by LeAnn Mason
“Holy crap, guys! They just gave us money and phones! They gave me a laptop. I can do soooo much with this baby,” Trent crooned while snuggling up to the white folded computer he clutched in his tech-greedy mitts. I didn’t think I’d ever seen his blue eyes so luminous. He couldn’t wait to play with all his new toys.
I’m worried about the strings that these “gifts” come with, Holden mused.
“I’m with him; they had to expect something from us. They wouldn’t just give us all these shiny new and obviously expensive toys for nothing. I’m keeping my telepathy on them when in proximity. I’ll let you know what I find out.”
“You do remember that we can’t hear what Holden says, right? Usually good to give us a little idea of what that is.”
“Oh, come on, Dev. The comment was self-explanatory. There is no way that we got credit cards, techy phones—already programmed with the numbers of the others we received—and accommodations such as this for “lending them our expertise.” I can’t help but think there’s a catch.”
“Why can’t they show us a little appreciation? You are so skeptical. This is the first step of a united world. We are the first step,” Steve pushed heatedly. He was the only one thinking these “perks” were gifts; the rest of us were a little more wary. We’d been shut away for too long by the very people who were surrounding us in this situation. It was hard to forget, unless you were Steve Davidson and had apparently already experienced at least some of the things in his life. The rest of us sure hadn’t. His clothes and those damn boat shoes sure made more sense now, though.
“Are you saying that the things you were given by the government while in Minefield didn’t come with any strings?” Jade asked, joining in on the inquisition we were throwing at Councilman Davidson’s offspring. We needed to remember who he was through all of this. He would always be loyal to his father first.
I moved to sit on the low couch along the left wall of the room we now stood in, its cushions much harder than I anticipated. I groaned as I landed with a heavy thud upon the gaudy paisley fabric. “Guys, let’s not devolve. We need to keep one thing in the fore of our minds: we need to protect ourselves. They won’t be able to do it as well as we can ourselves. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, wherever we end up, we watch out for each other first and foremost. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” chorused around me, and I relaxed a little bit into the boulder masquerading as a couch. I wasn’t sure just what we were in for while out in the city, but I would rest easier knowing that my team watched my back. I trusted them—even Steve—one hundred times more than I did the nameless, faceless ninnies who were assigned my team as a job. They didn’t have the stakes that we did. We didn’t truly matter to them like we did to each other. Who better to watch my six than those who did it on the regular?
“Great! Now that we have that settled, who’s hungry?” Trent said, rubbing his hands together and licking his chops. The guy hadn’t been able to sit and gorge himself on all the snack food junk he normally would during the day, and he was going through withdrawals. The light dimmed a little from his eyes as he recalled that we had no idea where to go or how to get there. “Crap, who wants to ask our chaperones about how to get some grub?”
CHAPTER 14
Ten minutes later, the whole gaggle of us descended upon the hotel bar. That’s right, the hotel was big enough to have its own restaurant and bar, and it was much more upscale than anything I was used to. The floors gleamed with a slippery-looking shine that I couldn’t help but eye suspiciously. I knew it was only a matter of time before it jumped up and bit me.
I’ll hold you up. He knew me so well. I pivoted slightly and met him for a kiss, while he secured an arm around my waist, anchoring me to his side and ensuring my butt didn’t hit its gleaming surface. A quiet “love you” was exchanged between us before we followed a young woman in demure black clothing into a large corner booth in the back. That request was made by one of the team, I was sure.
The wood of the table was a deep red and shined almost as much as the floors from the low-slung lighting placed above. Devlin nailed his head against the glass-encased bulb and grumbled under his breath as he scooted past. Once we were all situated, the girl handed each of us an oversized menu and that our server would be there shortly to take our orders.
Steve seemed almost at home, immediately settling against the back of the cushion, arms spread across the top, causing Jade and Dev to lean against the table to avoid his limbs. I smothered a smile at the jab while Steve continued his ambivalent scrutiny of our surroundings. We all let our eyes rove around the area, but I tried to ignore the surge of voices inside my skull.
