Dark Warrior (34 page)
Authors: Rebecca York
But Jason had never recovered his body, and now, here he was. He must be the man Tessa had been talking about. The one who hated the Ionians, and Jason certainly understood why.
All that flashed through his mind in a blinding instant.
He knew his father saw him and knew who he was because an expression of satisfaction gathered on his face.
It changed to fear as Garrison raised his gun and pointed it at Jason.
No hand-to-hand combat, like the last time in the desert. Apparently Tessa’s kidnapper wasn’t taking any chances on losing this fight.
Before Garrison could fire, Paul Castle shouted, “No,” and leaped forward with Minot speed, reaching for the gun as he bore down on Garrison.
Jason sprang forward at the same time, trying to get the gun. But Garrison had already spun around, pointing the weapon at Jason’s father.
Jason leaped onto Garrison’s back, struggling to wrench the gun away from his father’s direction. The weapon discharged, but Paul had already dodged to the side.
It was all happening fast, faster than a normal human being could move.
Jason could hear women screaming. Tessa and Sophia.
Get back
, he silently shouted at them.
This is between us and him.
, he silently shouted at them.
This is between us and him.
Maybe they got the message. Maybe they did as he asked. At the moment, he was busy trying to keep Garrison from hurting anyone.
Jason and his father had worked as a team before. They fell back into old, familiar rhythms.
Together they tackled Garrison, both of them coming down on him, Jason on top of Paul.
But Garrison still had his finger on the trigger. The gun discharged again, and Jason felt the impact, even as he knew the bullet had hit his father, not him.
“Dad.”
Jason rolled his father to the side, ignoring the gun that was now pointed at him.
Before Garrison could fire, he screamed, his face contorting in agony, and Jason knew that the Ionians had sent him a blast of powerful energy.
Jason wrenched the gun from his hand and flung it away, then lifted Garrison into the air and smashed him onto the ground with bone-jarring impact.
Figuring the women would finish the job, Jason turned away and knelt beside his father on the ground. He was lying very still with his eyes closed. A red stain spread across the front of his shirt.
In the background Jason heard Garrison begin to choke and writhe on the ground.
“Get the . . . hell . . . off me,” he gasped.
Jason bent to his father. “Dad. Dad. What are you doing here?”
“I knew you were in Sedona. Thought you . . . were coming here.”
Behind Jason, Tessa screamed. “Don’t kill him.”
“He’s turned you,” Ophelia muttered, a note of derision in her voice.
“No. You don’t understand,” Tessa protested, grabbing for Eugenia and trying to push her away from Garrison. “You’ve got to listen to me.”
Paul Castle was barely breathing, but his eyes focused on his son.
Anguish tightened Jason’s throat, but he managed to say, “Why did you pretend to die? Why did you join Garrison?”
“My . . . hate would have contaminated you. I would have... undone everything your mother taught you.”
“No.”
His father was silent for a moment, then began to speak again. “I . . . was eaten up with . . . anger . . . I wanted . . . revenge for your mother’s death. Then I found out you were coming to rescue . . . Tessa. I . . . couldn’t let him hurt . . . you.” Blood trickled from his mouth as he spoke. “I . . . turned . . . off the shield . . .”
Jason was aware that Sophia had knelt beside him.
“Your father?” she wheezed as she tore open his bloodsoaked shirt, catching her breath as she saw the extent of the wound beneath.
“Yes.”
Paul’s eyes fixed on Jason. “I’m . . . finished. I’ll finally be with your mother. Run.”
Eugenia joined them. “Garrison’s done for. We’ve won.” She looked at the man sprawled in front of Jason. He had stopped breathing, and his eyes were staring into nothingness.
“Is that your father?”
“Yes.”
“You said he was dead.”
“I thought he was,” he choked out, trying to grapple with what had happened. He’d lost his father years ago. And now he’d lost him again.
Tessa ran over to them. “Rafe’s got a bomb. It’s linked to his physiology. It’s going to go off if he dies.”
Jason didn’t ask how she knew. He simply picked up Sophia and started running.
The Ionians who had been pounding Garrison with psychic energy leaped up and followed.
How long did they have?
Jason didn’t know. All he could do was run, hoping the bastard would live for a few more minutes.
He heard the Ionians pelting after him. They hadn’t listened to Tessa’s warning, and they hadn’t understood the danger of killing Garrison.
Jason headed for the hill, bent on putting it between himself and the house.
Before he reached it, a massive explosion shook the structure behind him, sending a shock wave toward them and deafening him as he threw Sophia to the ground, sheltering her under his body.
Debris rained down around them, and a large chunk of wood landed nearby. But only small pieces hit him on the head and back.
Finally, it was over, and Jason raised his head. When he looked back, the house had disappeared in a pile of smoking rubble. Had all the servants gotten out? He didn’t know.
He rolled off of Sophia. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She lay still for several seconds, then raised her head and looked at her sister. “How did you know about the bomb?”
Tessa spoke in a shaky voice. “John . . . I guess he was really Paul, your father, said Garrison was bragging about it. Paul was sure you’d come to rescue me. He said to be ready to get out of there.”
“He was expecting us?”
“Yes. But I didn’t get a chance to ask . . . him any questions. And I didn’t tell him I’d been in communication with you and Sophia—in case.” She gave Jason an apologetic look. “In case he was going to . . . double-cross me.”
“I understand,” he answered, still shell-shocked by what had happened. “After what Garrison did, you couldn’t trust me, and you couldn’t trust my father. Not completely,” he added in a gritty voice.
