Riley jerked her hand out of Alec’s just as the door from the camper bedroom opened. She held her orb in her palm and frowned as if unable to figure out what to do with it as Anna stared at them both. Alec leaned over and stared at Riley as if enthralled with her efforts. The second the door closed behind the departing Anna, he urged Riley to put the orb away. “She might pick up any of your thoughts.”
Riley nodded. “Good idea.” She paused then added, “Darius was boosting our reception. I usually can’t hear anyone that clearly. In case you’re wondering.” She turned away and stowed her own orb in her pocket, keeping her back to him. It was too late. He’d already seen the blush tingeing her cheeks.
“Yeah, well,” Alec cleared his throat. “You’re still really good at it. Amazing actually.”
Riley picked up a tiny porcelain figurine from a shelf across from the bed and examined it carefully. “Uh, thanks,” she said.
Alec sat immobile and watched her, but despite his assumption she’d leave, she didn’t. After a moment she sat back down beside him. He bit the inside of his lip and wished for something really clever or witty to say to break the increasing tension, but nothing came to mind and he felt like an idiot. Still, it was far better than thinking about going back to Home Base. And Logan.
12
Riley thought innocuous thoughts about her orb, her hair, and her clothes as much as she possibly could, just in case Anna was listening in. It was a strain to keep it up but she felt she’d been pretty successful. Anna hadn’t given her any strange looks or indication that she thought Riley was anything but a vacuous teenager while they ate their meal. But in a couple of minutes, Anna would return from the take-out restaurant’s bathroom and Riley knew that Anna would soon consider teleporting to Home Base. It would be next to impossible to keep any secrets there. There were so many Tyon Operatives wandering around and lots of them were telepaths. The instant anyone realized Alec could move people through time he was a goner.
And even if she could convince Darius not to take them back to the Tyon Base, Peter was the other problem. Riley couldn’t be sure that Darius’s hold over Peter would continue or even extend to Peter’s thoughts. She couldn’t be sure what Peter felt about Alec’s situation or if he even remembered it—she hadn’t had a chance to touch Peter with her orb to explore his thoughts, and for some reason, she wasn’t as in tune with his emotions as she was Alec’s.
Either way, it was a lousy situation.
They were parked at the farthest edge of the drive-through parking lot. Darius watched through the front windscreen as Anna crossed the parking lot to the restaurant. The instant she was inside he grabbed Peter’s arm, dragged him into the bedroom and shut the door. Riley waited, chewing her nails until she couldn’t stand it any longer. She might not have a chance like this again.
Peter was sitting on the bed, his back against the headrest. A trickle of sunlight through the crack in the drapes glinted off his miniscule diamond stud. He looked scared to death. Darius was sitting on the edge of the bed on the far side. Both his hands were curled into fists and the glint of an orb peaked from one of them. Both looked up as she entered.
Riley didn’t bother to soften the blow. “We’ve got to get away from her. If Logan gets within ten meters of Alec he’s gonna know.”
“Tell me about it,” Darius said. He glanced at Peter then back at her.
“I think you should kill her,” Riley continued.
Darius jerked back as if he’d been scalded. “Are you nuts?”
“Dare, I know that you’ve got a thing with this woman. Beats me why, but who knows how men think? But the hard fact is that Anna’ll turn you in as quick as she can blink. You know it. You can’t trust her. And she’s dead in the last future too. So it isn’t very different.”
“I’ve just got to set it up. Get her on board. That’s going to take a bit of work.”
“Forget it. She’ll turn your ass in.”
“You’re wrong, Riley. And you have to trust me.” Darius stood up. His face had hardened, as he brushed past her and closed the door.
“He told me everything,” Peter said, injecting the gloom with an even more somber tone.
“What?” Riley lifted her head. Had Darius completely lost his mind?
“About Alec. What he can do. What’ll happen to him if anyone finds out.” Peter’s expression momentarily morphed into one of extreme dislike, although Riley had no idea if it was that the idea of his brother being murdered was unpalatable or that Alec was so powerful. Or both. “So?”
