The Forbidden Trilogy(176)

A low buzz filled Drake's mind, as though someone had broken in and started digging through his memories. The Seeker. Drake and the Seeker were brothers, spawned from the same mother. And Sam and the Seeker had shared a father....

Drake lurched to his feet, knocking his chair back. "Get out. Get out, now!" He lunged, intent on beating the man to death on the spot, consequences be damned, but an invisible force pushed him back.

"Come now, Drake. Did you really think I'd show up without some kind of protection? Now that you know who I am, shall we get down to business?"

Drake ground his teeth and shot daggers at the man across from him. "I will never make a deal with the devil who destroyed Sam's life."

Mr. Steele smiled his creepy smile again. "You might change your mind when you hear what I have to say." He pulled a vial of Blue Power from his jacket pocket and set it on the table between them, then sat back without saying anything.

Drake seethed with anger. Who is this asshole to come in here and treat me like some crackhead desperate for the next hit?

It won't work.

"I have more. More than you can even imagine. This is the street variety. It's meant to separate the wheat from the chaff, as the Bible would say. But this...." He pulled out a vial of purple liquid. "This is the real deal. It lasts longer and is more powerful. You won't get the high you got with the blue version. You'll just get all of your powers back in full force. Isn't that what you want? To be powerful again? Think of what you could do with strength and mind control. Think of all that you could accomplish. No one could stop you."

"I'm not interested." A lie. He was interested. The drug pulled at him. He'd be whole and could finally protect Sam, but at what cost? "What do you want from me?"

He'd tried to make his voice sound aggressive and uncaring, but the shift in Steele's expression told Drake he'd failed. Steele knew he had set the hook.

"I need your help. We have a situation that requires your unique skills."

Drake crossed his arms over his chest and glared. "To do what?"

"Why, to help me recruit and collect other paranormals, of course. Someone with your abilities would have no trouble getting the job done."

Drake couldn't believe what he was hearing. Does this jackass really think that after everything he's done, I'll help him kidnap kids? "You're insane if you think I'd ever do that."

Steele shifted gears. "Do you know how you lost your powers?"

He nodded, but didn't speak.

"You think you do, but really, your unborn child absorbed them. They are trapped in her. I can help you get them back for good."

Go anywhere near my daughter, and I'll kill you. "Not interested."

"I can get you out of here, Drake. How else would you save your little friend? You have nothing, and you know it. I can give you power, money and freedom. I can even give you Toby. All you have to do is help me."

Shit. He couldn't do this. He couldn't choose between one child's life and hundreds.

Drake shook his head. "Still not interested." He expected to see Steele show some signs of frustration at not being able to gain the upper hand, but the man remained cool and calm—almost gloating.

"Very well. If I can't entice you, perhaps I can coerce you. There's one more thing you don't know, and I think it will be the tipping point for you."

Steele pulled out his phone, punched some buttons on a screen, and held out a picture.

Drake's heart stopped. He screamed in anger and thrashed at the shields holding him away from Steele.

The man just sat there, victory in his eyes. "When you've finished, we'll talk about what you can do for me."





Chapter 83 – Sam



Sirens blared. Darren held me as my shoulders shook and tears streamed down my face. I couldn't pull my hands off of Mrs. Beaumont's body, but I had to find out what happened to Tommy. She'd shown me the faces of the men who'd taken him. I planned to draw them and make everyone memorize the pictures—and then we would hunt them down, kill them, and get Tommy back.

The paramedics and police arrived, and Darren fielded their questions, but they still insisted on speaking to me. One man draped a blanket over my shoulders and pried me away from Mrs. Beaumont. "Come on, we need to put her on a stretcher."

Darren took over, leading me to the tail of an ambulance while a cop prepared to take my statement. I told him a creative version of the truth: they were friends, coming to visit. When they didn't arrive in time, I got worried and came looking for them. We arrived and found her here, dying.

"Did she say anything about who did this, or where her son is?"

What could I say? The medical report would show she couldn't speak at the time of her death. "No, she didn't speak at all."