by Lan Chan
Oz flagged for me to sit down in the empty chair next to Collins, but that would mean I’d be surrounded, and I’d much rather have stood at the door in case I needed to make a hasty getaway. Knowing it would raise suspicion if I showed unease, I had no choice but to take the offered seat.
Collins smiled at me as I did so. Up close, she was younger than she appeared. It was just that her black hair was pulled back so severely from her forehead that it made her skin seem thin. She wasn’t wearing a badge either, which meant she was probably in training as well.
“You’re the girl who disabled the Hoffman Industries robots,” Flynn said. He leaned forward on the couch and the collar of his shirt hung open, revealing a gold crucifix on a long chain. Which denomination of the church did he believe in? Traditional or Esper Church?
When I didn’t confirm or deny the statement, Oz cleared his throat. “Would you mind giving a statement about what you experienced yesterday?”
I did so, trying to skirt around the part where I was hearing voices as much as I could. The frown on Oz’s face told me he too was having trouble balancing keeping my secret but not obstructing the investigation.
“I’m not sure if there were just a lot of non-shielded Whisper and esper minds in the building, but I thought I heard voices.”
“Have you ever heard voices before?” Iannou asked. He was the shorter of the two male agents but he was broader around the shoulders. He spoke with a gravelly voice that matched the tanned shade of his skin.
“I’m an esper. I hear voices all the time.”
For a second his lips turned up but he managed to contain himself. “I mean these jumbled voices.”
I thought for a minute. Not about what I’d heard but about what I would say to them.
“I’m not sure.” Not the truth but not a lie either. “Are any of you espers?” I already knew that Collins and Flynn both were. She was a lower-level telepath, but if I was going to have trouble, it was with him. I’d scanned their minds as soon as I saw them. Unlike real espers, my telepathy didn’t have a strong signature because it was artificially based.
Collins’s mind was shielded but it wasn’t strong enough to withstand even a small telepathic blow. What made me curious was that her thoughts seemed to be contained in a tiny corner of her mind. That was where the majority of her protection shields lay.
I’d heard you could discipline yourself to be that mindful with meditation and neuroplasticity exercises. Oz was trying to get the rest of us on board with it. We’d been reluctant to give up yet more of our spare time, but if this was the outcome, maybe we should consider it.
Flynn’s mind was more like what I was used to. Shields fortifying everything, strong ones at that, and the kind of sharp mental patterns that warned an attack could be mounted any time.
“I’m a gamma-level telekinetic,” Collins said. “Agent Flynn is a beta-level Reader.”
I swallowed. “You know those thoughts you hear from other people that happen in the background? The ones that ensure the body functions properly?”
All three agents nodded. Of course they knew about those. Their area of expertise, after all, was esper containment. “It sounded like that but on a grand scale. I’m talking thousands of voices.”
Collins frowned. “How did you compensate for that kind of feedback?”
“I have a pretty strong shield.”
If I hadn’t been watching her, I would have missed the millisecond pursing of her lips.
It was difficult to tell whether she was impressed or annoyed. Maybe she thought I was boasting. I really didn’t care either way.
“Then what?” Iannou prodded.
“I walked past the woman on the floor and she touched me on the ankle. The voices stopped as soon as she did that.”
“Can you speculate about what you think might have happened?”
I could. Whether I wanted to was a different question. What I wanted was to investigate on my own without the constant threat of being discovered and locked up for experimentation. Whenever I spotted Oz out of the corner of my eye, though, I couldn’t help feeling as though I was being stubborn for no reason.
There were a few theories that I wanted to run past Lily. At this point, I wasn’t going to give them all away yet.
“I’m not sure. Could be that her touch startled me and I accidentally shocked her. Or maybe her system simply shut down at the right moment and the voices were part of her brain reacting to the drug. What theories have you come up with?”
This time Iannou did smile. “You know we can’t tell you that. Only members of the investigation team are on a need-to-know basis.”
“You’re the girl who has connections to Edward Blake’s court, aren’t you?” Flynn asked.
I couldn’t deny my connection to Gabe so I went non-verbal again and nodded. In Oz’s head, I sent a warning. They were getting too close for comfort and I didn’t want to have this conversation with them.
“Is there anything that you can tell us from that perspective?”
“No.”
Flynn leaned forward. His hands laced together and his elbows rested on his knee. “You’re aware that this investigation is class one? That we can have you arrested for obstruction.”
Iannou nudged his partner with his knee. I smiled without really meaning to. It was a force of habit from the training in New China. It really pissed the gangs off when they threatened me and it resulted in a smile. Bullies feed on fear and a smiling victim was at least pretending not to be afraid.
“I don’t have anything to tell you. They’re not speaking to me at the moment.”
“But when they do you’re obligated to pass the information on.”
So as not to seem combative, I acquiesced. “I’ll let Oz know as soon as anything changes. But you have to realise just because I know them doesn’t mean they’ll speak to me. I’m Hyper and they’re Court. The personal stuff only stretches so far.”