“So,” Peter shrugged. “I can’t let Alec get whacked.”
“Thought you hated him.”
“I do.” Peter pulled his knees up and balanced his crossed arms upon them. He was struggling with something and waves of an emotion she couldn’t quite place rolled off him. For a moment he didn’t speak. “I’m his older brother. I have a responsibility.”
“Like I said, so?”
“My parents would kill me if I let anything happen to Alec. And it would break my mom’s heart. She’s had enough trouble lately.”
“True.” Riley didn’t add that having only one son come to her rescue when she was about to be decked by her husband was also a heart breaker. Annoying Peter at this point was not a good idea, no matter how big a jerk he was.
“So, you’re going to play along, keep Alec safe and keep your mouth and your mind off the topic of Alec’s little abnormality. Right?”
“I’m not saying anything to this Anna person,” Peter affirmed.
“And Darius reminded you that Anna is highly adept at plucking the most private thoughts out of your brain and inspecting them without your knowledge or consent, right? You know how to keep your thoughts off Alec entirely, right?”
Even in the gloom she saw him blanch. “No,” he replied warily. “What do you mean?”
“She’s a skilled telepath,” Riley informed him quickly, aware that every moment she was in the bedroom was a moment she was not out with Alec, keeping an eye on things. “And she is not, no matter how much Darius wants to believe it, on our side. Her main loyalty is to the Tyon Commander, Logan. Hope you never meet him.”
Riley returned to the empty main room of the camper, Peter on her heels. She dropped to her knees on the couch and peered out the window. Alec was standing by the side of the trailer tossing pebbles into the ditch. Sunlight glinted off the expanding rings of water. Farther along the roadway, Darius walked side by side with Anna. They were too far away to hear what was being said but Anna’s posture was worth a thousand words.
“Rats,” Riley hissed. She was out the door and at Alec’s side a moment later. She grabbed his arm just as he was about to launch a handful of stones at the stagnant water several feet away.
“What?” He jumped with fright.
“Anna’s about to hear about your special gift, buddy boy. You and I need to be ready to zap out of here the minute she comes gunning for you, that’s what. Get your orb out.” Riley didn’t take her eyes off the pair now nearly half a kilometer down the road.
“I thought Darius wanted to get back into the Base?” Alec pulled his arm away from Riley, gave his approaching brother a wary look, and then swung the stones away. They splattered into the ditch with a dull plunk.
“There are dozens of mind readers there. You’ll be toast in seconds.”
“You don’t have to keep going on about it. I’m ready.” He pointed to the bulge of his orb. “And if I’m going anywhere, I’m going alone.”
“Are you crazy?” Riley gasped.
“I’m faster on my own. I’m less of a target on my own. It’s me he’s gonna come after. You’re better off out of the way.”
Riley peered intently at him. He was serious. “I disagree.” He wouldn’t last a minute without her planning for him. “We’re in this together. You can’t just dump me. Who’ll do the thinking?”
“I’m not stupid,” Alec flared. He leaned over her, eyes blazing. “I may not get the b
est marks in the world and I suppose, by your estimation, that makes me nothing, but I happen to be a great strategist. I never panic in tough situations and I’m a hell of lot tougher than you are. It’s my mind they want. My superior abilities. Not yours. So piss off.”
For a horrible moment, Riley thought she might cry. She hastily brought her emotions under control. No one told her to piss off.
“I think he’s right. A separated target is a harder one to find.” Peter scuffed at the gravel with a toe, looking at neither of them.
“What would you know about it?” Riley rounded on him angrily. “Ten seconds ago you were hoping he’d get run over by a truck and now you’re trying to convince him to go it alone because he’ll be more successful? Neither of us is about to take anything you say seriously.”
“I’m just pointing out that he’s making sense.” Peter folded his arms. “And you’re yelling.”
“So?” Riley screeched.
