The Change (Unbounded) (22 page)

Meanwhile, I’d watch for the opportunity to escape.

Keene stopped and patted me down in front of the door at the end of the hallway. His hands went methodically over every inch of the blood-streaked dress.

“Making sure I don’t have more hidden knives?” I arched a brow. “I still might, you know. Better check again. I tend to stick things in my bra.”

A rush of feeling from him about knocked me over, but this time I recognized the attraction wasn’t my own; my hatred for him burned far too bright to mistake that.

Ah.

Not that it was really me he desired. I’d dated enough men in my thirty-one years to know that attraction for any halfway pretty girl was something men felt on a regular basis—even ones they didn’t necessarily like.

The emotion vanished almost as soon as it appeared. “Shut up and go inside.” He leaned past me and opened the door. It was a bedroom similar to the one we’d just left. Queen-sized bed, dresser, window. Nothing elaborate or beautiful. Cort obviously hadn’t planned to stay here long term.

“My, the lengths you’ll go through to get a girl alone.”

“Aren’t you forgetting who has the gun?” Keene lifted the weapon slightly for emphasis.

I leaned closer to him. “Aren’t
you
forgetting that my so-called father is running this little kidnapping scheme? Besides, it’s not like you can actually kill me with that thing.”

I’d struck a nerve because he was glaring at me again, anger peeling off him in sheets. He really should learn to control his temper. “Both our fathers are running this show—and the Emporium. Now, as pleasant as this conversation is, there might still be a chance to rescue some of my men before I take you to your father. Plus, the faster I get rid of you, the faster I can get to Oregon and hunt more Renegades.” He shoved me through the door, and it was all I could do to stay on my feet.

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time.” I didn’t know what had come over my mouth, but it was better than giving into hysteria.

Keene laughed tightly. “I do. Make no mistake about that.” He paused before he shut the door. “Oh, and Erin, don’t be too sure you know what’s going on here. You’ve only just begun to uncover the lies.”

I wasn’t about to beg him to explain, but I wished I knew better how sensing worked. This far away from him, I wasn’t receiving anything except anger—and that made my head hurt.

The door banged shut, and I stood there, tempted to wrench it open and scream obscenities at him until I was hoarse.
The Unbounded side of me,
I thought. No doubt that would give whoever he assigned to stand guard over me a good laugh. I turned resolutely from the door.

I heard water running, the sound coming from a connecting door that was slightly ajar. Carefully, I pushed it open to reveal a full bathroom. The water noise became louder.

“Who’s there?” A man called, his voice freezing me in place.

The water turned off and his hand emerged from behind the shower curtain to grab a towel. Seconds later the curtain opened.

Tom.

Things just got better and better.

O
NE OF
T
OM’S EYES WAS
black, and bruises lined the right side of his jaw, but otherwise he appeared healthy. He smiled, and my heart did an unexpected jump, which didn’t please me at all.

“Good, you’re here. I’ve been worried.” He stepped out of the shower and reached for me, his chest muscles rippling under his bare flesh. I moved away; Tom in a towel was not what I needed right now.

“Get dressed. I’ll wait out there.”

A few minutes later he came from the bathroom, wearing jeans and pulling on a T-shirt. His hair was still wet and he was smiling.

“What’s going on?” I asked “Why are you here?”

“Because of you.”

“How did they find you?”

“They didn’t. I found them.”

“I don’t understand. Are you working with these people? Do you know they kidnapped me?”

“Come sit down. You’re shaking. Is any of that blood yours?” He felt odd to me, more so than the night I’d come to his house to tell him I was alive, but I couldn’t pinpoint the difference. Of course Justine’s death and funeral couldn’t have been easy on him.

I sat down on the bed because my knees were feeling unsteady. I drew up my bloodstained dress to examine the bandage. My scuffle with Keene hadn’t helped the wound, and the previously white bandage was soaked with crimson. “Nothing serious.”

