EVO Shift: EVO Nation Series: Book Two

by Chapman, K. J

  I fight the memory away before it drowns me. Knowing Dad died thinking that Isaac- that evil incarnate- was my real father is eating away at me. Wheeler takes my arms just as a large wave rushes over our heads. I emerge in a panic, grasping at his clothes.

  “Teddie, you need to calm down. They’re coming back for us,” he says, pulling me on.

  As Wheeler’s hand encloses on mine, all I can see is the image of my Dad lying in the boat. The bullet wound in his chest gushes blood and my red stained hands hold my cardigan to it.

  “Pointless,” Dad says, shoving my hand away, and then the second chopper emerges over the cliff.

  “What the hell was that?” Wheeler pants, his hand crippling my own.

  I struggle to keep my head above the rising swell. “My memories,” I wheeze.

  Another wave covers our heads. He takes me under the arms, hoisting me out of the water slightly. “Hold on to me.” I grip tightly to Wheeler’s neck, and he waves an arm to the boat. “They’re coming back. You’re okay, Teds.”

  I can just make out a flash of Jude’s red shirt. Dad’s blood soaked shirt springs to mind and I feel the pull of that memory once again.

  “I’m so sorry, Sweetheart. I’ve let you down. Please forgive me,” Dad says through a mouthful of blood, and then he slumps forward onto his stomach.

  The sedation dart sticks from my arm, and I fall toward the side of the boat, gripping his hand. “Dad? Dad, you’ve not let me down. I love you. Can you hear me? I love you.” Another dart hits me, fogging my vision. All I can do is stare at Roscoe’s fat frame standing on the beach.

  I snap out of the memory, but I’m underwater. Wheeler’s arms flail as I drag him down. We both kick to the surface. His eyes are full of tears, and I can feel the hot sting in my own.

  “I’m sorry,” I whimper.

  Gently, he readjusts his hold on my arms around his neck.

  “Wheeler!” Adam shouts from behind us.

  Wheeler holds me up and out of the water, and hands grab my wrists, hauling me back into the boat. I sprawl in a heap on the deck. Wheeler is lugged in beside me, both of us gasping for breath.

  “I’m so sorry, and thank you,” I say, pressing my cheek into the cool wood.

  He doesn’t reply, but pats my back a couple of times.

  Emiko drops to her knees beside us. “What happened?”

  “It was my fault—”

  I’m wrenched off the floor and into Adam’s arms. His chest wracks in breaths, but his eyes search every inch of me. “Are you okay?” he asks, pulling me in tighter.

  “Yes, thanks to Wheeler.”

  Adam slaps Wheeler on the back in a rough, but affectionate thank you.

  “Anytime, mate,” Wheeler says, laughing.

  “Did you see it?” Adam asks him. “When you touched her?”

  Wheeler nods, his eyes meeting mine with a tender understanding that he has seen something personal to me.

  “I had a memory of the night—”

  “Your Dad died,” Adam interrupts. “I saw it too.”

  “But I wasn’t touching you?” I say. What is going on with me? I don’t want to experience these memories again, let alone inflict them on someone else.

  “You don’t have to be touching to read someone if you’re a strong enough telepath, but I think you have a different kind of link with Adam,” says Jude. He turns the boat again and heads back to shore. “I’ve seen it happen when there is an unusually strong bond and you two have that.”

  “Will it happen with everyone I love?” I ask.

  Jude shakes his head. “No, Wheeler saw it because he was touching you, and that’s because you lack control. A link is different- it’s more than love. It’s...” His voice trails off as he surveys the cliffs. “It’s just something more.”

  He won’t meet my eyes again and I know that’s the end of the conversation. He’s talking about Tess. His eyes always go distant at any thought of her. They must have been linked.

  “So, you get to see the crazy that’s in her head,” says Cooper, casting a pitiful look toward Adam. “I almost feel sorry for you—”

  Adam lunges across October and Seth in an attempt to get at Cooper. The pair of them restrain him just enough for me to pull him back to the far end of the boat.

  “If you knew half of the crazy she has been through, you wouldn’t be so fast to run your mouth,” Adam hisses at him.

  Cooper looks to Maggie who sits silently between Fabian and Emiko. Her wrists are still tied and her wet hair clings to her cheeks like rat’s tails.

