Jeff Donovan watched the secure feed from the three streetlight cameras on his computer monitor. Rome finally passed the last one and moved out of sight.
He sat back against the buttery leather of his chair, steepling his fingers against his mouth.
Agent Rome Lucian made him uneasy. He always had. And that uneasiness was what prompted this whole project.
Not too long ago, the agent had mistrusted his instincts and the falter had cost lives. Yet the incident sparked an idea. An idea that removed unreliable instincts and replaced it with raw power. With the powerful serum, his men could create the variables instead of react to them.
And failures like Rome’s could be prevented.
But here the agent was, testing his instincts again. Yes, Rome knew something. The fact that he’d been to the facility twice since Harper Kane became an issue had reinforced that.
Damn her. Damn her and her goody-goody brother.
Dr. Robert Kane had wanted to use his formula for global assistance. So did Jeff. Only their definitions of “assistance” were slightly different. Jeff’s vision of saving the world meant creating the ultimate warrior. It was his pet project. To mold a force that no one would be able to reckon with. The country and its allies would be invincible. No one would dare cross them ever again.
That wasn’t Dr. Kane’s vision. Jeff didn’t understand why their dreams couldn’t live in harmony. The doctor was part of Five Watch. Surely he understood national security and everything that went with it.
But Dr. Kane refused to share even a scrap of his precious formula. And with that refusal, the doctor had signed his own death warrant. Jeff couldn’t tolerate associates who weren’t on board.
The moment Dr. Kane had found out about Jeff’s experiments using a replica of his serum, the bastard went wacko and destroyed it all. Torching his private underground lab at the Five Watch facility along with his precious plants and every single piece of research he’d ever created. And he’d destroyed every drop of the serum.
Or so Jeff had thought.
Then that damn woman had shown up just as his men were finishing off Dr. Kane. When Jeff had heard that, he’d been furious. But it hadn’t compared to the rage once he’d gotten the report about the incident at the train tracks.
Apparently the sight hadn’t been pretty. Decimated bodies everywhere. The damn woman had injected the last of the serum. Used the power. And left behind a useless flash drive, which had no doubt held the only surviving remnants of Dr. Kane’s data on the formula. Why else would her brother have given it to her?
Harper Kane was a tough bitch, no doubt, but he’d been sure they’d be able to get to her eventually-especially in the main lab at the Five Watch facility for more extensive and invasive testing.
Then she’d overpowered his own test subjects to escape. Though he knew his boys were imperfect, he’d underestimated the power the true serum gave her. Good thing he’d kept her underground.
Although her powers were obviously superior, her escape was just a little too convenient.
The surveillance cameras in the alley hadn’t revealed anything out of the ordinary, but that was before she’d used her power to tear up the area. Her shock wave had damaged the cameras beyond recall.
So he hadn’t been able to see whether she’d had help. But Rome’s visit today was a little too coincidental. And Jeff had never really believed in coincidences. Everything was planned.
Rome had agreed to find Harper Kane again, but something in his eyes seemed amiss.
Doubt.
Rome had never asked questions about a job. Never doubted what task he was given.
But there were definite questions in his casual interest as he’d sat there, asking about Harper Kane.
The agent had admitted to witnessing her power. Could he be trusted with that knowledge? Especially given the suspicious vibe Jeff had sensed?
Maybe Rome had come here to feel him out. Maybe he already had the woman and was going to use her for his own purposes. Maybe the two were a team.
No. Harper Kane and the serum that flowed inside her was his. Jeff wasn’t going to take any chances. He needed that formula, and he’d get it from the bitch if it was the last thing he did.
And no one, not even his best agent, was going to stand in his way.
Picking up the handset of his phone, Jeff dialed the number for his enhanced task force. He tried to think of every hiding place Rome had. He knew of only a few. He’d never had to tail him before, but he was certain Agent Rome Lucian had unlimited resources. Rome was that good. So it was going to be a challenge.
But Jeff loved challenges. He knew Rome did, too.
