Betrayal (Phantom Protectors Book 2) (16 page)

She opened her eyes to find Sinclair
staring at her. His eyes flashed contempt in his icy gaze.

“What are you
gonna do, little girl?”

She felt the electrical currents sizzle through her body and instantly knew that Ridge wasn’t dead. A smile formed on her lips as she pulled in Brody’s gift and directed it
toward Sinclair. She knew he’d suck it in as soon as she sent it, so her time for attack was limited. She lifted him up in the air, holding him in place, and as he slowly lowered himself to the ground as he sucked up the energy, he was too preoccupied to anticipate her next move. She threw the strongest electrical current she had, channeling all of her hurt, anger, and love of her family into the stream, and aimed it at the middle of his chest toward his black heart. The room lit up like a lightning storm on a dark night. Blue and white orbs splintered, bouncing off the curtains and everything in its wake.

His eyes widened as he was struck
. Ridge and Brody stepped through the front door, and Brody pulled back his gift and used it on Sinclair, holding him in the electrical current shooting from her hands. His high-pitched screams of pain echoed in her ears. The smell of rotting flesh filled the air as she cooked him alive and watched as his clothes disintegrated from his body. The stream dissolved just as quick as it had started and her legs gave out, unable to hold her any longer. She collapsed as Ridge’s arms wrapped around her from behind. He swept her up into his arms. Unable to hold her eyes open, Gracie let them slide closed of their own accord. Her boneless body sank into Ridge’s chest, feeling the comfort of home, the comfort of knowing that he, and he alone, held her heart. 

Gracie felt the heat on her cheeks as her eyes slid open. She was immediately blinded by the light streaming through a window. She turned her head and blinked in rapid succession until the spots disappeared and she refocused on the walls of the room she’d grown up in. Her sister, Elizabeth, stood with her hands crossed over her chest, glaring at their father as they talked quietly in the corner of Gracie’s childhood room of her father’s house. She saw a tear drop from her father’s eye as Elizabeth pulled him into an embrace.

Her voice hitched as her own unshed tear fell down her cheek. “She’s
a fighter just like you, and she’s going to pull through this.”

Gracie watched th
e sacred moment shared between the two and knew that it would forever be savored in her memory. It was then that she knew she’d done the right thing.

“Daddy.”
Her voice came out in a whisper, but they heard it just the same. Her throat was raw. She didn’t even have the energy to lift her head, much less her arm.

The
y both rushed to her side and fell to their knees. Elizabeth took her hand as her father brushed the hair from her face.

“Oh
, baby.” A stream of tears slid down his face. “I’m so sorry.”

He lifted her palm to his cheek
and held it there, covering her hand with his.

“
Is he dead?”

Her father nodded
, and she let her eyes slip closed once again, only this time with renewed hope that the threats were gone.

****

Gracie
dreamed of a more happy time, one where she and Adam were back in college, laughing and joking when they were at the movies. His presence was comforting. Someone she counted on to fill the void in her life. He’d joke he was her knight in shining armor ready to ride away with her in the sunset, and she’d counter his quirky remarks by joking back that he was more like the prince disguised as a frog that no one wanted to kiss.

She was happy with the way things were back then, happy they were close friends. Her dream turned into darkness. She was standing in a pitch black room, unable to see even the hand in front of her face. Adam’s last words seared her brain, as she inched in all directions with her hands held out in front of her, searching the blackness to reach and help him as he’d done with her back in college. A sense of calmness overcame her as her heart slowed from its frantic beat.
A warmness ran throughout her body.   

Gracie
woke once again, this time not because of the sun but because of the heat coursing through her body. The warm vibrations ran through her veins, awaking them and her senses in the process. She blinked her eyes, surprised to find Jamie kneeling beside her with her eyes closed, her palms splayed downward, hovering inches over Gracie’s body. Seconds ticked by, and Jamie opened her eyes and smiled. She pushed from the ground and sat beside Gracie on the bed, reaching for a pitcher of water and pouring her a glass.

