The Daughter Trilogy Bundle Page 13

  "Positive. She was adopted - legally - and they are all completely-"

  He stops before finishing his sentence, and his eyes speak to her.

  This is infuriating.

  "Well. A legal adoption does snuff out that hypothesis. I don't know what to tell you. It's possible I've missed something. Give me a minute to regroup, and I'll get back with you."

  Devin releases me completely and walks to his bedroom while smearing around the exasperation cloaking his face. Ther and the man I'm assuming is Devin's father walk down the long hallway. His mother goes into the guest bathroom, leaving Kry alone with me.

  "Hey. Is there anything to drink besides scotch?" I ask quietly.

  "Yeah, I think so. He has an excellent selection of wine in the back."

  I smile appreciatively while feigning the damsel in distress act.

  "Wine would be great," I say softly.

  "I'll get you some."

  He jumps up, and as soon as he disappears around the corner, I walk in complete silence to the elevator. I know I have to get the doors shut quickly after it dings. They'll hear it.

  I don't know who or what they are, but I'm sick of the guessing game. I'm not going to continue being anyone's captive.

  The door dings, and I shoot inside and hit the lobby button over and over with my frantic fingers.

  Devin flashes out of the bedroom with lightning quick speed, and I get sick when I see the craziness with my own eyes. The doors shut, and they dent in as he pounds against them a split second too late.

  I scream and leap backwards, watching in disbelief as the doors start to be pulled open, but the elevator descends before he can pry his way in.

  "Don't jump, son. That elevator will collapse if you do," a man's voice says from above as the elevator tries to whisk me away.

  That has to be his dad. He's the only one I never heard speak.

  "The stairs! Take the stairs," Devin yells.

  "Watch your speed. Don't let the mortals see it," his mother says.

  Oh fuck!

  I stick the phone I just stole in my back pocket, and my trembling hands rifle through the stolen wallet. There's five hundred dollars in cash. That should be enough to persuade a cab to take me somewhere far away.

  I shove the wallet in my other back pocket as I swallow hard against the trembling knot in my throat. I'm grateful Devin dumped his pockets on the coffee table.

  The door dings, and I pull out the phone to pretend as if I'm talking on it so that I'm not approachable or suspicious. Please don't ring. Please don't ring.

  "Yeah. Sounds great. Oh, you crazy girl, when did you do that?" I mock.

  It works. The doorman holds the door for me and tips his hat rather than trying to engage in conversation. I turn the corner and break out into a dead sprint.

  I don't see a single taxi anywhere, and I thought New York was supposed to be loaded with them. I don't have time to stand around looking either. By now, Devin isn't too far behind me.

  I rush through the crowds of people littering the streets. Everyone yells profanities at me as I bump, collide, and rub against them.

  I don't have time to be courteous. These people are fucking crazy, and there's something supernaturally fucked up going on.

  I can feel eyes on me, and I know there's someone chasing me. I run faster, knocking people out of my way. I turn to look behind me, but I don't see anyone. When I turn back around, I hit a wall, but when I look up, I see the wall that has just knocked me on my ass is actually a man.

  His face is etched with danger, and his eyes glower at me with a threatening gaze.

  "Sorry," I mumble. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

  "Alexius Smith?" he asks.

  Really? Devin sent this man this quick?

  "No. Sorry. You must be thinking of someone else," I mutter innocently.

  I stand up and start walking around him in a very casual manner. As I pass him, his hand clamps around my mouth, and he swirls me into an alley.

  The night has already started to descend on us, the twilight offering little promise of someone seeing me, and my screams are silenced by his hand subbing as a lid.

  He throws me onto the alley ground, and the loud cars honking mask my screams that finally find a way out.

  A few more join us in the alley, and I can tell they're with him by their snarling sounds and dangerous eyes.

  "Please don't do this," I cry. "I promise I won't say anything about what I saw."

  "What did you see?" the guy asks curiously.

