The Sway

by Ruby Knight

  Chapter Sixteen

  By the time dessert came around, I couldn’t even lift my fork for fear the seams on my dress would bust open. Too many courses had been served and I was already feeling sleepy from the jet lag and full belly, a deadly combination. I pushed the plate away from me.

  “Excuse me, I need to freshen up,” I said to the group at my table consisting of my three guys and two other couples that weren’t big players. I wove my way through the tables and slipped through the side door past a security guard, nodding to him quickly.

  “Could you point me toward the restroom?” I asked politely.

  He pointed over his shoulder to the left.

  “I’ll knock twice on the door when I get back. Will that work?”

  He nodded once. Obviously, a very talkative sort of person, I thought as I made my way down the hall.

  I saw the universal sign for the little girls’ room and ducked through the door. I quickly pulled myself together after a much-needed pee and touched up my lipstick. A woman stepped out of a stall and began washing her hands two sinks down from me.

  I glanced up to meet her eyes in our reflections in the mirror. Expressions of surprise and anxiety coated her features. This woman knew me. I didn’t know how, but she did. I continued to study her reflection in the mirror as she replaced the fear with nonchalance.

  I knew this woman. Wrinkles formed around her eyes as she smiled at me studying her.

  “You are gorgeous, dear, and American, right?” she asked through a thick French accent that was fake. A good fake, but still fake, none the less.

  “Yes. I’m American. I’m here with Hank Thomas.”

  I said this out loud while thinking it as loud as I could to Hank. Could I send him images? Worth a shot.

  Her lips pressed together and I suddenly knew where I knew her from. I didn’t mask my surprise quick enough.

  “You mustn't tell them I’m here, Julia. Do you understand?” She’d dropped her fake accent.

  I nodded as I threw up my shields, not sure if it was too late, though, as I had already sent a picture to Hank. If that worked or not had yet to be proven.

  “How do you know who I am? What are you doing here? They think you left them. Cole thinks you’re dead.”

  Her eyes widened and a single tear slipped from her eye.

  “This is so much more than that. You can trust me and you will see me again,” she said.

  “Cole never told me your name,” I said softly.

  “Meg,” she said, before disappearing into thin air.

  I heard the bathroom door open and shut and realized too late that she must be able to go invisible. I didn’t know if it was even possible to track her. I stood staring in shock at the space where Cole’s mother had been standing. She was alive and somehow involved in all of this. Why was she here? Was she here with someone or working for someone? I walked in a daze back to the ballroom and knocked twice on the door, as agreed upon.

  “You all right, ma’am?”

  I nodded my head quickly and glanced up at the guard. “Yes, sorry,” I said as I moved past him.

  He shrugged and I turned toward my table. Everyone was talking and laughing. Hank didn’t know. When I slid into my chair, he eyed me curiously.

  “Did you realize you have built walls?” he asked, not specifically referencing an ability. The other couples at our table weren’t paying attention so it didn’t matter, anyways.

  “Whoops, sorry. Habit. As exciting as a trip to the restroom is, I figured you didn’t need to hear my internal dialogue. Some privacy, man. Come on.”

  I smiled and joked as I mentally locked Meg in a box before dropping my brain shield for Hank.

  “All right, kids. It’s show time,” Hank said while pushing back from the table.

  My brain buzzed as I felt Hank’s thoughts push their way into my psyche.

  Cole, Julia, you are with me as my guests so you will expected to be with me. Julia, charm is your key appeal right now, and please don’t mistake sarcasm and wit. Wit is appreciated. Sarcasm is a fool’s way of joking. Yes?

  I glared at him and mentally tried to bitch slap him. Was that possible? Regardless, his face got a little red, so he’d heard me loud and clear.

  Hank was so graceful as he made his way across the room acknowledging specific dignitaries, almost as if he were floating just off the ground. He was that smooth. My heels clicked against the floor, and my heart was beating at three times its normal pace. The smile on my face was one I had worn with years of practice: cool, calculated, poised. I was narrowing my emotional responses and pushing them to a minimum. This was what I knew.

