Oath Bound
Page 14
Then there was silence, except for the sound of my own panicked breathing—too fast and too hard.
The darkness was absolute, and I couldn’t see a thing. I couldn’t feel a thing, except for his hand tight around mine, and the body heat that told me this room was smaller than the last, and that he was standing much too close.
I opened my mouth to scream again and he dropped my hand. A door opened and he stepped out of what I could now identify as an empty coat closet, his gun aimed at the floor.
That blue-gray gaze found mine again from a narrow hallway outside the closet. He was staring, as if something about my face made no sense.
“What the hell just happened?” I demanded, torn between the need to know exactly where I was and reluctance to venture beyond the closet into unknown territory.
“Traveling. Colloquially known as shadow-walking.”
“I know what it means. Where are we? Who are you?”
“I’m the man who just saved your life.” He holstered his gun. “You’re welcome.” Then he turned left and marched down the hall. “You want a drink? I’m having one.”
“Wait!” I wrapped one hand around the door frame and leaned into the hall as he turned to face me from a living room full of dated furniture. “Are you damaged? You didn’t save my life. You nearly got me killed!”
He crossed his arms over a well-defined chest put on display by a snug blue T-shirt. “I pulled you out of the line of fire.”
“I wouldn’t have been in the line of fire, if it weren’t for you. And if it weren’t for me, they would have killed you!”
“They tried. They shot at us both.” His wary focus narrowed on me until it felt invasive. “Sera, right?” he said, and I declined to answer. “Why were they willing to kill you, Sera?”
I blinked, scrambling for a response that wouldn’t actually tell him anything about me. “Where are we?” I demanded when I couldn’t come up with any answers of my own. “What am I doing here? Who are you?”
“Who am I?” Anger hardened his features and furrowed his brows. “Who the hell are you, and where’s Kenley?”
“Who’s Kenley?”
His anger visibly swelled in response to my question and he marched toward me, fists clenched at his sides, warning echoing in every step as his heavy boots clomped on the wood floor.
My heart lurched into my throat. I backed into the closet, peering through deep shadows for something to use as a weapon, but there was nothing. The closet was completely empty.
He was two steps away when I pulled the door shut, my pulse whooshing in my ears, then held the knob, using all of my weight to keep the door closed. What the hell was I thinking, jumping in the middle of syndicate business? I should have let Julia kill him....
The man growled, then the door was ripped from my grasp so fast I stumbled into the hall after it. He caught me before I could fall, but I shoved him off so quickly I almost missed the change in his expression.
“You’re not a Traveler.” He exhaled and the relief lining his features echoed within the sound. “I thought you’d disappeared through the shadows.”
If I could have, I would have, but even without having grown up in the Skilled subculture, I knew better than to confirm or deny my own abilities.
I backed away from him, past the open closet door, hands open and ready to grab the first potential weapon I came across. “Let’s try this again. Who are you?”
Anger resurfaced behind his eyes, but was quickly replaced with confusion. “You really don’t know?”
“Why should I?”
He shrugged, and his jacket rose to reveal his holstered gun. “Well, if you work for Julia Tower—”
“I don’t.”
“Then what were you doing in her office?”
“That’s none of your business.” Being related to Jake Tower was dangerous, and having that fact known could be deadly. My mother had made sure I understood that, and Julia had just reinforced that lesson with a lethal spray of bullets.
His gaze narrowed. “Why would she tell her men to drop their guns at your request?”
Shit. So much for revealing nothing about myself.
New plan: reveal as little as possible.
“Because she wants something from me.”
“What does she want?”
She wanted me to sign away my rights to the Tower legacy, not to protect her niece’s and nephew’s interests, but so that the wealth and power would remain under her fist, at least until they came of age. But... “Again, that’s none of your business. Who is—”
He reached for me, and before I realized he wanted to brush aside a strand of hair caught on my scarf, I knocked his hand away and took another step back. My fists rose automatically. He glanced at me in surprise. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“That’s a true statement.” I was ready to fight.
He blinked, startled, then looked kind of disappointed. “No, I mean, I don’t want to hurt you. You don’t need to defend yourself from me.”
“Right. You just shot several people and hauled a strange woman into a strange house against her will. Naturally I should assume you mean me no harm.”
“Okay, I know how that sounds.” He held both hands up, showing me he was unarmed, yet his gun still peeked out at me from its holster. “But I promise this is not that kind of abduction. If you don’t believe me, look behind you.” He gestured to something over my shoulder, and my need to know what was behind me warred with my need to keep him in sight.