  “I guess so. No one deserves their friend to cock a gun in their face,” he mutters.

  His sincerity shocks me, and even Adam’s rage wanes at his remark. Is Cooper actually making an apology of sorts?

  Fabian slaps him on the shoulder and whispers to him. Cooper looks to me and gives a curt nod of his head. There is another level to Dom Cooper and none of us are privy to it; none except Fabian.

  The boat slows as we approach the sand. Jude cuts the engine about twenty yards from the shore and abandons ship; diving into the sea without a word. Cooper and Fabian follow suit. October and Yana slip over the edge gasping from the chill.

  “How am I supposed to swim like this?” Maggie asks, shaking her hands in front of her.

  “You’ll manage. It’s not deep,” says Adam.

  She nods, allowing Adam to take her arm and pull her to her feet. He isn’t gentle with her. He’s not violent, but even TORO Adam had more compassion for me, than Adam has for Maggie right now. His gun never strays from her face.

  “Are you going to be okay?” he asks me, the kindness returning to his voice.

  I take Seth’s hand and plunge into the choppy water once again. I turn back to the boat. “I’m fine,” I call.

  Adam’s eyebrow lifts, but he smiles and nods. He shoves Maggie toward the edge.

  “Please, don’t hate me, Adam. I would never have shot her,” Maggie says. “I don’t have an issue with you.”

  His face doesn’t alter in the slightest. He gives her a quick push, sending her head first into the sea, and jumps in after her.

  Wheeler and Emiko are the last to take the plunge.

  Jude stands on the shore beckoning us on faster, the immediacy in his eyes is frightening. Seth’s slender fingers tremble in mine. He hasn’t said a word since Maggie went crazy on us. I think his stutter would be worse than ever if he did.

  Jude strides into the sea, taking me by the scruff of my top and tugging me to the shore. Seth crawls on all fours, panting from the effort.

  “Hurry the hell up,” Jude shouts to Adam and the others still making their way through the swell.

  Seth sits silently on the sand, the waves washing over his jeans. His glassy stare and pale complexion worry me. Something is seriously wrong.

  “Seth, what it is?” I ask. My question startles him, and I can see him running over a million answers in his mind.

  “I- I- I,” his words fail him. “I-I c-can’t—”

  “You can tell me.”

  Tears spring to his eyes. “I-I-I—”

  “Do you think in fluent sentences?” I ask. I raise my hands to his temples. “May I?” He nods. “What’s wrong?” I ask, telepathically.

  His grey eyes meet mine. “It’s my fault Maggie called us in. I showed her how to use the satellite phone. I thought she was just curious. I never thought she’d use it.” His words are clear but panicked in my mind.

  “None of us thought her capable. Don’t think on it.”

  He shakes his head, more tears spilling onto his cheeks. “And I gave her the gun. I found it when I was sorting through mine and Jude’s blankets. She asked me what I was doing with Jude’s gun- accused me of taking it. She said she was going to tell him she found me looking through his stuff, but I was just tidying- honest, Teddie. I panicked and handed it to her. I thought she would take it to Jude. What if she had killed you?”

  “I’m still here. Maggie playe
d you. She knew what she was doing, so don’t blame yourself. Perhaps, we’ll keep this between us for now. Everyone is tightly wound at the moment.”

  He wipes at his eyes. “Thank you.”

  Adam drags Maggie up the sand with half an eye on Seth and me. I can’t pull the wool over his eyes. I will tell him later, but for now I meant what I said. Seth isn’t to blame, but some of the others are at breaking point. The last thing they need is someone else to vent at, and I doubt Seth could handle it.

  “What’s up with him?” Jude asks, pulling his cigarette packet out of his pocket and chucking it to the ground in a soggy mess.

  I stand, blocking Seth from view. “He’s on the run, he’s grieving, he hasn’t eaten in over a day, and Maggie’s little stunt has set all of us on edge. But he’ll be alright now, won’t you, Seth?”

  Seth stands, wiping sand off of his clothes. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  Jude chews his lip, clearly unsure, but turns his attention to Adam.

  Maggie studies Seth. She looks to me, her face emotionless, and I take his hand. For a moment she looks concerned. She knows I know about her conversations with Seth. I can sense the betrayal oozing from her. It was all premeditated.

