by Sydney Addae
“Go to the room above or beneath us,” Mia said watching the window and trying to be calm like Noah. He stood watching the window and listening.
“They’re going to try to come from above or below or through another wall,” he said as he spun, sending mist to cover every corner of the room. The wall behind the bathroom shuddered. Water turned on, as the walls bowed inward but didn’t break.
Noah glared at the wall.
Trickles of mist flowed from his palm and into the pipes. The wall on the opposite side of the room shuddered as something hard slammed into it. The door shuddered as it was hit immediately after the wall. Next, all three walls were hit at the same time. The bathroom wall bowed but didn’t break.
“Do they mind-speak? I haven’t heard anything from them,” Noah said.
“Good point. Maybe it’s the room seal. Do we need it with the mist?” she asked him.
“No. I’ve solidified the mist to unbreakable steel. Hawke helped me master it.”
She removed the shield. Now they heard the murmurs and footsteps. “I thought there was just two?” she looked at him and sought the men.
“Hermes can duplicate himself but it weakens him after he does it for any length of time.” She flicked through his thoughts and sent the information to Thomas regarding the organization led by Schmidt. Hermes realized someone had tapped into his mind and tried to lock her out but it was too late, she had a foothold and drilled down to find the box of locked-away memories everyone hid.
His horrified scream filled the floor. Footsteps thundered down the hall. “What happened?”
Hermes couldn’t answer. He wouldn’t talk to anyone for a long, long time. Mia amped his nightmares a hundred percent. His nightmares would have nightmares.
“We’re on your floor, are you alright?” Thomas asked. “Good lord, they destroyed the wall and the door. Is that the mist?”
“Yeah,” Noah said. “Titanium grade created a rectangular box inside the room.”
“Awesome,” Thomas said, admiration coming through their link.
“Taking a nap,” Mia said scooting back on the bed and replacing the shield to drown out Zeus’ cursing.
“What did you do to that guy?” Lizzy asked sounding impressed. “He’s bleeding out of his nose and curled in a ball. Every time his partner tries to help or move him, he cries out in terror. Security finally arrived, with the cops. Zeus is walking away, leaving his partner on the floor. I guess he prefers to let the human’s deal with it.”
Noah joined Mia on the bed and pulled her close. “That was a solid, wicked move,” he said near her ear.
Mia turned into him. “I was only able to get into his mind because you drained his energy trying to get in here.” She placed a soft kiss on his lips and rolled over on top of him. Looking down she stared into his face grinning. “We make a good team.”
He slapped her butt. “Told you that days ago.” He kissed her hard, robbing her breath. “But you know it’s not over, right? There’s another one, Zeus, the god of thunder. Any idea what he does?”
“My guess would be hitting the walls, trying to break in.” She snapped her finger. “I pulled information from Hermes memories.” She focused inward. “There’s nine of them, they’ve lost quite a few lately. Zeus is a team leader, uses his voice and massive strength to fight. Has some kind of sonic boom. He has to gear up for it and can only do small hits fast or on the run. We have to keep him moving, not allow him to build it up or he can do major damage.”
Noah nodded.
“Hera releases poisonous odors that will paralyze you. There’s Apollo, wears gloves to keep his fingers covered, or he hurts himself with a similar toxin found in Dart Frogs but much more concentrated. If it enters your bloodstream it can paralyze and kill you.”
“Those are vicious, I don’t see how they can be used to help anyone,” Noah said.
“Aren’t you glad you’re a dream-walker?” she teased.
“Hell yeah.” He kissed her again.
“That’s all I’ve got, either he doesn’t know the others or I didn’t go far enough into his memories to get them,” she said.
“Those are bad enough,” Noah said. “We’ll need to learn to defend against them.”
She nodded as Thomas knocked on the door.
“The cops and ambulance have left. Lizzy let them see the damage but not the hard mist. They’re sending a maintenance crew up in a few. I told them you’d stepped out of the room and would be back soon.”
