Freaks of Nature (The Psion Chronicles)

by Wendy Brotherlin

  “Well, maybe you should.” The intensity of Vahn’s gaze could have melted steel.

  “I’m a popper,” Alek replied with a slight wave of his hand.

  “A what?” Devon asked.

  “I teleport.” Alek leaned back in his chair.

  “That’s so cool,” said Devon. “So, I guess you’ve seen a lot of the world.”

  Alek shrugged. “Not really. Mostly, I moved large weaponry for the Russian military.”

  “But I thought you said you were Romanian.”

  Alek chuckled. “Oh, yes, Alya and I are Romanian. The blood of Romanian kings flows through our veins.”

  “Alek, no…don’t,” pleaded Alya.

  “And why not, dear sister?” Alek asked. “Does the truth so frighten you?”

  “No, not the truth.”

  “What, then?”

  Alya didn’t answer. Instead, her head lolled to the side as she turned to Devon. Her cheeks wet with tears, the only thing she could offer him was a weak smile. Devon feared that she just might fade away right before his eyes.

  “Alya?” said Alek. “Alya?!”

  Devon pulled against his restraints. “Something’s really wrong. Can’t somebody help her? Alya needs help! Now!”

  The lights dimmed, and the red light began to rotate over the doorway. An instant later, the entire room shook with a deafening roar.

  “What’s going on?” Devon cried.

  “We’re taking off,” Bai Lee shouted above the din. “Hold on!”

  “But what about—” Devon was thrown back into his seat as the aircraft lurched straight up into the sky. There was no doubt about it now. He was on a military transport, the kind reserved for secret missions and the invasion of other countries. He was on a one-way trip into the heart of darkness. And the thing that saddened him the most was the knowledge that he would never be allowed to see his family again.

  His mom, the worrier, the one who knew just how to cheer Devon up on a bad day with a slice of her famous lemon pie.

  His dad, the bravest man he’d ever had the honor of knowing, the small-town doc who’d quietly refused to give his son away—even when it meant his family’s livelihood.

  And his eight-year-old sister, Linny, the bratty, comic-book-stealing troublemaker who loved nothing more than to mess with Devon’s stuff—which usually resulted in mondo breakage. His stuff, not hers. Linny’s ear-piercing scream could shatter concrete, but that was nothing compared to her uncanny ability to break wind loudly in close quarters and blame it on him. He would absolutely die whenever she would let one rip in an elevator with a hot girl beside them. It was totally humiliating…as if he wasn’t enough of a freak show already.

  Oh, how he missed them!

  Amidst the chaos and clamor, as the large aircraft lumbered into the air Devon was pulled from his thoughts when Alya reached for him in the red-tinged darkness.

  He looked over at her then and was relieved to see her smiling wearily back at him.

  He returned her smile and felt his heart soar when she took his hand.

  Together, they held on for dear life.

  Chapter Four

  HIS ears ringing with the unearthly roar of the thrusters, Devon endured what felt like an eternity of bone-jarring, teeth-rattling shaking. In short, being hog-tied at the base of an erupting volcano would probably have been a slightly more pleasant experience. Devon just hoped that Alya was surviving this, because he sure as heck couldn’t turn his head to check. The g-forces had him pinned to his seat like a lab rat on a dissection table.

  With a great swoosh followed by a deafening pop, the mighty thrusters cut off and the much quieter drone of the propulsion engines took over. The monstrous beast of an aircraft had reached cruising altitude, and the crushing weight of the g-forces subsided.

  “Alya?” he said, opening his eyes, and then just as quickly, he squeezed them shut.

  What the hell?!

  The room around him had become a sea of dazzling white light.

  Was he dead?

  Flapping his way over the cuckoo’s nest?

  Dehydrated?

  It’s me, stupid!

  Bai Lee’s voice was once again inside his head.

  I’ve linked our minds. Just open your damn eyes already!

  Oh, great…more telepathic bullcrap. Devon took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes.

  As his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the room, the six other people around him came into focus. Miguel was kneeling on the ground about five feet away, his head bowed in prayer over his clasped hands. Devon just hoped the guy had enough sense to know that this wasn’t heaven—that they were rattling around inside Bai Lee’s head like a set of oblong croquet balls. He wondered when the gigantic mallet would appear and smack the hell out of all of them.

