Collector: City In Embers Part 16

"Zoey?" Mr. Kettenburg's soft call halted my advance toward the stairs.

"Yes?" I whispered. His entire family was still asleep.

He stood and came to me, a look of concern on his face. "Who is the man you're with?"

"Uh..." The response lay unanswered on my tongue.

Robert eyed me for a moment before he spoke. "Zoey, if you're into something you feel you can't get out of..." He let his sentence taper off.

Mr. Kettenburg, if you only knew.

I smiled. "No. It's not like that. It's complicated."

Robert didn't appear to believe me. "You can always come with us if you need to." A smile hinted at his mouth as he looked at Andrew. "Think my son has taken a s.h.i.+ne to you."

"Thank you, but I'm fine."

He watched me, seeming to contemplate something. The silence grew into a long uncomfortable awkwardness.

I needed to change the subject from why I was with Ryker. "So are you really going to fail me, even though our school is a heap?"

"You know my rules." He crossed his arms. "Test day. No excuses for being late or absent."

I sn.i.g.g.e.red. "Yes, sir."

"But I will give you a break, if you answer me one question."

"Okay." Intrigued by what he would ask. "Shoot."

He kept his arms crossed and stared at his feet. He opened his mouth, then closed it.

Nervousness trickled into my gut. His deliberation over the question squeezed at my lungs.

"I want an honest answer." His voice turned stern. One he used a lot in cla.s.s.

The hold on my chest gripped harder, and I licked my lips.

"Did you..." He stopped and took a breath. "Did you see a leopard in the picture?"

The air vanished from my lungs. I knew exactly what he was talking about. I had him three years earlier for my entry psychology cla.s.s. The pictures he referred to showed if you had the "sight" or not. Most students saw a woman. I got past the glamour and perceived what she really was-a shape-s.h.i.+fter.

"Why... why would you ask?"

"Zoey, I know." Understanding ran deep in his eyes. "I know what you can do."

I jerked back and swallowed.

"Keep calm. I am not going to hurt you or turn you over to DMG." He patted my arm.

"How do you know about DMG?"

"I was hired by them ten years ago. They secured the job for me at the college and got me established in the psychology department. They never interceded with my teaching directly, except for the special tests."

"What? DMG hired you? Why? Are you even a real teacher?"

"I'm really a teacher," he replied. "I was working at a high school in Everett when they recruited me. I thought I was interviewing for the position. I realized the two men had nothing to do with the college but were actually with the government.

"They said the job was mine. I only had to give tests every semester, which were provided. They reasoned with my military background, I believed in duty to my country. I won't deny the s.h.i.+ny car, the paid medical bills, and house they provided didn't please my wife. We had been struggling with my teaching salary at the high school. My mother's doctor bills had eaten through her retirement and were now going through ours. It was tearing us apart. The new job took those problems away. And I really did believe I was doing right. I trusted my government and thought I was a part of some secret testing for educational purposes. Overall, they were harmless and didn't hurt anyone. Eventually, they had me in too deep to ever be able to leave."

Only a moment ago, the man before me had been my professor, far away from my DMG life. Everything changed.

"Why would they recruit you?"

"I asked myself the same question repeatedly. The only thing I can think of was I had a military background and was struggling for money, on the edge of divorce, and had an elderly mother moving in. I was the perfect candidate. They knew I would do it. I didn't have much of a choice. The one time I tried to refuse their order, they subtly conveyed I should be concerned about my family. Accidents happened." His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. "The threat was clear."

"I am sorry." I wasn't sure why I was apologizing, but it seemed the right thing to do. "Why would you ask me if I saw a leopard?"

"They told me what to look for, what they were testing for." He s.h.i.+fted his weight. "I've realized for a while it was their way of trapping me in. Not too much information to be a threat, but enough. They needed me to be on the lookout for students with the sight. If you noticed, I taught every cla.s.s you took in psychology, which was their doing. They told me about you, to keep an eye on you from the moment you entered my cla.s.s."

He was the only teacher I had every semester since I began college. I thought it a funny coincidence but nothing more. Why would I? What a fool. The DMG had been controlling and watching me the whole time.

"Wait? From day one?" My brain tossed the new information around. "The test wasn't till late in the year. How did they know about me before the test?" I figured it was the test that put me on DMG's radar.

"No, Zoey. They had an entire file on you. I didn't get to read it, but they showed me your picture before you ever set foot in my cla.s.sroom."

DMG had a file and a picture of me before they tested me? "That doesn't make sense."