  Cole placed a firm hand on my lower back; I could feel the heat through my dress. His hot breath hit my ear.

  “Stay open,” he whispered. “When you lock it down, you can’t see as clearly.”

  He kissed my cheek before pulling away. Hank stopped in front of a mountain of a man with a dark complexion, his eyes so brown that it was hard to distinguish his iris from his pupil.

  “Dr. Sarr, good to see you. How is your family? David is eight now, right?”

  Hank held his hand out. When the two men made contact, a rush of thoughts flooded my brain. The connection enhanced Hank’s ability, and I had to fight the urge to flinch away from the images. This man was evil. I witnessed Hank shuffling through his memories and confusion began to scatter across his features. Cole, you need to calm him down, I thought to Hank.

  “This is my son, Cole,” Hank let out smoothly.

  Cole gripped the man's shoulder and Dr. Sarr’s eyes glazed over. There! I thought and Hank honed in on the number pad as Sarr’s fingers punched in a twelve-digit sequence. Twelve digits, four different twelve-digit sequences. Luckily, we already had Hank’s, making it one less to remember. I committed the number to memory and nodded politely as I was introduced. Hank released his hand, and Sarr scanned the room as if he’d forgotten himself.

  “It was nice to see you again, Hank. Kids.” He nodded toward Cole and me and then walked to the door that led to the restrooms. He was feeling effects of the three of us.

  Why had he been harder to read? Had he been prepared? He wasn’t Transcendent, I thought to Hank.

  His features pressed with concern and his lips smoothed into a thin line. Almost like he had some sort of shield, like someone with an ability was protecting him. Hank thought back to Cole and me. I nodded once. Letum had to have people with abilities. That was the only answer that made sense. Our thinking we were unique in our acquisition of people who had abilities had been stupid. Of course, if we had found our Transcendents, others must have found equal unique people with abilities, too.

  Still, though, we were stronger. Or that’s what I had to tell myself; we were still able to gain the access we needed. The problem we are going to run into is if we try to access another person who has an ability with Letum they will sense us, I thought to Hank.

  He nodded once and glanced around the room. His eyes scanned faces as a smile pulled at his lips and then slowed when he landed on a man from an Asian country. Hank lifted his hand and the small man waved him over. I got the distinct impression from the glint in his eyes not to underestimate him based on size alone.

  When we reached the man, Hank quickly introduced us. I hadn’t realized he spoke multiple languages but he was easily conversing with the man, Japan’s biggest black market weapons dealer. Hank’s words whipped through my mind. Holy hell. The man had a reason for every gesture, for every look and tilt of the head. If I didn’t know any better, I would guess he had the beginnings of the same ability I harbored.

  Cole held his hand out to shake his and the harsh, discretionary lines on the small man’s face disappeared. A brief look of euphoria replaced his disgruntled look. Images clicked across the forefront of my mind. The man had a thing for prostitutes. Disgusting. He wasn’t just a weapons dealer, but also into human trafficking. I had to resist the urge to punch him in the face. He typed twelve digits int
o a computer screen. That was it. Reach back at that portion, Hank, I thought.

  Hank bowed down in the Japanese form of respect as Cole lifted his hand. “Always good to see you, Tanaka.”

  The man’s features had once again turned rough as he slightly inclined his head toward Hank. Two down, two to go, I thought. Hank smirked and huffed out a snort. Who is left? I asked as Hank kissed both cheeks of a Russian woman.

  When his cheek brushed hers, a slight electric pulse shocked the side of Hank’s face. The woman’s eyes went wide and deadly as she leaned back to stare at him. Shit. She knew Hank had an ability. Would it matter? Did him having an ability make him invaluable to Letum? It couldn’t.