  Glancing just to his left, he caught sight of the blond Romanian twins sitting together on a stone bench a few feet away, and his heart sank like a torpedoed destroyer. When had Alya released his hand? And why was she sitting so damn close to her brother like that?

  “Alya?” Her name came out of Devon’s throat in a desperate rasp. “It looks like she’s busy,” said Bai Lee, stepping up to him. She was dressed in what could only be described as a trio of delicate yellow robes that gave her an exotic warrior-princess vibe, and Devon had to work hard to keep his jaw from flopping open in awe. Without blood caking her face, she was a total babe—dangerous, lovely, most definitely in charge…

  And way the hell out of Devon’s league.

  “But—but Alya was just sitting right next to me,” Devon said. He sounded whiny and juvenile, but he didn’t care. He was still in a bit of a daze over the whole mind-meld experience, and Bai Lee’s hotness sure wasn’t helping him focus any.

  “And she still is,” Bai Lee explained. “None of us have left our seats.”

  “Because we’re all in your head.”

  “You got it, Sherlock,” she said with a crooked smile. “I didn’t want to freak the hell out of you, so I picked something basic.”

  “Basic?” echoed Devon. Bai Lee’s “basic” landscape was more like nineteenth-century retro limbo. “You mean we could be sitting in a tropical paradise if you wanted us to?”

  “Sure.” Bai Lee held out her hands and the long silk sleeves of her gown draped sexily to the ground. As she moved her arms, the world around them instantly changed to a lush jungle setting with an enormous waterfall roaring down the side of a sheer cliff face. A towering weeping willow with a lush canopy of descending branches stood sentry beside the waterfall’s pool. Birds called from the trees. Devon felt a gentle breeze caress his skin.

  “Wow,” he marveled. “You’re good.”

  Bai Lee crossed her arms. “Just so you know, I can change all of this with a thought…so don’t piss me off. Okay?”

  “Sure.” Devon grinned at the sensation of grass beneath his feet. And the grass wasn’t screaming. “You know, this is pretty awesome, Bai Lee.”

  She flashed him a tiny, girlish smile. “Thanks.”

  “So, what’s the plan, then?” asked Vahn as he rose from the boulder he had been sitting on. Devon did a double-take—Vahn had a head full of golden curls. His blond locks softened the harsh angles of his face, making him appear younger and much better-looking. The smudged black eyeliner was gone too, and with it the badass Gothic-punk look. Vahn now resembled a bronzed Roman god or an underwear model fresh off a Times Square billboard. It made him more approachable. And much less scary.

  “Uh, what happened to your hair, dude?” Devon couldn’t help it. It was a question begging to be asked.

  Vahn gave him a curious look before reaching up and tentatively touching his flaxen locks. “Oh… I, uh…”

  “He’s a natural blond,” Bai Lee explained. “This is how he sees himself.” She extended her arm and pointed behind them. “Take Nevada, for example. She’s no longer bald. And surprise…she’s a brunette.”

  “The best ones always are, honey,
and don’t you forget it,” Nevada said as she walked over to them from where she had been standing before the glorious willow.

  Devon gasped when he laid eyes on Nevada. Her short hair was styled in a pixie cut that framed her face and enhanced her starburst eyes. The contrast of her dark bangs and her splintered blue eyes was at once startling and beautiful. The face piercings were gone as well, which softened her features and made her look even younger than her eighteen years. She was a natural beauty, once pared down and relieved of her hardware. And Devon now understood why she had had so many husbands in her short, flamboyant life.

  She was simply…gorgeous.

  “What are you gaping at?” Nevada asked with a frown.

  “N-nothing,” Devon managed with concerted effort. He had to remain focused. This wasn’t the time or the place to be flirting with a couple of way hot girls who were completely unattainable—except maybe in his dreams. He sure wouldn’t mind Nevada and Bai Lee making an appearance in the world championship of naked mud-wrestling—Oh, no, he was doing it again.

  Devon shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts. “I’m just, uh…tired, is all.”

