Snap, Crackle ... Read online

  She slowly closed her eyes, sinking deeper into the bed, hot tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Of course he didn’t know who she was. Why would she have thought that he could even think such a thing? But the betrayal, that sense of indignity that he didn’t know her just ate at her. Finally she opened her eyes to see everybody still standing here, waiting for her to speak. “You do know me,” she said, “but it’s been a long time.”

  He studied her closely. “I’m poor with names,” he said, “but I’m good with energy.”

  She gave him a twisted smile. “How about altered energy?”

  His gaze widened and then sharpened. “How altered?”

  “One-hundred-steps-forward altered.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She didn’t say anything. Wasn’t a whole lot she could say. She waited to see if Stefan would be who she thought he was or not. And, if not, she needed to get out of here and fast. She waited as Stefan studied her. Or rather searched … but for what? “What are you doing?” she asked curiously.

  He shook his head. “I’m searching for someone I recognize.”

  She nodded. “Maybe not someone but maybe something?”

  He frowned.

  “Meaning, you don’t recognize me because everything has changed,” she said. “They did that to me. But maybe you’ll recognize this.” She lifted her hand and slowly rolled her palm outward.

  He stepped forward to study her offered hand. “What am I looking at?”

  Despair washed through her. Had it changed so much? She looked down at her palm, spreading her fingers wide, and the same spiderweb network of scars remained.

  He looked at it, and recognition slammed into him with a powerful jolt. He sucked in his breath and reached a hand to the wall for support.

  Immediately the woman rushed to his side. “Stefan, are you okay?”

  He didn’t answer but turned to face the bed.

  Beth stared back at him. She knew her soul was in her eyes, desperate for recognition. Desperate for somebody to say that she was who she was. Maybe that was her fear the whole time, maybe that was her horror—that she wasn’t who she thought she was. How could she even explain such a panic? And so little that she could even do with it. She stared at him.

  “Beth?” he asked, his voice raw and hoarse.

  Tears came to her eyes, and she whispered, “Thank you.”

  “Why thank me?” he cried out. “What are you thanking me for?”

  “For recognizing me,” she said, “even though it took a bit.”

  “My God,” he whispered. “What happened to you?”

  She just gave him that flat stare.

  “I went back, you know?” he said, walking forward. “I went back to get you.”

  Her eyes widened. “Did you?”

  “You weren’t there.”

  “Wasn’t I?” She sent her mind back in history to that horrible place, where they were part of those terrible experiments. “I don’t know where I was,” she said sadly. “I don’t remember much at all.”

  “And yet you remember Stefan?” Hunter asked, a note of doubt in his voice.

  Him again. Hunter. She stared at him. “Yes,” she said, “some people are unforgettable.” As Beth looked at Stefan, she saw the shock and the pain in his gaze. “It’s okay.”

  He stared at her. “It’s not okay,” he whispered. “No way I would have left you, if I could have found you.”

  “But you couldn’t,” she said sadly.

  He stared at her. “My God,” he said, walking forward to sit down at the side of the bed. He gently picked up one of Beth’s hands to cradle in his. “How did you find me?”

  “They didn’t break everything,” she whispered, with a bitter laugh. “And some of the things they tried to break had different results.”

  He winced. “Okay, that’s enough for now,” he said. “I want you to rest.”

  “By keeping me here, you’re in danger,” she warned.

  “I’m always in danger,” he said, almost absentmindedly, as if it weren’t an issue.

  She studied him. “Have you become so powerful?” He gave her a lopsided look, so apparently he had. She studied the woman at her side. “And you?”

  “I am Stefan’s wife,” she said, “but I am nothing like him.”

  “Don’t let her lie to you,” Stefan said affectionately. “She’s the other half of my soul.”

  “The woman of the stone.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “You remember that?”

  “How could I forget?” she said gently. “It’s the only time you would talk about her. Plus, you were so devastated to not see her.”

