Chapter Three

Raji slammed the door closed again just as the second bullet tore through the room. Sage wasted no time dragging over the desk to brace against the door, while Merri glanced around. Everyone looked unhurt, though Gen gave her a look of annoyance.

“You're getting rusty.”

Although Merri tried to maintain her composure, she prickled at the insult. “How about when we're sure we're not going to die, you go fuck yourself.”

Gen sighed as she gazed at the door, still looking wholly unbothered by everything. “At least Michael acted as a shield all the time and got shot in place of us. Cade hasn’t done that yet.”

“Back door,” Sage called, abandoning the barricade. She threw back the curtains again and slid open the door to the balcony just as the main door opened an inch and struck the desk. The woman on the other side slammed the door against the desk again, which in turn scraped on the floor.

“That's not going to hold it,” Gen said.

“Duh, Genevieve,” Merri snapped back. She turned and joined Sage at the balcony door, burst outside, and looked down. How the hell were they going to get down there? Sage? Sure. And apparently Raji could maybe do it too. But Merri sure as hell wasn't about to hang over the edge and she wasn't sure Gen would be convinced to either. Her grip tightened on the railing to the point that her knuckles went white.

The door struck the desk again. Merri's throat constricted with worry.

“Go back and get the gun out of the closet,” Sage said. Merri met her eyes to find desperation in their depths.

“I don't have time to find and load a gun—”

“I'll give you time. But we're not all going to get out this way, and Aikido won't exactly dodge a bullet, regardless of what you see in movies.”

She doesn’t seem to get what I even know about guns, Merri thought. The first time she used one against the Brethren, it had been because she knew Michael kept one loaded in his room and a year ago at the farmhouse, he’d once again given her one directly. She did target practice with a BB gun as a kid along with her brother Jay, but that was a whole lot different than what she faced now.

“You can do it?” Sage prompted again.

Gravely, Merri nodded and she and Sage pushed past the others, back into the hotel room.

“Raj, go out the balcony, get the car, and bring it around the back of the hotel,” Merri said. He looked ready to argue until she shot him a glare.

Sage went ahead to the desk, ducked down, and braced herself against it. Wasting none of the precious seconds they had, Merri ran to the closet and pulled out the heavy suitcase. She vaguely recognized a few handguns and semi-automatics. All had silencers. After grabbing one, she snatched up a clip and eventually fumbled it into place.

The noise at the door stopped. Both girls froze and looked toward the door, which had ceased moving. Sage sat frozen, back against the desk, gaze going to Merri’s as if she could explain.

The door suddenly smacked the desk one last time, this time with enough force to knock Sage into the wall. Merri barely had a few moments to scramble around the corner before a pair of silenced bullets went her way. She blindly fired at the woman, then breathlessly ducked back to aware the returning fire.

If I get out of this, Michael is helping me with target practice.

Sage was possibly knocked out. Merri glanced around, but couldn’t see Gen. Great, so just a seer who wasn’t seeing anything and a gun. And she didn’t know how many bullets were left.

God, I wish Michael was here. But wishing wouldn’t get them anywhere. He wasn’t about to show up suddenly as back-up...and neither would Cade, since—per Gen’s insistence—they hadn’t told him.

Shadows played across the floor. The woman—who must be Alex Gardner—must have been drawing nearer. Merri’s fingers tightened on the grip of the gun. Please let us get out of this.

Gardner appeared around the corner. Dressed in a dark brown suit, she looked more like an accountant than an assassin. But her cold dark eyes settled on Merri’s, and the seer felt a shiver come over her. This woman was a killer—no doubt about it.

Merri pointed the gun upwards. As she did, her gaze met the barrel of her opponent’s gun as well.

Merri squeezed the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Gardner smiled.

Merri swallowed hard and blindly threw the gun, but the assailant barely blinked.

Please don’t let her have any bullets left either...

Suddenly, Gardner’s eyes grew huge. Lips parted, but no words came out. She took a step backward on unsteady legs.

Something’s wrong... Merri glanced around.

Gen stood in the doorway of the bathroom, blue eyes on the woman. She whispered something in a low voice and Merri couldn’t make out the words.

And I’m not sure I want to.

Genevieve stalked forward with a strange sort of confidence and calculation to her movement. Gardner stepped back. Her mouth opened wider, perhaps to scream, perhaps to cough, but nothing happened.

