Deceived

by Heather Sunseri

  “They’re ready when I say they’re ready. Are we in agreement?”

  This woman had lost her mind. I had decided one thing though: what was happening in this building was about to come to a halt. “Sure. We’re in agreement. I’d love to see more of your plan.”

  “And you’ll hand over the healing oracle to me?”

  “Of course,” I lied.

  “If you’re lying, dear Bree, you will go to jail, forever. And that’s if my supplier doesn’t force you to submit to his control with your very own tracker. But I think you’ll get on board when you see what we can do here.” Mom turned to the techs. “Begin the procedure.”

  Besides being a new kind of certifiable, Mom failed to understand one very important fact—the same fact that Sandra Whitmeyer and John DeWeese had also failed to comprehend: she couldn’t control anyone from the team of original clones. Including me.

  And I’d had enough of this display of crazy.

  I reached out to the minds of all of those in the room, except for Tane and Tamati, and one by one I altered what they were seeing. Controlling their minds, I made them continue to see the bodies of the two boys in the chairs.

  Then I mindspoke to Tane and Tamati: Tane, Tamati, I want the two of you to crawl out of the chairs. No one is going to hurt you, I promise. I motioned for them to come to me, and they scurried to my side.

  The two technicians leaned forward with scalpels raised toward what they thought were their test subjects. As their hands reached the bodies they wished to cut, they met air. They felt for the bodies, but their hands fell all the way to the white sheet that wrapped the chair.

  “What is it? What’s going on?” Mom stepped forward, trading confused looks with the technicians.

  Tane and Tamati looked up at me. I turned to the door. Mom’s guards looked just as confused as the others, but they waited patiently for orders. Addison popped into view on the other side of the glass, and I let out a relieved breath.

  I urged Tane and Tamati toward the door, toward Addison. Addison is going to help you.

  What about you? Tane asked while walking away from me.

  I’ll be fine. Now go.

  Tane and Tamati raced out of the lab and into Addison’s arms, and the three of them disappeared from my sight.

  “She’s manipulating our minds! Guards, restrain my daughter!” Mom yelled behind me.

  The guards lunged for me, but I sidestepped them. I darted around the guards and ran toward the glass. I manipulated their minds so that they couldn’t see me, but I knew immediately I couldn’t hold it long.

  Addison, I mindspoke, where’s Jonas?

  I don’t know, she answered. Last I heard from him, Rai had cornered him inside your dad’s office.

  I squeezed my eyes tightly, but I had to have faith that Jonas would survive a run-in with Rai. Get to the other clones. Make them disappear while I end this, I mindspoke.

  Just then my invisibility wore off, and before I could get hold of the minds in the room again, pain shot into my rib cage and exploded throughout my body. I’d been tasered. I fell to the ground, writhing in pain. And the Taser wasn’t the worst of it. Fire exploded in my head, punishment from the strain of altering the appearance of the clones to so many people simultaneously, and from making myself invisible.

  “What are you waiting for? Pick her up!” Mom barked.

  One of the guards leaned over me and was about to scoop me up, but I fought through the pain and managed to slip inside his mind. I disappeared from his sight and rolled out of his reach. The other guard, who could still see me, came after me, so I let go of one mind and entered the other. I was feeling too weak to alter both their perceptions at once. I wasn’t as good at this disappearing act as Addison was.

  The problem was, disappearing from one person’s vision at a time was not going to help me escape—at best it bought me an extra second or two. I needed to think fast.

  It was then that I noticed a syringe lying on one of the metal trays. I imagined it was some sort of sedative, so I lunged for it, snatched it up, and spun, holding it out in front of me as a weapon.

  “Briana,” Mom said. “Please calm down. You don’t want to fight me on this. Don’t you see? We’ll be such a good team together. You can finally embrace who you are, and we’ll help people.”

  I stared at her. “Help people?” She had gone completely mad. But it gave me an opening.

  “That’s right. Of course.”

