The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) (3 page)

“I doubt they’re still looking for us.” I waved him
off. “Plus, I can glamour them again.”

It was like watching a tiger prepare to strike.
Muscles along his shoulders, neck, and jaw coiled, convulsing under
his skin. “I don’t want you to use
my
powers.” His words
came out low and forced. “The more you use them, the more they will
adapt to you.”

I shifted back, leaning against the table. “Right,” I
whispered.

“I’ll get us basics. Water, food.” He rubbed at the
top of his head, his hair glistened with sweat. “When I return, we
can come up with a game plan on what to do from here. But I think
it will be a good idea to stay put for a while.”

I agreed.

“Seattle is far too dangerous. You are not only being
hunted by DMG. If Marcello lived and you step foot back there, his
gang wants you dead also. And we don’t need to mention the people
after me.”

The gang, particularly Marcello himself, if he
survived after Ryker bashed him in the head, would be pursuing
Ryker more ruthlessly than me. Garrett was also out searching for
Ryker. The list of people who wanted us dead or at least semi-alive
was getting longer and longer.

“You want anything else?”

“Clothes.” I pulled at the thick, dirty leggings I
was wearing. From my reading, I remembered the rainy season was
just ending here, but the fresh rain from earlier hung in the air,
holding in the humidity. The cotton contained my body heat,
torturing the already suffocating skin. “Toothbrush. And
batteries.”

I touched my bag; the video camera still lay snugly
at the bottom. It was my last link to Daniel, to my origins, and
the insane truth of my existence.

Ryker nodded and walked to the door.

“Wait!” Sprig leaped off the table toward Ryker.

“No. No way.” Ryker shook his head.

Sprig tugged on the bottom of his jeans. “Come on,
Viking man. Let me come. My tummy can’t wait till you come back. If
I don’t eat now, I swear I will keel over and die.”

Ryker tilted his head as if to say,
hopefully
.

I snorted. “Ryker, please take him. Otherwise he’s
going to drive me insane. Right now I need five minutes in a bath.
Alone.”

I never had a mother, but damn if I didn’t sound like
one.

Ryker glanced at the ceiling and blinked several
times. “Fine. You can come, but you have to stay quiet. And follow
the roof lines.”

Sprig twittered excitedly, scaled Ryker’s body, and
plunked himself on his shoulder. “Why would I need to follow you on
the roofs when I got the tallest perch here? You tower over
everyone in this village.”

Ryker’s gaze met mine; his face contorted with
murderous rage.

“Come on, it’s not like having a monkey on your
shoulder is strange here.” I shrugged, not hiding the smile on my
face. Most people here probably wouldn’t notice the tiny monkey
sitting on the large Viking’s shoulder. Sprig was no more than five
inches tall. Five inches of soft dark brown fur, a sweet, little,
round face, and huge brown eyes.

The Wanderer grumbled to himself and grabbed for the
doorknob. “Lock this after me.” He slipped through and shut it
behind him.

Stillness in the vacated room filled my ears, rubbing
at my nerves. The distant activity from the streets below echoed
up. I let out a heavy sigh. I thought I wanted peace and quiet and
a moment to myself, but it was when my nightmares came to torment
me. Day or night, it didn’t matter. Alone meant time with my
thoughts, with cruel memories.

I tugged the stretchy cotton off each leg. Sweat,
blood, and dirt compelled them to stick to my legs with an adhesive
grip.

The hot water was heaven on my skin. Even though cool
water would have felt good, it had been too long since I had an
actual hot shower. Even at the Red Cross, it had been no more than
lukewarm. A month of grime washed down the drain and pooled around
my feet before draining slowly out the bathtub.

There was no shampoo or conditioner, but I could wash
my hair later. I needed to get the first layer of filth off me. A
bar of soap sat on the side of the tub, and I tore into it,
scrubbing fiercely at my skin. Bruises still coated my ribs, and
cuts and scars glared at me in reminders of what I had been
through. Only last night I had still been held captive by
Marcello’s gang and forced to be in a street fight against another
gang in a battle for dominance and territory.

Ryker had saved me, from the gang and from
myself.

Dried blood I hadn’t cleaned off the night before
stained my skin. Was it my blood or the girl’s I almost killed?
With one more strike to her face I could have made her choke on her
own blood. Suddenly my mind morphed the girl’s face into Lexie’s.
My legs gave out, and I hit the bottom of the tub with a thud.

“
Zoey, stop.” Lexie coughed, blood gurgling out of
her mouth. “Don’t let me die.”

Razors slashed inside my gut. Lexie, my light, was
gone. Burned to death in a house fire as a result of the electrical
storm caused by fae more than a month ago. This lightning storm
destroyed Seattle, taking it to its knees, and turning it to
embers. Electricity destroyed the area for a hundred-mile radius
surrounding the Emerald City. Thousands were killed, among them my
former caretaker Joanna and... Lexie. I wasn’t there to save her.
The outline of her wheelchair engulfed in flames haunted my every
thought. I often woke screaming.

Lexie came into my life when I was thirteen. She was
only four. A tiny thing, whose legs would never be able to hold
her. From the moment she entered the house, I knew my life would
never be the same. I was her mother, friend, and protector. I was
the one who took her to school, doctors’ appointments, got her
lunch and dinner, paid for her special shower equipment, and held
her when she had a nightmare. I learned early she watched what I
did more than listened to me. So if I wanted her to get out of the
hellhole we were living in, I had to be better. I stopped hanging
out with my so-called friends, stopped drinking and having random
sex with guys for affection. I studied hard and got into college.
The only thing I didn’t give up was my street fighting. It brought
in too much money. And to be honest, I loved it. It was my release
for all the pent-up anger and resentment I felt. The years of abuse
and struggle disappeared for the one night. I could be this other
person, the Avenging Angel. People respected and feared her. Like
an actor on stage, I could let go of me and lose myself in a
character.

