by LeAnn Mason
“Very good. Now, who could I be talking to if you don’t hear anyone speak?”
“Anyone!” he roared, letting frustration get the better of him, his cheeks becoming ruddy with heat.
“True. Remember that, Perez. I can see inside your head, and I don’t trust you.” I leaned closer to him, our eyes locked on each other. “I was explaining to Holden what I had laughed about. I was getting ready to liken that cartoon beast devil to a flipped Primal when you interrupted me.”
“What’s it like?” another asked, breaking the tension.
“Hmm?” I turned to face the newcomer, a fairly thick man with sandy-blonde hair, much like mine, shorn nearly to the scalp everywhere not covered by his cap, and curious brown eyes. “What’s it like being Enhanced? No… telepathic. Being able to read every mind in my radius without trying, or even wanting to? That’s what you meant, right?”
“Yeah.” He drew out the word slowly, almost unsure.
“Sorry to be so abrupt with you fine gentlemen,” I sniped. “But it gets really hard to ignore when you’re all basically yelling at me in such close quarters and for such a long time. It gives me monster headaches.” I cut my eyes back to Perez. “Those who judge us before they know a damn thing make me a bit cranky when my head hurts.”
“I, myself, have been intrigued by the idea of super-charged humans. I love superhero movies,” the blond man gushed.
“Unfortunately, we are not superheroes,” Devlin interjected. “We can all be hurt just like you can. We may have abilities which you do not, but we are flawed in other ways.”
“Your gift is stealth, right?”
“Yes.” Dev nodded.
“What does that mean?” This guy truly was interested, his eyes alight as he questioned, scooting to the edge of his seat.
“It means I’m a predator.”
“You look like a meathead,” Perez snorted.
“Just hope you don’t give us a reason to hunt you.” Dev smiled maliciously, letting a little of his darkness reach the surface. Perez blanched but quickly recovered, turning to face the window once more. It was talent to make a hardened soldier balk. Well done, Dev. I nonverbally commended my mentor.
“And you?” the guy motioned at Holden, not sure how to engage him.
Holden flattened his left hand, mimicking scribbling over it with his right.
“You write?”
Holden pointed with one hand to the guy and touched his nose with the index finger of the other.
“Exactly,” I answered. “Or I speak for him if needed.”
“Well, that’s handy.” He nodded to himself before turning back around, giving us all a bit of quiet to sink back into as we headed toward the city in which we were expected to spend our time. Their minds never let up, though. Good thing I had my earbuds. Escaping into the deep baritone talking about all the things that happened and weren’t his fault, I tuned out what I could from the others.
The contemplative silence in the cramped vehicle turned to stunned awe once we began meandering through the city. We were used to modern amenities, thankfully, but what we saw here was to a scale and shine that we were definitely not used to. It was so big. There were so many people, so many cars. The houses ranged in size and appeal. It had never been more apparent, the scale of difference between Minefield and what the rest of the world had evolved into.
I was especially taken aback by the skyscrapers downtown. The buildings were absolutely huge and gleamed like a giant’s mirror, catching the sunlight as we circled nearer and, at one point, blinding me with its reflection. Devlin and Holden mirrored my thoughts. We all were about to have sensory overload. This was… a lot, a lot more than I ever expected to see, but I sure wanted to explore.
“We’ve rented an entire floor of a local hotel, so you will have privacy from other residents. You will, however, be bunking with a roommates,” blondie said without looking back at us. “Once we unload, we’ll convene in a conference room on the premises and give more details about certain aspects and how we will proceed. Good to go?”
We each gave a varied assent, too many things running through our minds to give his comments the attention they deserved. We were all distracted.
“We’re in big trouble,” I murmured. “How can we take all this in and still focus on what we need to do? Geez, we’ll be on overload the whole time, and we are completely unfamiliar with the area and we don’t have a tracker anymore.” My panicked tirade turned to sorrow by the end. We didn’t have our tracker anymore. Dane was dead. He’d never see a city like this, never experience the joy of being able to see new places.
I miss him, too, Holden soothed as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and delivered a placating kiss to my temple. I melted into his side, taking comfort in his presence. I was so glad I was able to have this experience with my team. I needed people that I trusted, people that I loved, with me while I became worldlier.
“Is this a strictly work-related outing or are you guys going to show us the sights?” Dev asked with guarded skepticism. The man was hopeful but hiding it; he didn’t want to give anyone leverage over him. I probably should take my cue from him and tuck my emotions away until they couldn’t be used against me… but was there ever such a time?
“We’ll fill you in once we have gotten you situated,” was the curt reply.
Perez was smirking at us, and his beady eyes narrowed further. Too bad you’ve been a prisoner your whole life. You have many things to get used to here in the real world.
“I bet we adapt better than you would, soldier,” I replied with false sweetness, matching his smirk with one of my own. “I’d love to see how you did on a Minefield field trip.”
