Absolved (Altered series)

by Marnee Blake

  “She’s been exposed?” Dave blinked, staring at her as if he couldn’t process what he was seeing. As if the reality in front of him didn’t make sense.

  “Yes.” The words tasted like acid. “We need to get in touch with Martins. He’s less than a mile away.” Luke pointed south. “Stay here. Don’t go inside, I have no idea how long the drug will linger in the air in there. I’m going to run. If I can’t get a phone before I get to Martins, I’ll get to Martins in five minutes. I’ll be back.”

  A five-minute mile was ambitious, considering that he probably had smoke inhalation damage and he was burned in at least a hundred places, including his feet.

  Beth needs help.

  He took off at a sprint, his sneakers already soaked from the slushy street.

  …

  Beth was cold and hot at the same time. But the horrible discrepancies in her internal temperature were nothing compared to the agony raging through her gastrointestinal tract. She’d tried to keep from vomiting, she really had. She’d told herself that throwing up, especially in a public place, was mortifying. At first, by sheer force of will, she’d managed to keep to just gagging. She breathed the best she could through her nose. She’d closed her eyes and practiced the meditation exercises that the therapist she’d seen after her father’s death had taught her.

  As the minutes ticked by, stretching into an eternity, she lost track of where she was.

  The sound was muted here, and only the pounding ache in her head and the fiery nausea in her belly told her she was still alive. The burning, the pain seared through her body.

  Her eyes were unreliable. She saw fire at one point, further solidifying her hell theory.

  There were others gagging and coughing. Through her blurry haze she sensed them.

  Luke was here, too, somewhere, and in some recess of her mind she latched on to that. She wanted to be strong in front of Luke. She failed.

  She’d been in his arms, then.

  I’ll be back.

  Luke’s words permeated the darkness and comforted her. But, promising to return meant he was leaving her here alone in this fiery and horrible place. Except now she wasn’t only burning and hurting, she was wet as well, with cold seeping into her bones.

  Moments later, she lost the contents of her stomach.

  Please. Come back. Stay here, with me.

  Was she saying that out loud? Could he hear her?

  Stay here. With me.

  Stay.

  I don’t want to die alone.

  …

  In front of Jack, Parker shuffled papers on his work table. With jerky movements, he rubbed his head before slamming his fist down, mumbling. Then he spun, his hands on his hips, to gaze out the window.

  As Parker returned to stare at the worktable and his papers again, Jack’s chest tightened with foreboding. He’d never seen him so agitated. Parker remained cool through everything, as if his faith in their mission, in some higher power, gave him peace. Any time Jack doubted the work, Parker would sweep in with some grandiose statement about how what was happening was meant to be and Jack needed to have faith.

  He hated to admit how much he counted on the other man’s unwavering righteousness. Whenever Parker was finished talking, Jack always believed that whatever they’d done was justified, no matter how horrible it was.

  No point in thinking about that now, not here.

  Glancing at his boots, Jack wasn’t sure if Parker even realized he was there.

  “I know you’re here, Mr. Barnett.” Leaning on his hands, he lifted his eyes to Jack’s face. “I just haven’t decided what to do with you yet.”

  The words sent a slither of ice down Jack’s spine. “What do you mean?”

  “We lost nearly everyone.” Parker didn’t raise his voice but the words were clipped. “We only gained a dozen or so new recruits, if they make it. Between all the meetings, we should have had three or four times that many. Worse, we lost all of the EMP generators. Those took us months to build. All the materials, the manpower. Do you know how difficult that was?”

  “I was here, wasn’t I?” He made it sound like that had happened without Jack’s help.

