I heard the creak as it swung open. I tensed on the spot, my mind racing. They're here, I managed to get through to Elijah, before my mind became oddly blank.
"Having trouble, Livy?" a sickly voice came, and I leapt to my feet as a skinny woman and a muscular looking bodyguard appeared in the doorway. "Well, well, it is a pleasure to meet the famous Olivia Matthews," the woman sneered. "Gator, restrain her."
"Good luck," I growled back, and the man halted on his way toward me. Whatever he'd heard about me mustn't have filled him with confidence. A quick look was all I needed to know he wasn't a Savant.
"Don't be ridiculous," the woman spat. "You're surrounded, and we have what you want. Come with us, or your little boyfriend is dead. Understand?"
Oh, I understood. The sneering, arrogant tone in that woman's voice sent shudders down my spine and my eyes narrowed. Fear seemed to have been wiped out of the equation in her presence. I was too irritated, too determined to win. Straightening out, I stepped toward them slowly. "Hurt him, and I swear I'll kill you."
My voice was level enough, but neither of them could miss the promise behind them.
"Matthews or not, you don't scare me, little girl," the woman glowered. "Now keep quiet. Gator, take her." Looking less than pleased, the man named Gator grabbed my arms and hauled me out of the room.
Keep it up, Grace, Elijah's voice came, and I almost jumped in surprise. My mind still felt blank, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't break through to him. But he could get to me. You're doing great, but stop thinking about me or we'll all be in trouble. They can't know who I am, remember?
Immediately I tried to clear my mind. The best way I could think was to focus on Zed. That was the one thing they had to be expecting.
Good girl, Elijah's approval came.
I ignored him. Fear was creeping up on me again. Zed . . . please, please God let him be okay.
Gator dragged me down the hallway behind the sneering woman. God, I didn't think I'd ever wanted to punch some in the face more. In fact, maybe my fist wasn't strong enough. Maybe a shovel.
The woman didn't bother knocking when we reached a large boardroom shielded by frosted glass. Instead, she pushed the door open with a dramatic flourish, ignoring it when it hit Gator on the way in. I'd have snorted in amusement if I wasn't starting to get a building sense of impending doom.
On the opposite side of the room, a long meeting table sat surrounded by chairs, only four of which were occupied. One was the sneering woman who'd dropped into a seat by a younger man with a slimy look, a rounded belly and a Zorro-styled moustache. Another was an older man, dressed in an expensive suit with dark hair and a cheap, fake tan. The last chair was most certainly occupied, but it was turned away from me and whoever was sat in it was slouching so that I couldn't even make out the top of their head. All I could see was a few fingers hanging over the edge of one of the chair's arms.
"Ah, Miss Matthews," the older man smirked, pushing himself to his feet. "So glad you could join us. You're becoming quite famous in these parts."
"Pity," I glowered. "I barely know you at all."
The woman flinched in anger, but the older man laughed at me. "Quite something, isn't she?" he smiled. "What a shame you won't be staying with us. But what a sense of achievement, reuniting a family after all these years! We'll know that feeling soon enough."
My eyes narrowed a fraction. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, but if they thought I was going anywhere near my father, they had another thing coming. Squirming in Gator's hold, the henchman released me, mumbling something and slipping back out of the room.
"Now," the older man started, clapping his hands together. "Shall we get started? You, of course, do know who we are, and if you don't now, you soon will. Your father and I will be working together for quite a while. My name is Daniel Kelly, this is my daughter Maria and my son Sean."
The woman, Maria, shifted irritably. "Is it such a good idea telling her our names?"
The older man, Daniel, laughed again, a grating noise that made my fists clench. "Won't matter one way or the other," he shrugged. "Her memory will be altered anyway."
"Altered?" I blurted indignantly.
Daniel stared at me for a moment. "Sean," he suddenly snapped, and the younger man stood up and moved toward me with an evil grin. Immediately, I made to move back, scowling as he approached me.
Relax kid! Elijah was suddenly saying in my mind. Keep your barriers up and keep them out of your mind, and you'll be fine. Remember, the moment you know where Zed is, I will too and we'll move in. Got it?
I still couldn't answer, but I had the feeling I didn't need to. For some reason, I couldn't talk to him but he was in my head. He could hear everything and see everything. Normally, that would freak me out to no end, but right now, I needed him and if he could help Zed, he could do whatever the hell he wanted.
I usually do, kid, his amused response came and I almost smiled.
"Something funny?" Sean grinned sickly at me.
