Strength (Mark of Nexus #1) (34 page)

My body tensed as I slipped my arm under the pillow. It was almost funny. It seemed like, with each passing moment, I became more and more desensitized to the supernatural. Soon nothing would faze me at all. Except him.

Was I prepared to die over something so avoidable?

“Okay,” Wallace groaned in a low, muffled voice. “This isn’t going to work.”

I sank down into the mattress, embarrassed.

“Sorry.” How could I keep forgetting? There had to be some way to censor my emotions.

“It’s not your fault.” He carefully angled over top of me, straightening once he reached the floor. “You have every right to be scared.”

“That wasn’t it.” I started to get up, but he shook his head.

“Stay there.” He bent down and kissed my forehead. “I’ll just be across the room.” He ambled over to Gabby’s bed and pushed the comforter back. “But I’m not sleeping on the stain. Sheets clean?”

“Yeah, she did laundry two nights ago.” I watched him fall onto the mattress with a heavy sigh.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” he mumbled, and tossed the pillow back on top of the comforter. “Goodnight.” He folded his arms and laid his head down, eyeing me from across the room.

How had I kept my distance before this? It was all I could do to smile at him, at a loss for the eight feet between us. “Night.”

Chapter Forty-One

“What are you doing here?” a voice mumbled.

I struggled to open my eyes, feeling like an anchor had weighted me to the darkest depths of the ocean. Everything was murky and sounds were muddled, but I was distinctly aware of something happening.

“I was in the neighborhood,” a second voice quipped, seemingly amused.

I knew that voice. I knew both of those voices.

“Don’t start with me, Cole.” Wallace sighed.

I cracked my eyes open and rubbed the blurriness away. Sure enough, both Blake brothers were engaged in some kind of stare down in the middle of my room.
What the…?

I sat up as memories of last night rolled in like a morning fog. “What are you guys doing?”

Cole ignored me and eyed his brother. “It’s time.” All pretenses were dropped as he crossed his arms. “We need to go.”

“You still haven’t explained what you’re doing
here
,” Wallace reminded him through gritted teeth. “I thought we were going to meet somewhere.”

I stood up and stretched, trying to ignore the ache in my thigh. The clock said it was past two in the afternoon, but it was hard to tell by the dismal sky outside. We were in for more rain.

Cole glanced at me out of the corner of his eye and did a double take. “Whoa…” He came over and bent, lifting my arm in inspection. “That shit is real?” He turned to Wallace, eyes wide. “Is that what I think it is? Show me yours.”

“No.”

I turned to look at Wallace. He’d showered and changed his clothes in the time I’d been asleep. Did he get any rest at all? I frowned until I realized Cole was still touching me.

“Enough.” I moved to shove him and he blurred, reappearing near the door with a taunting grin.

“Feisty,” he commented, straightening his clothes. “So, you’re really bonded, huh? Wow. Who knew? And with Wallace of all people. That’s rough.”

Wallace took a menacing step toward his brother. “I’m not going to ask again.”

Sick as it was, I couldn’t help but shiver at his tone. The man had shown me how intense he could be last night, and the contrast kept me on edge. I wanted to see his guard down again.

“Easy,” Cole coaxed, holding his hands up. “I’m just here to make sure you don’t back out on me.”

Wallace’s thermal stretched as he crossed his arms, the black cotton hugging his shoulder blades. “Why would I back out on you, Cole? It’s not like you haven’t been forthcoming with details.” A second ticked by, and he cocked his head to the side. “Oh, wait. You haven’t.”

“Gimme a break.” Cole scratched the stubble on his chin. “It’s compli—”

“You said someone called you and threatened to kill Grandma if we didn’t show up,” Wallace interrupted. “Why don’t you start with what he sounded like? Or what he wants in return. Hey, better yet, how about why you let him get by with it?”

