Sleight

by Tom Twitchel

  Kenwoode turned and leaped past me. Before I could do more than spin around, he threw a thickly muscled arm around Justine, and hauled her close to the window.

  Glaring at me, he said, “That’s enough Benjamin. Don’t make me hurt you.”

  “Hurt him? You’ve as good as killed two other people in this room,” Constance said.

  Tightening his grip on Justine, he narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t the same Constance, and you know it,” he said, nodding toward Griff and Weller. “What have I done exactly? I’ve incapacitated two murderers. Weller has likely killed dozens.”

  “You’re keeping score?” I said.

  Justine hung limp in his grasp. “It isn’t a matter of keeping score. They were actively threatening the Natural community. But, they still had some intrinsic value to me.”

  “That sounds suspiciously like you in your earlier days,” Constance said.

  “Does it? They directly threatened Benjamin and others. I just hurried the wheels of justice to their inevitable conclusion. Maybe that is like the old me.”

  I seethed as I watched his grip on Justine, her arms pinned with one burly arm. “So that’s it? You decide?”

  “Benjamin I have tried educate you, but it is becoming painfully apparent that you may not be capable of enlightenment. A pity, because you could make a tremendous impact.”

  “Let her go, Preston. Please,” said Constance.

  Kenwoode’s eyes remained locked on us. “I’m afraid I can’t do that Constance. My curse necessitates having an association with a Natural who has the healing aberration.”

  “You’re just going to force her to restore you so that your knack doesn’t cripple you? And then what? You’ll find someone else when you’ve used her up?” I hissed.

  “I haven’t forced her to do anything. The last thing I want to do is negatively affect her health. I’ve helped her replenish and heal herself. And I can’t entrust her to Harald’s care or yours. You’ve both put her at risk and her infatuation with you is a problem.”

  A ribbon of ice circled my heart. “No.”

  “Yes. The two thugs of Sonja’s? That was our little friend here.” He gave Justine a gentle almost fatherly squeeze. I repressed a shudder of disgust. “My small efficacy with hypnotism was enough to nudge her in a direction that her blossoming ability already wanted her to go.”

  I didn’t understand why he was delivering a monologue when he should just focus on escaping. I started to draw my knack around him, looking for an opportunity.

  He shrugged his shoulders and glared at me. “Don’t Benjamin.”

  “Don’t do this Preston. We can help you. You don’t need to do this,” pleaded Constance.

  “Wrong again my dear. I’m leaving with the girl no matter what. Benjamin, you can come with us.”

  “Come with you? After what you’ve done to Justine?” I rasped, my voice husky with pent up anger. The fact that another betrayal was standing right in front of me made me feel sick. His choice of Sawyer, an immature mess-up artist, Brock, a hot head with niche knack skills, it all made sense now. They’d been brought in because he didn’t want a sophisticated crew in place that might figure out that he wasn’t on the level.

  “Benjamin it’s much simpler than you might think. The coming contretemps with the Shades is going to force people to choose sides. We can’t wait for Harald’s slow methodology. Compromises have to be made. You can influence the outcome. Tremendously so.”

  His bright blue eyes stared at me. He felt no remorse or conflict with what he was doing. The end justifying his means. His use of Weller and Griff for healing energy was disgusting, but his plan for subjugating Justine and warping her character was just plain evil. But I wasn’t going to let my principles cost Justine’s life.

  “What is your choice Benjamin?” he said in a low voice.

  “I’m in,” I said.

  Next to me, Constance sucked in a breath. “Benjamin, no!”

  I pushed her away, behind me. “What do we do? How do we get out of here?”

  His eyebrows rose for the smallest of instants. Loosening his grip on Justine he narrowed one eye. “Constance will need to be silenced. I’ll need to see you render her unconscious.”

  “No problem,” I said, as I whirled back to her and raised my hands.