  Jude relieves Adam of ‘Maggie duty’, sticking his gun hard between her shoulder blades and barking at her to move.

  We follow after him. Yana steps in to look after Seth, and Adam wraps an arm around my shoulder, lowering his mouth to my ear.

  “What’s really up with Seth?”

  “I’ll tell you later,” I say, catching Jude eyeing us.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The cliff face is sheer. Cooper paces back and forth along the base trying to get a footing on the damp rocks.

  Jude winks at me. “You’re up, my little Telekin. Everyone line up.”

  They do as they’re told, albeit dubiously. Jude keeps Maggie in a vice like grip, and Adam doesn’t stray from my side. Focussing the weight of my telekinesis in the centre of my mind, I take a long breath through my nose and allow the invisible tendrils to stretch from my body and wrap around each of them.

  They gasp from the pressure on their bodies, and then rise into the air. I take it slow; their faces tell me that fast isn’t a good idea. Once their bodies are level with the cliff edge, I manoeuvre them onto the safety of solid ground.

  “Just checking you still had it in you,” Jude says, grinning. He stretches his arms to his sides and levitates himself and Maggie into the air. Her body tenses, but I reckon it’s from Jude’s touch as opposed to the levitation.

  I take Adam’s hands and wrap them tightly around my waist. Holding a hand to the back of his head and pulling him closer still, I exhale slowly and concentrate on the telekinesis coursing through my chest.

  I extend the force until we’re both enveloped. The hairs on his arms stand on end and his heart races faster. With one quick blast we’re airborne. My own tummy somersaults, so I can only imagine what Adam is experiencing. He grips tighter, burying his face into my neck and hair.

  It’s still raining, but the view is incredible. Open expanses of green land broken by dirt tracks weave across the coastline, and on the other side, the aqua expanse of ocean.

  Wow, this is amazing,” I whisper. “Adam, look.”

  He slowly lifts his head, still gripping me to him. His eyes scan over my shoulder and a look of awe spreads over his face. I manoeuvre us in a pirouette style, so he can take it all in. The sudden movement causes him to cling tighter, and he exhales against my face.

  “I won’t drop you.”

  He looks me dead in the eyes. “I know you won’t. It just takes some getting used to.”

  Jude watches with his arms folded across his chest, an impressed smile creeping at his lips. “Alright, show off,” he calls.

  I grin at him, ignoring Cooper’s huffing and Maggie’s obvious attempt to look anywhere other than me.

  Adam squints over my shoulder and tenses suddenly. “Jude, there’s a convoy about a mile out,” he shouts, pointing behind me.

  I can see the fast moving outlines of about seven military type vehicles. We touch down a little more forcefully than I had intended, and I sprawl out with Adam on top of me. In a split second he is up, dragging me after Jude and the others.

  “Move your asses,” Jude shouts.

  We descend a steep incline, the uneven ground coming loose underfoot. Fabian slips, taking Seth out like a skittle. The pair of them skids to the bottom in a painful heap. Jude doesn’t let up. He sprints ahead into an overgrown area of thick grass, pulling camouflage covers from what I thought was a hedgerow, but is actually two jeeps. He retrieves keys from under the wheel arches and chucks a set at Adam.

  Adam jumps in the driver’s seat, Fabian in the passenger seat, and Yana, Cooper, and Seth in the back. Jude is already pulling away with Wheeler, Maggie, Emiko, and October in the second jeep. Fabian lifts me onto his lap, slamming the door behind me.

  “Keep up,” Jude shouts out of his window.

  “Seatbelts,” Adam snaps at us.

  Fabian stretches the seatbelt around the both of us, and I slot it into the catch.

  Yana appears to be back to her vulnerable, frightened self. Her outburst at Maggie could almost have been a dream when I look at her pale skin and trembling lips.

  “Clunk, click, every trip,” I say. She smiles a little. I knew a memory of Golding would have that effect.

  “Sit back,” Adam scolds me, shattering the moment.

  The track weaves precariously close to the cliff edge, and I grip the dash to try and ease the shocks shooting through my teeth.

  “Please, tell me you’re a professional stunt driver,” Fabian jokes, looking out of the window to the drop below. His hands dig into my upper arms from trying to brace the both of us.

