Damn pragmatism.
Drake looked miserable. "I'm so sorry, Ana. Thank you so much."
Ana sat on the floor against the wall so she wouldn't fall, then smiled. "Just do it, mijo. It's okay. I'm tougher than I look. Just make it believable."
He released the super strength his muscles carried before punching her in the side of the head.
I cried out as she slumped to the floor, feeling his fist as if I'd suffered the blow.
Chapter 24 – Drake
Drake cradled Ana's head so she wouldn't fall to the floor, and positioned her in the most comfortable way possible before looking at Sam. He waited for anger, but he saw only love in her eyes.
He reached out and ran his hand through her silky hair. "I'm sorry."
Her eyes spilled over with tears, but she didn't pull away from him. He sighed in relief when she gripped his hand with as much desperate need as burned in him.
"I hate this, Drake, but we had to. Now let's get out of here before we're caught."
An ache eased in him. He had a new guardian angel, a soul who accepted him, shadows and all.
Drake was guiding Sam toward the door when a voice from the stairs froze them in place. "What the hell are you doing down here? Stop right there."
The security guard aimed his gun at them. How did he get out?
As soon as he'd thought the question, the answer arrived. Dr. Pana followed behind the guard with an evil grin spread across his face. "You two are not going anywhere." His calm, quiet voice was more terrorizing than if he'd been wild with rage.
A haze of compulsion settled into Drake's mind as Dr. Pana hijacked his powers and took control of him. He wanted to scream for Sam to run, but his mouth wouldn't open and he didn't know if she could hear him mentally anymore.
Sam's face turned hard. "Let go of him, Dr. Pana. Now!"
The clutches on Drake's mind released and he gasped in relief and pain.
Dr. Pana's face twisted in anger. "How?"
Sam still held center stage, so Drake used that moment to creep forward, ready to tackle the doctor.
Sam grinned. "You underestimated us."
'Drake, he can only use one power at a time. We have to keep him off balance.' Her voice floated through him like a cool breeze.
He took that opportunity and lunged, tackling the doctor to the ground.
Sam screamed. "The guard!"
From the corner of his eye, Drake saw the guard turn and point his gun at him. Time pushed against him like a viscous liquid, and he couldn't move fast enough to stop the inevitable.
The guard's trigger finger twitched.
Drake braced for the impact of a bullet.
But no gun fired. The guard's eyes glazed over and he threw the gun down the stairs.
Sam had intervened, but in letting go of the doctor's mind, she'd opened up the window he needed to seize Drake's mind again.
Under compulsion, Drake moved away from the doctor. Inside, his will fought the clumsy control the doctor exerted, but couldn't break it, and he recognized in that moment the energy of the man who had kidnapped him from his surfing contest.
Of course, Dr. Pana had been behind it all. Fury raged in Drake, seeking an outlet but finding none. His muscles flexed and pulsed, bulging tight against his jeans and shirt, coiled and ready but unable to strike.
The guard made for his gun, but Sam intercepted him and kicked the gun farther away, then latched onto Dr. Pana's mind again and released Drake from the control.
"You did this to me. You took everything from me." His fist landed in the doctor's gut and sent him flying down the hall, where he lay struggling to breathe.
Drake stalked forward, ready to finish off the doctor, but the guard pounced on Drake and wailed at him with ineffectual punches. Though no match for him in strength, the guard was small and fast, and Drake's counterstrikes landed on air.
A foreign energy infiltrated Drake's body as he fought the guard, and siphoned off his extra strength. The guard's punches bit deeper into his body and filled him with unexpected pain. Each blow disoriented him further, until his vision spun with flashes of light.
Drake raised a heavy arm and swung, but missed again.
The doctor groaned, healing himself with Drake's power, then pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed at Sam.
"No!" Drake's powers crashed back into him and renewed strength burned through his veins and flooded his muscles. His fist slammed into the guard's face and knocked him into the wall. His body slumped over and blood leaked out of his mouth.
With every ounce of will left in him, Drake focused on the doctor, but the doctor fought Drake with his own mind powers... and pulled the trigger.
Two pops reverberated through the hall. Sam screamed and Drake unleashed more fury than he'd ever felt before.
Images of his New Daddy flashed through his mind. The gun in the doctor's hand lifted and pointed toward his chin.