The Lost Soul

by Jen Talty

  His betrayal itched under Hunter’s skin.

  “Because of this.” Riley waved her hand over her head. A green cloud floated across the wall, revealing a vision. A hospital room, much like the one Alexis had been held in. A young woman was strapped to a bed table. Two armed men stood at the foot of the bed. A woman in a lab coat tapped the side of a syringe.

  “Oh, my God. No,” Alexis said faintly. “That’s Kim on the table. They are killing her.”

  Hunter raced to Alexis’ side, holding her steady.

  “We’re not going to let that happen,” Mallard said. “She’s our oldest child. Your sister.” Mallard pointed to Hunter. “She is a direct descendent of the original Collective Order, and her powers are strong, though nothing like yours. The Elite Brotherhood are tapping her gifts, using it to find all of us so they can destroy us, making them the most powerful psychic collective on earth.”

  “There’s another collective?” Hunter asked, rubbing his hand up and down Alexis’ arms. He didn’t need to be a psychic to know she gladly gave her energy to those in need. He just hoped she kept it slow and steady, only easing their pain and fear. They’d deal with retrieving their aura energy and making sure everyone got out safely.

  “What you don’t know. What I left out of the book—”

  “You left out a lot of things,” Alexis said. She leaned on Hunter.

  “All for your protection,” Riley said. “And I still can’t tell you everything. If I do, Kim will die, and your baby will be born with the sole purpose of using her gifts to kill innocent people.”

  “I’m not pregnant,” Alexis mumbled.

  Hunter cleared his throat. “Can we stick with our current situation?”

  “The safety of you and your baby is something we need to deal with right now,” Riley said sternly. “Now, what I didn’t put in the book in reference to the Elite Brotherhood is where they actually came from. The research I’ve done indicates that one of them is the bastard son of Demetri.”

  “Why didn’t you put that in the book?” Hunter asked, though he didn’t expect a proper answer.

  “Because he’s my brother.”

  “What?” Brett asked.

  Riley let out a long breath. “I have a half-brother. He’s fifteen years older, and I never really knew him. He hated me and my mother. I knew at a young age that Roger Edwards was dangerous.”

  “Roger? The man who committed suicide after showing up at my school?” Alexis asked with a high-pitched tone.

  “Obviously, he didn’t die,” Mallard said. “But we lost track of him until Savanah had been kidnapped.”

  “So, your brother, our uncle, is behind all this?” Brett stepped into the beam of light, revealing his hologram. “And you’ve just been sitting back and enjoying the show?”

  “It’s not like that,” Mallard projected. “I wish I could tell you more, but I can’t.”

  “I’m having a hard time trusting you both. This could be a trap of some kind, so why should we believe anything you say?” Hunter asked.

  “Because if you don’t. In eight minutes, Caleb will waltz right through that door.” Riley flicked her hand to the right. “See that?”

  Hunter swallowed as an image of a man put a bullet in his chest before Caleb carried Alexis away.

  “And you don’t die. Nope. You get to watch this.” With a flick of a finger, the vision changed to a hospital room, where Alexis was strapped to a gurney underneath a bright florescent light while a man in scrubs held a baby. In the background, Hunter had been tied to a chair, tubes in his arms as his aura slowly filtered from his body in an agonizing torture of slow death. “We only have a few minutes.” In an instant, the image on the wall changed to Hunter and Alexis, in the very park they first met, pushing a toddler on a swing. “We need you to leave and trust your instincts.”

  “That’s a fucking great plan,” Hunter said. His mother had told him his entire life to trust his instincts and right now, his gut had him twisted in knots.

  “And what about you two and Kim?” Hunter asked.

  “Do what you know you need to,” Mallard said.

  “Great. Talk in vague riddles,” Alexis mumbled.

  “I know all you boys are mad and confused—”

  “You have no idea.” Hunter lifted Alexis back up into the duct. “Just for the record. My instincts are screaming at me that you need to come with us right now, but I’m going to leave that decision up to you.”

