Loyalty Read online

  ERA’s town car angled in with a screech.

  We’d been waiting alongside their private jet, cloaked in its shadow beneath the baking sun, for nearly fifteen minutes now. It wasn’t like them to be late—and emitting worry.

  Gail, my frizzy-haired cousin, got out and slammed the door. The huffy entrance was nothing new, but her air lacked its usual arrogance. Instead, she’d arrived disheveled and pale, storming across the strip with a chip on her shoulder.

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” she called, jabbing a finger in our direction. “I am not in the mood to deal with problems today. We’ll go in, recruit the guy, and come home. No screw-ups.”

  Rena bristled at my side, like a cat leaning back on its haunches.

  “Easy,” I muttered, reaching down to thread our fingers together. “A few hours, and it’ll be over for today.”

  Maverick got out of the passenger side and jogged to catch up, his easy smile subdued.

  “Wallace.” He tipped his head in greeting. “Cole…”

  For a fraction of a second, his eyes narrowed at Rena. “Nut-hater.”

  “One time!” she exclaimed, gesturing below his belt. “Unless your balls are hanging by a thread, I suggest you get over it.”

  Cole snickered and headed for the air stairs. “All right, kids. Shall we get this over with?”

  Gail turned up her nose. “You don’t think you’re taking that thing on our plane, do you?”

  Here we go… I shifted my weight, bracing for Cole’s inevitable tirade.

  “This thing is Frank Bacon.”

  “I don’t care if he’s Frank Sinatra. This flight is for authorized individuals only.”

  Cole’s gaze turned cagey. “Don’t you dare talk about Frank Sinatra!”

  Rena pressed her head against my arm, muttering, “Everyone we know is insane…”

  I grunted in agreement.

  “Just get on the plane,” Gail ordered him, pointing an impatient finger at the doorway. “One of the workers will tend to your slaughterhouse reject until we return.”

  Cole covered the pig’s ears in horror. “You’re hurting his feelings.”

  “I’ll hurt more than that if you don’t get on the damn plane. Or shall I take over and send you there myself?”

  There she went again, playing her Dynari card. She had mentally manipulated all of us at one point or another, assuming control of our bodies, so the threat was typically enough to prompt action. Douchey thing to do, though.

  “Watch it, Frizzhead.”

  “Or what?”

  He pointed down at his foot. “This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home…”

  Oh God.

  “And this little piggy”—he held up Frank Bacon—”will break into your house and piss on your face while you’re sleeping. So, back off.”

  She sneered and pushed past him to board. “Just keep it away from me.”

  Maverick followed suit like an obedient dog, barely suppressing a chuckle as he passed us.

  Rena nudged my side. “Shouldn’t Faye be here?”

  “I thought so,” I admitted, gesturing for her to go before me. “Maybe she had another hotshot meeting.”

  “Or maybe she’s arranging for us all to die together.”

  “My fiancée, the optimist.”

  “Just keep your guard up.” She poked her tongue out and grabbed the handrail. “You may have to channel your inner Superman.”

  Great. No pressure.

  ~

  The flight to Florida felt longer than it was.

  Aside from Cole trying to train his pig to bite Gail, ambient sounds were the only ones filling the cabin for two hours. Rena read a magazine, and I sat braced for the attack she’d planted in my brain—the attack that never came. I was almost disappointed.

  Maybe it could’ve all been over with.

  It was funny, really. A year ago, I would’ve done anything to avoid a physical confrontation—especially where “family” was concerned—but things had changed. ERA had begun to alter the human landscape, chipping away at flaws and limitations until their test subjects were unrecognizable. They gathered them at undisclosed locations and left their families needlessly bereft.

  And for what? To take a crack at making a utopia? I’m for peace as much as the next guy, but not like this. Their perfect society is a sick facade, a puppet show for Faye’s satisfaction. I get that she was traumatized overseas, but this is going too far. People are dying so others can become living experi—

  Rena kissed me.

  I blinked as she took my hand and led me down the narrow aisle, following the others out. “If you get to internalize, I get to interrupt.”