  “Your help?” Parker swept around the desk. As he approached, Jack’s limbs became immovable. When he would have slouched, shied away from Parker’s glare, or shrugged him off, now he was forced to stare at him as the older man’s gaze bore into him. “The military… Martins… They were prepared for us. They found the invitations too soon. They are closing in.” Parker’s blue eyes narrowed. “Do you know how hard it has been to devise this plan? This has taken months of careful preparation. When I give you directions, you are to perform those tasks with as much skill and subterfuge as possible. You posted those invitations. You know you were sloppy. That’s unacceptable.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack gasped, barely able to suck in a decent breath. He hated being paralyzed, especially this full body version where he never felt like his lungs properly filled. “You told me to post the invitations. I did it. If you wanted it done in a specific way, you should have made that more clear.”

  “I shouldn’t have to,” Parker hissed. “You are smarter than this. Maybe you could get by on good looks and attitude when you were at college, but that’s not enough here. Our lives are on the line. I expect you to be more careful from here on.”

  Abruptly, Jack could move again. He inhaled deeply.

  Parker had never used that trick on him before. Blue, Luke… Sure. They were the enemy now. He and Parker were supposed to be working together.

  Across the room, Parker didn’t seem to notice his contempt. He’d returned to his table to study his notes. “We need at least two dozen more people. At least.” His shrewd gaze found Jack again. “We don’t have any choice this time. We need to find a place where there will be at least forty—better if it was fifty—people. A venue where we can control the air flow. Somewhere with bad cell reception. A factory, maybe. They’ve got bad air quality. We pump the drug in and see what happens.”

  “You want to give unsuspecting people Solvimine?” Jack shook his head. “The others, they came willingly. They wanted the powers. If we give people no choice, how are we any different than Fields and Goldstone were? How is this any different than what happened to our families?”

  Parker’s chin hitched up, and he folded his arms in front of him. “We have no choice. If we’re going to enact the change we envision, we need more soldiers.”

  Soldiers. Please. The recruits they currently had weren’t soldiers. They were a ragtag group of geeks and weirdos.

  And the change they needed? Jack wasn’t even sure what they needed anymore. “I don’t want to do this.”

  His refusal soured the air between them, causing Parker to stand up straighter. “You will, Jack. Because if you think that I’m going to take full responsibility for this if something goes wrong, you’re out of your damn mind.”

  Suddenly, Jack could see it all clearly. Any hope that he’d ever be able to leave this mess with his life intact disappeared.

  He’d convinced himself that he and Parker were on equal footing. That had been stupid. Parker kept him around because he made an easy scapegoat. He planned to send Jack down with the ship.

  “You always were slow on the uptake, my boy.” Parker smiled. “If we get caught, I’ll blame you. There’s no escape, because everything will be traced back to you. You’ll never be able to run fast enough. You’re in too deep now. You better get those recruits in line. Because your own safety and security…your independence…depends on it.”

  Jack only allowed himself a moment to look at Parker. He couldn’t afford any longer. Forcing his mind blank, he left. He didn’t stomp out, didn’t walk fast. Any of that would have given him away. But instead of going downstairs to do as Parker asked, he kept walking, out the door of their ridiculously luxurious accommodations and past a few recruits with questions on their faces.

  Thankfully, no one fo
llowed him.

  When he was over a mile away, in a field next to a wooded area, he stepped into the trees.

  Only then, in the silence of the night, at nearly three in the morning, did he start to scream.

  He yelled with his hands clenched at his sides until his stomach hurt. Until he couldn’t find any more air in his body.

  When he sucked in a breath, he folded in half, his fists on his knees.

  He was a jackass. He’d given his energy, his faith, and his freedom to a man who’d been using him. How had he been this gullible?

  Why hadn’t he gone with Luke and the others from Glory? They might be a bunch of geeks, but at least he’d be on the right side. He was dickhead, sure. Worse since his family died. Through it all, though, he’d never seen himself as the bad guy.

  He believed in Parker. The guy was smart. Jack had always been in awe of him.

  Like everything else, Parker had used that.

  Well, Jack might have been a fool once, but not anymore.

  Dropping to his butt on the damp forest floor, he began to plot how he would take his life back.

