Jet’s voice drowned her out. “We’re starting to manipulate them now, cover us.”
I ignored them all. Sweat trickled past my ear as my heart pounded. Any minute now, they’d step out. I needed to concentrate.
“Lena! You’re going to be–”
An explosion of sound crashed around us.
I screamed and slumped to the ground.
Pain throbbed in my head.
Dizziness made my vision swim in and out of focus.
I called out, but I couldn’t hear my own voice. It sounded like everything was underwater and someone had detonated a nuclear device. I was certain my eardrums had burst, or if not, they’d come very close.
The feeling wouldn’t stop.
I cried in agony and gripped my head. A sharp ringing sounded in my skull over and over again. I opened my eyes. Everything was vibrating. It was like someone had banged a tuning fork and the world was shaking out of control.
“What?” I cried. “Does anyone–” I didn’t finish my sentence. I couldn’t.
It took a second before I could stand. When I did, I swayed. The earth moved all around me.
Figures in black appeared. My family. Or are they Marcus’ men? I couldn’t tell.
Another swirl of dizziness hit me, threatening to make my vision go black.
No! Stay awake!
I tried to form an energy ball, but the world was still vibrating. I felt like a top that someone had spun on a table, and nothing would make the vicious spinning stop. I had no idea where I was in relation to the earth, let alone anyone else. Forming a ball right now was impossible.
I continued to grip my head. Seconds passed. Maybe a minute. The horrible ringing slowly subsided and sounds again filtered in.
Grunts. Commotion. Fighting.
Three men in black lunged at one man. It was the first thing I saw when I was able to focus. Moonlight filtered around us, but I barely made out who was who. However, I was certain of one thing. I knew the man the three had lunged at. I’d recognize those shoulders and that stance anywhere.
Flint.
Flint appeared as disoriented as me. Two men grabbed his arms. The other wrapped his arms around his legs. Flint barely fought them.
No!
That thought was followed by gripping fear. Not Flint! They can’t take him. I won’t let that happen!
I pushed away from the concrete wall just as a pair of arms grabbed me from behind.
I screamed. Instinct took over. I fought as hard as I could. Whoever held me was strong. Large hands gripped my wrists and wrenched them back. I screamed again. Pain ripped through my shoulders.
Rage clouded my head, like a dark cloud descending over the land. I formed an energy ball. It was weak compared to what I normally managed, but it was all I could produce. I hurled it toward my back. A loud bellow of pain sounded behind me. My wrists broke free.
Get Flint. Get to Flint!
Four other figures appeared, staggering around the concrete walls. They had to be the twins, Luke and Di. I swung toward where I’d last seen Flint. The cries and grunts all came from that area.
Five men now surrounded him. Where are the other five?
Another hand grabbed for me. I felt them then. The other five men were closing in on me. They were targeting me and Flint. Deliberately.
They know.
That thought flitted through my mind like a train speeding by at night. They knew Flint and I posed the biggest threat. The thought was there and then gone. It didn’t matter. We had to get away.
The five men’s energy drew closer. They would be upon me any second. I needed to form two balls. One for me and one for Flint.
I summoned the energy, drawing upon it, begging it to form as I demanded. I tried to separate it into two balls. I couldn’t.
I fell to the ground, the strain of it buckling my knees. My head still hurt too much, but I couldn’t let that stop me. Draw the energy, Lena! Draw it together. Now!
Footsteps sounded to my left. The men’s energy was only a yard away, but I felt another energy too. Luke’s. He was staggering toward me, but his energy was weak. I wasn’t sure how much help he’d be.
In that moment I knew I had a choice. One choice.
It’s me or Flint.
I was still too disoriented. My control was all but gone. I could feel that Luke, Di and the twins were the same. We had been rendered useless. In this state, I couldn’t form two balls. Only one.
I love you.
I drew a ball. It was so weak. Standing straighter, I summoned what reserves I had and concentrated on the five men who now held Flint.
