“You’re making me anxious,” Bryn Wellington grumbled. “Sit. Have a drink. Calm the bloody hell down.”
I stopped my frantic pacing and glared at James’s sister.
Like James, Bryn had intense silver eyes that looked like twin pools of bottomless soul. She was tall with an athletic build and though her posture was ramrod straight, she always gave the impression that she carried the weight of the universe on her shoulders. In a way, she did. Guilt ate at Bryn. Guilt for not doing more to help James through the years. Guilt over helping UNITED track down her parents, even though she hated everything they stood for.
“Fine. Coffee. Do you guys make that here?” I flopped down on the sofa in the VIP lounge of Pure Bliss and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Careful,” Bryn hissed. “Those threads cost a fortune.”
“So does my bounty. If I ruin the clothes, you can hand me over to whomever you like as payment.”
Normal club dwellers couldn’t see into the VIP lounges, but Bryn had insisted that I dress to impress. Since my stolen clothes weren’t up to her standards, Bryn had leant me an extremely uncomfortable silver and cerulean dress that barely covered my butt. When I’d complained about the length, she’d thrown a pair of black rose-patterned tights infused with swirls of the same blue as the dress. The boots, well those I actually wanted to steal. Knee-high and silver, they had Tahitian pearl buttons up the front and were way more comfortable than they looked.
“You’re a right smartass, Natalia,” Bryn informed me, as though this was news. “I’ll ring for coffee, though caffeine is the last thing you need. Untwist your knickers and calm down. Erik will be here soon.”
Positioned on one arm of the sofa, Bryn tapped the table in front of us to display the club’s menu. With several quick swipes, she ordered me a coffee and a cocktail called Blissfully Ignorant for herself. The beverages appeared almost instantly, on a hover tray that dropped down from the ceiling.
I sipped the rich elixir of life and tried to take Bryn’s advice. Calm wasn’t easy, though. I was about to see Erik. After thirty-four days apart, I would lay eyes on him for the first time. Oddly, I was a little nervous—couldn’t say why.
Kenly and Riley entered the lounge through the back hallway. My mentee was wearing a lacy gold and black veil that covered the bottom half of her face, leaving only her eyes visible. She’d applied liberal amounts of gold liner and sparkly shadow to her lids, and tiny black crystals clung to her lashes. If I hadn’t helped her get ready, even I wouldn’t have recognized her.
Riley had opted for a terrifying motif for the night. His head was bald and inked with too many skull tattoos to count. Both his eyebrow and lip were pierced, small silver hoops in each. Then there was the head to toe red leather. Shiny pants clung to his legs and hips, leaving nothing to the imagination. The matching vest was open, revealing a sculpted torso with a leafless tree with flaming branches. Interestingly, he was one of at least ten people I’d seen so far in Pure Bliss wearing a similar getup.
“Willa’s tending to the tagalongs,” Riley told me brightly. “The girl’s still a right mess, but the boy is okay.”
Emma and Kip were down in the bunker. Kip was intent on staying in London until we learned more about Nightshade and the client who’d hired them to find us. Much as I would have preferred them safely tucked away, I thought Kip deserved the truth. And, honestly, I wasn’t sure if there was a safe location for Kip right now.
“He should walk through the door in,” Kenly consulted her watch, “ten minutes exactly. Penny’s with him. And an agent named Miles. That’s it. The others are running interference.”
Ever since we’d been tipped off that Erik intended to ambush Bryn, Kenly had been sitting in a sort of trance trying to future gaze. Worried the meeting was a setup—paranoia ran deep with this crowd—she’d wanted to be sure of the situation. Her hours of mediation had paid off. She’d seen Erik and the others entering the club, though she hadn’t been able to see the actual meeting. This, Kenly informed me, was due to the number of factors involved. Not being a Visionary myself, I didn’t really understand how the gift worked. But I did know the future was fluid, and that even the smallest decision by even the most seemingly inane person could produce a ripple effect and change the outcome of a vision.
“I will go down to meet him, shall I?” Bryn asked, popping to her feet.
“Yeah, sure. Thanks, Bryn,” I replied absently.
