All You Desire (34 page)

“And the Horae are trying to end the battle by locking you up in a bank vault?” It sickened Haven to think that she'd almost helped them.

“They want their day in the sun. And they'll get it any way they can. They're as ruthless as I've ever been. You must realize that order is no better than chaos. Ask anyone who lived under Joseph Stalin—or the other tyrants and dictators who've been friendly with the head of the Horae. Remember, I told you I don't know what could happen to me now. I may be evolving, but the Horae are not.”

“If you change, does that mean the Horae could win?” Haven asked. “What happens if there's no chaos left to battle their order?”

“I have no intention of letting them win,” Adam assured her. “I'm simply testing a new approach. Chaos doesn't always demand death and destruction. You saw Halcyon Hall yesterday?”

“Yes, I'm sorry I didn't—”

“There's no need to apologize. Now you know what I have planned for the Ouroboros Society. Imagine each of those young people sent out into the world. They've never been told what to think. They've never had their creativity stifled by ridiculous rules or petty little minds. They will have all the resources they'll need at their disposal. Think of how they might shake up society. They have the power to create a new brand of chaos.”

It would have sounded wonderful if there hadn't been one little fact still nagging at Haven. “You founded Halcyon Hall ten years ago, Adam. You were different back then. What did you originally have in mind for the students?”

Adam's eyes dropped from Haven's face to the floor. “I must admit that I had other intentions in those days. I set out to find the most gifted souls—the ones who possessed incredible power. I believed that by recruiting them as children, I could make them loyal to me. When the time came, I would manipulate their power however I chose.”

It took every ounce of Haven's courage to ask the next question. “How did you make all those kids loyal to you?”

“I supported them. Educated them. Gave them my time and attention.”

“That's it?” She found it hard to believe.

“You were imagining something slightly more sinister? Brainwashing, perhaps? You've been to Halcyon Hall. Did the children appear to be brainwashed?”

“No,” Haven said, thinking back to Jorge, the little boy she'd met.

“I've never needed to employ such heavy-handed techniques,” Adam explained. “Power is neither good nor bad. With the right inspiration, it can easily be nudged in either direction. Now the students at Halcyon Hall will be encouraged to improve the world. And they have been given the education to do so. Did you like what you saw during your visit to the school?”

“I was impressed,” Haven admitted. “It really seemed like a wonderful place.”

“I'm glad you thought so. Perhaps someday we can expand the program—start more schools around the world. But first . . . first we need to take care of the problem in front of us.”

“You mean Iain?” Haven fell back into the present with an unpleasant thud. “What are you going to do to him?”

“That depends,” Adam replied. “What would you like me to do?”

“You're asking
me
?”

“Why not? You know him better than anyone.”

Haven had never faced a more terrible test. If Adam was still a monster, then the wrong answer—whatever it was—would risk three lives. If he wasn't, she needed to stay close to him. He was still her best hope of saving Beau. She was out on a limb, and there was no going back.

“You're the one who came to my rescue, Adam. My loyalties lie with you now. You should do what you think is necessary,” Haven said, knowing full well that the Adam of the past would never have allowed a dangerous rival to live.

“You say that to please me, but I know you wouldn't want to see anyone harmed,” Adam replied. “So I will do my best to ignore Iain Morrow for now. But there is one thing I must ask of you in return.”

“Anything,” Haven said, hiding her relief. She'd trusted her instincts and saved Iain's life.

“There's a gathering at the Ouroboros Society tonight. Nothing terribly important, but a few of our highest-ranking members will be there. Will you come?”

“Of course.”

“As my date?”

“Yes.”

“Do you realize what that means?” Adam asked. “People will know who you are. It will be our first appearance together as a couple.”

“I know,” Haven said.

“Things will change,” Adam said. “In ways you might not expect.”

“I know,” Haven said.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The sound of ringing took Haven by surprise. Voice mail picked up, and Iain's voice on the message made her heart do a somersault before she remembered how furious she was with him. How could she still love someone whose recklessness had come so close to destroying them both?