"I wish I could tell you more, but it's all I know." He glanced around the dank, cold garage. "When things like this happen, you realize what is really important. We are going to leave Seattle." He didn't have to say it, but he was running from DMG and getting his family far away from its reach. It was pointless if DMG wanted to get to you, but I doubted Kettenburg was high on DMG's list. "When I saw you tonight, I knew I had to tell you the truth."

I didn't know what to do with this new information. All it did was confuse me more. Between Sprig telling me about Daniel and the DMG knowing about me way before they claimed to, I learned there was more going on than I'd thought. It meant something, I just didn't know what exactly.

"Robert?" A sleepy but urgent voice called. Donna, his wife, tried to sit. "Robert?"

Kettenburg turned and moved to his wife. "Yes, honey. Are you all right?"

"I have to use the restroom."

He nodded and tried to help her stand. Her leg was wrapped with bandages. She cried when she stumbled and put weight on it.

"It's broken?" I moved to them.

"Yes, but the hospitals wouldn't help us. They have far more serious cases to deal with. They told us not to even bother waiting. They wouldn't have time to see her."

She draped an arm around his shoulder as he pulled her up.

"Here." My hand went past Sprig and grabbed the bottle at the bottom. "A heal... doctor gave me these. They're painkillers. They should at least take the worst of the aching away." I handed her the bottle full of the white tablets Elthia gave me. My happy place pills. They were amazing and ten times better than normal painkillers. I would be sad to see them go.

Water coated Robert's eyes. "Thank you, Zoey. I wish you well on your journey, wherever it takes you."

It was as if we were meant to b.u.mp into each other, but we understood we probably would never see each other again. Our life paths were taking us in different directions.

"You too."

His path was away from DMG.

My path seemed to be running straight for it.

My head buzzing with the new information, Sprig and I darted up the stairs. I crept onto the rooftop. Ryker sat with his back to me, his legs over the side of the building, the rain delicately falling on him. A deep growl erupted from the figure, discontinuing my movement toward him. I thought it was for me, a warning he didn't want me to get any closer. His fists slammed against the tar, crumbling a chunk of stone under his hand, and he snarled again. Wow, he really didn't want me near.

"f.u.c.k, Amara..." he trailed off. Her name caused my breathing to cease. All previous thoughts about my teacher went to a file in my brain. "We had a plan." He mumbled so low I barely heard him. "You know I can't turn the stone over to him. You were the one who made me promise... no matter what happened." Frustration and aggravation strained across his back, flexing and coiling under his s.h.i.+rt. I felt like I was intruding on his most personal moment. I probably was, and if he turned and saw me, he'd probably throw me off the roof.

I didn't think of Ryker as having feelings, so seeing him now was disturbing. He had lost someone the night of the storm, too. Not in the way I did, but his lover was gone as well, kidnapped by Garrett. It was obvious he blamed himself, and from what he told me, he was against the wall. He couldn't get her back without trading the stone, which was not an option. I could only imagine the frustration I would feel if I were in the situation. It was like the government's policy-"we don't give in to terrorists"-because of the trend it would start if they did. But at the same time, when loved ones were being sacrificed, and it was up to you to save their lives, I couldn't imagine having to decide. If it would have been Daniel or Lexie, I would have given in; if anyone else, probably not.

Ryker stood. His arms opened to the sky, and he let out a roar, which shook the ground. His tattoo ignited. He drew his axe and began smas.h.i.+ng into every edge and object on the roof, bas.h.i.+ng each one into dust.

Air quaked in my chest as I watched the strength of the man before me. His s.h.i.+rt strained under the tension his muscles put it under. His light eyes glowed with rage.

He was truly the most frightening person I had ever come across.

I was rigid. Too scared to run.

His blade struck the part.i.tion again. The ledge fractured in half, the top crumbling to the ground below. Echoes rang as the pieces. .h.i.t cars, dumpsters, and the street. His breath pumped frantically from his lungs as he let the axe slide from his palm. Standing for a few moments, he swallowed deep gulps. The strain fell from his shoulders, causing them to droop.

It was time for me to leave. If he knew I had been watching the whole time-my foot took a step back, my boots making a soft squeak.

He froze. I froze. I think even Sprig went immobile in my bag. I was so screwed.

Ryker's head twitched to peer over his shoulder. He then turned back to the city. We stood still for what felt like centuries. I didn't want to speak, but his silence made me crazy after a while.

"I didn't mean to overhear. I came to check on you." I cleared my throat, forcing my voice to sound stronger. "I was going to leave."