She can’t breathe…

The gun slipped from Gardner’s grasp. Merri scrambled forward, grabbed it, and then backed out of the way.

“I’ve got the gun,” Merri said. “We can question her now. Gen?”

But Gen didn’t listen. She continued whispering the words of her spell, eyes intently staring at the target.

“Gen!” Merri shouted, but her friend didn’t blink. Merri’s gaze went back to the woman who had shot at them. Her hands flew to her throat, and she gasped for breath. Fingernails scratched at her neck, eyes bulging, as she tried to scream. Her knees gave out next and she fell onto the carpet. Although Merri didn’t have much sympathy for someone who had been shooting at them, there was something altogether disturbing about it. She wanted to rise, to shake Gen out of it, but fear cautioned her. She didn’t know what would happen if she got between Gen and her target. Merri could do nothing but watch helplessly as the woman slumped down and ceased all movement.

Genevieve blinked a few times, and then crumpled to the floor.

A few beats of silenced passed before Merri rose with caution and approached her.

“Gen?” She reached down to touch her friend’s shoulder. “Are you—”

“Back off,” Gen hissed, a touch of venom to her voice. She stood suddenly and walked out the front door without sparing a glance behind her.

Meredith moved to Sage next. A few bruises dotted her forehead, and a nasty gash ran across her temple. As Merri felt her throat, Sage’s eyes fluttered open.

She’s still alive…thank god.

“Someone would have heard all that.”

Merri looked up to see Gen back in the room standing over them. “Yeah, I noticed.” She slung Sage’s arm over her shoulder and helped the other girl to her feet. “I’ll meet you down there.”

Gen left without another word.

“What happened?” Sage asked as she stood unsteadily. Her gaze trailed to the body.

“I’ll tell you in the car,” Merri said grimly.

Gen led the way out, then walked far head of them. They moved toward the back door and exited outside, where Raji had his car ready. Gen took the front and sirens sounded in the distance as Merri and Sage piled into the back of the Pontiac.

“Where am I driving to?” Raji asked, gaze darting among all of them.

“Sage should go to a hospital,” Merri said.

“I’m fine—”

“Hospital then?” Raji said.

“No,” Sage insisted.

“Cade’s,” Merri said. When they got there, he pulled up at the front.

Gen got out, but paused when she saw Merri and Sage remained in the vehicle. “What—”

“You’re going to tell Cade what happened,” Merri said. “We’re going to the hospital.”

Gen looked ready to argue, but she said nothing and slammed the door behind her.

“So, Newhaven General then?” Raji said as he watched Gen storm away. “You’ll have to give me directions—”

“No,” Sage said. “Let me go—”

“You need to get checked out,” Merri said. “Raj, can you take us back to my place? There’s a first aid kit there.”

The car was silent on the way back to Michael and Merri’s. As they turned onto the block where the house was, disappointment filled her at the sight of an empty driveway. So no Michael, yet. She had hoped he’d be there to help check Sage over.

As Raji’s car came to a halt, Merri leaned forward. “Please don’t tell Thad about tonight. I don’t want him to worry.”

“No prob. I’d kinda like to forget this too, except to recall the valuable lesson of never doing this again.”

“And don’t tell Gen we came back here,” Merri said. Though Michael wasn’t home, she didn’t need Genevieve blabbing to Cade about him possibly being around.

Raji nodded. He may not like the idea of keeping something from Gen, but he looked a little shook up and seemed to accept whatever Merri told him.

“Why can’t I just go home?” Sage asked as Merri tugged her out of the car and towards the front door.

“Because a. your mom would freak if she saw you like this, and b. I don’t want you to die of a concussion.”

Once inside, she dragged Sage to the bathroom and dug out the first aid kit. I’m so fucking glad Michael keeps this thing well stocked.

Sage got a good look at herself in the mirror and frowned. “Okay, that looks bad.”

“Told you.” Merri rinsed out the cut and positioned a bandage on top. “You really should see a doctor, you know.”

“What happened while I was out?”

Merri pursed her lips and considered what to say. “Gen did something.”

“Something like...?”

“She killed that woman. I was about to get shot in the head, sure, but...”

“There’s something off about her,” Sage said. “I mean, beyond the general annoyingness.”

“I know,” Merri said in a low, troubled voice. “I mean, she was always lacking in responsibility, but...”

