Locked Out of Love (32 page)

Niella wheeled over to Melanie. “What happened?” Her hazel eyes shot to the Asian woman and narrowed.

Joel looked down into Melanie's pale face. The circles under her eyes stood out against her skin. She'd been losing sleep, worrying about Joel and her plans against Juliet, no doubt.

“I think she was,” he swallowed, “
stripped
of her powers.”

The guild remained silent.

“Do you need help carrying her?” Luke offered, stepping forward. He swayed on his feet.

Joel repressed a smile. “I can manage. Thank you, though.”

He scooped Melanie into his arms, tucking her head safely beneath his chin. Her skin was sticky from the moisture in the air, the awful scent of fish from the warehouse clinging to her clothes, but he pulled her close anyway.

“Were you able to find out anything of use?” Joel asked Merrick as they made their way to his mother's car. Eight people in five seats was going to be fun.

Merrick shook his head. “I got bits and pieces off Juliet, but once she realized what I was doing, she shut down completely. I got a glimpse of their headquarters in L.A., a flash of Hazel, but nothing more substantial. I could have given chase, but in the condition we're in, I thought better of it.”

Joel nodded.

Sydney, still drowsy from the drugs, patted Merrick's shoulder but missed about half the time. “It's a start. We'll find Hazel again.”

Luke, who clung to the back of Niella's wheelchair for balance, turned and nodded. “We won't stop until we find her.”

They all stopped once they got to the car.

“You didn't think to bring my Hummer?” Felix stared at the sedan with a horrified look on his face.

“Shotgun!” Cali and Niella shouted at once.

It turned out that Felix and Cali both shared shotgun, Cali in Felix's lap. Merrick, the least drugged of the bunch as they didn't need to suppress his powers, drove. That left Sydney, Niella, Joel, and Luke to squeeze into the back with Melanie laid out over their legs. It was a miracle they weren't pulled over.

 Joel cradled Melanie's head in his lap, running his hands through her silver-blonde locks.

Niella nudged him with her shoulder. “For what it's worth,” she murmured to him, “she wanted to tell you her plan.”

He stopped mid-stroke. “Why didn't she?”

Niella looked uncomfortable. “She knew working with Juliet would be a betrayal to you no matter what after I told her everything we've been through. Why didn't you tell her about all the times you went to find the guys in suits?”

Joel stared into Melanie's face. “Because I didn't want to scare her off. I was trying to protect her, and instead I just shoved a wedge between us. I fell too hard, too fast, like usual.” He sighed. “I'm an idiot.”

“Just a little,” Cali called over her shoulder.

Joel reached forward and pulled on her ponytail.

“Hey!”

“No comments from the peanut gallery,” he said. He turned back to Niella. “She was frightened because her last boyfriend was stalking her, she was wary of men, and I thought if I told her suited men were following her, she'd freak out. Like I said, I screwed up.”

“No one's perfect, man,” Felix piped up. “Whether it's you, me, Melanie—we all have some kind of demon to overcome.”

Felix was right. God, he hated how Felix was right. Melanie was only trying to protect him, like he'd been trying to protect her by keeping her in the dark about the men in suits—about pursuing Juliet. If he wanted someone to blame, he only need look in a mirror. Maybe if he were open and honest from the beginning, she would have felt comfortable with him and gone to him instead of Niella. He knew they had a rocky start, that maybe Melanie wasn't looking out for him in the beginning, but in the end she'd chosen him. Shouldn't that count for something? She'd stepped up and got over her fear of losing Joel by admitting the truth.

A small hand reached around Niella and touched him on the wrist. Sydney's emerald-green eyes locked steady on his. “She's not me, you know,” she said softly.

The words penetrated all the way to his soul.

Melanie wasn't Sydney.

Melanie might have deceived him, but her back was against a wall. She'd wanted to help her brother. She hadn't meant to hurt Joel, that much he saw from her expression after Juliet's attack. Just like Sydney hadn't meant to hurt him.