"But. You. Didn't." He spoke low with zero emotion, but I could feel the spikes under it, ready to impale me at a moment's notice.

"Uhh... well, I tried." But my legs wouldn't listen.

His profile came into view again, his jaw clenching, an eye narrowed. "What do you want, human?"

Why had I come looking for him again? After our last encounter on the roof, what made me think he would be open to me coming back?

"I don't know."

He whipped around so fast my eyes barely saw him, and like a bull, he came rus.h.i.+ng at me. My feet backpedaled until my spine smacked into a wall. He got within an inch of my face, slamming a hand on my chest and pressing me harder into the wall. He moved in closer. "If you ever sneak up on me again..."

"You'll what?" I forced my chin to stay high, challenging him. I would not cower. He would not have that kind of power over me. "Kill me? Torture me? Do it... go ahead."

He peered down his nose at me. "Don't be so flippant about torture, little human. You won't find it such a joke when I peel back your nails or pull your teeth one by one." He tilted his head so his lips grazed my cheek. It was a tactic to keep your enemy unbalanced, giving you the upper hand. I knew all the tricks.

I swallowed. "Sounds like a kinky night." If he tried to destabilize me, I would return the favor. I leaned farther, our lips close to touching, voice low and husky, my stare livid with fury. "And keep talking, big boy. I like it rough."

"Hey! Hey!" Sprig came out of the pouch, pus.h.i.+ng between us. "Time-out, kiddies. I am too young to see Mommy and Daddy using whips and chains on each other, especially if it's not in the fun way."

Ryker jerked back, his pupils contracting as he glared at Sprig and me. He shoved me one last time into the wall and twisted away, returning to the edge of the roof. Part of the wall, which used to reside there, was no longer-more rubble no one would notice.

Closing my eyes, I stayed for a few beats, regaining my composure. Sprig kept quiet, probably knowing it was the wisest call. When I reopened them, I watched Ryker. His arms were folded, and his head bent enough so he could rub his forehead. His shoulders sagged, like he had been defeated. I didn't know why I got the impulse to go to him, but I did. I went to his side, once again gazing at the city. This time it felt different-as if we broke through something and came out the other side, war wounded and exhausted, but still standing together. His eyes darted to me, and an odd expression oozed over his face. Without a word, I somehow knew he felt this, too. Something s.h.i.+fted. We both finally accepted the other as a partner. Our being together probably wasn't going to be as temporary as we hoped, and we were stuck with each other for better or worse.

Ryker smirked and rubbed at his eyes again before he emitted a half-chuckle, half-aggravated sigh.

I pa.s.sed a test I didn't know I was taking. The tension he held in when I was near seemed to crumble away with the wall.

"Soooo... how are we all doing?" Sprig's head came out. "Are we going to play nice?"

"No, probably not." Ryker straightened, focusing on the beyond.

"Honesty. Good. If you want this relations.h.i.+p to work, you two need to keep the lines of communication open by being truthful with each other."

"Shut up." I tried to flip the top of my purse back, but he squeezed through the side and climbed the strap to my shoulder.

"Sprites don't understand secrets. We say whatever we're feeling."

"Yeah. I noticed," Ryker and I said at the same time.

"In our village, nothing stayed private for long. My mother said gossip was good for the soul. Kept you involved in each other's lives."

There was a reply on my lips when I saw three black vans pull in around the building, each on a different side. I identified the government-issued collector vans at once.

"h.e.l.l." My chest sank. "They found us."

Ryker reacted. "What?"

"DMG. They located us." I pointed to the vehicles. I had no idea how they discovered us, but deep inside I wasn't surprised. We were good at our jobs. We tracked, hunted, and collected, and we were able to locate some of the hardest fae in the world to find. The DMG was still fully functioning and had been searching for me since the day I escaped their ambush. It had been only a matter of time before they found me.

Time was up.

SIXTEEN.

The doors of the vans opened and familiar faces piled from each one, surrounding the building. Hugo and Marv moved to the backdoor, Peter and Matt to the front, which left Liam and Sera going for the ladder to the roof. The one thing about being an ex-collector was I knew how they worked and thought and the military precision they would use. It was effective and usually resulted in a capture. This time I hoped my knowledge would be their downfall. The only chance we had was we saw them before they spotted us. If I were still asleep downstairs, capture would have been done in a matter of seconds.

With the building guarded and the roof soon to be invaded, Ryker and I were left with few choices.

"There are only six of them." His chest puffed as he reached for his weapon.