Silence. And shock. Their thoughts spun in a tornado that made it hard to keep up.
Ana spoke first. 'My children, I'm so sorry for what you've been through. I've done everything I can to keep you alive, to make sure you're treated well. I have loved you all this time.'
'Mom? Are you really our mom?' Luke could not hold his tears.
'Yes, mijo, I am. And I never abandoned you. They stole you from me, just like they stole me from my parents.'
Luke's voice was strained. 'Who's our father?'
'I don't know,' Ana said. 'I wish I could tell you, but I could never find the records. I'm sorry.'
We kept the link open as long as we could. Ana and her children talked about everything, from favorite movies to their para-powers. Luke loved that Ana and I shared mind reading. It also accounted for Lucy's lie-detecting ability. Para-powers were shaped to some degree by genetics, though that didn't explain how the line of paranormals started in the first place.
The conversation went on for a long time. Hearing them all cry and talk at once hurt my head. I wanted to hug everyone.
The craving for physical contact surprised me. Most people didn't really think about it, normally. I would sit next to Luke and Lucy on the bed with our legs touching, or we would hug. Other friends would hug me or put an arm around me. Some level of physical contact was natural, something we didn't even think about.
But since being here, I'd gotten almost none. Ana would brush against me when she could, offering a hand of support. Susie tried not to touch me at all, and Dr. Pana never touched me except in creepy ways that made my skin crawl.
I'd never realized how much I needed to be touched, and to touch—to feel that contact with another person.
No one wanted to end the conversation, but we all forced our goodbyes. Still connected to Ana, I felt the tears flow down her cheek and drip over the edges of her smile.
'Thank you, both of you. Thank you so much. That meant the world to me.'
The group link had drained me. Would it affect our ability to escape? Maybe, but I didn't regret it. That one conversation healed a hole in my friends' hearts that had been raw far too long. I could see the light in Ana as well, brightness in an otherwise dark world.
This was real power. Not controlling other people, but helping to heal their hearts. For the first time in my life, my para-powers meant something more.
They made me proud.
Chapter 23 – Sam
Drake and I linked and commanded the guard to shut down the camera. Ana had slipped him a little something that would keep him in the bathroom for quite some time. She locked him in, and Drake and I instructed him not to leave, even if he started to feel better. Ana snatched the keys from the guard desk, and came to my room.
She pulled out a scalpel and walked toward me. The hairs on the back of my neck sprang to attention.
"I'm so sorry, Sam, but I have to do this."
This couldn't be. I didn't believe she would hurt me.
"You have a tracker in your arm. I have to remove it before we leave this room, or you won't get past the security gates."
My body visibly deflated. Right, the tracker. She reached for my right arm. I rolled up my sleeve, held it out and gritted my teeth.
The pain came without warning—sharp, biting. The blade sliced into me, dug through me, and pulled out. Warm liquid flowed down my skin. A metallic plop followed.
Ana wrapped my arm. "You're a very brave girl. Are you okay?"
I moved my arm to test it. The muscle ached, but I would live. "Yes, let's go get Drake."
She hid the tracker, a thin metal piece, in a drawer and grabbed a clean scalpel for Drake. I grabbed my backpack with my sketchpad and secret box tucked safely inside.
When we got to his door, I paused. This was the moment. Our first meeting. Ana had been kind enough to get me a pair of khaki pants that fit and a blue sweater that brought out the blue in my eyes. I'd pulled my hair back in a braid. No makeup, but I hadn't worn any in so long that I didn't really think too much of it. Still, the butterflies in my stomach turned into raging bees.
What if the chemistry we had in our minds didn't translate to our bodies? What if he looked at me and ran away?
Ana, reading my mind, tugged me to the door with a motherly smile. My heart clenched at the thought that Lucy and Luke should have basked in that smile over the last eighteen years. The injustice of it all renewed my motivation.
She opened the door and Drake stepped forward, and for that moment, the world stopped spinning and time stood still.