  He nodded slowly. “I remember that,” he said, “but I’m surprised that you do.”

  “Not much about you that I’ve forgotten,” she said. “My life experiences were narrow. And painful. I kept hold of the good memories.”

  The other man, Hunter, stepped forward. “You were tortured?”

  She looked at him and asked, “Why are you here?”

  “Instinct,” he said, in the same flat tone, crossing his arms over his chest, as if unwilling to give any information. But then, she was no different. She took a long slow deep breath, willing the pain to subside. Her hand inched around her body to the bullet hole. “Were you able to get the bullet out?”

  “Hunter did,” Stefan said. “I was busy stopping the bleeding.”

  “I lost a lot of blood,” she noted. “Thank you for not turning me away.”

  Hunter said, “Yet all you asked about was somebody else who was with you.”

  “That’s all right,” she said. “I heard from him. He’s fine.”

  At that, all three of them stiffened, but she didn’t offer anything else. Her gaze went from one to the other, like they were on one side of this room, she on the other. Not the welcome she had expected.

  Hunter stepped forward. “Why are you here?”

  She gave a bitter laugh. “I was dying. I needed help.”

  “Do you need other help?” Stefan asked quietly.

  “Yes. But I don’t want to hurt you or to put you in danger.” That’s the last thing she wanted. If she could heal, revitalize her energy, then that was enough.

  “And why would you think that would happen?” Hunter asked.

  She rolled her eyes to the side. “I don’t like you.”

  “Doesn’t matter if you like me or not,” he said, his tone hard. “I’m here for an unknown reason, and I suspect it’s you,” he murmured. “But what I don’t know is why.”

  “None of us know the whys anymore,” she said, as she studied him. He was a couple inches over six feet, maybe more, and filled out, yet he had a panther-like grace as he moved. “You’re a hunter,” she whispered, “but why are you here?”

  “I wasn’t hunting,” he said, “but now that I’m here …” And he let his voice hang.

  She turned to look at Stefan. “I’ll leave now,” she said and slowly sat up, pushing the blankets to the side.

  “Whoa,” Stefan said, “you can’t go anywhere.”

  “Yes,” she said, “I have to.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they’re coming,” she whispered. “Thank you for healing me.” She didn’t even look at her wound to confirm. She didn’t have any doubt that Stefan had done what he said he’d do. She might not be 100 percent, but she’d take it. “I’m much better now.”

  “Yes, you’re better,” Stefan said quietly, “but you’re not good enough.”

  She stopped, looked at him, and said, “It has to be.”

  “You weren’t this stubborn before.”

  “Times have changed,” she said quietly. “Things got a whole lot worse.”

  He winced at that, as he stared out over her head. “My God, it would have, yes,” he said. “I swear you weren’t there when I checked.”

  “I was there,” she said, “being held somewhere else.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

 
; She nodded slowly. “I forgave you a long time ago.”

  He seemed relieved but then doubt took over. “What can I do to help?”

  “You’ve done it,” she said. “I’ll survive now that you’ve closed the wound.”

  “Survival? Is that enough?” Hunter asked in a harsh tone.

  She glanced at him and said, “Sometimes it’s all we have.” He seemed frustrated by her answer, frustrated by everything going on around him. She understood, but clearly he hadn’t come to the point in time where he accepted that some things in life one couldn’t change. She had come to that conclusion a long time ago.

  “I want to help,” Stefan said.

  She shook her head ever-so-slowly. “Nothing you can do.”

  “That’s not true,” he said. “There has to be something. Otherwise why did you come? Besides to heal, tell us who shot you. Let us help.”

  “Why?” she asked, not comfortable talking with the others here. “You could do nothing all those years ago. Why would that have changed?” It’s not the answer Stefan wanted, but the only answer she could give him. She slowly stood, happy that at least her body didn’t scream in agony, though she worried at the weakness, the lassitude that filled her. She staggered, taking one step and then another.