“But I trusted him enough to work with him. I opened the locked cabinet where Rafe kept the electronics. John told me to keep Rafe busy while he turned off the shield.” She gulped. “I had to pretend I wanted to make love again.”
“Don’t think about that now,” Sophia said. “It’s over.”
Tessa nodded then focused on Jason. “I kept thinking John looked familiar. It was because he looked like you.” She gulped. “It’s my fault he’s dead.”
“No,” Sophia said automatically.
“He made his choices,” Jason added.
“So did I,” Tessa said. “And I never should have left the spa.” Her gaze swung back to Eugenia. “I want to go home. So much. Can I?”
Eugenia nodded. “Of course.”
But Jason heard an edge of doubt in her voice. Would Cynthia really permit Tessa back into the order? Would she punish everyone who had participated in the rescue?
He watched Sophia and Tessa embrace, saw them whispering together, then watched the women gather round the sister whom they’d saved.
He could see how close they were, how the order drew them back together.
Sophia glanced at him, an uncertain look on her face. Detaching herself from the group, she came over.
“I’ve got to ride back with Tessa. She needs a lot of support now.”
“I understand,” he answered before clearing his throat. “I want to bury my father.”
“Yes. I’m so sorry about him.”
“I lost him a long time ago. Seeing him again was a shock.”
Sophia reached a hand toward him and let it fall back. “I have to go. Can you meet us at the spa?”
“Okay.” He wanted to ask what would happen then. He wanted everything settled, but what if it all went the wrong way?
He couldn’t deal with that now.
“We should get out of here before someone comes to investigate the explosion,” Eugenia said.
“What will the police think happened here?” Sophia asked as she craned her neck toward the wreckage of the house.
“Hopefully they’ll think it was some sort of accident,” Jason answered. He looked at Garrison. “Maybe they’ll think he had a stroke.” He walked to his father’s body, picked him up in a tender embrace, and started for the cars without looking back toward the women.
Jason drove directly to his ranch, speeding ahead of the Ionians. He wanted to be alone with his grief. No, that was a lie. He ached to have Sophia with him, but she’d gone with her sisters instead.
Darkness seemed to hang around him as he began to dig a grave in a spot not far from the labyrinth. After wrapping his father in one of the native rugs he’d bought for his house, he laid him carefully in the grave and covered it with dirt.
When he was finished, he bowed his head and asked the spirit of the universe to grant Paul Castle peace at last.
As he walked away, he wondered if there was any point in going to the spa. Sophia had risked everything to rescue Tessa. Then he’d watched her rush back to her sisters when the crisis was over. He’d seen how important they were to her, and the longer she was with them now, the more likely they’d turn her around to their point of view again.
She’d only known him for a few weeks. Weeks that had been a pressure cooker of intensity. Now that the crisis was over, how could their short relationship compete against the life she’d always known? The life she’d been born for. Raised for.
His chest tightened painfully as he thought of all the reasons why he had lost her. His father was one of them. He’d initially talked to Garrison about a revenge plot. Finding out his son was involved with an Ionian had changed his mind, but that didn’t speak very well of his initial motivation.
Jason turned back toward the grave and grimaced. His father had lost the woman he loved. Jason was sure he had, too.
But he’d be a coward if he didn’t drive to the spa and hear about it in person.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SIX
JASON’S STOMACH MUSCLES clenched as he pulled up in front of the main spa building. He was dreading the coming confrontation, but he didn’t want to postpone it either.
When he got out and saw Cynthia waiting for him, he steeled himself for the worst.
From her expression, it looked as if she was planning to boil him in oil. Instead she said, “Come in,” before turning abruptly and going inside.
He followed, willing his face not to give anything away.
When he got to the lounge, he found all the sisters assembled. The ones who had gone to Garrison’s house were in a separate group, with Sophia among them.
“Sit down,” Cynthia ordered.
He looked toward Sophia, meeting her gaze but unable to read her expression. He ached to go to her. He wanted to lift her into his arms and carry her away—very far away. But he knew there was no point in proving he was an overbearing lout.
Instead he took the only seat available—which was off to the side of the group.
So what was this going to be? A trial?
He thought Cynthia was going to start in on him immediately. Instead she swept her gaze over the disobedient Ionians.
“You defied me,” she said.
Sophia raised her chin. “I couldn’t leave my sister in terrible danger.”
“And I couldn’t allow it either,” Eugenia added.
“You
couldn’t allow
,” Cynthia said, her voice deadly calm.
couldn’t allow
,” Cynthia said, her voice deadly calm.
The two women stared at each other. It was Eugenia who looked down. “I am sorry I overstepped,” she said, her words stiff. “But I felt we needed to get Tessa back if we could.”
“You could have all gotten killed,” Cynthia said. “You and everyone who went with you. That was an unacceptable risk.”
Tessa spoke for the first time.
“If they hadn’t come to get me, you wouldn’t know that Rafe Garrison was planning to impregnate me and kill the rest of the Ionians. You’d all be dead.”
Cynthia blanched. “Is that true?”
“Yes. I needed time to think, but I made a mistake by leaving the spa. Garrison found me almost at once.”
“And Jason’s father—a Minot—played a key part in saving her,” Sophia added. “He gave up his life for us—and Jason.”
Cynthia looked at Jason. “The last I heard, you said your father was already dead.”
“I thought he was. That’s what he wanted me and everyone to think. He faked his death. He said because he was afraid his anger would contaminate me. He was at Garrison’s house.” He swallowed, before continuing with brutal honesty, “I think at first he was planning to get revenge on the Ionians. Then he found out I was involved, and he changed his mind.”
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