  I’d screwed up a month ago. Instead of taking action early and making the tough choices I’d kept things to myself and engaged in self-delusion. I wasn’t going for half measures again. Her eyes wide, Constance shrank from me and held her hands up, palms out.

  “Benny, don’t,” she whispered.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  Using my influence I knocked her to the floor and caused her head to bounce off it violently. Her head lolled and blood trickled from her mouth.

  Turning back to Kenwoode I shook myself. “Now what? How does this work? Do you have an organization? A team? Brock?”

  Releasing Justine he pursed his lips. “You continue to surprise me. I think we can save the details for later, but no, Brock isn’t part of the plan.”

  “Okay. I guess that makes it pretty clear,” I said, and then I threw a concentrated wall of telekinesis at him, using my anger and frustration to intensify my influence.

  Caught off guard he was lifted off his feet and hurled backward toward the curtained window.

  Whether it was my growing talent, the anger or my true intent, he smashed through the window, the curtain enveloping him as he fell.

  Running to the window I looked out and watched him fall into darkness. The wooded landscape below quickly hid him from view but the sound of breaking branches and a heavy thud floated back up to me. A hand touched my shoulder and I turned to see Constance looking up at me.

  “Benny, what have you done?”

  I swallowed the bile that was washing at the back of my throat. “Protecting the people I care about.”

  And crossing a line.

  SEVENTY-THREE: ON THE RUN...AGAIN

  STANDING THERE, LOOKING at the hole in the window, pieces of drapery stuck in jagged glass still stuck in the frame, I considered what I had just done. I noticed a drop of blood on the sill, like a punctuation mark at the end of a sentence.

  The faint smell of salt, and car exhaust were all but wiped out by the freezing air and snow.

  When Kenwoode had asked me to knock Constance out I’d tried something I had only done on a limited basis in the past. Coordinating two of my knacks I’d forced Constance to the floor and then used my knack for illusion to make it appear that she’d been violently knocked unconscious. I’d added a trickle of blood for detail.

  “Benny, he’ll be back. He wants Justine. I’m worried about her.” She glanced at Justine who was looking dazed but unhurt.

  “What’s been going on in here?” I asked, even though I thought I knew and really didn’t want it to be confirmed.

  She looked down at her feet. “Benny, she’s been taken in a bad direction. They...,” she glanced at Griff and Weller, “...she took their abilities. They’re...” her voice faltered.

  I suddenly felt very cold and hollow.

  I looked at Justine and then back to Constance. “Why? How could he have done this?” I asked.

  Placing a hand on my arm she looked up at me. “We should go. I don’t know what to do about these two, but if there’s any hope of helping Justine we’re going to need Harald.”

  I heard groaning behind us and when I turned, Danton was trying to sit up. We both hurried to his side.

  A large bruise was blooming on the left side of his face where Kenwoode had clobbered him.

  “Son of a bitch!” He jerked his head, sweeping the room and then groaned again. “Where is he?”

  Chucking my chin, I indicated the window.

  Danton gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. “You did that?”

  “Yeah. I don’t feel like he gave me a choice. He was going to take Justine.”

  We helped him up and he gently pushed us away, r
attling off a couple of choice words of profanity.

  “I have to call this in,” he said.

  “We need to get Justine to Harald,” said Constance.

  Rolling his shoulder and cracking his neck Danton frowned. “You go. I’ll stay. I can’t just leave. This is one too many.” He stared meaningfully at Griff’s prone form and Weller’s drooling body still strapped into the chair. Truth was I had no love for either and it would be easier to let him handle it, but it didn’t seem right.

  “What happens to you?” I asked Danton.

  “I’ll figure it out,” he responded, not sounding very convincing.

  “Detective...,” said Constance.

  “Aiden,” said Danton.

  “Aiden. If we’re going to help her it needs to happen sooner than later.” Constance nodded at Justine, who seemed to be coming around.

  Making a face, Danton looked at me. “Benny will get you out. Go on. Move.”

