02 Hunted - The Chosen Read online

“Are you just going to leave us here?” Ponyboy asked in a whine.

  “Weren’t you just about to kill me?”

  He clamped his mouth tight.

  “Besides, you just sent the world’s largest smoke signal. Someone’s gonna come out to investigate. But do try to be careful and not get sunburned.” Will winked and drove off, watching them in the rearview mirror.

  Chapter Two

  Banter from a talk show on the television filled the stuffy motel room, but Emma paid no attention. She hadn’t heard anything from Will in several hours and her stomach balled in nervous excitement. He had warned her not to get her hopes up, but how could she not? Desperation to get her son back consumed her every waking moment since he’d been taken over two weeks ago. She was so close now.

  A rap on the door startled her from her thoughts and she jumped upright off the bed, her heart racing. She reached for the handgun that lay next to her, the cold handle giving her a small amount of confidence. Will had moved them every couple of days, trying to stay a step ahead of the two groups after them. So far, no one had found them, but they’d been at this hotel for several days. Long enough for their luck to run out. The rap turned into a familiar pattern and she lowered her gun, releasing her breath. Will.

  When Will’s face filled the peephole view, her shaky fingers fumbled with the chain and she swung the door open. His face told Emma what she feared before he even spoke.

  Her eyes sank closed.

  “Emma, I’m so sorry.” He shut the door behind him and wrapped his arms around her.

  She sucked in a ragged breath. “Had he been there?”

  “I don’t know. I think he might have been, but they must have moved him right after we escaped. I only found a couple of teenagers. They’d been waiting for me for about a week and a half, which coincides with right about the time Alex told us where Jake was.”

  Emma looked into Will’s face. “What do you mean they were waiting for you? Why would they be there if Jake wasn’t there?”

  He grimaced before he answered, as though anticipating her reaction. “They knew I was coming and were hired to kill me.”

  Emma’s shoulders jerked with her sharp intake of air.

  “Emma, I was never in any danger. They were kids and had no idea what they were doing. The person who hired them probably thought I would kill them and be none the wiser.”

  Her face hardened. “Did you kill them?”

  “No, even though they planned on killing me.” A slow smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “But I left them a little overexposed, so hopefully they learned a valuable lesson.”

  “Now what? What do we do next?”

  Will pressed his lips into a tight line. “Honestly, Emma, I don’t know. This was my last lead.”

  Her stomach dropped. “You’re not giving up, are you?”

  “No, but I’m not sure where to go. Perhaps we need to take a different tack.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Instead of focusing on finding Jake, maybe we should focus on finding the people who took him.”

  “Isn’t that the same thing?”

  “Not exactly.” Will walked over to the window and looked through the crack in the curtains. “I’ve been chasing down leads involving Jake, a very narrow net. I need to widen it to include the Cavallo, but it’s going to mean doing some backtracking.” He turned back to face her. “It means leaving Arizona.”

  “What?” Emma’s voice rose in panic. She couldn’t leave Arizona without Jake.

  “Emma, he’s not here. They moved him and I’m sure they moved him far away.” Worry lines crinkled Will’s forehead. “You look tired and need to sit down. You’ve been standing on your leg too long. In fact, you shouldn’t even be out of bed.”

  “Will, I’m fine. I’m not that tired and it doesn’t hurt that much,” she protested as he led her to the edge of the mattress.

  He sat beside her and took her hand. “I know how stubborn you are. You’re not going to admit that you’re tired, especially when it has something to do with Jake. But Emma, you were shot less than two weeks ago and you had a nasty infection that almost killed you. Twice.”

  She didn’t need any reminder that her infection was why he took her to the Vinco Potentia compound, worried that she’d die without medical care. It was the reason he planned to leave her there as their “guest.” Thankfully, he’d come to his senses and taken her with him when he escaped, but the antibiotic he had stolen ran out and the infection came back, leaving her sicker than the first time.

  “Emma, you just can’t bounce back from something like that. If you’re not careful, you’ll have a setback. You just have to accept that it’s going to take a while to recover. In fact, I didn’t change your bandage yesterday. Let me check it.”

  He reached for the hem of her dress and Emma pushed his hand away in frustration. “Will, I changed it myself.”

  “I know but let me look anyway.”

  She looked up and saw the fear lurking in his eyes. She may have been semi-unconscious most of the previous week, but there was no mistaking the love and devotion he showed her while her fever raged. He rarely left her side. Plus, she knew he still blamed himself for her getting shot in the first place. A guilt that still plagued him no matter how many times she insisted it shouldn’t. She lightly kissed him on the lips. “Okay.” Lifting the hem of her dress, she exposed the thick bandage taped to her leg.

  “Has it been burning? How’s your pain?” Will asked as he gently pulled off the gauze to reveal the wound. In two days, the skin had almost entirely filled in the hole left from the entry wound, leaving a pink dimple in her thigh.

  Will’s hand froze and he looked up, his eyes wide. “Emma, your leg shouldn’t look like that for another month or more. How could it heal this quickly?”

