Twice as Hot (33 page)

“Anything
of yours taken?”

I
shook my head. Except for what I had in my purse, all of my stuff was in my bag
and my bag was in the corner. Why had they left it?

“Good.
Let’s go,” Rome said, and motioned me to the door.

I
padded across the room and bent down to grab the duffel, but Rome stalked to my
side and gripped my arm, stilling me. Silent, he shook his head. I opened my
mouth to ask what was going on, but he gave another of those head shakes.

O-kay.
We were leaving empty-handed, it seemed.

His
grip remaining firm, he ushered me to the door and into the hallway. As he shut
the door behind us, he leaned down and whispered, “They probably placed
tracking chips on your clothes.”

My
eyes widened. Of course.

“Assume
we’re being watched. Say nothing.
Do
nothing without my permission.”

This
time, the permission thing didn’t bother me. This man knew what he was doing. I
didn’t. One day I would, though, I vowed. One day soon.

When
I’d first been recruited to be an agent, I hadn’t really wanted the job. Okay,
a part of me had still craved the excitement. But mostly, I’d agreed for Rome.
To protect his daughter, he’d wanted out, so I’d traded myself, taking his
position as my own.

Because
he loved me, he hadn’t wanted to leave me at PSI without him. He’d shocked me
by changing his plans and staying on, asking only that I help him safeguard
Sunny. Well, that, and love him always.

I’d
considered before but truly accepted now that I’d kind of coasted through the
job all these months, doing what was required of me, but nothing extra. Nothing
above and beyond. I hadn’t really trained like I should have, hadn’t hunted
Desert Gal like I should have. I’d put myself first. My wedding first. My life
first. Because of that, my best guy friend was lying unconscious in the
hospital, my lover was without his memory and my best girlfriend was now a
prisoner of a water-sucking scrim.

No
more, I thought, hands again clenching into fists. From now on, I was an agent,
pure and simple. No longer would I play at this job, pass time with it or place
my own desires over my missions. They called me Wonder Girl, after all. I would
do wonderful things, I told myself—and tried to believe it.

I
remained close to Rome as we trekked the length of the hall and down the
staircase. He had a weapon trained ahead of us, but he never had to use it. The
rest of the hotel had seemed to drift off to sleep, leaving us to our spy
games.

“This
way.” He didn’t lead me to the parking garage as I expected. No, he led me
outside, back into night’s shadows. A few cars meandered along the road, their
lights glaring.

I
was still wearing my hooker dress, and the air was chilly against my skin,
causing goose bumps to break out over every visible inch. My gaze remained
watchful, circling the area with suspicion. Any moment, I expected someone to
jump out at us and attack.

Keeping
his own gaze alert, Rome removed his jacket and draped it over my shoulders,
though he never broke stride.

“Thank
you.”

“Welcome.
Now get ready.”

“For
what?”

“Anything.”

Smart
man. Hmm. What to do to prepare? The only way to be ready for anything, I
supposed, was to work up a simmering anger. That way, I could torch
something—or someone—if necessary, and the ensuing smoke would help hide us.
But I had to be careful. Anything beyond simmering would light me on fire. I
had to be just angry enough so the flames would be contained inside me until I
was ready to unleash them.

I
needed Tanner and Rome for this; I’d never done it on my own. Tanner would have
warned me before things got out of control, and Rome would have filtered out
the excess emotion. Without one, it was risky. Without both, it was probably
suicide. A one percent chance of success was better than nothing, though.

Rome
and I moved into a hedge of trees, the leaves swaying behind us. Twigs snapped
under my heels, minute after minute passing in fraught silence. Before I could
force my mind down an anger trail, we broke through another thick bush and a
well-lit building came into view. A bar. Red neon flashed:
Pool here.
A
group of middle-aged men exited the front door, smoke billowing behind them.
They were talking and laughing and slapping one another on the shoulders.

All
four stopped and gawked at me as I passed. One even whistled. Guess my cleavage
was visible through the slit in Rome’s jacket.

Rome
growled at them, but at least he didn’t attack. He simply quickened his pace,
and once again I had to run to keep up.

“Where’re
we going?”

“I
need some equipment, then we’ll find a place to rest.”

“Equipment?
Other than what you’ve got in the car?”

“There’s
nothing in the car. Sorry, I lied. I just wanted you safe so that I could
assess the situation.”

And
to think I’d been wondering how to make myself mad. I popped my jaw, my anger
simmering as I’d wanted. Rome believed in doing what he thought was right, no
matter what. It was part of the reason I loved him, but that didn’t make it any
less frustrating.

“Don’t
do that again.”

“Can’t
promise that. But I’m wondering, did I ever lie to you? Before?”

“At
first. But we’d reached a point where we were totally honest with each other,
no matter how badly it hurt.”

He
was silent a moment, contemplating my words. “Fucking Memory Man,” he muttered.

Bye-bye
anger. His remorse was irresistible.

Where
was Memory Man, anyway? I’d pondered it earlier, but now I was surprised by his
absence. He’d called me a magnet for trouble, had claimed he was desperate to
protect me, but hadn’t been here for the action. Did that mean he had remained
in Georgia? Or had he lost my trail?

“We
can get there again,” I said. “We just have to—”

“I
can’t discuss that now, Belle. I want to, but I can’t. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t
have brought it up. I have to keep my mind clear, focused, and when we talk
about our feelings, the past, I just want to hold you, and I can’t right now.…”

Ir-re-sistible.
But I’d try to focus on the matter at hand, as he wanted. “Maybe you haven’t
noticed, Rome, but everything’s closed,” I said, looking around at the darkened
storefronts. Well, except for the bars, but I doubted they had what he needed.

“Doesn’t
mean I can’t get in.” He squeezed my fingers in reassurance.

