Hunted (10 page)

Will stuffed the gun down into his waistband, and grabbed Emma’s hand, pulling her into the parking lot.

They walked in silence, the knot in Emma’s throat making it difficult to breathe. After traveling a block, they came upon a homeless man on the street corner. His long salt-and-pepper hair hung in greasy strands around his face, his gnarled hand holding out a paper cup for donations. A folded piece of cardboard was propped next to him,
The End is Near
written out in squiggly capital letters with black marker. They stopped at the corner, waiting for a red light, and Emma turned her gaze in his direction and tensed. Will glanced down at her and slipped his arm around her waist.

The homeless man swung his head toward Emma, his eyes vacant as his hair fell into his face and his body began to twitch. “Woe to you, daughter of Jezebel. Woe to you, betrayer of the truth.”

Emma’s eyes widened as she looked up at Will. His jaw tensed and he pulled her to his side, his body a shield between her and the beggar.

The light changed and Will pulled her into the street. “Ignore him, Emma.”

She turned back to look again, unable to stop herself. The man convulsed and began to shout. “The fate of mankind is in your hands!”

She froze in the middle of the street, her heart racing. An electrical charge ran from the pendant up her leg.

He pointed a crooked finger, his hand shaking violently “You will be the downfall of the world.”

“Emma, let’s go.” Will tried to pull her, but her feet were rooted to the asphalt.

The current coursed through her body and her vision faded. She stood by a roaring fire, electricity tickling her skin.
The choice is yours
. A voice said.
But you must choose
. Then the image changed and she stood on top of a hill overlooking a valley. Tendrils of smoke dotted the scorched landscape below.
You have caused this destruction. The death of the world is in your hands.
A gust of wind swept dirt and debris around, obscuring her vision. When it cleared, swirling columns of fire surrounded her, the flames shooting into the clouds overhead. Thick smoke filled her lungs. Screams echoed in the darkness and she heard Jake’s voice calling out “Mommy!” Panic gripped her as power shot from her hands into the air, covering the world around her in a sea of flames.

“Emma!” Will jerked her arm, pulling her back to the present.

She gasped for air, afraid she would pass out.

“You will end us all!” the man screamed.

People on the sidewalks stopped to stare. The light had turned and a car’s horn honked. Emma stood dazed in the street, blocking traffic.

Will pulled her to the corner and she stumbled to keep up. “What the hell were you doing?” he asked through gritted teeth. “He’s a crazy old man.
Ignore him
.”

The images still played in her head, hazy and fading. She wanted to tell him what she saw, but the words caught in her throat, making her unsure where to even begin. They continued two more blocks, Will dragging her by the hand. The shadows seemed dark and menacing.

“Shouldn’t there be more people here?” Emma asked. It seemed odd there was no one around considering the swarms of people they had pushed through only a few blocks earlier.

Will’s grip tightened as he looked around. “Yeah.”

They crossed the street at a corner, cutting over to the parking lot on the other side. The car was parked several rows away. A street light overhead blinked twice then faded out with the sound of an electric zap.

The hairs on Emma’s arms stood on end. A cool breeze blew out of nowhere, whipping her hair and the hem of her skirt. “Will…”

A man walked out from behind a car. His dark eyes glittered as one side of his mouth lifted into a grin. “Going somewhere?” Another man stepped out of the shadows and joined him.

Will pushed Emma behind him. He held up a hand, the shiny glint of the metal keys dangling from his fingers. “We don’t have anything you gentlemen would be interested in. Just let us go on our way and we’ll forget this ever happened.”

The first man laughed, a guttural sneer. “We want
her
. Just hand her over and we’ll be more than happy to let you go about your business.”

“Then you have a problem because the lady isn’t going anywhere with you.”

A third man appeared carrying a long metal pipe. He smacked it into the palm of his hand. The dull thud filled the quiet night. The sounds of music down the street faded to a faint roar. “Funny, I don’t see a dilemma.”

Emma’s chest constricted. Heat from the pendant burned the side of her leg.

