“You know him?” Kelsey whispered to Jade.
“My boyfriend.”
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He’s under the same spell you were when that man brought you in.”
“Spell? Is that why I don’t remember anything?”
“You don’t remember him bringing you to the truck?”
“No.”
“That must be part of his ability.”
The way Jade said it, so matter of fact without a hint of incredulity, made Kelsey forget what she was going to ask next.
A deep voice close by drew her attention. “Jade? What’s—”
“Logan!” Jade whispered. “Are you hurt?”
“No. What’s going on?” he whispered back.
“Ethan has a partner—he can control people somehow. That’s how he brought you in.”
“Where are we?”
“Inside a truck—”
“The one behind the hospital?”
Yes,” Jade said.
“I don’t remember making it inside.”
“Apparently his power comes with a side effect of making you forget. That’s what happened to Kelsey too.”
“This is her?” He glanced around Jade to peer at Kelsey.
“Yeah. And there’s two other people here, but they’re both dead.”
“Two?” Kelsey felt another wave of dread. She glanced at Ethan and his partner at the back of the truck. They seemed to be in a heated discussion, but they were talking low, and she could only make out bits.
“I’m sick of your way!” the shorter one yelled.
“This is the easiest way to get rid of them all at once. I’m in charge, so just shut it.”
“I won’t shut nothin’!”
“Stop waving that thing or you’re going to discharge it!” Ethan said.
“I’m not an idiot,” his partner said. “I know how to use a weapon!”
“Just leave it still.” Ethan dropped his voice, but he spoke through clenched teeth, and the rage in the truck was palpable. Kelsey felt it, too, in her own head. Something had flipped inside her. The fear was gone, and now she felt only anger.
She fought it, wishing again for clarity. Why was it so hard to think? She grasped one bit of information: Ethan and his partner didn’t get along. How could they use this to their advantage?
Maybe she would be able to think more clearly if only her mind wasn’t spiraling into a panic. If only she could get the gun. If only she weren’t bound and helpless. There were too many if-onlys, and too many emotions buzzing in her mind.
She glanced at Logan. “How did you know we were here?”
“I met this teenager coming out of the hall. He told me you’d been taken.”
“Told you? He spoke?”
“Yeah.”
Hugh had actually done it? “What happened to Hugh after you came back here?”
“Is that the boy?”
“Yeah.”
“I told him to go get security, but I’m not sure if he’s—”
“Who?” Ethan said.
Kelsey cringed, noticing for the first time that their captors were watching. She thought they’d been speaking quietly, but she’d been too distracted to consider Ethan’s exceptional hearing.
He walked up to them and bent down in Logan’s face. “You’re not telling me someone else knows we’re here, are you?”
“No.” Logan spoke with his teeth ground together, but he was a bad liar.
Ethan let out a growl and pounded a fist on the side of the truck hard enough to send a crack reverberating through the chamber. “Nicodemus, get over here.”
The other man strode up beside Logan. The flashlight in his hand was aimed at the floor, but it illuminated the back of the truck enough for Kelsey to see that the gun in his other hand was shaking noticeably.
“We have another complication.” Ethan said to the man he’d called Nicodemus. He narrowed his eyes at Logan. “What does he look like?”
Logan’s jaw tightened but he didn’t answer.
Ethan’s hand whipped out and punched Logan in the face, sending a sharp crack through the air. Spittle flew onto Kelsey’s cheek.
Logan groaned.
“When I ask a question, you’ll answer,” Ethan said. “What does the kid look like?”
Still Logan didn’t respond. Kelsey winced, expecting Ethan to attack him again.
Instead, he sighed as if exasperated. “I can tell you’re a glutton for punishment. Let me get straight to the point. Nicodemus, the impostor.” Ethan sent his partner a nod.
Nicodemus ground his teeth as if not happy to be told what to do. But that didn’t stop him from putting the barrel of the gun to Jade’s temple. Her eyes widened and found Logan’s.
Logan’s shoulders went limp with defeat. Kelsey realized that Ethan not only held all the cards, he was playing them with a cunning level of skill. Her stomach clamped even tighter.
