What the Heart Seeks

Chapter 5-2

Dylan looked past the makeshift cell that housed his father and glowered at the brick wall. An image of splattered blood danced before him. He’d like nothing more than to enter the cell and smash his dad’s head into the bricks. He’d paint the entire cell crimson.

After locking his hands into fists, he trudged across the floor. Scott followed close behind while Garrett positioned himself between the bars and Dylan’s path. They weren’t taking any chances of him ambushing his father. What hypocrites. If Hope had died, they would be first in line to s*******r whoever was responsible.

Dylan stopped a foot from Garrett and regarded him, then his father. The hydrokinetic wouldn’t have time to react before Dylan hurled the first bolt at his dad.

Lucky for him, Scott was diffusing the animosity.

“The prodigal son returns.” Nate’s chin jutted upward when he gripped the bars.

Every movement Dylan made, his father observed. His dad’s rugged face and glassy gaze spoke of the effects he’d endured from the vertigo Isaac gave him. Yet darkness remained in his eyes.

“I’m not your son,” Dylan said. “You lost claim to me years ago. Any chance you had in rectifying that disappeared today.”

His father huffed. “I did you a great service. You won’t have to live with the lies and pain she brought to your life.”

“You know nothing about my pain.”

An icy draft filtered into the room. It did little to temper the hatred heating Dylan’s skin. Sweat beads formed on his neck. He swiped at them, then dropped his hand and reformed a fist. His muscles ached from exertion.

“Son, I know your pain all too well. I lost the woman I loved too.”

“You walked out on Mom and me. You lost nothing. You gave it up.”

“I wasn’t referring to your mother.”

The icy tone of his voice sent chills down Dylan’s spine. It wasn’t hard to figure out who he was talking about. Anna Lewis’s effect on Nate remained after all these years. She was the one person his father couldn’t get over. She was the woman he loved.

Sympathy caused a pang in his heart. His mother loved his father. To know she had wasted her love on this moron was disturbing, but her heartache hadn’t lasted, at least. She had Spencer.

Dylan had no one.

“I don’t know what happened between you and the Lewises to make you hate their daughter. It wasn’t Heaven’s fault Anna refused you.”

“Refused me, you say?”

His father's sardonic laughter made Garrett flinch. The hydrokinetic shifted his weight to his other foot, then strolled away from the cell to the adjacent wall.

It did little to distract Nate from his rampage. “It’s amazing how people distort history for their personal benefit. I won’t waste my time convincing you of this. They've brainwashed you with their madness.”

“The only madness I see is the man before me. I don’t even see a man. I see a coward.”

The smugness fell from his father’s face. He lowered his hands and retreated from the bars. As he examined the cot in his cell, his shoulders began jiggling. Laughter ensued. It was dark, demonic, and just eerie enough to cause Scott and Garrett to huddle together. They left the room and stood in the corridor out of Dylan’s view.

Pussies.

Nate said, “If it makes you feel better to whittle me down with your words, so be it. You're the coward, son. You caved to that girl because you didn’t have the balls to end things before she broke your heart. I tried to warn you she would.”

Electricity careened in Dylan’s soul. He squeezed his fist harder, doing his best not to let his father bait him with his response. He hoped his dad enjoyed taunting him. Before this ended, he wouldn’t find anything humorous about the situation.

Dead men didn’t laugh.

“Gloat if you must, Dad. It’s good you can amuse yourself, considering where you’re headed. I heard The Regency puts people like you in caverns so small you’ll piss in the same spot you sleep.”

“I won’t be spending any time with The Regents, Dylan. Your family is giving you false hope. There is no case against me. I’ve committed no crime.”

Dylan slunk closer. He wrapped his fingers around the bars and leaned his face against them. “You’re right, Dad. You won’t face The Regency. There will be no dark cavern to make you its prisoner. By the time they show up to claim you, you’ll be six feet underground.”

“That’s enough, Dylan.” Garrett barked the words as he reappeared under the archway. “Back away from the cell.”

“And if I don’t?” He issued the challenge over his shoulder.

Garrett didn’t yield. He moved one foot inside the room and glared at Dylan. “You’ve suffered a tragic loss. Don’t force me to use my abilities. You have a daughter who needs you.”

Dylan’s anger amplified. The electricity surging through him had enough voltage to kill an army of men. If Garrett thought for one second he could hurt him, he was mistaken.

“That’s not the way to speak to your ally, is it, Mr. Blake?” his father chided the Water Bender, then cast his scornful gaze back on Dylan. “Why do you associate with these buffoons? They don’t give a f**k about you, not the way I do.”

Hearty laughter rippled from deep in Dylan’s chest. He released the metal bars and strolled backward. “Well, I guess it’s good they don’t. Your form of caring is to take away the one thing that brought me happiness. You care about no one, Dad. You’re selfish.”

“I’m not selfish. I’m enlightened.” He crept back to the bars and reached his hands forward. “Join me, son. Take off your blinders and open your mind to endless possibilities. You don’t need a woman to make you happy. You need power.”

“Says the man who hasn’t gotten over his Seeker.”

A spurt of energy knocked Dylan off balance. He glanced at his abdomen, then back at his father, whose lips crooked to one side. He was bending, but how? Scott hadn’t left his spot near the entrance. The way he squinted at them, jaw set, said he was focusing on his abilities. If he weren’t, the force that plowed into Dylan would have caused more damage.

If his father could bend, it meant he could too, but it came with repercussions. He took a chance on slipping further into his father’s way of life.

A sudden commotion in the hall drew his attention back to the opening. Two shadows barreled toward him. A moment later, Anna and Mason came into view. Her weary gaze and puffy eyes spoke of the many tears she’d cried over losing her daughter. She regarded Dylan, and his father, before acknowledging Scott.

“Hope’s awake. We just told her about Heaven. She needs you.”

Scott straightened his back and peered at Dylan. “You can finish this conversation later, bro. I need to go to Hope.”

“I’m not leaving.”

Scott said, “I promise I’ll bring you back.”

Before Dylan could yell his next response, Anna piped up. “Go to my daughter, Scott. I’ll monitor Dylan.”

Confusion wavered on Scott’s face. He wanted to stick around and help regulate Dylan’s emotions, but Hope needed him.

“You can’t control him, Anna,” Scott argued. “He has to go back upstairs. Delia said—”

Anna waved off his comment. “I can see his aura. I’ll know if he gets out of line. Garrett is here to help, and Zeke is lurking in the basement. We’ll be fine.”

Scott considered his options. The way he kept chewing his lip hinted as much. After an intense moment of indecision, he nodded and sprinted down the hall, out of Dylan’s sight. Then the calmness keeping Dylan’s anger at bay faded.

It was time to put his plan into action.