  9

  Alexis crawled through the air-conditioning system, following Brett’s instructions, but it didn’t take her mind off three things.

  Babies. Kim. And Hunter’s parents.

  She shuddered. Being pregnant had to be impossible. She was ready for Hunter and what their union meant, but she wasn’t ready to be a mother, and nothing in Riley’s book suggested she would be the first of the four unions to procreate. Riley had mentioned offspring and how their talents would be stronger than anyone has ever seen before, but Hazel would be the better choice to start having children.

  As if they had a choice in any of this.

  “Go left,” Brett projected.

  “We’re going right,” Riley said.

  “And where the fuck is that going to take you?” Brett asked with a clipped tone.

  “To get our daughter,” Mallard responded.

  “I’m going with them,” Brett mumbled. “Hunter. Follow the duct to the end. Then take a right and then your first left. That will take you to the laundry room.”

  “Got it.”

  A chill filled her bones. “I’m sending healing energy to Kim. She’s not doing well.”

  “Be careful not to let it zap you too much,” Hunter said.

  “They’ve let too much of her aura leave her body.” She blinked, glancing over her shoulder, pleading with Hunter. “She’s not going to make it if we don’t do something.”

  “I know, babe.” Hunter smiled faintly, as if to reassure her.

  “We’re working on a plan. Chad and Savanah are remote viewing, and I have a team from Perception Project on the way,” Brett projected.

  Alexis took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she inched forward.

  “That must be the laundry room,” Hunter projected. “Let me go first.”

  She scooted to the side. Part of her wanted to beg Hunter and Brett to go back now, but she understood going in blind could potentially get them all killed.

  Hunter eased from the ceiling, landing softly on the floor below. He stretched his arms overhead, gripping his fingers around her hips, guiding her out of the air duct. “Let’s get out of here,” he whispered, pointing to a large bay door to the outside.

  Alexis brushed the front of her slacks. A few people milled about, hovering over piles of laundry. One man sloshed a mop about the floor, pushing around dirty water over a stained tile floor.

  “This is too easy,” Hunter projected.

  Alexis held his biceps, keeping one step behind him. If he knew she was still giving up some of her healing powers, he’d probably freak out, so she did her best to split her energy focus. She couldn’t afford to slow him down.

  The hammering of steel-toe boots echoed off the walls. The sound of faint voices filled the air. Alexis strained to hear the words, but all she could manage to decipher was white noise.

  Hunter dragged her behind a big laundry basket. “Climb in.”

  “Are you crazy?” She stared at him with wide eyes. “Whatever is in there is dirty and smells.”

  “It’s either that or deal with them.” He pointed down the long hallway.

  Five men with rifles marched in unison in their direction, weapons at the ready.

  Alexis didn’t need any more motivation. She heaved herself into the pile of dirty sheets, plugging her nose, hoping that whatever she touched didn’t give her hives. When she glanced up, Hunter was nowhere to be found.

  “Where the hell did you go?” Panic gripped her heart. Her pulse soared wildly out of contr
ol, wrenching her unsteady connection with those being held captive. As a young child, she had to learn to master healing without having to sit still because her parents had forbidden her to heal strangers.

  And they didn’t want her so zapped she couldn’t rejuvenate herself quickly. They constantly worried someone would try to take advantage. Or that she’d give too much. They never really understood it proved to be impossible for her to walk away until she’d been unable to heal Gabe’s mother. And even after that, Alexis always carried a dollop of hope wherever she went. Always the optimist.

  Goosebumps dotted her flesh, wondering what her parents would think of all this if they were still alive. They always told her and her sisters they were all headed for something great. But all parents told their children things like that.

  “Stay covered,” Hunter projected. His protective tone wrapped around her like warm water beading down her back during a hot shower.

  She pulled a sheet over her head, stifling her need to send more energy to those in need. Their anguish and fear hovered over her heart. Tears stung the corners of her eyes. “I can’t leave them behind. Not without giving them a little piece of me.”