  “I don’t know. I only know it itches like crazy.” Just thinking about it made it itchier and she scratched the skin around the now-filled hole.

  “This isn’t normal. Do you always recover from injuries faster than most people?”

  What was he talking about? Jake was the one with special powers. “I don’t know, Will. I haven’t really gotten hurt much.”

  Will snorted. “Really? After spending the last month with you I would’ve guessed otherwise.”

  She rolled her eyes but understood what he meant. Since she met him she’d fallen off a cliff and gotten a concussion, almost drowned in a creek, become violently nauseated when her enemies became closer in proximity, and had been shot. All in all, the month pretty much sucked.

  Her hand stopped in mid-scratch. “Will, how long would it take to recover from a concussion?”

  He looked confused then his face tightened. “Several days, maybe a week.”

  “Do you think I had a concussion after my fall?”

  He nodded, and rubbed his chin. “Yeah, I don’t see how you didn’t. You lost consciousness after you hit your head on that rock. And then again later.” He looked into her eyes and she knew he was thinking what she was.

  She’d completely recovered from her concussion within a day.

  He reached for her leg, tracing the circumference of the wound lightly with his finger. The gesture gave her chills but also set off a new itch attack. She scratched with a vengeance.

  “Emma, this isn’t normal.”

  What did it matter how quickly she healed? It wouldn’t help get Jake back and they weren’t any closer than when they started. But she knew Will well enough to know he wouldn’t let it drop until he was satisfied with her answers. “Maybe I have healed more quickly in the past, but not like this.”

  “So you were always different, but then things changed, made you sense the Cavallo when they were getting close and you became telepathic with me.”

  That one had caught her by surprise. When Alex showed up in her hospital room and she called out to Will in her mind, she never expected him to answer. “And telepathic with Jake.”

  Will stood up and paced
the floor. “Yeah, that’s right, before the truck exploded and the Cavallo took Jake, you could talk to him, too.”

  Just the reminder of living nearly twenty-four hours thinking that her son had died in the explosion sent her reeling and she braced her arms on the mattress. Thank God he’d come to her in her dreams. “And after my dream,” she said, “when he told me he was alive.”

  Will stopped and turned to her in disbelief. “What? Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

  She sat up. “It was in the woods, when you taught me how to shoot the shotgun. I talked to him then, but he said it was too dangerous to talk to me. You already didn’t believe that he was alive so I knew if I told you, you’d think I was crazy.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Obviously, I don’t think you’re crazy now. You should have told me. Why haven’t you asked him where he is and save us a lot of time and effort?”

  “You don’t think I’ve tried?” Did he really think she was that stupid? “I can feel him out there somewhere, but he refuses to talk to me. It’s like he’s built a wall to keep me out.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  She tilted her head with a sneer. “The same reason you were going to leave me with those nut jobs in South Dakota. He thinks he’s protecting me.”

  His jaw clenched and he ran his hand through his hair, averting his gaze. “Emma, you know I didn’t want to leave you.”

  She shook her head. “I know, I know. We’ve been over this. But right or wrong, it’s his reasoning too.”

  Will sat on the edge of the dresser, staring at the wall over Emma’s head, a frown tugging his mouth. A car back fired and Will whipped around to look through the drapes into the parking lot. He turned back with a sigh, rubbing his forehead.

  Emma knew he hadn’t wanted to leave her in South Dakota. The Vinco Potentia had threatened to kill her if Will didn’t cooperate, but it still stung. She still wasn’t convinced she should rely on him completely. What would it take for him to leave her again? The past two weeks she’d had no choice, but she was almost recovered. Emma had spent her entire life taking care of herself and the last five years taking care of her son. On her own. She wasn’t sure she could let someone help her now. Everyone in her life she’d ever counted on had hurt or left her. What made Will any different? At the same time, she’d promised Jake she’d stay with Will, a promise she didn’t take lightly. She glanced at Will, and the trident shaped brand Jake had burned on his arm, reminding her that Will was bound to her, too.

  Still, the Vinco Potentia wasn’t a group to trifle with. A secret political organization founded by Columbia University graduates, it was run by powerful men used to getting what they wanted and with enough money to get it. Right now they wanted her.

  Will stood, snapping her out of her reflection. “So, you’re changing. Just like Jake and everything else. What’s made you and Jake change?”

  She raised her eyebrows. Wasn’t it obvious? “You. You’re the catalyst. Even Jake said so.”

  He shook his head. “Maybe I’ve started things changing, but things were freaky with Jake long before I ever showed up. And with you to a lesser extent. Alex sought you out, knew you were significant enough to…”

  Her chest tightened. “Yeah, I don’t need to be reminded of what Alex did.”

  “The point is, you were chosen yourself, long before I entered the scene. Before Jake was born and before he could see the future. If you could heal faster than normal, you’ve always been special.”

  Emma shook her head.

  “Do you remember something significant happening to you when you were a kid?”

  “You mean other than the parade of boyfriends my mother brought into the house and the massive quantities of alcohol they consumed? No.” Her bitterness oozed through her words.

  “What about your father?”