Hands grabbed me again. I didn’t fight. I concentrated on what I had to do.
I threw the small, barely usable ball, a guttural cry emitting from my mouth. I concentrated as hard as I could so it would hit the men around Flint and not him. My vision swam in and out of focus.
The five men fell. All five fell.
Elation coursed through me just as someone picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. To my side, Luke fell to the ground. A howl sounded in the night. Clothes ripped off his back. His body convulsed. Hair sprang up along his forearms.
“Move!” someone yelled. “I have the girl!”
Ocean air swirled around my face as blood drained to my hairline. Jostling steps momentarily distracted me. Someone was carrying me over his shoulder and hurrying down the hill.
“Let me go!” I tried to fight. I kicked and screamed, but I still felt so weak.
The man carrying me grunted when my blows connected. Another man’s labored breathing sounded to the side. He cleared the way for the one that carried me.
Another howl sounded back up the hill. It was stronger, more pronounced. The sound of snarls and fists connecting with flesh followed.
Luke and the twins. They’re fighting!
Whoever carried me moved fast. I kicked and punched again. It didn’t help. The ground continued to drift beneath me. Gravity pulled me and whoever held me down the hill.
An instinctual part of my brain kicked into action as I slowly grew stronger. My gloves came off and my ski mask disappeared. I wasn’t sure if I’d pulled them off or if someone else had. All I knew was that someone was trying to force me from my location, and I couldn’t let that happen.
I must have connected a few more blows because someone grunted. I barely registered it. I kicked again, adrenaline coursing through me. Another grunt sounded.
“Damn, she’s stronger than I thought,” a voice said, breathing heavily. He kept running.
Too fast. He’s moving too fast! I need more time!
The jostling and hard push of his shoulder into my abdomen made it hard to concentrate. Form another ball! Calm down. Form another energy ball! Shutting my eyes tightly, I pulled up my power before tapping into the energy surrounding us. It called to me, like an extension of myself, as if beckoning me to use it. The men’s energy slowly crackled. My strength was returning.
Draw it together. Form it into one.
“Get her in the van!”
Van?
“What about the man?” another voice asked.
“He’s too strong. It’s wearing off! They’re barely holding him.”
Other sounds reached my ears. They were distant. Grunting, shouting, vicious snarls, someone’s body part being cracked. The fighting sounded farther away as if I was no longer near my family.
“Should I detonate it again?”
“No. It’ll take too long to recharge. We don’t have time, and we have the woman. That’s the main one he wanted.”
Their words washed over me. I processed it but I didn’t. They want me? More than Flint? Why?
I faintly registered that my hearing had returned to normal.
“Get her in the van now!” someone yelled. “He’s trying to get to her! Open the door!”
That order spurred me into action. Closing my eyes, I drew the energy together. It was stronger this time. Act now, Lena! I mentally t
hrew the ball as hard as I could at the man carrying me.
He doubled over, yelling in agony. I fell from his grip, landing hard on the ground. Something cracked my head. Stars clouded my vision. No! Stay awake. You must stay awake!
I tried to stand, to run, but my hands were behind my back. They’d tied them behind my back! When did they do that? Before I could push to my knees, something grabbed me again. I vaguely registered my surroundings. I lay on the ground at the bottom of the hill.
That wasn’t good. I was already at the bottom of the hill.
The sound of a screeching, metal door being slid open sounded. A van stood a dozen feet away. Its door was open.
Someone picked me up again.
“Flint!” I screamed as loudly as I could.
Hard, unforgiving hands wrenched me up. Rage again clouded my mind. I turned on whoever grabbed me and kicked as hard as I could while gathering the energy from him and everyone else around us. This time, the ball formed instantly, a huge, swirling ball of blackness. It was full of rage, hate and desperation. I imagined pulling the ball back, the way a child would a rock in a slingshot, and was about to hurtle it when something pricked my neck. A cold, slithery feeling slid into my bloodstream, like oil coating my veins.
