Cody jerked a phone from his pocket and speed-dialed John. He informed him of our whereabouts and what had happened. When Cody hung up, he turned to Rome and said, “He’s on his way. And he’s bringing protection.”

Half an hour later, a car parked beside ours. Same make, same model. Four men exited. We did the same. Rome came up beside me and took my hand. There were kids on the swing set a short distance away, parents watching over them.

“You trust me?” Rome whispered.

“Yeah. Thanks for asking,” Tanner said drily. And not quietly.

“Yes,” I whispered back. I studied the man obviously in charge. He was the only one who didn’t look as if he’d just come off a beefcake calendar. He was about five-eight, with thinning gray hair, glasses and a slightly rotund belly. Yet he radiated power.

“Belle Jamison. Finally we meet,” he said to me.

“Yes.” Here he was in the flesh, one of the men who wanted to control me. He was somehow more menacing than the males around him, who were tall and muscled. One had red hair, one black and the other highlighted brown. They oozed strength and mysterious power as they surrounded the old man. The redhead was smoking, and that smoke wafted to me. I coughed, the ashes tickling my throat.

“Put that out,” Rome snapped. He wasn’t content to wait for the man to obey. He strode to him, plucked the butt from his mouth and tossed it on the ground, stomping it out.

Slowly my coughing subsided. John watched all of this with interest.

“Strong aversion to pollutants,” he said with interest. “Were you always like that?”

How could this grandpalike figure have ordered painful experimentation on me? “No,” I said hesitantly. “Just recently.”

“Interesting.” A faraway look glazed his eyes, as if he were mentally calculating an equation.

“Let’s get this over with,” Rome barked.

“All right, then.” The old man’s features creased with anger, and yes, power more intense than the young men around him, giving me a glimpse of the tyrant who could hurt me without blinking. “Why don’t you tell me why you failed to bring Belle in when you found her? Why don’t you tell me why you stopped all communication between us?”

Expression unreadable, Rome stepped in front of me. “You’ve always wanted Vincent out of the picture, but the government wouldn’t let you take him out. Well, I’m willing to do it, and I’ll make sure it’s never linked back to you. But I’ll need to use Belle as bait.”

John’s eyes narrowed. In unison, his shadows crossed their arms over their chests and flanked him. “I can’t risk it. Besides, I want her tested.”

“There’s no time for that. You either want him gone or you don’t.”

“What makes you think you can get him and not have the blame fall on me?” John asked staunchly.

“There will be no evidence. Not while Belle’s at my side,” he answered. “I’ll give her over to him, and she’ll burn his lab to the ground.”

The conversation finally clicked into place for me, the part of Rome ’s speech that affected me most. “You want to dangle me in front of that madman?” I gasped, then pressed my lips closed. Trust him. At least he hadn’t mentioned Dr. Roberts’s letter.

Rome reached behind him and gripped my hand, squeezing. “We plan to break into his lab tonight,” he said. “Believe me, Vincent will come to us.”

A long pause ensued, blanketing the sound of insects, the rustle of wind. Then, in the distance, I heard a helicopter. Dear God. Would it never end? The bad guys knew we must be in the area, I guess, and were desperate to find us.

“Yes or no, sir?” Rome splayed out his arm. “We can’t stay here, they’ll spot us. Either take her or send us on our way.”

I trusted Rome, I did. But jeez, thanks a whole hell of a lot. Just gamble with my life, why don’t you. No biggie.

A muscle ticked in the old man’s jaw. “I don’t have any men to spare right now. Everyone is out on assignment, and I can’t give up my guards with Vincent so close.”

“We’ll be fine on our own,” Rome said.

John paused. Sighed. Then mumbled, “Use her. But Cody is going with you. Get in the lab, kill Vincent and bring Belle to me. Understand?” His eyes glinted in warning, telling Rome the consequences if he failed to obey.

I gulped.

Rome nodded.

Without another word, we pounded back to the car, and Cody claimed the driver’s seat this time. He gunned it, shooting into a nearby thicket of trees. I looked back, but John’s car had already disappeared.

“VINCENT’S LAB HAS an internal security system that is not reliant on outside electrical units,” Rome said to Cody.

I knew that Vincent’s lab was the place Dr. Roberts had worked, the building across from Utopia Café. And night had, unfortunately, fallen, which meant we were about to head straight into that lab. Into danger. Right now, we were several blocks away, standing near a deserted intersection. Already I wanted to vomit. Danger sucked.

“That won’t be a problem.” Cody patted the lamppost beside him. “The lights do use outside currents. I’ll be in before you know it.”

I kid you not-Cody climbed the pole, reached out and grabbed two of the wires. Sparks flew around him a split second before he became the sparks. He seemed to melt right into the wires. I watched from the ground, wide-eyed, as those sparks traveled along, disappearing from sight.

“My God,” I breathed.

“He’s a good man to have on our side.”

“Are we really going to draw Vincent out and try to kill him?”

“Yes. First we need the formula Roberts left in the building, though, so it’s the bait rather than you. Can you make it rain?” Rome added with barely a breath, wasting no time.

“Yes.” Maybe. How many emotions could one girl endure before spontaneously combusting? Or better yet, killing herself?

At the moment, I wanted nothing more than to soothe my stomach and embrace numbness. Maybe experience total anesthetization. Maybe sedation. Even the thought of happiness bothered me right now. I wanted nothingness, damn it.

Tanner gripped my hand and gave a comforting pat. “You can do it. I know you can.”

I guessed we’d find out. I forced sad thoughts into my mind, but the emotion didn’t touch me. It was kind of like standing on the edge of a dream, watching, unable to do anything. Rome linked his fingers with mine, forming a three-person circle.

Tendrils of strength suddenly curled through me; thunder boomed. I straightened. Wait. I hadn’t been sad. I’d simply-ohmygod! Did I actually not need to feel sad to create a storm? Maybe… maybe I just needed the power of the emotion. Like seeing a rainbow in the distance, but not having to touch it to experience its beauty.

There were reservoirs of emotion in everyone. Perhaps if I could tap into specific feelings and experience their effects at a distance… Hopeful, I searched for and found the sadness buried deep inside myself without letting it flood me. I drew on its strength, milked it.

Another clap of thunder boomed. I grinned. Yes! Lightning lit the sky with jagged gold bolts. The already dark sky turned a swirling, churning black. Droplets of rain began to fall, already hard, already fast.

“You’re doing good,” Tanner praised.

Rome said, “We need to get to the lab, baby. Try to keep the rain up as best you can.”

I nodded. I was excited by what I’d discovered, but also very ready to get this over with.

We hiked on foot, rain pelting us the entire way. We remained in the shadows as best we could, avoiding streetlights and businesses. Very few cars were on the road. My wet clothes were soon plastered to my skin, and water trickled into my eyes as I passed Utopia. I barely spared my former workplace a glance. It felt like a lifetime had come and gone since I’d last been there-the day I drank that fateful latte. What would good old Ron the Pervert think if he could see me now?