
wrong
with you?” Cam ground out. “Why don’t these bother you? How can you touch her? Her body is like hot coals but you act like it’s nothing.”

Gabe released Cam completely, letting him stumble until he collided with a chair. He held onto it for support.

“You tell my brother that I’m different now that I’m back. He shouldn’t underestimate me. If he hurts Ava’s friends, I will make him pay in ways he can’t even imagine,” Gabe threatened as he slid an arm around Ava’s waist again.

Cam eyed the spectacle with utter bewilderment, assuming that Gabe was affected by the sigils and the cross but, as Gabe implied, strong enough not to let it bother him. He shook his head and bolted for the door.

When he was gone Gabe moved Ava away from him so he could look her over. “Did he hurt you?”

She shook her head. “No. I think he was too weak in here. The sigils were wearing on him and when he knocked into me, he wasn’t prepared for what this would do,” she said as her finger ran across the pendant.

“The blood on the floor?” he demanded as his eyes scoured over her.

“It’
s his.”

Of course, it would have started to heal immediately so Gabe’s only reply was a terse nod.

“Gabe,” Ava said softly, “I’m fine. I knew you would be coming so I tried to keep him talking. I wanted to stall him.”

“Did you find out anything useful?”

She shook her head. “He can read minds.”  She hung her head and looked away.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he demanded as he forced her to look at him.

“Molly doesn’t think
we’re coming for her,” she told him
. “She thinks that now that you’re back, I wouldn’t risk it. How could she think that?”

“He was lying, Ava. Molly knows you better than that. We’ll get her back. We’ll get both of them back, I promise.”

Chapter 23

“That’s taken care of,” Gabe said as he came out of the bedroom. He’d called Mike to let him know he’d be out of work for a few days. He led him to believe it was due to his fall off of the ladder. Mike hadn’t been the least bit surprised due to Daniel’s frantic explanation before whisking Gabe away.

“Good,” Ava said as she tossed the last of the bloody rags in the trash, followed by the dishwashing gloves she’d used. Luckily the cabin had hardwood floors. After washing her hands she came out to find Gabe staring at the sigils. “Where did you go?”

“Back to my old house,” he admitted, confirming her suspicions. “I was going to talk to Rafe but he wasn’t there. I decided to check out my old place.”

“The guest house?”

He nodded. “I was hoping there would be something useful in there. I don’t know what I was hoping to find. Maybe something I could use against Rafe. A file on him or something. Some hint about how to stop him. Maybe something I could blackmail him with,” he let out a grunt of contempt. “It was a stupid idea. If I had anything, I probably hid it which means now I have no idea where to look. Nothing about that place felt familiar at all.”

“Are you sure Rafe wasn’t there?”

“He wasn’t. I did a quick search of the house, even the cellar, but I didn’t find anything. I would’ve spent more time looking around but I started to worry about you coming home alone. Obviously, I shouldn’t have even taken as long as I did,” he admitted.

“I’m fine but what about Molly and Julia? If he doesn’t have them there, then where are they?” Ava
whimpered
as she collapsed onto the couch.

Gabe sighed. “They could be anywhere. Rafe could walk into any house, command the owners to leave and have the perfect hiding spot.”

“That makes it sound so hopeless,” Ava said in a wobbly voice. “Julia must be so terrified. I mean, Molly too, but at least she has some idea of what’s going on.”

“I’m sure Julia
’s figured it out by now,” Gabe said resignedly. “My guess is she no longer has Cam on a pedestal.”

“That’s something else that’s bothering me. Where the hell did he come from?” Ava demanded, knowing that Gabe didn’t have an answer to that. “You told me that there were other Nephilim but that you’d never met them. But now Rafe’s got one under his thumb? Where did he find him at? How did he find him? Unless you really did know of others and you—,” she startled herself with her words and she cut them off abruptly.

“Lied?” he guessed. “You think I lied to you?”

She
shook her head and sighed. “No. I don’t know. Maybe
.
I thought all of the lying was behind us by then.
Maybe
you
kept it from me because
you
didn’t want me to worry
.
Or
maybe you really didn’t know any others
.
I have no idea.
Or it’s possible that Rafe knew others and you
didn’t because I think it was pretty common for them to keep things from you.
I just, I don’t understand how he fits into this.”

“
I think Rafe just wants back up. He’s obviously the type that wants to put as little effort into things as possible.
How much does Molly know?” Gabe asked, clearly wondering what Cam would be able to glean from her thoughts. “What did you tell her?”

She grimaced. “She knows that you have no intention of helping Rafe. And that you would really rather stop him. I’m sorry!” she blurted out. “I shouldn’t have told her anything!”

“No, it’s okay. I’m sure Rafe already knew that.
On some level, he had to have known that. I’m sure that’s why he’s doing this.
You were telling her to try to protect her. And now, it’s clear they are coming after you to get to me.” He was standing with his arms folded across his chest, an unyielding look on his face. “This is what’s going to happen and you are not going to argue because we’re just wasting time. I’m bringing you back to your parents’ house. Ideally, I’d like the three of you to go to the church and stay there. This cabin has the sigils for protection but they’ll probably expect you to be here. The church won’t stop them but you know the, uh,” he paused, trying to find an acceptable word, “the
atmosphere
of the church is less than accommodating for them. If they even think to look there.”

“No.”

“Ava,” Gabe said tensely. “Please don’t fight me on this.”

She was on her feet again standing directly in front of him. Her fists were dug defiantly into her hips. “And what exactly is it that you think you’re going to do?”

“I’m going back to the house to wait for Rafe. My guess is that he’ll have Cam watch over your friends. I don’t think Rafe would want to bother himself with something so tedious.”

“You wait for him and…?”

Gabe sighed and it was clear to Ava he was having a mental debate.

“What? What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded. “You think that he’ll tell you where they are just because you say ‘please’?”