Locked Out of Love (29 page)

Juliet didn't look perturbed in the least. “If you don't pay up, we take back what we gave you. In this case, your brother.”

Melanie's nails dug into the palms of her hand. “Is this how you get your cooperation? Blackmail? Is this how they got you?”

Juliet remained silent.

“What do they have on you?” she demanded.

“What'll it be, Melanie?” Juliet cut off any further questioning. “Your brother or nothing at all?”

Melanie's mouth snapped shut. “You can't do this.”

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Please, we can and with our resources you know how easy it would be. We probably wouldn't even have to resort to supernatural methods. Nathan was overjoyed when we helped him. He feels as we do and would love to come to our aid. He'd work for us in a heartbeat, but that's not the only thing he was interested in when we visited. He had quite the gleam in his eye when he looked at me.” She grinned. Melanie ground her teeth. “I'd even go so far as to say he fancies me. Getting him to go on a date would be child's play, and as much as I'd like to have him as an employee, sometimes sacrifices have to be made. You know better than anyone, Melanie, how horribly wrong dates can go.”

It took a second for her meaning to hit.

“It was you?” Her voice came out barely above a whisper. “You're the ones who rammed us off the bridge in Newport?”

Juliet shrugged, neither denying nor acknowledging the act.

She thought back to her training after the accident. “You wanted me to become … full-forced or whatever.”

“You were supposed to be our newest weapon.”

Melanie cringed at the way Mr. Richardson said weapon.

Juliet nodded. “And while we would have loved to add you to our roster of employees, it appears you are unwilling to do so. In that case, I'm offering you a deal. You help us with this final mission, we tick the last big organized group of supernaturals we know about off our list, we leave the Orange County area, you have your brother just like you wanted, and everyone goes back to their normal lives.”

“You missed the part where I said ‘go to hell.' I'm not helping you strip Joel and his entire guild. I'd never do that to him. I lo—” She cut herself short, shocked at her slip.

Juliet seized the opening. “You love him.”

Mr. Richardson gave an exaggerated sound of disgust. “Who cares?”

“What if we spared him?” Juliet bartered.

“What?” Mr. Richardson exploded. “You can't—”

“Silence!”

Mr. Richardson clenched his jaw but refrained from speaking.

“I'm in charge here.” Juliet's face was flushed. “Is that what it'll take, Melanie? If you agree to turn in the rest of his guild, we'll let him go. You can have your brother and your lover. That's my final offer. Take it or leave it. And please take into consideration that if you leave it, you won't be leaving here.”

Melanie's stomach flipped. Bile rose in the back of her throat.

She opened her mouth to seal her fate.

“You look horrible,” Niella said as she opened the door for Melanie a few days later.

Melanie didn't bother with a response. She brushed past Niella and took a seat on her luxurious sofa. The soft cushions were heaven, and Melanie wanted nothing more than to drift to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she was haunted with images of the Korean woman. Her red-rimmed eyes as she'd sobbed, the fear in her face when Trina had come for her.

Melanie didn't even know her name. How horrible was that?

“Melanie?” Niella rolled to her and in a rare show of concern, touched her arm.

“How're you feeling?” Melanie blatantly avoided her question.

Niella's gaze narrowed. Clearly Melanie wasn't fooling anyone in this room, but luckily for her, Niella dropped it. “Better,” she admitted. “Less visions, more periods of lucidity. Even the guild has noticed my increased mood.”

 She swallowed back the sickness she felt rising.

 “Shall we get started?” She held her hand out to Niella. She was anxious to get the Dreamer's power. Niella had mentioned that Dreams could be focused if the user concentrated on a specific person. Melanie wanted to know if the Korean woman would be okay. She wanted to give herself some kind of peace of mind, even if she didn't deserve it.

Niella held out her hand but drew it back fractionally when Melanie reached for it. “If you need to talk, you know I'm probably the only one in the guild who can actually keep a secret, right?”

Melanie smiled. Her first genuine smile in what felt like ages. “I sure hope so.”

She grasped Niella's hand.

• • •

Joel paced in the lobby.