“He’s just some kid,” Logan said, resignation in his voice.
“Go find him,” Ethan ordered. Nicodemus started toward the door. “And leave that thing with me. You don’t want to get caught with it, and you won’t need it anyway.”
Not Hugh. They couldn’t hurt Hugh. Anyone but him.
Nicodemus handed his gun to Ethan and reached down to pull off a knife strapped to his leg. “Fine, but I’m taking this.” He exited the truck, taking his flashlight with him.
When the light had vanished, Kelsey clung to one last plea.
Don’t let him find Hugh.
~
“Maybe Hugh got out in time. Maybe he made it to security. Maybe the cops are on their way right now.” Kelsey’s words were mere breaths in the darkness, but Logan didn’t doubt Ethan could hear every word.
“Maybe.” Logan couldn’t mask the despair in his voice. He remembered how he’d left the boy—huddled in the corridor, wracked by fright. Under that man’s power, he wouldn’t have a chance.
To his right, Kelsey gave a soft whimper.
Logan’s jaw ached from where Ethan had hit him, and that pain was the only thing keeping his head clear. Raw emotions fought to drown him, like a torrent trying to pull him in. He had a strong suspicion that these weren’t his own feelings. If his hunch was right about Jade, she was the one influencing this storm. He considered saying something to her about it, but her ability was one of the few things Ethan didn’t know about, and Logan didn’t want to tip their hand if there was a chance she could use it to help them somehow. Ethan was watching them too closely, and Logan couldn’t take any risks at the moment.
As if she knew he was thinking about her, Jade scooted closer, dropping her head to his shoulder.
Several minutes passed with no one speaking, but Logan could feel Ethan’s presence close, and he knew the man stood only feet away. Time dragged on as they waited, and it ate at Logan. The sense of fear escalated, and he wondered if Ethan could feel it too. Logan couldn’t imagine anything worse for a psychopath with a gun than the sensation of outright terror.
The back door of the truck crashed open. Logan winced at the explosion of light. Two figures emerged.
“Found him in the hallway. Didn’t even put up a fight.” With his knife brandished, Nicodemus thrust the kid forward into the truck, and the boy crumpled into a heap on the floor. He didn’t seem to be under the man’s power, and Logan wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing for the poor kid.
“Hugh!” Kelsey said.
“Get him taped up,” Ethan said.
Nicodemus shut the door and propped his flashlight upward to allow barely enough light to see. He walked Hugh to the wall on Kelsey’s other side and went to work with the duct tape. Hugh didn’t resist, despite not being brainwashed. Even from where he sat, Logan saw the kid’s limbs tremble.
Kelsey let out a little whimper.
The fear that had gripped Logan since he’d been taken waned, then vanished. Somehow Jade had ratcheted down the emotion. Something else must be on h
er mind, but Logan couldn’t tell what. His own dormant worry trickled in, a mere tug at the back of his mind. He shoved it away, and it dimmed, obeying his command.
“This is all your fault!” Ethan said as he yanked Nicodemus to the far end of the truck.
“Why is it my fault?” Nicodemus said.
Logan felt Jade’s warmth at his side again. She nudged him with her bound hands. “We’ve got to do something.” It was a breath in his ear, faint and nearly silent, but it was filled with stubborn determination.
“What can we do?” he breathed back to her. “I don’t have my strength—remember, I cut my hair?”
Her breath caught in her throat. She’d forgotten.
Logan glanced toward the other end of the truck, but the assailants were deep in a heated conversation.
A new emotion churned up from his belly, and Logan immediately recognized it as Jade’s.
Anger. He glanced at Ethan. Was she influencing the rage that kept flickering in and out?
“If we could just figure out how Ethan’s partner is controlling people,” Kelsey said in a hushed voice.
Logan thought hard. “Maybe he can only influence one person at a time.” He frowned at the man arguing with Ethan, studied his behavior for a clue of some sort. With Hugh restrained, Nicodemus grabbed the flashlight again. The men stood facing each other so Logan could see their profiles.
“I’ve had it up to here with your bullshit,” Ethan yelled, gesturing with a hand.