So, it was war. The prize?
Harper Kane.
Another undead attacker exploded across the television screen as Harper maneuvered her computerized warrior through a dark forest, hacking and slashing everything in her way with her giant sword.
Ragged zombies continued to emerge from behind nearly every rock and tree, swarming around her character, grunting while they persisted with their all-out assault, trying to keep her from reaching the magical fortress.
It was a nice break to mindlessly play the video game, allowing her to set her troubles aside for blessed spurts of time. Immersing herself in the game also helped put her worry for Rome on hold.
But not entirely. She found her mind wandering while her hands intuitively operated the controller. She wasn’t convinced that Rome was being prudent in chatting up his boss. He’d been confident that no one would be the wiser. She wasn’t so sure. Was she just a skeptical Sally now that her life had been turned every way but right?
Maybe. But although she was new to this cloak-and-dagger stuff, she was pretty certain that you just didn’t walk up to the people who ordered a hit on the girl you were now helping and ask them questions about it. What if they suspected she and Rome were a team? Would they kill him?
Dramatic music filtered into her thoughts. Eyeing the television screen, she saw her warrior surrounded. How appropriate.
Harper completely empathized with her red-haired heroine, twitching while she turned her character in circles. She herself had been in the same situation. Though her attackers weren’t slobbering zombies with staves.
She quickly activated her character’s inventory to see what, if anything, she could use against her threatening enemies. A box flashed across the screen, showing her everything she’d found, bought, or stolen while on her journey. What did she have that could get her out of the potentially fatal circumstances?
The zombies closed in on her waiting warrior. Harper noticed that she possessed a magical spell that would raze the zombies for good. Well, it sounded cool. She’d do it.
Casting the spell, Harper watched her simulated warrior sheathe her sword and raise her hand as a sparkling silver hue encased the character.
A gleaming energy wave burst from the outstretched hand like a shimmering bubble. In flashes of computerized smoke, the hostile zombies vanished one by one as the wave swept through them, clearing the way to the castle for her digital warrior.
A muted thud drew Harper’s attention away from the television screen. Glancing down, she saw the controller on the carpeted floor and her empty trembling hands. Realization swamped her senses. She actually had those powers.
But instead of obliterating simulated zombies, she’d killed real people. Actual human beings had died at her hands. Because of her inadvertent power. The inadvertent power she had purposefully used.
Harper felt sick. Her stomach churned like it was folding into itself. She wrapped her shaking arms around her roiling torso, trying to ease the shocking pain.
She was a murderer. She’d killed in real life. Not in some video game.
Yet, the reason was the same. To survive. She had to make sure she remembered that.
Survival. She needed to keep going in order to get revenge for Bobby.
With effort, Harper uncoiled her body and sat up straight, sucking in several deep breaths and blowing them out slowly. On screen her character was ready and waiting for Harper to put her into action. Instead she reached to shut the game off.
Okay. Okay, Harper. She couldn’t change the past. But she could shape the future she wanted. Relax. She wanted revenge. Focus. She began to take easy, measured breaths, just as she did before a race.
Yesterday she had been able to summon the power and control it. Well, not quite control, but she’d directed it. Though the brutes she’d been up against had somehow met it head-on with a power similar to hers, she’d been able to have a shred of command over her mind’s energy.
But not inside the facility itself. Harper leaned against the back of her chair, deep in thought. No, it hadn’t worked inside.
The trigger seemed to be related to her emotions. It had come unbidden the times she’d been in extreme pain from thinking about Bobby and her unthinkable situation. The first time she’d been able to temper it was at Rome’s. She’d been upset but hadn’t wanted to hurt him.
But in the facility, she’d wanted to get out, not caring who or what she might hurt. Yet her mind hadn’t cooperated. The energy hadn’t been there for her, no matter how much pain she’d endured.
Taking a deep, controlled breath, she focused on the stack of game boxes on the table and attempted to summon the energy in her mind and direct it toward the innocuous pile. Nothing. Okay, so what was different? Inside versus outside? No, that couldn’t be it. She’d been inside Bobby’s lab and the power had come without command, from an overload of grief.
