“Fight it,” she spat, pulling harder at his hair. His head shook, but Noa kept hold of him and said, “Fight it. Calm. Breathe.”
His eyes stayed locked on hers, and in that moment, time was suspended. It was just she and Diel and the twin darknesses that lived in them both. Noa took in deep breaths, and to her shock, Diel began to follow her pattern. The grip on her arms slackened, and Noa let her hands drift from his messy black hair to fall on his neck, over the cold metal of the collar.
Diel hissed as her fingers ran over its edge, grazing his red and ruined skin. She felt the buzz of electricity vibrate under her fingertips. Her stomach turned, and something flickered in her chest, then traveled in small bursts of light through to the marrow of her bones.
“Gabriel.” A voice came from behind them. But Noa was locked on Diel’s stare and the hot, charged air between them. Diel pressed closer to Noa, and if possible, he was even harder than before. “Gabriel,” the voice said again. Diel’s head twitched. “Gabriel. Who is this Gabriel and how do I contact him?” He snapped his head to the side. Breathless, Noa turned to Dinah, who was watching her with concerned eyes.
“He’s my brother,” Diel said, his voice raspy once more—the sound of his temporary control over whatever stirred within him. “Our leader.”
“You have a number for this leader?” Dinah pushed. Diel looked tormented, then reeled off a number from memory. Dinah hesitated, then looked at Noa. “I need to call him.” She cast a worried glance at Diel, to his hands still on Noa’s arms.
“Then go,” Noa said. Apparently understanding that Noa felt safe enough for her to leave, Dinah nodded, then headed out of the cave. Noa met the worried eyes of the rest of her sisters and nodded to them that she was okay. Diel broke away and stumbled back. His hands were back in his hair, yanking at the roots.
“Diel—”
“Drug me,” he said through clenched teeth, face red. “Drug me when you move me. When we meet my brothers.” He backed away until he was in the cage. He gripped the bars. “Lock the fucking door.”
“Wait—”
“Lock the fucking door!” he roared. Noa quickly moved to the cage and locked him inside. Something that looked like relief flashed across his beautiful face as he sank back into the shadows of the cell, out of her sight. Then he went quiet. For several minutes Diel was silent, until he moved back into the light, that sinister smile on his full lips once again.
“Noa.”
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, a gut warning to be on her guard. He was back. Diel’s inner darkness, the one who needed the collar, was back.
“Come closer,” he said, taunting her once more. “I want to see you.”
Noa turned on her heel and walked out of the cave. Dinah was coming down the tunnel. She walked past Noa, holding a phone, and went straight to Diel. Noa followed. “Speak. He wants to know you’re okay.”
The cell phone was on speaker. A voice said, “Diel? Are you there? Talk to me. Are you okay?”
“I’m here,” Diel said, but his eyes never moved from Noa, tracking her like prey. His sadistic grin widened, and shivers ran down her spine. “And I’ve got something you and our brothers are really going to want to see.”
Chapter 7
Gabriel lifted his head, and Maria exhaled at hearing Diel’s voice. “There? You satisfied?” the woman said again. Dinah. She’d said her name was Dinah. She had Diel and wanted to meet to give him back.
“Listen to me,” Gabriel said, his temperature rising with panic. “He’s dangerous. Diel … he …” Gabriel searched for the right words to explain his brother without telling her too much. “He has … issues. He could hurt you.”
“No shit. Like the fact he needs to wear an electric collar? And he wants to kill us all? Yeah, we got that.” Maria moved closer to the table and closed her eyes in worry. “But let’s just say, Gabriel, we have a lot more than Diel in common.”
Gabriel looked at Maria. The confusion on her face mirrored his own. “We do?” he asked tentatively.
“Where do you want to meet?” Dinah said, changing the subject. Maria moved to a map and pointed to a place they both knew would be safe. Protected land that they owned. Free from anyone’s eyes if this turned out to be a Brethren trap somehow.
“I’ve got a place that’s safe,” he said and set a time with Dinah. When he hung up, Gabriel ran his hands through his blond curls and tugged at the collar of his shirt. He exhaled a long breath, then nodded. “Diel’s alive. And he’s contained. We have to find solace in that.”