When the waiter appeared moments later, I ordered a water with lemon and focused on building my wall inside my head. I was tipping toward overload from the day’s events and didn’t feel like dealing with all the trivial thoughts swirling throughout the room. There were plenty, considering the room was nearly full. Holden had ways of talking to the others if needed, or he could get my attention if necessary. At that moment, I needed some time to myself to… digest, and the rest of the team was distracted with talk of all the shiny new experiences we were having.
A quick scan of the large room showed that our babysitters were also present. They sat in another booth that was a mirror to our own at the opposite corner with three straight bench booths between us. Though it was a large and bustling room, they would be able to reach us with little time and blending in was obviously a bit higher priority than having no one get between us. I was thankful for that. We would maybe go unnoticed if we weren’t parading a security detail around.
My analytical thoughts dissolved as food started arriving at the table. Salads, hamburgers, even a steak. That one was mine. I was starving, and apparently the tab was being picked up by the ninnies, so… why not? All verbal chatter at the table ceased as we all chowed down on our meals. The clatter of flatware against china pervaded my ears and, because my wall was up, I wasn’t hearing mental voices.
The smell of acrid smoke wafted across my senses mid-chew, and I huffed a breath through my nose in a failed attempt to expel the foul odor. It came again in a cloud, descending upon us like a blanket of wispy death, covering my half-eaten steak like a foul casement. I fought to hold off a gag but couldn’t contain the disgusted curl of my lips. People didn’t smoke in Minefield. It probably helped that we couldn’t really get cigarettes, and cigars were hard to come by. It seemed that the people of the city weren’t much for smoking either, except for this guy, no one else had lit up. In fact, we didn’t seem to be the only ones put off by it. Many other patrons’ thoughts condemned the man for brazenly smoking in the restaurant.
I believed it to be against health regulations to boot.
Distressed wheezing started up from my right where Jade was wedged between me and Steve, the smoke apparently having aggravated her asthma. All eyes in the immediate area moved curiously in our direction, but only briefly before dismissing the spectacle as unimportant.
“Jade, do you have your inhaler on you?” I asked quietly as my best friend did her best to take in breath.
With a rapid head shake, Jade told me no. I think I left it in our room when we came down for dinner.
“Guys! Her inhaler is up in our room. Could someone please go grab it? Crap, I don’t have my key.” My rambling was becoming more distressed the longer this went on. “Maybe we should get her out of here,” I said to everyone gathered around our table. Holden scooted out of the seat, letting me know he’d run and grab the inhaler. I followed him out and snagged Jade’s arm, dragging her with me. “Come on, sweetie. You need some fresh air.”
We garnered a few more looks as we made our way to the entryway and into the lavish lobby, but I didn’t care and didn’t listen. “Do you want to go outside, or is this good? Holden should be back with your medicine in a sec. He’s super speedy when he wants to be,” I cooed as I set to stroking her long blonde mane, hoping maybe it would help soothe her and bring
her breathing back to normal.
Out in the larger space, her breathing began to even out after a few minutes of focused effort on her part while I continued my part. With a final deep breath, Jade turned, gave me a sheepish smile, and pronounced herself all better just as Holden reappeared in the maw of the elevator with the much-needed inhaler.
“Girl, don’t scare me like that—please. Oh, and maybe make sure that thing doesn’t leave your person, like, ever.” I pointed at her literal life-saver with a stern look. I felt like a chiding mother just then, but I couldn’t help it. Jade meant too much to me to let something as trivial as unclean air take her from me.
Where’s everyone else?
I looked around, not realizing what Holden had noted until that moment: Devlin, Trent and Steve weren’t in the lobby with us. With more than a little dread, I tuned back in to the mental voices closest to us. “Shit. Guys, we need to get back in there before…” I was already on the move, heading back into the low-lit restaurant. Just as I stepped across the invisible threshold, I knew I needed to intervene. Some wait staff were between myself and my remaining team members, trying to appease both sides, but to no avail.