“Cut it out,” Niella snapped. “You're giving me a headache.”

He shot her a dark look. “Have you noticed anything odd about Melanie?”

Niella seemed to focus harder on her paperwork. “Not a thing,” she said blithely.

Joel frowned. “Then why are you avoiding my gaze?”

“I'm not. I'm working. Sydney pays me to work. I work. I don't get paid to look at you, now do I?”

He resumed his pacing. “I don't like this. Juliet's little group has abandoned their building, and I bet all my Star Wars collectibles that they didn't just get up and leave. They moved. I've checked every day for the past couple days and not a peep.”

“And you look like hell for it,” she conceded.

Joel grumbled under his breath. “Aren't you the least bit afraid of them attacking us?”

“Terrified,” she said without feeling. “But there's not much I can do about it.” She jiggled her wheelchair to emphasize her point.

Joel paced some more. He didn't like this, and he didn't know if his unease was rubbing off on Melanie or if something else was bothering her. The last few days he'd hardly seen her. When she wasn't working the night shift, she was over at Niella's. And whatever girl code they had going on between them meant he couldn't join in on their plans.

The one time he and Melanie hung out, she'd had large circles under her eyes. She claimed she was fine, but Joel knew it was a lie. And that hurt too. Why would she lie to him?

But what really drew his curiosity was the phone call he'd received from her yesterday. She told Joel to assemble the guild, like he was Nick Fury calling forth the Avengers. Melanie wanted to speak to them and needed them all in one place. He didn't know why, but his Spidey sense was tingling, which was ridiculous. Juliet had put his suspicions to rest. If Melanie wanted to talk to them, maybe she learned something of importance?

“You know, you didn't have to come so early,” Niella eyed him.

He froze and took the nearest chair. “I can't help it. This doesn't feel right to me, Ell.”

Her face softened into sympathy.  “Look—”

Felix and Cali marched through the door. Joel glanced at the clock:  6:01 p.m.

“Where's the fire?” Felix asked.

Joel stood. “There is no fire. Melanie wanted to meet us tonight.
All
of us,” he pointed out in case Felix felt like cutting out early.

Joel expected more resistance, but Felix only nodded and led Cali over to the chairs to take a seat and wait.

Merrick arrived shortly after. Sydney and Luke came out after they finished cleaning up in the back. The whole guild crammed into the lobby, like some secret AA meeting.

Melanie arrived six minutes later. She stopped short in the entrance at the sight of them all. Her eyes were red rimmed and her nose pink. He got another creeping sensation.

Joel went over to her. “Hey,” he whispered so the others wouldn't hear. “Are you sick? Allergies?”

Melanie sniffed. “Yeah, allergies.”

Joel dug in his pockets for some kind of tissue but only produced some change, a mini screwdriver, and a flash drive.

Melanie smiled. “I'll be okay.”

He stepped back and followed her to the center of the guild circle. She swallowed thickly as everyone's attention zeroed in on her. Joel took his place in the circle with the others. They all stood, probably in an attempt to try and ease Melanie's obvious nerves. It was easier to talk to a group of people if everyone was standing, right?

“Um.” Melanie waved and dropped her hand, embarrassed. “Hi.”

Joel coughed behind his fist. He half expected the guild to burst out unanimously with “Hi, Melanie.”

They remained silent, waiting for her to get to the point.

Melanie cleared her throat. “I asked Joel to bring you all here tonight because I wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Sydney's delicate brow furrowed.

Melanie nodded and walked over to grasp Syd's hands in both of hers. “Yes, I'm afraid I've been keeping my distance because I've been scared of my newfound powers.” She dropped Sydney's hand and moved to Merrick, placing a hand on his bare forearm. “I know you guys all accept your powers, and for me that has been a hard pill to swallow.” Sydney frowned at her hands. She opened and closed them. Merrick's gaze snagged on the motion, his eyes quickly darting to where Melanie touched his arm. He opened his mouth, but she was already moving on. She laid a hand on Luke. “I've kept my distance from you because it's intimidating to be around people who are so comfortable with who they are—what they are.” She smiled up at Luke. His neck turned red. Felix was next. “I've seen what some of you can do, and I envy the kind of comfort you have with yourselves.” Felix's eyes were locked with Melanie's, searching. Melanie broke contact first, hastily moving to Cali. Cali leaned back, as if trying to avoid the contact, but Melanie placed a comforting hand on her upper arm. “I'm here to apologize because it took me this long to see what I really wanted. All this time I thought powers were a curse, but you guys have helped me see things differently.”