  “Thanks Danton,” I said.

  “Yeah, yeah. Come to my funeral,” he said.

  Constance seemed unwilling to approach Justine so I put my arm around her. I led them both out into the hall and quickly to the stairwell. Justine hadn’t spoken yet, but she had little trouble walking on her own.

  “This leads to street level. The door opens behind a hedge. I can make myself hard to see but I can’t hide you and Justine.”

  “What do you recommend?” Constance asked.

  It struck me that in the last few hours I had been promoted from tolerated-teen-participant to someone that others consulted. Odd, and not entirely welcome. ‘Careful what you wish for’. Thanks mom.

  “How did the two of you get here?” I asked.

  “I was going to take Justine to her car when Preston offered us a ride. We came here in his SUV,” Constance said. Her pursed lips and flashing eyes communicated volumes about what she thought of that now. He’d been waiting for the opportunity to take Justine. Constance had been an inconvenience.

  “Where is it parked?”

  “Out on the street, about a block from here,” she said.

  “Okay, we get to the bottom floor you two walk out and head to the SUV. I’ll follow behind you for protection, and I’ll be camouflaged.”

  Constance gave me a strange look.

  “What?” I asked.

  She took a deep breath. “It’s just a little disconcerting how quickly you’re adapting. How are we going to get into his car?”

  “I’ve got that,” I said, waggling my fingers.

  “Benny’s smooth,” slurred Justine. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, reminding me of the last time we’d been in the stairwell. I’d thought she’d been drugged, but she’d been recovering from absorbing Dell’s and Tank’s knacks. The realization gave me the chills. Constance frowned.

  “Wha?” asked Justine.

  “Nothing. We need to hurry in case Kenwoode is headed to his car,” I said.

  When we reached the first floor landing we stopped at the door while I disabled the alarm. While I screwed with the lock, Constance ran her hands through Justine’s hair and then her own. Then she smoothed out their clothing. If anyone got a really good look at them they’d wonder why they looked so rough, but they would pass a casual glance.

  My knacking around finally produced a soft clunking noise and the door popped ajar.

  “I’ll pull it open and the two of you walk through. Ready?”

  They nodded and I yanked it wide. Constance went out chin up, displaying a confidence I don’t think she felt. She held one of Justine’s hands, although she looked like she was grabbing a live spider. Justine gave me a dopey look as Constance pulled her out into the daylight. I waited a couple of seconds, cloaked myself and followed them, closing the door behind me.

  I hoped we would be able to help her, but I was worried. The conversation I’d had earlier with Mr. Goodturn bothered me. Would he see her as some rabid animal? I had more than a few reservations about asking him to dig around in Justine’s mind. But it didn’t seem that there was any other choice.

  I winced as I counted the seconds before I followed them out the door. We were preparing do something I had been uncomfortable with just hours before.

  SEVENTY-FOUR: RABID

  EVEN THOUGH JUSTINE’S legs were wobbly she didn’t slow Constance down. We made good time and reached Kenwoode’s SUV quickly. It took less than a second to knack the door locks. When we climbed in, Constance got behind the wheel. I helped Justine get into the backseat and buckled her in. I climbed in to the front passenger seat and fumbled with the ignition for several sweaty moments before I felt the tumblers click into place. Constance shook her head as the engine roared to life. I added car theft to my expanding list of crimes.

  Without another word Constance pulled away from the curb. I rattled off some directions and she piloted the big car toward home.

  Knowing that Justine couldn’t hear my telepathic connection, I reached out to Constance.

  Is she going to be okay?

  To her credit, Constance kept her reaction to an almost unnoticeable flinch.

  I don’t know. She drained the essence of their abilities, Benny. She’s in a fugue state. Her body is assimilating all of the energy she’s absorbed. It’s like someone drinking several shots of liquor, one after the other.

  You saw it?

  Yes, but I couldn’t stop it.