“They’re listening.” Peter nodded towards Darius and Anna who had stopped and were now staring back at them. “Your thoughts are probably in bold caps.”
Sickened, Riley slapped her hand across her lips before she could say another thing. A deep hurt was spreading throughout her chest, like someone had stabbed her.
“I need a diversion,” Alec said. He was speaking to his brother, over the top of her head as if he couldn’t be bothered to look her in the eye. “The second you think she’s gonna come after me, take Riley, and teleport somewhere. Anywhere. Just don’t go where I’m going.”
“And just where are you going?”
“Can’t tell you. In case she reads it off you.”
“I can’t teleport or whatever. I don’t even have one of these crystal balls of yours,” Peter reminded him.
“Orbs. And Riley has one. She needs help but if you’ve got any power like me you can boost her. Just think really strongly of disappearing and it should happen.”
Peter shrugged but his face betrayed his uneasiness. “Don’t go home. That’s the first place they’ll look.”
“Don’t worry.”
“I won’t.”
“Yeah, well, thanks anyway.”
Riley stamped her foot. They were talking about her as if she wasn’t there. Idiots. If she weren’t such a lady she’d have smacked their heads together. “I am not,” she repeated, “not going to run off with Peter, and you can just get that stupid thought out of your mind, because—”
“Hey!”
She didn’t get any further. A shout from the distance interrupted her rant. Anna was bolting towards them at a dead run, Darius right behind her.
Oh no. Darius had told her. She was going to kill Alec.
“Run,” Riley screamed.
Alec glanced around to see Anna. Almost instantly he turned back to Riley, his face set with a determination she’d never seen before. He leaned forward, grabbed her upper arms and pulled her up and into him. He kissed her hard. Her heart zoomed up into her throat. Something inside her exploded into being. “Take care,” he whispered before letting go and winking out of existence.
Too stunned to grasp what had just happened, Riley felt Peter’s hand clutch her own. The power surged from the orb clasped between them, up her arm and into her torso.
“Make it go,” Peter urged frantically, his eyes wild with shock.
Riley had one last glimpse of Darius passing Anna, waving his arms frantically, the sound of his shout lost in Peter’s urgent cry. Then she focused her inner attention on getting them out of there.
13
Alec materialized on the edge of a massive crowd of people. The acutely disorienting effect of teleporting caused him to fall backwards onto a tiled wall. He flung out his hands to stop from toppling over. The instant he was steady he shoved his orb into his pocket.
He was in a huge hall. Lined with tiled walls and vending machines, it contained far too many people all hurrying in various directions. Signs hung down from the ceiling slightly off to his right above a series of escalators heading down into the bowels of the earth. The coloured ceramics surrounding the escalator openings made his eyes water. The instant the vertigo left him, he stepped out from the slight alcove he’d arrived in, and peered upwards. Northern Line, Platforms 3 and 4. Alec swallowed the bile at the back of his throat and took several deep breaths. The air was congested, filled with dust and the odour of underground circulation. Not entirely displeasing and certainly distinctive.
He glanced around. No one seemed to be paying him any attention. He didn’t have the strange sensation that preceded seeing an Emissary. He wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans. A tingle of excitement shuddered through him. Now he just had to figure out which subway station he was in and where he wanted to go.
He turned away from the escalators and followed the trail of people. There were many tourists holding maps and peering intently at the signs, as well as shoppers and the occasional businessperson. Slipping into the busy summer crowd was easy enough and Alec let himself be washed forward with the surrounding swell of humanity.
The wide hall opened up to a huge central station. Here the milling crowd separated into several streams and surged through what Alec quickly determined were ticket collecting machines before emptying out of the station to the surrounding streets. Alec eased himself off to the side.
He didn’t have a ticket and it appeared that you had to slip one into the machine for the gates to open. He bit the inside of his lip. He could steal someone else’s ticket he supposed, but in all honesty his pick-pocketing skills were pretty abysmal. His orb might be of use to trick the machine into thinking it had a ticket but Alec wasn’t going to touch his orb again unless it was an emergency. He was going to have to try and slip through unnoticed and, if worse came to worse, run like crazy.
He read the street signs—Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street, Charing Cross—that hung above the steps leading up to sunshine. None were particularly familiar although Charing Cross had a ring to it he liked. Impulsively deciding, he eased back into the crowd and headed obliquely towards the wheelchair exit. Two tottering, elderly Japanese tourists each wheeling a huge suitcase preceded directly ahead of him. Perfect.
Alec waited until the man’s ticket triggered a green light and the wide exit doors swung open. Dashing around them, he cleared the exit before the man could shout in anger. Alec looked back for a second. The doors had permitted one person through and the man was now stuck, halfway through the barrier, his wife yelling at him that the trip to England was a huge mistake and that he couldn’t do anything right. Alec chuckled and ran.
He took the stairs three at a time and dodged several slower moving commuters with ease. He emerged onto the wide street and came to a sudden stop.
The street in front of him was packed with double-decker buses, cars, motorbikes and at least a dozen beetle-shaped black cabs, all jockeying for far too little roadway. The smells of diesel fumes, cigarettes, and several types of foods assailed his nostrils. There were people everywhere: gazing in shop windows, streaming purposely past each other, chatting, smoking, and talking on cellphones. Tourists with cameras were taking photos of the street and the grey stone buildings that lined each side of the road above the stores and businesses. Alec had no idea where exactly in London he was, but it didn’t matter. This was a huge city and he was just one of millions. Darius would never find him here.
And every single one of those millions could turn into an Emissary. Alec blew out a lungful of air with the realization and vowed to keep his hands off his orb.
The next several hours were spent wandering without plan or destination. When his feet began to ache he realized that taking one of the on-off tour buses that wove through the city would be the smartest idea. He’d get a better lay of the land that way and save the rubber soles of his runners from wearing out. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long to find a discarded ticket in a garbage bin near one of the bus stops.
He clambered aboard the first double decker tha
t stopped, flashed his ticket to the collector and made his way up the narrow circular stairs to the upper deck, two at a time. The only empty seat was near the back. Alec kept his balance as the bus lurched forward and he dropped into the seat with a contented sigh. He fished the earphones out of the sealed plastic bag and, after selecting the English channel on the dial next to his elbow, shoved the ear buds in his ears. The commentary didn’t quite muffle the constant comments from an obnoxious group of tourists behind him, but it helped.
The traffic was heavy and the going slow. The sun was gloriously warm and with the steady drone of the commentator in his ear, Alec found himself getting sleepy. The bus turned into Trafalgar Square and came to a stop. Alec felt his head bob and he straightened up in his seat, afraid that someone had witnessed him dozing off. He rested his arm on the rail and cupped his chin. Soon it would be time to get off and find something to eat.
His orb began to burn. Alec jerked upright and managed at the last second not to reach into his pocket to grab it. A distinctly cold, unpleasant feeling pulsated from the crystal and a creepy sensation ran down Alec’s back.
Trying not to be obvious, Alec scanned his surroundings. The crowds were still pretty heavy even this late in the afternoon. On the steps of the National Gallery, a crowd of high-school students were laughing and cavorting, despite the harried instructions of their teacher. Tourists were feeding the pigeons by the monument and taking pictures of each other, covered in the filthy birds. Businessmen and women were striding impatiently through the crowds, laptop bags swinging and cellphones out and to the ears.
The feeling persisted as the bus restarted its journey. Alec slumped down in his seat. It didn’t feel like Rhozan. It felt different, like… Something caught his eye. There, by Nelson’s column.
There were three of them. Two very tall individuals and one smaller. Another double decker, travelling in the opposite direction, stopped right in front him and blocked his field of vision. Cursing the stupid bus Alec stood up. It was no use. He couldn’t see over it.
Time of Treason Page 8