Shaking her head in frustration, she stood and walked out of the room. Heading to the refrigerator, she pulled out a bottle of water and twisted off the cap. Taking a long sip, she relished the cool liquid as it refreshed her body and settled her mind.
Rome had told her to stay inside, but she decided she needed fresh air. Suffocation was clutching at her.
She had changed into her own clothes now that they were clean, but she stopped by the bedroom to pick up one of Rome’s well-worn gray sweatshirts. Smiling at the cozy oversized fit and the big maroon and gold M on the chest, Harper pushed the long cotton arms up past her wrists and walked to the front area of the warehouse.
Only the one sliding door faced her. The entrance was just large enough for the Bug to creep through. Walking across the empty space, she glanced toward the security box on the wall. Red lights warned her that some sort of alarm was activated. She smiled. Was he trying to keep her in or everyone else out? Most likely out, given that she’d told him she was a programmer, and surely he’d figured she’d be able to deactivate it.
Programmer. Right. Hacker was more like it. Her part-time job at the video-game company included programming, but was essentially hacking into the games to see how much code she could dismantle and how imaginatively she could mess with the so-called security measures. Then she would create hidden layered logic routines to keep other hackers out.
So as she stepped in front of the alarm panel she was pretty confident she could easily disarm it. Snapping the plastic cover off the mechanism, she peered at the exposed wires. Rome had obviously rigged the thing himself, given the concealed plate that hid a tiny keyboard and screen and the level of complication. Data streamed across the minute display, as Harper watched the shuffling code sequences for patterns.
There. She found a common string and studied it closely for a few minutes. She was able to identify figures that appeared to represent the broadcasting of the alarm signal without actually disarming the alarm.
Hmm. Close enough. Harper placed her fingers on the Blackberry-sized keyboard and entered a command to disrupt the data flow. Without hesitation, she hit the Enter key. The constant stream came to a slight pause and then flowed again, with an ever-so-minor modification. She doubted that Rome would even be aware of it. Besides, she’d change it back once she returned.
Smiling, she replaced the plastic covering and walked to the sliding door. She grabbed the handle and pulled. No sound. A long breath escaped her lips, one she didn’t even know she was holding.
The autumn sunlight was sluggishly waning, but still coating every surface in its path. She took several deep breaths of crisp air and began to pace around outside the warehouse to the area that faced the dense forest, stretching her muscles as best she could.
Harper rolled up the sleeves of Rome’s sweatshirt a little more and rubbed her bare arms. The sun’s warmth invigorated her, as did the fresh air, sending light pulses of energy through her veins.
Strange. She experienced the same revitalizing sensation as soon as she stepped outside the facility right before she escaped. Harper peered at her arm, running her fingers gently over the tingling skin.
She swept her gaze around the area, looking for something she could practice with. She wanted to try to harness this power. Control it. If she could, revenge would be a lot easier. Quicker.
Shielding her eyes from the sunlight, she squinted to see a bunch of empty milk crates stacked against the wall of the adjacent warehouse to her right. Recalling the image of the warrior in her game, she raised her hand and focused on the crates.
The ice-cold sensation that preceded the scorching heat was now becoming familiar. Even welcome. Fiery power blazed through her blood, filling her mind and surging down along her outstretched arm. A small wave of nearly invisible energy rippled toward the crates, originating from her prickling hand.
Harper kept her gaze locked on the stacks, watching in amazement, and a little satisfaction, as they began to vibrate under her power.
A distant rumbling broke into her focus. Uh-oh. Rome ’s Bug.
Harper quickly dropped her hand and raced around the building to the sliding door she’d left slightly open, shaking off the power swelling inside her body.
Harper was just slipping inside when she saw the Bug come to a halt only feet from her. Peering through the flat windshield, she spied Rome’s striking, narrowed blue eyes staring crossly at her.
She was busted.