Noah and Mia rolled out of bed. He removed the mist. The door fell forward into the room. They all stared down at it and the cracks in the wall. Thomas and Lizzy stepped inside and looked all around the room. Zeus and Hermes had hit the walls from every side, top, and bottom.
“Get in your wheelchair and let’s get out of here,” Thomas said. “Good thing the police is charging Hermes for the damage. Zeus left before they could get his name or information but some of the guests saw him hitting the door before they blocked the floor.”
Noah sat in the chair and headed toward the elevator. It opened just as Zeus stepped out of the stairwell and stared at them. He took in the wheelchair, inhaled and released a sound that rolled through the hall knocking them backward. Noah fell out the chair and hit the ground.
Zeus ran forward, grabbed Noah and kept running toward the stairs on the other side of the floor.
“I’ve got this,” Noah said as he released the mist to cover Zeus’ mouth and eyes. Within seconds the hall darkened.
Zeus kept running.
Anger ripped through Noah, he charged the mist with electrical currents. It snapped, crackled and popped against Zeus’ face, arms, and wrapped around his legs, tripping him. He hit the ground hard.
Noah fell from his grip and rolled along the floor.
Zeus tried to stand but the mist tightened around his legs. Suddenly he stilled and took several deep breaths through his nose. Eyes closed, he kept inhaling, chest expanded and then he released it through the mist.
The halls shook, lights flashed, but not much more.
Mia ran to Noah and dropped to her knees holding him close. “You okay? We can fuck him up if you want.”
Noah tied Zeus’ hands together with the mist as well before Thomas helped him back into the chair. “Here, let me help you, Sir.”
Zeus stared daggers at Noah and then Thomas, Lizzy, and Mia. Noah darkened the mist in front of Zeus’ eyes so he wouldn’t see them leave down the hall.
“He pissed you off, didn’t he?” Mia said walking alongside him.
“Yeah. Asshole wouldn’t let go,” Noah said. When they reached the elevators, the hotel manager and maintenance guy stood in front of their room.
The manager stepped to the side and handed Thomas an envelope with his new room keys. “Again I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Thanks,” Thomas said as they entered the elevator and rode up three floors. “Try and get some rest. We’ll be leaving in a few hours and then heading out.”
Noah nodded as he stood, pushed the wheelchair to the side and sat on the edge of the bed. Thomas and Lizzy left. Mia sealed the room and joined him on the bed.
“How long will you leave him tied like that?”
“Until I wake from my nap,” Noah scooted up the bed and slid beneath the covers. Mia joined him.
“I used a lot of energy, and need to rest.” He pulled her close and she sealed them inside the room.
CHAPTER 31
MIA LOOKED AROUND THE large, packed out, auditorium in awe. Who would’ve thought this many people followed a cult that stoned imperfect people.
Yes, after listening to several individuals in the audience, Leviticus Club was all about being physically perfect, supposedly in the eyes of God. It boggled the mind how they came up with such a crazy notion, worst, that thousands of people bought into it. There was always a market for people who needed to feel they were better than others, she guessed and looked over at Noah. He sat in the second row w
ith other handicapped persons. Lizzy assured her that anyone, other than her or other empaths, looking at Noah would see a drawn, defeated looking older man and not the strong, viable soldier he was.
Several individuals in priestly robes strode onto the stage as the band warmed up. They took seats on a slightly raised dais while singers stepped to the microphones.
“Where is the priest?” Noah asked.
“I’m not getting anything,” she said straining for information backstage. She hoped Mosely and his crew weren’t somewhere stoning another innocent victim.
The intolerably long program included songs that roused the crowd to screams of agreement with whatever the person on the mic said. Mia tuned out and searched for clues that the Priest was on the premises and not actively hurting someone. After an hour, she wondered if he would appear.
“How much longer?” she asked Thomas as if he would know these things.
“Soon,” he answered.
She didn’t bother asking any more questions. The volume of the crowd doubled as a man of average height and stature, dressed in a white linen tunic, a blue robe and an ephod with 12 stones walked onstage waving as if he were the Catholic Pope.
Standing to get a better view of him, she moved to the side but couldn’t see because so many were jumping up and down in front of her.
“Move into the aisle,” Thomas said.
Hands raised in the air, she yelled in excitement along with the crowd as she moved toward the aisle, avoiding the eyes of the usher a few feet away. She would need to be quick before they hustled her back to her seat. Turning, she looked at Aaron Mosely standing in the middle of the stage smiling and waving at the crowd.
“Aaron Mosely,” she called him with her mind, searching for him. He didn’t respond, didn’t change his behavior. Undeterred, she added more compulsion and whispered his name, sending it on the airwaves.
His smile slipped as he looked in her direction but would never see or know who called him.
“The man in the wheelchair with the gray and yellow shirt is pathetic and needs to be eliminated. Take him away. Stone him. Take him away. Send for him. Take him. Send for him, now. You must take him and purge the earth of this pathetic creature. Yahweh demands this sacrifice.” Mia tried to think of something else to say, nothing else came to mind, so she repeated her earlier commands.
The Priest walked back and forth now, searching the audience. She knew the moment he saw Noah. “Gray and yellow shirt. Pathetic creature. Sacrifice to Yahweh. Take him now. Send for him now.”
“It’s working,” Noah said. “He just looked at me.”
“Good.” She told him what she said to the Priest.
Noah chuckled. “Ouch. Do I look that bad?”
“Not to me,” she said as she nodded to the large usher who told her to return to her seat.
The Priest waved for the audience to be seated and spoke when they obeyed. “Yahweh be praised.”
The audience repeated his words, some jumped up but most remained seated. He spoke in moderate tones about love, peace, and happiness through God. The best speaker she’d ever heard he was not, but there was passion in his words as if he truly believed the BS he spouted.
Staring at the Priest, she watched as he stepped back and someone else approached the microphone. He spoke to someone dressed in a black suit who nodded and disappeared.
“This may be it, everybody knows what they’re supposed to do?” Thomas asked.
“On it,” Lizzy said from her vantage point on the far side of the stage. Mia didn’t see either Thomas or Lizzy as she waited for whoever was coming to get Noah to approach him.
She didn’t need to wait long, the same usher who demanded she return to her seat walked down to Noah, knelt beside him and spoke to him.
“The usher says the Priest wants to pray for me in the back,” Noah told Mia. “Of course it’s a great honor to be chosen, blah, blah, blah. We’re heading their now. You see her?”
“Yep, got her and will follow you guys in a bit. I’ll make sure she won’t remember anything after she delivers you to the man waiting for you in a black suit,” she told him.
“Everybody hold positions,” Thomas said. “There’s an old woman stopping them.”
“She’s praying for me,” Noah said. “She put some oil on my forehead in the sign of the cross. This guy in the black suit is pissed at the delay.”
“Some of these people really are true believers,” Lizzy said.
“We’re moving again,” Noah said. “Is this guy in the suit a part of the stonings? He hasn’t said a word since he started walking behind my chair.”
“I don’t think so, possibly just security,” Mia said watching the stage. The musicians returned to the stage. “The Priest is leaving, so are the others on the dais.”
“Got it,” Thomas said. “Noah are you ready?”
“If you’re asking if I took those pills to block the drug, yes, Been ready to drop kick this pompous asshole since the first,” Noah said.
“Okay. I’m heading to the side where we rendezvous,” Thomas said.
“I’m heading back,” Mia said slipping out of the row. The usher glanced at her but said nothing. Mia spoke a few words, and added a healthy dose of compulsion to them to make sure the usher didn’t remember her or Noah. She walked out and down the bustling corridor where people stood talking, eating and standing in line for the restroom.
