Revival (The Variant Series, Book 1) (15 page)

Declan looked at her sharply.

The strange feeling of detachment that had encased Alex’s emotions the moment she’d heard Brandt’s voice on the line, shattered.

Alex no longer felt numb.

She knew what she had to do.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked. His tone was practically dripping with disapproval.

The rush of anger that washed over her was nearly overpowering. Alex could feel it coursing through her veins, searching for an outlet.

“Training,” she said, as evenly as she could manage. “What does it look like?”

Declan’s brow furrowed. There’s no way he hadn’t sensed the sudden change in her mood.

“It looks like you’re planning to get yourself killed,” he said slowly.

“I’m
planning
on getting my friend back,” she replied, channeling her emotions into another charge. Instead of letting this one go, she focused on manipulating its size. Larger, smaller. Larger, smaller. It was amazing how easily all this was coming to her now.

“Not alone,” he said. “You’re no match for him by yourself, Lex.”

Lex? She might have enjoyed the intimate sound of the name on his lips, under different circumstances. It felt wrong to hear it from him now.

It was going to take more than Declan to stop her from going through with this.

Brandt had Cassie. And it was all Alex’s fault.

The thought sent another wave of anger coursing through her. With a cry of frustration, she sent the charge spiraling toward what remained of the fallen tree. It disintegrated with a deafening report.

Her arms fell to her sides and she turned to face him.

“I’m sorry, Declan,” she said. “I have to do this. And I have to do it alone.”

“Alex, no!” Declan lunged for her as she started her jump.

He wasn’t fast enough.

As the light engulfed her, she registered the look of panic in Declan’s eyes… and prayed she was making the right decision.

— 13 —

“C
ome on, Brian,” Declan urged. “You can do this.”

The boy’s expression was pained. “I
want to
, Declan! Honest! I just can’t see her!”

Declan clenched and unclenched his fists as he struggled to keep his patience. “Then try harder!”

“
Declan
!” Kenzie admonished. “Can’t you see he’s trying? What pre-cog have you ever met that can conjure a vision on command?”

Declan began pacing the length of the cabin’s great room. Kenzie couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this worked up. And it wasn’t just him. Alex’s disappearance had left them
all
on edge. Even Nate was rattled.

“We all want to find her, Declan,” said Kenzie. “But yelling at Brian isn’t going to get us to her any faster.”

An afternoon spent canvassing Alex’s hometown had resulted in no leads and two increasingly agitated brothers. They’d turned to Brian as a last resort. The poor kid had been trying to force a vision for nearly an hour with no results. It didn’t help that Declan and Nathaniel had been hovering over him the entire time.

She cast a glance out the window. The sun was close to setting. They were running out of time.

Declan ceased pacing and followed her gaze. He seemed to reach a decision.

Kenzie watched as he approached the door to Grayson’s office and tried the doorknob. Locked. Declan narrowed his eyes and disappeared.

Grayson’s office was
beyond
off limits. Surely he hadn’t…

A crash echoed through the house. Her brother reappeared a moment later with Grayson’s Beretta in his hand. The one the boss kept in his desk. His
locked
desk.

“Declan, what the hell?” said Nate, catching sight of the gun.

“Whoa. Not a good idea, Decks,” said Kenzie, jumping to her feet.

Had he
completely
lost his mind? 

“I’m not just going to sit here and do nothing while Alex is off somewhere getting herself killed,” said Declan. He checked the chamber for a round, then tucked the pistol into the back of his jeans and pulled on his jacket. “If the meet’s going to take place somewhere she goes every night, then it’s probably within walking distance of her house. I’ll just have to keep wandering around until I find it. Call me if you learn anything.”

“Declan, wait!” said Brian. “Maybe… Maybe if I had something of hers. Something she touched recently.”

Declan appraised the boy. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll be right back,”

He jumped.

“You really think that will help you see her?” asked Kenzie.

Brian shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt… and it always seems to work for those psychics on TV.”

They sat in silence while they waited for Declan to return.

“Someone needs to call Grayson and tell him what’s happened,” said Nate.

Declan reappeared with Alex’s waterlogged cell phone in one hand.

“Oh yeah, Nate,” said Declan, handing the phone to Brian. “That’s an excellent idea. I can hear the conversation now. ‘
Sorry, boss, but we lost Alex. Oh and by the way, she’s about to get herself flambéed by the one guy on the planet you specifically told us to keep her away from
.’ That should go over well.”

Nate glared at him. “He should know, Decks.”

“What can he possibly do from DC?” Declan continued. “Even if I went and got him, what could Grayson do in this situation that we couldn’t?”

“I don’t know,” said Nate. “
Something
. He knows Brandt better than we do. Maybe he can help us figure out what his end game is.”

Kenzie could feel the tension in the room mounting.

“Enough,” she said, feeling like the lone voice of reason in a sea of testosterone and male ego. “Fighting with each other won’t solve anything.”

Declan ignored her. “Why is it, Nate, that you are always so quick to defend the man? Always so blindly following his orders? He’s not perfect, you know.”

Nate looked like he was struggling not to rise to the bait. Good for him. Her brother was being an idiot. And if there was one thing she’d learned by having Declan as a brother, it was that there was never any point in arguing with an idiot.

Besides. Kenzie was starting to get the feeling that this argument had nothing to do with Grayson and everything to do with Alex.

“Always the golden boy,” Declan prodded.

“Guys,” said Brian.

“Always the good little soldier.”

“Screw you.”

“Ever since you got back from Seattle. What the hell happened to you, man?”

“
Guys
!”

Three pairs of eyes turned toward Brian.

“I saw her,” he said. His face was ashen behind his too-large glasses. “I know where they’re going to meet.”

*   *   *

As far as last sunsets went, this one was pretty spectacular.

The sky above was aflame with bright oranges, hazy pinks, and deepening purple hues. The still waters of the lake below reflected a mirror image of the spectacle, making for a truly breathtaking sight… And on any other night, Alex would have thoroughly enjoyed the view.

At the moment, however, all she could see was the empty dock that stretched out in front of her like a path to the gallows.

She tried to remember what had made her think going alone would be a good idea.

As she made her way slowly down the wooden ramp and across the large floating dock that jutted out onto the lake, she wondered where Brandt was and whether or not Cassie was still alive.

Burying that thought, Alex arrived at the end of the dock, turned to face the swampy shoreline and proceeded to wait.

Alex had discovered the spot on her tenth birthday.

Back then, the path to the disused and dilapidated dock had been nearly concealed by brush and overgrown kudzu vines. She only found it by accident after her new bike—a birthday gift from Aunt Cil—fell victim to a flat. As she’d bent to inspect the nail protruding from her rear tire, she happened to catch sight of the broken sidewalk that disappeared into a line of cypress trees surrounding the lake.

When she’d pushed her way past the foliage and discovered the jetty, Alex had been delighted. She’d spent the rest of the afternoon there, listening to the stillness of the lake and soaking up the sun. When night fell and she finally returned home, her aunt had asked her what she’d been doing all day.

Alex had smiled and said, “Sometimes the Universe gives the best birthday presents.”

She’d been coming here to watch the sunset ever since.

It was her escape. Her sanctuary. The place she went when she wanted to leave the world, with all its problems and its disappointments, behind.

Declan had the fields of Ireland.

Alex had a disused jetty surrounded by marshland.

Someone was making their way through the brush at the end of the bridge.

No
.

Oh, this was so not good.

“Alex!” Connor exclaimed happily. He jogged down the ramp. “Finally. I’ve been looking for you since yesterday. Knew I’d find you here.”

“Connor, what are you doing here?” She felt a knot of panic forming in her stomach. She had to get him out of here before Brandt showed up.

“I told you,” he said as he reached her. “I need to talk to you.”

“You have to go,” she said, shaking her head. “You can’t be here.”

“What?” he asked. “Listen, I just want to talk. Five minutes. That’s all it will take.”