  A ghost of a smile pulled at my lips. “I’ve heard that somewhere before.”

  We got off the plane and crammed into a rental car. Its plush interior, decked out with every imaginable upgrade, did little to make the ride comfortable. Heat poured through the windows and hung thick in the air. Every time Cole shifted on the other end of the back seat, it created a domino effect that ended with Rena’s elbow in my ribs. Not to mention the smell of my nephew’s pellet lunch…

  “Now remember,” Gail’s harsh voice cut through the silence as she stared Rena down in the rearview mirror. “I do the talking. If he consents, you are of no use; if he refuses, you boost my powers. One way or another, Vladimir Radic is coming with us. His ability is too valuable to leave unutilized.”

  “And what ability would that be, again?” I asked, hoping to catch her off guard. Even though we constituted a supposedly integral part of this operation, we’d been kept in the dark. Faye said information was an earned privilege and Rena’s progress—or lack thereof—hadn’t improved our standing.

  “You’ll see,” was all Gail said as she hooked a sharp left onto a street lined with palm trees.

  It wasn’t a ritzy area by any means. More like a line of shacks for seniors who’d moved south with nothing but Social Security. Residents knelt in squared off yards, tending to their flowerbeds without the slightest clue as to the madness that had just rolled into town.

  “Ten bucks says it’s the one story Mediterranean,” Cole muttered, nodding toward a blue house a few doors down. “Only place on this block without a living yard gnome out front.”

  Rena snickered. “Still watching House Hunters, AssCole?”

  “Shut up.” He glowered out the window and crossed his arms.

  As it turned out, he’d been right. Gail parked on the street and marched up the sidewalk like she was pinching a quarter between her butt cheeks. Something was off about that girl—more so than usual. Her emotions kept flickering between worry, anger, and hardboiled determination.

  I hung back with Maverick and nodded in her direction while she rushed ahead to knock. “She okay?”

  He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, she’s just taking this grandfather thing hard. You know how she is. Likes to control everything.”

  Grandfather thing? I didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, but if I admitted it, he’d clam up.

  “She shouldn’t stress,” Rena cut in, slipping between us. “There was nothing she could have done, right?”

  Maverick nodded and shoved his hands down in his pockets. “Yeah, it’s not like we knew it’d happen this fast. Freakin’ animals.”

  When he focused his attention on the door, I quirked an eyebrow at my fiancée.

  Rena shrugged. She didn’t have a clue either.

  The door cracked open on Gail’s third knock, revealing a door chain and a suspicious eye. “Can I help you?”

  “Vladimir?” Gail’s usual sneer had turned into a robotic smile.

  “Yes?”

  “It’s so good to finally meet you!” she gushed and opened her arms. “I’m your cousin, Gail, from Ohio. Did you get my messages?”

  Confusion. Panic…

  Something told me this guy was hiding from the cops or he’d had a heads-up on the operation. Either way
, things were about to get interesting.

  “R-Right.” His expression didn’t change. “Um, hold on a second…”

  He shut the door, and something shuffled behind it. A second later, another door creaked open around back.

  He’s making a run for it.

  I debated letting him go just to see the look on Gail’s face, but I knew it wouldn’t bode well to leave this guy thinking we were the enemy. If we caught up to him first, we could try to explain the situation before things escalated.

  “Cole,” I nudged my brother and flicked my gaze to the side yard.

  He nodded, serious now, and passed off his pig before disappearing.

  Squuuuuuuuuuuuuuueal!

  Gail spun at the sound, her gaze sharper than ever. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re handling it.” And we need a head start.

  “I’m sure.” She pursed her lips and shoved past Rena. “Come, Maverick!”

  He ran to catch up and they made for the rotting wooden fence alongside the house.

  “Wait!” Rena tore after them.

  I groaned and tucked the pig under my arm like a football, chasing after her. When I rounded the corner, the scene was almost comical. Almost. Maverick stood on the other side of the fence, trying to help Gail over, and Rena had just flung herself over the edge like an American Gladiator. I considered trying to scale the posts one-handed, but the situation dictated I make up time. Fast.