  “How about we start with the two sick clones?” Those clones were barely hanging on as it was. “You start putting the health of the clones first, and I’ll help you with your company.”

  She smiled. “Okay. We can start there.”

  chapter thirty

  Jonas

  Take me to Building B, I ordered Rai when we exited the elevator.

  He smiled condescendingly at me, then walked toward to the same door I had entered earlier. “My creator will kill you,” he said in warning.

  “I don’t think so.” I had something she wanted. I ran my fingers along the outside of my pocket, where I could feel the velvet pouch tucked away.

  As we crossed the courtyard separating the two buildings, the sound of an approaching helicopter thumped overhead. Rai looked at me with wide eyes. “That’s my cue,” he said. “I have to go.” The distraction had caused me to lose control of his mind for just an instant, but it was enough. He vanished into thin air. I searched around me for his mind, but came up empty.

  No! Without Rai, I had no way to get into Building B. Even if I went back to the main facility and controlled someone’s mind, they’d be unlikely to have access.

  While I considered my options, two helicopters came over the main facility and drifted down toward the courtyard where I was standing. I considered running, but where? They’d already seen me. So I held my ground.

  The choppers landed, and a dozen men dressed in black combat gear poured out, carrying assault rifles. Too many minds for me to control at once, I thought as they ran toward me. But to my surprise, they didn’t even look my way. They ran straight for Building B.

  And then two more men exited the helicopters: Dr. Howard, and a man in a suit. Dr. Howard gave me a wave, and the two men ran right up to me.

  “Jonas Whitmeyer,” Dr. Howard said. “I want you to meet Agent Buroker of the International Intelligence Agency.”

  I tensed, but reached out and shook Agent Buroker’s hand.

  “Where is Briana?” Dr. Howard asked.

  I jerked my thumb toward Building B. “In there, I think.”

  “I was afraid of that. We have to hurry.” He jogged to the door, where the armed men were waiting, and pressed his eye up to the retina scanner. I started to follow, but the agent held out an arm to block my advance.

  “Mr. Whitmeyer,” the agent said. “I need you to stay outside. Let my team do their job.”

  Dr. Howard opened the door, and the agents filed inside, their rifles held at eye level, ready to shoot. Dr. Howard followed. Only Agent Buroker stayed back with me.

  I entered the agent’s mind and immediately heard his thoughts. The team had been instructed to take down whatever operation was going on inside this building—and capture Briana Howard alive. This was an ambush.

  I couldn’t figure it out. Why would Dr. Howard knowingly allow the IIA to enter his highest-security labs? I had no idea what kind of agreement he’d worked out with this Agent Buroker, but I had a feeling it wasn’t anything Bree and I would agree to.

  As Agent Buroker spoke into a handheld radio, I reached out to Bree. I hadn’t been able to get through to her since she was taken from me at Janice’s house. But since I was closer now…

  Bree, I mindspoke.

  Jonas?

  Where are you? IIA has entered Building B. I don’t know what kind of deal your father worked out with them, but they’re coming for you.

  I need your help. I’m in the BSL-4 lab. There are two deathly ill clones in here, but my head is throb
bing. And I’ve never healed before.

  Show me what you’re seeing. I’m on my way.

  This was a disaster. And I had no idea who we could trust.

  I searched for a path into Bree’s beautiful mind, and found it almost immediately. The fiery red neurons fired at a rapid pace, and the nerves and blood vessels inside the brain appeared inflamed and angry. Red, I need you to try to calm down. I can see why your head hurts so badly. She looked to be suffering a horrible migraine. Maybe she’d had a migraine ever since she diagnosed Tamati and Tane.

  Calm down? Mom is with me. She had Vance and Lora killed. I’ve got her convinced I’m on her side, but I have no idea what she’s capable of. Bree opened up her mind for me, and I was now looking at her mother’s back as she led her down a hallway. Bree turned, showing me that two security guards followed her closely.

  Just hang on, okay? I’m coming.

  I left Bree and slipped inside Agent Buroker’s mind. You’re going to lead me inside this building, and you’re going to follow my every order. Do you understand?