  She twisted the hem of her dress in her fingers. “I never knew my father. He left long before I was born. I figured he was just another of my mother’s one-night stands. She never told me when I asked.”

  “Does your mother have any special qualities or powers?”

  “Other than her ability to consistently pick losers? No.”

  “Maybe your father holds the key to your and Jake’s abilities. We need to find out more.”

  “Yeah, well good luck with that. My mother refused to tell me anything. What does it matter anyway?”

  He stared into her eyes. “Emma, the Vinco Potentia wants you, not Jake. You have significance. I suspect they want you for you and not just the baby, otherwise why would the prophecy call you a queen? Why not just a vessel or a baby momma?”

  Emma glared, not just because of his flippant remark. Her possible pregnancy wasn’t a subject she was willing to discuss. The Vinco Potentia wanted the baby they believed Emma was carrying. A baby who was supposed to be Jake’s enemy. Some centuries-old prophecy said that her baby would have powers equal or greater than Jake’s, somehow giving the group that possessed him power to control the world.

  Emma thought it was a crock of bullshit.

  Will sighed. “What if your significance has something to do with one of your parents? Especially your father since you have no idea who he is. Emma, we need to talk to your mother and find out more. Where is she?”

  Memories of her mother flooded her with anger and shame.

  “Emma?”

  She realized she must look as horrified as she felt. “That’s really not a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “Let’s just say my mother and I didn’t part on good terms and seeing me again is probably the last thing she wants.”

  Will sat next to her on the bed and took her hand. “We have to try. Maybe it will lead us closer to Jake.”

  She had sincere doubts talking to her mother would lead them to Jake, but Will knew which carrot to dangle. She’d do anything to find him. Even if it meant seeing her mother.

  ***

  Will packed what few belongings they had, which wasn’t much. When the Cavallo, a splinter group from the Vinco Potentia, kidnapped Jake, they’d blown up Will’s truck, burning up everything he had with him as well as Emma’s suitcase. Even though he’d leased his apartment under an alias, he’d hesitated going back. The people looking for them were powerful enough to sniff it out. But the little money he withdrew with his debit card the night they got away, and what the chop shop paid for the BMW he stole to escape, was running out. They needed money so it might be worth the risk. Even if they knew about his apartment, hopefully they’d stopped watching after nearly two weeks.

  “Where’s your mother?” Will asked. “I’d like to try to go back to my place. I can plan it into our route.”

  Emma hesitated long enough that Will suspected she wasn’t going to tell him.

  “Missouri. Joplin, Missouri. I’m sure she’s still there.”

  Will raised his eyebrows. “You grew up in Joplin? My apartment’s in Kansas City, only a couple hours north.”

  Emma eyed him warily before she frowned. “What a lucky coincidence.”

  These were things people usually discussed on a first date, not after spending several weeks together. There was so much he didn’t know about her, most of which she kept guarded even after everything they’d been through together. Maybe she used it as leverage to get him to share his own secrets.

  Emma lifted herself off the bed. “Will, I can help.”

  “Emma, I can do this. I don’t need your help.”

  “I’m not a fucking invalid, Will. You saw my leg. I’m healed.”

  The exasperated tone in her voice was something he’d become well acquainted with over the last week. “I know, I just don’t want you to overdo it.” He pulled her into an embrace and nuzzled her neck. “I can come up with something else for you to do.”

  She pushed him away, but she wore a small grin. “I don’t even think so.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, no time to do it justice anyway. Though if you’d said yes, I would’ve had a h
ard time turning you down. Come on, let’s go to Missouri.”

  “Funny, I thought we were already in misery.”

  “You must be feeling better. Sarcasm and wit.”

  Will grabbed the remote off the bedside table to turn off the television, when images of a fire on the local news caught his eye. He turned up the volume.

  Emma watched Will, cocking her headed in confusion.

  “...the bodies of two teens were found next to the burning home. Officials won’t release the cause of death, but word has leaked that the boys’ deaths were unrelated to the fire.”

  Will tensed and tossed the remote on the bed. “We’ve got to go.”

  “Were those the two kids you—”

  “Yes.” Will moved to the window and looked through the slit between the cheap polyester drapes.

  “But I thought you said you didn’t kill them.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “Then—”

  He turned back to look into her strained face. “Exactly.”

  Chapter Three

  He doubted they’d followed him here. He’d checked and double-checked to make sure he hadn’t been trailed. But he was less than twenty-five miles from the burning house. Too close for comfort.

  “Have you felt sick?” While her violent nausea and vomiting triggered by the close proximity of the group was a hindrance, it had saved their lives on several occasions.

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She glared. “I think you’d have noticed the uncontrollable retching.”

  He eased through the door, holding Emma back in the room with one hand. The rundown motel parking lot was mostly empty.

  “Stay behind me and if I tell you to run, run.”

  “Okay.”

  The car was close to the door. He reached for the passenger door handle.

  “That’s not our car.”

  “It is now.”

  “Where did you get it?”

  “I traded it in. Now get in.”

  She stood in front of the car with her hand on her hip checking out the vehicle. He’d come to recognize it as her defiant stance. “Do I want to know where you got it?”