Joel felt a swell of pride in his chest. Melanie was finally coming around to view powers as a gift. Relief washed over him. All his worry wasn't necessary. Everything was going to be fine.

Cali jerked away from Melanie, her arm tucked tight against her body. “What the hell are you doing? She took my powers!”

The fine hairs on the back of Joel's neck stood up.

“I felt it, too,” Merrick said with a slow nod. “I've never experienced anything like that. A numbing sensation?”

Cali nodded.

Sydney and Luke shared nervous glances.

Felix frowned. “What gives, Joel?”

What the fuck? Did Felix honestly think he was behind this? “I … ” He didn't know what to say. He hadn't known what Melanie was going to do. He certainly hadn't told her to do this.

She stepped forward. “Joel has no idea what's going on.”

The sound of car doors slamming came through the eerie silence of the lobby.

Sydney peered through the glass door. Her face whitened. “Um, guys?”

Joel's stomach turned to lead.

Juliet and her goons came through the front door. Salt air blasted into the lobby, heavy and wet, sticking to Joel's skin, chilling him to the bone. Or maybe that was the feeling of utter betrayal he got as Melanie stepped away from the guild to greet Juliet.

“I'm sorry,” she said to them at large.

Felix's eyes glittered with repressed rage.

Cali's face was red.

Merrick remained impassive as he stepped in front of a shocked Sydney and a nervous-looking Luke.

Joel glanced behind him and quickly stepped in front of Niella.

“You turned us in.” it wasn't a question. Joel's whole world spun on its axis. All he could think was that he'd been so wrong—and he'd endangered them all.

Melanie's eyes filled with tears. Now he knew why they were red.

 “Allergies, huh? Just another lie you let me believe?”

“Joel—”

He broke eye contact. He didn't want to hear any more of her lies. A part of him was dying inside and it hurt like a bitch, but he wasn't going to let her see that. He didn't want her to see how much she'd hurt him—how foolish he felt.

“Take them.” Juliet pointed to the others.

Another salty blast of air. The door opened and in came the Asian woman.

“Syd,” Felix said. “Shields up.”

“I—I can't.” Sydney's green eyes widened in fright. “Nothing's happening.”

Felix frowned and waved his hand. Nothing.

Bile rose in the back of Joel's throat. They were helpless.

No, not everyone.

She didn't take his powers.

Without another thought Joel lunged, but it was too late. The Asian woman threw out her hand, a sonic boom blasting him into the reception desk. His neck snapped back with a resounding
crack
.  Melanie screaming, warmth at the back of his neck, and then darkness.

He awoke to a throbbing pain in the back of his skull. He groaned, wishing for unconsciousness to take him again.

“Joel? Joel, stay with me. Come on, I need you to wake up.”

Something cool pressed against his forehead. The scent of copper hung heavy in the air, but underneath he could pick up the traces of white chocolate and strawberries.

Melanie.

His eyes snapped open. He struggled into a sitting position.

“Not so fast.” She gripped his shoulders as his world took a dangerous turn.

He took stock of his surroundings. He was still at Sydney's clinic, the hard lobby floor beneath him, but he'd been moved to the center of the room. He reached for the back of his head and his fingers came away red, his hair sticky and wet with blood. He felt a bandage covering the source of the throbbing and only vaguely felt the pressure of the tape around his forehead holding it in place.

The lobby looked undisturbed other than a few chairs moved out of perfect alignment. No sign of a struggle.

If Joel didn't have a chill in his bones and his head injury, he would have thought nothing had transpired, that somehow what he'd seen earlier was just some horrible nightmare, but he knew better.