“But she was so upset when she first killed those Brethren assassins last year. And even with the siren, she wanted to try sending it home before it went after Levi.”

“I saw her do it, while you were out. And...that wasn’t Gen. I don’t know what I saw there, but it wasn’t her.”

“So what are we going to do? You think I can talk to her about this? What if she gets pissed off and tries her next spell on me?”

Merri was about to argue that Gen would never do that, but couldn’t bring herself to say it. “We can’t go to Michael, and I don’t think Cade would do any good ‘cause she doesn’t listen to him.”

“Raji? Could he get through to her?”

Merri shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

The front door opened and closed. Thank god.

Merri stuck her head out the bathroom door. “Can you give us a hand?”

“I didn’t see his car,” Michael said as he walked over. “I figured Thad was gone.”

“He went home. It’s me and Sage—”

He pushed her aside as he caught sight of Sage. “What the hell happened?” Taking Sage’s head in his hands, he turned her toward the light and studied her eyes. He blinked a few times in the direct light.

“We can’t tell you,” Merri said.

Michael’s lips were set in a straight line, as if he held back something he wanted to say. “Does Cade at least know?”

Merri glanced at her watch. Plenty of time had passed since they dropped Gen off. “He does now.”

“You don’t have a concussion,” he said to Sage.

“Someone tried to kill Cade, so, per Gen’s brilliant suggestion, went to investigate,” Sage said.

So much for not telling him.

“And you got your fucking head nearly cracked open?”

“Essentially.”

“Do you want to see a doctor?”

For the first time, Sage seemed to actually consider the suggestion. “I feel okay. It’s not still bleeding. I guess I’ll just take some aspirin and sleep.”

Michael nodded. “Let me know tomorrow if you feel worse. I can have someone check you out and it won’t be reported.”

Sage gave him a half smile. “Thank you, sensei.”

While Michael left to drive Sage home, Merri sat in the kitchen, still too wired to sleep. She waited for him at the breakfast bar after taking a beer from the fridge, and he joined her when he returned.

“You’re really not going to tell me?” he said as he sipped a beer as well.

“Sage already gave you the gist of it,” Merri said.

“And you didn’t think to call me?”

“We can’t—”

“That’s bullshit. Natalya may be a fucking idiot, but she doesn’t want to see you get killed.”

“We did this without Cade knowing about it. If I’d called you to help, you would have been blamed for it, and—”

“And what? She can’t do anything to me. I’m pretty sure you not dying is more important anyway.”

“Still...I don’t want her to make me leave here. Or do something to keep Sage from coming to you for training. So you’re sure she’ll be okay?”

“As best as I can tell. I’m not a doctor.”

“But you know a doctor she can see if necessary?”

He nodded.

“How do you meet all these people? I mean, as far as I can tell, Cade has a few contacts through Natalya, but he has me under the impression that they have their own organization of people to deal with some things. No bribing random city workers or anything like you do.”

“It’s not all bribery. When I first moved to Newhaven, I checked out the local gambling rings. The ones with high stakes going for large sums of money. Find doctors with a few big debts, you’ve got someone in your pocket for awhile at least. So tell me if she starts complaining of headaches or anything.”

“Got any psychiatrists who can commit Gen for us?”

He didn’t meet her eyes, instead electing to finish his beer in silence.

“You already know something’s wrong with her?”

“It’s none of my business.”

“She—”

“I don’t even want to know.” He stood and dropped the empty beer bottle into a box under the sink, then continued towards the loft.

I’m not sure I do either, Merri thought.

A shiver ran up and down Genevieve’s spine as she walked up the steps towards Cade’s apartment.

Stupid Merri…making her do this. Better than be in the fucking car with all their whining, though, except now she’d have to walk home. She shuddered a little, her nerves on edge. Spells did that to her now. Her skin crawled and she felt both tired and wide awake all at once. It would take her a few days to come down.

And now I have to deal with fucking Cade.

She paused at his door. Her long fingers wrapped around the doorknob, and though she turned it, she didn’t announce her arrival. Instead, she eased the door open and listened.

“No, we’ll be looking into it,” Cade said. “It should be a good test.”

Gen listened, but she didn’t hear a second voice.

Telephone.

“I don’t expect it’ll be a problem. I’ll definitely speak to you about it tomorrow.”