  “I know. But I need you to stay strong. We can’t save them if Caleb and his crew catch us.”

  “They’re down here somewhere,” a man said with rage infused into each word. “Close off all the exits. You. Over there. Have you seen a group come through here? Two men and two women?”

  “An older couple and a blonde guy with a woman who has a long, dark hair?” Hunter’s voice rang out loud and clear. And confident. “Sexy little number that chick is.”

  “Where’d they go?” a male voice asked.

  “They were headed toward the elevator.”

  “Why didn’t you stop them?” the man asked.

  Alexis held her breath, willing her body to stay still under the rough material that scratched at her exposed skin.

  “I didn’t know I was supposed to, sir.”

  “Idiot,” the man said under his breath. “Radio up to the boss that the targets are headed back toward the lab.”

  A cool breeze whizzed past Alexis as the men pushed the oversized basket to the side, sending it crashing into the wall. Her body thrashed about like a sack of potatoes. She groaned as her head smacked something hard.

  “If you see them come back through, make sure you call me and then detain them. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Hunter said.

  Boots clicked against the floor in a speedy pace. Alexis let out a sigh of relief. “Is it safe?” she asked, desperately needing fresh air.

  “Let’s go.”

  She popped her head up and took Hunter’s hand.

  “Are you okay?”

  “My nose isn’t.” She waved a hand over her face. “I’m not sure my skin will survive.”

  “And your energy level?”

  “I won’t lie. I’m a little tired.”

  “We’ve found Kim,” Brett projected. “And we’re headed toward the east parking lot. I’ve got a team waiting to transport us to Perception Project.”

  “We’re heading out the laundry room bay doors. Willow, are you there?” Hunter asked.

  “In place and ready,” Willow answered.

  “Now let’s get the hell out of here,” Hunter said.

  She gasped just as a man shoved a gun in Hunter’s back.

  “Not so fast,” the man said. “I’m thrilled to finally meet you both. My name is Caleb Snow.”

  “So, that’s not a gun up my ass and you’re just happy to see me?” Hunter asked, holding his hands out to the sides.

  “You’re a funny one, aren’t you? Nothing like your brother Chad. Is that fucker still Mr. Serious?”

  “I don’t know him well enough to make that judgment call,” Hunter said.

  “Told you they’d head down here.” Karl Homer joined them. He reached for Alexis, but she shoved his hand away and climbed out herself.

  “You wouldn’t have had to tell me that had you done your job in the first place,” Caleb said, shoving Hunter down the hallway. “It’s amazing he’s not dead, based on what you told me happened to him in North Korea.”

  “This one is the most powerful healer I’ve ever seen.” Karl looped his grimy fingers around her forearm and guided her through the laundry room.

  She swallowed the bile that sizzled the back of her throat like a fire stick.

  “She was the one healing him from a distance, keeping him alive,” Karl said. “In all my years working under Mallard, I never once saw anything like it before.”

  “And the psychic energy she creates is intoxicating,” an older man stepped from the elevator. He had white hair and ice-blue eyes that tore through Alexis’ muscles with a sharp jab. “It’s coating my skin as we speak. I look forward to capturing it when I take her for my own.”

  “The hell you will.” Hunter twisted his body, raising his fist, but Caleb smacked the side of his face with the butt of his gun. Hunter fell forward, crashing into a metal table. “You’re not going to get away with this, Roger.”

  Roger tossed his head back and laughed. “So, you know who I am. Now where is my sister and her slimy lover?”

  “I’m right here,” Riley’s voice boomed strong across the hallway. Yellow, blue, and orange particles danced under the florescent lights as a Riley’s hologram appeared as if Scottie had beamed her up.

  “Well, hello there, sister. You look a little frazzled,” Roger said as he shoved Hunter to the side, snagging Alexis’ arm, jerking her to his side.

  The nozzle of his gun pressed firmly against her stomach.

  She swallowed a guttural sob. Riley’s vision was about to become a reality, and all this would be for nothing.