Cole let out an uncharacteristic sigh. “Okay, first off, it was a chick on the phone. She didn’t say what she wanted, but she made it clear what would happen if we didn’t show up. What was I supposed to say? It’s not like I can watch Grandma twenty-four-seven. She wouldn’t let me, anyway.”

My brows pinched together. “But why would anyone wan—”

“I’m not done,” he cut in, before I could finish my question. “I didn’t tell you guys the rest, because you’d think I was nuts. But, whatever. You have to know everything.”

Wallace rubbed his forehead. “Just spit it out already.”

“I was getting there,” Cole snapped. “Don’t get your panties in a twist. What I was going to say is that I’ve been seeing shit ever since the chick called me—glowing red numbers counting down to tonight.”

He closed his eyes for a few seconds. “Zero days, four hours, forty-six minutes, and seventeen seconds. Real comforting right? And when I go to sleep, I see all of this horrible, graphic shit happening to Grandma. I’m not even kidding. I am
this close
to losing it.”

I shuddered. That was creepy to consider, let alone believe. “Then why didn’t you just explain that to Wallace outside in the quad? It’s not like you guys aren’t familiar with weird, supernatural crap. He would’ve believed you.”

“Oh, so now you know my brother better than I do?” Cole clicked his tongue. “I didn’t have time to deal with his trust issues. When I saw the way he looked at you, I knew you’d make the perfect incentive for him to hear me out. Plus, get this—turns out you were great leverage, too.”

Cheeky bastard.

“So, where is this meeting supposed to go down?” Wallace cut in with a scowl. “It doesn’t sound like you know.”

“I didn’t,” Cole said, reaching into his jacket to produce a crumpled sheet of paper. “Until this morning. I woke up scribbling lines on this paper, like I was sleep-drawing or something.” He turned it around, and we both stared.

It looked like a map. There were lines intersecting all over the place with scrawled names and numbers around them. An arrow snaked its way through the middle, pointing to a series of dots. There were sloppy notes in the margins.

“You did that?” I asked.

Cole turned his palms up, moving the paper as he shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I was asleep.”

“And you came here?” Wallace questioned, his eyes hard and unrecognizable. “If this woman is capable of getting inside your head, she’s capable of locating you. You could’ve endangered everyone on this campus by luring her here.”

Cole tilted his chin. “Well, would you have met me if I hadn’t come to collect you in person? We have to be there by seven.”

Seven? He expected Wallace to meet him in some secluded forest at night? “Uh, forgive me for bringing up the fact that you’re a sadistic asshole,” I cut in, “but how do we know you’re not making this up?”

“Rena, I’m hurt.” Cole wrinkled his brow. “I wouldn’t—”

Wallace held up an arm in intervention, having already lost his patience. “Why do we have to find it by seven?”

“Look at the map. There’s an ‘X’ marked CL.” He held up the paper and pointed. “It’s time stamped 1900 hrs. That’s got to mean something.”

“Initials?” I asked. “Or maybe C-L as in the beginning of Clara?”

Wallace’s eyes widened. “Or initials using her maiden name. Lawrence.”

Cole scrunched up his face. “Who would know that?”

“And who would be able to get inside your head?” I asked. “Have any relatives with freaky projection powers?”

Cole grunted. “We don’t really know that much of our family on Dad’s side. I mean, Grandma only had two siblings—a sister who died before we were born and a brother we see a few times a year for doctor’s visits. Our great-grandfather lives with him, but he’s the only other Dynari I know. The rest are spread out.”

“Then I guess that leaves us no choice,” Wallace said. “We’ll have to find out for ourselves.”

I sighed. “How far away is this place, anyway?”

Cole started to answer, but Wallace leaned past his ear to mutter a few incoherencies.

I cocked my head to the side as they both turned to stare at me. “What?”

“I need you to stay here,” Wallace said, shifting his weight. “I’ll call you tonight, if everything goes well.”