  A well-placed kick sent boards flying. Thank God for tall trees and shade. I ran across the yard to find Cole on top of the guy from a rough tackle. He palmed the back of his head against the grass and bent to whisper what I could only assume to be a speed-explanation.

  Gail rushed to crouch down beside them, panting and livid enough to generate her own hair-frizzing static. “Care to explain, Mr. Radic?”

  Vlad spit.

  She recoiled and pounced just as quickly. “How dare you! Do you know who I am?”

  “I know enough,” he grunted. “Why you think I move here? I want nothing to do with either group.”

  Either group?

  He bucked and managed to throw Cole off his back, giving us our first real look at him. Buzzed Mohawk, piercing eyes, olive skin—scratch that. Glowing skin. “I suggest you people leave before we make a scene my neighbors won’t forget.”

  “Shit, man!” Cole wailed, staring at his reddened hands. “You burned me.”

  Vlad’s nostrils flared. “I gave warning, speedster.”

  “I’m just the hired help! Damn.”

  “Rena.” Gail’s voice rang out, her unspoken command clear.

  My beautiful girl stiffened with nerves, her performance anxieties returning full force. To her credit, she managed a curt nod before she shut her eyes and let out a centering breath. It was a process I’d seen hundreds of times already. Training with Faye every other afternoon, repeating that instruction with Cole every other night. Her ability had manifested itself here and there, but she had yet to master it—and for that, we both suffered.

  Acid churned in my stomach, synchronizing with the payment her body demanded in exchange for power. It taxed her to the brink every time, sometimes worse than when she shared my abilities. I couldn’t stand it. Had Faye taught her this way on purpose?

  Rena’s eyes shot open, flickering between their normal green and a golden light so intense I had to turn away. Waves of Augari power fluxed the atmosphere, searching for a host, ready to turn the tides of battle.

  Gail took that as her cue and her eyes ignited with a glow of their own. Cerulean. She thrust clutching hands toward Vlad with a giddy sort of madness twisting her lips. “You may wish to rethink your decision.”

  A bead of sweat trailed from Rena’s temple as she looked on with unseeing eyes.

  Shit. I knew she wasn’t ready for this. What am I supposed to do now?

  A flame burst from Vlad’s open palm. “You think you scare me, kuja?”

  “Hey, hey…” I held a hand up. “No need for that. C’mon, it’s not worth exposure, is it?”

  Stares.

  The pig squirmed as Cole took him out from under my arm, but I didn’t risk a glance in their direction. I had to keep the upper hand here. Play the negotiator. “I’m serious.”

  “I suppose you have a point,” Gail finally consented, her expression softening. “Nothing flashy will suffice in these close quarters. A more subtle approach is needed.”

  Before I could respond, something came over me—and I lunged for Vlad.

  CHAPTER 3

  « COLE »

  I could’ve intercepted my possessed twin, but really, I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that. Plus, this asshat Vlad had just burned me. I wasn’t in a hurry to do him any favors. So, I put on my horrified bystander face and covered Frank Bacon’s eyes.

  The earth shuddered from impact. Seriously, lions would’ve cringed at that collision. Vlad was built, but Wallace was…well, Wallace. He drove the dude so hard into the ground they made tracks in the grass.

  And Sis collapsed.

  “Shit.” I flashed to her side and put Frank Bacon on the ground. “You okay?”

  “I can’t keep it…” Her voice was small, trembling.

  I squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. You did good.”

  Good, being a loose term, but whatever. We’d been practicing her Augari moves one-on-one for a few weeks now, since I’m the fastest healer in the group, but she hadn’t made much progress. Faye had taught her to manifest her augmenting power on demand, but it was still raw. Uncontrollable. One of these times, she was going to hurt herself.

  I hated that we had to push her, I honestly did, but she was our only hope. ERA had contingencies for outright attack, and Faye had the ability to recover from any physical injury. The only way we were going to win this fight was through deception. We’d get close, lull them into a false sense of security, and then fry them doing exactly what we were being paid for.