It was Flynn’s turn to smile. “I think your godfather would do a lot more than that to keep you safe. The courts speak to each other. Even if he doesn’t tell you anything, someone else might.”
“Don’t you have undercover agents in the courts?”
“Not ones high enough that they have a Captain’s ear.”
“I’m not going to spy for you.”
Iannou flagged us both down this time. “Alright,” he said. “It’s not that important at this point. If you could keep an eye and ear out that would be helpful. Right now we’re flying blind. This drug appeared out of nowhere and it’s starting to flood the market. I can imagine the Kings aren’t happy if they’re not involved. I’m sure they’ll be more than willing to assist if it removes the competition.”
He was great at playing good cop, I’d give him that much. Then Collins went and messed it all up. “Do you think we could have a look at the memory in your mind?” she asked.
I reached for Oz immediately. I don’t want them in there!
His stony expression said he didn’t either but it was a contingency he’d expected. She was just doing her job, but at this moment, I wanted to turn around and slug Collins in the face.
“I’ve already gone through her memories,” Oz interjected. “It’s all in the report.”
Collins nodded, but since she brought it up, it seemed that Flynn wasn’t going to let it go. “Still, it would be nice to have firsthand knowledge of what the scene looked like.”
“Four of your colleagues were there at the time,” I said. “Why can’t you get the impression from them?”
“Is there a reason why you don’t want us in your head?” Flynn asked. I turned my body so that I was looking at him straight on.
“As a telepath, you know exactly what it’s like to have someone force their will on you without your consent. Isn’t that one of the methods of resistance training in the Unit? A higher-level esper messes with your mind and you have to resist for as long as you can?”
“It’s not going to be like
that.”
“Then let’s call it mental prudishness. I only allow very select people to speak to me telepathically, and I’m sorry but you don’t make the cut.”
“What if I bridged?” Oz said, ever the peacemaker.
“That could work,” Iannou said. I wanted to ask him what the hell he knew about bridging minds when he couldn’t have experienced it. With a Reader as powerful as Oz, it would essentially be the same thing as them being in my head anyway. Especially since I bet Oz would show them everything regardless of how sensitive the information was.
What if you get thrown out again? I wanted to know. This is typical bloody Psi-Op behaviour. Going into my mind makes no difference. They just want to do it because they want intel on me.
He sent a short telepathic wave at me, the equivalent of a mental sigh. I reeled. If you’re just going to throw me at them, why’d you lie for me in the first place?
It was a low blow that caught him completely off guard. The way his shoulders hunched made me want to take it back but it was too late. Through the window behind Oz’s head, I noticed Zeke and Adam strolling towards us. It was nearing time for their shift and they were coming to sign on. Zeke sensed me first, his head scanning the area until he sighted me through the window.
Flynn’s voice forced my attention away from them. “It’s a viable option. Unless there’s something in particular you have to hide.”
A number of very stupid, very threatening words built up in my tongue, but I muzzled them before they could spill out. “Fine,” I said. “Bridging it is.”
Outside, Adam had sent Zeke in to register their arrival. He stood under the eaves, leaning against the trunk of a tree, dragging slowly on a cigarette. Iannou caught me looking and his head turned in the same direction. Adam gave him a nod of acknowledgement but continued to stare into the room, never breaking his gaze.
Oz cleared his throat and slipped into my head. As he did so, I raised shields on everything except my memory of the incident. He couldn’t have missed that I was locking him out too. The shimmering of the link between Zeke and me was like a flare. Layering my energy over it, I camouflaged it so they wouldn’t question how intensely the connection vibrated.
Zeke shuddered at the sudden boost in energy that essentially dulled his sensitivity to the link, but he knew better than to question me right now.
Conversely, Oz’s mind was completely open except for a small section he kept locked away. I felt the foreign minds swirling inside of his and saw them in my peripheral as a light blue and golden yellow presence.
Without needing a prod, I set the memory in motion. Adam made a waving motion at me and then I felt him project a picture of a little girl I didn’t know into my head. She was dark-haired and thin, with a pleasant but forgettable face. If he’d been any slower, I would have slipped up and forgotten that we’d disguised Abigail.
Patching the image over the top of the memory, I impressed on Oz that this was the girl I’d been with. The rush of voices started building up and then so did the electricity. One moment it hadn’t been there and the next, it hummed into life. Oz’s eyes flicked at me in the physical present. I blinked to find that the filament in the light bulb had popped. Tiny pinpricks danced up my arms and swirled over my spine. Hanging onto the image as best I could, I tried to concentrate on breathing evenly.
“What’s happening?” Collins said aloud. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her hands gripping the seat of the chair so hard her knuckles were turning blue.
“The memory’s breaking down,” Oz lied. It was good to know he could still do that around these people. “It’s harder to hold on to.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be your specialty?” Flynn spoke.
“I don’t usually work with other alphas.”
It wasn’t long but their conversation gave me enough time to soothe the electricity. To draw it back and calm my nerves. What the hell was happening? It was true I didn’t want these people in my head, but I’d never reacted this way to a reading. Not even when we did our own resistance training in the compound.