“What in the hell were you trying to do, Iain?” she hissed into the phone. She was standing by the service entrance of an apartment building on Nineteenth Street. There wasn't a soul in sight, but Haven couldn't shake the feeling that someone might be listening. “Did you really think Adam would take the bait and come after you? Were you hoping to show me how stupid I've been? Well, you know what? Turns out I was right all along. Adam
is
different now. But I would never have risked our lives to prove it. You thought you had everything figured, out didn't you? Well, all you managed to do was make me get closer to him. Tonight Adam's going to introduce me at the Society as his girlfriend. Do you have any idea what that means? Do you—”

There was a loud beep in her ear.

“Your message has reached the maximum length,” said a cheerful automated voice.

“Aaarrrrghh!” Haven screamed into the phone, no longer afraid of who might hear her. She kicked the wall and considered giving it a punch for good measure. Instead she stood with her forehead pressed to the concrete, breathing deeply and trying to recapture some calm. She was squeezing the phone in her hand like a stress ball when an e-mail arrived from Beau Decker's address.

There was no message, just an attachment. A single photo of Beau's face. One of his eyes was closed, already swelling, and the other glared up at his photographer with helpless rage. He'd been knocked to the ground, and blood poured from fresh gashes on his right temple and lower lip. Another trickle left a crimson trail from his nose to his ear. It had been bad enough to know that Beau might have been injured. But seeing him suffer was far worse than Haven had ever imagined.

The world went quiet, and she saw nothing but the picture on the screen. Adam and Iain were forgotten. Haven had no other worries, no other concerns. The terror coursing through her system had washed them all away. There were only two things that mattered. Finding Beau. And punishing the people who'd hurt him.

The photo disappeared, and Leah Frizzell's name appeared in glowing letters on the phone's screen. Haven answered the call.

“They hurt him again.” She didn't have time to waste on hello.

“I know,” Leah said. “Whoever took the picture sent it to everyone in Beau's address book. But he's alive, Haven . . .”

“I gotta go,” Haven announced, her voice flat and emotionless. “I'm going to find the person who did this.”

“And I'm gonna help,” Leah called out before Haven could hang up. “Listen to me, Haven. You're in shock. Don't do anything until I see you.”

“There's not enough time for you to get on a plane.”

“I'm already here! I got a flight out of Raleigh last night. My uncle Earl let me use his credit card. I was going to call you this morning.”

“You flew in last night? Where did you sleep?”

“On a bench in a park called Union Square. Matter of fact, I just woke up when my phone started beeping.”

A jolt of annoyance brought Haven back to the world. “You slept on a park bench, Leah? Do you know how dangerous that is? This isn't Snope City. It's not even
Durham
. There are people here who hunt tourists for sport. I've already got one friend in trouble—I can't save you too!”

“Save that anger for the kidnappers, Haven. We both know nobody's gonna bother
me
.”

“Well, stay where you are,” Haven ordered. She had already started jogging west. “I'm coming to get you. How'd you end up in Union Square, anyway?”

“This is the place I've been seeing in my visions,” Leah said. “I found the round subway entrance shaped like a temple. In fact, I found the man I've been looking for too. He was right here waiting for me when I showed up at five thirty this morning. I was so tired that I almost started talking to him before I figured out he's just a statue of Gandhi. You know the one?”

“Yeah,” Haven panted. She'd seen the statue a hundred times. “Go stand next to Gandhi. I'll be there in two minutes.”

 

THE PARK WAS PACKED with people braving the cold to forage for lunch, but, as always, Leah Frizzell was impossible to miss. An orange and black hunting cap sat on top of her head, and stringy red hair stuck out from beneath it. She was wearing an old army-issue coat with the name FRIZZELL stitched above the pocket, and a pair of battered black combat boots. Above the boots and below the hem of her skirt, four inches of bright white flesh could be seen. Pedestrians gawked at the odd-looking, underdressed girl and walked well out of their way to avoid her. She held up a hand as soon as she caught sight of Haven running in her direction.