Silence descended upon the tiny, stuffed car for a few blocks.

“It's up to you now,” Niella spoke up, “whether you can forgive her, put the past behind you, and move forward.”

• • •

Melanie awoke to the sound of running water. For a moment she froze, her mind putting her at the last place she could remember. The warehouse.

But the smell of fish was gone and she wasn't on the hard ground but on a soft mattress that smelled like Joel.

Her muscles were already starting to relax when her brain caught up.

She tensed. Joel had brought her here because she was injured. That didn't mean he'd let her stay. In fact, he'd probably kick her out as soon as he found out she was awake.

She'd betrayed him—betrayed the guild.

The running water stopped.

She sat up and her eyes darted to the closed door that connected to the bedroom. She looked down at herself—she wore one of Joel's t-shirts and nothing else. She didn't see her clothes anywhere.

How long had she been out?

The windows were dark around the blinds. Joel's alarm clock read 10:52 p.m. She'd been unconscious for a few hours.

Shuffling from the other side of the door made her heart stutter. Her mind told her to flee, to escape before she had to confront Joel, but her body didn't listen. She didn't care if he hated her, she wanted to see him at least one more time before he ended it between them. Besides, she would not cower from the consequences she brought upon herself by her actions. It was time to face the music.

The handle jiggled and her pulse spiked. She pulled the bed sheet up higher against her chest. That didn't mean she liked facing the music nearly naked. It took away a little of her bravado when she thought too hard on the fact that her bare bottom was on Joel's smooth sheets.

Joel stepped out of the bathroom, clad in sweats and a Star Wars graphic tee. She would miss his shirts. She would miss him.

He toweled his damp hair as he came out of the bathroom, stopping when he noticed her sitting up in his bed.

The towel dropped. “You're awake.”

Her mind went blank. She couldn't think of anything to say. “Hi” sounded too lame. She opened her mouth to try, but in the next instant Joel pulled her into his arms.

His warmth and strength triggered the tears she hadn't known she'd kept at bay. She clung to Joel as they fell.

He stroked her back, murmuring words of comfort the entire time.

When she was finally able to get a handle on her emotions, she pulled away. “I'm so sorr—”

He cut her off with a fierce kiss.

The taste of him melted her insides. She opened herself up to him. He fed from her like a man starved.

She knew the feeling.

Her mouth moved under his, giving, taking, until she was breathless from it.

Finally, he pulled back. “You don't have to apologize. I understand that I didn't exactly earn your trust. And I'm sorry for that. Niella told me about your plan to attack Juliet. How you wanted to tell me but didn't. I'm glad you had someone in the guild you could confide in.”

She took his hand in hers. “Joel, I made a mess of everything. The situation with Juliet, Alexander, your guild.” She shrugged. “Like I said, everything. I was lost and confused and that's no excuse. You tried to help me, but I was too stubborn to listen, and I understand if you want to end things between us. I ruined it all. You probably hate me. Along with the guild.”

She tried to disentangle her hands from his, but he hung on. “I don't hate you. The guild doesn't hate you either. Niella explained to them what you were planning after they were kidnapped. They might be a little grumpy, but they know why you did it. And you were right, Juliet left after the attack. There's no sign of her, and even though we didn't get all the information we would have liked on Hazel's whereabouts, we're a little closer because of you. Trust me, the best thing you could have done was align yourself with Niella. She wouldn't defend just anyone. She's hard to win over and the guild knows that.”

The tears were back in her throat, but she held them at bay as she smiled at him.

He returned her smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Can I ask why you were suddenly so interested in Niella?”

The urge to tell him something different rose, but she beat it back. The time for lying to Joel was over. If she didn't give him everything, she would lose him, and she knew without a doubt that she couldn't lose him, not now, not ever.

“I had a Dream about her,” she confessed, already feeling lighter after that short sentence, like a weight had been lifted. “I Dreamed that she was killed.”

Panic flashed across his face.