The darkness was absolute, and I couldn’t see a thing. I couldn’t feel a thing, except for his hand tight around mine, and the body heat that told me this room was smaller than the last, and that he was standing much too close.
I opened my mouth to scream again and he dropped my hand. A door opened and he stepped out of what I could now identify as an empty coat closet, his gun aimed at the floor.
That blue-gray gaze found mine again from a narrow hallway outside the closet. He was staring, as if something about my face made no sense.
“What the hell just happened?” I demanded, torn between the need to know exactly where I was and reluctance to venture beyond the closet into unknown territory.
“Traveling. Colloquially known as shadow-walking.”
“I know what it means. Where are we? Who are you?”
“I’m the man who just saved your life.” He holstered his gun. “You’re welcome.” Then he turned left and marched down the hall. “You want a drink? I’m having one.”
“Wait!” I wrapped one hand around the door frame and leaned into the hall as he turned to face me from a living room full of dated furniture. “Are you damaged? You didn’t save my life. You nearly got me killed!”
He crossed his arms over a well-defined chest put on display by a snug blue T-shirt. “I pulled you out of the line of fire.”
“I wouldn’t have been in the line of fire, if it weren’t for you. And if it weren’t for me, they would have killed you!”
“They tried. They shot at us both.” His wary focus narrowed on me until it felt invasive. “Sera, right?” he said, and I declined to answer. “Why were they willing to kill you, Sera?”
I blinked, scrambling for a response that wouldn’t actually tell him anything about me. “Where are we?” I demanded when I couldn’t come up with any answers of my own. “What am I doing here? Who are you?”
“Who am I?” Anger hardened his features and furrowed his brows. “Who the hell are you, and where’s Kenley?”
“Who’s Kenley?”
His anger visibly swelled in response to my question and he marched toward me, fists clenched at his sides, warning echoing in every step as his heavy boots clomped on the wood floor.
My heart lurched into my throat. I backed into the closet, peering through deep shadows for something to use as a weapon, but there was nothing. The closet was completely empty.
He was two steps away when I pulled the door shut, my pulse whooshing in my ears, then held the knob, using all of my weight to keep the door closed. What the hell was I thinking, jumping in the middle of syndicate business? I should have let Julia kill him....
The man growled, then the door was ripped from my grasp so fast I stumbled into the hall after it. He caught me before I could fall, but I shoved him off so quickly I almost missed the change in his expression.
“You’re not a Traveler.” He exhaled and the relief lining his features echoed within the sound. “I thought you’d disappeared through the shadows.”
If I could have, I would have, but even without having grown up in the Skilled subculture, I knew better than to confirm or deny my own abilities.
I backed away from him, past the open closet door, hands open and ready to grab the first potential weapon I came across. “Let’s try this again. Who are you?”
Anger resurfaced behind his eyes, but was quickly replaced with confusion. “You really don’t know?”
“Why should I?”
He shrugged, and his jacket rose to reveal his holstered gun. “Well, if you work for Julia Tower—”
“I don’t.”
“Then what were you doing in her office?”
“That’s none of your business.” Being related to Jake Tower was dangerous, and having that fact known could be deadly. My mother had made sure I understood that, and Julia had just reinforced that lesson with a lethal spray of bullets.
His gaze narrowed. “Why would she tell her men to drop their guns at your request?”
Shit. So much for revealing nothing about myself.
New plan: reveal as little as possible.
“Because she wants something from me.”
“What does she want?”
She wanted me to sign away my rights to the Tower legacy, not to protect her niece’s and nephew’s interests, but so that the wealth and power would remain under her fist, at least until they came of age. But... “Again, that’s none of your business. Who is—”
He reached for me, and before I realized he wanted to brush aside a strand of hair caught on my scarf, I knocked his hand away and took another step back. My fists rose automatically. He glanced at me in surprise. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“That’s a true statement.” I was ready to fight.
He blinked, startled, then looked kind of disappointed. “No, I mean, I don’t want to hurt you. You don’t need to defend yourself from me.”
“Right. You just shot several people and hauled a strange woman into a strange house against her will. Naturally I should assume you mean me no harm.”
“Okay, I know how that sounds.” He held both hands up, showing me he was unarmed, yet his gun still peeked out at me from its holster. “But I promise this is not that kind of abduction. If you don’t believe me, look behind you.” He gestured to something over my shoulder, and my need to know what was behind me warred with my need to keep him in sight.