“Just back off!”
“Dude, just put the thing out. It’s messing with my friend’s asthma,” Devlin retorted in a fairly civilized voice that surprised me based on the mental gruffness I was hearing. I saw Dev, Trent, and even Boat Shoes facing off with the gentleman in the suit who’d been smoking. He had his own cronies at his back, making him feel larger than life while being faced with Devlin, especially with a guy like Steve at his back. Little did this dude know Dev didn’t need anyone’s help to mop the floor with him, but the guy was just arrogant and stupid enough to push the issue.
“You can leave if you don’t like it. I have the right to smoke.”
“Your activity is a health hazard; all I ask is that you refrain while in the restaurant. I’m very sure others would appreciate it as well.” I noticed several other heads bob in appreciation of the sentiment. I was proud of Devlin’s attempts at de-escalation. I thought for sure he’d be growling by now. Trent was tense and lobbing mental insults at the man while Steve was trying to decide what he thought best to proceed; back Devlin or call him off.
“Gentlemen, let’s calm, shall we? We are making quite the dinner theater for everyone else in here,” I pushed into the circle of aggravated men with my best smile plastered to my face like my life depended on it. Who knew, maybe it did.
“Is everything okay, sirs?” piped a well-dressed older man with an air of false authority about him. The restaurant manager. “Is there something I can help you with?” Dark eyes roved the agitators, a small—fake—smile upon his stress-lined face. He knew—or thought he did—the potential for destruction and the precipice we all stood upon.
“Is there a policy about public health hazards within the establishment?” I appealed to the newcomer. “Maybe not with smoking in general, but my friend is severely asthmatic, and the smoke is causing her respiratory distress.”
“Ah, well… generally, people are allowed to smoke while seated at the bar area—.” The man flicked his eyes to Devlin, knowing that the news would not be welcome. Good instincts.
“See! Now piss off, I’m hungry,” the well-on-his-way-to-being-drunk ninny sneered as he attempted to shoo off my guys with a hand gesture.
Where the Hell were our babysitters? Was this not something they felt the need to involve themselves in? A quick mental check gave me my answer. They were still seated in their booth but were far from oblivious or uninterested in our predicament. They were only waiting to see how it played out, not wanting to expose themselves or us. I gave them a sardonic salute as I turned back toward the fray which, of course, hadn’t dissipated.
“However, sir, we ask that you refrain until after ten PM when the restaurant closes and the lounge officially opens,” the well-kempt man tacked on to his original statement, almost hesitantly. Like he knew he’d thrown himself between a rock and a hard place. He was right; things only escalated from there, tempers rising steadily.
“Well, that’s bullshit. I have a right to smoke!”
Finally, I’d had enough. We were on unfamiliar turf with no authority. We didn’t need to continue this spectacle any more than we already had. Damn hot-headed males. “We aren’t getting anywhere, guys, and Jade is just hanging out in the lobby. Let’s just go. Sir?” I gave my attention to the manager. “Could you please get our checks and box up our food? Trent, would you mind taking care of that? I’ll get us all situated… elsewhere.” Trent agreed and followed the manager back toward our now-completely-vacant booth which still lay laden with piles of food and napkins.
Devlin and Steve didn’t like the idea of backing down, but thankfully realized that a fight now would only spell trouble for us. This was only our first night out of Minefield, our first encounter with everyday ninnies. I was less than impressed. Not only was this guy a complete asshat, but the rest of the patrons just sat idly by, watching with rapt attention like we were dinner theater for their entertainment. Some even seemed to be pointing things at us...
“That’s right, gentlemen. Leave. But maybe the lady can stay. I haven’t finished my meal, and I’m ravenous.”
I couldn’t keep the revulsion from my face. The lewd comment was one hundred times worse in his mind. “No chance, asshole.” I wished I’d kept my mouth shut the moment the words were free. We needed to escape the situation, not fuel it. I nodded toward the exit and headed that direction, where I’d left a recovering Jade and worried Holden.
