Turbulence (22 page)

The healer frowned at him and placed her hand over Avalon to
get a sense of what was happening within her delicate body. “These things
aren’t definite, sir. The antidote is in her body. I feel it working. Her system
has to continue to fight.”

Greyson wanted to lash out at the woman but knew it was no
use. She’d done the best she could in creating an antidote in record time for
an ultra-rare poison. Miriam had told him before she gave it to Avalon that it
might not be strong enough or even exactly what she needed. There hadn’t been
any time to test it out. He didn’t care. He just wanted it in Avalon’s body as
soon as possible. Their already fragile bond was slipping away along with her
life.

“There is nothing we can do but wait,” Miriam said. “I’ll be
downstairs. Call me if you need me.”

Greyson distractedly waved her away. He held on to his
mate’s cool hand. “Come on, Avalon. Live.”

For hours, he continued to sit at her bedside. She showed no
signs of coming back around. Different people came in and out of the room.
Veeva stayed with him. She might as well have not been there for all the
attention Greyson paid to her.

Then everything changed. The air in the room crackled as if
with electricity. And Greyson knew he had nothing to do with it. The afternoon
sky outside the bedroom window darkened.

“What’s happening?” Veeva asked, her expression alarmed.

Greyson shrugged and looked down at Avalon. As if by magic,
the hollows of her cheeks filled in, the dark circles beneath her eyes
lightened. She actually looked healthy for the first time in a long time. The
antidote was working. She was cured.

“I can’t believe it,” he breathed.

No sooner had he said the words when the hope he had held on
to was dashed. Avalon began convulsing. Blood spilled out of her mouth.

“Get help!” he yelled at Veeva and heard her run out.

The tighter he held onto Avalon’s hand and smoothed the hair
back from her face, the more she seized. She struggled to catch her breath. He
didn’t know what to do. Turned out, there was nothing he could do for her.

The world around him went silent. Avalon grew still. The
bond they shared was severed. She was gone.

“No. No. Avalon, please come back to me,” he begged.

Greyson knew it was no use. The poison had taken its toll,
beaten her fragile body into surrendering. It destroyed her and he wasn’t able
to stop it.

He lowered her eyelids and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Every time I see the sun, every time it snows, I’ll think of you, Lonnie
Girl.”

Veeva and Miriam rushed into the room with a set of useless
equipment. He couldn’t find the words to tell them what happened. He didn’t
even want to speak. His heart was completely shattered.

Greyson walked out of the room like a robot, one foot in
front of the other. He couldn’t be in there anymore, didn’t think he’d ever be
able to set foot in that room again. Ross intercepted him in the hallway. His
brother read the grief in his face.

“I’m so sorry, Greyson.”

He fell.

Greyson’s legs just gave out and he crashed to the floor and
sobbed like a little girl. No. Like a man who’d just lost his blood bonded
mate. Avalon was dead.

He had power. He had a whole colony under his thumb, but he
couldn’t bring the love of his life, the woman who changed him from a hardcore
playboy to a caring soul back to life. What use was anything in this life if
she couldn’t share it with him?

Before this, Greyson never cried for a woman because he was
a man. Now because he was a man who cared for a woman, he cried until the tears
dried up. He wiped his face and stood with a hand from Ross whose own eyes were
red with the sheen of tears.

Greyson pushed back everything he felt: the sorrow, the
guilt. He would get his revenge. Philip O’Day and every sucker that worked for
Department X would receive their due punishment.

He squared his shoulders, steeled his expression. “Either
you’re with me or you’re against me. I’m done showing mercy.”

“Greyson, wait!”

He didn’t. He took the stairs at a determined pace and swept
out of the house. Nothing would stop him now. He wouldn’t feel anything from
now on, except joy when his father was annihilated by his own son’s hands.

On the porch, Greyson burst into the air and allowed himself
to be carried away.

Chapter 22

By the time Greyson coalesced into physical form, the storm
inside of him was brewing at a vicious rate. He was out for blood and taking no
prisoners.

Cold wind of his own making whipped around like a category
EF-5 tornado. It was brutal. Anyone within close range of him stood no chance.
Everyone involved with Department X would breathe their last when he was done
with them.

He stood outside of the old factory building where he and
Avalon were held. Greyson paid no attention to the slamming of car doors behind
him. The sentries and Homeland Security. He was on a personal mission.

With the harsh winds still thrashing about him, Greyson
blasted through the door and alarm that gave them such hell during the escape.
The guards didn’t have an opportunity to be surprised at his reappearance. He
stole the air from their lungs in a matter of milliseconds. They dropped to the
ground in lifeless heaps. He kept walking, wrecking everything within his path
with the sheer force of his fury and pain. Bodies flew and crashed against
walls and ceilings. Not a person in sight was spared.

He made his way to the room his father kept his lame throne
in. The strength of the air surrounding him caused the door to fly off the
hinges.

His eyes scanned the room. No O’Day. But two of O’Day’s men
jumped to their feet from playing a game of cards. As if the same person, they
grabbed their weapons and fired at him.

Greyson hardly felt the sole bullet that grazed the side of
his arm. He simply batted away their weapons with the power of his ability.

They were human and weren’t hyped up on freak juice. Greyson
swatted them away like flies. He stalked up to the stage, kicked over the
throne and bellowed out his frustration. O’Day should have been here. How was
he not here?

Caught up in anger, he didn’t hear anyone come into the
room. A hard blast of water hit him in the back, knocking him face forward.
Greyson caught himself before he hit the ground and he spun around.

Nile.

He should have known. A second blast of water shot from the
boy’s outstretched hand. He diverted it with a powerful burst of wind. When the
two elements collided, it was like a rain shower.

Greyson didn’t take time to admire it. He lunged for Nile,
taking him down to the wet ground and wrapping his fingers around his neck.

“Where is O’Day?” Greyson tightened his grip on Nile’s throat.
Nile might be supercharged now, but he was still a boy to Greyson. A boy who
was responsible for the death of his mate. If Nile hadn’t brought them here, Avalon
would still be alive.

“Greyson! Stop this!”

He paused only slightly in crushing Nile’s windpipe to
register Ross’s voice. He dismissed it and returned to the boy fighting for his
life beneath him. “You better tell me where O’Day is.”

“Greyson, we need him. Remember Avalon said to take him.”
Ross’s hands and then another set pressed against his shoulders, wrenching him
back. But that wasn’t what made him stop. It was the mention of his mate’s
name.

Greyson got to his feet and whirled on his brother, slamming
Ross against the wall by the collar of his bulletproof vest. “Leave Avalon out
of this.”

“Her vision, Greyson,” he said calmly despite the position
he was in. “We didn’t find O’Day. She said he would be gone. Remember?”

He remembered. Avalon was right. O’Day was not at the
facility. How the man got away was beyond him. She did say for them to take
Nile, so that’s what would happen.

But Greyson would find Philip O’Day if it was the last thing
he did.

He released his hold on Ross and stepped back. “Take him,”
he directed.

“About Avalon,” Ross started.

“Don’t.”

“But she—”

“I don’t want to talk about her, Ross. Do yourself a favor
and leave it alone. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”

“Yes, sir.” Ross straightened his uniform. “Larsen was
arrested. Just thought you’d like to know.” Greyson would have preferred the
man dead.

“Fine. Check the cells. They’re toward the back. There might
be other captives.”

Greyson was done with this. Ross, Dex, and Homeland Security
could take care of the rest. He was out to find his father.

----

Philip O’Day reclined in the cheap motel room bed, his hands
behind his head while the young brunette he picked up in the lobby worked her
mouth up and down his shaft.

O’Day chuckled to himself. He could just imagine his sons
ambushing the base of operations and finding him long gone. It wasn’t a
question of whether Greyson would come back to exact his revenge, rather a
question of when.

He’d been out taking care of his more carnal pleasures when
he learned Greyson and his little whore had escaped. ‘Pissed’ was a mild word
to explain his reaction. Let’s just say heads rolled. Literally. But it did not
take O’Day long to figure out how to work it all out in his favor. All was not
yet lost.

“No teeth!” He barely restrained himself from striking the
girl across the face like she deserved and sending her on her way. But then he
wouldn’t be able to get off until he found another human receptacle to take his
appetites out on.

That’s one thing he and Greyson used to have in common.
Having their way with as many women as possible. O’Day drilled that into
Greyson’s head as a boy. Apparently, he didn’t drill hard enough. His misguided
son had bonded to that puny woman. Some time between leaving Jheta and now,
Greyson had allowed the human’s “We all need love,” mantra to convince him to
blood bond. What a waste.

Ross was too much like his mother for O’Day to have much use
for him. He was too soft, too nice, too caring. Greyson had all the makings of
a competent luminary. If the asteroid hadn’t destroyed their planet, he would
have quickly glided up the ranks of the council. With his father in his ear,
Greyson would have been unstoppable. He would have been unstoppable now if he’d
taken O’Day up on his offer. They would have made a strong team.

He focused his attention back on the woman with him. Closing
his eyes, he allowed himself to get carried away until he reached his peak.

When she was done, Lucy, Lorie, or whatever her name was
climbed up beside him. He turned his head when she tried to kiss him, her lips
landing on his jaw. The cuddling, kissing thing wasn’t something he engaged in.
He pushed her away and slid out of the bed.

“Where are you going?” She twirled a strand of curly hair
around her finger.

He reached down and grabbed his pants off the floor, shoved
his legs into them. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re leaving.”

She sat up, her mouth dropping in outrage. “I didn’t come
here just for you to get off!”

“I believe you did. Now get out.” To make the statement
clearer for her, he tossed her the shirt and jeans he made her slip off earlier.
Humans’ intellectual capacity was laughable.

Lorie Lucy threw him a glare as she hastily tugged on her
clothes. He grabbed her by the arm amidst her annoying protests and shoved her
out of the room before slamming the door.

Philip O’Day had a date with his son, who didn’t know it
yet. Things were going to get very interesting tonight.

----

Greyson walked into the shed in a worse mood than he was in
before. He’d searched for Philip O’Day all day and night and came up empty.

“He’s not talking, sir.”

He dipped his head in a brusque nod. “Guard the door, Ross.”

Greyson stalked toward Nile like a lion on the prowl.
Somebody had restrained him to a chair with multiple sets of handcuffs. The
chair was bolted to the floor and they’d tied him up with extra thick chains.
Patches of his clothes sported burn holes, no doubt courtesy of Dex. Usually
Dex’s little fire interrogation tricks worked in getting people to blab.
However, they weren’t dealing with a normal person here.

There was no mercy within Greyson. He felt savage and
violent, which was why he smashed his fist against the side of Nile’s face
without asking any questions. Bones cracked beneath his knuckles.

Dex cursed. “Whoa, Greyson. Take it easy.”

“He deserves much worse than I’m giving him, Dexter. Leave
if you don’t want to be a part of this.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Then shut up and let me handle this. You and Ross had your
turn.”

Greyson kneeled until he was staring straight into Nile’s
hateful green eyes, which were swirling with unnatural black.

Greyson flexed his fingers. “Where is Philip O’Day?”

“You think he’d tell me? I’m not his BFF.”

“Not the answer I was looking for.”

Greyson struck Nile again, hard and fast under the chin,
knocking his head back. He was surprised the thing didn’t pop off his neck.
Nile narrowed his eyes and glared with all the disgust in the world. He spat
blood onto the floor, keeping his gaze on Greyson.

He wouldn’t quit. If it took beating Nile into a slab of
meat and blood, he’d do it until he got the answers he was looking for. Avalon
was no longer with him and it was as much Nile’s fault as it was Philip
O’Day’s.

And beating him was exactly what Greyson did until Dex’s
arms came around him like a metal vise, holding him back. He shook his second
in command off and with a glower, warned Ross to step back.

“Tell me where O’Day is,” Greyson demanded for the hundredth
time.

