by Lucy Rains
I stepped forward and he looked away from me. The reaction, though small, triggered my internal alarm. “No Roman!” I shouted.
His head turned back and his mouth had pulled down in a tight frown. He stared at me, almost defiantly.
I searched for words, at a loss of how to encourage or help him. Something was wrong inside of him, and I hadn’t been prepared for it.
“Do you want me to bring him back over?” Gavin asked from behind me.
I shook my head, my eyes still holding Roman’s.
I saw the lines in his jaw clench. It was my only warning. His hands opened as he pushed himself off of the train deck and became airborne. Both of my hands shot out and I released my energy, wrapping it around Roman’s body. My hands moved in the circular motion to keep the energy around him as I pulled him back to the deck and over the bar to me.
Roman fought against the energy, his body twisting and straining. When I set him down and dropped my hands he glared at me with daggers in his eyes. He took a step back, but didn’t look away. “You said I could leave! You said I had a choice!”
My face fell, remembering my words. But my head shook slowly, “Not like this.”
He looked like he wanted to spit in my face. And with the darkness I felt within him I would not have been surprised. “You can’t help me,” he pushed through gritted teeth. The train jerked and we both stepped to maintain our balance.
I tilted my head, “I’ve heard those words before,” I said calmly, repeating one of his first phrases. “You need to give me a chance.” I said louder.
His face tightened as he looked at me, not liking my suggestion.
“You won’t let me help you!” My hand went to my chest to show him what I meant, knowing that if he would let me connect with him it would provide him a source of peace and calm that he had never experienced. “If you would just let me…” I trailed off, knowing I didn’t need to finish my sentance. “Why won’t you let me?”
Roman blinked a few times, his chest rising as he thought about my question. His lips were sealed, his mouth not opening. The seconds felt like an eternity as I was waiting in anticipation for his answer. For his reasons. For any explanation.
When he finally spoke, his words were soft, and my ears had to strain with their full ability to hear him over the winds that rushed around us. “You,” he swallowed, hesitating. “You are so strong.”
My forehead creased in confusion.
“Stronger than the men that hurt me.”
My shoulders dropped and my eyes searched over his face, his shoulders, his chest, trying to understand his words. He was afraid I would hurt him?
I looked back into his eyes, holding them, demanding he look at me. “And you will be too,” I promised.
Romans head dropped and his eyes closed. The darkness had lessened in the last several seconds and my mind felt lighter. He was taking my words in, thinking about them.
“I’ve never had anything to live for,” he admitted. “I’ve never had a choice.”
A gust of cold wind hit my face and I took a step back. Resignation filled my chest and I wanted to go back to sleep.
“I could make him,” Gavin said from behind me. “Help him connect with you.”
I shook my head.
“It helped you,” he reminded me.
Roman glanced behind me to Gavin. I shook my head again, looking at Roman and unable to keep the sadness out of my voice. “I want him to want to.”
Gavin scoffed, “He doesn’t know what he wants.”
Roman didn’t defend himself, didn’t argue.
I turned away from him and stepped between Pierce and Gavin. Pausing before I turned the door handle. “Bring him back inside,” I said to Gavin. “Stay with him.”
Gavin’s hand reached out and squeezed my hip. He didn’t like my reaction but he would do what I asked, answering me in his own way.
I didn’t look behind me as I walked inside, passed Alex and Kyson, and headed back to my empty row to try and sleep again.
Chapter 39
Alex typed furiously on his laptop, his back hunched over as he stared intensely at the screen. Pierce stood to the side, holding his cell phone to his ear but not speaking.
Things were not going well.
Pierce walked back over and put his cell phone in his pocket.
“Still nothing?” Kyson asked.
Pierce shook his head.
Matteo had not answered his phone since the day on the mountain after the Heli crash. He had directed us to Anna and then vanished. The thoughts made my stomach churn with anxiety, fear, and anger.
He had lied to us.
Alex cursed a colorful string of words and the frustration pouring off of him was stifling.
“You gotta be shitting me,” Gavin mumbled, turning his back to run a hand through his hair.
“What is it?” I asked.
When Alex stopped moving, stopped speaking, and became stone still, I knew it was bad. I had never seen him that pale before. There was even a hint of moisture in his eyes.
“It’s gone,” he croaked. “All of it.”
“How” Kyson hissed.
Pierce’s back went straight and I saw the muscles in his neck strain. “At this moment, it doesn’t matter how. It’s why, and who.”
“Nara,” I whispered.
“And Matteo.” Pierce followed.
“They’re trying to isolate us,” Ksyon said. “Weaken us. Make it so that our only option is to use our only resources we have to get out of this country.”
“The tickets Matteo gave us,” Pierce said.
“They must know I am with you,” Merrick spoke up.
We all turned to look at him. Roman sat next to him on a hard plastic chair in the waiting area. His head was down in his hands and I could not see his expression. But I felt his anxiety matched ours.
“They knew you would run if I was with you, because now you know the danger you are in.” Merrick looked at Pierce, waiting for his next words.