  "Nothing. I swear. I didn't see anything," I cry louder.

  He smirks as he picks me up by my throat and launches me across the alley into the back wall. I thud off of it and collapse to the ground, my bones crunching, the air leaving my lungs, and the tang of blood filling my mouth.

  Holy fucking shit. I've never been in so much pain. It aches on levels I never thought possible. The excruciating pain rips through me, shredding me from the inside, and my pain gurgles out in the form of blood.

  "Ah hell, Shane. You probably just broke every bone in her body. He's not going to come after a dead girl," one girl says with a wicked, ominous tone.

  Dead girl? He's not going to come after me? Devin?

  The vicious brute doesn't acknowledge the girl's exasperated comment. His eyes burn against mine as he glares at me, his image blurred by the abundant tears pouring from my eyes.

  "You've been a hard girl to track down. Many girls by the name Alexius Smith have died in our search for you. It's almost as if you don't exist. We finally found your boyfriend's home. We knew we'd get you sooner or later," Shane says.

  "What do you want from me?" I cough out, blood falling from my mouth, while I attempt to rise up a little. It's pointless though. It's too painful, and I'm fairly positive my fucking legs are broken.

  "From you? Nothing. From Devin Cole? Everything. Do you know the man behind the persona, or do you only know the mortal version?" he asks curiously.

  Mortal version? This really is some kind of fucked up supernatural shit.

  "The only thing I know is that we broke up. I just came to get the last of my stuff, but he had already burned it. I ran off crying when he told me he never wanted to see me again," I lie.

  They all smile at me as if they know I'm full of shit. Fucking pathetic poker face.

  "Pick her up and put her in the car. He'll come for her. She finally got a view of the man behind the mask, and now he's going to be desperate to find her. If she's infected, he knows he doesn't have long before she's dead. Then, we'll have him."

  No. They can't have him. They can't use me to get him.

  They start walking toward me with their eerie grins, and I feel something inside of me burning, stirring, and taking me over. The wind around me stirs violently, and the clouds crackle with thunder as the rain starts to pour.

  I feel my eyes burning with a light I can feel more than I can see.

  "She's a fucking-"

  "No. It's impossible," another interrupts.

  Before anything can get started, Devin drops down from the rooftop above me, Kry quickly joining with a thud as his feet clap the ground.

  "No," I cry out when I see the man I desperately tried to escape. Now I just want him out... safe.

  These demons want him, but he doesn't know it.

  "Adisia!" Devin panics as he flashes to my side too fast for my eyes to follow.

  His eyes move up and down my destroyed body. So many of my bones are broken, and I can see my leg almost disjoined from its place as it juts out in an unnatural position.

  "You just fucked up," Devin growls to the group of savages, and then he looks up when he's startled by the brewing storm above growing stronger.

  The rain pounds down and I can feel my bones snapping back into place on their own. I feel the strength inside me burning with more intensity as I climb to my feet. My eyes burn with fury as the demonic crew glare at me, ready to tear me apart.

  "Get her out of h
ere," Devin yells to Kry, but a streak of lightning crashes in front of us, and one of the men is blown back from the unexpected jolt.

  Devin looks at me, and his eyes widen in pure shock as his mouth claps open and shut in the same astonishment.

  Kry screams out as my first attacker, Shane, charges toward us, and Devin turns to throw his arms out. It all plays out in slow motion as the air ripples, and the man goes sailing backwards.

  The girl throws her whip free that sparks into a blaze. She slices it toward us, but it misses and gashes the pavement below, leaving a trail of fire despite the torrential downpour.

  Devin spins through the air and kicks her in the chest. I hear the breath grunt out of her lungs, and she flies into the building behind her. Chunks of the bricks crumble to the ground behind her collapse.

  Kry whips out three circular blades and flings them at our attackers. All three slice through the chest of one of the men, and he drops lifelessly to the ground.

  "Go. We have to go!" One of them screams before they start turning to retreat.