A drug.
No!
I was being drugged again, except this time, it wasn’t one of Father’s drugs. This was worse. The oily feeling swam inside me. I grunted, fighting it, and tried to fling my energy ball. If I could hit the van, they wouldn’t be able to take me, but when I sought the ball, desperately searching for that magnificent sphere of energy just waiting for me to manipulate it – it was gone.
The last thing I saw, as I tried to look up the hill, was a dark figure standing at the top as five men tried to take him down. Chestnut hair ruffled in the moonlight as the men grabbed his arms, trying to wrestle him into submission.
With a fling of incredible power, Flint threw them off. The men flew ten feet in the air, their bodies as limp as rag dolls.
“LENA!” Flint yelled.
I tried to reach out, to call to him, but the drug went to my brain just as my feet left the ground. Someone was carrying me again, but now everything was fuzzy. The world grew in and out of focus. Everything began to disappear. The next thing I heard was the van door slamming closed.
Then everything went black.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Hard, jostling sensations woke me. The pain came next. Everything hurt. I opened my eyes. Darkness surrounded me.
For a moment, I lay there, trying to figure out what the hell was going on but then something bumped into me. It was hard. An abrupt movement made me roll. Another sharp twinge of pain followed. I winced. My shoulder felt on fire.
I tried to roll my shoulders, but my arms wouldn’t move. Panic rose in my chest, my heart rate increasing. My arms are pinned behind my back! Rough zipties cut into my wrists. I tried to pull them free. The ties cut into my flesh. My eyes widened even more. Someone tied me up!
With panic threatening to overwhelm me, my eyes adjusted to the dark. There were shapes. I squinted and tried to decipher what was what. It seemed I lay on a floor in a box. A box? It was a box that moved.
Another jostle rolled me as foggy memories surfaced. I moaned when I bumped into the wall but quickly shut my mouth.
I’d been at the military base with my family. We’d been waiting for Marcus’ men. Memories returned at light speed: Di having a vision, someone carrying me, fighting, an oily drug coating my insides followed by blackness.
My stomach sank. Marcus’ men took me!
Crap. Crap. Crap.
I struggled, trying to sit up. I had to be in the van the men had thrown me in. We were apparently driving. That would explain why my shoulder hurt so badly and why I bounced all over the place. I couldn’t brace myself when the van moved. The jostles, dips and wrenching were from the van driving and turning, perhaps weaving in and out of lanes. I had no idea what time it was. I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious.
You need to get out of here, but how?
I’d form an energy ball and blast it through the door. No, that could make us veer out of control. I could end up killing myself.
Okay, at least I was thinking somewhat clearly. Whatever drug they’d used to knock me out seemed to have worn off. I pushed against the floor with my legs and tried to sit up. I winced again when my shoulder burned. It didn’t feel broken, but it hurt like crazy.
At least I was alone back here. I knew I’d heard two men when they’d thrown me in the van, but that didn’t mean there weren’t more.
Well, obviously, there are more.
Five men had targeted me, and five men had targeted Flint. Memories again flashed through my mind. A feeling of dread filled my stomach.
Was anyone else caught? Or hurt? Maybe killed? I tried to remember what I’d seen.
Figures had been staggering. That had to have been my family. They’d look dizzy. Whatever that awful sound blast had been affected all of us. But were they caught? The ten men had surrounded Flint and me, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t hurt the others.
Nausea threatened to overwhelm me. My heart clenched at the thought of Flint. He’d called out to me. His voice echoed in my mind. Another gut wrenching feeling engulfed me. Is he okay? Was he caught too?
The van lurched. It pitched me forward but then came to an abrupt halt. I slammed into the metal wall and cried out in pain. Wincing, I tried to get on my knees.
With a screeching sound, the van door opened. A bright light shone in, temporarily blinding me.
“Is this her?” someone asked.