And it’s Natalya. Of course. She knew they had to be speaking, even when he claimed they weren’t.

Genevieve opened the door and walked straight inside.

Cade sat on the couch, a cordless phone to his ear. His gaze shot to Gen as she entered the room.

“We’ll speak tomorrow,” he said and immediately hung up.

“We took care of Alex Gardner.”

He frowned. “I’m sorry?”

“We found her at her hotel. She’s dead.”

“And Alex Gardner is…?”

“The person who tried to kill you.”

Several beats of silence passed. She couldn’t read his expression, but then she was sure he couldn’t read hers either.

“A description would have been nice,” she continued.

“Which you would have received tomorrow when we were supposed to go and look into this. Any problems?”

Gen shrugged. “Clearly nothing we couldn’t handle. We used team work. Go us.”

“We’ll discuss it tomorrow with the others, then.”

“Fine by me.” Gen turned and started for the door again, but swung back around as something occurred to her. “You didn’t say it was a she.”

“Hmm?”

“The person who went after you.” She raised a brow questioningly. “You didn’t tell us it was a girl.”

“I didn’t say anything either way. Male isn’t necessarily the default.”

“Touché,” Gen muttered as she moved to leave again.

“Anything you need to talk about?”

“I’m pretty sure Natalya didn’t ask you to be our therapist,” she called over her shoulder.

“I’m here if you need me.”

“Not likely.”

“Wanna order pizza for dinner?”

Janine glanced at Gen, who sat in the driver’s side, hands on the wheel.

“Didn’t we do pizza last night?”

“Yeah, but it’s the only thing we agree on.” Janine grinned, but Gen didn’t return the smile, instead keeping her eyes on the road. “We could get Chinese food.”

“I hate Chinese food.”

“See, you just proved my point.”

Gen turned the car onto her street, her house their destination. She’d been acting…strange, lately. For the past few days, she’d been distant.

More than usual.

Janine shrugged it off. It wasn’t personal. She could be bi-polar or something. Her step-mom was like that. She could accept that.

As the car slowed and turned into the driveway, Genevieve frowned. Janine followed her gaze to the front porch. A young guy she didn’t recognize sat on the steps and he stood as he spotted the car.

Genevieve muttered something under her breath, but before Janine could ask, Gen was out of the car and on her way to the guy. Janine cracked her door open and stood, waiting for the signal. The two of them spoke for a few minutes in hushed voices. The guy looked upset about something. Gen was clearly on edge and seemed ready to take his head off. Minutes later, she stormed into the house and returned almost immediately with her dog, Penny. She returned to the car. Gen tried to smile brightly, but it seemed fake to Janine.

“I think we’re staying at your place tonight,” Gen said as she packed Penny into the car.

“Okay.” They both sat in the front and Gen wasted no time starting the car again.

“Secret boyfriend?” Janine asked playfully.

“Hmm? No. Guy from work.”

“At the convenience store?”

Gen opened her mouth, but snapped it shut again. Janine felt a bit of awkward silence descend on them, as if Gen had just stopped herself from saying something.

“Yeah,” she said instead. She suddenly reached over and Janine felt a hand on hers. “I’m glad we’re going to your place.”

“Me too.” I just wish I knew what was going on…

More snow.

Gen could have sworn the dream had left her for good. She hadn’t had it in several months. But now she stood there at the top of the hill, gazing down at miles of snow, and shivered.

At least she knew it was a dream now. That made her smile. It couldn’t scare the hell out of her if she knew what came next.

“Any pearls of wisdom today?” she said to the other her standing at her side.

When no answer came, Gen glanced to her right, studying the familiar profile. “Hmm?”

The other version of herself turned and smiled coldly. “Nothing today. You’ve finally found yourself. Congratulations.”

Her confidence drained almost immediately. “What?”

“You are exactly who you were meant to be.”

A faint sobbing sounded behind her. Genevieve turned around, long dark skirts swishing around her legs.

In the snow knelt a girl. Long blonde hair grazed the ground as she doubled over and cried.

“Who are you?” she said. She looked up suddenly and Genevieve recognized herself.

“I think you know,” Gen said. Snow crunched under foot as she stalked forward. The girl before her was weak. Pathetic. Completely useless. Contempt rose within her and it took every ounce of her willpower not to spit on her.

“Why are you here?” the whiny one asked.