A moment later, we pulled up to a darkly-paved parking lot which took up about the same amount of space as the hospital in Minefield. Each space was delineated by thick white lines with cement curbs at their head. This parking lot alone probably cost as much to put into production as it had to pave half of Minefield. When my eyes swung to the building we’d be occupying, I thought I was looking at an apartment building, albeit a much nicer one than what we had back home. It was colored in earthy tones and decorated in large rectangular structures. It was several floors, eight judging by the number of windows between the ground and the roof.
“Oh my gosh, Nat! This is crazy. Did you see all the buildings on our way in? Did you see all the people?” Jade said in a rush as she exited her Humvee that had parked directly to the right of ours. “The car ride was a mess, all those swirling emotions! Oh, man. I bet you had it worse. How’s your head?” Jade was just as hyped as I was, filled with both excitement and apprehension.
“I think we both could use a massive dose of headache medicine after that ride,” I returned, bumping her shoulder playfully. Jade understood what I was going through. “Tell me your escort didn’t have a douche like Perez in it.”
“Well, I didn’t hear their thoughts, just their emotional state, but… it was kind of a swirl. They don’t know what to make of us. I think they’re just as on edge as we are.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” I said solemnly as I shouldered the bag handed to me and began walking toward the building. I felt trapped, as we were surrounded by our escorts. Two in each direction and every one of them was armed with automatic weapons and most likely a multitude of sharp objects to complement the guns. “Why does it seem like we’re prisoners—again?”
Devlin ducked a bit, so he could give us a whispered directive. He didn’t trust the situation any more than the rest of us. “Don’t let yourself get sidetracked by all the glittering lights, team. We need to be aware. At all times. We are no longer home. We don’t have any idea of what to expect from these people.”
We knew it was the truth. None of us could afford to relax our vigilance. We’d need to form a plan as soon as possible. I nodded. “Let’s get their meeting over with so that we can have our own strategy session.”
“Eyes up, ears open,” Dev a
greed. We all nodded, plodding along like a herd of cattle to the slaughter. Man, I really hoped that wasn’t the truth. I really wanted to go to the zoo.
CHAPTER 13
The rooms were bright and clean, about the size of the apartments I’d been in, with a separate sitting area, kitchen, and bedroom. The artworks were all abstract and used a pale color palette, which tied the pieces together. Each room was an exact replica of the others, the artwork being the only variant. It wasn’t my cup of tea, but then again, it was supposed to be a generic stopping-point for ninnies on the move, not a permanent home for a newly-released Enhanced human.
It was weird. None of us really knew what to think about what we were stepping into. Whatever it was, we would be really conspicuous if we had a military escort armed to the hilt at all times. We needed to ditch the unit if we stood any chance of making it through this experience without drawing a massive amount of attention. With attention came scrutiny and, most likely, fear. I really didn’t want to learn just how much the general population hated the idea of Enhanced in their midst, though I was sure we’d be introduced to it sooner rather than later.
“Do you remember where we were supposed to gather for our briefing?” Jade asked as she unpacked her overnight bag, setting the ditty bag in the bathroom just off the bedroom. Holden and I were unpacking our few clothes into the dark wooden dresser where a television perched like a dark sentinel.
Knight said we needed to meet down in the Balustrade Conference Room at sixteen hundred hours, Holden informed me as he looked around, spotting a digital clock on the nightstand to the right of the large bed. The large green numbers flashed 3:46, giving us about another ten minutes before we needed to head down to the main floor in an attempt to locate this conference room.
“Is it just me, or does us meeting in the conference room of a publicly-accessed hotel seem a little, I don’t know, unsecure?” It didn’t seem like the best way to tell us what was going on, but what did I know about how ninnies did things. They didn’t ask me, so I wasn’t going to offer any thoughts on the matter. No, sir.
Luckily—or unluckily, depending on how you looked at it—Jade and Holden both agreed with me. It seemed off.
“We need to make sure that we are on guard at all times. We need to keep each other’s safety at the top of our priorities. We need to have our own team meeting after the briefing. This was sprung on us quickly and with no information, so we need to prepare ourselves to the best of our abilities. Let’s meet up with the others before we head out.”
As we filed out of our room, Devlin and Trent exited a room diagonal to ours, having had the same thoughts: safety in numbers right now. We moved as a group down the hall another couple of doors, knocking on the door numbered four-ten where Steve should be holed up. After a moment, Steve opened the door, blonde hair mussed and wet at the temples and forehead. Water clung to his lashes, turning them a darker color and exaggerating their existence. Maybe Steve needed to wear mascara; it did wonders for his eyes.
“What are you guys doing here?” Steve asked, annoyance clear in his tone, which I ignored to push myself inside. He’d already fully unpacked and had the television on with a news station prattling on in the background.
I stood in the middle of the sitting room and turned in a circle. “C’mon, Boat Shoes. I know this is apparently familiar turf to you, which I don’t really want to know the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of, but we need to stay close to one another on this outing. We need to watch out for each other. No one else is going to do it for us.”
“Yes, they will. That’s exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. It’s literally their job.” Steve waved me off as the rest of the team filed into the space, making it feel infinitely smaller than it had upon my solo entry. The same type of abstract pastel print hung on the wall in front of me. It seemed cold and impersonal. I decided I really didn’t like them.
“Do you really think they’re going to put themselves between us and an angry mob?” Jade asked, hands on her hips in a combative stance. She was just as worried as me and was most likely soaking up the excess wafting from everyone in the vicinity, except for Steve, who was going about things like he didn’t have a care in the world.
“Wait. Have you… been in a hotel before?” I had caught some thought that explained his familiarity with the situation. “Have you been outside of Minefield?” With a defiant chin-lift, Steve nodded. Once. His eyes never left mine.
“Shit, man. I knew you were spoiled, but damn!” Dev boomed heatedly.
“Whatever, where’s Trent? We need to head down to the conference room. We have five minutes, and we can’t be tardy.” Steve pushed his way to the door, grabbing the little grey plastic card that rested on the kitchen counter as he passed.
“Oh crap,” I groaned. At the questioning looks from those around me, I elaborated. “I forgot to grab the key thingy to get back into the room.” I wasn’t used to using a plastic implement to open doors. Forgive me!
“You can have them make you another when we’re done. For now, we need to move,” Steve said, trying to corral the lot of us out of his room. Trent met us in the hallway after using the restroom in Steve’s room, and we all made our way back toward the elevator. One smart thing so far: we were all bunking with a roomie. I may not like not getting nights alone with Holden, but I felt better keeping Jade close.
After only a couple of wrong turns, we made our way into the “Balustrade Conference Room.” What a stupid name for a room. I snorted. Inside were a number of people I’d never seen before, along with our military escort unit, making the large room look a little tighter. Thoughts buffeted me the moment I stepped into the room, and I learned that this new group was a little more interested in us. They weren’t happy, but they seemed… curious. I sensed no outright hostility, which was a plus.
Blondie from the escort, who I’d learned was named “Knight” once I could read his name tag, stood at the head of the group in what I was beginning to think of as the soldier stance: legs wide and planted, hands knit behind his back, shoulders square, chin up. His eyes were still partially obstructed by how low they wore their military hats. The whole picture was imposing. Luckily, this man at least was intrigued by us and, so far, hadn’t shown the same derision toward us as some of his colleagues had.
I’d be sad to see him go. Picking his brain gave me some answers as to how we’d be proceeding, and what I learned had my shoulders relaxing, at least a fraction. “So, we’re getting a plain-clothes protection detail, huh?” I asked as I came to a halt in front of the group of newcomers, my eyes roving over each of them in turn. My team at my back, did the same. No sense beating around the bush.
“Did you read my mind for that or are you just that good?” Knight asked slowly.
I shrugged. Let them think on it for a bit; a little mystery was a good thing in this situation, I’d wager. I didn’t want to give away my hand when I knew nothing of theirs. None of us did, which is why the team remained quiet behind me.
“Well, you are correct, Miss Dae,” Knight began. “Me and my guys were only supposed to be a secure method of transportation into the city. From here on out, you will be attended by a plain-clothes detail provided by the city S.W.A.T. team. You are the highest priority for the moment and will have a highly-trained team surveilling you covertly at all times. They have also been given rooms in between each of yours, with a door adjoining the two for quick access in an emergency.”
Jade bumped my side with her shoulder, and she was doing her best to smother a giant smirk as her mind taunted me. That means you’ll have to be extra quiet when you have sex. Don’t want these guys barging in thinking you’re dying, busting down the door to draw down on you sitting cowgirl atop your man.
A strangled sound escaped my throat, and Jade couldn’t contain her laugh, a quick bark escaping to draw the attention of the entire room. She pounded on her chest and pushed out a couple of fake coughs to cover her breach of etiquette. Laughter during a brie
fing was a definite no-no, especially as a first impression on ninny law enforcement. “I’m sorry. Continue,” she choked out, her face flaming with embarrassed heat.
Served her right.
A moment later, Knight introduced a dark, brawny man, probably in his thirties, as “Hamm” and stepped aside so the other man could speak. The newcomer stood straighter, calling attention to himself before ever opening his mouth.
“Your team has been invited into this city to act as consultants on cases as needed with local law enforcement. To see how and where your skills can be put to use in tough situations. The second objective is to see how well you play with others. We are here as backup, as watchdogs. We will always be around, but hopefully none of us will be obvious unless needed.”
“For us or against us?” I had a feeling they were more like babysitters, keeping an eye on my team, making sure that we didn’t cause any trouble. It kind of irked me.
Dark hazel eyes slowly moved to pin me with a shrewdness that was indicative of his experiences. “Whichever is needed,” he said. His thoughts were all business. He wasn’t sure what to make of us, so his thoughts were ambivalent to everything about us except how we would be received in his city.
I kept my eyes locked with his but dipped my chin once. I could respect that. If we put him or others in danger, then I fully understood if he moved into the Enhanced Haters’ Club. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be a problem we’d have to deal with. It was only fair that I warn him it was also that way for us. I wasn’t the only one; the rest of my team looked around at each other, a silent pact being struck: no one would get between us. We’d watch our own backs, and we’d watch the watchers.
Forty minutes later, I was pushed through the doorway of my hotel room, the rest of the EEA at my back, anxious to discuss what we’d just learned downstairs in the conference room full of babysitters.