She disappeared through the same doors Kenly and Riley had entered through. Kenly wandered to the balcony railing and looked over the edge at the party below. It was barely eight p.m., yet Pure Bliss was packed. I’d been worried about someone spotting me, but Bryn had assured me that her clientele were too self-absorbed to care. Besides, in the VIP lounge, I was practically a ghost. No one could see us up there, and James and several of Bryn’s trusted friends were patrolling the hallways leading to lounge so that no undesirables could get in.
“Do you want us to stay?” Kenly asked. She retreated from the railing and climbed the stairs to the uppermost level where I was seated. She sank down next to me on the sofa, looking agitated and ill at ease.
“Not if you’re uncomfortable,” I told her, sipping more coffee.
For a long moment, Kenly stared off into space.
“Kenly? You okay?” I asked, snapping my fingers in front of her face.
An array of emotions burst out of her all at once. Fear. Panic. Regret. Guilt. Terror.
“Run,” she whispered.
Taking the steps two at a time, Riley was at her side. He shook Kenly as tears gathered in her eyes.
“Run,” she repeated, louder this time.
The door to the lounge exploded open. I was already on my feet. Kenly, frozen with terror, remained motionless. Riley pushed me towards the stairs, simultaneously grabbing Kenly’s arm and hauling her to her feet.
“What? Aren’t you glad to see me, Tals?” The voice was cold and hard and so close to Erik’s that my steps faltered.
Still two steps from the landing, I whipped my head towards the speaker. The guy had Erik’s build, and the same unruly black hair. Even the turquoise eyes were eerily familiar. It was his essence that was wrong. He didn’t feel like Erik. He wasn’t my Erik.
“Who are you?” I demanded, matching his tone icicle for icicle.
The boy sauntered in as if he owned the place. Two figures followed closely on his heels, holding a pissed off Bryn between them.
“Who knew fugitive paid so well,” the boy who wasn’t Erik commented, running his fingers along the back of the sofas on the third tier. “Swanky.”
I stood taller, as though to block Kenly and Riley from the newcomer.
“It pays to have friends in high places,” I said dryly. “Who the hell are you?”
The boy wiggled a finger in my direction and clucked his tongue. “No need for the attitude. I’m here for a friendly chat, that’s all. Just you and me, Tals. What do you say?”
The telltale cock of a gun drew my attention to Bryn. One of the people holding her prisoner, a woman with flaming red hair and piercing lime eyes, pointed the barrel at Bryn’s temple.
I am finally going crazy. It’s finally happened.
The woman’s resemblance to Penny was uncanny. But just like with the fake Erik, the giveaway was her essence. I held on to the fact to keep myself sane.
“Tell me who you are, then we can talk,” I said calmly, forcing just enough manipulation into my command that a normal person would have complied.
“Your mind games don’t work on me, sweetheart. But I’ll tell you my name.” The boy shrugged, unconcerned. “I’m Erik Kelley. Your boyfriend.” He frowned. “It hurts my feelings that you don’t recognize me, Tals. After all, I was your first. The way I hear it, girls don’t forget their first time.”
I shook my head to clear the cobwebs. No. No. He wasn’t Erik. I knew that. I did. With every fiber of my being. Still, I couldn’t get over how much they looked a
like. And how did this guy know personal details about my life?
Lot’s of people know about you and Erik, I reminded myself.
“That hotel room was pretty nice, not as nice as the one I’m staying in at The Palace, but decent. Just ask your girl, Kenly. We had a nice talk, didn’t we, Kenly?”
Behind me, Kenly moaned. “Trap. Trap. Trap.”
“Let Kenly, Riley, and Bryn go, and then we can chat,” I said.
“No,” Riley said firmly. “Not a chance.”
“This is between Erik and me,” I said.
Out of nowhere, the oddest sensation started in the back of my mind. It was as though someone or something was scratching at my mental barriers, testing their strength. The sensation was more annoying than anything. Had I not been in a heightened state of awareness, with my senses on overdrive, I likely wouldn’t have even noticed.
“She’s right, Ri,” Kenly said quietly, her tone devoid of the panic from earlier. In fact, Kenly’s emotions had evened out as well. She was still scared, but a peace had settled over her. “He’s here,” she said inside my head.
