Read Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart Online

Authors: Mary K. Norris

Tags: #romance, #paranormal

Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart (28 page)

BOOK: Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart
12.68Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“All set,” said Merrick.

They piled into Felix’s Hummer. Sydney went over the plan again and again. She hoped she could do this.

A warm hand covered her knee. “You okay?”

She looked over to Merrick. “I just hope I don’t screw this up,” she told him in a hushed tone.

His fingers tightened on her leg. “You’ll do fine. No pressure.”

She gave a quiet laugh. No pressure, sure. It was only her responsibility to Shield everyone periodically so they could take Greg by surprise. She’d have to be on high alert to watch for any signs of his powers so that she could temporarily shut them down before dropping her Shield so the others could use their powers in offense. It was like one big choreographed dance, only she didn’t know if she remembered all the steps. Attack, Shield. Shield, attack.

It’d be a lot easier if she could see Greg during this whole operation so she could read his body language and facial expressions, but they probably weren’t going to come across him until the halfway point.

“Someone want to tell me how Kevin befriended someone this wealthy?” Cali stared out the front windshield at the large double door gates that blocked off the estate.

“Maybe he gave him some good financial advice or some stock market tips,” Merrick said dryly.

Cali turned around in her seat and grinned cheekily.

Felix continued down the street and parked a half a block away. “Everyone know what they’re doing?”

They all nodded, Luke a little less confidently then the rest of them.

Felix’s eyes latched onto him. “Cali and I are going to clear the way for Merrick to get any reading on where the journal might be kept. Sydney is going to be on the watch for any super powers and if we’re in danger she’s going to Shield us. Luke, you’ll bring up the rear. You’re our backup.”

He nodded shakily. “You’re not going to Shield if I’m hit are you?” he asked Sydney.

“Don’t worry,” she told him. “You’re not going to have to take a bullet for anyone else. And if on the off chance that you do, I promise not to Shield, that way you’ll heal just like you always do.”

That seemed to put him at ease.

“You can always stay behind in the car if you don’t want to come with us,” Merrick said.

“No.” Luke shook his head. “Joel helped break me out in San Francisco and I want to help him if I can.”

When they were all out of the Hummer, Felix came around and clapped Luke on the shoulder. Luke flinched mildly. “Welcome to the Guild of Truth,” said Felix. “You’re official now.”

Luke beamed.

Felix and Cali led the way back to the estate. As they came upon the gate Felix motioned them to the wall. “Cameras,” he whispered. He waved his hand and the two little black cameras mounted on the top of the gate vanished.

Merrick blinked.

Sydney smiled and touched his arm. “You’ll get used to it,” she told him.

He nodded.

Felix turned to Merrick. “Give me a boost?” He motioned to the large wall.

“Why don’t you Erase the gate?” Sydney asked.

“Because that’s going to look suspicious. If I can get on top of the gate I’ll be able to see the lock and Erase it, letting you guys in.”

Sydney eyed the large wooden doors. The lock was probably a giant latch on the other side.

Merrick and Luke both helped boost Felix up enough so that he could grab the edge of the wall and haul himself up. He sat on the wall for a moment, his hand waving. No doubt he was taking out any threats that he could see. He jumped down from the wall and a few seconds later the two large gates swung open soundlessly.

“Nice landscaping,” Luke said in awe as they all got their first good look at the front yard.

It was huge. Bright plants were everywhere. The driveway was lined with professionally designed hedges that were shaped into long spirals. A koi pond was off to one side of the place while a fountain was off on the other. All in all, the one word Sydney could think to describe the place was
exotic
. “At least we know he doesn’t have kids,” Merrick said as they made their way down toward the mansion type house.

“How can you tell?” asked Cali.

Merrick gestured to the grass. “There are no toys lying around anywhere. In my experience that means no kids.”

“One less obstacle,” said Felix.

They moved slow and steady until they climbed the stoop leading to the front door.

“Anyone else think this has been too easy?” Felix asked.

Sydney hadn’t wanted to say anything but they hadn’t come into contact with any resistance. Not even a guard dog. “Maybe he left?”

Felix looked doubtful but didn’t say anything. “Get ready for anything,” he warned her.

She stepped back.