  “I’m going to look even more sparse shortly because I’m going to snap back to my body, which by the why is three miles down the road.” She waved her hand, and the tiny specks formed a movie screen, showing an empty hospital room. “And I took my daughter with me. Now, you’re going to let them go.”

  “Like hell, baby sister.”

  “You have always underestimated me.” Riley snapped her finger and in an instant, her aura disappeared.

  “Remember the park,” Riley’s voice filled her ears faintly.

  Alexis focused on her first meeting with Hunter. She gathered every vision he’d shared with her about each and every time he went to the park. Heat prickled her gut as a spinning wave rolled across the space. Her hair caught in a strong breeze.

  “What the fuck?” Roger lowered his weapon.

  In the distance, she could see the entrance to the park.

  “We need to hurry.” Hunter jerked her arm and took off running.

  Nausea gripped her stomach, and her legs grew weak.

  “I know it’s rough. Only a few more feet,” Hunter said.

  She bit down on her tongue. Her muscles burned with fatigue. She stumbled.

  Hunter hoisted her up in his arms. “I think this might hurt.”

  Stabbing pains punched her body as the vortex swirled, splashing water in her face before everything changed in an instant.

  Alexis caught sight of her sister’s SUV as it skidded to a stop about thirty paces away. Alexis glanced over her shoulder and watched as the spinning tunnel of water fell to the ground.

  She ignored her pounding heart. Her lungs screamed out for oxygen. “What the hell was that?” She pinched her arm. “Did we really hurl our bodies through space and time?”

  “I believe we did.” He practically tossed her into the back of Willow’s Jeep. “Go,” he said as he leapt into the front seat, taking one of the many weapons Willow kept stored in her car…just in case. “We’ve got company. Drive!”

  Alexis fumbled with her seat buckle. Not only did Willow have a weird obsession with weaponry, she also thought she was a race car driver. Willow craved adrenaline, and it had been a shock when she’d left the Navy. Flying a fighter jet had been right in Willow’s wheelhouse. Alexis
and her sisters never understood why Willow didn’t re-enlist, and Willow never talked about it, only saying that the Navy hadn’t been all that she’d expected and that she missed her sisters.

  Alexis called bullshit, but she never pushed. Willow would tell them what really happened when she was ready.

  “Hold on,” Willow yelled, downshifting as she took a right out of the parking lot, burning rubber on the main road. Just as they merged with traffic, Brett’s vehicle cut off the one following them, which crashed into a pole.

  “Well, that takes care of them, for now,” Hunter said.

  Alexis slumped back in her seat. Exhaustion filled her aching muscles. “I’ve still got a connection to Kim. She’s doing better.” Sleep would have come easily if a vision hadn’t filled the roof of the SUV.

  Alexis pressed her palm against stomach. It raised up and down with her slow, meticulous breathing. Reds, blues, yellows, and greens swirled around inside her mind, giving way to an image of Hunter holding a baby while sitting in a rocking chair. He pressed his lips against the baby’s forehead before glancing up. She sat in a hospital bed, tears streaming down her cheeks as she smiled with pride.

  “I love both my girls,” Hunter said.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Willow said, pulling Alexis from her half-sleep state. “You’ve already managed to knock her up?”

  “I did no such thing,” Hunter said, his tone not too convincing.

  Alexis blinked her eyes open. “You saw that?”

  “We did.” Hunter reached back, resting his hand on her thigh, squeezing gently. “It’s a potential future. It doesn’t mean you’re pregnant.”

  “The only potential part is if we survive long enough for me to have this baby and for us to be able keep it safe until the fourth brother is found.”

  Willow pounded the steering wheel. “Gabe is an asshole, and he’s turned to the other side.”

  “We don’t know that,” Hunter said.

  Alexis sat up, catching her sister’s gaze. The pain etched into her soft-blue eyes sucker punched Alexis. “If he has, we can help show him the light.”

  “You don’t understand.” Willow turned into the parking lot of Perception Project. “He’s the reason I left the Navy.”