  Agent Buroker attached his radio to his belt and smiled. “Your mindspeak doesn’t work on me, Jonas. I was trained by your mother.”

  Well, crap. “In that case,” I started, but before I finished the sentence, I jabbed the heel of my palm upward into his nose. Blood spewed. He was thrown off balance just enough that I was able to knee him in the gut. When he bent forward, I brought an elbow down hard on his back and flattened him. Reaching down, I took his gun from his holster. With a sharp blow to the back of his head, I laid him out unconscious.

  “Nice job,” Dr. Howard said, walking toward me from the entrance. “Now, let’s go get my daughter before these crooked goons get to her first.”

  chapter thirty-one

  Briana

  As soon as we entered the room where the clones had been playing earlier, Mom stopped. The clones were gone. She turned and took two quick steps toward me. “Restrain her,” she ordered the guards.

  Before I could react, a guard had my arms pinned behind me. Mom reached for one of their guns, and after toggling the safety, she pointed it straight at my face. “What did you do with my clones?”

  “They’re not property! They’re human beings!” I looked down into her eyes, attempting to suppress the fear that trembled through my limbs and had my pulse racing. “Shoot me, and this all comes crashing down.”

  “What did you do with them?” she yelled louder.

  Over her shoulder, the clones came into view. They were huddled to one side of the room. Addison was with them, and Rai lay unconscious at her feet. I realized that Addison was allowing me to see her and Rai and the clones, but was keeping them invisible to everyone else.

  I returned my glare to my mom. “They’re gone. You can’t hurt them any longer.”

  Her hand shook as she gripped the gun tighter. “Vance was supposed to make sure you left town. Back to your little boarding school or to play house on that little island with your friend, anywhere but here. But you wouldn’t take the hint. I never wanted to hurt you. You’re my daughter.” Frustration oozed from her voice, and her finger trembled against the trigger.

  Calling me her daughter was like a knife to my wildly beating heart. We hadn’t been close since Boone died, but I’d always wanted to rebuild our relationship. What teenager grew up not wishing to be closer to her parents? I’d craved my mom’s love, but had learned to be strong without it.

  I swallowed hard. I felt Jonas enter my head, and I let him. He immediately began massaging my nerve endings, offering sweet relief and helping me to focus.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have killed Vance,” I said to Mom. “That made it difficult for me to flee, since I was wanted by the police.”

  “I was hoping you’d wise up. Your friends could have gotten you out of Portland. If you had just left, I would have made the evidence against you go away.”

  Stay strong, Jonas mindspoke. We’re trying to find a way into the BSL-4 area. Your dear mom didn’t give your dad security clearance.

  Janice can get you inside, I responded. I think if you can locate her mind, you can control her. She has a tracker though, so you’ll have to bypass that. And I have no idea where she is.

  I returned my focus to Mom, and I slipped inside her mind and began changing her perception of what she was seeing. My head exploded with pain as I did. It had become progressively more painful to use my ability, but with a gun pointed at my head and the lives of clones at stake, it was do or die.

  Addison, let my mom and the guards see the clones again.

  “The clones are here, Mom. Look.” I nodded over her shoulder.

  She turned and saw the clones huddling scared in the corner. I quickly changed my own appearance to that of Boone—Rai, only older. I wanted her to see what her son might have looked like if he hadn’t died so young.

  “They’re back,” she nearly cried with joy. “How did you—?” She stopped short when she turned and saw my new appearance.

  “Hi, Mom. It’s me, Boone.”

  “What… Boone?”

  “Why are you doing this, Mom? Bree and I both started out as cloned humans. I know you would never hurt us.”

  She lifted her hand to touch my face. I gave her the appearance and texture of a smooth reddish-blond stubble. “Boone, darling,” she whispered. “I’ve missed you. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I only wished to help people.”

  “I’ve missed you too, Mom.” I leaned in and hugged her. As I did, I shifted back into my natural self. She didn’t even flinch when I held her at arm’s length and she was staring at her daughter again. “You can have both me and Boone, but I need you to do something for me.”

