Away From the Dark (The Light #2)(99)

I tried to rein in my nerves as I laid Stella on the couch. Somehow she had something to do with this. US Marshals? I needed information and I needed it yesterday. Someone in the Shadows will know something. If I only had my real damn phone! It was cleared to access the network on the dark web.

The medicine I’d given Stella wasn’t the memory suppressant, not yet. What I’d injected was only something to knock her out. The other shit was touchy, and I didn’t know enough about it to risk administering it. If I gave her too much, too quickly, all of her memories could be lost—everything including things like eating and speaking. I’d heard stories from when they’d first started using it. On more than one occasion they’d been left with an infant in a woman’s body. Then again, if not enough was given, there was that chance it wouldn’t work.

She’d already had the medication in her system once. Did that mean she’d built immunity and she needed more, or that only a little would work?

I ran my hand through my hair and exhaled. I wanted to know what the f*ck was happening. Where the hell were Joel and Chloe? I needed to prioritize. I also knew that if Gabriel were here, he’d never think a woman was worth this much trouble.

The way I planned it, once Joel and Chloe arrived, Joel could help me carry Stella to one of the bedrooms. Before they were banished, Chloe had worked with her father in the lab at the Northern Light. She understood all the science stuff and how the medication worked. She could administer the memory suppressant while Joel and I figured out what the hell was happening with The Light and the Shadows.

Once Chloe erased Stella’s memories, Sara Adams would be gone forever. If she really did have feelings for that guy, this would be easier anyway. More than likely, Jacob was already gone—polar bear food. Gabriel had forbidden me from keeping Stella, but as I grabbed another beer from the refrigerator, I reasoned that if he was now in FBI custody it was no longer his decision. It was mine. And once Chloe was done, the woman with me wouldn’t be Sara or Stella. We’d find her a new name.

I paced from the kitchen to the couch and back, fisting my hair.

Too f*cking much!

All of this was on me. I tried again to call Joel, but the circuits were all still busy.

I flipped on the television. The first thing that came on was an interruption of normal programming. On the screen in front of me was aerial coverage of the Bloomfield mansion explosion. The caption read, “Gas leak suspected as the cause of an explosion in Bloomfield Hills. House is believed to be the part-time residence of accused cult leader Gabriel Clark.” As I was about to change the station, a reporter appeared, broadcasting live from Whitefish, Montana. Behind her were buses filling with followers.

Clenching my teeth, I didn’t listen to what she had to say. Instead, I shut the damn thing off.

Taking deep breaths, I reassured myself that I’d learned how to do this. Most of my life had been spent in preparation for my role in assuming power. I needed to take the lessons I’d learned from Gabriel and put them to use. First and foremost, no one would or could argue with my decisions. As long as Gabriel was out of commission, I was in charge. Second, as leader, I could authorize and/or witness activity, but I was always to stay at least one step removed.

Keeping his hands clean was what Gabriel had done. It was how he would survive whatever was about to happen. No matter how far and wide the Shadows were scattered, we all knew Gabriel Clark would survive. Like a phoenix he’d rise again.

When I finally got a hold of Joel, he was both shocked and elated to hear from me. He’d tried my other phone and I hadn’t answered. He said the chatter among the Shadows was that I’d been in the mansion.

Maybe I was the phoenix, rising from the ashes of the explosion.

My plan was to lie low for a few days and let the dust settle. This house was a great place to do that. It didn’t have any connections to me or to The Light. It was connected to MOA. After a couple of days of organizing our strategy, we’d be ready. And after a few days of pumping the drug into Stella, she’d be ready. When we woke her, she’d be whomever we wanted. I would convince her that she was part of the Shadows.

In our brief conversation Joel told me that Gabriel had passed the mantle. He’d told the Shadows I was in charge. I just hadn’t known it, or seen it. I looked over at Stella.

“Because I don’t have my f*cking phone!” She couldn’t hear me, but saying it out loud made me feel better.

While my temples throbbed with the task ahead and the responsibilities Gabriel had bestowed upon me, I still managed to grin, knowing I wouldn’t be doing this alone. Shit, in The Light Stella had been chosen. In the Shadows she’d believe she was married to the leader—to me. It didn’t get much f*cking higher than that.

I wasn’t interested in a harem or brides of the Shadows. There was one woman I wanted. And now that I was the leader, my every desire was obtainable. I wanted the old Stella, but I’d take an improved version. She really was smarter than shit. I liked her quick tongue and questions. In the new version, I’d encourage her strengths, as long as she knew that when it came to my word, it was indisputable. I smoothed her hair away from her face and tried to ignore the blackened eye. With her beside me, and the Shadow resources, we would be unstoppable.

My first official proclamation after Joel arrived with a new phone would be to assure Thomas Hutchinson’s fate. My neck straightened as I brushed my thumb over her swollen eye. Before he died, that f*cker would know the fear Stella had experienced when he threatened to rape her.