Burning Alive

“One, don’t read the note until after you give it to a man named Joseph Rayd.”



Her eyes widened. “But he’s the leader of the Sentinels. I’d never be able to meet him.”



Her statement just proved to Thomas how little value she placed on herself. “He’ll see you. Just tell him about the note.”



“Okay. I can do that. I’ve always wondered what he looked like, anyway. What else?”



The first one was easy but the last one wasn’t going to be. He took a deep breath, expecting her to throw a fit. “Promise me you won’t have sex again until you fall in love.”



She let out a harsh bark of laughter.“You had me going for a minute there. Sorry, but that ain’t gonna happen.”



Thomas couldn’t let this go. He was compelled to find a way to protect her—to give her a chance to heal. “It’s your choice. Make it happen. Swear you will.”



“That’s a stupid thing to ask of me. I won’t do it.”



“Then you’re already lost and nothing anyone can do will help. You value yourself so little that you’re willing to throw away one of the most precious gifts you have to give.”



“I’m good, but not that good.”



He captured her chin and held it in his hand so she had to look at him—had to see that he spoke the truth. “Yes. You. Are. You’re too young to know your own worth and too hurt to even see that you can’t. Promise me, Carmen.”



She was silent for so long Thomas thought he’d lost her. But then he saw a sheen of tears glitter in her eyes and he knew that he’d gotten through, maybe just a little, but it was going to have to be enough. He wasn’t sure whether what he was doing would help, but he had to try.



“I promise,” she said.



Thomas felt the power of her vow surround them like a tingling blanket and she gasped, having felt it, too.



She looked around as if she expected to see something jump out at her. “What was that?”



“You’re bound to your word. It’s one of the powers we Sentinels possess. When you make us a promise, it sticks.”



“I did that when I became a Gerai, but it wasn’t so . . . intense.”



“It’s a big promise.”



“So no sex until I fall in love, huh?” She sounded almost relieved.



“That’s right.”



She swallowed nervously, looking uncertain and achingly young. “Do you think that you and I could ever, you know, fall in love?” Such a small voice for such a big question. It made his heart break to hear so much yearning in her words.



Thomas didn’t let any of the crushing grief he felt come through in his voice or expression. He didn’t give away even the barest hint that he was slowly becoming a monster or that he was already planning his death to keep that eventuality from happening. Instead, he smoothed his knuckles over her cheek and told her the rest of the truth. “Falling in love with you—having you love me back—would make me the luckiest man on earth. And whoever you choose to give your heart to will feel the same way.”



Lexi pulled off the highway at Wichita after two in the morning. She needed gas and caffeine and a tattoo parlor. In that order.



It took her five minutes to get the first two, but the last one was going to be more of a challenge. She’d spent too many hours zigzagging across the state, hoping to throw off anyone who might be following her. Because of that, she was still a long way from the Oklahoma border where a slew of tattoo parlors had grown up out of necessity.



Oklahoma had been the last state in the nation to legalize tattooing, and because of that, for years, drunk teens had to drive just over the border into Kansas, Texas, or Arkansas to get inked. The laws of supply and demand dictated that there would be someone there waiting to take their money, and she knew many of those someones by their kick-ass reputations alone. She knew only three artists on the border who were good enough to cover up the mark Zach had left on her arm. The one he could use to track her.



But Lexi wasn’t going to make it that far. She didn’t want to wait another hour to cover the damn thing up, and even if she did, she wasn’t sure the parlors would be open once she got there. She was going to have to find a local artist and hope that he was good enough to mask Zach’s tracer. The frowny face she’d drawn over his fingerprint with a Sharpie wasn’t going to do more than slow him down, if that.



Lexi turned on her cell phone and checked for calls from Helen. She’d left three messages since ditching town and had even called the police to report her possible abduction. Lexi wished she could do more, but even if she did figure out where the Sentinels had taken Helen and Miss Mabel, she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. She was no match for that kind of power. Her mother’s journal was detailed when it came to the things the Sentinels could do to her.



She was dialing the artist who had masked the birthmark on her back to see whether he knew any talented locals when her cell phone rang. Unknown caller. For half a second, Lexi debated letting it roll over to voice mail, but what if it was Helen? What if she was calling for help?



Lexi took a deep breath and pressed the TALK button. “Hello?”



A deep, rich voice filled the line. “Hello, honey.”



Zach. Oh God. She was so screwed.



Lexi’s hand started to shake around the phone and she had to swallow twice before she could speak. There was no way he should have been able to track down her prepaid phone number. “How did you get this number?”