  “No, but I was TORO,” Adam says under his breath.

  Yana grips Cooper’s hand, much to his annoyance, and clings to the edge of the seat with the other. Her eyes remain closed and her lips move silently. I think she’s praying. Seth groans, winds the window down, and pukes down the side of the jeep. No one speaks.

  I keep my eyes trained on the back of Jude’s jeep. Adam is tailgating him with no more than three metres between us. He’s replying to Jude’s ‘keep up’ comment. The road behind us is still, the convoy nowhere to be seen.

  “They would have stopped at the bay,” Fabian answers, as if reading my mind.

  A sharp turn takes us onto a wider track and away from the cliffs. I feel Fabian relax, and I release my grip on the dash, although, Adam doesn’t let up with the speed.

  “How did they even know we were at that bay at that exact time?” Cooper asks.

  Adam adjusts his grip on the wheel. “The speed boat may have been spotted from further up the coast. They’ll realise soon enough that we’ve ran. Jude better have a plan.”

  ***

  Jude makes an unexpected stop just a few metres ahead. Adam slams on the breaks and we skid to a halt mere centimetres shy of the bumper. The road has come to a dead end, and a rotted, wooden fence separates us from a stretch of overgrowth and trees.

  With a swish of his hand, Jude slides both jeeps over the cliff. Fabian and I gingerly peer over the edge as they disappear under the choppy water.

  Jude is already slipping through a broken part of the fencing. We all copy, finding holes where the sea air has disintegrated the panelling, ending up in waist high grass and shrubbery.

  Sticks and twigs scratch at my bare legs, but I take long, fast strides to keep pace with Adam and Jude. I follow them into the bushes for cover. The ground is drier, but the is air cooler, causing me to shiver in my wet clothes.

  A familiar thrum fills the air and a chopper approaches at speed. As I crouch in the foliage, the memory of the chopper at the cove flashes in my mind. I concentrate on the fluttery, light sensation of the telepathy. It feels more wayward than my telekinesis. A gunshot echoes through my thoughts. I won’t let this control me. I rein in the telepat
hy until I’m sure the memory no longer threatens to engulf me.

  Emiko touches the foliage. It grows before my eyes; creating a thick, dense barrier around us, so thick that little daylight seeps in.

  The sound of the chopper grows distant until it finally disappears and is replaced by the howling winds.

  Emiko touches the foliage once again and it parts in the shape of an archway. Her chlorokinesis is beautiful- not scary to witness- not out of control- just beautiful. Envy pangs in my chest.

  We file through the arch way, everyone looking to the skies for sight of choppers.

  Adam drops back, taking my hand. “You controlled it,” he says, smiling. “You’ve got this.”

  I don’t reply. The tightness in my chest won’t allow it. He continues after Jude, dragging me on. I grab Seth’s wrist in my free hand as we gain on him. Adam pushes on faster, pulling the pair of us along with him. Finally, we round a sharp bend and onto a grand property.

  An impressive house sits neatly inset into the cliffs. The white brick work is set off by mint green on the shutters and sills of more windows than I can count, and a balcony stretches the whole length of the second storey. Landscaped gardens peter down in various levels until they reach the sands of a small, private bay lined with loungers, fire pits, and water sports equipment. The cliffs curve around the water as if creating a pool with a narrow entrance out to the ocean.

  A figure appears in a white gown on the balcony. It’s a man- a rather large man from what I can see. He waves an arm in our direction before rushing back inside.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The rain starts to ease as we sprint by a line of jet skis and paddle boards. The robed man rushes out onto the gardens. His gown makes him look almost angelic standing on the lawns above us.

  “Andiamo. Hurry, hurry,” he shouts. His Italian accent is just as smooth as Fabian’s.

  “You heard him,” Jude calls back, running up a paved footpath through the gardens, lugging a red faced, out of breath Maggie behind him.

  The doors to the lower level are pulled wide open. The man stands just inside, ushering us all in. He is an older man- handsome- or at least he was in his younger years. His hair is thick, but brilliant silver, yet his eyebrows are a jet black. His skin is a deep tan and leathery with it. He rushes through a large, open plan lounge and kitchen. Everything inside is extravagant and expensive.