Slinking back out, she mustered the most sheepish look she could manage. Maybe there was a way to spin this so he wouldn’t be too upset with her. Then again, he was supersexy when he was angry. Maybe she could get him madder instead.
Rome had barely stepped out of the car before he went on the offensive. “What the hell are you doing out here?”
“I needed some air.” She gave him a half grin. Well, it was the truth.
“How?” He stiffly gestured toward the sliding door with a wave of his hand. His kissable lips were tight with frustration.
“I altered the code.” She held up a placating palm. “Don’t worry. I’ll reset it.”
“Altered the code?” His anger turned to intrigue.
“I told you, I’m a programmer. It’s what I do.”
Rome didn’t really have anything to say to that, but his gorgeous face, bathed in the fading daylight, cracked the most admiring and alluring smile she’d ever seen.
He walked over to her, stopping just inches away. She flushed. She could see every blue swirl in the eddy of his eyes. Smell every spice of his lingering soap. Feel every breath that brushed her face.
“Show me,” Rome whispered as he leaned in. His mouth was so very close to hers. He licked his lips. She wetted her own. Harper almost closed her eyes, just waiting, desperately wanting the touch of those lips against hers once again.
Then she was flat on her back on the ground.
Well, that was fast.
“Somebody’s here.” Rome’s whisper was nearly silent, just a tickling breath away from her ear.
Rome covered her body with his as he frantically searched the area. His intense blue eyes at such close range were a sight to behold. Stay here, he mouthed, rolling off her body easily and moving into a crouch, gun drawn. Wow, she hadn’t known he was even carrying one.
Creeping around the dented front bumper of the Bug, Rome disappeared from her sight. She sat upright and tried to listen for whatever had startled him. And stopped their imminent kiss. Darn it. Her lack of trust in him hadn’t diminished his allure. Double darn it.
After counting to sixty without hearing a sound, Harper decided to check things out herself. Rome should know by now that she was no good at waiting. She used the car for cover and took a quick peek out toward where Rome had vanished. She felt a little strange with all this creeping around, hunkering down like a spy or something.
Another minute went by with no sign of danger. What could he have heard?
Then she saw him walking her way. His shoulders were stiff and he kept looking around as though ghosts swirled around him, prickling every one of his senses.
“They’re gone. We’d better discuss our next move,” he said without preamble. “I’m not sure we have much more time here.”
“Okay.” Harper caught his grave tone and altered her mood. Kicking herself, she realized she had to remember this wasn’t some weekend fling with a hot guy. This was her messed-up life that she needed to right somehow, and he was the only person who could help her. “Did you get the flash drive?”
“Yeah, it’s in the car,” he answered, moving to the driver’s side. He opened the door and popped the hood.
Harper moved to the front of the Bug. Inside was a black duffel bag. She reached in, unzipped the bag, and pulled out a slim laptop. She shoved it under her arm and poked around inside for the small drive. Rome must have brought extra clothes, because she had to fish around for the drive through layers of soft fabric. When she found it, she quickly checked to make sure it was indeed the flash drive she’d asked for.
“Why that?” His close voice made her jump. She hadn’t seen or heard him step beside her.
“C’mon, I’ll show you.” Harper reached to close the hood, then had to slam it a couple times before it latched. She turned around and sat on the concrete with her back resting against the front bumper, then booted up the computer. Rome joined her on the ground with a grunt, their thighs lightly touching.
“We should go inside,” he said as he turned his head, alternately looking at her and their surroundings.
“I need some air,” she countered, shifting the screen slightly to lessen the angling sun’s glare. A password request popped up once the computer finished booting.
“By the way, how did you alter the code and get out without setting off the alarm?” Rome asked, peering at the laptop screen while she typed in a few commands.
“Kind of like this,” she answered absently while she hacked into his computer, bypassing his imposing password protection schemes in under a minute.
Giving him a sideways glance, she noticed his slackjawed expression. His mouth moved, but no words came forth. Smiling, Harper patted his rough cheek and continued to peck at the flat keyboard.