“Looks serious to me.”

“Not for an Unbounded.” I didn’t mean to do it, but that put a wedge between us as surely as if I’d confessed I’d kissed Ritter—and that a part of me hoped to do it again. I was glad for the wedge. Once I would have loved being in a room alone with Tom, but that was before. Our old relationship was over, and I didn’t know if we could salvage anything from the wreckage—or if I even wanted to try.

“You said on the phone that the Renegades weren’t what I thought they were,” I continued. “What did you mean? What did you find out? And why are you here?”

Tom sighed and gazed at me unhappily. “Look, I wasn’t honest with you the other day at your parents’ house.”

I felt a chill. “You made it clear you didn’t want anything to do with my new life.”

Tom’s jaw worked a moment before he said, “Seeing Justine dead was hard, as hard as seeing you lying in that hospital. She’s all the family I’ve ever known.” His eyes dropped from mine.

“You’re lucky to have had her. Not all sisters would feel responsible for an eighteen-year-old brother about to age out of foster care.”

“She was like a mother to me.” Tom sat next to me on the bed and for the space of several heartbeats there was restfulness between us. “Without her I might never have finished college. And she certainly kept life interesting. You know, every time I started dating someone steadily, she’d say it was time to move to another state. That didn’t bother me because I wasn’t ready to settle down, but if it weren’t for the million boyfriends she always had panting at our door, I would have thought she was jealous.”

“She liked me, though.”

“Yeah, she did. The first day we met she said you were the woman I should marry. In fact, she was the one who gave me the courage to ask such a stunning woman out.” Tom hesitated, as if wondering how to go on.

I extended my hand and laid it over his. Images of Justine filled my head. Justine standing in the nightclub, Justine biking with us. The images shocked me with their clarity, and I had to fight to breathe. I pulled my hand away and came to my feet, unable to bear thinking about Justine for another minute.

“I don’t care how you got here,” I said, forcing myself to hobble to the window, “or what lies they’ve fed you, but we have to get out of here. Look, no bars. The window seems to be stuck, but I bet we can get it open if we both pull.”

“Wait.” He stepped close, his chest against my back, arms wrapping around my body. I felt a flare of emotion, but it wasn’t mine: love, desire, uncertainty. All Tom’s. Nothing from my own heart. I wanted to cry aloud at the loss.

“Erin.” His mouth was by my ear, his voice low and husky. “Please forgive me for the other night. I didn’t mean any of it. It doesn’t matter that I’m not Unbounded. You and I can still make this work.”

I shook my head, trying to block the rising wave of his emotions. “No.”

“But a few days ago you—” He broke off, his arms falling away.

I’d lived a lifetime in those few days.

The emotions that weren’t mine ceased when he released me. I turned slowly around to face him, wanting to offer him—and perhaps myself—some excuse for my emotional withdrawal.

“The Emporium attacked my family tonight. Jace and my father were shot—my father might not make it through surgery. Lorrie’s dead. Murdered. And I don’t know about Chris and the kids.” For all I knew, Cort had killed both Chris and Laurence, and the children as well.

Tom’s face showed shock. “Lorrie’s dead?”

Cort could have lied, but I didn’t see why he would, so I nodded. “If I don’t get out of here, they might do the same thing to other families of potential Unbounded. The Renegades are moving tonight to Oregon. We have to warn them.”

“But this doesn’t make sense. They’re the people you can’t trust.”

“Well, I certainly can’t trust the men who brought me here.” If he wouldn’t help me, I’d do it without him.

First, I needed more energy. Turning to the window, I closed my eyes, absorbing everything I could. Somewhere I could feel curequick, and though I didn’t want to risk an addiction, I let myself take the bits of it floating from the air. I also breathed in plants and the faint sensation of unripe apples without the sourness. There was an advantage in not using taste buds.

“What are you doing?” Tom asked.

He didn’t need to know. “Are you going to help or not?”

“No.”