  “Anything.” Tears formed in her eyes, and I almost felt sorry for her.

  “Let me heal the two clones in the other room.”

  Mom nodded. “Of course, dear.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the room where the clones lay.

  I stumbled slightly, dizzy from the excruciating pain in my head. My equilibrium was thrown off balance, and a wave of nausea came over me. When we got to the two beds, I had to steady myself by sitting on the edge of one of them. It belonged to the Addison clone, who was now gasping for each breath. She was barely hanging on.

  “Can you heal her?” Mom asked.

  “Yes, but I’m going to need you to give me some space.”

  She still held the gun at her side.

  Red, we’re almost there, Jonas mindspoke. We have control of Janice. And I managed to manipulate the IIA agents into clearing the other sections of this building. But we don’t have much time. Your father’s coming after your mother. You and I need to get out of here. I don’t trust the IIA.

  I heard a succession of pops in the distance. Gunfire.

  Jonas? I screamed inside his head. Tell me you’re okay. Jonas! I turned my wide eyes on Mom.

  “Stay here,” she ordered. “I’ll be right back.” She looked to the guards. “Stay with her.”

  As soon as she turned and left, the guards traded uneasy glances—which distracted them just long enough for me to storm them. I kneed one of them in the groin, and he doubled over, giving me enough time to graze the other’s neck with my paralyzing ring. Then I paralyzed the first one, too.

  With both guards down, I said a little prayer for Jonas, then focused on the sick clone in front of me.

  chapter thirty-two

  Jonas

  Gunfire rang out just as Janice opened the doors to the BSL-4 labs. Two IIA agents ran at us from down the hallway behind us, guns drawn. Dr. Howard’s eyes widened, and blood spread along his chest. He’d been shot. He fell against me, pushing me through the doors to the secured lab.

  I stared at the motionless Dr. Howard, stunned that the IIA had shot at us. They were supposedly there to help Dr. Howard take back control of his laboratory. To stop Mrs. Howard.

  And now Dr. Howard was blocking the door from closing. Blood seeped through the back of his shirt in a
growing crimson bloom.

  Janice stooped down and grabbed his ankles. “Help me pull him through the door.”

  I bent over and gripped Dr. Howard under his arms.

  “Jonas Whitmeyer!” an IIA agent screamed. “Stop right there.”

  Two pops sounded. Janice’s eyes rolled back into her head. Her body stiffened. Then her knees buckled and she fell across the threshold, dead before she even hit the ground.

  I gave Dr. Howard one hard yank and pulled him through. With my feet, I pushed Janice back into the hallway so that she was no longer blocking the entryway. The steel doors closed, shutting Dr. Howard and me off from the approaching agents. Their bullets pinged against the other side of the doors.

  I rolled Dr. Howard over, and he stared up at me. “I didn’t know any of it,” he panted.

  “What?”

  “Bree’s mother. I didn’t know she was importing the clones here. And I didn’t know she was the one stealing and tampering with BioTech oracles. The oracles were developed to advance treatments for cognitive disorders. Or to help with learning disabilities. Please tell Briana that I wanted this company to be something she could be proud of.” He gasped for a breath. “I didn’t know what her mother was doing.”

  “You’re going to tell her yourself,” I said.

  I ripped open his shirt and assessed his injury. He grabbed my forearm, prompting me to look at him.

  “I thought I was doing the right thing by bringing the IIA here. They convinced me my wife was involved in illegal activity… that Sandra had been providing her with additional human clones and other things. Trackers, they said. They said no harm would come to you and Briana.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. If Sandra had been providing Mrs. Howard with these things, who took over after Sandra was lobotomized? Dr. Sallee didn’t have access to trackers, I didn’t think.

  Someone banged on the door to the lab. I didn’t have much time, and I knew that whoever was on the other side of that door was not here to help Dr. Howard. They certainly weren’t here to help Bree or me.