  Nevada turned to Bai Lee. “He’s acting funny. Have you done something to him?”

  “Not me,” she replied, her eyebrows twisting themselves into a genuine look of concern. “Devon. Come here,” she instructed.

  “There’s nothing wrong with me, I’m fine,” he said, standing his ground.

  Bai Lee raised an eyebrow. “Now, Devon…I won’t ask nicely twice.”

  Remembering what she had done to the two unlucky feds back in the aircraft carrier, Devon thought it might be prudent to do what she said. “Okay, fine,” he mumbled as he stepped over to her.

  Bai Lee took Devon’s face gently in her hands and gave him a quick once-over. “Huh,” she said.

  “You see? I told you I was—”

  Bai Lee punched Devon hard in the arm.

  “Ow!” he cried, retreating a few paces. His bicep throbbed. Dang, that girl could hit! “That hurt!”

  Bai Lee gave Nevada a satisfactory nod. “See? He’s fine.”

  “I am so not fine,” Devon said massaging his arm. And that’s when it registered that his left arm was no longer broken.

  “Oh, wow…wait a sec,” Devon held his left arm before his face and opened and closed his hand a few times. “There’s no pain! Holy cow! You fixed it!”

  “No, I didn’t,” Bai Lee corrected. “You weren’t listening to me. None of this is real. I have merely linked our minds and provided you with a semblance of reality so you won’t freak out on me.”

  “This is so cool,” Devon said with a grin. He’d been living with such intense pain for so many days that he had entirely forgotten what it felt like to be whole and healthy again. “Is this all part of your escape plan?”

  Bai Lee scoffed. “Hardly.”

  “Then what is?” Vahn asked, looming over them. The guy had to be six-four, maybe even taller. “It’s time you told us how you’re able to access your psionic ability when none of us can.”

  “I’m about to get to that,” said Bai Lee, “but first, I need one last piece of information.” She turned to Devon. “What’s your psionic ability?”

  “Who? M-me?”

  “Yes, you,” Bai Lee replied with a smirk.

  “Why don’t you just dig around in his brain and pull the information out for yourself?” Nevada sneered.

  “Because she can’t,” said Vahn. “Linking our minds is requiring all of her concentration. In fact, she has possibly altered reality for our federal friends as well, so that they won’t notice how suddenly quiet we’ve become in the cargo hold.” He focused his gaze on Bai Lee. “Am I right?”

  “I never pegged you for an Einstein,” Bai Lee said, returning his piercing gaze with one of her own. “But yeah, it would be easier for all of us if Devon just told us what the hell the government is hauling his bad ass in for.”

  All eyes turned to Devon.

  Oh, crap.

  “Oh, yeah…right,” Devon said, as he felt his stomach drop straight to the floor. Of course, he had no intention of sharing his true and laughable talent with any of his fellow prisoners. He felt certain that Bai Lee wouldn’t hesitate to leave him behind if she thought, even for an instant, that he was too lame to help her break out of here. After all, that was what his peers had thought of him back at North Central. If it hadn’t been for his roommate, Colton, he definitely would have been left to rot inside that psi facility. No, Devon had to keep cool if he wished to survive. It would take every ounce of chutzpah he had to appear confident and collected with what he was about to do next—

  Which was to lie his ass off.

  “I’m a psi-cannon,” Devon said with a little shrug as if it weren’t any big deal.

  “A psi-cannon?” echoed Nevada. Her perfectly arched brows were knitted in a look of confusion. “That’s funny. I just thought—well, you just seemed more—uh, I don’t know…elemental to me.” She shook her head, looking disappointed. “I thought for sure you were an earthmover, or perhaps a waterwielder, but I would never in a million years have pegged you for an egotistical, backstabbing, piece-of-trash psi-cannon. I’m usually a much better judge of character than that.”

  Devon hadn’t anticipated that kind of reaction—and from Nevada, of all people. His confidence in his plan began to waver.

  “Yeah, well, uh, you know…uh, sorry to disappoint you,” Devon muttered. Colton had been a psi-cannon, and Devon had never once thought his roommate to be egotistical, or a backstabber—let alone a piece of trash. Colton was the coolest guy Devon had ever known. What was so wrong with shooting bursts of energy from one’s hands? Wasn’t that, like, the greatest thing ever?

