The Ascended (The Saving Angels 3)

"I could never turn to anyone else. It has always been you, and only you," I said as he dragged me back in his arms. His lips smothered out any further talk as he made it clear I was only his. I returned his kiss with fervor, feeling my energy coming back in small measures.

"Dang," I said, pulling back slightly to replenish my lungs with air.

"You could say that again," Mark said with a small laugh, resting his forehead against mine.

"Dang," I said lightly, making him chuckle before his lips reclaimed mine once again. This time though, the passion still flowed around us. The kiss was gentle and tender as he cupped my face gently, holding it in place.

I laughed, standing up reluctantly. "As nice as this is, we need to find a way out," I said.

"I know," Mark said also standing.

"Let me look at your ankle thing," I said, sitting on the edge of the small couch in the makeshift jail.

Mark pulled up the cuff of his jeans so I could inspect it closer.

I lifted his bare foot and placed it on my lap. His foot was tanned and smooth to the touch. I ran my hand over the top of it and smiled when I saw the look that passed over his face. Shelving that tidbit for another time, I focused on the task at hand. The contraption around his foot was clasped on tightly, making it impossible to slide it down off his foot. The hardware itself looked simple enough, but I could see that only a key would work to remove it, unless of course Mark and I were talented at picking locks, which we weren't. I looked around for some kind of device to pry it open with.

"There's nothing," Mark said automatically, knowing what I was searching for.

"Okay, well that won't work," I said, moving on to a different solution. I approached the unseen barrier and cautiously stuck out my finger in front of me. I felt a red hot surge of electricity race up my hand, making my hand and wrist go numb. I winced in pain, stepping away.

"Krista, don't do that," Mark said, cradling my hand in his.

"So, as long as your ankle thing is on, we're trapped here," I said, stating the obvious. "Can we try to short it out?" I asked, looking around for water.

Mark shook his head. "I've tried that. It doesn't work. The electrical mechanism must be waterproof.

"Okay, so we can't short it and we can't get it off. What if we ignore the pain and charge the barrier?" I asked.

Mark looked at me skeptically. "What about the monitors? My father will just send in Daemons to take care of us."

"I'm not so sure about that. I have a feeling Victor had all of them engaged in other activities."

"What about your weakness?" He asked, trying to be the voice of reason.

"I'm already starting to feel better. I don't think I could pull off another transport anytime soon, but I was able to read your thoughts not too long ago, which means some of my energy has been replenished.

"Oh you did," he said, shooting me a sexy smile.

"Maybe just a sneak peek," I said, smiling also.

"Okay, so we test the boundary," Mark said, dragging me back to reality. "I've done it one other time and it hurts like Hell. Plus, it takes several minutes to get your nerves to recover the assault. Last time I did it, my father had his goons in here within seconds because of the alarms I set off. If no one comes rushing in, we know you're right about him being busy elsewhere."

"I say we do it together. I’ll try to use my gifts to help protect you. Maybe if I concentrate hard enough, it won’t hurt you that much."

"That sounds good, but what about your pain. I’d rather have it the other way around," he said bitterly.

"No offense, but I’m hoping my gifts are going to protect me too," I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Funny. Just one of these days though I’d like to be the one to save you okay?" he said, kissing me lightly on the tip of the nose.

"Fine by me, I could use the break," I said, giggling at his mock growl. "Okay let's do this."

He reached over and grabbed onto my hand. "I think if we step back and take it at a run, it will help."

I nodded my head. "I'm ready when you are," I said, gathering the emotions together that I planned to use to distract Mark from the pain.

Mark tightened his hold on my hand as we stepped as far back as we possibly could get without standing on the furniture. We looked at each other one last time before we raced toward the invisible boarder. I used all the energy my worn out body could muster, sending it all Mark’s way. The electrical current was more intense than I was expecting and I fought the urge to jerk back. An instant later we were through, tumbling to the ground as the current continued to race through my body. We carefully stood up on the other side of the barrier as the alarm wailed throughout the room. I looked frantically around for a weapon in case Daemons charged through the door, but saw nothing of use.