Will let the duffle bag slip off his arm and fall to the ground. The first two men rushed him before he could reach for his gun.

Emma jumped into the street as a fourth man appeared.

Will hit the first man, with his keys in his fist. The man staggered back, yelping as streaks of blood ran down his face. The other man charged and Will staggered before punching the man in the stomach. The man with the pipe slapped it into his palm in a steady rhythm as an evil grin spread across his face. The first man got up, bloody stripes down his cheek.

Will tossed the keys into the street behind him. The metal clanged on the asphalt as they skidded close to Emma’s feet. She reached down and picked them up with trembling fingers.

“Emma! Run!” Will shouted as he reached to pull the gun from his waistband. Both men attacked at once and the gun fell to the pavement. One of the men kicked him in the stomach and Will doubled over.

The man with the pipe stepped forward and picked up the gun with an evil grin. Again, that horrible grin. He tossed the gun behind him, between two cars.

Emma couldn’t leave him, but she didn’t know how to help.

“Get her,” the man with the pipe said. One of the men rushed past Will.

“Goddamn it, Emma! RUN!” Will lunged for the man’s legs and they hit the pavement.

She bolted down the street toward the crowd of people, two of the men in pursuit. Struggling to keep her sandals on her feet, she kicked them off. The warm asphalt was rough on her bare soles as she sprinted toward the crowd. The move had slowed her down, but she hoped to make up for it with the speed she gained.

The street ahead had been blocked off. A rock band played at one end. Emma ran past a barricade and into the throng, pushing her way past people dancing in the street. She collided with a woman who held a cup above her head. The drink spilled over both of them.

“Hey!” the young woman shouted.

“Sorry,” Emma mumbled, looking over her shoulder. The men were gaining on her.

She pushed on, her lungs burning and her nearly healed leg aching. She ran to the sidewalk, the crush of bodies slowing her down, fueling her rising hysteria. She looked back to see one of the men collide with a woman. The woman’s date came to her defense, but Emma’s pursuer shoved him easily to the side. The encounter bought her about thirty additional feet. The second man had disappeared.

Emma turned left onto a cross street, running blindly.
Think, Emma. Think
. An alley opened to her left. She cast a glance over her shoulder. Neither man was behind her, so she ran into darkness, sprinting for a trash dumpster halfway down. She ducked behind it and turned to see a man standing in the middle of the alley entrance.

She pressed her back against the brick wall, the stench of rotten food and urine making her gag. Her breath came in shallow pants as she heard the dull thud of his shoes move closer.

Her options were to hide here or run, and neither was good. There was a chance he hadn’t seen her. The alley was dark and she’d rounded the corner of the dumpster when she saw him. But if he had seen her, she was sure she couldn’t outrun him. Sucking in her breath, she tried to squeeze behind the metal dumpster. If she could get behind it, he might not find her and even if he did, she might be able to get out the other side and run.

“Emma,” the man called. “Olly, olly oxen free.”

She choked on her terror and shoved her hip into the opening between the wall and the metal bin. The space was too narrow and her side lodged in the tight space.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he sing-songed. “Come out like a good girl.”

She stuffed down the rising hysteria and tried to break free from the crack.

A body stood at the corner of the bin, shrouded in darkness. “There you are.” His voice was deceptively sweet.

The pendant in her pocket burned, shooting an electrical current throughout her body.

His hand gripped her arm, jerking her free. Emma remembered Will using the keys as a weapon. She gripped them in her fist and swung toward his face, grinding the ends into his cheek and dragging down with all her strength. Instead of letting go, his grip tightened and he swung at her face with his free hand. The impact caught her on the cheek, swamping her head with an invading blackness. Fury built in her chest, replacing her fear. She’d be damned if she passed out and just let this bastard take her.

The burning in her leg became unbearable as she shot a knee to his groin, with more power than she knew she had. His hold loosened as he fell to the ground, curling into a ball with a moan.