“What are we going to do?” Roman asked, lifting his head up.
“How much…” I looked to Alex and Pierce, “do we have left?”
Pierce’s eyes turned cold and Alex looked at his shoes.
“Not enough for seven plane tickets,” Kyson said.
An idea came to mind and I perked up. “I have a few Visa cash cards, would those help?”
“What do you mean?” Gavin asked.
I opened my black backpack and pulled out my wallet. In the deep creases where they had been stashed I pulled out three cards that I had put $1500 of cash on. “These won’t be enough for plane tickets, but perhaps some train tickets?”
Pierce pulled them gently from my fingers, his eyes a touch softer now. Thank you.
I nodded.
“It’s a start,” Pierce said. “It can at least get us out of this city. Right now they know our tracks. This will allow us to start a new path. Let’s head down to the main floor and book our tickets.”
Everyone gathered their bags and jackets and began shuffling towards the escalators passed security checkpoint.
“What about our passports?” I whispered. “Matteo knows all our identities. He can track us that way.”
“We will have to push Gavin’s ability to a new level,” Pierce said quietly.
An uncomfortable disruption pushed into my mind and my eyes flew to Roman. He shifted his feet, his eyes darting around the station. I caught his eye and raised an eyebrow.
“I need to use the bathroom,” he admitted.
Pierce looked to Gavin and Gavin nodded.
Roman glanced nervously at Gavin, starting to shake his head.
“I will go too,” Merrick said quickly.
The three of them disappeared in the clusters of people that moved around the station. My eyes stayed locked on the back of Roman’s head until he became blocked by other bodies.
Since I had a few minutes, I checked over my body to see what I needed at that
moment. It was rare to have a moment to breathe. Eating did not sound pleasurable but I knew it could possibly be our last chance to be close to food for a while.
As I peered at the other side of the airport at the small cafe, trying to see what was written on the grungy chalkboard that hung on the wall, Alex’s head filled my vision. “I’m getting you food,” was all he said before he turned and walked in the direction I was looking.
“I will go get new tickets,” Pierce said. “Kyson.”
“Yup,” Kyson chirped, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. He steered me towards a bench and sat down next to me.
I didn’t understand, but a small tingle in my mind distracted me from asking what he was doing.
“Jade,” Kyson started. “There’s something you should know.”
The tingle forgotten, I looked up at Kyson, my body instantly becoming tense.
He smiled, “Relax, it's just something I noticed.”
My eyebrows pinched together. “Why are you waiting now to tell me? When no one else is around?”
“I have communicated it to Pierce, and I had not had a private moment with you yet.”
“What is it?” I asked, patting his thigh impatiently.
His head turned away from me and he looked in the direction of where Roman and the others had gone. “Roman was on intense medication, it's obvious when I look at him that he is suffering the effects of coming off of them.”
“The nausea?”
“Yes,” Kyson nodded, “his moods will be affected as well.”
I scoffed, “It’s not like he was pleasant to me when we first met and then he went downhill,” I pointed out. “He’s always wanted to keep his distance from me.”
“The medications he was forced to take were pretty intense. The toxicity level in his brain damaged neurons, and they are trying to repair themselves.”
“What kind of drugs are we talking about?” I asked. “Memory suppressors? Tranquilizers?”
Kyson looked up at a group of people walking by and sighed. “They were new drugs that I was not familiar with. But the chemical composition suggested opioids, and dissociatives.”
“You mean painkillers? And…”
“The dissociatives would have messed with his perception of reality. They can screw with his memory, make him hallucinate. They opioids would have made him slow, sedated, sleepy.”
I tried to understand what Kyson was trying to explain to me, but it wasn’t computing. “What are you trying to tell me? He’s messed up because of these medications?”
“I don’t know how long he was on these medications, but with the high levels of toxins in his blood,” he paused “they would make him paranoid, and fearful. He might be seeing life differently than the rest of us. Paired with the experiments he probably endured, would make an incredible impact on his overall psyche. I don’t think we’re seeing the true ‘Roman’ yet.”
Another question was forming in my mind when the tingle returned in my head. I blinked, looking away from Kyson to study the sensation. It pressed again, forming into a familiar presence I had not felt for many days.
“Jade, what is it?”
I stood up quickly, looking at our surroundings. The presence was nervous, and almost frenzied. I had tasted this mind before. My brain was trying to connect the emotions with my memory.
Pierce.
What’s wrong?
Do you feel any nearby danger? I continued scanning the area. Kyson had stood up and remained quiet, looking closely at the people around us.
No. Nothing is coming to me. What do you feel?
Someone is here.
When my eyes connected with the person I had been searching for, Pierce’s voice faded in my head.
“No,” I growled in irritation.
Who is it? Pierce asked in alarm.
Tobias’s face lit up in a wide grin when he saw me. Lettie followed close behind, looking both ways at the people around her. She was uneasy and I didn’t have to feel her emotions to know that. Tobias walked quickly, not with his usually strut, but still grinning. But the grin was tight, and disappeared quickly. My head was shaking before he was in front of me.