Inhaling, she opened her senses, alert for danger and also information. Always interested in information, she moved in the same direction Noah traveled earlier.
“This was awesome, I told you so,” someone said.
“It was, I’m so glad I came. I feel so much better,” someone responded.
Mia walked around them and ignored other similar conversations. When she reached the end of the corridor she sensed three security guards nearby. “Did you go through a door with three guards?” she asked Noah.
“Yep, real friendly fellas, watch your back. If you need me...”
“I’ve got it, just checking to be sure.” She didn’t look at them, instead, she reached out to each of them and compelled them to let her through the door without question.
When she approached them, the one closest to the door opened it for her. She stepped inside and inhaled. “Have you gotten your shot, yet?” she asked Noah.
“Yeah, stung a bit. The guy handed me off to someone and is standing guard someplace. I’m in a room alone, not real big. There’s a cross, black tarp on the floor, a pile of bricks, and the smell of blood. Fresh blood.” He sounded disgusted.
This was the tricky part. “Someone’s going to come to bind you to the floor. I don’t know if it’s before the Priest enters or if he’s involved. Can you play the role?”
“I don’t want to be bound. We discussed that,” he said.
They had. But nothing had been agreed on. “I’ll try to grab the person before they get to you.” She crept up the hall and stopped to scan the area. “You’re close.”
She spun and ducked, barely missing the punch from a guy dressed in a black suit. He turned and pulled out his gun. She jumped and kicked it out of his hand and then spun to kick him across his face.
He slapped her foot as he jerked back while staring at her. She grabbed his mind. “Stop.”
He grinned at her and shook his head slowly. “No.”
She slammed into his mind, pushed the compulsion. His head jerked back as surprise widened his eyes.
“No,” he whispered as he fell to his knees. Blood trickled down his nose. Staring at her, he shuddered and fell forward. Mia dragged him from the middle of the floor into a janitor’s closet. She picked up his gun and dropped it in a nearby trashcan.
“You okay?” she asked Noah while making her way to the room. Her energy levels dipped. Leaning against the wall she took several breaths before moving forward.
“Still waiting for them to show up.” He sounded bored.
She stepped inside the room and cl
osed the door behind her. Noah sat slumped in his wheelchair in the middle of the room. Tarp was spread on the floor near the cross. There was nothing in the floor to attach the rope, this was a convention hall and not the place Nathaniel Green died. She looked around for a place to hide and eventually slid into a shadowy corner.
“You good?” Noah asked.
“Yeah, couldn’t find a place to hide. The whole tie down thing might be a moot point, nothing in the floor,” she said.
“Good.” Again he sounded bored as they settled in to wait.
The minutes passed and no one came.
“What’s going on?” Thomas asked.
“He’s in the back waiting,” she said and then explained the set-up in the room.
“Did you check for cameras?”
She hadn’t and did a quick check. “No, I didn’t. Had a small run in I had to take care of.” She told him about the guy in black.
“I checked on the way in. Didn’t pick up anything,” Noah said surprising her. He rarely spoke to anyone through links unless it was her or if directly asked a question.
“Let me know when someone comes in,” Thomas said.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked Noah a few minutes later.
“Hmm?”
She repeated the question. “You look distracted.” Not like you’re expecting a murdering psychopath to enter the room and stone you to death any second.
“Liam. Being the only link to me he’s in the middle of a shit storm. When we finish this I’ve got to get him out of there. Whatever we need to do, I’m not having him destroyed over my decision to stay with the team,” he said.
She gave it some thought and realized he was right. The only reason the military was after him was because he wasn’t on their team. If he chose to work with them, Liam would be safe. “Have you talked to Thomas?” She heard footsteps.
“Not yet. Someone’s coming,” he said.
The door opened.
Mia watched the tall man dressed in white pull Noah from the wheelchair and position him on the black tarp on the floor. He spread out his arms and pulled his legs together in the shape of the cross.
