Reckoning (29 page)

She drew in a deep breath and gripped the steering wheel. “Um…the White House pool cabana.”

“Good and where will I be with the president until then?”

“The family theater.”

I shook my head and flustered, she said, “No. The Situation Room.”

“Right. Where’s the diversion to draw the attention of the other Supernaturals?”

“The China Room. Make them think we’re in there.”

“Did you bring—”

“The taser and phone.” She passed me the phone. “You have the dagger, and Henry will meet you in the Situation Room.” She exhaled. “This will work. It has to.” She flexed her fingers on the steering wheel. “When it’s all over will you tell me why you couldn’t stand with Riley?”

No. I couldn’t, but I lied and said, “If we survive.”

She made a noise that was a mixture between a groan and a laugh. “Not funny.”

On a road near the White House, she pulled over. “I’ll see you inside,” she said as I climbed out.

Thirty minutes later, I was over the fence, the secret service agents nowhere in sight. I knew that by now, all the alarms were disabled, the communication among the agents disrupted. I ran across the South Lawn. I would gain entrance by going through the West Colonnade and into the West Wing. The unfolding events were leading me closer to the worst moment of my life. In minutes Riley’s blood would be on my hands. My chest hurt. I couldn’t get enough air. My breathing was too fast and I was getting lightheaded. “Stop and focus,” I scolded myself.
Don’t think about Riley. Get inside the
White House
.

Before I could gain entrance, someone grabbed my arm and jerked me off my feet. “The Supernaturals have already invaded. They’re in the West Wing Lobby,” Agent Davis said. He rose and fired a gun containing the pellets behind us. Two Supernaturals retreated.

Suspicious, I said, “You’re on my side?”

He glared at me. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell. But you’re my best bet at saving my people. However, I wouldn’t advise knocking me out again.”

We started forward when bullets slammed into the ground around us. Pinned down, we couldn’t even lift our heads to see who was shooting at us. When there was a pause in the volley, I peeked up, wondering how many Supernaturals…wait…

“Humans are shooting at…you?”

He reached up and removed a pair of contacts, and that’s when I saw the reptilian pupils. Oh my God. I shrank away, then froze in fear, unable to keep moving. “You’re a Ragespawn.”

I was lying in the grass face to face with my greatest enemy. No wonder he’d treated me the way he had. And Maisy. Had he scratched us? Broken the skin?

He fired a round of bullets at the humans, driving them away. I tried to back up.

“Stop,” he ordered. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

“Your kind killed….”

“Yeah, yeah, and your kind killed. Listen to me. We only have seconds. The president lied to my people too. She wanted us here to kill the Tazavorn. ‘There are only a few of them,’” he mimicked in a high voice. “It was supposed to be weeks and we’ve been here for years.”

“So why haven’t you killed me?”

“I’d like that, but I’ve read your scrolls. I’ve seen the Untolds. If you die, we all die.”

“What do you want?”

“To go home. I have family there. A mate and two children I haven’t seen since we fell for the president’s lies. She hid our spaceship and demanded we kill all the Tazavorn before we could leave. That’s why my people started killing humans too.” He ducked and fired off another round as a human advanced on us. “As soon as she brought the Tazavorn to Earth, your leaders stood up to her. Refused to be governed, and that made her realize your people were a powder keg.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I’ve had plenty of chances to kill you. I could have bitten you, scratched you, and my poison would have driven you as crazy as a rabid animal, but I didn’t. Even when you attacked me, I made sure none of my blood got on you.”

“If you blame the president for being stuck here, then why are you fighting to protect her?”

Honesty shone from his reptilian eyes. “I have my own reasons for making sure the president is safe.”

“Where’s Rick?”

“I haven’t seen him since the Supernaturals attacked the base.”

“You hurt my sister,” I said.

“I did what I had to do. You can react to that and attempt to kill me now or you can save your sister.”

I didn’t hide my hatred of him. “My sister.”

He reached into a small black duffel bag. “Here.” He passed me a pellet gun and a handful of pellets. “I’ll keep the Supernaturals and the humans off your back. You get to the president.”

“Okay…” I moved away from him, not turning my back on him. I’d sensed something off about him every time I was near him. I’d thought he was simply an evil human. I shuddered and forced myself to concentrate on the task.

Getting to the Situation Room wouldn’t be easy. Getting in wouldn’t be any easier. According to Henry, humans were in the room twenty-four-seven. They practically lived there to keep an eye on world intelligence. The room offered a secure way for the president to be able to communicate with world leaders.

I burst into the room, taking note of the long wood table and black leather executive chairs lined up around it. It could easily become an obstacle or a shield if I needed it.

The president stood beside the table, and when the secret service agents went for their weapons, she told them to stop. She was a slender woman with blond hair cut short. Her dark eyes were no-nonsense, and though she projected bravery, she was clearly afraid. “There’s no need to shoot. Juliet is here to protect me.” Her statement ended on a high note, as if she was asking and not stating.

“Where’s my sister?” I demanded.

She glanced at the national security advisor, and he nodded his head.

“She’s somewhere secure,” he said.

“If my sister—”

The door opened and Agent Davis escorted Henry in. “He’s with Juliet,” he explained when the agents bristled.

Henry hurried to my side. I looked at the agents and pointed to Henry. “This man cannot be harmed. You have to protect him or everything will go to hell. Understand?”

The agents looked at the president, and she nodded at them.

“I’ll save Riley,” Henry whispered in my ear.

“Provided I don’t damage his life force,” I said, feeling again the enormity of what I was about to do. I had to stop Riley’s heart, but not injure his life force. Henry could bring him back
if
I was careful.