I pushed the image out of my mind as quickly as I could now, unsure how much longer I could hold the memory and stop the nanobots from overreacting. The voices were everywhere again, whispering like wind through grass.
Maybe I was imagining it, but today the voices seemed even more numerous. Like they were literally in the room with me again. Memory me stood up. I took a few steps forward and the unconscious woman’s finger touched me. A wave of telepathy rolled through me and everything electrical in the room sparked and short-circuited.
Anticipating the reaction, Oz tried to cut the connection. A stunning bolt of telepathy smashed into him. It hammered against his shield and tore through the first few walls like a wrecking ball. Had he not been an alpha, had Zeke not reached out instantaneously to protect him, I was certain Oz would have died. As it was, he screamed and clutched at his head. The ripple effect flared out but I caught it before it could touch the two agents.
Don’t come inside, I sent Zeke and Adam when I felt their intention to intervene. The barriers I’d put up against the vital link crumbled. Through it, I registered Zeke’s shock and fear. It magnified my own until I was shaking. My body quivered like jelly and I curled in on myself, clutching my stomach. The strike had burned through most of my energy reserves and I was going to either throw up or pass out.
I felt the agents’ eyes on me like vultures circling a fresh kill. They were just waiting for the opportunity to pick apart my carcass. Something wet and metallic slid down my nose. It wasn’t until it dripped onto my shirt that I realised it was blood.
“Someone go check the circuit breakers,” a male shouted from the main office.
Collins stepped around the desk and murmured into Oz’s ear. “I’m okay,” he said. But when he looked up his face was ashen, washed out at his near brush with death. A hand clamped down onto my shoulder.
“What did you do?” Flynn said.
Oz shook his head. “Nothing. It’s my fault. I forgot we’ve been training with mental booby traps and she still had one active that I tripped.
“It felt like more than that.”
“She’s an electro. Their abilities are difficult to predict even at the best of times. Perhaps we should have listened to her when she said she didn’t want to be probed.”
I slid the chair back and stood up. In a second I was out of the room and sprinting for the toilet. The female toilets were occupied so I pushed open the men’s one and slammed the door shut. My legs buckled. The impact as my knees connected with the tiles shot pain through my thighs, but it was nothing compared to the pounding inside my head. My stomach churned as though I was going to vomit but nothing came up because I had nothing left in my body to spare.
Somebody banged on the door. When I didn’t answer, the lock slid over and the door unbolted. Slipping into the cubicle, Zeke crouched down into the tiny space beside me, his palm resting on my cheek.
“She’s freezing.” He slid his arm under my knees and lifted me up against his chest.
“Infirmary,” Adam suggested from outside. “I’ll go get food.”
My eyes rolled back into my head. The next thing I knew someone was placing a glass of raspberry-scented liquid to my lips. My mouth opened on muscle memory and I swallowed the pleasant, sugary drink. Zeke refilled twice and I downed both glasses. Only then did I try to sit up on the cot where he’d laid me down.
“Give it a minute,” he said.
I didn’t push it. When I found that I could take a breath again without shuddering, I opened my eyes. The room I was in was small and unfurnished. There were shutters over the rectangular window that blocked out all the lights. In the far corner was a built-in wardrobe with a single black T-shirt hanging on the hook. I remembered that shirt. It was an official League merchandise T-shirt that I’d bought Zeke for Christmas. There was a grey skull on the front with Hades scrawled across the chest. I was in one of the sleep cells ne
ar the office. They were designed for those officers who needed a place to crash if they were on double shifts or couldn’t be bothered going home whilst in the middle of an investigation.
The door opened and I turned my head towards it. Adam came in with a cafeteria tray in his hands. A second later, Oz appeared behind him. I took one look at him, at the colour that still hadn’t crept back into his face, and started to cry.
11
Zeke’s arms locked around me and I leaned into his shoulder. I was too weak to be loud but I think my silence scared them.
“I’m so sorry, Willow,” Oz said.
Pushing gently away from Zeke, I picked up the empty glass on the nightstand. My strength was such that it didn’t even make it to the wall beside Oz’s head before gravity dragged it down. Never one to care for dramatic displays of emotion, Zeke caught the glass telepathically and returned it safely to the nightstand.
“I could have killed you,” I breathed through the snot in my nose. “I told you it was a bad idea and you just kept pushing.”
“I know. There’s no excuse for it. I let my guilt blindside me.”
“How would I be able to live with my guilt if you died?” My head was back against Zeke’s chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist because there was a second there when he’d borne the brunt of the blow because he’d felt it coming before Oz did.
Zeke’s hand rubbed my back. “It’s okay. Nobody’s dead and nobody’s going to die.”
It just made me cry harder thinking that I’d almost killed two of my best friends.
“What happened to the stiffs?” Ever the pragmatist, Adam wanted to know what we were up against.
“I told them this happens a lot with Willow because of the way her telepathy is wired. Thank God Lily’s documented all that she can on the official files so that Willow’s got a corroborating medical history. I think they bought it for now.”