I pulled her over onto my lap and nuzzled my lips into her neck. “It’s okay, Joss. We’re here for a reason. You’ve already learned something.” I tried to keep my words safe and innocuous so that anyone overhearing me wouldn’t be suspicious.
I have a bad feeling about this. I just want to be out of here.
“We can’t go anywhere until the car is fixed. Let’s just take it one day at a time and see what happens. Okay?”
She nodded as her arms tightened around me. I stroked her hair away from her face and dropped a kiss on her forehead. I wasn’t used to this side of Joss. She was the one who was usually in control, tough and ready to take on anything. I didn’t like that she was tense and upset, but being the one to comfort her felt right. I liked the protective strength it brought out in me.
Don’t get used to it, buddy.
Our eyes met, both reflecting astonishment. Had she heard what I was thinking or just guessed at my line of thought?
I heard you.
I swallowed over the massive lump in my throat. What the hell was going on?
I don’t know, but this is new. I promise, I haven’t been able to hear you up until now. And even then...it was just like something drifting into my brain. Stop it, Rafe, don’t panic. You’re making my head hurt. You’re supposed to be blocking.
I clenched my jaw. I was blocking, but at the same time, I had to be open enough to hear Joss when she broadcast to me. We had to figure out a way around this. I wondered if she could hear everyone’s thoughts. I remembered Tasmyn talking about how overwhelming it could be if she didn’t protect herself almost all the time.
I don’t think I can read anyone else. I only hear you. But maybe it’s because we’re not near anyone else. I guess we’ll see at dinner.
Speaking of which...I pulled my phone out of the back pocket of my jeans and checked the time. “We should probably head over to the lodge now. Maybe there’s something we can do to help with dinner.”
But neither of us moved right away. Joss tightened her hold on me, and I nudged her chin up so that I could cover her lips in what I hoped was a reassuring kiss.
It’s going to be all right.
When Joss and I walked into the clearing, I was surprised by how many people were already there. Harley hadn’t been able to give us a good estimate of the population on the commune, but it looked like about fifty men and women getting ready to have dinner.
“Hey, you guys settling in okay?” Billy appeared behind Joss.
“Yeah, man, thanks again for all your help.” I clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“No problem. Beef stew for dinner tonight. You got here on a good night.”
Joss pivoted to lean against me, smiling up at Billy. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up here?”
He squinted, and the corners of his mouth turned down. “I was going to say it’s kind of a long story, but maybe not so much. Anyway, I bet you guys would understand, seeing you’re kind of drifting around right now, too.”
I nodded. “You know it.”
“Yeah. Well, I was in my last year of college, and I got in trouble, got kicked off campus. My old man was mad, so I didn’t want to go home. I was in Atlanta, hitting the bar scene pretty hard, and I met this guy who just seemed...different. Like he had it all together, but not like my parents. He was cool. He told me he had this camp set up for people who wanted to live a real life, not like being corporate or chasing money.” Billy shrugged. “It sounded good, and it worked for me. So here I am.”
Joss was staring at him as he spoke, and I had a disconcerting sense of déjà vu. The look in her eyes was exactly like Tasmyn’s when she was listening to someone’s thoughts. I wondered if she was hearing anything from Billy’s mind.
I am. Tell you when we’re alone.
A clanging bell interrupted us, and we followed Billy over to the door of the lodge.
“This is where we line up for food, and then we come out here, grab a chair or a rock or whatever. Sit on the ground if it’s not wet. Come on, y’all are our guests. You should get to the front of the line.”
“No, Billy, that’s okay.” I hung back, letting others form the queue. “We’ll go up with you. We don’t want special treatment.”
“Hey, you guys are okay. You know, you should think about staying around here. Maybe living like this is what you’ve been searching for, too.”
Joss smiled, just a little too wide. “Yeah, maybe.”
Dinner was a well-organized affair, and the food was surprisingly delicious. Or maybe I was just hungry. Whatever, Joss and I shared a huge stump a few feet from the fire and chatted with people as Billy introduced us.
