“No, I’m keeping them back right now. But I want answers.”
She looked over at Drake, then back to him.
“Answers, okay.” She sighed.
Drake cut in. “You want answers? She was a telepathic kid. A rogue eugenics group killed her mother to get her. The trauma shut down her telepathy. I rescued her, brought her up, made sure she was safe. She tried to do the same for you.” Drake took a breath. “There, answers. We’re going now.”
“I’m the one who has you pinned to the wall, old man.” Alec’s eyes shifted from him to Beth and back. Those were a whole damned mouthful of answers and he still didn’t have the ones he wanted.
“You only think you’re in charge.” Drake raised his other hand, showing a small revolver clutched in his palm. “If I’d wanted to shoot you, I would have. I palmed it the moment the Honda’s lights flashed in the living room.”
Alec winced. He hadn’t been trying to be stealthy then.
“You didn’t tell me,” Beth said to Drake.
Drake shrugged. “I thought Alec might be a danger to you.” He put the revolver in his pocket. “Since he’s willing to stupidly rush an armed gunman for your sake, I’ve changed my mind. Now that we’re all friends and he knows what is what, let’s get out of here.”
“There’s no way out, that’s why I need to talk to Beth before they get here.” Alec said. “Look, Beth, c’mere.”
She hesitated. “I—”
No time, dammit. He strode to her, pulled her close and kissed her, hard. She stiffened for a second and then wrapped her arms around him. Inside his head, something clicked, like a key fitting a lock.
He thought she’d screamed out loud in that split second where he’d taken her virginity. He’d been half right. She’d screamed inside her head and he’d heard it. If he could feel that, maybe he could feel whether she was telling the truth or not.
“I need to know if you’re lying to me.”
“Not-lying-telepathy-was-latent-only-worried-it-would-affect-you-then.”
“Slow down!”
“I worried I messed with your gifts but they seemed to be coming back, so I stopped worrying but-something-happened-when-we-made-love-and-I-heard-you-in-my-head-their-voices-too-so-loud-so-loud—”
“Okay, that’s enough. Easy.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Drake said.
The paper towels on the counter burst into flame. Damn, it had happened again—he’d started a fire without intending to. He broke the kiss, kept his arms around her and extinguished the fire with a thought.
“You lied but not about the important stuff.” He’d not only heard her, he’d felt what she felt. She cared about him. These few days had been real, not phony. “You’re not controlling me.”
“No.” She nodded, her face flushed.
His every nerve ending buzzed from their kiss. “Then listen, fast. You too, Drake. Beth, you shut me off once. But you’re also jacking up my power, and that means I can stand against anything, even Lansing. I can protect you.”
Her eyes widened. She nodded for him to go on.
“And I think I’m doing the same thing to your telepathy. It was latent, now it’s not. We’ll need that edge while we’re with the Resource to plan our next move. We can’t fight them now, we’re surrounded and I don’t want you hurt in the crossfire. But we’ll get our chance. Trust me.”
“She’s not going to the Resource. Ever.” Drake scooped up his gun from the floor. “Follow me now before they get closer. There’s an escape tunnel in the basement.”
“But—” That’s not the plan. He’d promised Daz to surrender with her.
Screw that. She was better out of here. But he had to stay. Daz had reminded him about Demeter. He had the power to fight now. And he owed Daz an explanation.
“Go with him, Beth. Find me when you get a chance. You’ll be able to make contact, they won’t be able to hold me now that I don’t want to be held.”
“Fine.” Drake took Beth’s hand. “Now, before we’re trapped.”
“No, Alec’s coming with us.” She grabbed his hand and held it tight.
“Alec-they-will-use-tranqs-you-won’t-be-able-to-fight-back.”
She really needed to think slower. That almost hurt. “No worries.”
She grabbed his shirt, pulled him down to her and kissed him. The curtains over the sink burst into flame. He waved a hand and shut that down. He broke the kiss and rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand.
“I trust you,” she said. “Be careful.”
He nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a slim red beam of light. Drake smashed into both of them, sending them all crashing to the floor.
He heard the tinkling of broken glass. A tranq dart sank into the wall above them. Dammit, Daz, you promised you’d give me thirty minutes!
Something bigger smashed through the window, hit the counter and rolled to the floor. The hissing sound of escaping gas from the round container seemed unbelievably loud.
Tear gas.
Chapter Fifteen
Screw staying, Alec thought. Daz hadn’t trusted him. He was going with Beth.
“Go, get to the basement,” Drake said.
“What about you?” Beth said, coughing.
“I’m getting some firepower.” He pushed her. “Go!”
Alec took her hand and they ran into the hallway. The house was so small that it was only about ten strides to the living room and then the basement door was on the left. Easy. No need to panic.
The living room windows shattered. Glass flew the hallway. Shit. More canisters of tear gas landed on the living room rug. He couldn’t see through this, much less walk through it.
Beth coughed. “Hold your—”
“—breath. Hold your breath.”
They both started coughing. His eyes burned and started streaming tears. He’d underestimated these guys. He’d never had enough control to grab at gas molecules.
“You never had control before, Alec. You said it, you’re more powerful now, because of me. Try it.”
“Okay. You think about my controlling it too. Wish for it.”
“Will that help?”
“Can’t hurt.”
“Hurry.”
She fell to her knees, holding her hand over her mouth. Her eyes were closed tight.
He sent the TK out, trying to grab the gas floating around them. Hell. It was like trying to grab fog with his hands. For a few seconds, everything seemed the same. He couldn’t take a clear breath, the gas stung his eyes, his nose and his lungs.
“Stop trying to grab it. Push it.”
“You have good ideas, counselor.”
“Ideas are all I’m good for right now.”
She was lost in the middle of a coughing fit, curled into herself in a futile attempt to hide from the gas. He started pushing the gas, using the TK like a big shovel. His eyesight started to dim. His head grew heavier.
Beth scrambled to her feet and squeezed his hand. “It’s working,” she said, her voice hoarse.
He opened his eyes. He’d pushed the gas cloud up to the ceiling. He took a long clean breath, welcoming fresh air into his lungs.
“So my gift is good for something.”
Her telepathic voice sounded just like her dry speaking voice.
“Let’s go bigger, counselor.” He clenched his teeth and shoved at the gas in the living room. He intended to throw it back through the broken windows and in the face of their attackers.
Drake brushed past them, holding a big-ass machine gun with a curved ammunition clip. A Kalashnikov, probably. How’d he get that?
“I think he was hiding it in the kitchen pantry.”
“I’d hate to see what he keeps in his closet.”
“I’ll cover you,” Drake said. “Quick. They’re probably ready to come through the door.”
As in on cue, the front door splintered inward. Alec instinctively threw his hands over his face to avoid the flying shards of wood. Beside h
im, Beth muffled a scream. Soldiers wearing gas masks rushed through the opening. He stepped in front of Beth and slapped at the lead attacker with TK.
The soldier flew backward and knocked over the guy behind him, sending both of them to the floor and temporarily blocking the front door.
Good. He coughed and blinked. Fuck. He’d let go of the gas. It descended around them again. Easy. Calm. He could fight and hold the gas if he could hold focus.
“It’s just a few more feet, Alec.”
Through the smoke, he saw the outline of the basement doorway. He could get the gas to provide cover while Beth and her father escaped. He pushed with the TK and the gas cloud sparked. A fireball roared into existence, knocking him and Beth to the floor. He heard a muffled oath from Drake. Shit, he’d pushed too hard. He’d caused a fireball.
“Alec?”
Beth’s thought was full of pain. He fumbled around on the floor to find her, trying not to panic, to remember to focus on keeping back the fireball. He found her slumped against the wall and pulled her against his chest.
