Hunted (23 page)

“So the power must come from that stone. That’s good to know. What do you want to do now?”

“Try it again. What else do we have?”

“What about something smaller? Like a peach?” He grabbed one out of the bag sitting the trunk behind them and handed it to her.

She took it and sank her teeth into it. “That’s a waste of a good piece of fruit. What else do you have?”

He chuckled and pulled out an apple. “You opposed to making applesauce?”

“Nope.” She took another bite, the juice running down her chin. Will’s eyes followed the trickle and she recognized the look on his face. “Down boy, we’ve got work to do.”

A wicked glint flickered in his eye and he wrapped his arm around her back, pulling her closer. “Maybe we need to take a little break,” he murmured.

She pushed his chest playfully. “Nope, we haven’t been working long enough to take a break. Now go put that apple somewhere.”

He loosened his grip and started to let go before he leaned down and sucked the peach juice off her chin and lower lip.

She tingled down to her toes. “You fight dirty,” she said, relaxing against his chest.

“If that’s not the pot calling the kettle black.” His arms dropped and he backed away, grinning. “Just wanted you to see what you turned down. Maybe you’ll think twice next time.”

She snorted. “Whatever. You’ll just offer it again ten minutes later.”

He laughed as he walked over to set the apple a few feet from where the watermelon had been. He looked over his shoulder. “Did you see there’s a small pit in the ground where the watermelon was?”

“No.”

He backed away from the apple. “Let me get away before you start blowing things up, okay? I don’t want a hook for a hand.”

She laughed. “Don’t worry, you’re too precious to blow up. Yet.” She winked at his upturned eyebrows and threw her peach pit in the bag.

When he stood beside her, she concentrated on the apple, focusing on her anger at the people after them and how she wished for a normal life. The pendant became warm within seconds and the apple flew into the air, pieces flying in all directions.

“You did it again. Damn. What did you feel?”

“Anger.”

“Again? Are you always this angry?” He shook his head. “Sorry, that was a stupid question.”

Her eyes widened, stricken. “Am I really that angry?” She was. Anger had been her constant companion for so long she’d grown accustomed to it.

He saw the pain in her face and lowered his voice. “If you weren’t angry, I would think there was something wrong with you. Your entire life has been one fuckup after another.”

She rolled her eyes. “Wow, thanks. That makes me feel better.”

“You know what I mean. Your mother is a piece of work. You’ve raised Jake alone. You gave up the secure life you wanted for him because of other people’s selfish greed.” He paused and she looked up into his eyes. “I realize how important security is to you.”

It surprised her how much he saw in her. What else did he see that he didn’t mention? “But it seems wrong to get power from anger.”

He brushed away the hair that blew in her face. “Maybe you can use something other than anger. Maybe you just need a strong emotion. Why don’t you try a different one?”

“Like what?”

“Like love.” He saw the guilty look on her face and grimaced. “I was trying for something more pleasant. Obviously, that wasn’t it. Try fear, or pain, or a whole host of other negative emotions. See if one of those works.”

She bit her lip and nodded.

Will put another apple on the ground near where the other one had been placed. When he came back he shook his head. “There’s another pit in the ground. You’re not just blowing these things up but creating some kind of force. Are you getting tired? Do you need to eat something?” His eyebrows furrowed with concern.

“No, I ate that peach. I’m a little tired, but nothing I can’t handle.”

“I think when you do this you use energy, which makes sense. It’s simple physics. You can’t create energy, it has to transfer from one form to another.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re blowing things up, or in my case, healing me. Blowing up fruit probably doesn’t take much energy. They’re relatively small. But healing someone or creating a huge explosion would take large amounts of energy, which had to transfer from you into whatever you caused. That’s why you passed out after you healed me and almost passed out after the explosion. The only reason you didn’t then was because I was in your mind, verbally berating you to get up.”

He lowered his head so his eyes were level with hers. “But if you attempt something too big, that sucks too much energy, it could kill you. It could completely deplete all the energy in your body.”

One side of her mouth lifted into a grin. “I thought you were a history major.”

He laughed and shrugged. “While you were taking accounting and advanced race car driving, I took biology and physics.”

“Very funny, but there might be something to your theory.”

“Yeah, it occurred to me after the fire, which is why I made you eat something. But I think maybe I can transfer energy to you too. When I touched you after you healed me, you said your headache went away.”

“Yeah, it did.”

“And when you passed out in the woods, I touched you. You stirred and then woke up. We should probably practice with that, too. But first I think you should try another emotion. Let’s use another apple since we know that you could blow one up.”

She sighed. “Okay, but anger’s so easy.”

“Try fear. You’re likely to be afraid if you need to use this to defend yourself.”

“What? Am I supposed to be afraid of an apple?”

Will shook his head with a grin. “Were you really that pissed at the poor innocent watermelon? What did it ever do to you?”

“Point taken.”

She closed her eyes and remembered being in the woods alone with the men chasing her. Slick fear slid down her spine, catching her breath at the memory. She felt Will tense beside her. Trying to ignore him, she remembered being hunted through the woods, outnumbered by men with guns. The helpless feeling returned, sending her heart racing.

The stone around her neck remained lukewarm.

After a few more minutes, she opened her eyes and groaned. “That didn’t work.”

“Maybe you need something that doesn’t make you feel powerless. Fear’s a strong emotion but not empowering like anger.”

“You could be right. I was completely freaked out in the woods, but it wasn’t until I got angry that the pendant warmed up.”

