Fear Power

by C. C. Bolick

  Skip looked up at the restaurant’s sign. “How do you feel about Korean?”

  “As long as it’s not Italian,” Angel said. “You know what happened the last time we ate spaghetti in public.”

  “You lost control. You were sedated and dragged back to the agency. It could happen to anyone.” Neither of us moved and Skip took her hand. “Second thoughts about going in there? If Travis is keeping secrets from you, learning them won’t bring you closer.”

  “I’m not worried about getting closer to Travis,” Angel said. “I need to know what he’s hiding.”

  “How did you find his car?” I asked.

  “Agent Lockhart installed a tracking device when Travis first got the car. Off the agency’s radar. Jon wanted to know Travis’s movements to keep him away from Angel.”

  Tracking device… the infamous Agent Payne was being tracked? “He doesn’t know?”

  Skip poked Angel’s side. “Not unless you told him.”

  “No,” Angel said. “It keeps slipping my mind.”

  With a laugh, Skip pulled her toward the single wooden door. “I’ll have to remember that if I ever need to keep a secret from you.”

  I squinted my eyes when we stepped inside the restaurant. The smell of fish registered before the wall-sized print of a waterfall. Square lanterns hung from the ceiling provided the only light.

  “We have a wait,” said a woman with a deep accent.

  “We’re meeting someone.” Angel scanned the room and gasped. She pointed to a table at the back. “There.”

  “It will be a tight fit.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” Angel grabbed the menus and wound through the crowded room.

  We approached the wooden table where Travis sat with two men. One of the men noticed us and stood. Travis swung his head around and scrambled to his feet. He scanned Angel and Skip before focusing on me. Those green eyes bore into me, which felt worse than his touch had.

  The other man standing cleared his throat. “I didn’t know we were expecting company.” His voice was gentle, filled with warmth and a touch of sorrow.

  With my eyes finally adjusted to the dim light, I realized this man was an older version of Skip. Their massive size—like a linebacker, even their black hair was cut short with the same look. He wore black jeans and a t-shirt, similar to what Travis wore. His voice was slightly deeper than Skip’s.

  Skip walked around the table and embraced the man. They hugged and Skip stepped back while gripping his arms. “Good to see you, Bro.”

  “Same here, little brother.”

  Tyler. This was Skip’s older brother. I shot Travis a look of surprise and he sat down in his chair. He’d removed his gloves and pushed his long black sleeves up to his elbows. I wondered if he planned to burn someone’s skin.

  Skip moved aside and allowed Tyler to hug Angel. She held Tyler in a warm embrace. He didn’t seem the least bit worried about touching her cold skin. When they finished, attention turned to me.

  I held out a hand. “Rena.”

  “Tyler.” He gave my hand a shake and put his other hand on top of mine. “A pleasure.”

  Maybe it was in his smile or how his dark eyes shined, but I felt as if we’d been friends for years. “Nice to finally meet you.”

  His eyes widened. “Travis told you about me?”

  Travis stared into the glass he held, which was short with a dark liquid.

  “You’re drinking?” I asked.

  Someone laughed at a nearby table. Angel shoved me into one of the two empty chairs between Travis and the second man. She took the one closest to Travis. Skip pulled an empty chair from another table and slid in next to Tyler.

  “Cozy,” said the man to my right. He lifted his glass and took a sip of his blue drink. His dark hair wasn’t much longer than Travis’s, with streaks of gray that matched the beard along his chin. He shot Angel a grin. “No introduction for me?”

  When no one said a word, he offered me a hand. “Van Jauler.”

  “Rena Mason.” I tried to match the force he used to grip my hand. Was he trying to break my bones?

  With a laugh, he drew back. “I love the music in this place.”

  “There’s no music,” I said.

  “Maybe the problem is you can’t hear it.”

  I lowered my voice. “Are you crazy?”