Felix waved his hand and the lock and handle on the door disappeared. The door slid open, again soundlessly. Sydney wondered if they were just lucky that this man oiled his hinges or if Cali was at work. She cast a quick look in Cali’s direction but the Silencer only smiled back.

Once all inside, Luke pushed the door closed as best he could but it continued to slide open.

If Sydney thought Collette’s house was nice, then this place was amazing. Two curving staircases, one on each side, joined up in the middle to lead to the second floor. There was a hallway straight ahead and two rooms on either side.

A dark object moved too fast for Sydney to catch on the second floor. “Did you guys see that?” Her voice came out warped, as if she were speaking underwater.

“No, what?” She heard Felix’s voice perfectly but there was something off about it. As if she heard it in her mind and not around her.

She turned to Cali. She smiled again and tapped her ear. She was using her powers. Somehow she was manipulating their voices when they spoke so that they’d be able to hear each other but no one else would.

“Something moved upstairs,” she said.

Merrick’s warm body came up behind her and for a moment she wanted to lean back against him and absorb all that heat. “Do you think it’s Greg?” he asked.

She shrugged, some part of herself doubting that she even saw anything. “I know this is going to sound crazy,” she said. “But what if we were to ask him for the journal? We’re both on the same side. He might be sick of having to protect the journal from Vander — if we tell him we’re going to take it maybe he’ll be happy to be rid of it.”

“The only problem with your plan is that we’re not going to keep the journal from Vander. We’re going to barter it for Joel’s life,” said Felix.

“Technically we don’t have to tell him that,” Cali commented.

Felix stared at Cali before turning around to look at the rest of them. “Is that what we want to do then? Try the diplomatic angle first?”

“There might be less pain that way,” said Sydney.

Felix shrugged. “I guess — ” A large object flew from one of the side rooms and smashed into his shoulder.

He staggered back. Cali raced to his side as another object came flying.

“Cali, watch out,” Sydney cried.

Cali took the hit in the side of the ribs. Her face contorted in pain but she continued to Felix’s side.

The dark shape reappeared on the second floor and Sydney stared into Greg Kelley’s eyes.

A flurry of miscellaneous objects came hurdling toward them.

“Sydney!” Merrick shouted from behind her.

She tore her gaze away from Greg and threw up her Shield. The objects fell to the floor useless. Greg disappeared out of sight.

“Holy shit.” Felix rubbed his shoulder absently as he bent to inspect Cali’s side. “Out of all the fucking powers we had to get landed with Mr. Telekinesis?”

Sydney barely heard him. She rushed for the stairs. She couldn’t let Greg get away.

“Syd!”

She kept running. On the second floor landing she went left where she saw Greg disappear. She followed her instinct and picked the furthest hallway to travel. She passed room after room, some connecting with others. There were tons of places Greg could have backtracked. She shook her head and pressed on.

“Syd!” Merrick’s voice barely reached her.

Movement caught her attention and she veered left into a large room that was filled with boards and planks and other wooden items.

Greg stood alone in the center.

“You can’t hit me with anything,” she told him.

Greg slid a hand carved bat from one of the shelves. “I can’t hit you with my mind,” he corrected her.

She swallowed in fear but kept her footing. “Look, we’re on the same side. We both want to keep that journal from Vander. If you help us — ”

“I was warned about you.” Greg stepped back and raised his bat. “You’re the one’s Kevin warned me about. Under no circumstances were you to get his journal. You’d ruin everything with it.”

Sydney drew back. “What? No — we’d never … our friend is in danger.”

“I don’t care who’s in danger. You’re not getting that journal.”

“You can’t stop us. You’re outnumbered and it’s only a matter of time. Help us. Please.”

Greg swung.

Sydney cried out as she dropped to the floor. The wood of his bat crashed into another shelf. Wooden objects flew everywhere, raining down on her.

She threw her hands up to protect her head.

“Sydney!” Merrick roared through the whole house. Footsteps thundered down a nearby hallway.

“Fuck diplomacy,” she heard Felix say as she scrambled for the door. Her hand closed around a large figurine and she threw it at Greg with all her might.

He batted it away and brought his weapon up for another swing. “You can’t stop my powers if you’re knocked unconscious.”

She screamed.

The bat swung for her head.

Merrick flew through the doorway. He tackled Greg to the floor. Greg’s swing went wide but it still sent Sydney into another shelf.