In my imagination, he hadn't been so tall. Tall and muscular. His blond-highlighted hair lay casually messy, and his crystal blue eyes held me in a long stare. He'd found a way to shave, and the chiseled strength of his jaw made my knees weak.
When he smiled, warmth filled my stomach.
"Sam."
That was it, just one word, but he made it sound like it held all the secrets of the universe. His voice was deeper, huskier, than it had been in my mind.
"Drake, it's really you."
He reached for my hand. "It's really me."
When his skin touched mine, lightning danced between us.
He pulled me close, breathing in the scent of me as our bodies touched. I nearly cried right there in his arms, just being held, feeling him. I never wanted to let go.
But I had to. We sighed and reluctantly pulled our bodies apart, though we clutched each other's hands as often as we could.
He held his arm out to Ana, having heard our thoughts, and she carved the tracker out. He didn't flinch, just held my gaze and smiled, as if she hadn't jabbed a sharp object into his bicep.
Ana wrapped his arm, and led us through a maze of hallways and rooms. They knew Drake could control minds, which would explain why she led us to the door. Her alibi.
She gave Drake her car keys and the keys from the guard. 'In the trunk, there's a blue backpack with a small memory stick in the inside pocket. It also has money, clothes, and supplies for you both—medical supplies for you, Sam, a laptop computer, and a cell phone that's not traceable. You'll also need the guard keys to get out the back way, through the locked gates.'
Even though I wanted out of this hell, I couldn't stomach the thought of what we had to do next. They mustn't suspect her of anything.
Damn pragmatism.
Drake looked miserable. "I'm so sorry, Ana. Thank you so much."
Ana sat on the floor against the wall so she wouldn't fall, then smiled. "Just do it, mijo. It's okay. I'm tougher than I look. Just make it believable."
He released the super strength his muscles carried before punching her in the side of the head.
I cried out as she slumped to the floor, feeling his fist as if I'd suffered the blow.
Chapter 24 – Drake
Drake cradled Ana's head so she wouldn't fall to the floor, and positioned her in the most comfortable way possible before looking at Sam. He waited for anger, but he saw only love in her eyes.
He reached out and ran his hand through her silky hair. "I'm sorry."
Her eyes spilled over with tears, but she didn't pull away from him. He sighed in relief when she gripped his hand with as much desperate need as burned in him.
"I hate this, Drake, but we had to. Now let's get out of here before we're caught."
An ache eased in him. He had a new guardian angel, a soul who accepted him, shadows and all.
Drake was guiding Sam toward the door when a voice from the stairs froze them in place. "What the hell are you doing down here? Stop right there."
The security guard aimed his gun at them. How did he get out?
As soon as he'd thought the question, the answer arrived. Dr. Pana followed behind the guard with an evil grin spread across his face. "You two are not going anywhere." His calm, quiet voice was more terrorizing than if he'd been wild with rage.
A haze of compulsion settled into Drake's mind as Dr. Pana hijacked his powers and took control of him. He w
anted to scream for Sam to run, but his mouth wouldn't open and he didn't know if she could hear him mentally anymore.
Sam's face turned hard. "Let go of him, Dr. Pana. Now!"
The clutches on Drake's mind released and he gasped in relief and pain.
Dr. Pana's face twisted in anger. "How?"
Sam still held center stage, so Drake used that moment to creep forward, ready to tackle the doctor.
Sam grinned. "You underestimated us."
'Drake, he can only use one power at a time. We have to keep him off balance.' Her voice floated through him like a cool breeze.
He took that opportunity and lunged, tackling the doctor to the ground.
Sam screamed. "The guard!"
From the corner of his eye, Drake saw the guard turn and point his gun at him. Time pushed against him like a viscous liquid, and he couldn't move fast enough to stop the inevitable.
The guard's trigger finger twitched.
Drake braced for the impact of a bullet.
But no gun fired. The guard's eyes glazed over and he threw the gun down the stairs.