Once she was in, she plugged the drive into the USB port and waited.
“What are you doing?” Rome finally found his voice. “That’s a blank drive.” He leaned closer so that their shoulders brushed. She noticed that his astonished look had morphed into one of confusion.
“It’s not blank,” she had to admit quietly, relishing the warmth where their bodies touched.
“I don’t understand.” He covered her hands with his own to still her fingers. He sounded outraged, perplexed, and fascinated all at once. “What aren’t you telling me, Harper?”
She closed her eyes. Here it goes. The one secret she had kept from him. Here was where he got furious with her. Lost his trust in her. Maybe even took her back to the bad facility.
No, he wouldn’t do that. But she needed to tell him the truth. Harper took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She opened her eyes and squarely met his gaze.
“Before Bobby died, he hid a flash drive for me,” she began, watching for a reaction from him. There was none. Yet. “I found it, but I had to break it apart, so that it wasn’t taken from me by the people who are after me. They thought it was destroyed, but I kept the data chip. When I was at your condo, I found your flash drive and replaced the chip inside with mine.”
Rome blinked and looked away. After a few moments, he shook his head slightly, and then returned to meet her gaze.
“Impressive,” he said with a wry grin. His blue eyes softened. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“If I had, we probably wouldn’t have it anymore,” she replied seriously. Most likely Rome would’ve handed it over to his boss when he dropped her off. And they both knew it. “I wanted your help. But I wasn’t sure I could trust you.” Pain flashed in his eyes for a split second, and then it was gone.
“I guess I can’t blame you for that.” His quiet tone scraped at her heart.
Harper was silent. She had no idea what to say. She couldn’t trust him. Yes, he was helping her, but she wasn’t about to put her life in his hands again. She couldn’t chance that he’d take care of it this time.
“So what’s on this thing?” he asked a little louder, probably trying to break the heavy tension. Trying to brush over her silence.
“I have no idea,” she answered with a lopsided smile. “But it’s time to find out.”
Harper opened a code-authoring application and quickly wrote a scanning program for the flash drive to make sure it was intact. Pressing the Enter key, she watched the program read the little drive and caught Rome squinting at the screen while he did the same. She quickly explained what she’d done.
“Damn, if you’re half as good a swimmer as you are hacker, I’d be surprised if you didn’t win every medal at the Olympics,” he said offhandedly.
Her breath caught. The Olympics. She should be getting home to train, not sitting here trying to figure out how to stay alive. A strong hand rubbed her tense shoulder warmly as if reading her thoughts.
“Don’t worry, Harper.” His voice was soothing as he continued his reassuring strokes. “You’ll get that chance. I’ll make sure you do.”
If only he knew what that meant to her to hear that. Even though she knew she wouldn’t get the chance. Heck, she’d already had her chance at the Olympics, and she’d blown it. She’d been looking forward to a second chance for four long years.
Because Bobby had been the one to convince her not to give up swimming and take another shot, it had become his dream as much as hers. And now? Well, now that dream was all but over.
A soft beep from the computer snapped her out of her leaden thoughts. She read the results of her program with an incredulous shake of her head.
“Oh, for crying out loud.” She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
“What? The data’s gone?” Rome asked, looking at the screen along with her, a tad frantic. She was grateful he was still rubbing her shoulder, albeit a pinch faster now. The touch was sending nice little beads of sensation floating through her body.
“No, the data is intact.” She turned to look at him and let out a big sigh. My goodness, his lips were so close. “It’s just buried under layers and layers of jumbled code.” He blinked away his apprehension.
“Can you decode it?” Rome laughed as he said it. “Wait, of course you can.”
“Yes, I can,” she confirmed with another long exhale, smiling at his belief in her. “In fact, I think I’m the only one who can.” His brows furrowed, so she explained further. “Bobby knew what he was doing. There are so many levels of convoluted code here, yet it’s a specific pattern. Something only I would know to look for. Kind of like his personal signature in the code itself.”