  “Did you come to eat?” Tyler waved a hand over the table, which was covered with more than a dozen small bowls with everything from potato salad to something red that reminded me of sauerkraut. “These are good and these… Skip, you’ve got to try the kimchi.”

  Travis rolled his eyes. “This isn’t a party. That’s why you weren’t invited.”

  Angel locked her hands together on the table. “I’m surprised you didn’t invite your only sister.”

  “Of course you’re invited, Angel,” Van said. “After all, we are family.”

  She looked as if she might vomit. “You and I are not family.”

  “My sister raised you. That makes me your uncle.”

  “You don’t get to talk about her.” Angel took a deep breath. “Even if she’d been my birth mother, I’d never call you family.”

  Van laughed as he watched her. “Not sharing blood doesn’t mean you can’t be like her.”

  “I get it now,” I said. “You guys are related. Now this makes sense.” I looked at Travis. “Why didn’t you tell me you were meeting family?”

  “Because I’m not.”

  Angel glared at Van with the same look she gave me when Agent Dallas made her break into my head. After a moment under her control, he reached for his drink. His hands shook and the liquid sloshed onto the table.

  “Stop it,” Tyler said.

  Van tugged at his collar. He lowered the drink and slammed a hand on the table. “Stop this.” Sweat trickled down his face.

  “Enough,” Travis said. “Van said he had an offer I couldn’t refuse. I aim to make him sorry he said those words.” His eyes slid over to Tyler. “As for you, I’m surprised you had the balls to come here.”

  Angel sighed and put her head in her hands. Did this show of power drain her?

  Tyler shoved one of the bowls toward Skip and took a bite from another. “I’m under orders.”

  “Whose orders?” Travis asked.

  “He works with me now,” Van said in a cheerful voice. “Since your agency cut him loose, we’ve welcomed Tyler with open arms.”

  “What about your family?” Skip asked. “You belong on Earth.”

  Tyler’s eyes glimmered in the light. “Other than my family, there’s nothing left for me here but a long trial. That’s what happens to traitors.”

  “You’re not a traitor,” Skip said.

  A waiter appeared and put plates of fried fish in front of Tyler and Van, whole fish that still had the eyes. He gave Travis a bowl that held rice and vegetables with a fried egg on top.

  My stomach churned with the smell of the egg. When the waiter asked for our orders, I shook my head like Angel.

  Van lifted a set of chopsticks and tore off a piece of the fish. “Glad to see not all humans waste good food.”

  The eyes of the fish seemed to watch me. I put a hand over my mouth. “Is eating that safe?”

  After tasting the fish, Van pointed the chopsticks at Travis. “Should we continue our discussion? If you’re afraid of talking in front of an audience…”

  Travis sighed. “Say what you called me here for. I don’t want to have to meet you again.”

  Van took another bite of the fish and pointed at the table. A vial the size of the salt shaker appeared. Inside the clear glass was a purple liquid that seemed to glow. Maybe it was a trick of the light.

  “What is that?” Angel asked.

  “A gift from Golvern’s queen,” Van said.

  “Golvern?” I said.

  “The other planet.” Travis stared at the vial. “How does Golvern’s queen know who I am?”

  The waiter returned with glasses of water
. I drank slowly as I tried to digest Van’s words. Another planet. A queen who sent Travis a gift.

  “Your father made many enemies,” Van said.

  Travis gave him a deadly look. “If that’s the case, this is probably poison.”

  Van shook his head. “It’s the answer you’ve been searching for. By drinking this serum, your powers will be negated for forty-eight hours.”

  Travis’s eyes widened and he turned to Tyler. “Is he telling the truth?”

  “As far as I know,” Tyler said. “I’ve seen them use this serum on people from Golvern. Depending on the dilution, the stuff can cancel powers from twenty-four hours to weeks at a time.”

  Travis turned back to Van. “Why would your queen send me this serum?”

  “To gain your trust.”

  “Cut the crap,” Travis said. “I didn’t come here for your show.”

  Van sighed. “She wanted me to give you a message.”

  “Go on.”