She squeezed his hands. “It's okay, I fixed it. She was hit because she was fleeing her house in a confused state. Her Dreams were overwhelming her, bombarding her thoughts—that's why I wanted to help her. I took her powers, giving her periods of calm without risk of her powers flaring. Her mind was at peace, at least for a little while.. She said she was doing better at our last one, so I can only hope that means her future is going to be a good one.”

His expression turned solemn. “But now you'll never know.”

“What do you mean?”

His fingers tightened around hers. “I mean, you'll never be able to take her power and look into the future. Your powers … they're gone,” he said gently.

Her blood froze.

Memory flared.

Trina. The warehouse.

She remembered fighting her, struggling to move but being locked in some kind of living rigor mortis.

Her mind must've repressed those last moments before her world went dark.

But the one thing she did remember was being lifted from the ground as if something were being torn from her body, ripped away from her very soul.

Her powers.

She pulled her hand from Joel and wrapped her arms around herself. She should be happy, shouldn't she? This is what she always wanted. A normal life.

Then why did she feel like throwing up and crying at the same time?

She went back to that moment before unconsciousness took her. Remembered the fear, the terror.

Her neck tingled from the memory.

She blinked back her tears.

Joel cupped her face, one of his thumbs wiping away a stray tear. “It's okay,” he soothed. “Don't cry. You're not hurt and that's all that matters.”

“But I'm nothing now.” She stared down at her lap. “I'm not one of you any longer. I'm a regular human. I'd only get in the way.”

He lifted her face; she stared at his neck, refusing to look into his eyes.

“Melanie,” he chastised.

She lifted her gaze.

Her breath caught at the love and affection in his eyes.

“I don't care if you have warts and boils. I love you. Powers or no powers.”

She sniffed, holding back the tears. “Really?”

A warm tingle filled her, strongest at her neck.

Joel frowned.

His midnight eyes shifted to his hand and back to her face.

“Are you doing that?” he asked.

“Doing what?” She turned her focus inward.

It took her a moment, but she finally identified what he meant. She gasped and Joel dropped his hand, shaking it out as if he'd lost feeling in it.

“My powers?”

Hope flared. She snatched the pillow from behind her and pushed it down into the mattress, concentrating.

She released it seconds later, heart in the throat. “Pick it up.”

Joel complied. The pillow didn't budge.

Joel stared down at the bed in awe. “I don't understand.”

Melanie didn't either. She distinctly remembered Trina holding on to her, taking her powers. She remembered it all, how she'd tried her hardest to move her hand, to use her super strength to break free—

“That's it.”

“What's it?” Joel asked.

“When Trina was taking my powers, I was concentrating with all my might to use the super strength to break free from her. She must've taken that power instead of my siphoning powers.” She opened and closed her hands. “I still have my original gifts.”

Her lips curled into a grin. She threw herself at Joel.

They tumbled right off the bed and landed on the floor with a
thunk.

Joel groaned.

Melanie reared back. “I'm so sorry!”

He chuckled, rubbing his head where it hit the floor. “I'm fine. Bruised, but fine.”

She stared deep into his eyes and couldn't imagine any other future other than being with him.

“I love you,” she blurted.

His eyes widened. Beneath her palm, his heart kicked against his ribs.

“I love you, too, Melanie.”

Her heart soared, radiating heat like a mini furnace inside her chest.

“We might've sped through the Bonding process”—his chest rumbled beneath her as he spoke—“but I have faith that if we build this relationship on trust—truth, that's what the guild stands for after all—we'll be just fine. No more hiding secrets from one another. I want to be honest with you, and on that note I think it's time I told you about Sydney and I. When I found out about you working for Juliet, it hurt, a lot, but I don't think all the pain I felt was because of you. I was holding on to the deceit I felt because of Sydney.” He told Melanie of their relationship and how Sydney found Merrick. “I hung on longer to that pain than I should have, and I let it poison me. It made my reaction to you worse. And I'm sorry for that. I want to start anew. Does that sound good to you?”