“He wanted to make sure that you, and only you, would be able to decipher it,” Rome translated. “Wow. Genius.”
“He was.” Harper fondly thought of how smart her brother was. And knew that he’d been smart enough to put the answers under all those layers of protection. For her eyes only. She just had to dig around for them. But it was going to take some time.
“So how long do you need?” Rome asked. She loved his absolute confidence in her. There was no doubt in his question that she could decode it, just how long it would take.
“I’m not sure.” She thought hard. “Three, four hours, maybe. I won’t know until I get in there and start poking around. And even then, things may be, probably are, embedded.”
“Okay, well, get to it, then.” Rome squeezed her shoulder and stood. “Inside, Harper.” And then he held his hand down to her with a supportive smile.
She secured and closed the laptop after pulling out the flash drive. She stuck it in her front pocket and hauled herself up with the help of his strong hand. Brushing off her rear, she started toward the door, following Rome through the trickling sunlight, her hand still secure in his.
Shots rang out.
Bullets pelted the warehouse door just above their heads with a startling crack. Crouching to the ground, they looked at each other, bewildered. Rome had been right. Somebody was out there.
“Damn it.” Rome seethed. She watched him pull out his gun and prepare it.
The gunfire ceased. Were they repositioning? Reloading? Not for the first time, she realized just how inept she was at these spy-game situations. And how grateful she was that Rome was with her.
“Shouldn’t we go inside?” Harper whispered as Rome looked everywhere. She set down the laptop.
“No, we’ll be trapped inside,” he answered with a quick shake of his head. “We need to be mobile.”
“Where are they?” she asked, glancing around the area through the dusky sunlight.
“My guess is they’re surrounding us.” He grimaced. She noticed his fingers flex on the handle of his gun. Their gazes locked and she saw the troubled intensity in his eyes. It mirrored her own.
It was Bobby’s house all over again. Besieged. No way out. Images of the video game she’d just played flashed through her mind. Her virtual warrior. Lifting her digital hand. Commanding her power to save herself from her enemies. Living to fight another day.
Did she dare? Would Rome think her an abomination once again?
No, he believed in her, didn’t he? So she decided to do it.
“Let me try something.” Resting her hand against his stubbled cheek, she implored him with her steely gaze and her tender touch.
He looked away for an instant and then turned back, giving her a confirming nod. In return for his confidence, she surprised both of them with a brief yet intense kiss.
Harper stood to face their hidden attackers, completely exposed in the fading rays of the sun. It was very surreal to be standing there, just her against these unknown enemies like some superhero. Curiously, she kind of liked it. As though it were her own personal video game.
Several large men moved out of their shadowy hiding places. Slowly, three of them approached, monstrous rifles drawn.
Three thin red laser beams pierced the sun’s rays from their scopes to rest in a triangle on her chest, directly over her heart. She sucked in a quick breath as spikes of panic prickled under her skin, spreading like a wildfire until she burned with fear.
Wait a second. This wasn’t her own personal video game. There was no Restart button. This was true life. And these large men had every intention of killing her for real.
It seemed as though time slowed and she could see every millimeter of their fingers squeezing the triggers. She willed her chaotic nerves to settle as she’d done countless times before a race. Cold, then hot flashed through her body. She brought up her hand, palm out; just a sharp crack of gunfire echoed in her head. She shoved all fear aside, inviting the energy and focusing on the incoming ammunition.
The rain of bullets halted mere inches away from her hand, frozen in midair.
It worked. It actually worked. What next?
Calling upon the power again, she tested her mind’s fortitude. Her body felt none of the draining effects she’d experienced before. With a concentrated effort, she summoned another swell of energy and directed it at the threatening shells that hovered at the edge of her shield of energy.
A fresh burst flowed through her arm and prickled into her hand, propelling the bullets back toward the three men at lightning speed. Their eyes filled with shock and then pain as they all staggered backward, crumpling to the ground, lifeless.
Harper lowered her hand and gulped a lungful of cool air. Holy cow! Not only had she controlled the power, but she’d been able to direct it, too. What else could it do?