My lips pulled back as a wave of nervous laughter threatened to escape. “Are you serious?”

Cole slipped past us, headed for Gabby’s wardrobe.

“Wallace.” I steeled my features. “We’ve already discussed this. I’m coming with you.”

He gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and took my hand. “We didn’t know all of the facts then. Can we sit down and talk about it, first?”

Right. Talk about it. More like listen to a speech, I bet.

“What about Cole?” I asked as he led me to the bed.

Wallace shrugged and we both sat down, making the old mattress sag in the middle. “It’s not like we have much of a choice.”

Yeah, it wasn’t like he was super strong and could throw his brother out into the hallway. “Okay.”

He reached for my other arm and held my wrists oh-so-carefully with one hand. “Rena, I want you to know how much you mean to me…”

Was that his idea of an intimate gesture?

“And you know I’d do anything to protect you,” Wallace continued as something blurred in my peripheral vision, and he caught Gabby’s green silk scarf with one hand. “So, if this is what it takes, then so be it.”

My blood pressure rose like heated mercury, and I flicked a glance between them. What? Were they going to tag-team me?

I tried to jerk my wrists back, but Wallace held tight with a pained expression. “I’m sorry, Rena, but this is for your own g—”

“You have got to be shitting me.” A surge of panic ripped through my system as Cole walked over and tied the scarf in a complicated knot around my wrists. I fought against Wallace’s hold, but he wouldn’t budge. “No way!”

“Relax, sis,” Cole chided, as he crouched down to hold my struggling legs. “You’re getting bound in front this time. The least you can do is hold still.”

“Get bent,” I hissed, turning to focus on Wallace. “And you, I thought we were in this together.”

Wallace let go of my wrists, but he didn’t say anything. He just kept that same stupid look on his face, like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

Cole’s hands were like ice as he wove a second scarf around my ankles. “If it were up to me, I’d bring you along, but—”

I hit him.

Without thinking, I’d cupped my right fist with my left hand and clubbed Cole in the head—restrained wrists and all. The shock of contact raced up my bound arms as he grunted, clutching his head.

“What the fu—ugh! I just said I would’ve taken you.”

“Cole,” Wallace warned in a tight voice as he stood. “That’s enough.”

“She freakin’ hit me!” Cole snapped, shifting his fiery gaze to mine. “I don’t know if I’m pissed or impressed, but I would advise against doing it again.”

Betrayal swelled in my chest and made it hard to breathe. I didn’t care. I’d hit both of them, if I got the opportunity. How could Wallace do this to me, after everything we’d been through?

Cole brushed at his pants and stood, pulling away from my strike range. “Be a good girl and sit tight. I’m sure somebody will be along to find you sooner or later. You have a roommate, right?”

“You think this will stop me?” I asked, trying to find the balance to stand with my ankles bound.

“Rena,
please
.” The words seemed to echo as Wallace bent to meet my eyes. “Please,” he continued, softening his tone. “Stay here. For me. I can’t fight with you there.”

“You shouldn’t have to fight.” I stood up and wobbled, giving a little hop. “Like Clara said, if this woman had the power to really hurt you guys, wouldn’t she have done it by now?”

He faltered for a second and shook his head. “We can’t count on that.”

“Then let me help. I’ll—”

“You’ll get in the way,” he snapped, straightening to his full height. “Just stay here.”

Ouch.
The mark on my arm began to throb as he closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

“Stay,” he repeated, placing a quick kiss atop my head, before turning to cross the room. “I’ll talk to you later.”

My eyes widened as he opened the door. “Wait. Wallace!”

He stepped out into the common room with his brother close at his heels.

“Cole,” I called next, desperation leaking into my voice.

Cole turned around and offered a small shrug. “Later.”

I didn’t make it in time. The door clicked shut, and I tripped in my last-ditch effort to reach it. “Ugh!” My body jarred the second it made contact with the floor, and I rolled over with a groan. That was it.