“No!” She madly struggled against the iron grips on her limbs.
Harper thrashed wildly to no avail, kicking out and jerking her body every which way. The burning pain in her shoulder mingled with the ache in her soul from seeing Rome on the ground. She couldn’t seem to focus her thoughts to summon the energy she needed to escape.
She was airborne and then landed hard on the solid floor of the crate. On her back, she twisted to her knees and crawled to the opening, as the hatch began to shut.
She had a split second before the darkness overtook her. Enough time to see Rome’s lifeless body lying on the wet grass.
Harper shuddered and froze. Then her world went black. The crate hatch was shut. She was captured. Rome was dead.
It was over.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
She was alone once again. In the dark.
Harper slammed her body against the wooden walls of the crate. She willed every ounce of power to her swirling mind, yet felt nothing but throbbing pain. Without even a crack of natural light, her psi powers were dormant. She could already feel the energy seep from her mind.
She had come here to die anyway, but Rome hadn’t. He didn’t deserve to die because of this. No one did.
Harper stilled her flailing and took a deep breath, stalling the raging anguish that assaulted her every fiber.
Rome was dead.
“It was supposed to be me,” she whispered to no one, anguish filling her senses.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
Bowing her head in solitude, she knew she had to do something, anything, to stop this. And make Rome’s sacrifice worth it all.
He had said her inner strength was stronger than any artificial power. She had to believe he was right. She’d spent a lifetime forging her body into top physical form. She could do this.
Leaning back, she coiled her legs tight to her chest and then thrust them forward against the front of the crate.
A shot of pain streamed through her legs as the wood resisted.
No. She had to believe. She could do this.
Taking a deep, focusing breath, as she’d done before every race, Harper closed her eyes and pictured herself surging through the water with her powerful arms and legs, each movement bringing her closer to victory.
With that thought in her mind, she tried once more to break free. The pure strength of her swimmer’s kick shattered the wood outward.
Shaking off her shock, Harper scrambled through the opening and crawled over the splinters out into the heavy downpour.
The moment the heavy rainfall hit her body, a swell of rejuvenation washed over her. Her shoulder ceased to sting and her mind cleared. The cloudy natural light sparked her energy as she raked her gaze over the continuing battle in the compound. There were bodies everywhere, some fighting, some motionless.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jeff’s stunned glare fix on her. But she had one focus: Rome. His still body was in the same spot.
Harper bowed her head and looked deep inside herself, knowing what she had to do. It was beyond what she’d come here for in the first place, even if she’d been blinded by revenge.
She had to stop this madness. Rome was gone. She was going to die anyway. Bobby’s vision was the only thing left to lose.
Indeed, she knew deep down that what she was about to do would kill her. There was no way she could withstand the force she’d need. Even Bobby’s notes had affirmed that. She’d burn up inside.
Yet her sacrifice would be for the greater good. It’s what Rome had lived for. What better reason to use her psi powers but to surrender her life to honor the man she loved, and the work of the brother who loved her enough to bestow it upon her?
She could think of none. Decision made. She would call upon all the psi energy in her body to stop this.
Harper was tired of all the killing. And she knew that some of these people were here to help. Maybe she could give Rome’s people time to get the upper hand by just stopping the chaos. So she would try to focus her power to immobilize everyone in the compound with a nonlethal pulse. Just as the sunlight rejuvenated her before, she’d try to harness the rainstorm’s natural force. The amount of concentrated energy needed would no doubt kill her. How could her body physically handle it?
But she was dying anyway, right? It was a chance she was willing to take.
Closing her eyes, Harper allowed the raging thunderstorm to invigorate her body. She drew upon the lashing rain. The swirling wind. And the cleansing air. The organic elements gave her a boost beyond measure.
Her revitalized body began to tingle with shivers of lightning under her skin. Raw electricity throbbed through her mind. Her veins crackled as her blood raced.
All this energy. All this power. It would be the death of her. But she was okay with that. The last pure psionic power would live and die through her. And somewhere in between, she’d revere the brother she’d lost and honor the man she loved.
Snapping her eyes open, she spread her arms wide and watched the hazy shower of rain and the icy blustering wind snake and spiral around her as it intensified into a menacing tempest.
For the last time, Harper embraced the customary sensations as ice raced under her skin and heat flared inside her body for an instant before her psi power kicked in. The inferno burning in her veins was unbearable. The natural elements felt as if they were merging with the organic power radiating from her mind. Surrendering to her. And it also felt right.
With all that she was she concentrated, and then unleashed a massive surge of energy from her roiling body, shaking everything in its path with its overwhelming force.
The compound eclipsed around her. It was the last thing she saw.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
A thunderous roar of wind and rain coiled inside the courtyard and surged across the compound, slicing through the sleet and crushing everything in its powerful wake. Heavy gusts of stinging rain pummeled him, forcing him to stay flattened against the slimy ground as consciousness slowly returned.
Face full of grass and muck, Rome stilled until the raging storm washed over him.
His chest ached at the pounding he’d taken from the bullets. The force had knocked the wind out of him and even caused him to black out for a few moments. It looked as if the storm was subsiding, though. Running his hand over the bulletproof vest, he loosened the straps and wheezed in some of the thick air. He was glad he’d had the extra protection, given the force of the blows.
Heavy mud sucked at his body as Rome peeled himself out of the glop and up on all fours. And fell back onto his rear with a sloppy thud as he surveyed the area in complete shock.
An eerie sight lay before him. The compound was shrouded in a dense gray curtain of relentless hammering rain and haze.
Other than the splattering hum of the rain drumming against the already saturated ground, he couldn’t hear a thing. The air was still and deafeningly quiet.
And he couldn’t see a damn thing. It was as though a fog had rolled in from the ocean and planted itself inside the confined space.
Wiping a grimy hand over his already smudged face, Rome hauled himself up to stand unsteadily on the slippery ground. The hard rain cut through the cloudy plume, but did not allow him to see what remained of the complex. And what was left of the courtyard where he’d last seen Harper being brutally yanked into a crate, just before he passed out.
No.
He would not, could not believe she was Jeff’s captive. Again. He had to get to her somehow.
In his line of work, he’d witnessed explosions and disasters, but he’d never seen a natural storm contained like this. And never with the woman he loved sitting smack-dab in the middle of it.