She looked at her hand as if seeing it for the first time. A heavy touch descended on her shoulder. She jumped and swung her elbow backward. Rome caught it just before it hit his throat.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice breathy.
“I’m fine,” she answered, realizing it was true. Her vision was clear, and she didn’t have the detached wobbly sensation. Honestly, she felt invigorated.
He kept ahold of her elbow and pulled her over to the three prone men in a cautious approach. Blood seeped out of the bullet holes in their thick black vests. Harper bent down with Rome as he removed one of the garments from the closest body. Amazed, she gawked at the damage as Rome held it up for inspection. The bullets had penetrated the armored vest, killing him instantly.
“I’m sure there’re more of them,” Rome said tightly, dropping the vest onto the ground. “We need to move. Now.”
“Rome,” Harper pleaded, gripping his shaking hand from her kneeling position. “Please don’t be scared of me.” She shook her head sadly.
“Harper…” He gave her a crooked smile and twisted his hand to grip hers back. “I won’t leave you again.” He tugged her up to face him and grabbed her other hand as well. “I won’t leave you.” He leaned forward and planted a feathery kiss on her forehead. “But we do need to leave. Before more of these guys come.”
“They’re already here,” she said dryly, peering past him to see a group of similarly equipped men pacing toward them with definite purpose. Rome turned to see them just as they broke into a jog, aiming their guns.
“Shit!” He pulled out his gun and dragged her to the nearest cover, behind another warehouse. “Can you stop them again?”
“I think so,” she answered slowly, giving him a look she hoped conveyed a confidence she wasn’t sure she had. He nodded at her.
She stepped out from behind the wall to face the oncoming group, noticing they were a bit bigger and bulkier than the other three. Like the men she’d escaped from at the facility. Uh-oh. They probably had powers, too. That could make things interesting. She moved forward a few more steps into the last rays of the setting sun and extended her arms.
The heat cascaded over her. Reliving the rush of power in her mind, she called upon it once more and pitched the energy toward them.
The lead man raised his hand, shooting a murky barrier ahead of him. He ran through her wave of energy unscathed. But two of the men behind him were knocked to the ground. She couldn’t tell whether they were unconscious or dead, but they were still. Only four more to go.
She sent another pulse of power their way. One more down. The other three ran through it like going through a waterfall, slowed but ultimately unharmed. She peppered them again and again, cutting up the air as if sending harsh ripples through a serene pond.
Just before the leader reached her, he was attacked by a different power source: Rome.
But before she could do anything to help Rome as he grappled with their attacker on the concrete ground, the air was knocked from her lungs. She hit the ground hard right next to Rome. Another body piled onto the one already on top of her. The harsh ramming forced a grunt from her lips as she struggled to breathe.
The tussling to her left paused for a moment, then resumed.
A strange sensation flushed over her, a weight heavier than the two men, as though a solid screen pressed against her. Trying to crush her.
Her body strained against the unseen force. After unsuccessfully shoving against the obstruction with all her strength, she suddenly recognized what was happening. These two men were propelling an energy force at her, just like she had at them. Her breath came in strained spurts as panic and anger invaded her senses. Every wrenching intake was tinged with dusty asphalt.
Tilting her head, she saw Rome fighting two men now. They had him pinned and were delivering vicious blows to his body while he flailed and kicked at them.
No. She couldn’t let them take Rome. He’d sacrificed too much for her. She had to do something.
She focused her energy while the men who held her captive tried to force her to turn over, facedown. Molten heat roared through her body, blazing in her blood. Prickles of fire danced under her skin and flashes of gleaming white light sparkled in her vision. An inferno of force swelled from every corner of her mind, racing to her limbs and surging outward, heaving her enemies off her.
They landed several feet away, against the wall of an adjacent warehouse, stunned but not out for the count. Harper shot to her feet and stalked toward them. Angry. Primitive. Hating them with every fiber of her fiery being.