“You gave us quit
e a scare.”

Gracie tried to say something
, and Jamie shook her head. “Your throat is still sore. You need to drink first.”

Jamie helped Gracie lift her head and
tipped the cup to her lips. The ice water slid down her throat like a gift from the gods. She drank until the dryness and the pain subsided before she let her head fall back down to the pillow. “Thank you.”

Jamie refilled the glass. “How do you feel?”

“I’m tired.” Gracie turned her head. “Where is everyone?”

Jamie lifted the glass to Gracie’s lips again and spoke while Gracie drank. “I had to kick them out so I could concentrate on healing you.”

Gracie laid her head back down.

“I guess they forgot to tell you that extreme use of your gifts
, or anyone else’s” –Jamie grinned—“will lead to depleting your energy or, worse, killing you.”

Gracie’s brow furrowed. “So I guess it was
n’t too smart to borrow two?”

Jamie chuckled and stood. “You guessed right. How about next time you just use one
, or I’ll show you how to kick his ass, and you won’t need to use any.”

She walked to the door. “They’ve all been camped out downstairs waiting for you to wake up
, and let me just tell you…” She turned with her hand on the knob. “All those alpha males in one place isn’t a good thing. I’ve broken up more arguments than I ever had to in grade school.” 

“Is Ridge here?”

She nodded. “Want me to send him up first?”

Gracie smiled. “Yes please.”

“Okay, but I’m kicking him back out when I bring you up something to eat.” Jamie raised her brows. “No hanky-panky. You don’t have the energy.”

Gracie
’s mind raced with what she was going to say. She loved him, but how was she ever supposed to get over the betrayal she felt?

Ridge stepped into the room
, and when his gaze met hers, the crinkles around his eyes softened and his muscles relaxed. The dark circles under his eyes and disheveled hair were indications that he’d been worried too. He walked over to the bed and took her hand as he sat. “How do you feel?”

She lifted a brow
. “I wasn’t the one almost electrocuted. How do you feel?”

Concern never left the depth of his eyes as he held her gaze. “I’m fine
. Whenever I get hit with my own gift, it’s weird. It’s like some of it absorbs right back into my body somehow.”

“And Adam?”

Ridge cupped her cheek. “I’m sorry, baby. He didn’t make it.”

Gracie’s heart shattered, not because Adam was the love of her life, but because he
’d truly been her best friend, her only friend before meeting Tara and Cathy. He’d risked his own life to save hers, and she hadn’t been able to repay the favor. A tear slipped from her eye, and Ridge swiped his thumb across her cheek.

“I’m sorry, Gracie.”

Gracie placed her palm over Ridge’s, still cupping her cheek. “He saved my life. If he wouldn’t have injected me…”A shiver slipped down her spine, and she was unable to finish her sentence.

Ridge let his gaze drop as he whispered
, “I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t.”

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers before he stood. “He was a better man than I am. He was willing to walk away to keep you safe while all I ever did was be selfish.”

He stepped backward toward the door. “Gracie. You know if you stay with the unit, you’ll be in danger. I don’t want that for you. I need you to leave.”

Gracie pushed herself up. “Ridge…”

He shook his head. “It’s better this way. You can move on with your life, happy and safe and away from here.” He pulled the door open and paused. “Away from me.”

He pulled her door closed behind him. She
heard him stomping down the stairs and slamming the front door when he left. Her eyes watered as her heart cracked into a million tiny pieces.

Gracie rolled over onto her side as the tears spilled from her lids. Her breathing
became labored as she sobbed, trying to catch her breath.

Gracie
remained in her room and pretended everything was okay as each of the well-wishers came in to say goodbye. Inside, her heart was broken, aching for the man who had walked away.

Brody was the last in her room. His eyes softened as if he held the answers
she seeked. “How are you holding up?”

Gracie felt another tear slip free as he moved to her bed
, climbed up on the other side, and pulled her into his arms. “My brother sure is a pain in the ass sometimes.”