"A few things actually," I shrugged, taking another few slow steps backward. "Your moustache ranking in the top three, along with your father's God awful tan."
Sean halted a moment in surprise, obviously not used to be spoken to like that and he glanced uncertainly back at his father. Daniel frowned. "Restrain her."
"Try," I dared immediately, glowering at him. Hesitating another second, he continued forward and reached out to snatch at my wrist. Pursing my lips in restraint, I let him pull me forward and hold both of my wrists behind my back.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" Daniel sighed with a small shrug. "Bring her here."
I ground my teeth together and allowed Sean to push me forward until I was stood in front of Daniel Kelly. Behind him, whoever was in the chair twitched and I went rigid.
"Who is that?" I snapped before I could stop myself.
"No one of interest," Daniel smirked. "Just yet."
My jaw locked, and without thinking, I concentrated as hard as I could and forced my mind to clear. Suddenly, I felt my strength return and focused entirely on the person in the chair. It took seconds to break into their mind, and a familiar recognition flickered through me. My heart clenched tightly. Zed?
Shock radiated from his mind, and his fingers twitched, but he didn't turn or answer me. My stomach dropped painfully as I hurriedly sieved through his mind. He was badly hurt, confused, in pain, and . . . mourning? Mourning who?
I dug deeper . . . and my blood ran cold. An image flashed through my mind; Zed, with his fingers tightening around my throat.
"What the hell did you do to him?" I snarled. An anger I'd never felt before rushed through me, making my body shake and my teeth grind together. A red mist descended over me, and my fists clenched at my sides.
Grace! Elijah's warning came. We're moving in.
Daniel Kelly's face wavered in front of me. "We said you'd get him back. We never said he'd be in one piece."
"What?"
I reacted instinctively, breaking straight through their barriers with little resistance and slowing time right down. In the same second, I yanked my wrists out of Sean's hold and elbowed him in the face. My sight seemed to blur in anger, so much so that I barely noticed Daniel's eyes widening in pain when I slammed my palm into his throat. But his pain seemed to bring him back around, and his mind started to clear. Breaking through my manipulations, his hand locked around my throat as Sean dropped to his knees behind me, clutching his face.
"Little brat!" Sean spat as Maria leapt to her feet in surprise, blinking angrily.
"What was that?" she shrieked.
Daniel ignored them both, his eyes locked on me furiously. "Do you have any idea how good it would feel to strangle the life out of you right now?" he asked through his teeth, his voice raspy and hoarse.
Grace, hold on! Elijah insisted, sounding distinctively on edge. A few more minutes.
I can't buy more time here! I yelled back, panicked as Daniel's fingers tightened around my throat.
"Matthews said one of you was enough," he was snarling. "We can still grab your pesky brother and ship him back. You, on the other hand . . . watching Benedict break down when I made him believe he'd killed you, it was priceless. I wished you'd seen it. Maybe I'll make you see it. Maybe I'll make it the less sane thought that crosses your mind before I choke the life out of you. You'll just have to trust me when I say I'll thoroughly enjoy your little boyfriend handing himself over to the FBI and his big brother for your murder."
I choked loudly, squirming in his hold and gasping desperately for breath. Behind Daniel, Maria and Sean watched with identical frowns, and Zed still didn't move from his chair. Could he?
Zed, I called desperately, and he flinched on the spot. Zed, whatever they've done, whatever they've said, they're lying! Zed, answer me, please!
Daniel's grip grew tighter, and I felt my head start to spin. In that second, I realised I didn't care if I died. All I needed was Zed to understand it wasn't his fault.
Zed, goddamnit, look at me! I screamed angrily. And maybe it was the familiar personality clash that made him turn, but finally, he twisted to look behind him and his face fell. While I could feel him start to panic, I felt myself relax, my eyes drinking in the sight of him, bruised and beaten, but alive.
Grace . . . his thoughts slowly answered mine. Wait . . . no, Grace!
Another image flashed through his thoughts, one I'd never seen before and one that made me freeze in shock. It was me and Zed, stood outside in the snow back in Wrickenridge, wrapped in each other's arms and both laughing loudly. Me . . . laughing? What on Earth-
My thoughts broke off when Zed suddenly lunged himself off his chair and tackled Daniel to the ground. His hands tore off my throat and I collapsed to the ground, coughing and spluttering as I tried to catch my breath. Maria screamed and Sean yelped, and through my blurry vision I could just about make out the two of them scrambling forward to grab Zed.