Pain exploded behind her eyes and her vision went black —

She blinked up from the floor.

Luke was crouched next to her. “You’re all right.” He smiled. “How’s your head?”

For the first time she noticed the blood on his hands. She tentatively touched the side of her head that throbbed with her heartbeat and felt the matted blood. Felix and Cali stood around them like a protective shield. Wooden objects were flying everywhere as if they were in the middle of a tornado. Felix was Erasing left and right while Cali used her sound waves to push away any object that came too close. She was covered in bruises, as was Felix.

Sydney pushed to a sitting position. “What happened?”

Luke helped her upright. “Merrick’s attempting to kick Greg’s ass — er, butt,” Luke hastily corrected at her flat stare. “The only problem is that Greg’s not going down without a fight.” He motioned to the spinning cyclone of wood they were presently encased in.

Merrick
.

“Where’s Merrick? Is he hurt?” She tried to get to her feet and nearly fell over as she became lightheaded. She tried to use her powers and nearly cried out as pain tore through her skull.

“Easy.” Luke kept her steady. “No sudden movements. Trust me, I’ve had my share of head wounds.”

She didn’t want to think of just how he’d received those head wounds. Niella’s words about his father drifted through her mind unbidden but she pushed them away. “I have to fix this. I have to help Merrick, this is all my fault.” If she wouldn’t have been so darn stupid and waited for everyone before going after Greg they might have been able to avoid this. But no, she had to try to be the hero. For once in her life she wanted to be able to help the guild without anyone else’s assistance.

All you did was make things worse.

Well, now she was going to make things right. Bracing herself for the pain she threw her Shield up. Luke had to hold her up as pain erupted in her head.

Wooden objects fell to the floor with a clatter.

Greg cried out as Merrick advanced on him. “No!” Greg shouted, his gaze locking with Sydney’s. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

Merrick caught him in a head lock and put him to sleep. It was over within seconds. Sydney dropped her Shield, exhausted.

“I got you.” Luke wrapped her arm around his shoulders and held her up.

“Thanks, Luke, I’m so glad we found you.”

He blushed and dropped his dreamy blue eyes.

Merrick was at her side instantly. His hands hovered near her head. “Shit.” He brushed aside her hair. “I should have killed that bastard for hurting you.”

“You did the right thing,” she told him. “He was only doing his job.”

“Well, he did a pretty fucking good job of it,” said Cali. Her exposed forearms were covered in angry red marks, some already bruising. She had a cut along her forehead and dried blood in her side bangs.

Felix wrapped his arm around Cali’s shoulders and drew her into his chest. He wasn’t nearly as battered as Cali, though he did have a nasty gash on his ear that was still bleeding. “We should start searching the place. There are a lot of rooms to cover.”

“What about him?” Luke nodded to Greg.

Merrick eyed him balefully. “We’ll tie him up.” He stepped over to Greg and grabbed his clothes in his hands before closing his eyes. A few seconds later he released Greg. “This might not take as long as you think, Felix,” he said.

“You know where Greg hid it?” Sydney asked hopefully.

“I know what room, but he was very careful in keeping his thoughts to himself. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It was as if he knew what to expect.”

Sydney frowned as she remembered Greg’s warning.

Chapter 24

Felix dragged Greg around by the duct tape and rope they had tied around his ankles.

Merrick kept glancing back every few seconds to make sure the bastard stayed unconscious. He would have been happy to make it permanent but Sydney would never have accepted that. She was too good of a person. She’d tried to help them by talking to Greg one on one but that man had been holed up in his house for years. Whatever Kevin had told him, he’d taken it straight to heart.

Merrick had never seen such paranoia in a person before. This was why they needed to destroy the journal. If they kept it around Sydney, Felix, and anyone else in their guild, they would be charged with guarding it and their fate would ultimately turn into Greg’s. They’d never be able to leave for fear of someone getting their hands on the notebook.

BOOK: Guild of Truth 02 - Shield from the Heart
12.68Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Defended & Desired by Kristi Avalon
The Summer of Katya by Trevanian
Journey by James A. Michener
You Can't Hide by Karen Rose
Canary by Duane Swierczynski
Dangerously In Love by Allison Hobbs
Hellion by Bertrice Small
Berserker (Omnibus) by Holdstock, Robert