Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(56)

I couldn't see anyone through the thick green foliage, and perhaps that was for the best. The grass underneath me turned to ice, the bushes wilting under the weight of the crystals. I crouched lower. What would Rome do if he were in my position? Just stand up and start tossing ice?

"You're all right," a voice suddenly whispered from behind me.

I almost screamed in shock and fear. My gaze jerked left and right, up and down, searching, but I found no one. "Who's there?" I whispered back.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Belle." Another pop rent the air, this one so close my eardrums almost burst. "I swear it."

A howl of pain echoed from behind the smashed cars. Not Rome's, thank God. Then a round of bullets was pumped my way - until Rome and my guardian angel began pumping out rounds of their own.

Another howl.

"Two down," the husky voice behind me said. A male voice. Warm. Somehow familiar.

Dear Lord. Memory Man. And I had an ice ball with his name on it. "Where are you?"

"To your left, behind the wall of the house."

Slowly, so as not to draw attention to myself, I turned. A man peeked out from behind the wall, exactly where he'd said he was, smiling over at me, there one moment, gone the next. There was no time to toss the ice, which was why he'd probably hidden so quickly. I'd caught the barest glimpse of sandy hair, thirtyish features and a tall, perhaps a little lean body. He'd been too far away to tell what color his eyes were, though I thought they were dark. He was handsome, that much I had seen.

"I thought I told you to be careful," he said.

Like this was my fault. "I was driving, minding my own business," I replied, scanning the area for another sign of him.

He let out a long-suffering sigh. "You can't help it, I suppose. You're a magnet for trouble."

"Tell me something I don't know," I muttered. "But can you see why it would be a good idea to return Rome's memories to him? This is the kinda thing I'm always embroiling my boyfriends in."

"You misunderstood me, darling Belle. I happen to love trouble."

"You'd be wise to let me take her," someone snarled from the cars, drawing my attention away from Memory Man and saving me from thinking up a response. "Otherwise, more and more men like us are going to be coming after her."

Like them - a.k.a. assassins, I thought, stomach churning with sickness. I'd been marked for death, then. Again. When would it end?

"Why?" Rome repeated.

Footsteps echoed. Theirs? Rome's? I lifted my fist, the one that still contained an ice ball, and prepared.

But my ears began ringing before I could launch it, startling me. No, wait. The sirens were ringing, impossibly loud.

The authorities had arrived.

Shit! Before I could panic, Rome was at my side, panting, beautiful. Clearly furious. I didn't know who he was at first - only that someone had snuck up on me - and threw the ice. He'd been expecting it, though, and ducked. It sailed over his shoulder, hit the front door of the house and turned it into a large popsicle.

He scowled down at me, keeping an inch between us so that he didn't freeze like the door. "Foolish woman. I could have gone after them, found out what they wanted with you, rather than scramble after you on guard duty."

"And you could have died. You can't do everything on your own. Trying will only get you killed." I searched once again for M-Squared, but didn't catch another glimpse of him. "If you hurt him," I called to Memory Man, "I will hate you forever."

No response.

Rome eyed me strangely. "Hit your head?"

I didn't reply. He ignored my questions at times. I'd ignore his. "Where is he? The survivor, I mean?

And should we, like, make a getaway?"

"He ran. And yes. First, where's your gun? Nice aim, by the way."

"I don't have a gun."

"How'd you shoot at the men, then?" In the distance, policemen shouted commands at each other.

Footsteps pounded. "Never mind. Tell me later. Right now, you've got to calm down and we've got to get out of here before we're arrested."

We backed awayfrom the house, staying low to the ground. Only when we were hidden by brick did we stand. And for the next fifteen minutes, we hiked silently through the neighborhood, always careful to hide when someone emerged from their home or a car drove past. Finally we reached Sherridan. She was in the process of backing our Honda out of the garage where I'd parked it as the owner of said garage yelled and waved his hands at her.

"What - " I began, only to be cut off.

"Get in," Rome commanded.

He threw open one door, and I threw open another. Sherridan screeched as we settled inside. Me in back. Rome in front. The driver's seat, to be exact, shoving Sherridan out of the way.

"You scared the pee out of me." Her hand fluttered over her heart. "What the hell's been going on? I heard multiple gunshots."

Rome floored it, lurching out of the driveway and onto the street. "Get down and stay down, ladies." Both of us ducked without protest.

"The gauges are wet," he said, confused.

"They're thawing. I, uh, accidentally froze them." Thankfully, I'd managed to get my emotions - and thereby my powers - under control with thoughts of M-Squared. He was out there, watching. Protecting.