It’s Tobias. Are you almost done with the tickets? I asked.
There are three people in front of me.
I groaned in irritation.
Tobias opened his mouth and I held up my palm before he could say anything. “Don’t,” I hissed.
What is he doing here?! Pierce roared in my head. Is he alone?
Lettie is with him.
We’re going to need to clear out of here.
“What do you want?” Kyson asked positioning himself in front of me.
Tobias brought up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “I know you don’t want to see me, I’m just here to warn you.”
“You came all the way into the middle of Russia to warn me?” I repeated in disbelief. “Bull shit.”
“It’s true,” Lettie said from behind Tobias. She stepped around him, nervously folding her arms.
I need Alex. I said to Pierce. Now.
“We’ve been coming here the last two days, waiting for you,” she said.
I held up my hand again to stop them from saying anything else. “Wait,” I said.
I held their eyes as I felt Alex approaching, his emotions hot with violence. “Who do I need to kill?” he asked, holding a bag of hot food.
“Now you may speak,” I said, dropping my hand.
Lettie and Tobias looked at each other. “My dad’s in the hospital,” Tobias said.
I looked to Alex and his eyes closed for a second, his head jerking once. “Car crash,” Alex whispered. “He’s in a coma?”
Tobias nodded.
“We don’t think it was an accident,” Lettie added.
Alex pinned her with his eyes, studying her. “You know it wasn’t an accident.”
Tobias and Lettie looked at each other again. “Like I said,” Tobias looked over his shoulder for a quick second. “We’re here to warn you.”
“Where is Nara?” I asked, now that we knew Matteo was not the threat, we could focus on one person.
“She never came to Paris,” said Lettie.
“We think she’s going to try to meet you in Moscow,” Tobias added.
“Did you know our money was stolen?” Kyson asked.
Both of them shook their heads. “I don’t know anything about that,” Tobias answered.
I have the tickets. Stay with Kyson and Alex, I’m going to get Gavin and Roman.
My chest tightened as my heart skipped several beats. Still no warnings of danger?
Nothing.
I let out a short breath and looked at Alex. “Pierce doesn’t have any warnings yet. Hopefully we can get out of here in time.”
“We want to come with you,” Tobias said.
“Oh hell no!” Alex barked.
“Clive…” Lettie whispered, her eyes going wide. She closed her mouth and swallowed. “We don’t know where he is either.”
My stomach dropped and dread filled all of our minds. I looked at Alex and he begrudgingly nodded, confirming their truthfulness.
“The things you guys have done,” Tobias marveled, “you can handle anything. You have all the necessary defenses built into your bodies. Please let us go with you.”
“We don’t have enough money for you,” Kyson pointed out. “All of our money is gone.”
“I brought cash,” Tobias said quickly. We eyed him in speculation and his mouth opened, “For emergencies.”
I looked to Kyson, wanting him to direct the next move. “Give me your cash,” he said. “I’ll go buy the tickets.”
“Do you know where we’re going?” I asked.
Kyson nodded. “Wait here.”
I watched as Kyson disappeared in the same direction Pierce had only 15 minutes earlier. It was amazing how quickly everything could change in only minutes.
Alex was shuffling around in the bag of food he had. “Cinnamon
muffin or corn dog?”
My mouth opened to say neither when a bolt of pained emotions sliced through my head. I gasped, my eyes going wide and my hand going to my temple. Alarm, shock, and then fear.
Jade!
“No,” I whispered.
Jade, you need to hide! Go somewhere and hide now! There’s two-”
His presence in my mind disappeared and I gasped again. Warm hands went around my upper arms and I realized I was panting. My eyes flew open to see Alex right in front of me.
“What is it?” he asked desperately.
“Pierce,” I choked. “Something happened. He told me to hide.”
Alex’s eyes widened, he looked up in the direction that Kyson had went to buy tickets, cursing under his breath.
Another shock of emotions hit me and I almost fell to my knees. I could feel the terror, anger going through each of the guys minds as each were found.
“Alex,” I whispered weakly, my hands coming up to cling to his wrists for stability. The emotional weight was bearing down on me.
“Let’s go!” Lettie shouted.
She turned and began striding through a large sitting area and down a hallway. Tobias followed after her while Alex grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. We sidestepped people standing around and talking, my heart beat harder every second and my knees became shaky. I willed myself not to panic, knowing I needed to do as Pierce said.
We followed Lettie down the hall around a corner and watched her try to open various doors. All were locked.
“What about down here?” Tobias asked, pointing at a stairwell.
Lettie nodded, following Tobias down the stairs.
My hand fumbled on the wall for a switch but Alex pulled me along too quickly. Another burst of emotions flew into my mind and I was able to grip the stair rail in time before I was knocked off balance by the surprise.
Our feet hit the cement at the bottom level and the air chilled my skin. It was dark, the air damp. Fluorescent lights flickered every several feet down the hallway. Signs in unintelligible languages dotted the walls and hung next to doors. Hoses were rolled up on the ground, buckets stacked in corners. Full, black plastic bags were tied up and piled at the end of the hallway.