Cara, I noticed, stayed far away, sitting in a chair near Nathan. She leaned to whisper in his ear more than once, and the way he touched her gave me the creeps. Ian sat on Nathan’s other side. I guessed that they were the inner circle of leadership in the camp, despite what Ian had said about there being no one in charge.
Everyone seemed open and friendly. They were mildly curious about what brought us to their commune, but no one appeared to be suspicious about us. Joss was doing a good job of keeping up her front of calm, even though I caught her wearing her listening face more than once.
After the meal was finished and the dishes had been cleared back into the lodge kitchen, just about everybody remained around the fire circle. I half-expected some kind of meeting, but instead, the crowd broke into small groups. There were a few people with guitars or harmonicas, and some of the clusters sang softly, while others were deep in conversation.
It had been a long day, and I was ready to drag Jocelyn back to our tent to test out those sleeping bags. I was about to stand up and make our excuses when I heard Joss in my head.
Here comes Nathan, behind you.
I forced myself not to react, to paste an expression of pleasant surprise on my face when he laid a hand on my arm.
“So, you two are fed, you have a tent, bedding...anything else we can do for you?”
I turned. “I don’t think so. I was telling Billy, we’re grateful that you took us in. Anything we can do, any way we can repay your kindness, just say the word.”
“We’ll keep that in mind.” Nathan’s black eyes bore into mine, making me conscious of my blocks. I wasn’t really a perceptive like Joss, but I could sense powers now and then. She was right; Nathan stunk of it.
“Rafe, honey.” Jocelyn ran her hand up my arm. “I’m sorry, I know you’re having a good time. But I’m exhausted. Do you think we can go back to our tent?”
I smiled down into her face and threaded my fingers through her red curls. “Sure, baby.” I stuck out my hand to Nathan. “Thanks again, man. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Nathan’s smile was tight and didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Sleep well, my friends.”
We didn’t speak, either aloud or otherwise, as we made our way through the dark trees to our tent. Once I’d secured the flap, Joss sank onto the piled sleeping bags and closed her eyes.
Don’t say or think anything yet. I’m casting the parameter.
I sat still, waiting, until she opened her eyes and nodded. “I think we’re good. I’m a little nervous about it, but Zoe tested what I cast back in Florida, and she said it was strong. I guess nothing to do but try it out.”
I brushed her cheek with the tip of my finger. “Let’s keep it up tonight. That way we can be as loud as we want.”
She shook her head, but I saw a glint of a smile in her eyes. “God, Rafe, keep your mind in the game.”
“I can’t help it. A gorgeous woman sitting in my tent, exuding power? Nothing sexier.”
The smile made it to her lips, but she moved out of my reach. “First things first. Let’s talk about today.”
“Yeah, how crazy was that? Someone comes along to help us, and he turns out to be our ticket to the place we’re trying infiltrate.”
“A little too convenient. Any time something comes that easy, it makes me n
ervous.”
“You think the fox was on their payroll? Come on, Joss. It was something that worked in our favor. Let’s just use it and not look a gift horse—or a gift fox—in the mouth.”
“Whatever.” She drew in a deep breath. “Billy is okay. I think he’s clueless about what’s really going on here. He has a pretty simple mind, and he was telling the truth as far as he knows about how he ended up in the commune. But this was weird. He was remembering being in Atlanta, meeting the guy who ended up bringing him here, but there was some kind of—I don’t know, a blip on the radar when I was seeing his memory. Like when you’re watching TV and the signal is interrupted for a minute? I think someone might have changed his memory. And I couldn’t see the face of the man who recruited him.”
“But no powers there?”
“No, and that seems to go for most of the people here. I picked up a few abilities, but the vast majority are just...drones.”
“Nice, Joss.”
“Not my word. I plucked that out of Ian’s mind, and Cara’s, too.”
