“Now we’re more worried about another bomb.”
Jasmine heard rumors there was a project being developed that would yield the impact of a nuclear bomb, but not the fallout. The military had halted it at the start, unsure of what was causing the powers in the first place, scared their technology could exacerbate the situation. Now it was on a shelf waiting for somebody to discover it again.
“We know about the bomb,” Skits said through gritted teeth.
That startled Jasmine. “How so?”
“Do you really think we’re the only ones?” Dwayne asked, looking back at her with a smirk.
Jasmine observed the many windows of the surrounding office buildings. She was surprised by this small contingent. It was difficult to believe that there were more of them. “How many?”
“We were nearly a hundred a year ago,” he said. “Your people either captured or killed the rest of us.”
She flinched at the “your people” comment. It was becoming obvious they saw her as the personification of the government. She had once been proud protecting the American people from the threat of powers. At some point, she realized she was perpetuating a holocaust.
She opened her mouth to apologize, but stopped as they reached the bar. Her training as a soldier buried her emotions deep. She returned to analyzing her captors.
“Welcome,” Vanessa said.
Jasmine was shocked to see the woman sitting there. Unlike before, her wings were gone and a normal, calm, average female was seated at the counter. The young man was sipping coffee from a mug with a broken handle.
“What the fuck,” she mumbled under her breath. She felt like she had stepped into a twisted reality. They were in the middle of an abandoned city, left uninhabitable by a nuclear bomb. These were some of the strongest Children of Nostradamus she had ever encountered, and there they were, having dinner. The sight of the man taking a swig of his coffee, his pinky almost extended, made her realize there was indeed something wrong with the world.
“Dwayne,” Vanessa said, her voice a smooth steady calm, “would you mind firing up the generators? Some food for our guest might make her a bit less hostile.”
“Who cares about her?” Skits interjected.
“While I don’t condone her decisions,” Vanessa admitted, “I’m not sure what any of you would have done in the same situation. But now she is here as a free woman. Let her see if the food tastes better without a collar.”
“Stay out of my head, telepath.”
Conthan held up his hand. “As the former newest arrival, let me say, it gets easier to ignore her. She can’t shut it off. Just don’t think of porn.”
Vanessa shot him a dirty look. Jasmine didn’t need to know their backstories to know there was a freshness about Conthan. While the others looked seasoned, and in the case of the man, weathered, the boy was green. He still held an optimism in his eyes the others didn’t. Jasmine almost felt sorry for the innocence that would be lost and replaced by a cold distance. It was only a matter of time. It was what you did to survive.
Jasmine sat down on a stool. “So what is this operation?”
Vanessa looked from Jasmine to Conthan. “We’re the Nighthawks, so I’ve been informed.”
“Great,” Jasmine said. “I’m living a comic book now.”
“We came here for sanctuary. When we came together, we started trying to save as many Children of Nostradamus as we could. We will fight and kill for our safety, but for the most part, we simply want to live.”
“Peaceable,” Jasmine scoffed. “You killed almost two dozen guards yesterday at the facility.”
Skits barked at the woman, “And how many of ours have died at the facility?”
“They were saving me,” Conthan interjected.
“Why you?”
Conthan reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a sheet of paper. “I was given a note that told me to see somebody at the facility. My powers only manifested a couple of days ago and I was hoping for answers.”
Jasmine gawked at the marbled paper. She didn’t dare open her mouth at the sight of the crumpled sheet. It was similar to the one delivered to her at the barracks.
“You’ve received one too?” Vanessa asked.
Jasmine ground her teeth at the intrusion. “Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“Told me to hesitate.”
There was a stillness every time Vanessa stopped relying on her physical abilities and focused on her talents. Jasmine could only assume she was attempting to tear from their psyches every bit of information they had about the letters. It dawned on her there was an irony dwelling on the telepath’s abilities while having her mind read.
