Rome joined in with her laughter. She got on her knees and began to pick up the scattered papers. Looking at one of the sheets, she noticed a scrawled signature at the bottom.
Jeff Donovan. Her laughter faded as she glanced to Rome. He waved his hand for her to join him back on the bed.
She grabbed the rest of the documents and returned to the bed to sit beside him, showing him the paper. Reading it along with him, she could sense his gentle playfulness morph into serious work mode.
The paper was a gruesomely detailed report on what the faction had found up at the Barracks. The empty syringe. The bodies. The destruction.
The last paragraph was a requisition for additional force to track down the source of the damage.
Meaning her.
The last line of the requisition clarified the additional force.
Meaning Rome.
Jeff signed the order to hire Rome to track her down and bring her in. Dead or alive.
Harper just gawked at the paper, realizing just how crazy things had become. And just how much he’d given up for her. She was going to destroy his entire career. Because of her, he’d had to make a choice to go against his boss, regardless of the fact that Jeff was a horrible, rotten, disgusting person.
A strong hand settled on her thigh, halting her uneasy thoughts.
“This was my choice, Harper,” Rome said quietly. “When Jeff gave me your picture, I knew. I just knew that something was off about it. But this, you and me, is right.”
Harper looked at Rome’s face. He was looking out the window, but his gaze seemed unfocused.
“I can’t explain it, but I guess it doesn’t surprise me that Jeff is behind this,” he continued. “I just hate that for the first time in my life, I regret what I do for a living. Regret that my mistake provoked this. I knew that operations like Jeff’s existed. I knew that innocents like Bobby were killed for knowing things they shouldn’t. I guess it just never mattered to me.” His gaze shifted to hers and burned in its forlorn intensity. “Until you.”
She covered his hand with hers, not really knowing what she could say to make this better. Wait, yes she did. She just couldn’t believe she was about to say it.
“I love you,” Harper simply stated. The three words tasted strange and unfamiliar, but somehow right.
Rome turned his body to face her. Taking her hand, he brought it up to his lips and kissed her palm. “I know you do,” he said with a sure grin.
She smiled back at him and shook her head at his response. The same one she’d had.
Rolling the other way, she swung off the bed and padded to her bag of clothes. Unzipping the duffel, she reached in and pulled out a few things to wear and slipped them on with a sigh.
Things between her and Rome were getting a little too close, a lot too fast. And ultimately had nowhere to go. But it felt nice. New and scary, but nice.
She needed air.
Besides, she needed to do something. Now more than ever, she wanted to resolve this whole thing and get her revenge so she could explore a real relationship with Rome. She had no idea how long it would be possible or whether life was ever going to return to a semblance of normal during her tapering life span.
“I’m going outside for some air,” she said, bending over to tie her running shoes. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him still sitting on the bed staring at her with a questioning expression. She tossed him a wave and walked to the door of the cabin.
Harper stepped outside the cabin, breathing in the fresh, crisp air. Thriving ferns graced the area, waving in the light breeze.
She moseyed past the Bug toward the rushing creek and began to walk along the side of the burbling water. The natural hum had a calming effect on her mind and body, as water always did.
Gazing around the lush green trees flanking the rough path beside the creek, she thought of the information she and Rome had gathered from Bobby’s data and the files.
So. The formula flowing in her blood was the only true serum left. And she had the formula buried and locked deep inside her memory. Which meant she was the only pure fruit of Bobby’s efforts. She was able to do things the other guys couldn’t do. And so far, Jeff’s faction had been unsuccessful in trying to replicate it.
It was a strange feeling knowing that she was one of a kind. Strange and isolating. Even if- when -she did finish this, the psi powers would still be part of her. And eventually steal her life.
A life that was forever changed. And though she had Rome, what kind of life could they really have with her unknown and limited life expectancy?
She was scared to find that she needed him, more than just his help. Never before had she allowed anyone other than Bobby to get so close to her. Inside her soul. But Rome had somehow done that without her knowing.
The fact that they had learned she was terminal made her crave him even more. Her heart was breaking little by little just thinking that every second she spent with him could be her last.
She’d told Rome she loved him. How could she say that, knowing her world was falling apart? How could she think she even had the right to say it?
But no matter how she looked at it, she knew it was the truth. She couldn’t help herself. He made her feel like she wanted to give everything she had to him in ways she hadn’t even thought possible. Her heart. Her soul. He’d somehow been able to reach inside her and claim them.
Again, she wondered what kind of life awaited them. Always waiting for it to end.
She seriously doubted she could ever go back to swimming while possessing a psionic power. She couldn’t even imagine what her coach was doing right now, wondering where she was, why she hadn’t come back from her trip home. The meanie hadn’t wanted her to visit Bobby in the first place. Was he mad? Worried? Kicking her off the team? How would she explain everything that had happened? No doubt she’d fail any drug test they’d administer, and who knew what kind of advantage she’d have in the water now?
So, no, she could never go back to competitive swimming. Also, she was sure she’d been fired from her job by now. All her friends-what would she say to them? Could she ever go back to anything she’d had before?
A slow fury smoldered in the pit of her stomach. No. She seriously doubted she ever could return to life as normal. Jeff Donovan had taken that away from her. Taken everything away from her. Her brother. Her swimming. Even her natural life.
It was a good thing she was going to die anyway. Her life as she knew it was gone.
The simmering fury threatened to blossom. Her mind began to swarm with rage at everything she’d lost. Glancing at the thick green foliage surrounding her, she remembered the solitary vow she’d made not long ago in a forest just like this one. Right after Bobby had died in her arms, the fury had consumed her and she’d sworn revenge. Now she had the means inside of her to enact it. Bobby had given her the serum. And she would use it for him.
She stopped walking and forced the anger to recede. Her heated vision cooled as she gazed at the swollen creek, misting and brisk as it rushed over cragged rocks. The fresh water was shrewd in the paths it chose to flow through the wild terrain.
Harper realized that’s what she needed to be. Razor sharp and in command of her power. And not afraid to use it.
She scanned the majestic trees and foliage. The sentries stood tall and sure, branches reaching out to provide the unparalleled balance of beauty and power in nature.
Calling to her. Reverent and reassuring. Enticing and elevating. Illuminating the energy that stirred within her body and mind.
Suddenly she wasn’t afraid anymore. Like the protected undergrowth at the base of the trees, she knew she wasn’t alone. She had Rome’s savvy at her back. She had Bobby’s creation inside her. And she had enough grit and confidence in herself to face what lay ahead.