Sam had intervened, but in letting go of the doctor's mind, she'd opened up the window he needed to seize Drake's mind again.
Under compulsion, Drake moved away from the doctor. Inside, his will fought the clumsy control the doctor exerted, but couldn't break it, and he recognized in that moment the energy of the man who had kidnapped him from his surfing contest.
Of course, Dr. Pana had been behind it all. Fury raged in Drake, seeking an outlet but finding none. His muscles flexed and pulsed, bulging tight against his jeans and shirt, coiled and ready but unable to strike.
The guard made for his gun, but Sam intercepted him and kicked the gun farther away, then latched onto Dr. Pana's mind again and released Drake from the control.
"You did this to me. You took everything from me." His fist landed in the doctor's gut and sent him flying down the hall, where he lay struggling to breathe.
Drake stalked forward, ready to finish off the doctor, but the guard pounced on Drake and wailed at him with ineffectual punches. Though no match for him in strength, the guard was small and fast, and Drake's counterstrikes landed on air.
A foreign energy infiltrated Drake's body as he fought the guard, and siphoned off his extra strength. The guard's punches bit deeper into his body and filled him with unexpected pain. Each blow disoriented him further, until his vision spun with flashes of light.
Drake raised a heavy arm and swung, but missed again.
The doctor groaned, healing himself with Drake's power, then pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed at Sam.
"No!" Drake's powers crashed back into him and renewed strength burned through his veins and flooded his muscles. His fist slammed into the guard's face and knocked him into the wall. His body slumped over and blood leaked out of his mouth.
With every ounce of will left in him, Drake focused on the doctor, but the doctor fought Drake with his own mind powers... and pulled the trigger.
Two pops reverberated through the hall. Sam screamed and Drake unleashed more fury than he'd ever felt before.
Images of his New Daddy flashed through his mind. The gun in the doctor's hand lifted and pointed toward his chin.
"Shoot yourself, Dr. Pana. Don't miss."
Sam's voice cut through the pulsing vibrations in his ears. "Drake no! Don't do it! Don't become one of them."
Drake looked to her, tears welling in his eyes. "I can't lose you, Sam. I lost them. I can't lose you too. I'm sorry."
The doctor's face contorted in fear and rage, but his finger obeyed Drake's will and pulled the trigger. Just like the childhood memory, blood and brain splattered the wall and the doctor's body fell to the floor like a bag of sand.
Chapter 25 – Sam
I heard the gun explode in slow motion. Everything went silent, or really loud. I couldn't tell—like when water is so hot it feels cold for a moment. My ears rang as I went numb and fell to the ground. Blood covered me, and my arm stung.
Drake's mouth moved, but I couldn't hear what he said. Rage overtook him, and he turned to the doctor. He broke from my mind and unleashed all his power.
Dr. Pana brought the gun to his own chin. Time slowed. The doctor's finger tugged against the trigger.
"Drake no! Don't do it! Don't become one of them." The words didn't reach my ears. Maybe I only spoke in my head. Nothing made sense. I couldn't move. Something pinned me down.
Drake looked to me, tears in his eyes. "I can't lose you, Sam. I lost them. I can't lose you too. I'm sorry."
My mind filled with Drake's. His pain became mine, his memories my memories. We existed as one in that terrible moment.
The doctor's head exploded in a splash of blood and brain.
I blocked the image of him from my mind, and my connection to Drake snapped shut. The guard still lay unconscious in the corner, and Ana lay like a dead weight against me.
I shifted her, and screamed. A crimson gash covered her abdomen. I tried to move my arm and flinched. Blood covered my right shoulder. Two bullets—one in her, and one that just grazed me. She must have moved at the last minute, and thrown herself in front of me.
She'd saved my life.
This plan was supposed to be simple. How could this happen?
My hearing returned as I choked on my sobs. I held Ana and rocked her, stared at her, willing her to wake up. I waited for that movie moment when she would open her eyes and tell me it was okay, that it was best this way. When she would make me vow to help her children and all the other kids in this hellhole.