I got only a few steps before spinning back around. “Watch out!” I shrieked, flinging my arm toward Steve, who had been the target for more reasons than just being in the rear of our procession. I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened once I’d turned away, but the man was up from his stool and moving to strike.
Only, he wasn’t. He was stuck in his wind-up, eyes wide as he realized he couldn’t move a muscle.
Steve stood inches in front of his extended fist, smirking. Boat Shoes was in full effect, donning his douchery like the pro we all knew him to be, while the gasps of bewildered onlookers attempted to reconcile what they were seeing. A collective short-circuit of mental faculty affected the entire restaurant while Steve stood smirking at the guy who thought it was a good idea to take a cheap shot at an “easy target.” The cops who’d been watching all the fun from their corner were now up and moving our way. Looked like public displays of abilities would be where they drew the line as spectators.
“Steve, we need to go. This is about to go nuclear, and our babysitters are finally ready to intercede,” I said. “Now.”
“I learned recently that it was bad form to hit a guy—or girl—from behind. I mean, come on, at least have the decency to try and hit my face.” Then, Steve turned with a flourish and waved me forward. Once we reached the threshold, Steve released the swinging fool whose momentum from the punch, coupled with using all his might to free his frozen limbs, crashed into the table nearest him. The ringing clatter of silverware falling onto plates and water glasses crashing to the floor with a tinkling shatter was a fine farewell to our first encounter with the locals, the entire room now buzzing with speculation and confusion.
“What a first impression to make. Awesome,” I muttered as we met up with the rest of the team near the elevators. Holden and Jade had gotten the skinny from Devlin and Trent as they’d wandered out. Turns out Trent had just paid our bill, not wanting to mess with boxing up the remains of our toxically-enhanced meal, which I couldn’t fault him for, if I was honest. “I’m still hungry.” I knew I was being petulant, but I couldn’t help it. It was not how I wanted my freedom to go.
“Looks like the cat is out of the bag,” a deep voice intoned from behind our group as we waited for the elevators to descend. It seemed we’d be stuck there staring forever. The voice belonged to one of our babysitters, a hint of a smile in his voice, though I refused to turn around and
see for myself. “You’re going to make sure we have our work cut out for us, aren’t you?” he continued blithely.
“Well, our abilities are like a reflex. Someone takes a swing? Natural to defend yourself.” I shrugged. “Now, gentlemen, we have a new problem. Well, an old problem renewed.” At the questioning looks I received all around, I elaborated. “I only got to eat like half of my steak before it was defiled by the toxic smoke. I’m still hungry.”
I’m with you. I didn’t get much of my meal before I had to leave it.
“See? I’m pretty sure we’re all still hankering for a meal. What do you guys say to a good old fallback? Pizza?” I asked. That perked everyone up, so I directed my attention to the couple of babysitters who’d made it into the elevator with us. “We’d like to try pizza this time. Maybe in our rooms?” I threw the last as a general question, letting the others give input if they chose.
“I can have a delivery made to the hotel. Just let me know what y'all want, and we’ll get it ordered and bring it up when it arrives. Are you all going to your room or…?”
I realized I hadn’t listened to our babysitters’ names. I had no idea what to call the tall, dark, and broody man who seemed to be the mouthpiece for the group. Maybe a team lead? Oh, yeah. Hamm.
Nat. Holden bumped me, returning my attention to the matter at hand: more food.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” I returned distractedly.
You realize you just agreed to host the team in our room, right?
“Huh? I did?” Holden nodded. “Well… only for dinner. I don’t want everyone crammed in our room for the entire leave. I love you guys, but not that much.”
CHAPTER 15
“Get up, sleepy heads!”
I swatted blindly at the chirpy little sprite who was flitting around the room, way too cheery for whatever hour in the morning it happened to be. Luckily, the rest of the evening had been uneventful, pizza having been delivered and consumed without incident, probably only because we’d had no further interaction with the ninny population—minus our chaperones who’d delivered the goods.