  “She said you could never run fast enough or far enough to escape your powers.”

  “So, she feels generous and wants to help?”

  “She understands what you’re going through. You don’t want these powers but they could be useful in saving lives.”

  “I have not one but four powers to deal with. How could she understand?”

  “She has a few powers of her own.” He looked down at Travis’s hands. “She wears gloves to prevent touching the skin of others.”

  “Because she’ll burn their skin?” Travis pulled on his gloves and I sighed with relief. Maybe he wouldn’t be burning anyone else today.

  “Because she can see their future,” Tyler said. “I’ve seen her power in action.”

  “What’s her plan?” Travis asked. “Tease me with the chance to be normal for forty-eight hours?”

  “A test,” Van said. “To see if you’re worthy.”

  Travis slammed his fists together, which made the water in our glasses vibrate. My chair shook, along with the rest of the room.

  “Earthquake,” a man from the next table yelled.

  Van stared as liquid rippled in the glasses. “Amazing, even by our standards. No one can deny you’re powerful.”

  “I never asked for these powers.” Travis lowered his voice. “No one here knows how to take them away.”

  “Like I told you, this is just a taste of how being powerless will feel. Bite the apple and exit paradise, if you think you can do it only once. As with any other drug, you’ll crave more.”

  “What are the side effects?” Travis asked.

  Angel put a hand on his arm. My eyes widened when I realized she was touching his bare skin. Maybe her power of healing worked faster than his power to burn through skin. “You aren’t seriously thinking about taking this stuff?”

  “The only side effect is nausea that should pass within an hour or two,” Van said. “Your lack of powers will make you a normal human.” He shuddered. “I can’t imagine wanting either, but to each his own.”

  “And when I want more of this drug?” Travis asked.

  Van smiled. “For the second dose, you’ll bargain with our queen.”

  “Do you know where my dad is?”

  “No,” Van said. “If I did, I’d kill him.”

  Travis’s eyebrows shot up. “You hate my father?”

  “Many people hate your father, but they’ll have to get in line when he’s finally found. There won’t be much left of Noah Payne when I finish with him.”

  “If you hate him,” Travis said, “tell me why.”

  “He ruined my life,” Van said. “He’s the reason I was captured and forced into a prison at sixteen.”

  “But you believe he’s still alive. If you want to kill him, he must still be alive. That’s the only reason I came. For the truth.”

  Van glanced across the table and Tyler shrugged.

  No one said a word while Travis stared at the vial. His fingers twitched as if he would reach for the purple liquid.

  “There’s a deck out back,” Tyler said. “Can we talk?”

  Travis pulled his sleeves down and covered the skin of his arms. He gave his friend a weak smile. “Let’s go.”

  Nodding, Tyler stood and Travis followed him through a door along the back wall. Before leaving, Travis lifted the vial and slid it into his pocket.

  As soon as the door closed, Van turned to me. “Glad you joined us, Miss Mason.”

  “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “Most people fear me.” His lips curled into a smile. “Maybe that’s why I find you interesting.”

  “How do you know who I am?”

  He lifted his glass and emptied the liquor.

  Angel leaned close. “Don’t trust anything he says.”

  This brought laughter from Van. “I know all about you and your father. I’ve heard stories of the great Donald Mason. Almost as infamous as Noah Payne.”

  “What do you know about Travis’s dad?” I asked.

  “He wasn’t the great agent he pretended to be. I assume if he’s found on Earth, they’ll probably shoot him as we would on Golvern.”

  “This is hard for me to imagine,” I said. “I just learned about this other planet. Now you’re saying you traveled across the galaxy just to see Travis? Are you here for some kind of revenge against his dad?”

  Van tilted his head toward Angel. “I’m not and if you want her to check my motives, go ahead.”

  Angel shook her head. “I read your emotions before the food was served. You’re not here to kill anyone. You need our help. You feel fear, which you hide behind your smiles.”