That moment never came.
I was robbed of those last words, that final connection.
Images of Gar's lifeless eyes plagued me. Two deaths.
I looked at my bloodstained hands and cringed. I would never wipe my soul clean from this.
"Sam, we have to go now. I'm sorry, but we don't have much time to get out of here. Are you okay? Is our baby okay?"
I stared at Drake, still in a daze, and nodded mutely as he moved Ana's body off of me. "We can't leave her here. That's not right."
"I know, but we have no choice. We're the only hope left to save her kids. She'd want us to go."
"No! I'm not going to leave her here. Her kids deserve to know where she's buried. She deserves some respect. I will not leave her in the hands of these monsters! Not like I left Gar."
"Please, Sam, listen to me. For the sake of our baby, we have to go. Please!"
"I can't. I just can't. The babies. Ana. I can't."
I sat on the floor, crying, clutching her body in my arms, unable to move, unable to think past the grief that ate away at my soul. She'd given everything for her kids, and for us. Her whole life had been a sacrifice for others. I had just reunited her with her children, gave my best friends their mom back. Now, because of me, they'd lost it all.
Sobs tore out of me. My body shook as my tears spilled onto her lifeless face.
***
'Sam, I am so sorry to do this, but I have to. Sam, you will get up and come with me to the car. You will move quickly.'
My mind emptied. Only a compulsion to do as the voice commanded remained. My body moved reflexively as an unknown arm helped me up and guided me out of the building. Distant alarms sounded, but the compulsion was all that mattered.
I saw the guard and what was left of Dr. Pana as if looking through murky waters.
A thread of anger uncoiled inside me. I despised him. I despised them all. If I could burn the whole building down, I would. These thoughts rose up like bubbles from some buried mind, but I could do nothing but walk forward and get in the car.
We found the blue Honda where Ana said it would be. Drake pulled the backpack out of the trunk, and we jumped in. He drove.
The compulsion disappeared, my mind cleared, and all the memories and feelings flooded back to me. I felt violated, mentally raped. Drake couldn't make eye contact with me, and I couldn't speak to him. My rage wouldn't allo
w it.
I thought about the babies. What would happen to them? Ana had been the only one who loved them and gave them what they needed. We had destroyed so much tonight—so many lives, so much hope.
My arm throbbed in pain and practicality gradually took over. I checked the bags, trying to focus. Good Ana, she'd left us a first aid kit. I disinfected my bullet wound and wrapped it awkwardly with gauze, also replacing the wrecked bandage Ana had put on me.
"Do you want some help with that? I can pull over and—"
"I can do it myself!"
"Sam, I'm sorry. So sorry. But you would have died. Our baby would have died. I couldn't let you stay there!"
I screamed, "You could have used your physical strength! You could have carried me if you had to. You didn't need to use mind control on me. On me!"
"There was no time. You would have fought. You were injured. And you're pregnant! What would you have done in my situation? Huh? Would you have let me die so I wouldn't get mad at you? Would you have held that ethical line at the expense of my life?"
I refused to look at him or answer.
We drove in silence while I counted our cash. Drake looked over at the money. Ana had left us several thousand dollars, at least, and that didn't count the money I'd squirreled away in my secret box.
He finally broke the silence. "We should dump this car and get something else. The plates are traceable."
I finally looked at the GPS. We were in Montana. I hadn't been far off in my guesses, assuming my school was near the hospital.
We drove in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, in the middle of Big Sky Country. We cruised the long, winding country roads, the only sign of life an occasional road sign.
Drake set the GPS for his apartment in Venice, California, but programmed it for back roads until we could get a new car.
"When and where should we get a new car? I don't see any dealerships around." I did not want to speak to him, but logistics had to be handled.
"As soon as possible. First we should swap the plates with another car. That will buy us time until I can get us to a car lot."
The Forbidden Trilogy Page 17