“Jesus, Leah! Didn't you pack some tights or leggings or something?” Haven asked between gulps of air. Even Gandhi had an icicle hanging from the tip of his nose, and Leah Frizzell was walking around with bare legs. Haven almost wished she hadn't answered Leah's call. The last thing she needed was a bumpkin to babysit.

Leah seemed to read her thoughts. “Don't think you need to take care of me, Haven Moore. I may be a hillbilly, but I ain't stupid.”

“You just flew a thousand miles to meet a statue,” Haven noted.

“Yeah, and I reckon it was worth it. I found out what was causing that terrible smell in my visions.” Leah pointed down at the sidewalk. “I had another one this morning, and I saw a bunch of bodies lying right here.”

Suddenly Leah didn't seem quite so silly. “Dead bodies? Who were they?”

“Dunno. But from the smell, they'd been lying there long enough to get nice and ripe. Didn't look so pretty, either.”

“What are you going to do?” Haven asked.

“Wait for another vision. You can't rush these things, you know.” Leah always seemed so unflappable, as if someone were whispering instructions into her ear.

“A few days ago you said something terrible was about to happen. Now you're having visions of bodies lying in the streets. And you're just going to
wait
?”

“I've got some time,” Leah replied, still as calm as ever. “The dead people were all wearing short sleeves, so I'm guessing I've got till summer to fix whatever needs fixing. I think Beau's problems are probably a little more urgent. So let's get started.”

“First I have to call Adam and let him know what's happened.”

“Excuse me?” Leah asked. “Adam
Rosier
?”

“He's been helping me look for Beau,” Haven said, dialing the OS main number.

“Put the phone down for a second,” Leah ordered. The girl hadn't raised her voice or changed her tone, but somehow Haven knew it wasn't just a request. She slid her hands back into her pockets. “Why didn't you tell me any of this?”

“I don't know,” Haven admitted. “A lot has happened in the past few days.” Why was she standing in the cold answering questions when Beau was seriously hurt?

“Well, I'm listening now,” Leah said.

Haven sighed. “Remember the woman you saw surrounded by smoke?” Leah nodded. “Her name is Phoebe. She's the head of a group called the Horae. There are twelve of them, and they have human bodies. But they're not really human. They're Adam's enemies. They bring order while he brings chaos.” Haven stopped to make sure Leah was following.

“Okay,” Leah said, as if Haven hadn't said anything out of the ordinary.

“Phoebe told me that she would only help me identify the person who kidnapped Beau if I helped her lock Adam Rosier away. The Horae think Adam has been recruiting children into the OS to form some sort of army, and they want to stop him.”

“How are you supposed to help the Horae lock him away?”

“By pretending to fall for Adam and luring him into a trap.”

Leah blinked. “Sounds awful risky. I'm surprised you agreed.”

“I was willing to do anything to save Beau. But when I started spending time with Adam, I realized he's not the same person he used to be. He's trying to clean up the Ouroboros Society. And he has the police commissioner and the FBI searching for Beau. I don't want to work with the Horae anymore. I don't want to betray Adam. . . .” She clutched her phone. “Please let me just call him. We've got to act fast if we're going to save Beau!”

“Hold on, Haven. I have a couple more questions. Where's Iain been this whole time?”

“It's a long story. But I'll tell you where he is right now: in the way. He thinks I'm crazy for believing Adam could change. He thinks I've fallen for him. So he's been trying to lock Adam away all by himself.”

Leah lifted an eyebrow. “
Have
you fallen for Adam?”

Haven stood stunned. Leah's blunt question had hit her with the force of a medieval mace. She wanted to laugh or make light of it all. But Leah wasn't the sort to imagine things that weren't really there.