“The small redhead,” another person replied. “That’s who he said to get.”
It was only then I realized that my hair flew everywhere.
I blinked a few times. With a spot light shining at me, I couldn’t see who was talking, but I did see outlines of three figures. It was dark behind them. So, it’s still nighttime. That was good. It meant they hadn’t had me for very long. The longer they had me, the harder it would be for the others to find me. If they could find me. No, I can’t think that way. I’d get away from Marcus one way or another.
I switched my vision, not sure if I’d see their clouds or not in the bright light.
Nothing happened.
Frowning, I closed my eyes as the men started talking quietly. They were talking about some facility, but I didn’t understand. I concentrated on my vision. Normally, when I switched it, it felt like something clicked in my mind. Like a dormant area of my mind that wasn’t normally used became active, and then people’s clouds appeared. I didn’t have to think about it. It just happened when I wanted to see in my altered eyesight.
But now, that click wasn’t working.
My eyes flashed open. I awkwardly pushed to sitting before shimmying back to the wall. If I couldn’t see or feel clouds, then I couldn’t form energy balls. Fear crawled up my neck like quicksand.
“Ah boys, she looks scared,” one of the men crooned. His voice made my skin crawl. “Don’t worry, sugar. We’ll take good care of you.”
He reached forward, bending as if to grab me.
I lashed out, kicking him square in the back of his hand. My heavy boot caused tendon and bone to shift.
He howled in pain and pulled back. “You’ll pay for that, bitch!”
One of the other guys laughed. “Looks like we’ve got a live one, boys.”
The third guy didn’t say anything. I glanced warily in his direction. Since the spot light was still on, I couldn’t see his face, just his outline.
I tried again to switch my vision. Nothing happened.
“What did you give me?” I demanded. I was glad my voice sounded strong and defiant. “Back in Marin, when you injected a drug in my neck, what was it?”
“Oh, just a little cocktail made especially for you.” He was the one whose hand I had smashed. “Are you feeling a little weak? Are things not working quite like they normally
do?”
And then I understood.
I knew what they’d given me. Luke said he, Susannah and Edgar had all been drugged when kept in O’Brien’s underground facility, so they couldn’t transform into their animal forms. They’d been given a daily dose. It suppressed their abilities.
I thought quickly.
Susannah had been able to turn into an eagle when she woke in Arizona. I still remembered when Susannah had tried to claw me to death when she’d woken on the couch. Within twenty-four hours, they’d all been able to transform.
If it was the same drug that meant it would be twenty-four hours before I’d be able to form an energy ball. And that was only if they didn’t drug me again. I’d have to find a way to prevent the next dose.
It was my only chance.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.” It was the one who’d commented that I looked like a live one.
“What are your names?”
The man laughed. “What is this? Twenty questions?”
“Nah,” the other one chuckled. “She’s just trying to get to know us. You know how captives all do it. How they show us that they’re people with feelings and dreams. How they try and make us want to help them and let them go.” He laughed again. It was an ugly sound. I knew without a doubt he had a black cloud.
“Well, I suppose I could make names up for you if you won’t tell me yours,” I replied. “What do you prefer? Dumb or Dumber? Oh, wait, that’s perfect. Dumb and Dumber. There we go. I guess I don’t need to know your names after all.”
An arm snaked out and grabbed my ankle. Dumb or Dumber, I wasn’t sure which one, yanked me from the wall and skidded me across the metal floor. I almost yelped in pain but stopped myself.
There was one thing I’d accomplished, however, by baiting them. I was now outside. They’d pulled me out of the van until I fell to the ground. I landed hard on the pavement and gritted my teeth. We were in an industrial part of some city. I didn’t know if it was still San Francisco or not. It depended on how long I’d been unconscious in the van. If it had been less than an hour, I was probably still in the city, but if it was more than that, I could be anywhere.
Reborn: A Contemporary Fantasy Romance (The Lost Children Trilogy Book 3) Page 13