  Hank gave her a knowing smile, not showing an inch of insecurity on his face. He leaned into her ear. It seems we have something in common, I heard him say through the link, rather than the actual whisper. She nodded slowly once and glanced to where Harrison was sitting. She knew Harrison was in the club, too. I trust we both have a mutual secret to keep. He finished whispering and leaned away from her, smiling. The woman leaned away and laughed a deep belly laugh, but it was insincere.

  “We do, Mr. Thomas,” she said through a thick Russian accent. “We have more in common than I ever thought possible.” She winked then and turned away to another waiting man that held a position of power.

  I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding, then swallowed down the butterflies threatening to make an escape from my throat. One of our targets isn’t here. He was here earlier but he isn’t now. Harrison, he is yours to find. Let me know when you do, Hank buzzed in my head.

  Honestly, the whole talking in my head thing made me feel like I was on the spinning ride at the state fair. Dizziness starting blinking around the edges of my vision.

  I slammed up my walls. “I need a break. I’m sorry.”

  I pushed past the Thomas men, heard footfalls behind me, and registered a slight pressure on my upper arm.

  “Wait, Jules. Let me come with you,” Cole said.

  I shook my head.

  “Cole, I’m fine. I just need a minute. Okay?” I pleaded with him through my eyes. “I’m going to run up to my room for a few minutes. I’ll be back. You can send Harrison to wait for me. I just need to collect myself. You can do this without me.”

  Cole sighed and pulled me tight to his chest and then gently kissed the top of my head.

  “Be careful,” he whispered before turning to walk back into the gala.

  I slipped away and quickly moved toward the elevators. I sagged in relief as the doors shrugged to close.

  A hand slipped in at the last second.

  “Hold that, please,” came a British accent.

  I straightened slightly at the sound of a male voice and slipped my façade into place. He was handsome, young, but older than me. His lips twitched when he saw me. I noted the cut of his black suit and knew he had been attending the gala.

  “God, I couldn’t stand another minute stuffed up in that place,” he let out with a breath and pulled off a black mask. I laughed despite myself.

  “I couldn’t breathe. I needed some me time,” I said.

  He leaned in to press the button to his floor and then leaned back.

  “Looks like they housed us both on the same floor,” he said with a flashing white smile. He scanned my body, stopping at the curve of my chest and then continuing to my face.

  I was glad to have my mask to hide my insecurity with his obviousness. His eyes smoldered to mine. Not interested, I thought, more for my own mantra than anything else. I had Cole, devastatingly handsome Cole, waiting for me down in the ballroom. Even his English accent wouldn’t be enough to pass Cole.

  The elevator chimed, and I smiled at him before making my way out to my room. I pulled my key from the small clutch I carried and slipped it into the door.

  A cool breeze brushed past my exposed skin, raising goosebumps across my body. I scanned the room. The curtains were billowing in the open night air. I hadn’t left the doors to the balcony open, so I held my breath. My mind shifted into a different gear, allowing me to see and hear every tiny detail happening around me. My mind spun as it calculated the surroundings.

  There was a threat, immediate, that I couldn’t see. The form took quiet steps toward me; suit pants swished against his legs as he moved. A woman would have been in a dress tonight for the gala. Even though I couldn’t see him, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he was three feet in front of me. The figure closed the gap and his arm cut through the air as he aimed a punch at my face.

  I ducked just in time while swinging my right leg out below me, knocking him on his back and ripping my dress up my thigh. His figure shimmered in and out as his eyes rolled back. Half of his body was blending into the flooring and the other half showed his exposed black suit. He pushed off the ground and disintegrated into the surroundings of the room. He can camouflage himself. He was a damn human chameleon.

  His blurred form charged into me. I lost the ability to breathe momentarily when my ribs hit the floor.

  “Julia?” Harrison yelled from outside the room.

  I couldn’t talk yet, the wind still missing from my lungs. He pounded on the door. A hand wrapped around my ankle as the man started dragging me across the floor.

  “I’m coming in, Julia,” Harrison yelled. A moment later, he popped into existence just inside the door.