  Her mouth turned down in a grimace. My hands clenched. I was horrified and angry at what Kenwoode had done to Justine.

  Can Mr. Goodturn help her?

  Maybe, but that won’t be easy. Her ability is so closely tied to her consciousness that even if he can block it she might inadvertently trigger it again if the wrong set of variables occur.

  I looked over my shoulder at Justine. Her eyes were closed. I’d been worrying about her getting hurt. This seemed so much worse.

  Can you heal her?

  She shook her head and then caught herself.

  No. I wish I could but my gift doesn’t work that way.

  I broke the connection and we traveled in silence the rest of the way home. We turned into the pawnshop’s alley about twenty minutes later. A sense of relief washed over me, quickly followed by grief and confusion. Now what were we supposed to do? Justine was almost, if not exactly, as dangerous as Sonja had been. We couldn’t just let her take off on her own. Had she been leading a double life, or had her life-sucking misadventures been repressed somehow?

  Constance opened her door and looked at me, worry and fear in her eyes.

  “We need to get upstairs, Benny.” She nodded with her chin in the direction of the back seat, where Justine had sat up. “All of us.”

  “Give us a minute, okay?” I asked.

  She pursed her lips but gave me a slight nod and walked toward the door that led to the pawnshop.

  “What are we doing here?” Justine asked.

  I so wanted to believe that she couldn’t remember. It wouldn’t make her any less guilty of what she’d done, but it would seem better somehow.

  “Kenwoode’s betrayed us. You got hurt. We need to get upstairs and make sure that you’re okay. You were out of it when we found you.”

  Her cheeks got red and her head drooped. “I remember Constance being there. We came back with her right?”

  “Yeah. Come on. We should get upstairs.”

  “The red-haired woman, Griff, the bald guy they were—,” her head jerked up, and her eyes widened. I saw slow realization come over her. She didn’t look happy, but she also didn’t seem to be remorseful. Her eyes darted to the door handle in the back seat and back to me.

  “Where’s Mr. Kenwoode? What are you going to do to me, Benny?” she asked, her eyes wary.

  She looked like a trapped animal. The illusion of pretending that she didn’t know what she’d been doing fell apart.

  “I would never hurt you Justine. I care about you too much. I’m worried about what Kenwoode’s done to you,” I said. I thought it best to avoid telling
her I’d thrown her Svengali out a window.

  She rested one hand on the door handle.

  “Benny, I’m not going upstairs with you. But I want you to know that I’ll never change the way I feel about you. I need to leave. Go away. I’m...confused. Some of this feels exciting and some of it...”

  She opened the door and got out and I did the same. We stood there looking at each other. I couldn’t let her leave. She’d hurt someone else.

  “Benny, I want to give you something.” She took a step toward me, her eyes glowing in the fluorescent light of the garage. Instinctively, I took a step back and she frowned.

  “I want to heal your leg, before I leave. A gift. From me to you.”

  A gift? The thought disgusted me, and I’m sure my face gave me away. I shook my head.

  “I don’t want that,” I said.

  “You...you don’t want it?” she asked.

  Of course I did, but not at the cost that others had paid for it. How could I let her remove my crippling injury, no matter how much I wanted to be whole again, when I knew how she had come by the power to do it?

  “I can’t let you use your knack to heal me. I won’t let you do it.”

  Her face hardened. “It’s tainted? Is that it?”

  “Justine, please let Mr. Goodturn try to help you,” I said, trying to forget his comments about putting down a wild animal.

  “No. I’m leaving,” she snapped.

  “I can’t let you go,” I said, drawing my knack influence around her.

  She was breathing hard, her face red and angry. “You’re going to hold me here against my will?”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “But you will if you have to? Right?” she asked, her voice dropping into a whisper. “How can you do this to me?”

  I lowered my eyes.

  “Look at me,” she said. “Look at me and tell me you don’t love me. Do that and you won’t have to hold me. I’ll do whatever you want.”