  Chapter Ten

  Beth woke to strange smells and stranger noises.

  Opening her eyes, she was greeted by a stained drop-tiles ceiling. She took stock of her body. For the first time in what felt like forever, she wasn’t nauseated. Swallowing, she discovered her throat was scratchy as sandpaper and the soreness made her wince.

  Thank God. She’s awake.

  “Water,” she gasped to whoever sat next to her.

  “You’re awake.” Luke.

  A straw slipped between her lips, and she sipped, shifting to a sitting position. The familiar walls of the infirmary surrounded her. Curtains enclosed some of the other stalls, signaling they were in use. The orderly and nurses’ station took up the center of the room, and two of the daytime nurses sat studying a computer monitor. Nurses and a doctor bustled around them.

  Everyone looked grim.

  Though her neck and throat were on fire, the rest of her felt fine. Great, in fact. She didn’t trust it, so she straightened slowly.

  The events of the past day crashed down on her.

  That’s right. The meeting. Solvimine.

  The memory led her to this room. The infirmary.

  Kitty’s presence, along with Luke’s, had been near her. Even when she couldn’t come out of the fog, she’d sensed them. Kitty had the ability to plant thoughts in people’s minds. Beth had watched it happen, though she’d never been on the receiving end. Now, though, she recognized that some of her more optimistic ruminations had probably been her friend, cheering her on. Positivity wasn’t usually her forte.

  What was unusual, though, was that Kitty had also shared her concern and her fear with Beth. Maybe she’d believed that would motivate Beth to fight harder to pull through the change. Strange strategy, but it had obviously kept her alive. Couldn’t fault something that worked, her father had always said.

  She’d noticed others, too, but mostly Luke, constantly there. She had no idea how she’d recognized him, but she had. He rarely left her side, holding her hand and worrying.

  Inhaling, again she winced at her sore throat.

  She looks like she’s in pain. “Are you all right?”

  To her left, Luke’s rangy frame filled the uncomfortably upright chair next to her bed. His hair stood on end as if he’d spent a bit of time running his fingers through it. There were dark circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in a while. Of course, the wear and tear seemed to only make him look more amazing, all tortured and concerned.

  She wondered how long she’d been out. Usually those affected took around twenty-four hours to wake up.

  That is if they woke up at all.

  Luke handed her the Styrofoam cup with her water, and she wrapped her fingers around it.

  “My throat is sore,” she croaked out, offering him a weak smile. As she held his eyes, thoughts—unfamiliar thoughts—flickered through her head. Whew. Just her throat. They’d said she was fine, but…

  She bounded to her feet so fast, the IV still attached to her arm pulled, sending a ping of pain down through her hand and up into her shoulder. The machine next to her chimed in alarm that matched her own. “Oh my God,” she breathed, stepping away from him, her hand out. “No.”

  Standing slowly, he lifted his hands like someone confronted with a wild animal. She realizes she’s changed. She’s losing it. “Just take a breath. We’ll get your IV out. It’s going to be okay. I swear.”

  Don’t tell her that. Who am I to say if it’s going to be okay?

  Beth covered her ears, but his voice remained, worrying, filled with guilt, his anxiety matching her own. “Luke, please, stop.”

  “Stop?” No. It can’t be. Not that one…

  He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.

  “I can hear,” she gasped. “I hear your thoughts.”

  Oh no.

  “Oh yes.” She nodded, circling around to the other side of the bed she’d been in, though she knew that no space between them was going to end her all-access pass into his head.

  She can hear thoughts. She’s like Kitty. He mulled that for a moment, then met her eyes again. So, you’re listening now.

  She leaned forward on the hospital bed, closing her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. It wasn’t possible. This…this gift was the hardest, the most complicated. It carried the most responsibility. She’d understood why Kitty had been given the skill to read others. But Beth wasn’t as empathetic or as compassionate.

