“What happened?” Harley asked Adriana. “I was holding your hands, and the next thing I know, I’m on my butt.”
Adriana flushed, looking contrite. “Sometimes when I get nervous or scared, I lose control and zap people. When you said you shot the guy in the leather jacket, I lost it. I…I guess I was afraid the people who kidnapped me might get angry at what you did to one of their own and take it out on Kristoff.”
“Do you think you can stand up?” Sawyer asked her.
Harley nodded, taking the hand he offered and letting him help her back to her chair. Sawyer ignored the questioning glance Erin threw his way. Instead, he held out the other chair for Adriana, gesturing for her to sit. She stood where she was, arms wrapped around her middle, eyes darting toward the door like she wanted to bolt.
“Relax,” he told her. “Harley’s okay and we all know you didn’t intend to hurt anyone.”
“I know,” she said. “It’s just that I keep thinking about Kristoff and…” Her voice trailed off, her eyes glistening with tears again.
“Harley only shot the guy with the leather jacket in the leg,” he explained. “I honestly doubt the kidnappers will hurt your boyfriend as a way to get back at us. He wasn’t even there when it happened.”
Adriana chewed on her lip as she considered that, then nodded. Sawyer wasn’t sure she believed him, but at least she sat down beside Harley again.
“How long have you been able to do this thing with the electricity?” Sawyer asked, taking his own seat again.
She didn’t answer right away, and when she finally spoke, her voice was soft. “It started when I was fourteen. At first, it was only little sparks when I got excited. Like when you walk across the carpet and touch a doorknob. It was a joke with my family at first, but it got progressively stronger as I got older. If I got scared, nervous, or something startled me, the electricity would come out. My family helped me hide it as much as they could, and over time, I got better at controlling it. But I still messed up and hurt people I never wanted to hurt. That was when I realized I couldn’t stay with my family anymore. I left my home in Taxco, thinking I could disappear in a place as big and crowded as Mexico City, and for more than two years, it seemed to work. Then it didn’t.”
“What happened?” Sawyer asked.
“A woman showed up at my apartment claiming that a man in Europe wanted to hire me.” Adriana looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. “I immediately knew there was something wrong because I never applied for a job in Europe. She said the man was aware of my special abilities and would pay me an insane amount of money if I worked for him. When I said I didn’t want the job or to use my abilities, she took out a phone and told whoever she called that I was resistant and she needed help. I freaked out and ran.”
Sawyer heard the girl’s heart beating a mile a minute and knew she was reliving that moment. He was all too familiar with the adrenaline surge that came with memories like that when the fear and anxiety made it feel like you were right back in the thick of it.
Adriana took a deep breath, a frown creasing her forehead. “I thought for sure I’d escaped, but a man caught up with me before I got more than a couple blocks from my place. He just kind of showed up out of nowhere right in front of me. I tried to fight, but another guy came to help and they both dragged me toward a van. I was more terrified than I’ve ever been in my life and I completely lost it. The electricity inside me kept building until I thought it might tear me apart. When I zapped the men, the flare of light was so bright it blinded me and I collapsed.”
“What’s the next thing you remember?” Harley asked.
The girl lifted her head to look at them. “Waking up in a dingy room. I didn’t know where I was or how long I was out of it. My head was spinning so much I could barely stand up. At first, I thought I’d hurt myself from channeling all that power, but the man guarding my cell told me they’d drugged me. He said that since I hadn’t wanted to do it the easy way, they would do it the hard way.”
“How long were you held there?” Sawyer prompted when she paused, lost in thought again.
She shrugged. “Maybe a day. They drugged me regularly and everything was sort of a blur after that. I vaguely remember riding in a few trucks, but there were some long plane rides, too, and an endless procession of dark holding rooms. A week ago, they brought me to the club where you found me last night. I didn’t even know I was in Paris until Tessa mentioned it this morning.”
“How did you meet Kristoff?” Harley asked.
Adriana’s lips curved, her dark eyes dancing a little with happiness. “On the plane from Mexico City. He was amazing. He made sure the guards gave me something to eat and drink and even got them to leave me alone so I could wash up in privacy. I don’t think I would have made it without Kristoff. He was like my guardian angel.”
Sawyer hoped for her sake they could rescue her boyfriend along with all the other captives. “What about the other prisoners? Were they with you from the beginning like Kristoff, or were they here in Paris when you arrived? Did you get a chance to talk to any of them and learn why they’d been kidnapped?”
“We picked up two of them on one