I was about to ask who “he” was, but Kenly’s barriers were as effective as a closed border. I could have pressed my way in had I not worried about wasting my energy. The fake Erik was powerful, and I had to be on top of my game if I were going to spend some quality time with him.
Imposter Erik nodded to his two cronies. Penny’s doppelgänger grabbed a fistful of Bryn’s hair and began dragging her backward, the gun pressed to Bryn’s spine.
“One wrong move, and she dies,” the fake Penny hissed, sounding nothing like my best friend at all.
Whoever these copies were, the resemblance was meant to be physical, that was all. I wasn’t sure whether that was good news or bad news.
“We have numbers on our side,” Riley was saying in my ear.
“And they have Bryn, James’s sister. They have trumped us,” Kenly replied.
“Go,” I commanded both of them.
Obeying my order, Riley reluctantly placed one arm around Kenly’s waist and led her past me. “He’s here,” my mentee whispered as she passed.
The fingernail digging its way through my shields increased its efforts.
“Good little girl,” the fake Erik said, patting Kenly on the head like a dog.
Anger flashed through her. For one terrible second, I thought Kenly was going to hit him. Her head whipped around so fast that the veil came loose. Power crackled around her, the sparks of electricity visible in the still air. The imposter didn’t register Kenly’s shift in mood, though. Whatever he was, he wasn’t sensitive to other Talents, at least not to the degree that Riley and I were.
Unable to control herself, Kenly’s hand darted out and slapped the imposter’s smirking face. His fingers locked around Kenly’s throat. She let out a gurgling noise as he squeezed her windpipe. Riley drew his fist back and punched the fake Erik right in the nose. It had no effect. The boy refused to release Kenly, who looked shell-shocked and too terrified to fight for herself.
I sprang into action, catapulting myself through the air to reach Kenly. Using telekinesis, I pried loose the hand strangling Kenly, as Riley continued to land one ineffective blow after another to the boy’s midsection. Once free of his grip, my mentee scrambled backwards, clutching her throat. She stumbled and fell, landing on her butt and scuttling further from her attacker like a frightened crab.
The boy turned his ire on Riley. Furious over his treatment of Kenly, I interceded. Wrenching the fake Erik’s offending hand backward, I twisted his wrist with my mind.
“Bryn!” I screamed at Riley, hoping her name alone was enough for him to understand that I wanted him to go to her.
A sickening crack filled the air. At first, I thought I’d broken the boy’s wrist in my rage. But then I heard Bryn grunt, and I realized the noise had been the sound of a gun firing.
“No!” I screamed.
Riley launched his body through the air, going completely vertical. Seams burst and leather split as he morphed mid-leap. He landed on four giant paws. Black and blue stripes ran from his flattened ears to the tip of his swishing tail. The tiger—at least I thought that was the form he’d taken—was so large that he blocked Bryn, who was lying in a heap on the floor of her own club. With a growl that shook the rafters, Riley pounced.
The sight of Bryn crumpled like a paper doll was too much. My anger exploded out of me. This time, I did wrench the boy’s arm hard enough to break bone. It was enough to bring him to his knees, but the imposter didn’t seem to feel pain. Cold, turquoise eyes stared up at me defiantly.
“You don’t have the stomach for killing,” he spat. “I know you, Tals. You’re heart is too soft.”
“Obviously you don’t me that well. I’ve taken more lives than you can count,” I told him.
“Yes, but can you take my life? The life of the person you claim to love?”
It was the eyes. Those swirling pools of turquoise that reminded me of the island where I’d lived with my parents. Even though I knew the boy kneeling before me wasn’t my Erik, I couldn’t kill him. Later, I’d tell myself that my inability to do the deed had more to do with the fact that I needed the guy alive for information. That he was more useful to me alive than dead. But that wasn’t the truth.
That moment of indecision cost me. The imposter sucker punched me in the gut. I doubled over, but managed to stay on my feet. Until the boy’s leg swept them out from beneath me, anyhow. Air whooshed from my lungs when I landed flat on my back. Fake Erik was on top of me, a knee planted firmly on my diaphragm. I couldn’t breathe. And then, I couldn’t think straight. Images flooded my mind: the first time I’d sparred with Erik during Hunters’ tryouts; the first time we’d kissed; finding Erik inside that cell in Tramblewood after Mac had tortured him.
How did this imposter know so much about me? How had he seen such private moments?
Distantly, I heard Kenly sobbing and Riley whimpering.
Fight.
I had to fight, for all three of us. But as soon as the thought came, it was replaced by more memories of my life with Erik. A sexual highlight reel began to play inside my mind.
At least I’ll die happy, I thought.
My mental barriers had been reduced to rubble. Worse, I didn’t want to stop the influx of happy memories flowing into me. I wanted to relive those moments over and over again.
Fight.
The thought wasn’t mine own. Without my shields, the person chiseling away at my mental security suddenly had complete access to my brain.
“Tals. You’ve got to fight.”
“Erik?”
“It’s me, Tals. I’m almost there.”
“No, I’m right here, Tals,” a second voice, very much like the first but not quite, screamed.
“We’re coming, Talia.” Penny. Her voice was like an anchor to reality. I just needed for her to keep talking. My best friend didn’t disappoint. “Like thirty seconds. Just fight until we get there.” It wasn’t a plea. It was a command. Instead of fighting Penny’s hold, I embraced it.
The weight pinning me to the ground lifted. I flew to my feet just as the door to the VIP lounge exploded open on a gust of air. Five figures swooped through the opening. I only had eyes for the one in the lead. Erik, in all of his badass glory, spared me only a brief glance, but that one look held so much emotion that I nearly collapsed. He went straight for the imposter, who was struggling to his feet near the balcony railing, where he’d landed when I threw him off of me.
James hurried directly to Kenly, while Penny, Miles, and Brand entered the fray with Riley and his two opponents. Erik and his doppelgänger began to fight. My boyfriend was too enraged to use his talents, relying on brute strength instead. And brute strength was something Erik had in spades. He pummeled the imposter like a speed bag. The boy’s punches and kicks were feeble by comparison, and yet he grinned like a fool through it all.
Erik backed the imposter against the rail
ing.
“Who are you?” he shouted.
“I’m you.” The imposter grinned, exposing reddened teeth. “I’ve been inside your head, Erik. I feel what you feel. I think what you think. I am you.” Erik began to shake with fury. I wanted to do something to help, but I didn’t know what. Calming vibes didn’t seem appropriate for the situation. “That jolt of pure elation you feel when you touch her.” He nodded in my direction. “I feel it too. I understand why you love her. She’s quite special in—”
The words hung in the air, the sentenced forever destined to remain unfinished. Blood trickled from both of the imposter’s ears, dripping from his lobes like a pair of long ruby earrings. That stupid smirk froze on his face, even as he sank boneless to the ground.
I watched, horrorstruck. Erik had killed him. Because of me. It wasn’t the first life he’d taken. Judging by the emotions wafting off of him, it was the most devastating. Erik backed away from his doppelgänger, stumbling over the table and knocking the glass champagne buckets to the ground. A rage and shock stew boiled inside his stomach.
The lounge had fallen silent. Techno music pounded through speakers in the club below, but I barely heard it. The frivolity and imbibing taking place didn’t seem real in that moment. How could it be? How could people be drinking and laughing and kissing in the midst of this?
“Erik?” I called tentatively.
Slowly, he turned to face me. Red dots peppered his cheeks like freckles. Dying embers of rage were still visible in his eyes. But it was the shocked expression that scared me most.
“Tals?” he asked, as though unsure.
“It’s me,” I said, smiling sadly.
Vaulting the three sofas between us like a champion hurdler, Erik was standing in front of me an instant later. He placed both hands on my cheeks and titled my head back to look at me head on. Figuring he’d kiss me, I closed my eyes and waited for his lips to find mine. Instead, Erik traced the contours of my face with his fingertips, murmuring my name over and over again. Then, finally the moment I’d been dreaming about for a month came true. His lips were soft yet demanding, the kiss sweet by intense. I lost myself in Erik, the real Erik. My Erik.