  The one who tried to crush me glares at me one last time before turning to run while holding his wounded side.

  Devin slowly turns to meet my thundering eyes, and he motions for Kry to take a step back.

  "Adisia, I need you to calm down right now. You'll rip these buildings apart if you don't. Listen to my voice. Calm down, baby, calm down."

  His soothing voice is laced with fear. He's afraid of me? What am I doing?

  I feel so much energy coursing through me, and I can't control it. I feel my body growing tired and weak from the force exuding from me.

  The thunder lessens, and the torrential downpour slows into a sudden drizzle. Devin is approaching me like I'm a cornered, rabid animal. I do feel like a savage beast ready to pounce, but there's nothing to pounce on anymore. I don't know what beast has awoken within me, but it feels good.

  "Calm down," he coos, and the winds calm a little more.

  His hands cup my cheeks, and a whole new burning takes over. I feel the rush of a thousand fires colliding with a tidal wave while an electrical storm strikes the middle of it all.

  He jerks back, and stares at his hands as if he just felt it too.

  "Fuck!" he gasps.

  "What?" Kry panics.

  "I don't know. I have no idea what just happened. I've never felt anything like it," Devin says in shock, and I smirk a little as I feel the world around me climbing into my palm.

  "Fuck. We need to calm her down before it all picks back up," Kry growls.

  Car horns start sounding off, men and women begin falling into each other's arms as though they're entering a torrid affair, birds flock in a blur creating black clouds in the dark sky, and the breath of the earth blows against my face to carry me its blessings.

  Cars begin flying into the air on the wings of my hellacious winds. My winds. My deliciously powerful winds.

  It's intoxicating, spellbinding, and it feels so seductively incredible.

  Devin takes a deep breath and scoops me up.

  "I've got you, baby. Just try to fight it, please. You'll destroy this place if you don't."

  His lips fold over mine, and I blink over and over until my mind finally returns. I push him back from me, and then I look around frantically at the chaos I think I evoked.

  But how? How could I have done that?

  Cars drop into place, alarms sounding out in unison as they crash to the ground.

  Devin looks down at me, fear and worry etching his swirling beauties, as he carries me away.

  "Damn. We have to figure this shit out quick," he mumbles as he looks back to Kry.

  "Yeah, you think?" he asks with rhetorical sarcasm. "She barely stopped before crumbling five buildings without even meaning to. I'm pretty freaking sure she's not infected."

  "What's he talking about?" I ask with a dry mouth while my lazy eyes try to shut.

  "Shut up before you get her worked up," Devin snaps at Kry.

  "Mr. Cole, is every thing okay?" the soaked doorman asks when we reach the front of the apartment building once more.

  "It's fine," Devin says dismissively as he walks through the door while still carrying my trembling body.

  The elevator opens shortly after we reach it and, he kisses my forehead. His lips bring me back to a wonderful warmth. I can taste the desire playing freely inside my mouth, and the delicious taste of power harnessing it with ease.

  My body heats with the passionate blaze that is magnified to the nth degree now. The elevator rattles as my body gets even hotter.

  "Fuck. Put her down. You're the one working her up. You're her fucking trigger." Kry panics.

  "That's impossible," Devin murmurs softly while putting me down. "You know it doesn't work that way."

  My body is completely healed, but my legs wobble beneath me as the lights in the elevator brighten to a blinding glare before bursting.

  "Damn it. What is she?" Kry gushes.

  "I don't know. Her parents are a mystery. Nothing like this has ever happened before. She shouldn't be so… well, strong for one."

  "Why are you acting scared of me?" I ask with a pout, and I feel so drunk right now.

  "No, baby. I'm not scared. I'm just worried about you. I kissed your head and the elevator felt like it was about to plummet. I need to find out what's going on."

  I frown like a sulking child. I'm starting to wonder if I devoured a bottle of liquor without remembering it.

  "Where are we going?" I ask dizzily while grabbing the wall to steady myself.

