by Lan Chan
The man carried me in a fireman’s hold down yet another flight of stairs. Even down this far, I could still smell the oil and saltwater in the air.
The stairs were unlit. It took everything inside me to clamp down on the spiralling fear that started to spark the electricity in my body. Though I was no longer immediately dragged into my nightmare memory, the fear never truly receded. It bubbled up in a wave of cold sweat that made my throat close and my skin start to hum. The flight of stairs ended in a heavy wooden door that, when opened, allowed the foul stench of years-old sweat and urine to hit me. On both sides of the wall, anti-psi sensors blinked rapidly.
I could have sworn I made an audible noise of disgust in the back of my throat, but the man who had hold of me clomped on the concrete floor. His steps made so much noise that it drowned out my momentary knee-jerk reactions.
A part of me hoped that I would find Gabe in this room, but aside from a bucket in a corner, there was nothing in here. A single light bulb hung from a cable in the ceiling and there was a puddle of something unbearable on the other side of the room. Wherever we were, they weren’t playing games anymore.
I was set down roughly onto the concrete. The scrape on my shoulder negated any gratefulness I felt that I landed on a dry spot. Adam was dropped down beside me before the two left, locking the door with a heavy clap behind them.
The light stayed on, and I let myself open my eyes just a fraction to do a sweep. There wasn’t much to take in. Cold concrete floor, bucket in the corner (I didn’t let myself dwell too much on what would need to happen for me to use the bucket), and that was about it.
What struck me as interesting was that the hinges on the door were a heavy, black polymer plastic. The kind that I’d heard was used in the Psi-prison in Tasmania to hold their electros. Adam had a pair of identical plastic manacles holding his wrists together. There was not a single piece of metal in the whole place.
I glanced up at the light and it didn’t scorch my irises like a normal bulb would have. There wasn’t a filament either. It was constructed from the same materials as those glow sticks that were so popular in the clubs around the city. Chemi-luminescence from what Lily told me. Light made from the mixture of two chemicals that doesn’t require a current to run through it.
It took a couple of minutes for my body to process the rest of the sedative. When my stomach rumbled, I knew the chemicals had made it out of my bloodstream. Unsure of when Adam might be able to come back to the land of the living, I threw out a probe and tried to get some measure of the surrounding area. Static met me at every corner. Dammit. Inside the cell, my telepathy was free to roam. But the perimeter around it was protected by anti-psi tech.
The only thing that gave me any clue as to where we might be was the distinct trickle of water and the smell of kelp and salt in the air. We were definitely down by the docks somewhere. Either that, or we were down by the peninsula.
Escape contingencies were running through my mind when the door unlatched and Caleb Johnson, Captain of the Docks and Moe’s right-hand man, walked into the room. At that exact moment, Adam began to stir. They hadn’t shackled our legs, which I thought was a bold move. Then again, we were at a distinct disadvantage.
Of all the Kings, Moe was the least stable. There were stories that he’d spent too much time in the illusion parlours as a younger man and he’d finally cracked. As Caleb’s lithe frame glided into the room with a folding chair, I had to wonder whether it was just the illusionism or if Moe’s Captain messed with his mind too.
In the split second the door was open, I snuck a probe through and managed to get a quick scan done of the immediate surrounding area. There were two additional guards posted directly outside the door and another two down the corridor. This seemed to be the only cell in the area, and I had a feeling that the people who came in here tended to disappear off the face of the earth.
My nerves stretched taut as Caleb closed the door behind him and set the folding chair down. It clanged on the concrete and made Adam groan. His ear had been pressed to the floor. His head turned up towards the light as though to get away from the noise.
Caleb made sure to scrape the legs when he dragged the chair closer. He sat down with as much ceremony as a king on his throne. Which I guess at this point he was. Everyone knew he ran most of the Docks anyway. Moe understood power and money but not that exterminating everyone meant that there was no one to lead. That Caleb was the more reasonable of the two of them wasn’t a ringing endorsement.