  That was the one piece of the puzzle the crazies were missing. Our Uncle Henry had slipped us our dead great-great-grandma’s journal a few months ago and told us to hide it from Faye—with good reason. Aside from firsthand accounts of all three races and the Nexus, it also made note of an incident involving the Augari.

  Like a balloon being inflated with helium, a Dynari can only contain so much power. If the supplying Augari loses control, the surge can kill you. On the spot. Faye wasn’t privy to that information when she leveraged Rena into supercharging her goon squad. She didn’t realize she was signing her own death certifi—

  “Wallace…” Rena grasped at the blades of grass, straining to see beyond the power flickering out in her eyes.

  “He’s okay,” I assured her. “Hold on to the piggy. I’ll be right back.”

  My accelerated thought process had only set me back a second or two after Wallace pinned Vlad to the ground. Gail was still using him as an anchor—and an oven mitt. It felt weird to call another dude hot, but such was the case. Vlad had fire in his veins.

  “All right, all right, he’s down.” I jumped up and grabbed my brother’s arm. “Snap out of it.”

  Wallace growled, baring his teeth in a mixture of pain and frustration. The smell of charring flesh tinged the salty air, and it hit me. He couldn’t let go.

  “Gail, come on.” My pride wouldn’t let me acknowledge the urgency I’d heard in my own voice. “Get him off.”

  Her brows pinched as she concentrated, keeping Wallace framed in her outstretched hands. “If we don’t break this one now, he’ll only cause problems later. He must submit.”

  Wallace’s shaking arm pulled back.

  Shit. Start a war by punching a chick who happens to be my enemy-slash-cousin, or try to get between Wallace and Flame-o. Decisions, deci—

  “You…” Rena staggered to her feet, chest heaving. “You have no right, Gail.”

  “Bill me,” was Frizzhead’s snippy retort.

  Ah, hell.

  The domino
s tumbled one after another. Rena sucker-punched Gail, Maverick ripped her back from his girlfriend, and Vlad set Wallace’s shirt ablaze. Going with the most pressing issue first, I dove for my burning brother.

  With the mind hijacker distracted, her hold had lessened. Wallace was nearly lucid now, fighting with everything he had to regain control while I beat at the stinging flames.

  Vlad took that opportunity to struggle for freedom, so I drove my elbow down onto his nose. Crunch!

  “You know what, crazypants?” I barked over his curses. “I’m just about done with this fire shit. Either you cool it, or you’re gonna find yourself on the wrong side of the line when things go south here.”

  “How can I trust you?” he demanded, eyes crazed. “How can I trust any of you? They took my daughter. You come for me.”

  “Who is they?” I beat Wallace’s back until the burnt shreds of cloth gave way to expose reddened skin. I’d gotten to him fast, so I knew the burns weren’t severe, but it was going to be one hell of a ride home.

  Vlad jerked his chin to the side, smug in his fire retardant clothing. “I answer no questions for thugs.”

  “Then it’s lights out, asshole.” A shot to the temple rendered our poached prospect unconscious in a pool of nose blood.

  I took a quick reevaluation of our surroundings and found Maverick and Rena rolling around on the grass. He had size on her, for sure, but she was scrappy as hell. Every time he’d pin her down, she’d flail until she struck something and then wriggle out from under him. And this was after getting drained by the Augari work. Respect, Sis.

  “I’ve got a lock,” Gail hissed, on her hands and knees beside them. “Do it!”

  Of course, Wallace chose that moment to come to. He groaned, and I took a split second to glance at him—mistake. In my peripheral, Maverick snatched the collar of Rena’s shirt, shoved her back, and then jerked her toward his ducked head.

  Before I could scramble off of my own dog pile, they connected. Her head lolled, and I caught a sliver of Gail’s manipulative light before Rena’s eyes rolled back. Knocked out.

  My blood boiled.

  “What are you people waiting for?” Gail straightened her clothes and wiped a crimson streak from the corner of her mouth. “Let’s move!”