“Because you’re weak,” Gen snapped. “And you need me.”

“Who was after me? Who’s trying to kill me?”

“I think a better question would be who isn’t trying to kill you.”

I know this conversation. Although her mouth continued speaking the familiar words, her mind rebelled. She’d had it before, but was in a very different position…

“Who am I?”

Gen’s attention snapped back to the conversation. The other her gazed up at her fearfully.

With a cool smile, Genevieve knelt down so she was face to face with the other her and spoke in a low voice. “You’ll find out.”

She blinked and everything was gone.

Hardwood floors replaced the miles of snow. The wind was gone, but Gen found the room as cold as outside.

She sat on a couch. Her legs were stretched out and feet rested on someone’s lap. A warm hand rested on her foot and she felt something tickling her toes. The figure brushed dark red polish on her toenails.

Her gaze travelled up the body to his face.

“Michael?”

He set one foot down and took the next to paint it. “You need to let it dry. Go back to work.”

She looked down at where her hands worked at threading a long, colourful bracelet.

“You want to kill me,” she said as she braided. “Still.”

Michael didn’t look at her. “Yes. There are many things I want to do, but can’t.”

“Like paint my toenails?”

“I am doing that.”

“We’re best friends now.”

“For now.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re like me.”

“I’ll keep braiding.”

He let her feet go. “You’re ready.”

“I don’t feel ready,” she said, though she stood anyway. The bracelet slipped from her grasp and landed on the couch.

Michael snatched the bracelet and tied it around his wrist, then looked up at her. “I’m always behind you.”

“That’s what scared me,” she said as she stepped forward.

A woman with short black hair stood before Genevieve, pointing a gun at a cowering Merri. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Sage, lying motionless on the floor.

No, no, I stopped this...

Before she could open her mouth to speak, the woman squeezed the trigger. The gun went off, sending a bullet into Merri’s forehead. Blood and bits of brain matter splattered across the opposite wall. She slumped to the ground and moments later the carpet went red with blood.

The woman pivoted around and fired a bullet into Sage as well. As she turned the weapon Genevieve’s way, Gen took a step backward.

But she didn’t fire. Instead, she smiled and dropped the gun to the floor. Before her mind could process what was happened, Gen felt her throat tighten. Her hands moved to her neck, scrambling to loosen whatever constricted her, but she found nothing there.

The room went hazy. Gen sank onto her knees, consciousness fading fast, and the last thing to register with her brain was the bloodstained carpet…

You’ll find out…



Genevieve sat up in bed, panting.

Thought hot enough to have sweat dripping from her forehead, the room itself felt ice cold. She stared into the darkness, trying to focus on anything—forcing herself to will away the dream.

Or nightmare.

“Hey baby…” Janine yawned beside her and propped herself up on her elbow. “You okay?”

Gen took a few deep breaths to calm her thumping heart before lying back down in bed. “Yeah. Bad dream. That’s all.”

Janine wrapped her arms around Gen. “What about?”

Closing her eyes, Genevieve snuggled close and tried to force the memories away. “I don’t remember.”

Michael poured a cup of coffee.

“Remember the good old days when you made me breakfast?” Merri called from behind him.

He turned to her, but before he could take a drink, she slipped the mug from his grasp and downed it herself.

“Actually, no, I don’t,” he said. “I think you’re delusional.”

“You did. I think it was pancakes. Once…like, six months. You should do that again. It could be a tradition.”

“Then I’m not due again until six months from now.” He poured another cup of coffee and kept this one out of her grasp. “Go to school.”

“Yeah, yeah. Later.”

The front door opened and closed a minute later.

Michael sat on a barstool to bury himself in his coffee. She drove him fucking nuts. Must be what it would be like to be a parent.

Though I’ll never know for sure if this is what it feels like.

He banished those thoughts and regrets, and drank more coffee.

Someone knocked on the door. For a moment he thought perhaps Merri had forgotten her keys—again—but a glance on the counter where she usually dropped them revealed nothing.

He stalked toward the front door and threw it open, expecting to her more of Merri’s rambling about pancakes.

Instead, he found Genevieve.

Beyond her, he caught glance of her car parked across the street. Although she seemed to be avoiding meeting his eyes completely, she chanced the odd glance up at him before looking away again.

“Go away,” he said.

“I…”

Michael sighed. “What the hell do you want?”

“I need your help.”