I found my attention fixed on the way Adam had begun to lick his lips. It hadn’t even clicked that he might be dehydrated from the chemicals in the sedative. My body had just gone through it like it was nothing. No doubt the nanobots were breaking it all down as we lay there.
The heel of a steel-capped boot came down on my ankle. Sharp pain skirted up my shin.
“No use pretending you’re still unconscious,” Caleb said. His voice was thick with boredom. Growing up with Gabe meant that I knew the courts, but on the other hand, they knew me too.
I tried to push myself up. It took a few seconds with my hands secured in front of me. “A little help might be nice,” I said. He didn’t move a muscle. In fact, if I didn’t know he was human, I’d have thought he might be a mannequin. His eyes were slits of arctic ice below white-blond hair that was as barren as I imagined his soul. I cut to the chase. “Where’s Gabe?”
Again he said nothing. Adam stirred again and Caleb moved a fraction. I shuffled to put myself between then. It wasn’t a very elegant move. Like an injured snake attempting to slither away.
This finally brought a smile to Caleb’s lips. “Still playing the hard nut, I see.” His foot made contact with my shin again.
Reaching out for his mind, I found myself up against a brick wall. Almost literally a brick wall. It was impossible not to make a comparison between his mind and Oz’s. Where my Hyper mate could keep almost anyone out, his shield was defensive so that anyone could brush up against it, almost see inside it without needing to exert too much energy. Oz’s mind was a labyrinth of knowledge encased in a field of light.
Caleb’s was the exact opposite. I couldn’t even feel the involuntary commands that kept his physical body alive. My probe bounced off the wall without picking up so much as a single stray thought. The problem was that as soon as I came up against the resistance, the nanobots took it as a threat. The electricity hummed to life and vibrated like a tuning fork at the base of my skull.
Adam’s cold fingers laced around my wrist. I shivered at the touch. His thoughts reached through my mind, and in it, I felt a darkness that almost stole my breath. There wasn’t much in the world that could provoke such a reaction from him, but at the moment, he was cold fury ready to be released.
In my mind, he projected a number of images. Ones that told me not to underestimate Caleb. That his threats were real and that he wouldn’t hesitate to execute us if the moment warranted it.
I repeated my question. “Where’s Gabe?”
Caleb’s shoulders resumed their bored stance. His reaction told me more than I needed to know. If Gabe were dead, I knew that Caleb wouldn’t hesitate to rub it in. “You don’t have him, do you?”
The note of triumph in my voice did what my bravado couldn’t. Faster than even I could anticipate, Caleb straightened from the chair, took a step forward, and slammed his fist into my gut. I had a split second to tense but it didn’t dull the impact even a fraction.
Falling onto my side, I choked and spat for breath. The pain coursed through my sternum and up over the muscles around my chest. It squeezed my lungs shut so that I was gasping.
My eyes began to water as I sucked in as much air as I could. It wasn’t enough. Splotches of red and black sparked across my vision. Then my body coiled in a visceral reaction borne from years of being kicked while I was down.
It was stupid and reckless, but before I could think about what I was doing, my legs bunched up and then sprang forward. My foot conn
ected with his ankle and had I been at full strength, it would have shattered his bones.
He gave a sharp cry and also fell to his knees. Before I could kick out again and connect with his chin, Adam stuck his foot in between my legs and cushioned the blow. We ended up tangled in a brace of limbs that foiled my momentum.
Adam’s exasperation filled my mind. Are you trying to get yourself killed? he roared.
If he hits me, I hit back. It’s only fair. It was my mother’s first rule and one of the very few that I agreed with. I’d had plenty of years being a punching bag for people bigger and older. I could take as much as he was able to give and more.
Just stay still and try not to piss him off, Adam thought. If he decides to shoot you, there’s not much point in being a brave little shit.
Caleb inched back up from the floor. He turned his ankle from side to side to determine whether it was broken. He licked his lips and I had a sickening feeling that he was enjoying this. That it had been a very long time since he’s been able to tangle with espers of his grade, let alone ones that weren’t frightened of him.