  Stefan immediately stepped in front of her and said, “Beth, you’re not healthy enough to leave.”

  Her gaze dark, so deep, she whispered to him, “And yet I’m too healthy to stay.” And, with that, she took another step forward. Stefan placed a hand on her shoulder. She immediately felt energy draining from her. She gazed at him, her eyes wide. “Why?” she whispered, her energy quickly withdrawn from her.

  “You aren’t strong enough,” Stefan said.

  “I have to.”

  She collapsed, only to be gently positioned right back in bed where she had been. As Stefan tucked her under the covers, she stared up at him, some of the paralysis easing that he had instilled.

  “We’ll talk tomorrow,” Stefan said. “For tonight, just get some rest.”

  She closed her eyes. “You’ll be sorry.”

  “Maybe not,” he said. “We too have skills.”

  She nodded. “They’ve been looking for you since you left. I didn’t want to lead them here,” she said, “but I may already have.”

  And then the darkness claimed her once again.

  *

  Hunter stormed around the living room. “Jesus Christ, Stefan! What the hell is going on here?”

  Stefan sat calmly in his chair, a cup of tea in his hand, as he studied the massive windows. “Events from my childhood,” he said. “I managed to escape before she did. I tried to find her, but no sign of her was anywhere. I was tormented for a long time because I couldn’t get her out, but I didn’t dare go back either. It never occurred to me that she would have taken the punishment for my escape. Then they all would have, I suppose.”

  “Why would she have?” Hunter asked.

  “Standard torture techniques there,” Celina said to Hunter, then gently turned to Stefan. “And you did what you had to do.”

  “Of course I did,” he said, “but it cost somebody else I cared about a great deal. Did you see the condition she’s in?”

  “She’s lost.” Hunter shoved his hands into his pockets, as he crossed the room once again. “She’s a lost soul, but that doesn’t mean that she’s your responsibility.”

  “No,” Stefan said sadly. “I wish she were. Then I would force her to stay where she is, until she could heal. As it is, she has a certain amount of …” He stopped, shrugged, and said, “I don’t want to say bitterness, but maybe bitterness is the correct word.”

  “Well,” Hunter said, “just think about what may have happened to her.”

  “I don’t want to,” he said quietly, “because I have a pretty good idea. My escape would have just made it that much harder on her.”

  “Of course,” Celina said. “If they thought she had anything to do with it or thought that you were coming back for her …” And she let her thought hang there.

  “Exactly,” Stefan said.

  She nodded slowly. “So, what do we do? Just wait until she wakes up the next time?”

  “She’ll wake up guarded,” Hunter said. “She knows you put her under.”

  Stefan nodded his head. “I know. She is bound to wake up, kicking and fighting.” He smiled at the thought. “That would make me feel better than this fragmented soul she has become.”

  “How much do you remember about her?” Hunter asked. “And do we even trust her?”

  Stefan shook his head. “Absolutely not,” he said. “I trust the person I used to know, but I don’t know this one at all.”

  “Is she so different?” Celina asked.

  “Yes,” he said quietly. “She’s very different.”

  “In what way?”

  “Her energy for one. I’ve never seen anything like it. She is in pieces, and she’s holding herself together with a very thin spiderweb of energy.”

  “Why though? What exactly is she doing?” Hunter asked, as he studied Stefan. The man had experience in this like nobody else. But even Stefan hadn’t seen everything. Hunter had done all he could in the last decade to help gifted people—like himself, Stefan, and, yes, even Beth. Something was so odd with her. Something affected him so strongly about her; maybe that she understood what he was.

  Maybe she understood who he was on the inside, but her assertion that he would be hunting her shook him. He did spend a lot of time hunting people, not to cause injury but to help. She didn’t seem to get that part of it, and that bothered him too. He could only hope that, when she woke up, they could talk a little bit. Hopefully she would be less cryptic and more open. But somehow he doubted it.