Emma tore down the alley to the street and turned the corner, not stopping to see if he was after her. The fact that she was running farther away from Will ate her resolve.

An outdoor cafe lay ahead with people dancing on the sidewalk. She raced for it, hoping to get lost in the crowd. Almost there, she stepped on a rock, sending a shooting pain through her bare foot. She stumbled in pain, tears burning her eyes. She couldn’t afford to stop now.

Turning to look over her shoulder, she saw the man stop at the street corner, searching for her. A crowd of people stood in front of the cafe. If she could get inside, she might lose him, but she doubted that she’d make it before he caught up.

“In trouble again, already?” she heard a man ask. “That didn’t take long.”

Emma looked down at the table next to her, shocked to see the man from the bar the night before in Joplin. He sat alone, with a half-empty plate of food in front of him.

She froze. Her pursuer was headed in her direction.

The man at the table glanced down the street and stood. “Is he after you?”

She nodded.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the dancers, standing at the edge in the shadows. “Play along.” He swung her around into his arms, drawing her body flush against his. Emma, too surprised and scared to protest, let him. Her brain turned fuzzy. He turned his head slightly to check on the man’s progress. He was shorter than Will, his face almost even with hers. His dark eyes pierced hers as he said, “Sorry for this.”

He put his hand behind her head and pulled her mouth to his. It was for show, she instinctively knew this as his body swayed to the music, pressing her close with the arm he wrapped around her back. His attention remained on the man chasing her. She saw the man pause and search the crowd. The man who held her turned her slightly, moving his back to her pursuer. He deepened the kiss, his tongue gliding over her lips, searching for hers. She wrapped her arms around his back, clinging to him as her body responded, heat rising from her core and melting her from the inside out.

He pulled back and turned slightly, making sure the man had moved on. He held her close, still swaying to the music, his desire for her evident. The knowledge sent her head reeling. “I believe you now owe me your name.” His voice was seductive in her ear, his breath sending shivers down her back.

“Emma.”

“Emma,” he murmured, her name sounding lyrical on his tongue. He held her tight, his face hovering next hers, his breath fanning her cheek. Her body screamed in anticipation, as though she had no will of her own. His eyes locked onto hers, mesmerizing her. “Whatever happened to that boyfriend of yours?”

Oh, my God. Will.

Emma’s breath sucked in and she stumbled backward, out of his embrace. She tripped on something and he grabbed her elbow to keep her from falling.

“I won’t tell him what just happened, that is, if he exists,” he said, righting her. “But I’m guessing from your reaction that he does.”

“I have to get back to him. He was fighting off the men who attacked us.” She heard the panic in her voice even though her body seemed slow to catch up.

He led her to his table, pulled out his wallet, and threw some cash by his plate. “Which way?”

She blinked in surprise.

“I didn’t just save you to let you get into trouble again. Where is he?”

Emma hesitated. Leading this man to Will seemed like a very bad idea.

“You’re wasting time. I’m going with you, like it or not.”

She started walking. “This way.”

They hurried down the street in silence. Emma wrestled with her response to the man next to her.
What the hell had just happened?
It was like her body had a will of its own.

“Where are your shoes?” he asked.

“None of your business.” She worried about Will’s reaction when he saw him.

“You never asked my name.”

“
What?
”

“Raphael, my name is Raphael.”

She ignored him and kept walking.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, you know. You were only hiding from that man. It was only an act.”

Emma knew what she experienced was more than just an act. The fact the she was so easily turned on by this man scared the shit out of her.

A wave of pain swept through her side and she wobbled, confused. She realized it was Will. When she was held captive in the Vinco Potentia compound, she and Will had shared a psychic link. But they had tried it since and it never worked so this caught her by surprise. She stood still, concentrating.
Will
, she called out to him.

“Are you okay?” Raphael asked.

“Shh!” She scrunched her eyes shut.
Will?
He didn’t respond, but she knew he was in tremendous agony. She took off running, Raphael behind her.

“What happened?”

“He’s hurt. I have to get to him.”

“How do you know this?”