“Very good,” Caleb said. “I see now why Blake and Wong are so desperate to recruit you. If only you could keep your mouth shut long enough not to die before you come of age.”
To prove his point, my mouth opened, but Adam cut me off. “You’re holding two Hyper agents against their will. We’ve already alerted the Academy. Why don’t you cut the act and tell us what you want so we can all go home?”
Caleb turned to Adam as though he’d only just noticed him. Adam’s dark skin seemed sallow in the light of the glow chemicals. Or maybe it was that he was so low on energy after being drugged. It didn’t dampen any of the sharp quality in his gaze.
“The Illusionist,” Caleb scoffed.
“The Reader turned standover man,” Adam countered. His tone dripped condescension. I glared at him. Talk about double standards! Instead of getting a fist in the gut, Caleb only smirked. He marched back over to the chair and sat down, lifting his right ankle over his knee the way men preferred crossing their legs, so as not to squash their junk.
“I have two questions for you,” Caleb said. “The sooner you answer them, the sooner we can come to an understanding about whether or not you walk out of here.”
“No need for an understanding,” Adam said. “One way or another, we’re not staying.”
Caleb’s eyes widened as though he was only seeing Adam for the first time. If I wasn’t mistaken, Adam had just challenged him and put our lives on the line as a result.
“How did you know what happened at the Ballarat warehouse?” Caleb asked. “Where is the Second Sight coming from?”
Awesome. We’d inadvertently stumbled into the crossfire between the Kings. Adam and I didn’t physically glance at each other but I felt his intention as though being pulled by gravity. I worked hard to keep my face from twitching.
“What did you do at the Ballarat warehouse?” I asked in turn. “Where’s Gabe? Does Moe really think he’s going to get away with attacking Gabe when Blake hears about this?”
His gaze remained locked on Adam, but for the first time, his face split into a grin that reached all the way into his eyes. “You have no idea, do you? Your godfather’s been going behind Blake’s back trying to search for the whereabouts of the insurgence of Second Sight. Do you know how that makes Blake look? So you’re on your own.”
“You’re so full of shit,” I spat.
“I almost wish I could march you into the Rendezvous and see what happens. It almost makes me hope you won’t tell me anything. What a great day it’ll be when someone finally puts Willow Nguyen in her place.”
“If you had the balls you’d do it yourself instead of hiding behind Moe. Maybe then people wouldn’t still remember you as that loser who got his ass handed to him by Novak when he ran his mouth. Is that why you’re so balls deep in this? Revenge on Novak? The only way you could beat her is with a cheap shot. Maybe Moe’s rubbing off on—”
I saw the punch coming this time. His knuckles collided with my chin at the same time I willed the electricity to strengthen my defence. My head snapped back but didn’t slam into the concrete floor like it should have with such a blow. Still, I skidded across the room and the breath was blown out of me once more as my elbows smashed into the wall.
“Big man hitting girls half your size,” Adam taunted. Obviously, he’d given up completely on his charade of keeping his temper in check.
Rather than strike out again, Caleb reached into his pocket and produced a bottle of pills. He uncapped the bottle and poured a half dozen into his palm. Then he strode over, caught the hair at the back of Adam’s neck, and tried to force the pills down Adam’s throat. Adam snapped his lips shut. He pivoted to give himself an ounce of momentum and smashed his elbow into Caleb’s gut. The force of his blow caused the other man to drop the pills as he winced.
With his nostrils flared, Caleb grabbed Adam by the throat. He shoved Adam up against the wall and held him in a chokehold. Using the wall for leverage, I pushed myself up into a kneeling position, watching silently for Adam’s signal that would allow me to weigh in.
Instead, while Adam geared up to strike out at Caleb with his legs, the other man pulled a Glock from where it was concealed inside his jacket and pointed it at me. Adam’s movement halted in an instant but his surrender only seemed to fuel Caleb’s excitement. He didn’t aim, but simply pointed and pulled the trigger.