“Now just calm down,” Nicodemus said, though his own face was contorted with anger. He intensified his stare as if he were trying to shoot lasers at his partner.
“Don’t you try that voodoo on me,” Ethan said. He trained his eyes away. “Your problem is that you don’t know your place. This is my operation, and you keep trying to take over!”
Logan considered what he’d seen: the way the man had stared Ethan down, and the way Ethan avoided his gaze. If Nicodemus could take control of Ethan, surely he would. But Ethan had broken eye contact. That had to be it.
“It’s his eyes,” Logan whispered with sudden certainty.
“What?” Kelsey asked.
“That’s how he’s controlling people. Avoid his gaze, and he can’t brainwash you.”
“I think you’re right,” Kelsey whispered to Logan. “I saw him do that to one of the kids in the ward. The way he looked at her…it was so creepy, like he could overpower her with just his stare.”
“It makes me so angry—what they’ve both been doing to people.” Jade seethed, nostrils flaring. Logan had never seen her this way.
“I should slit your throat right here!” Ethan’s booming voice carried over to them.
This wasn’t just any argument, Logan realized. Ethan was raring to kill someone, and at that moment it didn’t seem to matter who. Jade’s anger intensified whatever already existed between the two abductors.
“You got a deal to keep up,” Nicodemus said through clenched teeth.
“If he were out of the picture, stopping Ethan wouldn’t be as hard,” Kelsey whispered, leaning across Jade.
Logan nodded. “Would the flashlight be enough to blind him?”
“Yes, if it was shined in his face,” Kelsey said. “He can only see right now because the beam’s contained.”
Between them, Jade’s eyes were fixed on Ethan. She shook with silent rage.
“If someone could undo my straps… Maybe with their teeth?”
“Jade, do you think you can—” Logan began.
“Cut that yapping.” The voice was Ethan’s, directed at them.
Logan’s blood went cold. Had he overheard them again?
“Shut them up,” Ethan ordered, this time at something his partner had said. Nicodemus’s shoulders bunched as if he held back anger, but he turned their direction.
“Don’t look into his eyes,” Logan whispered in Jade’s ear, soft enough he hoped Ethan wouldn’t hear it at the other end of the truck.
His heart pounded along with Nicodemus’s booming steps. The gun was still in Ethan’s hands, but that didn’t mean Nicodemus was harmless. Ideas raced through Logan’s mind. He sifted through them. Jade had disarmed Ethan in Carlsbad with a kiss. And suddenly, he knew what to do. She could use her empathetic power against Ethan. It only had to throw him off long enough for Kelsey to get the flashlight. It was a long shot, but she might be able to hold it in her mouth…
The only problem was the man striding toward them.
They needed a second diversion. The only way Logan could think to distract Nicodemus was by giving himself over. He wouldn’t be able to help or to fight. Was this even a good plan?
But it was his only plan.
He looked at Kelsey and hissed, “You’ll need to get it.” With his chin he gestured toward the flashlight.
Her eyes widened, but she gave a slight nod, showing she understood.
It was risky, but it might work. He turned to face Jade, swallowing hard at the thought of what he was about to suggest.
Could he ask this of her?
He’d always thought of himself as a protector. He tried to keep her from danger, not the other way around. But he’d given up his strength when he’d cut his hair, and this time it was all on her. He hated the thought.
Torment churned his insides, but it was their only option.
He pressed his mouth against her ear. “It’s got to be you. Remember what I said about my emotions—your emotions? You’re the key. Remember what happened in Carlsbad? Make him feel it.”
“What?” Her brow was furrowed with confusion.
Nicodemus stopped, towering above Logan. “Shut up.”
Good. Nicodemus was more concerned with Logan than either of the girls. He was the one who had to keep Nicodemus occupied.
Logan kept his eyes on Jade’s for a moment longer, trying to sear the answer into her mind. He couldn’t say it out loud without compromising the plan.
“Eyes on me,” Nicodemus said to him.
“You can do it, Jade,” Logan breathed. He nodded toward Nicodemus, letting his voice rise so both men could hear clearly. “He can only control one of us at a time.”
“Logan—I—”
“Remember what you did to me.” