I watched with some amusement as she locked the door and set the alarm. We needn’t worry about petty criminals; we’d hear their thoughts coming. And no alarm could keep out the real enemy.
“Yep. Lewis isn’t though. He was tired from our jaunts through the tunnels. I told him he could stay in the guest room since we didn’t know what time you’d be back. Plus, I figured he needed the time to recuperate. He still seems a bit exhausted from his little vacation in prison.”
I wasn’t sure if I should feel disappointed or worried. While I’d had to train, Nora had escorted my boyfriend around the town, doing only God knew what. I should have been grateful that she’d entertained Lewis; instead that jealousy I was so sure she had been feeling suddenly transferred to me.
“Looks like you’ve got the couch,” my mom said quite firmly. In other words, I wasn’t sharing a bed with Lewis again. The urge to argue was overwhelming. I was eighteen, and I’d been on my own for years, really. Yeah, Grandma had been strict about me not discussing or showing my abilities, but as long as I was at home by a certain time she didn’t care much what I did. Wasn’t it a little late for my mom to be playing parent of the year?
“Already have the blankets for her.” Nora nodded toward the stack at the end of the couch.
I threw her a frown, and she grinned back.
“Great. Tomorrow we’ll set up a cot in Nora’s room.”
That made my sister frown and I was suddenly grinning.
“I’m going to bed,” Mom said. “Try not to go on any life-saving missions while I’m sleeping.” She gave us a little wave and headed toward her room located at the back of the house.
I settled on the couch, stretching out and closing my eyes in an attempt to ignore Nora. But I couldn’t rest; instead my thoughts swirled in a whirlwind of confusing emotions. Exhaustion, excitement, eagerness, jealousy and leeriness. I lifted my lids, watching Nora through my lashes. We had never been BFF’s but now the feeling was even more off balance, tilting precariously onto its side. The universe had chosen me over her; I’d become Mom’s little pet project. Even though she’d had a lot of years to deal with the idea of not being the carrier, she hadn’t had years to deal with the idea of me.
“Don’t look at me like that.” She unfolded her legs and stood.
A heated flush rushed to my cheeks. “Like what?”
She moved into the kitchen and I waited, wondering if I should follow. I was so not used to discussing my feelings.
“Like you feel sorry for me,” she said, right before she turned on the water.
I could hear her rinsing out her bowl, and waited for the moment when I could respond. Sorry for her? Not exactly… okay, maybe. I frowned, leaning back against the cushions and pulling a blanket over my legs. I suppose I did feel a little sorry for her. Moments later she stepped back into the room.
“Look.” She leaned against the door jamb, her arms folded over her chest. “Yeah, you’re going to have more power than me. So what? I got to have an actual life. At least for most of my childhood. My ex-boyfriend works for the enemy; your boyfriend was pacing all day waiting for you to come home. You’ll have to save the world, I won’t. I don’t want the pressure, thank you very much.”
I bit my lip to keep from asking more about Lewis and his pacing. This so wasn’t the time. “He helped me, you know. Maddox helped me escape and they most likely realized he was involved.”
She took in a deep, trembling breath. “My point is we both have had crappy things happen, and we’ve both had good things.” She turned off the light, throwing the room into darkness and moved up the staircase. “No one’s life is perfect.”
She had totally ignored my statement about Maddox, but she was obviously done talking. I sighed and scooped up the T.V. remote, turning off the television and throwing the room into darkness.
“No one’s life is perfect,” I mocked.
They were words Maddox had said to me weeks ago. Nora and Maddox were much, much more alike than I’d realized. Instead of thinking about my dad’s imminent arrival, or even my and Nora’s confusing relationship, when I closed my eyes unwelcome thoughts of Maddox entered my mind. He had been a friend. I never would have made it out without him. None of us would have. Yet, I’d left him to rot in jail.
“Cameron,” Lewis’ warm breath brushed across my face.
I must have fallen asleep because for a moment I thought I dreamed. A gentle touch nudged my shoulder. My lashes lifted. Lewis’ dark form hovered over me.
“What is it?” I pushed myself up, the blanket falling to the couch.
He grinned. “Come on.”
The house lay silent, everyone asleep. It was later than I’d assumed. “Where are we going?”
“Let’s get out of here.”
I didn’t need to ask more. I shoved my feet into my shoes and latched onto his hand. I didn’t know where we were going. I didn’t care. I was a little surprised when he led me toward the bookshelf where the secret passage was located. With his bottom lip between his teeth, he shoved aside Jane Eyre and pressed a code into the panel hidden behind the book.
“Where’d you learn the password?” I whispered.
“Nora showed me today while you were gone.”
There was that darn jealously taunting me again. I pushed aside the annoying feeling as we tiptoed down the steps and the bookshelf closed behind us. The corridor was long and dimly lit, fading into darkness. It was silent, so very quiet.
The moment our feet hit the floor Lewis spun me around, and pressed me to the stone wall. I barely had time to register before his lips met mine. Maybe it was lack of sleep, more likely the feel of Lewis’ body against me, but all I knew was that I was thankful for the wall holding me upright. My knees went weak. Lewis growled low in his throat, tilting his head and deepening the kiss. A heated urge swirled through my body, an aching need to be closer to him. Unfortunately, he pulled away.
“Come on.” He took my hand and led me down the hall. “There are guards, but they change shifts. We have about ten minutes.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, tripping after him.
“You’ll see.”
For almost ten minutes we ran, and for those ten minutes I was sure we’d be caught. We weren’t. The tunnel curved and Lewis pulled me into an alcove, pressing me into the shadows. The dim light only highlighted the angular planes of his face, making him look older than he was, more dangerous.
“Lewis, what are—”
“Shhh. Cover your thoughts and mine.”
“Can I do that?”
He grinned. “Try it.”
I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to relax my mind. The tunnels fell away, but I was still confused about what to do. As if by instinct, I imagined a bubble around us, the energy contained. I could feel our powers pulse at the mental wall, as if waiting to be freed. The soft fall of footsteps alerted me to another’s presence. I opened my eyes.
“Don’t drop it,” Lewis warned. “Keep concentrating.”
My gaze locked on Lewis; I stared into his blue eyes and kept the wall up, protecting us in the bubble as the guard moved by.
Lewis smiled as the footsteps faded. “You did it!”
“How’d you know I could?”
He shrugged, reaching up, and brushing his fingers across my cheek in a soft caress. “I have to do something while waiting around for you. I’ve been researching. Cameron, do you realize what you’ll be able to do once you fully absorb your powers?”
My mother’s words came back to haunt me. “Yes, I loved him,” she had admitted. “And when I realized that he’d only married me to produce someone who would carry the source, it broke my heart.”
I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. Annoyed, I pushed away from him and moved out of the alcove. But I had nowhere to go. I didn’t want to return home; I wasn’t sure how to get out of these endless tunnels.
His fingers wrapped around my wrist. “What’s wrong?”
r /> I spun around, facing him. “I don’t care about the powers, Lewis, and if that’s why you’re with me-”
“Wait a minute,” He pulled me close. “Calm down. My research has nothing to do with using you. How could you think that?”
I studied his features, looking for the truth. I felt only sincerity in his response. The realization left me slightly ashamed. It was so damn hard to trust people.
“I’m researching because I can’t sleep at night, worrying about you.” He gripped my waist, pulling me closer. “You said you wouldn’t be able to stand it if something happened to me. Do you not think I feel the same way about you?”
I threw my arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe. “I’m sorry.”
For one long moment, we merely stood there embracing. When the sound of footsteps echoed down the tunnel Lewis pulled back.
“Come on.” He took my hand.
We had only moments before we’d be caught. Eager to be free, we raced down the corridor until it ended at a steel door. Nervous, I stood there gasping for air, waiting as Lewis pressed numbers into another keypad.
“Where are we going? What’s this about?”
He grinned and pushed the door wide. “Privacy.”
We stepped into a small shack cluttered with junk; broken chairs, dusty boxes stacked atop one another, and cobwebs that whispered against the ceiling. The two windows were covered with dingy beige curtains, hiding the shack from prying eyes. There, in the corner, was a sofa.
“Wow, this is romantic… if you’re a serial killer.”
He laughed. “Hey, if I can be alone with you, it’s fine with me. I know the tunnels, every one of them. We can go anywhere. This is only one of many exits, and no one ever comes in here.”
I inched forward, weaving my way around the clutter and brushed aside a curtain. The river glimmered in the distance, gas lamps flickering along the cobbled lane as if we’d been transported back in time. How I wanted to go outside and breathe in the fresh air. To stroll through the town, talking with my boyfriend, holding hands, making out in the shadows. How badly I wanted to be a normal eighteen year old.
I spun around, facing Lewis. “Let’s go outside.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze flickering uneasily from the door to me. “I’m not sure.”
I laughed, giddy with the idea of freedom. Now that I’d come up with the plan, there was no talking me out of it. “Come on.” Before he could reject the thought, I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door. “I’ll sense my father if he arrives in Savannah. Besides, we’ve got a good four days before we need to worry.”
“Cameron—”
“Come on!” I paused at the door, waiting impatiently for him to type in the code.
He hesitated for a brief moment, and just when I thought he’d say no, he lifted his hand toward the keypad. “Your mother will kill me.”
“She’ll never know.”
He typed in a five digit number. “She always knows.”
The soft click of the door unlocking was like angels singing. Outside the night was cool and crisp. From somewhere a buoy clanged like church bells. It sounded like freedom. I stepped hesitantly onto the threshold. The Savannah River glimmered under the lights of the hotels and streetlamps that lined the dark body of water. It was beautiful and romantic.
Lewis closed the door, letting it lock on its own. “Come on,” he whispered, taking my hand.
He led me down an overgrown path. The shack was tucked behind an empty brick factory, hidden by trees and bushes. It looked like a nondescript, abandoned building. No one would realize that it held the secrets to an organization who could rule the world, if they chose.
“Nora used to sneak out this way,” Lewis whispered near my ear. “When she was in high school.”
I nodded, smiling, although I really had no interest in what Nora did or didn’t do during her teenage years. I’d rather talk about Lewis, or rather me and Lewis. We moved down a set of stone stairs and onto River Street. After midnight, few people were actually in the tourist district, which was fine by me. I felt free here, alone with Lewis. The danger and excitement of our escape left me feeling slightly breathless. Moving closer to him, we walked side by side across the street and toward the river.
“This way.” He ushered me toward a low line of shrubbery that shielded a statue of some sort. I didn’t question him; I was just glad to be away from the tunnels, away from my family, and out in the open.
“Here.” He shrugged off his sweatshirt, leaving behind a T-shirt that hugged his torso, and settled the sweatshirt on brick ground. I realized as we settled down that the statue was of a woman waving some sort of cloth.
Noticing my interest, he asked. “Do you know the story of the statue?”
“No.”
He took my hand and pulled me to the ground. Partially hidden by the bushes and statue, it felt like only Lewis and I resided in Savannah. There was no one else in the world.
“She used to wave to the ships that came in.” He looked out onto the water. “She supposedly fell in love with a sailor who promised to marry her when he returned, but the man never came back. It didn’t matter, because for years after she still greeted the ships.”
“He probably shacked up with some waitress in the next town.”
He clicked his tongue. “So unromantic.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I’m not the one who wanted to make out in an abandoned shack.”
“I never said make out, I said spend time.”
I punched him playfully in the bicep. “Which is ‘make out’ in guy talk.”
He grinned, not bothering to argue. This was the old Lewis, whether he remembered or not. The Lewis before he’d had his memory erased. The Lewis who had always been romantic, caring, amusing.
I rested my head on his shoulder. “So what does the story mean? Is it a warning not to fall in love?”
“No.” He slid his finger under my chin and tilted my head back so he could gaze into my eyes. “It’s a story of hope. Of never giving up.”
My humor fled as he leaned down and kissed me. “I will never ever give up,” he whispered against my mouth.
My heart swelled and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Boldly, I turned and straddled his lap, sitting on his thighs. For one long moment we merely stared at each other. From somewhere in the distance church bells rang the time. One in the morning.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said, brushing back my hair. “I had to see you.”
I leaned into him and pressed my mouth to his. I didn’t flinch when his warm hands slid under my t-shirt, pressing to my back. His skin against mine felt deliciously wicked. Our tongues met, moving against each other in a deep and wonderful kiss that had my heart stammering. I swore I could have stayed there forever, until the sun came up, if the tourists hadn’t happened by. I sensed them before I heard them.
With a gasp, I pulled away. “People.”
“What?” He seemed confused.
I bit my lower lip to keep from laughing and pushed him back. I fell atop him, flattening myself to his hard body. There were at least two women walking nearby; I could feel their energy.
“Right,” one woman drawled out, the tap of her high heeled shoes echoing against the cobbled road. “So I’m like, who was she?”
“What did he say?” another woman asked as they moved by not ten feet from us. Lewis’ heart beat slow and steady against my chest. I tilted my head just enough to breathe in the scent that clung to his neck.
“Oh, he claimed she was just a friend. Puhlease. As if I’d believe that.”
They disappeared up the road, but I didn’t move. He rested one arm under his head, cushioning his skull from the bricks beneath us. “I don’t remember our past, our time together,” he whispered. “I don’t know how serious we were. But I do know one thing, even though I didn’t remember you, I missed you.”
I closed my eyes, feeling the sting of tears, and rested the side of my face agai
nst his chest. Seriously, Lewis should write poetry, or romance novels. He knew exactly what to say to pull at my heartstrings. The guy was a pro.
“I felt so lost, so alone while I was in Massachusetts,” he whispered. “I don’t feel lost anymore. I feel like…like I’m home.”
Unable to hold back any longer, I pressed my mouth to his. It seemed like we lay there forever, merely kissing. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I didn’t want to return to the world. I merely wanted to get lost in Lewis.
After all I’d been through; making out with him underneath a statue along the Savannah River was probably the strangest of all. Yeah, typical for most teens, but I wasn’t most teens. But when we heard the sound of another approaching couple, we decided to give up before we were caught.
“As much as I don’t want to, we should probably leave before we’re thrown back in jail,” he said.
I shrugged. “Been there, done that.” With a grin, I pushed myself away from him and moved reluctantly aside.
“Come on.” Lewis stood, picking up his sweatshirt. He didn’t put it on, but pulled it over my head and gave me a quick kiss. The sleeves hung low, but it was warm, his scent surrounding me. I crossed my arms, snuggling deeper into the material.
Lewis wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close and we followed the sidewalk that ran along the river. Obviously neither of us were eager to return home, and I was content to just be with Lewis.
“Tell me,” he said.
“Tell you what?” I leaned against him, pressing into his side. How could it be that we seemed to fit perfectly together?
“What were you like in school?”
I frowned, staring out at the dark water. The hotels that surrounded the river were aglow with a light that sparkled against the surface. So many families on vacation, with no idea what the world held, no idea of what evil lurked beyond their understanding.
“Lonely,” I replied. “Confused. Angry. Quite the catch.”
He grinned. “Mysterious, smart, adorable. That’s what I would have seen.”
I punched him playfully in his stomach. “Liar.”
“No.” He stopped and forced me to pause beside him. His face had grown serious as his gaze locked with mine.