21
The shot flew wide and embedded into the wall above my head. I squatted and rolled so that I was out of the line of fire, but Caleb simply moved his arm so that he was pointing in my general direction. Without thinking, my mind flew out and attempted to take hold of him. My telepathy simply slid off his wall.
Moving as quickly as I could around the small room, I attempted to disrupt his aim. He fired off two more rounds before his arm began to lower. It wavered, and I could have halted, but instead, I continued to move so that I was standing against the wall where the bucket was located.
My breath came in halting gasps as my heart thudded against my ribcage. Adam and Caleb became locked in an alpha tug-of-war that for a second sparked some hope in my chest.
Adam might not be a Reader but his telepathy wasn’t any weaker than Oz’s. If he could keep Caleb distracted long enough, I might be able to take him out.
The problem was that Adam had just been drugged. He put up a valiant fight but he only had a short burst of energy in him. Before he could force Caleb’s attention away, the other man jammed his knee into Adam’s groin. If his throat wasn’t being constricted, Adam would have doubled over.
Free of resistance, Caleb pointed, aimed, and shot. Had I not jumped to the left, the bullet would have hit me right in the heart. My feet landed in brown water as a tearing pain shattered through my side. The crunch of bone made me scream. I clutched at my side to stop the rivulets of blood that was already spilling over my hands.
“Stop!” Adam screamed. “Alright, I’ll take the damn pills.”
“Are you sure?” I didn’t look up, but the shadow play made me certain that Caleb was pointing the gun at me again. “I could do us all a favour and put this mouthy bitch out of her misery.”
When Adam didn’t respond, Caleb released his grip and Adam sank to the floor where he began to pick up the fallen pills. The area around my gunshot wound began to grow warm. I gasped just as our eyes met. In Adam’s fevered gaze, I saw the stirrings of that dark thing that frightened me more than the gun that was still pointed at my head. The Adam I saw was the one in my first nightmare.
“Feed them to her,” Caleb said.
Lines drew around Adam’s lips. “She’s already injured.”
“Does it look like I care? You’ve got two seconds.”
Adam dutifully strode over and cupped the pills close to my mouth. The instant he touched me, I felt the roar of his rage. It filtered into every pore in my body, making me shiver. Right then I understood how
he might have gotten the black notice. With that kind of rage, anything was possible. My lips snapped closed over a trio of pills.
“Now take the rest yourself,” Caleb ordered after he made certain that I’d swallowed. Common knowledge said that two Second Sight pills at a time were more than enough for a dose. I knew what it was that Caleb was trying to do. In Whispers, the pills gave them the power to breach their latency and telepathically project onto other espers. In espers, it took away their power and made them vulnerable. Caleb wanted to read us, and the only way he was going to do so was to weaken us. If only I was an esper.
In his vulnerable state, Adam couldn’t help making a choking sound that caught Caleb’s attention. Lashing out, Caleb punched Adam hard enough in the gut that he inhaled and swallowed the pills.
“Both of you up against the wall.” I could barely hear him above the voices that had begun to whisper in my ear. My head snapped in all directions, ignoring Caleb’s command.
He interpreted my inactivity as a sign of weakness. Grabbing the back of my shirt, he shoved me hard at Adam. My ears popped as the concoction in the pills slid down my throat.
Adam’s fingers were ice where he took my hand. He’d always been warm before. There was something comforting in it when he tried to teach me to play the piano at night. Glancing down at his elegant hands, I saw they were shaking.
When I looked into his eyes, the pupils were like saucers. The drug hadn’t taken long to have an effect and Caleb knew it. He marched over and tossed me aside. I stumbled and thought my head would be dizzy from loss of blood, but when I found my feet, I felt the pounding of my pulse in my ears and the build-up of electricity in my head.
Adam started to spasm. His eyes rolled back in his head. Caleb grabbed him around the throat again. “Tell me,” Caleb said. “What were you doing in Ballarat?”