“No! Connor, you don’t understand.” Her heart began to race. “
Youcan’t be here
. If he sees you, he’ll—”

“Did you forget the single condition of our meeting, pet?” An angry voice called from the other side of the jetty.

Alex whipped back around.

Brandt was making his way down the ramp, arms outstretched and a dancing flame in either hand. More terrifying than the flames he brandished, however, was the sight of who was marching obediently in front of him.

Making their way carefully down the dock, arms in the air, were Cassie, Nate, and—of all people—Jessica Huffman and Veronica Hudgens.

What the heck was Connor’s girlfriend doing here?

The girls appeared unharmed, but Nate had a nasty looking burn across one forearm and a cut across his forehead that was sending a steady stream of blood into his left eye.

How had Nate found her?

And where was Declan?

Veronica stumbled. Cassie scrambled to help her stand. The petite, raven-haired girl was trembling so hard that she could barely walk, tears streaming down her face.

“Jess? Did you follow me here?” Connor called out. “I
told you
, it’s—” He finally seemed to notice the flames Brandt held in both hands. “What the hell?”

“And there I was lauding the efforts of the public school systems,” said Brandt as they approached. “What was my one proviso?”

“Please,” Alex’s voice broke. “Please. They didn’t know—”

“Come
alone
,” he continued, as if he hadn’t heard her. “That’s all I asked.”

Alex swallowed hard.

“All of you,” said Brandt, his accent thick with anger. “Step away from Miss Parker, if you please.”

He came to a halt at the end of the ramp. Alex watched the others form a group on the opposite side of the dock, well out of her reach.

A thin, fiery tendril separated itself from one of the spheres and glided toward Alex before diving to the dock a few feet away. The flame dragged itself in a tight circle around her feet until she found herself surrounded on all sides by a quivering, waist-high wall of flames.

Damn.

So much for Plan A.

“Please,” she said again, the heat of the flames licking at the exposed skin on her forearms. “It’s me you want. I’ll go with you right now if you’ll just let them go.”

There was an angry chorus of replies from off to her right.

“
What?
”

“Alex, no!”

“Like hell!” said Cassie. Out of all of them, her voice was the angriest. “You’re not going anywhere with that bastard!”

“Let her go,” Veronica said in a small voice. “I mean, if it gets us out of here, just let him take her.”

Cassie and Connor turned to gape incredulously at Vee. Alex didn’t take her eyes off Brandt.

The Scotsman pretended to mull over Alex’s offer. “Very tempting, but I’m afraid I can’t let them go just yet.”

“Alright,” said Alex slowly. “Then what is it you want?”

“What I want,” he sighed heavily as he stepped from the ramp and onto the floating dock, “is to live in a world where justice is certain, rules are obeyed and everything goes according to plan. But since that will never happen, I suppose I will have to settle for teaching you an important lesson instead.”

Brandt raised an arm, the sphere of fire in his palm aimed directly at Alex’s throat. He smiled. “It’s time for you to
wake up
, pet.”

It happened too fast.

Before Alex could register the fact that Brandt had moved, an orb of fire went sailing through the air… and hit Veronica square in the chest.

She didn’t even have the chance to scream. The flames engulfed Vee in an instant, burning white hot and superheating the air above the dock.

Alex hit her knees in the middle of her fiery prison and raised her arms to shield herself from the searing heat. The circle of flames that surrounded her was putting off plenty of heat, but it now felt like a warm breeze in comparison.

Nate, who’d been standing next to Veronica, pushed the others away from the blaze, sending himself, Jessica, and Cassie to the deck and Connor headfirst into the lake.

Brandt readied a second sphere and took aim at Cassie and Nate. 

“
Now, Declan
!” Nate shouted as he moved to protect Cassie.

Declan materialized beside Brandt, the barrel of a gun resting against the older man’s temple.

Brandt’s hand twitched.

Declan cocked the gun.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” said Declan, his voice eerily calm.

Alex’s eyes sought out Cassie. Her best friend was sprawled on the opposite side of the dock, staring slack-jawed at Veronica’s remains.