  She wasn’t going to be able to handle this.

  Two of the orderlies stepped forward, asking her questions and checking her vitals. She didn’t think they even spoke all of them out loud, but she answered anyway, not caring whether that was rude or not, just wanting them all to get done and leave her alone while she tried to understand what this meant.

  They removed her IV, and after checking her pain levels, offered her an electrolyte drink. It was nasty, but she sucked some of it down. Maybe she was stalling, because she could hear Luke talking to Kitty and their resident medical doctor.

  “She’s like you, Kit. She can hear thoughts.”

  Poor girl. She’ll need us. “She’s going to need help. Yours and mine.”

  “I can’t.” I’m no good to anyone.

  Always so stubborn. “You can do more than you know.” Kitty glanced toward where Beth was sitting. “Go. Get her to a shower and then get her something to eat. See if you can explain things a little better.”

  At the mention of food, Beth’s stomach grumbled. Her eyes snagged on the snack cart, parked next to the nurses stand. Lorna Doone. Those cookies were the best. Right now, she’d never wanted anything more than those cookies.

  As if it couldn’t help itself, the box of single serve packets of shortbread cookies moved toward her. They floated, three feet off the ground.

  With sinking clarity, she realized she didn’t only know how to read minds.

  She was telekinetic, too.

  The Lorna Doone box hit the floor. The cookie packages skidded in every direction, and Beth took off, out of the infirmary and down the hall.

  She’d made it around the corner, on her way to her lab, when Luke’s voice caught her. “Beth. Wait!” Come on, babe. Wait up.

  He called her “babe.”

  Any other day…

  She spun on him. Like she was a caged animal, her eyes bounced around. There wasn’t anyone else there, thank God. “I can’t do this, Luke.”

  “You can.”

  “I can’t. Telekinetic and telepathic? That’s…too much. No one else is…” Except there was someone else like that, wasn’t there? “I’m like Parker. Stay away from me.”

  “You’re nothing like Parker.” The conviction rang in both his mind and his voice as he reached for her.

  “I am.” Retreating a few steps, she wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m exactly like him.”

  “No. You’
re something far better.” His tone was soft, but his thoughts…they were strong. Baby, you are one of the finest, smartest people I’ve met. You are nothing like him.

  She blinked up at him. What was this?

  “Come on.” He stretched out his hand. “You can panic later. First, a shower.”

  Staring at his outstretched palm, she hesitated.

  The rest of them…their gifts appeared to be extensions of their personalities. Didn’t that mean that she was like Parker in some way? If so, how?

  She didn’t know. But in front of her, Luke radiated faith in her. Everything in him said she could do this, that it was going to be okay. She might not believe in herself, but she believed in him.

  Slipping her fingers into his, trusting him, she followed him out of the infirmary.

  …

  Luke paced outside the women’s locker room. Beth was inside, showering and brushing her teeth. He hoped it would go a long way toward making her feel more normal after the past twenty-four hours. Then he’d take her to the cafeteria. After some real food, things would look better. He still didn’t know what he was going to tell her to help her work through her new powers. Both telepathic and telekinetic? She was right—it was a lethal combination. Those powers made Parker nearly invincible.

  How would Beth deal with the responsibility of knowing people’s thoughts?

  She had more integrity than anyone he’d ever met. She’d figure this out.

  Watching her go through the change… The first part, when the sickness came on, it might be the most painful for the victim. But as he watched the second part, when Beth became unresponsive…

  Beth’s breathing had been light, her heart rate slow. She’d become dangerously pale, a ghost on the hospital bed, whiter than the sheets. He’d rubbed his fingers across the back of her hands, tried to rub the blood into them, choking on his helplessness. Through it all, he’d beaten himself up, wondering if maybe it would be easier for her if he’d gotten her out sooner. Maybe she could have gotten an IV and oxygen faster. At one point her breathing had been so shallow, they feared she’d need a respirator.