  “Harrison, he’s Transcendent.” I pointed to the empty air that had pulled me out onto the balcony. I started to wiggle away, trying to kick and free my legs from his grasp. His form slowly developed before me. He held me firmly with his right hand and had a gun in his left. It was pointed at my chest.

  “Stand up,” he said in an eerily calm voice.

  It was the guy from the elevator, the one flirting with me. He released my foot and gripped my arm, so much so that I would have a bruise. My ankle toppled over the side of my heel, making me stumble. He still had his gun aimed at me.

  “What is she to you? You don’t need her. She can’t even do anything,” Harrison said as he slowly inched forward.

  My captor pointed the gun at Harrison’s head.

  “We both know that’s a lie, mate. It’s not personal, love. I’m just following orders,” he said.

  A pop reverberated through the room, and Harrison was struggling to wrestle the gun away from my captor. Enough of a distraction that he lost his grip on my arm in breaking his hold. I stepped back toward the balcony. It was the only scenario at this point. A shot rang out, and a piece of the ceiling from the hotel crumbled around Harrison. Another shot went off, and I watched in horror as Harrison’s white shirt was soaked up in crimson blood.

  The guy turned toward me. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to. You are fantastic to look at.” He backed me up to the railing. “No hard feelings, eh?”

  His British accent made his words sound harsh. He moved to my feet; I hadn’t been anticipating that. I had been wrong. The situation didn’t turn in my benefit for the first time.

  I gripped the railing with both hands as he held the gun against my forehead.

  “Your choice, love. Shot in the head or fall to your death.”

  My throat had dried out, and I didn’t have the words to answer in retort. I saw Harrison slowly stand behind the man as he held a finger to his lips. He motioned for me to let go.

  So I did.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The cool night air rushed past my skin. My dress fluttered against the pressure of my fall. Another gun shot rang out into the quiet night air. But it wasn’t quiet at all. Horns were honking. People on the street were yelling. Were these going to be my last thoughts? I frantically looked around for a solution to my fall, thinking of my parents, of James, of Cole. God, Cole was going to be so pissed at me. If I would have let him come up to the room with me…

  A pop sounded right in front of my face. I thought for sure the crack would come from my back snapping against the concrete.

&
nbsp; “Julia, this worked once. Ready to try again?”

  Blood was dripping from the corners of Harrison’s mouth, and his white shirt collar stood out in comparison to the stark crimson staining his shirt.

  “Harrison?”

  I was being squeezed through a sponge. My body was liquid and everything around me swirled in varying colors of lights and sounds. My lungs didn’t allow for me to drink up any oxygen. I was moving too fast to take any breaths. Harrison was saying something. Asking something. I was supposed to respond but I didn’t have the energy

  “Julia.” Cole yelled in a voice that I hadn’t heard, for it echoed only fear.

  “Harrison, what happened?” Cole asked.

  It was like I was floating above my body, experiencing the scene from the perspective of the crystal chandelier in the ballroom. The ballroom? How had I gotten to the ballroom?

  “Holy hell.” I sat straight up, and the room spun two-hundred and seventy-two million times its normal pace by my rough estimate. “Harrison?”

  I crawled in the direction of his body. His ears had blood leaking out of the sides. Cole was holding his hand against a wound to Harrison’s stomach.

  Harrison scanned me with his eyes. I couldn’t believe he was even conscious; he had to have lost too much blood. Hank rushed into the room. He kneeled by Harrison’s head and gently stroked his hair, like this was his own child. Energy cracked throughout the room. Natalia zipped in next to me and started checking me over.

  “I’m fine.” I swatted her hands off of me.

  Harrison’s form started to flicker, one resounding pop noisy in the silent ballroom. The only trace left of Harrison was the blood on the tile floor. My face was wet. Sloppy, ugly tears streamed off my false lashes.

  “Oh, god.” I wiped my hand across my face, only to have it come back with a mix of blood and black-smudged makeup.