Despite trying to dodge the thoughts and keep Vanessa from knowing what happened, she couldn’t stop thinking back to the girl. She had hesitated just as the letter had told her. She had unknowingly played into the psychic’s trap. What was worse, Jasmine was certain the girl was currently being taken into custody and nothing had changed.
“What happ—”
Vanessa held up a hand to halt Conthan. She made contact with Jasmine and could see the thanks written in the woman’s sad eyes. For a mind reader, it was always a question of what should be discussed and what should be shared in quiet misery. Jasmine did not want to talk about it and Vanessa knew better than to disclose personal trauma to the rest of the group.
“Several of us have received such letters,” Vanessa admitted. “By some grand design, they have brought us together. Conthan’s put him in the right place at the right time. Dwayne’s led him to me.”
“Why would a murderer send us these?”
“Eleanor was a powerful psychic. Our associate, Dav5d, theorized she was only surpassed by Nostradamus himself. Dav5d is able to predict probabilities on an astronomical scale. Turning his powers toward the events that lead to these letters, he had a theory that Eleanor was bringing us together for a greater plan.”
“This isn’t a comic, telepath.”
“Vanessa, please,” the angel said. “We are well aware. But for some reason, the collection of these powers has created a pivot point in a way that even Dav5d cannot predict. Eleanor brought us together because she thought we, each of us, were the keys to bringing about a brighter future for all.”
“We’re six people.”
Jasmine noted the woman’s smile as she referred to them as a group. She could hear the whispers from the newcomer’s mind. The soldier wasn’t aware, but her thoughts were similar to each of theirs. It wasn’t always revenge, but each of them needed the others. Jasmine’s need wasn’t as pleasurable as the rest, but at least it was there.
Conthan chimed in. “We’re six people with some serious juice.”
“You can barely use yours,” Skits poked.
“People, please.” Vanessa eyed them both.
“Sorry,” they said in unison.
Jasmine waved her finger in the air. “No, wait. Eleanor attempted to put a bullet in the president. Don’t you think that there might be something less righteous behind her motives?”
“Even Dav5d couldn’t understand why she might want to kill the president, a woman who had employed her, taken her in, and been her confidante for years. We assumed that Eleanor’s abilities had stymied Dav5d and prevented him from unraveling her intent.”
Jasmine knew the look on the angel’s face was hiding more. “But you have a theory.”
“The Warden said something that may have been the clue, the very reason why we are all together.”
“And?”
Vanessa gave a slight shrug. “Somehow, the president is involved with the Warden.”
“Everybody knows that the Warden was a friend of the president. He worked at the White House when Eleanor attempted to assassinate her. He became the head of the president’s detainment procedures when the Children of Nostradamus began emerging. Later she had the facility built and he was placed in charge.”
“The Warden is a Child,” Vaness
a said.
Jasmine’s raised eyebrows gave away her surprise. She found it hard to believe the president, a woman who hated the Children of Nostradamus so much that much of her public relations was dedicated to their eradication, would incarcerate them under the watchful eye of the Warden. However, she thought, having that many powered people in one place could make for a threatening army.
Jasmine could see Vanessa and she knew every thought crossing her mind was betraying her. She had to ask, “What about your letter?”
Vanessa shook her head. “My letter told how to find Skits.”
“Thanks for that,” Skits said.
“It didn’t tell you how to find the others? Or what role you played?”
“It didn’t have to. As a child, Eleanor convinced the president to spare my life.”
Chapter Nineteen
May 20th, 2032 12:12AM
Dwayne held on to two jumper cables and summoned his powers. Conthan covered his eyes to block out the bright light. Sparks shot out in a dozen directions as the current worked its way through the wires into the batteries stacked together.
“It’s easy when I’ve been keeping an eye on things,” Dwayne said with no strain.
“You have to do this every night?”
Dwayne laughed. “I wish, more like every few hours.”
“How do you sleep?”