I drew my eyebrows together, frowning. “Cara? She doesn’t have any gifts, does she?”
“No, nothing. But she knows stuff, Rafe. She was blocking me fairly well, and she was too far away for me to hear much anyway. I only got vague glimpses. Ian blocks, too, even better than Cara. I picked up a word or two, that was it. But Nathan trumps them all. His mind is like Fort Knox.”
“Which brings up something else...let’s talk about this nifty new trick of yours. Hearing thoughts? Were you working on that?”
“No.” Joss’s eyes darkened, and she bit the corner of her lip. “Not at all. It’s never been something I could do. It wasn’t even on my radar. I was having enough trouble nailing down broadcasting. But then we were sitting here, and you were touching me, and I wished I could hear minds...and a few minutes later, I heard you. A little. It’s not super clear, and I’m mostly getting images, except when I’m touching someone. I tested it on Billy tonight, and I could hear him much better when I put my hand on his arm.”
“Maybe you’re growing into a new phase of your abilities. Gram used to talk about that. She said when the First Families of King were actively cultivating their powers, sometimes people would gain new gifts as they mastered the old ones.”
“I guess.” She worried that corner of her lip a little more and then shook her head. “Anyway. To recap, something is happening here, no question about it, but only a few people know what it is. I think we need to spend time figuring out who’s involved and who’s innocent. And then we need to see exactly what they’re doing.”
“Agreed. We should have a chance to get to know most everyone while we wait for the car to be done, and then we’ll see what happens next.”
“Rafe...” Joss’s eyes were still sober. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird that they didn’t mind us being here, if they’re involved in something that’s probably illegal at best, possibly out-and-out evil? Wouldn’t they want to keep outsiders away?”
I nodded. “That’s occurred to me, too. But if most of the camp doesn’t know the truth, it would be hard to justify running people off. Maybe Nathan would have discouraged Billy from stopping to help us if he had been there with him, but once Billy brought us on property, they didn’t have much choice.”
“True. And there’s something about Nathan...aside from the dark, there’s an arrogance. Like nothing’s going to stop him anyway.”
“That’s the kind of thinking that brings down empires and dictators.” I crawled across the floor until my arms were on either side of Jocelyn’s hips and my face was close to hers.
“Now, you need to stop thinking and stop worrying. And if you can keep that parameter up, I have the perfect way to take your mind off everything else.”
Her lips curved. “Oh, really?”
“Yep.” I balanced on one arm and cupped her head with the other hand. “This is a start.”
I touched my lips to hers, just a brush, and then I traced the seam of her mouth with my tongue until she opened to me. With a groan, I poured all my want and need into the kiss, stroking and teasing.
Joss broke away for a breath. “This is a good start.”
I moved closer and with care lowered her onto the soft sleeping bags.
“Baby, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
***
WITHIN A FEW days of our arrival, Joss and I had settled into life on the commune. We were given spots in the cooking and clean-up rotation, we learned where to sit at dinner, and we were allowed to take our turn with the washer and dryer in the lodge kitchen. Joss gritted her teeth and used the communal shower house, even though she was not happy about it.
Do you know what it’s like, having to shower with ten other women in the same room?
I smiled. “No, but I’d be happy to give it shot.” I ducked as she threw a towel at my head.
I checked in with Ian about the Impala after we’d been at the camp for a few days. He had gotten it up onto the lift they had in the garage over by the parking area, and he felt his initial assessment had been right.
“Still going to take a bit of time to get that chassis fixed, and your muffler has to be replaced. But your radiator missed the worst of it, and that’s good news. Could have been a lot worse.” He squinted at the car and rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I might be able to get into town next weekend, try to order the parts we need. Then we’ll have a better idea how long it’s going to take.”
“I can make that trip, if it would help. If someone drives me, that is. I hate to see you have to take a day to go all the way up there just for my car.”
Ian shook his head. “Nah, I have to make a supply run pretty soon, anyway. Might as well be sooner than later.”