  "She's almost incoherent. A bad dream could set her off in this state. We need to get her out of here before something happens," Kry grumbles.

  I turn around to see Devin tightening his lips. The elevator doors open, and he scoops me back up despite the disapproving eyes of Kry.

  His mother is standing in the foyer waiting on us, her own concern displayed on her far too pristine face.

  "Oh thank goodness. What the hell is going on out there? I saw a crazy flash storm, and then I heard a loud ruckus."

  Devin swallows hard as he lays me on the couch.

  "She's one of us. She just changed. We have to get her to a safe house. There were men out there looking for me. I could hear them long before I could see them. I'm blind with her, and I'm blind with them. I don't know what she might do in this state."

  "She can't be one of us. Her adoptive parents are legal mortals," she mutters dismissively.

  "I saw it. She called to the skies, and she got one hell of an answer," Devin says with a streak of terror.

  "The skies? She called to the skies? That's impossible. That power has been dormant for centuries."

  This all sounds like some jumbled up load of crazy to me. It's as if they're speaking another language.

  "Please stop talking about me like I'm not sitting right here," I say while slumping down in my fully weakened state.

  Devin frowns and joins me on the couch. He wraps his arms around me, and I try to fight his perfect body touching mine. The clouds outside start swirling in the night sky, and the thunder crackles its presence.

  "Son, let her go," his mother says warningly.

  He looks out the window and slowly releases me. The clouds gently start to disappear the second he does.

  She lowers to her knees in front of me and speaks so gently.

  "Adisia? I need to know what exactly triggered this first episode."

  I roll my eyes as I cross my arms.

  "I don't know what you're talking about. I want to go home. This is all too much," I slur slightly, the drunkenness reaching a new level.

  The rain starts a slow drizzle as the clouds form once more.

  "Don't make her mad," Ther says in a whisper.

  She flashes him a disapproving glare, and then turns her attention back to me.

  "Please, Adisia, I just need to know what made you call to the skies."

  My anger eases slightly, and the rain flows a little lighter.


  "I don't know what 'call to the skies' you're talking about. The guy said he wanted to use me to get to Devin. The next thing I know, the storm clouds sprang up. I didn't call anything," I mumble.

  "Oh dear," she says with panic.

  Devin's eyes are wide as if I've said something terrible.

  "She didn't call? The skies just opened up to her?" he asks in disbelief.

  "Her protectiveness sparked this. Her feelings toward you invited the change. This is completely unorthodox and incredibly dangerous. Let's go ahead and move her while we still can."

  "I'm not going anywhere but home. Take me there now," I demand while tilting to the side that feels the heaviest in my unbalanced state.

  The lightning outside the window strikes the ground, and I hear screams erupting from the streets that should be too far away for me to hear. The thunder roars its frustration louder, and I feel a burning inside me that seems to be making the men in the room sway - with the exception of Devin.

  "Oh no. The skies are responding to her emotions more and more. I’ve never seen this. You have to talk to her," his mother beckons.

  He turns to me and takes a deep breath as if he's preparing to lecture a child.

  "Adisia, I know this is all beyond crazy, but you have to trust me. I know I have no right to ask you to do such a thing, but I'm begging you."

  I feel the storm brewing inside of me more vigorously as I stare drunkenly into his eyes. I feel the air in me being sucked from my lungs. The dancing shadows cloud in my eyes as I feel myself falling… falling… falling.

  Chapter 8

  The Dawning of New Life

  My eyes bat gingerly as they slowly open to the inside of a car. There's a slow, classical medley playing softly in the background to evoke a calm.

  I feel the warmth of the body I'm propped against, and I grimace when I realize who it belongs to.

  I slowly rise from Devin's arms, and he straightens up as I do. The night is almost turning to day. I look around to the numerous trees lining the two-lane road, and I feel the aching headache tumbling in a downward spiral, forcing me to clutch the weighted thing on my shoulders.

  "Hey, you okay?" he whispers, sparing my throbbing head.