Her head lolled forward. But she breathed.
“Stupid, stupid, my head hit the damn wall. Hurt, hurts. Dammit, we were almost there.”
“We’ll make it.”
He stood, clutching her tight, throwing all he had at the fireball to keep it at bay. He shuffled toward the basement door and freedom. The fireball split in two and flew out the windows. One problem down. But the curtains and furniture had caught fire and so had the ceiling. The fire was too scattered, he couldn’t hold it all back. His lungs began to burn.
He heard the familiar sound of machine gun fire. The smoke cleared for a second and he saw Drake standing at the top of the basement steps, laying down covering fire.
“C’mon,” Drake yelled.
He and Beth rushed forward. Sharp pain stabbed his leg. He fell to his knees in front of the door, right at Drake’s feet. He lost hold of Beth. He looked down and saw a dart sticking out of his thigh.
Not again. Not fucking again. He knocked the dart out with his TK. It had taken two tranqs at the docks to get him. They wouldn’t get two this time.
“Ugh.” Drake fell sideways against the doorframe. Blood gushed over the front of his shirt. He went down to his knees and stopped firing.
“Philip!”
Beth grabbed her father before he could tumble down the steps. She put her hands over the wound. They were quickly covered in blood. Incredibly, Drake opened his eyes and pushed her aside.
“Get out,” he wheezed. He started firing again.
Alec looked up and saw a soldier carefully leveling his handgun at Drake. The gun fired. No!
Alec swatted the bullet away. He heard it ping against the metal chair near the computer at the same second another tranq hit his neck.
Drake pushed himself upright and started to move backward down the steps. He grabbed Beth’s hand to get her to follow.
She hesitated.
“Leave me. I’ll be okay.”
“I can’t leave you with them.”
“You have to help your father. I’ll find you when I wake up. Trust me.”
Alec slumped to the floor. He focused one last time. Drake wasn’t in sight anymore. Beth was at the top of the steps.
“It was fun while it lasted, counselor.”
Beth blinked. She could think again, after God knew how long.
Her next to last memory was of Philip falling down the basement stairs, blood all over him. Her last memory was one of those damned Resource soldiers, reaching for her.
She curled her knees to her chin, wrapping the thin white sheet around her for more warmth than her flimsy nightgown provided. At least they’d treated her concussion, or so she assumed, since she had no headache or pain. She pulled the sheet tighter. The top of her right hand ached from the IV needle in it. She curled the hand in a fist. Her fingertips were ice cold. They’d kept the room temperature low, a subtle form of torture. Her reflection glared at her from all sides, flickering on the stainless steel walls of her prison. She looked broken and useless. She had owned a little porcelain doll as a child. It had shattered when she’d dropped it from her bed accidentally one night.
She felt somewhat like that now.
It was funny, in an odd way.
She’d been captured and taken prisoner again, presumably so her telepathy could be studied, just like when she was eight. The repetition of her worst nightmare should have left her a quivering mess. She should be miserable and tired. She should be terrified.
And she was, more than a little.
But she was also pissed off.
She’d been so close to getting away. But now that she could think again, she might be able to reach Alec. She closed her eyes, calling his name mentally.
Nothing.
Damn. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn’t avoid how weak she looked, how much like a helpless captive she seemed. What had Philip told her in case of capture? If you’re ever taken, tell them what they want to know, if it’s possible. Being cooperative will keep you alive long enough for me to get there. The truth is your best defense. The best lies start out with the truth.
Of course, this assumed that Lansing wanted information from her. If he wanted to interrogate her, he’d taken his time about it.
The door opened. She froze. Two men dressed in green surgical scrubs walked in. She recognized them as the ones who’d had changed her IV bag earlier. Well, they were dressed the same, anyway. God knew what drugs they were pouring into her body. Something to keep her compliant, weak and confused.
The door opened again and Lansing walked in.