  He looked at me. “You’re loyal to this agency when they won’t hesitate to use you for their own agenda.”

  I thought of Hannah and shivered. She opposed Sylvia and was now locked in a cell on the isolation floor. Rachelle struggled to control her power and the agency threatened to send her away. I’d lost control and was shot.

  “Things have changed,” Angel said. “Sylvia has been working to rid the agency of corruption.”

  “Corruption?” Van said. “Her agency has a history of holding people against their will. They won’t hesitate to use Miss Mason’s powers as they see fit. You’re more powerful than anyone and still they have power over you.”

  “The agency is my family,” she said.

  “And mine,” I said.

  Van lifted his drink and frowned at the empty glass. “They’ll betray you both.”

  I raised my head and spoke with force. “The agency is my home.”

  “Then I pity you,” he said. “When they’ve left you with nothing, when you realize you can’t trust anyone, not even your own father, you’ll reach out to anyone willing to keep you from drowning.”

  “I’ll make sure she’s safe,” Angel said.

  “You let me know how that works out.” Van pulled a white card the size of a business card from his jacket and held it out for me.

  I reached for the card and read the gold string of twenty-two numbers. “What is this, tonight’s lotto numbers?”

  “A phone number. I’ve been told you still use those devices here. When you need help, call the number.”

  “Like E.T. phone home? This is the part where I wake up and realize this was all a dream.”

  Van leaned close. “I’ll be that someone willing to keep you from drowning.”

  “For a price,” I said. “You’ll want something from me just like you want something from Travis.”

  He nodded. “When that day comes, we’ll both want the same thing.”

  “Don’t believe a word he says.” Angel pulled me away from him. “This man knows no loyalty.”

  Van motioned for the waiter to bring him another drink. “When you call, we’ll have a long talk about loyalty.”

  Chapter Eight

  Travis drove me back to the base in his Ferrari. Back in Savannah, I thought I’d never see the car again after it crashed into a harbor. The speedometer topped one hundred as we fle
w down the highway and took the exit for the airport. Even when Max chased us on the way to Savannah, Travis never sped like this. He was a careful driver. In control at all times.

  As he stared through the windshield, the truth became clear. He couldn’t wait to get me back to the base.

  When we reached the airport, he parked in an empty spot on the parking deck at the end of a long row of cars.

  “This is a great spot,” I said.

  “This is where I always park.”

  I laughed. “The agency keeps this spot open for you?”

  “When I’m gone, I turn on a hologram of a dented Ford like the one you drove back in Florida. No one ever steals my spot.” He killed the ignition and gripped the steering wheel while we sat in silence.

  “I’m glad you got your car back.”

  He took a deep breath. “It would be better if you don’t mention that meeting to anyone, especially Sylvia. As far as the agency is concerned, Tyler is missing in action.”

  “Okay.”

  Travis turned and stared at me. “I thought we’d established trust. Why did you tell Angel and Skip I left?”

  “I was worried about you.”

  “I can take care of myself.”

  “You promised no more lies and then you run off to meet someone from another planet.”

  “That meeting had nothing to do with you. Van knows where my dad is, I can feel it.”

  “Angel said he was hiding something. Did you know Tyler was working with him?”

  Travis shook his head. “I figured Tyler was on a beach somewhere lying low. I had no idea he’d hooked up with Van.”

  “How do you know Van?”

  “He helped with a mission. You’ve heard about the volcano?”

  I nodded. The agency had saved Earth from a volcano that almost blew and wiped out half of the population. It was how Angel got burns across her entire body.

  “Van helped with that mission. Without him, we might be dead.”

  “I’m confused. Is he one of the good guys or bad guys?”

  “Bad. He’s stringing me along to get… I don’t even know what he’s after.”

  “Do you think…” I swallowed. “Are you going to take the serum?”

  “Van thinks I will. Whatever he’s after, he wants it bad enough to come to me.” Travis reached for my hand. “Your dad should be back tonight. Don’t tell him I met Van or Tyler.”