As if sensing my inner turmoil, Henry put his hand over mine. “It’s the only way.”

The door burst open and two Supernaturals spilled into the room. The secret service agents raised their guns to fire, but the Supernaturals took them down before any of the agents could get off a shot. Agent Davis fell and I couldn’t tell if he’d been hit in the exchange or even if he was breathing.

I whipped up the gun with the pellets and fired, hitting both Supernaturals, hoping they’d retreat, but they didn’t. They advanced toward the president who ran to get behind me.

“I don’t want to kill you!” I shouted at them.

“Juliet Sawyer, traitor to the kingdom,” one of them said. “It will be a pleasure to watch you die.”

I opened my hand and sent a burst of power at their feet. They jumped but didn’t stop. I dropped the gun and raised my other hand, hitting them both simultaneously in the center of their life force.

Nixie ran into the room, her small face filled with fear. She was breathing fast from exertion. “I found the children, but I couldn’t get into the room. I couldn’t get in because Riley and Adler are—”

“Right behind her,” Riley said.

RILEY

There were times in my life when I’d experience an event and it wouldn’t make sense. This was one of those times. Standing in front of the girl I loved and seeing her cry but still fire her power at me wasn’t something I could understand.

Getting hit by a purposeful burst of her energy hurt like getting struck by lightning. It made all my nerve endings tingle, and it hurt like hell. I’d barely had time to register that fact before she fired at me again. Not playing, not holding back. Her intent was to kill me and the last sliver of hope I’d held on to vanished.

I fired back at her, but she launched herself to the right, hit the floor, and rolled, coming up on the side of me. Know your enemy’s weak areas and hit him there. Hadn’t I taught her that very thing? She knew my body was still recovering from the beating my father and the leaders had given me and she aimed for my bruised, still-aching ribs.

I ducked and fired as I moved, hitting her on the arm. She gasped and planted herself beside Henry. When I saw him, the hurt of betrayal deepened.

She blocked the hit I sent Henry’s way, and he gave me a reproachful look. Like I should know something I didn’t.

Adler sent a burst of his power at the president, and Juliet counteracted with hers.

“Don’t kill her. We need the president alive,” I told Adler.

Nixie cowered in a corner, covering her head with her hands.

“Juliet, get down!” Agent Rick Simon yelled from the doorway as he fired a round of bullets at a Supernatural who’d sprung into the room. The Supernatural fell face first.

Adler fired a round of pellets at Juliet. I heard the soft thump as they embedded in her body. She immediately went to work trying to dig them out.

The president looked stunned as she stared at Adler. “You shot the Supernatural who’s protecting me. You were supposed to be on my side.”

“I lied. My loyalties have always been with the crown.” Adler held his hand, palm side out at Rick. “Move over there.”

Rick moved toward the national security advisor and closer to where Agent Davis had fallen. He knelt beside his colleague and checked for a pulse, then helped him sit up.

The clock was ticking, and I didn’t doubt that if I were as much as one second late, Ide would release the NoG. I moved to take the president. Like an idiot, I took my eyes off Juliet. She hit me with a round of pellets, then charged me, her body slamming into mine with the force of a linebacker’s tackle.

Without her power, she would be easy to subdue. I gripped her around the waist, planning to toss her to one side. Plans. Funny thing about them. You make them, but the execution of them isn’t always guaranteed.

Juliet fumbled for her thigh, gave a hard yank, then slid the royal dagger into my chest with a hard upper thrust, straight into my heart. I gasped as pain and shock coursed through me. She’d done it. She’d really betrayed me. How could the girl I love kill me? Her tears splashed onto my face, and she bowed her head, pressing her lips against mine.

“Hang on,” she whispered.

My heart stuttered. Once. Twice. Nothing.

Chapter 25

JULIET

Mallen’s words rushed toward me. He’d said I would know the same agony as Shakespeare’s Juliet. In the second I witnessed Riley breathe his last breath, I knew Mallen was right. There were no words to describe the agony. I shattered into pieces, and the fragments burrowed into my soul. The strength I’d used to make myself keep going forward gave way as Riley’s worst fears came true. I betrayed him. I’d seen the disbelief on his face. I killed him.
Oh my God. I killed him
. “Forgive me,” I whispered as I forced myself to finish removing the pellets from my body. I could barely see through the tears, could barely breathe through the sobbing.

“What have you done?” Adler screamed, snatching up one of the secret service agent’s guns.

Agent Davis tripped him, then wrestled for control of the weapon. Henry used his power and hit Adler in the stomach, sending the younger Supernatural flying backward. Adler groaned, holding his stomach and cursing the day Henry was born.

Wiping my eyes, I motioned for Nixie. “Okay, stick to the plan. I’ll take the president and grab the children. You heal Riley.”

Nixie stood. Gone was the shy, crying Supernatural she’d been seconds ago. “Actually, there’s been a change of plans.” She clapped her hands, and Ide swept into the room.

He walked up to Nixie and kissed her. Nixie slipped her arm around Ide’s waist and smirked at me. “Meet my boyfriend.”

No.
Nixie had to be on my side. I needed her. She had to heal Riley. Every second that passed meant his death could be permanent. “Nixie, he can’t be trusted. Ide is only using you,” I pleaded with her.

She waved her hand. “Shut up, Queen of Nothing.” She tossed her hair back. “With all your power and your syrupy kindness, it must suck that I’m going to be the queen. I’m going to rule the world with Ide.”

I glanced at Riley. He was pale and still.
Please, hold on.
I couldn’t draw in enough air to fill my lungs. Couldn’t think straight.

Nixie’s eyes danced with glee when she looked at Ide. “She never figured it out.”