“I keep a wire attached through the night to act as a ground. Otherwise I’d either build up and let loose or I’d start sparking and set a fire.”
“Wow,” Conthan said, “your powers kind of suck.”
“It seems that just about everybody has some weird downside to their power.” Dwayne flexed his muscles, forcing the current into his hands. He was elated at the sensation of his powers traveling down his arms. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the euphoria. “But, I can make lightning. Dude, I’m like Zeus.”
They both laughed. Dwayne pushed the last of the electricity through his hands and slowly closed access to the reservoir of power in him. He dropped the cables and sat down on a large piece of equipment. He motioned for Conthan to join him. “So how are you handling all of this?”
Conthan opened his mouth to answer but bit his tongue. Dwayne gave the guy a moment to process what must be an uncanny amount of emotions. Since Dwayne had seen the kid for the first time at the gallery, his world had been a constant struggle. Unless he had been unconscious, this was the first downtime he had in days.
“Yeah, it’s all cool,” Conthan said, trying to play it cool.
Dwayne cocked his head to the side with a raised brow. “Barely keeping it together, huh?”
“Another telepath?”
“You’re a kid,” Dwayne said. “You had your entire life ahead of you. Could have been a firefighter or some weird shit. Now”—he waved to the dingy storage room—“you have this to look forward to.”
“Yeah,” Conthan admitted. For a moment, he thought he could feel the radiation bombarding his body. Vegetation in the Danger Zone fought to stay alive, but after seeing the Outlanders, he could only imagine what it was doing to his body. Despite the potential for sterility, the world hating him, and their rogue mission to stop a conspiracy that ran deep through the government, he was processing the total collapse of his world fairly well.
“So how are you handling it?” Dwayne asked again.
Conthan let out a long sigh as he thought about how to say it. “It’s a bit much. If I was back home, I would probably be sitting in a deserted warehouse with a bunch of bohemians drinking beer. If I was feeling particularly productive, I might be working on some art. If the guys could see me now…” He trailed off.
“Not sure what they’d say?”
Conthan nodded. “I guess I’d be worried they’d think I was a freak. But they would probably think it was cool. They’d ask a thousand questions. They’d seem okay with it. But really, what normal person could be okay with watching a guy tear through space? I’d be just as worried if they were okay with it.”
“It’s hard letting go of who we were.”
“Gretchen…” He laughed. “She’d be all about it. She’d find some way to put me on a pedestal in her gallery. She’d pimp me out; she’d be jealous I got some cool power.”
“She struck me as a bit of a wild one. She’d fit in.”
Conthan raised his eyebrow. Before he could ask, Dwayne filled in the blanks. “We were there the night it happened. We’re the reason more soldiers didn’t come after you.”
“Eleanor,” Conthan whispered. “She really did think of everything.”
Dwayne nodded. “I think of her as a guardian angel.”
“I’m okay with it until I think of my past.” Conthan turned back to their earlier conversation. “Then I think, I’m barely in my twenties and I’m a wanted felon for absolutely nothing.”
“You did kill a guy,” Dwayne pointed out.
“I’ve killed several guys,” Conthan said, remembering the men he murdered.
“Self defense.”
“It doesn’t make it any better.”
Dwayne shook his head. “It won’t get any easier. And if you find it does, then we’re going to need to have another talk.”
“There is part of this that feels right, though. I mean, I really had no path in life. I had some spotty parts of my history and this kind of explains all of them. So there is an upside, I guess.”
“But…”
Conthan frowned. “You’ve been hanging out with Vanessa too much. Her mind reading tendencies are rubbing off.”
“Yeah, it happens.”
“But I feel kind of useless. I’m basically a taxi driver for you guys.”
“From what Jasmine said, if it wasn’t for you, we’d all be dead.”
“I guess.”
Conthan shoved his hands in his pocket at the awkward silence. “What was it like when you found out you were a Child?”
Dwayne examined Conthan for a moment. “Wasn’t much different than your own story. I ran away from home because I didn’t think they could handle it. I had to learn to survive on my own. Every day I traded a little piece of my humanity to stay alive. Eventually I found the Danger Zone and then Vanessa discovered me.”
There was the quietness again. There wasn’t a noise except for the two of them. Dwayne could tell Conthan was still unsure of how friendly he could treat their relationship.
“It takes time. Your powers emerged a few days ago and already you’ve managed to find a few ways to make them useful. When I first lit up, I nearly blew up the car I was sitting in. I almost electrocuted an entire bus full of people and I set my parent’s house ablaze. So far, you’re doing pretty good by my measure.”
Conthan smiled at the remark. “Thanks.”
“Want some advice?”
“You’re going to give it anyways.”
Dwayne gave him a sour expression. “You and my sister are going to be the death of me.”
He continued. “You need to be in control of your abilities, not the other way around. They’re a force of nature, and if you let down your guard, they’ll try to take over. We’ve all had that moment that we lose ourselves in our powers. You’ll learn to find your limits, and when you do, you’ll always want to rage against that boundary. You’ll learn as you go.”
“I feel like a liability right now.”
“I won’t lie, we weren’t thrilled about you joining us. You’re a kid, you’ve got no training, and why would we want somebody like that watching our backs?”
“Thanks…”
“Let me finish,” Dwayne interjected. “If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have gotten to Vanessa fast enough. You serve a purpose with this troupe, just like me or Skits do. We need the heavy hitter, we need the brute force, we need the level-headed one, and we need the seasoned fighter. Everybody is playing a role, and we just needed to adapt to the new guy.”
Conthan mulled it over. The group wasn’t so different than the artists he drank with night after night. T
he man in front of him understood a dirty secret Conthan hadn’t known he was carrying. Something in that fact felt like it was fast-tracking them to friendship.
“I appreciate that.”
Dwayne nodded. “You’ll eventually fit in. Give it some time. You should have seen when Skits and Alyssa first met. I had to tear them off one another. But from my point of view, I’m glad to have you watching my six.”
“And tomorrow?”
“We’re going to go in guns blazing. We’re going to do everything we can to save some people. I don’t know what it’ll be like.”
“Do you think we can trust her?”
Dwayne stared off into nothing for a moment as if he was recalling a distant memory. A moment later he was nodding his head with confidence.
“She needs us if she’s going to get revenge. As long as we serve a purpose for her, she will do the same for us.”
“That sounds pretty messed up.”
“The enemy of my enemy and all that jazz.”
Conthan stood up and Dwayne gave him an awkward male-on-male hug. As they separated, a spark snapped against his skin, stinging his cheek. “Jesus.”
“I’m going to empty out again. Go get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a chore.”
Conthan nodded and exited the small room. The batteries were in the service area of the basement. Three stories above them, a king-sized bed awaited him. He oddly looked forward to the cold shower in his en suite bathroom. He turned to the stairs and paused. He grit his teeth for a moment and the icy sensation coated his skin. He stepped into the portal, delighted his powers answered when he wanted them.
***
Jasmine imagined herself on the beach as a kid. The sensation of sand wedging itself between her toes was real. The smell of salt water assaulted her nostrils and for a moment she felt a calm come over her body. For a moment, she wasn’t an adult being forced to side with Children of Nostradamus. For a moment, her baggage washed away and she was innocent again.
She breathed in and out, letting each exhale steal away the tension from her body. She had found it difficult to start this session, the stress creating a knot between her shoulders. She was convinced the telepath was listening to her every thought, waiting for her to somehow betray them. Now, she let her mind go quiet, focusing on the nothingness in her thoughts. Her muscles relaxed and she found her spot, the one place where she felt at peace with herself. In the distance, she could almost make out the faces of her parents.
Nighthawks (Children of Nostradamus Book 1) Page 21