Nile’s breath dragged in and out of his lungs. Knots and
bruises redesigned his face. “I don’t know.”

The darkness inside of Greyson would not allow him to accept
that as an answer. Playing the dumb card wasn’t flying here.

“I’m in a foul mood. I can go to town on you all day.
Someone has to know where O’Day is. He wasn’t there when we raided your little
center of operations. Someone has to know. I’m thinking that person is you.”

He pulled back his fist to knock more answers out of their
detainee. Before the punch could connect, Dex caught his elbow.

His jaw was set; a disapproving frown marked Dex’s face. “We
brought him back to question him. Not to kill him.”

 “What difference does it make to me? He and the rest of
Department X ripped my heart out of my chest. One way or another I’m getting
O’Day and this little shit will pay too.”

Ross shifted the firearm in his grasp to the other hand. “We
all want them to pay. But you have to calm down.”

 “You haven’t been through what I have,” Greyson snapped. “When
you’ve lost the love of your life, then you can give me advice.”

“Avalon—”

“Don’t speak of her!” Anger was the only thing he had and
Greyson was holding on to it like a lifeline.

He turned his attention back to Nile. Because he didn’t want
to kill him just yet, Greyson slowly stole the air from the boy’s lungs,
pulling it like a piece of unwound string. Nile’s face turned from red to blue.
If suffocation didn’t convince him to spill what he knew then Greyson was out
of ideas.

“O…kay. I…tell…you.”

He released his control of the air. To ensure the boy didn’t
pass out, he pushed a little oxygen down his throat.

“Talk, boy.”

“I don’t know…where he is,” he gasped. Greyson narrowed his
eyes, poised to strangle again. “I don’t know where… he went. Honest. But I…
overheard him mention bringing… the fight to you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“He’ll find you.”

“When?”

“I don’t know. I seriously don’t.”

Dex heaved a weighty sigh. “That’s all he knows, Greyson.
You can see that.”

Because he did see that Nile was telling the truth, Greyson gave
up the interrogation. He was tired. This day had been emotionally draining and
tomorrow wouldn’t get any better.

“What are we going to do with Nile?” Ross asked, glancing
between him and Dex.

“Kill him,” Greyson answered, tone dry as stale bread.

“You know that’s not an option.” Dex shot him a weary look.
“Maybe we can rehab him.”

“I don’t need rehab.” They all ignored Nile’s outburst.

“Rehab?” Greyson repeated, unconvinced. “How do you suppose you’re
going to do that?” He doubted what was done to the boy could be reversed.

“That’s something that’ll have to be figured out. Not
tonight, of course,” Dex stated. Greyson was too exhausted to fight him on it.
There would be time to kill the boy tomorrow. “Ross, stay here and guard Nile.
Let no one in or allow it to slip that he is here.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come on, Greyson. You need to rest. I’ll get Lily to make
you a cup of hot tea.”

That only reminded him of the time Avalon made him tea when
he couldn’t sleep. His heart ached something fierce. Greyson walked past Ross
and out of the shed with Dex. He wasn’t going to rest. How could he rest in the
house that his mate died in less than twenty-four hours prior?

He turned toward the forest, the part of the land they had
yet to move through to build cabins. Probably never would. The wooded area
added character to the land and most of the residents liked it for exploration and
environmental purposes.

“Where are you going?” Dex questioned.

“I can’t go home right now, Dexter. It’s still too raw.”

Dex placed a hand on his back. “Greyson. I get it. I really
do. But Avalon—”

“Please don’t. I can’t talk about it. It hurts to think
about her. I need a little time to myself.”

Dex nodded in understanding and walked off in the direction
of the farmhouse. He still had a life waiting there for him, a mate, and an
unborn child. Greyson had nothing.

----

The frozen ground crunched underfoot as Greyson made his way
through wooded terrain, which had gone bare of its colors and foliage thanks to
the plunging temperatures of fall and winter.

So his father was coming to him, was he? Just how did he
think that was possible? He’d be stopped by sentries before he even stepped a
foot on the grounds and they didn’t even know who he truly was—the man that
spawned him.