  Bai Lee scrutinized Devon with that steely gaze of hers. If she suspected him of lying, which she probably did, Devon just hoped that she wouldn’t do anything too horrible, like melt his brain or call him out in front of everyone. For the first time in a long, long time, “Plant Boy” wasn’t in the picture. He wasn’t being ridiculed for something he couldn’t control, and best of all, the grass beneath his feet wasn’t shrieking.

  “Well, I must disagree with Nevada on one point… I don’t think psi-cannons are backstabbers,” said Bai Lee with an unreadable expression.

  “Oh, yeah?” Nevada crossed her arms and stood taller, ready to argue. “And why’s that?”

  A hint of a smile appeared on Bai Lee’s lips as she looked pointedly at Devon. “Because in the eyes of the government, I too am a psi-cannon.”

  Oh, shit! If it took one to know one, then Devon was definitely screwed.

  “Wait a minute,” said Vahn shaking his head. “You’re a telepath, we all know that, so how can you be a psi-cannon, too?”

  Bai Lee tapped her temple. “Because I’m both. And the disruptors can only cancel out one psionic discipline at a time. I’m a para-psion.”

  “They’re real?” asked a voice from behind Bai Lee, as Miguel stepped into the circle. He was short for a fourteen-year-old, but his wide brown eyes held all of the sadness and misery of an eighty-year-old man. “I thought they were a myth, like the chupacabra.”

  “Oh, no,” said Nevada. “Para-psions are real. Except you wouldn’t know it because the government pulls them out of the psi facilities as soon as they’re discovered, and then they’re never heard from again.”

  Miguel looked at Nevada as if she had just sprouted wings. “You—you can understand me?”

  “Yeah, well…duh,” she replied with a dramatic eyeroll.

  “You can all understand me?” he asked the group, his eyes alight with excitement.

  “They can understand you, Miguel,” Bai Lee said with a sigh. “That’s why I linked our minds in the first place. So that we can all get to know each other a little better.”

  “And why would you want to do that?” asked Alek with a sneer. Devon wasn’t sure when he and Alya had joined the group, but they were standing less
than four feet away from him. Alya was still so weak that she leaned heavily against her brother, her eyes closed, and Devon wished that he was the one Alya leaned on for support, instead of her cocky twin.

  “Because I am still proposing a wager,” Bai Lee said, crossing her arms.

  “Which is?” Vahn asked with an anxious intensity in his eyes.

  “I’m going to need some help breaking out of here. So, you show me a glimpse into your lives, like maybe some spectacular event that led to your being here, and I’ll tell you if you’re worth my while to take you with me.”

  “What?” Devon cried. “That’s your big wager? That’s what all of this has been about?”

  Bai Lee met Devon’s gaze and held it. “Actually, it was your idea. And I could just go it alone and leave you all to rot in your government-appointed cells.”

  “Hey, I don’t mind sharing,” said Alek, “if it will get me and my sister the hell out of here.” He stepped forward, pulling Alya with him. “I suppose you’re going to replay our memories for everyone to see—so go ahead. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we’re free.”

  “You want my crappy memories? Then fine, they’re all yours,” said Nevada. “No skin off my backside.”

  “Count me in,” said Vahn.

  “Me too,” said Miguel.

  Bai Lee turned to Devon. “You see? They’re all on board for a memory replay. So, what are you so worried about?”

  Devon worked hard not to visibly squirm beneath her steely gaze. “Well, okay—fine. Suppose we tell you our tales? What then? How the hell do we even know you can get us out of here? It didn’t go so great for you the last time.”

  “She’s got access to her abilities,” said Vahn. “Her telepathy will give us the edge we need to escape.”

  Devon glanced over at Vahn. “But how can you be so sure it will work?”

  “I can’t. No one can,” he replied with a shrug. “But what other choice do we have?”

  “There is no other choice,” Nevada interjected. “Except perhaps to go ahead and let the feds interrogate us, torture us, and dump our carcasses in a landfill once they’ve had their fun.”