Gracie nodded, unable to form words to agree.

“When he loves, he loves with his whole heart.” Brody kissed the top of her head as she imagined a brother might do.

“He wants me to leave.” Her voice came out a whisper.

“You can’t blame the guy for wanting to keep you safe.” He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s the same reason you went undercover.”

She swiped at the fresh tears. “He doesn’t love me. If he did, he wouldn’t have let me go.”

Brody chuckled. “And here I thought you were smart.”

She playfully punched his stomach. “Hey…”

“Don’t you get it? That’s exactly why he did let you go. It was the same reason he didn’t want me to join the Phantoms. It wasn’t because he didn’t think I could hold my own, it was because he was afraid he would lose me.” He glanced down at her. “Imagine what it would do to him if something happened to you… Hell, I’m just his obnoxious brother.”

He slid from the bed. “Now
, how about I help get you packed and you can blow this joint?”

She sat up in the bed,
and her eyes narrowed. A new fire raced through her veins as the last bit of self-pity receded, leaving only anger and a new-found attitude in its wake.  “I’m not leaving.”

He raised his brow in question. “You aren’t?”

She slid her legs over the side of the bed. “Hell no.” A smile formed on her lips. “And now that I’ve been injected, he can’t make me.”

****

After a week of arguing with her father and sister about joining the Phantoms, Gracie was ready. She waited patiently in the conference room for Ridge so she could put her plans into motion. She stilled the butterflies in her stomach and raised her chin. The General and Brody glanced at her.

“You sure about this?”
they asked in unison.

“
Absolutely.” A grin formed on her face.

Gracie glanced around at the other people in the
conference room with her chin held high. She pushed her nervous energy out of sight. She had renewed determination. She wasn’t going to allow him to try and make everything okay. It damn sure wasn’t.

Ridge stilled as he walked in the room. His gaze went
from hers to the General’s and back again. “You were supposed to leave.”

Gracie shrugged. “You don’t always get what you want,
Connors.”

He stomped to her side as she rose from her seat. He placed his palms on h
er arms. “You’ve got to go.”

She removed his palms breaking the contact. If he continued to touch her, she might just give in to all of his demands.
“No…I don’t.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Gracie…”

“Don’t you Gracie me! She stepped toward him, making him step backward. Her hands balled in a fist. “You don’t get to take that decision away from me.”

“She’s right Connors. You don’t.” The General confirmed.

His cheeks reddened, and he turned to leave. She glanced at Brody, and he nodded. She pulled in Brody’s gift as though she owned it, stopped Ridge in his tracks, and turned his body back to hers. “You don’t get to walk away again.”

“Gracie…”
The timbre of his deep voice lowered. “You don’t want to do this.”

Her lips tilted up in a smile as she stepped closer to hi
m as though he was her prey, hers to enjoy. She ran her palms up his hard chest and threaded them behind his neck. “Want me to tell you where you made your mistake?”

His eyes narrowed. “There’s nothing to tell
. I didn’t make one.”

She laughed and pressed her lips to his, silencing him once more. She pulled her lips away. “Sure you did, Ridge. You
proved how much you love me; you let me go. You want me to tell you the error in your logic?”

His eyes softened
as he nodded.

“You thought I would.”

Ridge glanced at Brody and narrowed his eyes. His twin smiled in return, and immediately Gracie felt the energy she’d borrowed pulled back across the room.

Ridge
pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers, leaving her breathless and trembling when he pulled his mouth away. “Now, baby, you want me to tell you where you messed up?”

He scooped her up in his arms
, and she leaned into the warm embrace of his chest. “I didn’t.”

A smile pulled at his lips. “Sure you did
, princess. You should have left when you had the chance.” He kissed her again and walked to the open door. “There’s no way in hell I can let you go now.”

Her father called after them. “See that you don’t Connor or you’ll be on desk duty for the rest of your life.”