She swallowed down panic and watched him walk to her as if it was her first time seeing him. He was dressed as usual, in dark slacks, a white shirt, bowtie and a dark checkered sports coat. What was gone was the desire to appear friendly or normal. He scowled, making no attempt to hide his anger. When he’d pulled a gun on her, she’d gotten him to back down for a second. She thought he’d been testing her. Now she knew her telepathy had flared.
But he didn’t know that. At least, she hoped he didn’t.
He sat on the end of the bed, his thin fingers tapping on the metal frame, staring at her. She kept her head down. Lansing didn’t think much of women. That’s why there were no women in F-Team. Let him underestimate her, then. Besides, her knees would be knocking together if she hadn’t been holding on tight to them.
“Akemi Fujii. You were supposed to be with me years ago. Things would be much, much better for you if Drake had not interfered and faked your death.”
She snapped her head up to look him in the eye. He’d said Philip’s name with such hatred. “I owe Philip Drake everything. And I am certainly glad not to have been raised by you.” If he knew her birth name, then he knew everything. One less thing to worry about hiding.
“So your life was better spent by hiding your gifts, wasting your efforts on worthless people?”
She blinked. “What are you talking about?”
“You think you and Alec are the only ones who’ve ever had a gift? There are others. And most of them are like you—they don’t have a clue what to do with their abilities.” He switched to the chair at the side of the bed and put his hands behind his neck, relaxed. “You criticize how I brought up Alec. And yet you squander time on children who will accomplish nothing their whole lives. What a waste.”
“I like helping children. They’re not worthless.” She hadn’t hated anyone since her kidnappers. Now, she added Lansing to that list.
“Helping children? You mean the way you helped Alec, using sex to hold him? Is that the method you use with the teenage boys under your care?”
“Of course not!”
“But you violated your professional ethics with Alec. Why should it be the first time?”
She gritted her teeth. “What’s between Alec and me is between Alec and me.”
“Alec is still defending you. But I can read between the lines. Yo
u’re scared of yourself. You’re scared of your telepathy. That’s why you can’t use it.”
Alec had kept her real secret. Thank you.
“You’re a coward who is hiding from herself,” Lansing said.
Ouch. Direct hit. She was terrified of her telepathy. At least, she had been. She winced and turned her face away from Lansing.
“If I’d raised you, you wouldn’t be scared. Your telepathy wouldn’t be gone, it would be powerful and under perfect control.”
“If you’d had me, I wouldn’t have a life at all.” She turned to face him again.
“Alec’s everything that you’re not. No wonder that you needed to get close to him.” Lansing stretched out his long legs. “You could have used your power to help him. Instead, Drake took you away to drab obscurity. Normal. Bah.”
He wasn’t asking her questions, he wasn’t trying to get information. He must have come here to taunt her. Great. Was he going to do the maniacal mastermind laugh too?
“No, if I were with you, I’d be a slave.” Philip had shown her that love was still possible. Her foster home, her teachers, her friends, they had all restored her faith in people. “Your control over Alec won’t hold up any longer. He’s seen reality now. He knows what you’ve done. He’s finished with you.”
Lansing sat up straighter. This time, her shot had hit home. “It’s a phase. If you think a few days of sex plus a few counseling sessions will alter a lifetime’s training, then you’re a lousy psychologist.” Lansing looked at imaginary dirt under his fingernails.
She flushed. Hadn’t she herself told Philip that helping Alec was impossible? But she’d been wrong. Alec had seen the truth. More, he’d felt the truth from her, telepathically. Against all odds, she’d reached him. She’d accomplished that much.
“The boy has normal desires. Good for him. But you’re not the only one who can satisfy them.” He stood. “You know, what you should be doing is cooperating with me. This is your future now.”
“Where am I?”
Lansing shook his head. “Your new home.”
Never. She pulled the sheet tighter around her. “He doesn’t know I’m here, does he? You haven’t told Alec that I’m here at the Resource.”
Phoenix Rising Page 16