I
should have known he’d add B and E to our long list of necessary evils. “Where
are we going exactly? What if we’re being followed?”

“So
far I haven’t spotted anyone trying to follow us. Besides, Desert Gal doesn’t
need to follow us. She has something we want, so she knows we’ll go to her.”

I
nodded shakily.

“Everything
will be okay.” He drew my hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on the inside of
my palm. A kiss of comfort, I imagined, but it was enough to fog my brain.

Okay,
that wasn’t helping. Back to the anger thing, I thought as we reached an
abandoned sidewalk. What made me mildly angry? Traffic. Slowpoke drivers.
Memory loss. Oh, yeah. That was the ticket. A spark lit inside my chest,
burning, melting away the cold.

“Why
are you suddenly radiating heat?” Rome muttered. “Pissed?”

“Slightly,
and it’s on purpose. For our protection.”

“Good.
This will be a good test for both of us. If it becomes too much, give some of
it to me.”

“Uh—”

He
pinned me with a fierce glance, the force of it nearly knocking me backward.
“You will this time, Belle. No excuses.”

I
swallowed, despite the fact that my mouth had dried, and nodded. I didn’t want
to hurt him. That would make me a worse agent than I already was. But I would
do this. For us, for Sherridan. Maybe even for Lexis. If my anger spun out of
control, I would give some of it to him, whether he knew what to do with it or
not, forcing it from my body and into his. But if he burned because of it…

Don’t
think about that.
All right, so. I needed more anger. Lines were irritating. Waiting in the
doctor’s lobby for forty-five minutes, then half an hour in the actual
examining room. Then, of course, the doctor would have an emergency—a.k.a.
running late because of a long lunch—so the appointment would have to be
rescheduled. Memory loss.

Flames
broke out over my fingers.

“You’re
about to burst. Give some to me, Belle.”

“No,
not yet. I can handle this.” Memory loss. The flames spread, licking up my
wrists. Shit. I had to stop thinking the words
memory loss.
The fire
spread to my armpits and Rome yelped and jumped away from me. Damn it!
Okay,
calm down. Happy thoughts now.

“Belle,”
he growled. “Do it. Now.”

“We’re
not at that point yet. I can calm on my own.” Ice cream. Memory loss. “This
isn’t critical yet.” Chocolate cake. Memory loss.

He
snarled. Stomped to me. Grabbed my shoulder despite the heat I radiated and
shook me. His teeth were bared in a scowl. “Do it!”

You
promised. Memory loss. No other choice. Memory loss. You’ll BBQ both of you if
you don’t at least try. Memory loss.
The fire was leaping inside me, desperate
for escape. Any moment it would spring free. Shaking, I closed my eyes and
shoved the hottest edges of my fury at Rome, my body instantly cooling.

He
grunted as though he’d been hit with a meaty fist.

My
eyelids popped open. He was not on fire. Neither was I. He was pale, lines of
tension around his eyes, but he was fine. Thank God. He’d done it. Even without
his memory, he’d done it.

“Told
you it’d work,” he gritted out. He hunched over, drew in a breath. A moment
passed, then another. Finally he straightened and jolted back into motion as if
we’d never stopped.

I
had my filter back.

Before
I could reply or laugh or twirl from joy, he stopped in front of an electronics
store. A streetlamp glowed above us like a spotlight. Rome didn’t ask me to,
but I pointed a finger at the bulb—
Desert Gal, my friends hurt, scared,
memory loss
—and forced a beam of fire out. That flame slammed into the
bulb, causing it to explode. All the while, I could feel Rome’s strength
surrounding me, keeping the worst of my abilities under wraps.

The
world around us darkened.

Rome
could see in the dark, a perk of having cat senses. Thankfully, my eyes also
adjusted quickly. Before I could finish saying, “Here’s your jacket back,” to
drape around his hand and protect the skin, he busted the glass above the door
lock.

Cuts
appeared and blood trickled, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Didn’t want you
cold,” he said.

How
sweet. And something my Rome, the old Rome, would have done. Was he coming back
to me? Without his memories? I didn’t dare hope.

He
reached inside the store and swiftly disabled the lock. In the background, I
could hear the alarm beeping, preparing to erupt.

“Stay
here,” he said. “Stand guard.” He pressed a quick kiss to my lips, frowned down
at me rather than pull away, and shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.
Then he leaped into motion, the alarm finally screeching to life.

I
stood there, my back to the store, my attention on anyone who might pass, my
nerves dousing the fire and leaving a sheen of ice. I was coming to hate the
ice more than any other element. Behind me, I could hear the shuffling of feet,
scraping, cords dragging.

In
the distance, I thought I heard sirens.

“Cat
Man,” I called, not wanting to use his real name.

He
was at my side in the next instant. “Let’s go.”

He
was weighed down with equipment, but raced along the street without any
problem. I kept pace beside him, huffing and puffing, determined to start
working out as soon as possible. It would be part of my Become A Better
Superagent plan.

No
one chased us, thank God, and fifteen minutes later we strolled into a motel
without incident. Rome got us a room, and when we were finally inside, I
collapsed on the bed, completely spent.

What
a hellish night.

Using
my powers always tired me. Being hit on by eleven men at once, petty theft and
the kidnapping of my friend did, too, it seemed. As for Lexis, she wasn’t my
favorite person, but even her kidnapping upset me.

Rome
dumped his contraband on the twin bed beside mine. He didn’t look at me, I
noticed. “I’m going to review the feed from the room.” His voice was strained.

I
blinked in surprise, sat up. “You can do that still?”

“Of
course. I had everything recording on my phone. I can hook that to the laptop
and watch what happened. Now get some sleep. You’re going to need it.”

“No.”
I threw my legs over the bed, groaned at the ache in my joints. “I’ll help.”