But no matter how she looked at it, she knew it was the truth. She couldn’t help herself. He made her feel like she wanted to give everything she had to him in ways she hadn’t even thought possible. Her heart. Her soul. He’d somehow been able to reach inside her and claim them.

Again, she wondered what kind of life awaited them. Always waiting for it to end.

She seriously doubted she could ever go back to swimming while possessing a psionic power. She couldn’t even imagine what her coach was doing right now, wondering where she was, why she hadn’t come back from her trip home. The meanie hadn’t wanted her to visit Bobby in the first place. Was he mad? Worried? Kicking her off the team? How would she explain everything that had happened? No doubt she’d fail any drug test they’d administer, and who knew what kind of advantage she’d have in the water now?

So, no, she could never go back to competitive swimming. Also, she was sure she’d been fired from her job by now. All her friends-what would she say to them? Could she ever go back to anything she’d had before?

A slow fury smoldered in the pit of her stomach. No. She seriously doubted she ever could return to life as normal. Jeff Donovan had taken that away from her. Taken everything away from her. Her brother. Her swimming. Even her natural life.

It was a good thing she was going to die anyway. Her life as she knew it was gone.

The simmering fury threatened to blossom. Her mind began to swarm with rage at everything she’d lost. Glancing at the thick green foliage surrounding her, she remembered the solitary vow she’d made not long ago in a forest just like this one. Right after Bobby had died in her arms, the fury had consumed her and she’d sworn revenge. Now she had the means inside of her to enact it. Bobby had given her the serum. And she would use it for him.

She stopped walking and forced the anger to recede. Her heated vision cooled as she gazed at the swollen creek, misting and brisk as it rushed over cragged rocks. The fresh water was shrewd in the paths it chose to flow through the wild terrain.

Harper realized that’s what she needed to be. Razor sharp and in command of her power. And not afraid to use it.

She scanned the majestic trees and foliage. The sentries stood tall and sure, branches reaching out to provide the unparalleled balance of beauty and power in nature.

Calling to her. Reverent and reassuring. Enticing and elevating. Illuminating the energy that stirred within her body and mind.

Suddenly she wasn’t afraid anymore. Like the protected undergrowth at the base of the trees, she knew she wasn’t alone. She had Rome’s savvy at her back. She had Bobby’s creation inside her. And she had enough grit and confidence in herself to face what lay ahead.

Steeling her resolve, Harper swept her attention to the creek. She had to give in to the power. Control. That was the key.

Focusing on a rock under the swiftly gliding water, she beckoned her psi power. A familiar flush of cold filtered through her body, quickly followed by a rush of heat. She concentrated hard, imagining that she was lifting the rock out of its submerged home in the creek’s bed.

Her vision tunneled, blurring around the edges and centering on the sunken stone. Almost in a trance, Harper raised her hand slowly and with it, the basket-ball-sized rock. It shimmied, the cold water cascading from its surface as it hovered in the air, mere inches above the racing creek.

Another rose. And another.

A surge of energy crackled from her head to her hand. With her open palm, she guided the rocks across the water’s surface, bringing them just a body length from where she was standing. Her eyes widened as she watched the objects frozen in the air, just like the bullets before. But this time she was making it happen, not just reacting.

Raising her other hand, she beckoned the energy to erect a shield. Like a breeze ruffling her sleeve, the psipower rippled down her arm and dashed from her hand to form an almost invisible bubble caging her body.

Cool. Very cool.

“Harper.”

With a start, she whipped around to face the unexpected intrusion, swinging the rocks along with her. Rome ducked as they hurled just over his head to crash against the boulder behind him, shattering into small chunks behind him.

Oh, poop.

“Rome,” she moaned, realizing she had almost taken his head off accidentally. “For goodness sake, please don’t sneak up on me like that.” At some point she’d have to break that habit of his.

“That was amazing,” he praised, standing from his instinctive crouch, brushing the remnants of the rocks from his broad shoulders, clearly in awe.

She took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing mind. She was practically gushing inside at being able to control her power. It was addictive. That would make revenge so much easier. “What’s going on?” she asked, putting a lid on her excitement, wondering what drove him here after her.

“Nothing. I just missed you,” he answered with a sweet smile.

She gave him a skeptical look, adding a smile to soften it.

“C’mon.” He took her hand in his and kissed the inside of her wrist, sending pleasant little shivers up her arm. “We need to work on a plan before they can mobilize. And I made breakfast. Well, lunch.” He looked at his watch, then at the overcast sky.

He was right. Though they’d escaped from the facility, the bad guys now knew she and Rome were onto them. The two of them needed to stay on the offensive. Plus she wanted to end this sooner rather than later. She was getting real tired of being on the run.

“Good idea. Let’s plan.” She gave his hand a squeeze. Besides, she was ravenous. The psi power seemed to give her an appetite now instead of fatigue. The quick self-healing must be kicking in faster as her body adapted to it.

And after a sideways sizing-up glance at Rome, she realized her hunger wasn’t just for food.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Let’s just round them up and kill them,” Harper suggested mildly as she took a bite of her sandwich. Sounded easy to her. Especially given her newfound control.

“No,” Rome said in flat disagreement, blunting her gusto. “There’ve been too many casualties already. Besides, we want them to be accountable. Make them pay.” She watched him pop a corn chip in his mouth, keeping his clear blue gaze locked on hers.

“Right,” she concurred while she chewed. “Make them pay. With their lives.”

“No.” Rome leveled her with a definite agent-type glare.

“Okay, then,” she said, peering at the map they’d sketched of the facility and surrounding area. They pooled their knowledge and observations with the data from the laptop to create it. “What do you suggest?”

Rome’s face became pensive and his eyes unfocused as he looked toward the window and the forest beyond. They were sitting on the high stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen while sharing a lunch of turkey sandwiches, corn chips, and fruit.

And fresh-baked brownies. To their utter gratitude, the caretaker of the cabin had stocked it to Rome’s specifications before they’d arrived yesterday. Lucky for her, those specifications included brownie mix.

“Rounding them up is a good idea,” he said after a few minutes of quiet contemplation. “It’s a big place, but it has only a couple entrances and exits.”

“So that should make it easier.” She reached for a chip from the open bag. The salty crunch in her mouth almost made her groan in delight.

“Maybe.” He picked out an orange slice and bit into it, licking the juice from his lips. She almost groaned again. “We’ll need to draw them out without too much commotion. We don’t want to provoke them or get trapped ourselves. If we can get them out front, it could be doable.”