“I stole it from Helen’s cell phone. But that’s not really what you want to know, is it?” His voice was deep and lazy and it made a shiver course over her skin. “What you really want to know is, where am I?”



He was taunting her. She could hear the teasing smile in his voice. She could see it in her head—that same smile he’d worn when she stabbed him. The one that said no matter what she did to him, he would never stop chasing her.



She tried to sound bored, nonchalant. “I don’t care where you are.”



“Yes, you do. You want to know if I’ve found you yet.”



“If you had, you wouldn’t be talking to me over the phone.”



“True enough. I’m glad I don’t have to explain how things are to you.”



“Don’t try to follow me,” she told him.



He laughed, a rich, sinful sound that vibrated along her nerves and made her squirm in her seat. This could not be happening. She would not let him get to her like this. Her mother had warned her that this was what they did—charmed their way into your life, took over, and left you lying in the ruins, left you to clean up the remains of your life, assuming they even let you live.



“I’m not just trying, honey. I’m succeeding. I imagine you’re getting pretty tired by now. All that adrenaline has had time to wear off and you’re starting to fade. You have to sleep soon. I don’t. I can go for days without rest. It would be a lot easier on both of us if you just tell me where you are.”



For one heart-stopping moment, she actually considered giving in. She was so tired of running. All she wanted to do was stop. Rest. She hadn’t lived in the same place for more than six months since she was seventeen. Not since the night the Sentinels came for her mother.



Lexi leaned her head against the steering wheel. He was right. She was tired, but not tired enough to let them do to her what they’d done to her mother. Not even close. “Omaha,” she lied.



Zach chuckled. “Come on, honey. You don’t have to be afraid of me.”



“Said the spider to the fly.”



“As much as I’d like to wrap you in silk and eat you up, that’s not what I have in mind.” He paused and she heard him pull in a deep breath. “I need you.” Those three words were deadly serious without even a hint of teasing.



He’d said that to her before when she was fighting him off in the diner, when he’d had her pinned on the counter, before she’d stabbed him. He’d looked at her with those pale green eyes that glowed so bright in contrast to his dark skin. Leopard eyes. He stared right into her and told her just that. He needed her. He was so earnest and pleading that she almost gave in then, too.



It was just as her mom had said. The Sentinels were masters of seduction. Zach knew exactly what to say.



Lexi had never been needed before. Not by anyone. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all to let him find her. “You’re too big and strong to need anyone. You’re just trying to trick me.”



“I’m pleased you noticed the big, strong man thing, but you’re wrong. You have no idea how wrong. Just meet me. Let me show you how much I need you.”



Oh no. There was no way she was going to let him get that close. “Nice try, but I have a lot of miles to put between the two of us, so we’re done here.”



“Don’t run, Lexi. I’d never hurt you.”



There he went again, saying just the right thing with just the right amount of sincerity to make her question her decision. She hated that he could do that to her so easily. She was stronger than that. She didn’t let men sway her confidence. “Lies. All of it.”



“Not one word was a lie. Meet me and I’ll prove it. Please.”



Lexi’s chest tightened. She couldn’t stand this any longer. She needed to get off the phone before he drove her over the edge and convinced her to simply give up. She couldn’t do that. She’d promised her mom she wouldn’t. “I’m sorry. Don’t call back. I won’t pick up.”



Lexi ended the call and dropped the phone out of the car window so she wouldn’t be tempted to make herself a liar and answer when he called back. Because she knew he would call back. He wasn’t going to stop looking for her until he found her. Her days of living in one place for six months were over. She was going to have to live on the run if she wanted to stay free.



For the first time in her life, she wondered whether her freedom was worth the price.



Chapter 11



Drake couldn’t take his eyes off Helen. He stared at the luceria around her throat and wanted to howl with joy. She was his. She’d saved him. Already he could feel something happening along the branches of his lifemark. A sparkling sensation pricked over his skin, like millions of popping bubbles.



He pulled his shirt off, needing to see the proof that their union had worked. Before their eyes, new buds formed on the branches, then unfurled into baby leaves. The pale green color of new growth was beautiful, and the perfect shine of each tiny leaf was testimony to the miracle Helen had given him.



“Wow,” she breathed, tracing a finger delicately over the intricate lines of the tree. Drake’s body tightened with longing. “What is that?”



“It’s called a lifemark. It’s kind of like a visual gauge of my soul’s health. I was born with it, only at the time it was just a seed. As I grew, so did the tree, until I was about eighty and the power inside me had grown too strong. The tree started to die and the leaves began to fall and have been falling ever since. Until now.”



“What power?”