Though I’d been unsure earlier today, yesterday, about giving up my powers now that I was coming to wield them properly, I realized then that I needed to give them up. I needed an antidote. Rome would be off the hook with John, my dad would be safe and I wouldn’t be chased anymore.

It was funny, in a horrible way. If we were able to make an antidote, I would most likely lose my powers and Rome within the same week. Hide Sunny. Kiss Rome goodbye. Take antidote. Yin and yang: a bad for a good. Wasn’t that how things usually balanced out?

“Let’s pull up every floorboard.” I bent down and lifted two, the wood heavy in my hands. “We’ll take them with us.”

“Shit,” I heard Rome mutter. I paused and looked up. He’d stood and was now studying the wall and rubbing a small black dot. “Another camera.”

“We’re getting good at this clandestine crap,” Tanner said as he blithely gathered more boards.

“No, we’re not.” Rome faced us, his features pained, tortured. “We just walked into a trap.”

“Yes, you did.” The amused voice floated from the doorway. “You can drop the boards. We’ll take care of them now.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE ARMED MEN I’d expected when we’d first entered the building suddenly flooded the room, weapons cocked and ready. Vincent was, of course, shockingly beautiful to gaze upon, as always. Young, too, for such an asshole.

He was tall and lean, and his angelic features rivaled Cody’s. Only his eyes gave away his despicable nature. They lacked any kind of emotion, making his physical beauty haunting and eerie.

“It certainly took you long enough to come here,” he said with a humorless grin. Without another word, he stretched out his arm and shot Rome. I covered my mouth with shaky hands, gazing wide-eyed at the only man I’d ever loved. He was still standing. I didn’t see any blood, only a red dart in his neck. Motions jerky, he plucked it out and tossed it onto the ground. He wavered on his feet.

I summoned fire, letting flames spark from my hands. I didn’t point my fingertips at the bad guys, however, not yet. I pointed them at the floorboards. I wanted the formula, but even more, I wanted to prevent Vincent from having it. He would not win. He would not gift himself with these powers.

The flames hit the wood and sprang to instant life, melting the layer of ice, spreading, raging. Someone screeched. Cody used the distraction to race to an outlet, sparking and disappearing inside it within seconds. No one seemed to notice his vanishing act. Rome stumbled forward, trying to morph. Small patches of fur sprouted from his skin.

“Put out the fire, Belle,” Vincent said, monotone. “Or I’ll kill your father.” Just then, my dad was shoved inside the room, Lexis right behind him. My dad’s features were pale and his cheeks were hollow. His clothes were wrinkled and dirty, but there were no signs of injury.

“Belle, sweetie,” he said, apologetic. Scared.

I paused. Rome paused, all hints of his cat self receding. “Dad, don’t move,” I said, trying to tamp down my panic. I couldn’t let him worry. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

Rome ’s knees buckled and he slammed onto the floor. I gasped and bent down.

“Don’t even think about helping him,” Vincent told me. “Just stop the fire.”

Despite the intense heat, breath froze in my throat. I straightened. Rain, I mentally called. Rain, come to me now. My fingers cooled, but nothing else happened. Fear and fury were overriding everything else, making it impossible to draw from my reservoir of emotions. They were trying to consume me, to bring ice and more fire, a combination that produced no results. I needed rain, damn it.

Rain! Tears filled my eyes and spilled onto my cheeks. I stared at my dad. He looked confused, withered. “Rain,” I screamed, desperation riding my shoulders. I reached so deeply inside myself it caused true, physical pain. My stomach cramped. “I command you to fall.” Slowly, tiny drops descended. I squeezed my eyes shut, ordering the droplets to thicken and multiply. They obeyed, liquid splashing over my face.

The fire sizzled, crackled and finally surrendered. Thick black smoke curled in the air, tickling my throat. I coughed.

“There. The formula is still intact.” Satisfied, Vincent nodded.

I coughed again, unable to stop. “Belle,” my dad said. I was unable to respond.

“I’m so sorry,” Lexis cried. “I should have known they were coming, but they had some sort of mind shield. I’m sorry. So sorry.”

“Lock everyone up.” Vincent motioned to our group with a wave of his fingers. “I’ll need them later. And keep a gun on the old man’s temple, just in case Belle decides to start another fire.” His chin canted to the side and he glanced down at Rome. “If Agent Masters sprouts a single patch of fur, kill him. Since I’m now the proud owner of the psychic and the formula’s carrier, I don’t really need him anymore. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” several of the guards said in unison.

“The rest of you gather up the floorboards and take them to the lab.”

Men grabbed Tanner, Lexis and my dad. I started to reach for him, but dropped my arm to my side. I didn’t want him playing the hero and trying to come to me. Just do what they say, I told him with my eyes. The rest of the guards hauled Rome to his feet and held him up. I continued to cough, more afraid in that moment than I’d ever been in my life.

“Please,” I managed to gasp. “Take the… gun off… my… dad. I’ll be good.”

One of the men latched on to my upper arm, but Vincent shook his head and I was released. “I’ll take care of her myself,” he said.

I watched, helpless, as my unconscious lover, my dad and my friends were escorted away from me. Anger and fear continued their wild course inside me, and I barely managed to control them. I wanted to scream, to rant, to rail, to cry. To kill.

“This way, Belle.” Vincent hauled me out of the room and ushered me down the hall, away from the smoke. The farther we traveled, the more my coughs subsided.

“Where are we going?” I asked, my throat raw.

“The lab is underground.” He answered without hesitation, because he believed, I’m sure, I would never be able to escape and use the information against him. A chilling thought. “I want to get the preliminary data on you-which I should have had days ago.”

Did he have a heart? A smidge of compassion? I guessed I’d soon found out. “Let my dad go, and I’ll do whatever you want. I swear.”

“You’ll do whatever I want, anyway.”

“He’s sick. His heart is weak and he needs his medication.”

“You be good and cooperate, and I’ll make sure he gets his meds. Misbehave and I let him die. How do you like that for a bargain?”

About as much as I liked him, the bastard. The man was as cold and unfeeling as his eyes proclaimed. If I ever had the opportunity, I was pretty sure I would kill him and not experience an ounce of guilt. I might even dance on his grave. “What are you going to do with me?”

We had reached the end of the hall, and he pressed a series of buttons. Elevator doors slid open. He pushed me inside, following close on my heels. “I can’t wait to see everything you can do.” He opened a panel on the wall and held out his hand for a scan. A blue light glowed between his fingers, and the elevator began a smooth downward glide. “We gave the formula to some others, but they died. Hopefully, once we’ve studied you, we’ll be able to discover why you didn’t.”

I tried not to grimace. He painted a gruesome, painful picture. Maybe-maybe I should try to kill him now. Freeze him, smoke him, anything to stop him.

Will you be able to save the others in time? If you can’t…

Fear held me immobile. Then the opportunity passed and the elevator doors opened, revealing a room bursting with equipment, people in lab coats and cages filled with animals. And humans. I gasped. Humans were locked in cages, and they were in bad shape. Some had missing limbs, with wires hanging from sockets. Others had metal plates in place of skin. All of them were bloody and ragged. They all watched me with pity, as if they knew what was about to happen to me.