  “I think she’s been alone a long time,” Celina said. “I think she’s been alone since Stefan left.”

  “Not possible,” Stefan said, “but she probably felt alone. I know how rough it was for me back then, and to think of that as just a fragment of what she faced seems terrifying.”

  “She seems to think that she has brought trouble here,” Celina said quietly. “Do we need to worry?”

  “I’m scanning for anything out there,” Stefan said, “and, so far, the answer is no.”

  “But we don’t know what that means, do we?” she said, slowly wringing her hands together.

  He walked over, placed a hand on top of hers, and said, “No, we don’t.” He asked Hunter, “Do you sense anything?”

  “I’ll go out and take a walk,” Hunter said. “I’m definitely sensing something, but I’m not getting a negative threat from it.”

  Stefan nodded. “No, I’m not either,” he said, “but I don’t know what it is, and I’m also not sure what she meant about not being alone. And having already communicated with them. But her energy is a mess, making it almost impossible to read.”

  Hunter nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.” He walked to the front door, shoved his feet into his boots there, grabbed his jacket, and said, “I’ll be back in a bit.”

  Stepping out into the night, he didn’t go far. He just went enough away from the house itself and the strong energy beacon that Stefan ran high and loud and large for those who needed it, plus the silencing shield that Stefan had put out for the other energies of those looking for him. Hunter had to get far enough so that he wasn’t distracted by those energies. As he took several steps forward, he felt something. He looked everywhere and couldn’t see anything. Unnerved, he took several more steps farther out, hoping for answers and looking for something wrong. He didn’t have to go far to find it.

  A black cloud was up in the hills behind Stefan’s house. Hunter suspected it’s where she had come from. He studied the energy, finding hers, and then slipped through the trees, taking the long way around to see where this came from and what they wanted. Because one thing he knew for sure, when he hunted, he didn’t leave any of the prey behind, if he could help it. As he’d learned from Stefan, the pre
y and predators came in all different forms.

  Never a day passed that Hunter didn’t get a chance to find something new and completely different out there. It was shocking really, and the rest of the world had no idea what went on. And, in this case, Hunter wasn’t sure he understood himself. Did Stefan? Hunter had no explanation for the crazy energy-field flickers they had witnessed. No explanation for so much of what they had just seen happen, and yet the woman who had answers didn’t seem prepared to cooperate at all. She appeared ready to run, but from what?

  She was right in the sense that Stefan had healed her enough to survive. And knowing him meant knowing that he would help her. So that explained why she came. But now, rather than stay and give any explanations, she was prepared to leave in the middle of the night, if need be. Hunter shifted, climbing up the hill. Behind the house he sensed Stefan’s curiosity, that probe on his part, asking if Hunter had found anything. He answered calmly enough. Energy, black energy on the hill behind the house.

  Recent?

  Yes, recent. They were looking for her.

  Well, they found her, Stefan murmured in Hunter’s mind. Neither had any expectation about the world around them. Hunter didn’t think Stefan would want to let Beth go, not in any way, shape, or form, no matter what she had to say. Hunter wasn’t so sure she could be trusted, but then he had trust issues himself.

  Just as he walked forward, a crackle sounded beside him. He looked down, thinking he saw something, but it shifted in the wind. He called out a Hello on an energy level and got one in return. He froze, looked down, and whispered, “Who are you?”

  No answer.

  But he could sense the energy. Small, but a powerhouse. Like the woman crashed in Stefan’s spare bedroom. He stepped back and slipped against the trees, until he blended in with the silence around him, waiting to see just what was going on. But found nothing related to the crackling energy. He did find another energy, a black energy, old but stale. Left by somebody who didn’t care if his presence was found or not. A predator who didn’t give a damn. A predator who was dangerous, indeed. Hunter searched the area and sent a message to Stefan. Whoever was here is gone now.