Pandora's Daughter

No. Face it. See what's there. Force yourself.

Her teeth bit into her lower lip until she tasted blood.

Babble.

It seemed to go on forever.

I can't understand. I can't understand. I can't understand.

Voices. Pain. Indistinguishable echoes.

She whimpered and buried her head in her arm.

No, not completely indistinguishable. One voice stronger than the others, a man's angry voice.

'Slut. Whore. My own brother.

'No, Hiram. Stay away from me. Don't push me. We didn't-

A woman's long, drawn out scream…

And the babble returned.

'My baby. My little John. Don't leave me.'

Babble.

'It's your child, you bastard. Don't you walk away from me because you're one of the high and mighty Pearsalls. I'll tell everyone that you…'

Gone again.

Babble.

She could feel the tears run down her cheeks.

Go away. I don't want to hear your pain. There's nothing I can do about it, dammit.

Voices. Pushing, stabbing, suffocating her.

Anger flared through her. 'Go away. I'm not going to let you do this to me. I won't have it.'

The voices vanished.

She gasped in shock. Is that all it took? Anger channeled, aimed, to ward off that bombardment?

Dammit, she was wrong; she could still hear them.

No, it wasn't a voice.

Mama, don't go away. Don't leave me.

Not… Pandora.

Neal standing in the doorway.

Blood spurting from that throat as his knife slit across it.

Mama.

Death.

'No!' She jumped to her feet and ran out of the cave.

'Megan!'

Grady.

Panic tore through her. She pushed past him and darted down the path.

'Megan, I'm not going to hurt you. God, I didn't think you'd get that far on your own or I would have told you everything myself. You shouldn't have been able to do it.' He started after her. 'I wouldn't have left you alone if I'd thought-'

'Stay away.' Her voice was shaking. 'Stay away from me.'

'No way.' He was beside her, reaching for her arm.

She drove her fist into his stomach, whirled, and kept running.

He was behind her, gaining on her. 'Megan, I'm not trying to hurt-'

'Blood. Death. I could see it. You killed her.'

'Not your mother. Dammit, okay, I killed someone that night, but it wasn't your mother. It was the son of a bitch who murdered her. Let me talk to you. Oh, to hell with it.' He tackled her and brought her to the ground.

She fought frantically but he was on top of her, holding her down. She glared up at him. 'You killed her.'

'No, I told you the truth.'

'You killed her and you were going to kill me.'

'That's what you were thinking that night, but that doesn't make it the truth. You were out of your head.' His voice vibrated with intensity. 'I didn't do it. The man who you saw down by the pines killed her. She tried to lead him away from you. He caught her and he killed her.'

'No.' She tried to free her arms. 'I don't want to-' She closed her eyes. 'I shouldn't have let her go. I knew something was wrong. I should have stayed with her.'

'You couldn't have saved her and you would have robbed her of her chance to save you.'

'From you.'

'No, you're not believing that any longer.' He swung off her and stood up. 'It's not good to be out in the open like this. Let's get back to your car. Phillip is waiting for us.'

She opened her eyes and glared up at him. 'I'm not going anywhere with you.'

'Yes, you are. Even if I have to carry you.'

He would do it. She slowly got to her feet.

'Good. Let's go.'

She shook her head. 'Leave me alone.'

'I can't do that. From now on we're joined at the hip.' His lips tightened grimly. 'I almost lost you the other night when you were forced down that embankment. I've invested too much in you to let you get blown away. Let's get back to Phillip.'

Anger and frustration seared through her. He was right. She didn't know what to believe any longer. She wanted to hit out at something, someone. It would be an exercise in futility to strike out at Grady. She'd already found out how strong he could be. Better to save her own strength until she could make it count.

She turned on her heel and strode down the path that led to the beach.

CHAPTER FIVE

'MEGAN.' PHILLIP HURRIED EAGERLY toward her as he saw her coming down the hill. 'Are you all right? I was worried about you.'

'I'm fine.' She wasn't fine. She was angry and frightened and she wanted to get away from here, away from Grady. She could feel Grady's eyes on the center of her spine as she moved toward Phillip. 'There was something I had to do.'

Phillip's gaze was searching her face. 'And did you do it?'

'Hell, yes,' Grady answered for her as he reached them. 'She was fighting off those echoes while I was running up the hill toward the cave. I couldn't believe she could do it.' His lips tightened grimly. 'And then she came up with an unexpected tidbit or two that surprised me.'

'If you can call murder a tidbit,' Megan said coldly. She turned to Phillip. 'Did you know about what happened there twelve years ago?'

'Of course, he did,' Grady said roughly. 'Though I admit I filled him in with broad strokes that wouldn't offend his conscience. There was no use making him worry.' He glanced uneasily around the deserted beach and then nodded at the Camry parked a few yards away. 'Phillip, you drive her back to your house. I'll follow. I want to scout around and make sure that-'

'I don't need anyone with me,' Megan said. 'And I may not go back to the house. I have some thinking to do.' That was an understatement, she thought bitterly. Her mind was whirling and she couldn't process anything in that chaos.

'You'll go back to the house,' Grady said. 'Or I'll trail behind you until you settle down and let me talk to you. Take your choice.'

'I don't have to make a choice, you bastard.' She glared at him. 'I don't need you. Go ahead. Try to hurt me. Let loose your damn echoes. I'll handle them without your help.'

'They're not my echoes,' he said quietly. 'They're yours and I've never wanted to hurt you.'