“Well, if you need help or want company, let me know.” I hoped ‘town’, wherever it was, might have better cell coverage so I could send Cathryn a message and let her know we’d made it onto the commune. I knew there were plans in place to check on us, to cover us as best they could, but we couldn’t be sure of the effectiveness. Joss was broadcasting occasional messages out to the Carruthers agents who were supposed to be making drive-bys, hoping to pick up on her mind, but so far, she hadn’t been able to hear any return thoughts.
Since they don’t know I can hear the thoughts, they shouldn’t be blocking. If they drive by on the road that runs by here, I should be able to hear them.
“Not necessarily.” We were huddled in our tent, parameter cast, and Joss was wrapped in my arms. “Your range isn’t that wide, and you do better when you can touch the person. Plus, and this might be a bigger reason, even if they’re not blocking from you, I bet Cathryn and Harley would tell them to keep guards up in case anyone else here could hear them.”
“True.” Joss rubbed her cheek against my chest, and I closed my eyes. This was the one safe part of the day, when we could relax into each other. We didn’t have to keep up the front of Rafe and Joss, itinerant and clueless wanderers, which we’d found could be exhausting.
“So have any other new powers popped up since we’ve been here? Anything else you’ve wished to have?”
“No, nothing yet. Do you really think that’s how it happened? I wished I could hear minds, and suddenly I could? That’s crazy.”
“I have a couple of theories.” I traced lazy circles on her bare hip, where my hand lay against her warm skin beneath the blankets. “It could have been that since you can broadcast, being able to hear, too, was just a latent aspect of the ability that you hadn’t accessed until you were broadcasting on a regular basis.” I frowned, thinking. “Although my cousin Lucie has been broadcasting for her whole life, and she still can’t hear thoughts. It drives her crazy sometimes.”
“Okay, so that’s one theory. What’s another?”
“This one is still kind of hazy in my head. But you know, you told me you’re a mixed bag. Perceptive, some telekinesis, some broadcasting...you seem to have a little bit of a lot of powers. So what if yo
ur real ability is being able to call up what you need?”
I felt her forehead wrinkle against my chest. “So that whatever I had to do, I could? Wouldn’t I have figured that out by now? Or wouldn’t have Zoe, when she was testing me?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” I shifted to lie on my side so that I could see her face. This was a delicate conversation, and I didn’t want her to freak out. I brushed my hand over her hair, studied her eyes.
“You told me your life at home was pretty bad, right? When you were little. Did the...badness start when your abilities began to manifest, or before that?”
Her mouth drew together, and her eyes clouded. “Why does that matter?”
“It’s part of my hypothesis. Humor me, please.” I kissed her nose, raised her chin with one finger. “Come on, Joss. This is me. I’ve told you my secrets, right? You know you can trust me.”
She swallowed and licked her lips. “I know I can. But I don’t talk about this. Not ever.” She took a deep breath, and for a minute, I thought she was going to pull away, turn over. But instead, she moved closer to me, tucking one of her legs between mine and laying her head down on my arm where it was bent on the pillow.
“I think I might have always been a perceptive. I used to point to people and tell my mom...things. It was embarrassing for her. Pretty soon she didn’t want to take me out with her. And then she would punish me when I talked about other people having powers, so I learned fast to keep my mouth shut.”
Joss’s eyes were distant, staring beyond my shoulder. I sensed that in some way, she wasn’t here with me at the moment. I stroked her back anyway.
“Maybe if that was all I could do, and I didn’t talk about it, things would have been okay. But then one day, I spilled my drink at dinner, and my father grabbed my arm, shook me. And I guess that’s when I started broadcasting. I didn’t know it, but my sister...she’s older than me, but she was still living at home then. She came running down the hall. She said she heard me scream for help, even though I hadn’t said a word out loud. I knew I could always count on Penny, so it makes sense that’s who I’d call. Even if I didn’t know I was doing it.
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