I glared at him. “Why?”

“You’ve got it all wrong. The Emporium is the one who upholds order and protects the world. The Renegades are the troublemakers.”

“I saw what the Emporium did to my family.”

“It was a setup, then. Something contrived by the Renegades to make you believe in them.”

I clenched my fist, the fingernails digging into my skin. “It wasn’t a setup! That man out there—Keene—he was at my parents’ house. He attacked my family.” I stepped closer to the window, exasperated with his stubbornness. “Fine. Don’t help me. I’ll do it myself.” I gave a mighty tug and the window came open. I pushed out the screen, wondering briefly what kind of security Cort had set up, but decided it really didn’t matter. I needed to get out of here now, especially with a deluded Tom staring down my back.

A stab of icy pain spread through my arm. I turned and saw the needle in Tom’s hand. “Sorry, love. Can’t let you leave.” Sorrowful brown eyes met mine, eyes that had once pulled me into their depths so far that I’d never wanted to leave.

My limbs were quickly losing all strength. I tried to speak, but my mouth wouldn’t form the words. He caught me before I fell.

As he carried me to the bed, I thought of a dozen self-defense moves that would get me away from him. Unfortunately, Ritter hadn’t taught me a defense against drugs.

My breathing was shallow and I wondered if I was going to suffocate. The horrible pressure in my chest felt like I was. If I died, would I awake when my body healed itself?

“Tom,” I whispered. My vision was going dark. I seemed to have to claw for each breath.

“What, darling?” He kissed my cheek, my neck, and smoothed my hair with his hand.

“I’m . . . going to . . . kill you.”

He laughed, though I could sense nervousness in it. “Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t kill people. Besides, when you know everything, you’ll thank me. I did it to protect you.” He kissed my lips lightly, and I was powerless to stop him.

Too bad he wasn’t Unbounded. I’d kill him twice.

He walked to the door and spoke to someone outside. Within minutes I heard pounding at the window as it was nailed shut from the outside.

The pressure in my chest was leaving now, and I could see again. Either whatever Tom had given me wasn’t lasting, or my Unbounded genes knew how to dispose of it. I struggled to a sitting position.

“Slowly, there.” Tom sat next to me, but far enough away so that we didn’t touch. Lucky for him.

“Have you been a part of this all along?” I demanded.

“I swear this is all as new to me as it is to you, but I’m convinced the Renegades will do anything to get what they want—including hurting you and your family.”

“Who told you that?” I kept my voice low and steady, though I felt like screaming. Or strangling him.

“I did.” There was a movement in the doorway and a slim figure came into view. The woman wore a scarf over her head, tied gypsy-style, which emphasized her enormous hazel eyes and gave her a wide-eyed, childlike appeal.

I’d know her anywhere.

Justine.

She grinned with fun-loving innocence. “Surprise!”

My arms curled protectively around my stomach as I tried to take it all in. I’d seen Justine burn, but she wasn’t dead and that could only mean one thing: she was Unbounded. I didn’t know whether to rejoice or feel betrayed.

“But . . .” I came to my feet, feeling slow and stupid. Justine being Unbounded explained a lot—her notable confidence, my admiration of her, her tirelessness when it came to physical activity, and even her lack of appetite. No other woman I knew had less interest in chocolate. She’d fooled us both for a very long time. Compared to what must be her several lifetimes of experience, Tom and I were children.

“Sorry for the shock. Don’t blame Tom. I told him to stall and let me explain everything.” She dropped the shopping bags she held in both hands and came forward to hug me, her signature spicy scent filling my nose. In typical Justine fashion, she wore black pants and a bright green fluttering duster blouse that emphasized her figure. Her ankles were clad in strappy, ridiculously high heels.

Gladness quickly eclipsed the shock. My friend was alive!

I hugged her back. She’d always been several inches shorter than me, and thin, but she felt smaller in my arms now, and I wondered how badly she’d been burned.