"Zed!" I exclaimed. Panicked, I reached for their mental patterns, a rush of relief sweeping through me when I realised they were too stunned to protect themselves. They'd barely made it a few steps when they halted on the spot, leaving Zed and Daniel struggling on the floor.
I tried to move closer, but everything was too weak. My mind struggled to keep hold of Maria and Sean, and my chest ached as I tried to catch my breath. Lungs searing and limbs shaking uncontrollably, it took a moment or two of helplessly observation before I could get to them.
Zed had been too weak to do much more than knock Daniel Kelly over, and the shock of his movement had been enough to keep Kelly down momentarily. But the man was slowly coming back to his senses, kicking Zed furiously in the stomach and pushing him away. "You people never know when to stop fighting!" he yelled angrily, stumbling to his feet and snatching Zed's wrist. Hauling him to his feet, he clamped Zed's head between his hands.
Something like horror flashed across Zed's face, and he paled dramatically. "No!" Struggling, he pushed Daniel back and staggered back a few steps.
Yelling in frustration, Daniel immediately brought his hand back to the waistband of his trousers, and I just about had time to watch him pull out a pistol before he had it in Zed's face.
My life seemed to stop. In that moment, I'd never been more terrified in my life. I'd been through so much, struggled to cope under Matthews' roof, tormented myself with the idea of being a criminal while living on the streets, and finally found somewhere I belonged. Now, I was going to lose it all.
"No!" I screamed, clambering unsteadily to my feet and rushing straight at Daniel Kelly. He blinked in surprise, unable to move as I knocked his arm to the side in my panic.
"Grace!" Zed yelled, bolting forward and yanking me away from Kelly as the man staggered. Terrified, I immediately broke back into their minds as best as I could and tried to hold them back, wrapping my hand around Zed's and racing for the door.
Zed shoved the door open and we staggered through, running down the corridor and straight for the elevator. It pinged open before we even reached it, and a frowning, determined looking Elijah stumbled out. "In," he snapped at me, reloading his gun. "There's too many, we need to leave now." Without waiting for further instruction, I dragged Zed into the elevator and Elijah rushed in behind us, jabbing the button for the ground floor.
The moment the doors were shut, Zed spun me around and crushed his lips to mine desperately. I held my breath, sinking into him immediately as my lips moved against his. I could feel him shaking as he held me and I knew something was wrong. Something was seriously wrong. He suddenly stepped back, letting go of me with a wince and dropping his gaze to the floor. He was frowning, shaking all over, obviously still upset. For a moment, I stood perfectly still, my stomach knotted and my breathing ragged.
"Zed?" I asked carefully.
"No," he mumbled, glaring at his feet and shaking his head. "No, you can't be here."
Elijah shot me a stern look over his shoulder, but I wasn't paying attention. Heart clenching, I took a cautious step closer to Zed and he flinched. I froze on the spot. "Zed, look at me," I plead quietly.
His face contorted in something like pain. "You can't be here. I watched you die, I . . ."
"Die?" I breathed, terrified. "I'm not dead! Look at me!" Zed's fists clenched in restraint, and suddenly, a horrible sense of déjà vu made me choke and stagger back a step. They couldn't be doing this to us. They couldn't be taking him away from me, not while he was so close.
"This isn't the place," Elijah muttered darkly at me, grabbing Zed's arm as the elevator doors opened again. "Stay close." Dazed and nauseous, I somehow managed to focus myself to follow him out of the elevator.
Nothing seemed different in the lobby, but I wasn't really paying attention. Elijah kept glowering around the room, like he was daring someone to stop him, as he dragged Zed through the lobby as quickly as possible with me trailing behind, forcing my legs to keep moving. The moment we were outside, Elijah bundled Zed into the passenger seat of the burgundy car we'd arrived in and opened the back door. "In," he snapped at me and I hauled myself inside.
"Zed," I gulped.
He tensed, locking his jaw. "Stop talking," he snarled through his teeth, and my heart sank. Eyes burning with tears, I slouched back into my seat as Elijah jumped into the car and immediately raced away from the casino.
For a second, there was complete silence. Then Elijah shot me a pitiful look in the rear-view mirror. "We'll fix it," he muttered.
I didn't believe him. I'd been here before. This sort of thing couldn't be fix. The Kellys had made Zed believe he'd kill me. He couldn't even hear me talk, let alone look at me anymore. How could that be fixed?
They'd broken him. Finally, Matthews had successfully taken everything from me. There was nothing left to fix.