I tilted my head back and let the water run down my
face. My muscles unknotted, and my arms drooped. It took me a while
to finish the shower, but I finally climbed out. The heat of the
room dried my skin almost instantly. I grabbed a towel and wrapped
it around me, glancing at the lump of cloth on the floor. “Right.”
I had nothing to get into, and there was no way my clean body was
going to put those hot grubby items back on. “Towel it is.”

I glanced in the mirror. My heart-shaped face was
bruised and cut. Long tangles of wet chestnut brown hair hung past
my breasts. My green eyes held too much sadness and anger for
someone my age. I ran my fingers through my snarls. My cheeks were
flushed from the shower. I didn’t look like a girl who was
dying.

Dying...

A speck of an idea slowly began to form, then with a
whoosh it flourished, crashing into my mind.

“Of course. Why didn’t I think of this before?” I
expressed to the image in the mirror.

The reason I worked at DMG was to collect fae so the
doctors could experiment on them. We were trying to save and cure
humans of cancer and other defects with fae blood. I carried
Ryker’s powers. They were adapting to me. Why wouldn’t it work on
my defect?

For the first time since learning the news of my
possible demise, optimism ballooned in my heart. Spinning around I
reached excitedly for the door and yanked it open.

A large mass stood on the other side, filling the
doorframe. His fist in the air.

“Ahhhhhh!” A scream tore from my throat as I jumped
back. My towel slipped from my clasp and dropped to the floor.
“Shit!”

Ryker stood frozen in place. His eyes taking me
in.

“Shit,” I repeated again and scrambled to grab my
towel. My hands fumbled, and it took me several tries to
successfully clutch the towel and draw it in front of me.

Ryker never broke eye contact with my figure, causing
my cheeks to flush hotter.

“What the hell, Ryker?” I wrapped the towel back
around me, tucking it tightly in front. “Warn a girl.”

“I was about to knock.”

“You might be the size of Goliath, but, damn, you
sneak up like a ninja.”

He leaned against the doorjamb, his eyes wandering
brazenly down my form again. It stirred every nerve in my body. I
glanced away, nibbling on my bottom lip.

“Fae aren’t embarrassed of the naked form.”

My eyes narrowed and flashed to him. “And how would
you know? You were raised by humans.”

He smiled, half his lip hitched up on one side.
“Instinct, I guess. It’s in my nature.”

“Is it in your nature to ogle?” I marched to him,
meaning it as a challenge, but the moment I moved—mistake. I went
into the “danger” zone between people, where it was no longer a
safe conversational space, but intimate.

He kept his casual pose, but I saw him tense. His
eyes went across the edge of my towel, and my skin prickled along
my uncovered shoulders. Even being covered with a towel, he made me
feel completely exposed.

His teeth tugged at his bottom lip, dampening it as
he continued to watch me. Air departed from the room, forcing my
lungs to work harder for air. Heat, not caused by the temperature
outside, ignited my veins.

Neither of us moved, though somehow we were getting
closer and closer.

Was this really going to happen? Was he going to
kiss me?

I could feel his breath flutter, skating down my neck
and tickling the space between my breasts.
Oh, Jesus...

“Churros!” A cry came from the window. Ryker and I
jerked back. “We have churros,
Bhean
.” Sprig bounced in the
window and onto the table. “So good. I’ve already had two.”

A low growl arose from Ryker. “I am going to kill
him,” he mumbled under his breath and turned, walking away.

Me too.

“Thank you.” I smiled tightly at Sprig.

His mouth was already full of the pastry, and sugar
clung to his fur and nose. He shook the paper bag at me while
reaching for another piece. An automatic smile lit up my face. It
was impossible to be upset with him. I went over and rubbed his
head, his huge eyes peered at me with adoration. Being petted while
eating a sugary pastry equaled a happy monkey.

I reached into the bag and pulled out a warm doughy
concoction. The sweet bread melted on my tongue. “Oh my God, it’s
good.” My lids closed.

“I know. Right,
Bhean
?” Sprig garbled over the
huge bite in his mouth. I was convinced he first started calling me
Bhean,
human
in Gaelic, because he couldn’t remember my
name. Now I couldn’t imagine him calling me anything else—a term of
endearment.

Ryker tipped over a shopping bag onto the bed. “I got
some clothes for you, some shampoo, and a toothbrush.” A tank top,
shirt, pair of flip-flops, shorts, pants, toothpaste and brush,
water, juice, and other items lay on the bed, even underwear and a
sports bra lay in the pile.

“Wow.” I picked up the shorts. Damn! He even got my
size right. “How did you know?”

He frowned, ignoring my question. “I figured anything
else you need you can get yourself later.”

I put the shorts back down. “We need to figure out
how we can repay these people. Obviously, I’m not above stealing,
but not here.” I did have a moral code. Deep down, but it was
there.

“I agree.”

My eyebrows hit my hairline.

“What?” Ryker slanted his head. “Yes, even this
deplorable fae has standards.”

“You are not deplorable.”

He looked over at me. “Really? And when did your
opinion change?”

I couldn’t recall the moment when it changed, but it
had.

“If you’re terrible, then I’m even worse.” I
swallowed. “Have you beaten someone almost to death for the sheer
pleasure of it?”

His gaze fixed on me for a long time. “Yes.”

For some reason his declaration rushed relief into my
sour stomach. I wasn’t alone. Letting out a strangled laugh, I
said, “We both are really fucked up.”

He snorted. “Yeah,
we
are.”

My heart noticed the way he said “we.”

A snore came from the table. I glanced over at Sprig,
who was sprawled on the table, covered in sugar. He hugged an
uneaten churro to his chest.