One of the dazed men reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. A cracking sound reached her just before the bullet snapped into the muscles of her shoulder. Harper flinched from the sharp contact but ignored it, continuing to close in on the shooter and his woozy partner.
Stopping mere feet from the two of them, she held out her hand and channeled the power once again without hesitation. She wanted this. Wanted them dead. Surprise was the last look on their faces as the pure energy from her mind crested and tore through their cloudy shield of resistance, killing them easily.
Harper spared them one last glance; then she whipped around, cutting the distance between her and Rome with determined strides. His assailants had frozen momentarily to follow her approach.
The two men shoved away from Rome and stood to face her, obviously regarding her as the bigger threat. Good. She was.
They raised their hands and she felt the displacement of air as their combined power rushed toward her. Unlike her clear wave, theirs was definitely visible. Curious. Spreading her arms palms out, Harper met their energy head-on with her own. A moment of forces colliding, creasing the space between them in nearly invisible wrinkles-then hers ripped through theirs, decimating the two men in an instant.
Blinking the stinging sweat out of her eyes, she tried to take a deep breath of the light evening breeze into her heaving lungs. Looking up, she saw the sun had set and the clear sky behind the trees was daubed in brilliant pink hues.
Her strength drained and she bent over, resting her arms on her thighs. The fierce exertion had finally caught up with her.
A slight pain in her shoulder claimed her attention. She peered at the spot, seeing a small bloodstained hole in the gray sweatshirt.
Harper tugged at the neck of the shirt, exposing the wound, wincing at the pinching sensation that crawled over her shoulder. Her bloodied skin started to itch something fierce. As she scratched it, a tiny object spurted out and dropped on the concrete with a light clink.
It was the bullet. The shell was stained with a rusty liquid. Her blood.
Harper took a closer look at where she’d been shot. Though a tiny red spot marked her skin, the entry hole was very shallow. Poking at it with her index finger, she felt the tingling under her flesh seep away. After a moment, the tissue wasn’t even tender and the skin was almost whole again.
She shook her head, lacking the energy to even try to process this newest development.
Rome lay on the ground. Blood ran from his nose and a mean cut across his forehead. “Thanks,” he rasped, splaying his hand across his right ribs as he tried to roll over. “Again.”
She gave him a crooked smile in answer, relieved not to see any censure in his eyes. Though fully exhausted, a curious sensation of exhilaration coursed through her, prickling her muscles. Their attackers had the same kind of powers she had, but hers were somehow stronger. And purer. Dominant. She felt empowered. Invincible. And she liked it.
Rome grunted and leaned on his side in an attempt to get up. Harper straightened and took the last couple of steps to his side. She bent down, placing her hands under his arms to help scoop him upright. His grunt turned into a deep groan as he stood, a bit wobbly. She leaned close, allowing him to slide his left arm across her broad shoulders to steady himself. Their glances brushed over the bodies that scattered the warehouse site like driftwood on the beach.
He reached over to touch the red splotch on her sweatshirt. She watched him stare at the fabric, examining it from every angle with a frown.
“This shot wasn’t meant to kill,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s not good.”
That wasn’t a good thing? They weren’t trying to kill her anymore?
Wait, she knew what that meant now. They didn’t want her dead because they wanted to do more experiments on her.
“I think you’re right,” she agreed. Big bullies. Well, it wouldn’t be long before she turned the tables. She had Bobby’s data now. Soon she’d have the information she needed to take down her enemies. And with Rome’s help, they’d be darn near unstoppable.
“Let’s get these guys taken care of,” Rome said with a sigh, and broke away from her, walking to the nearest body. “Then we need to see what’s on that flash drive.”
“Good idea,” Harper agreed, walking toward the two slumped forms by the warehouse entrance.
She and Rome needed those answers now more than ever. Obviously she wasn’t alone in her powers. But she was finding out she really was different from the others and needed to find out why in order to command the power and get her revenge.
And the more she was able to control it, the more that revenge was becoming a reality. A smile broke out across her face. Harper couldn’t wait.