Will wrapped his arm around her back and they leaned against the car watching storm clouds blow in.

“I think we should head back before the storm hits. We can try again tomorrow.”

“But I hardly did anything today. I made no progress.”

“That’s not true. We learned you can make applesauce and you need to be angry to make it work.”

“But that’s not much.”

“Emma, the first time you hurt yourself I’m putting a stop to it, so if you want to keep doing this you need to take it slow.”

She knew he was right, but who knew how long they had until the next group of gunmen found them? Especially this close to the compound. She wanted to be prepared.

“Emma…” Will hesitated, taking her hand. “I want to talk about something else.”

Her back stiffened in apprehension. “You’re not wanting to leave me again, are you?”

His grip around her waist tightened. “No, that’s not it.” He paused and her heartbeat quickened, wondering what could make him so nervous. “I want to talk about the baby.”

Her mouth went dry. “And…?”

“First of all, is this a discussion we need to have?
Is
there a baby?”

Guilt ate at the edges of her conscious. How could she have discussed this with Raphael before Will? And why did she still not want to discuss it? But she owed it to him. “Yes, it’s a discussion we need to have.”

“Does that mean…?”

She turned to look at him and nodded.

He pulled her close and kissed her, like he was a happy expectant father and this was fantastic news. It only added to her guilt.

“How can you be happy about this, Will? This is terrible.”

“Why? Because Warren wants the baby? He’d want you anyway, baby or not.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Because it doesn’t.”

“Emma, we can’t let other people rule our lives.”

Her derisive laugh filled the air. “Are you kidding me? Have you
seen
our lives? That’s exactly how we’re living. How are we supposed to run with a baby?”

“We’ve got at least eight months before we have to worry about that. Maybe this will all be over by then.”

She didn’t see how that was possible. Too many people were after them. It all seemed so hopeless if it weren’t for Jake she’d consider giving up. But to do it with a baby?

You need Will because of the baby. If there’s no baby, you don’t need Will forever. I’m saying you don’t have to have this baby
.

Was it true? Did she really not need the baby? But not needing Will, was that something she really wanted? She looked into his loving eyes. Selfishly, she didn’t want to give him up. “I don’t want to tell James. He hates me and he’ll hate me even more if he knows I’m pregnant. He’d probably accuse me of lying about you being the father.”

Will pinched his lips and nodded. “In this case, you’re probably right. We’ll keep it between you and me for now.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s get out of here,” he said. “James is bound to wonder where we are. I’ll call him on the way back and fill him in on your progress.” Grabbing her arm, he gently led her to the car door.

She jerked her arm out of his grasp. “Oh, my God. You’re treating me like an invalid. I’m pregnant, not sick.”

“Emma—”

She glared at him. “If you treat me like anything other than a normal healthy person, you will regret it.”

He opened the car door. “Okay, sorry. I’ve never dealt with a pregnant woman before.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about.”

Chapter Eighteen

Emma stood in the forest, a raging bonfire before her, her nightgown blowing in the breeze. An electrical current danced along her skin, tickling her with expectation and promise of fulfillment. A longing grew within her, a need to that begged to be satisfied.

“You are not bound to destiny.” Raphael breathed into her ear, adding to her yearning.

Emma sucked in a breath of surprise. He offered her completeness.

“You’re so close. So very close.”

She gasped, the tingling jumping from one follicle of hair to the next.

He circled in front of her, slowly, seductively. A patient lover claiming his long-awaited prize. His eyes darkened to nearly black pools of desire, piercing her own and captivating her. “I’ve waited for you for so long, Emmanuella, and you for me. Our wait is nearly over.”

He leaned down slowly, as though a sudden movement would startle her. His lips sought hers, the lightest of pressure, testing her response. Her breath sucked in. His tongue skimmed her lower lip, a low growl purring in his throat. Her lips parted and he pressed his chest to hers, holding her at the waist. Electrical sparks lit the night from contact, but she didn’t feel pain, only pleasure. He nipped her lip, drawing blood. His tongue licked the drops away.

“It’s time.”

Emma sat up in bed, panting with fear and excitement. Will instantly woke and wrapped an arm around her back.

“Emma?”

Guilt coursed through her veins. She had wanted Raphael and everything he promised. She couldn’t deny it. She shrugged Will off with a grunt. “I’m fine.”

He rubbed her arm. “You had another dream.”

Swinging her legs off the side of the bed, she stood up and wrapped her arms around herself. Her heart raced as she gasped for air. “I’m fine. It was just a dream.”

Will watched her, worry in his eyes. “It might help to talk about it.”

She ran a shaking hand through her hair. Had it been this cold in the room when they went to sleep? “I don’t remember. It was just a stupid dream, Will. I’m going to the bathroom.”

She stormed into the restroom and shut the door, turning on the water.

Oh God, what was she dreaming? Was this really going to happen? How could she prevent it?

She cupped her hands beneath the cold water and splashed her face several times. Standing up, she patted her face with a towel and stared at her reflection. She had washed away the flush from her skin but her eyes burned with desire, the cut on her lower lip evidence of her betrayal.

Did she really want to prevent it?

She sat on the toilet seat, head between her hands, staving off the rising panic. She had to get a grip. Sucking in deep breaths, she thought of Jake.
Jake
. Jake needed her. Everything else was secondary. Will was secondary. Raphael was secondary.

Just the thought of his name made her stomach tumble in excitement and her skin warm.
What is wrong with me?

“Emma. Open the door.”

She took several gulps of air. “Just a minute. I’m going to the bathroom.”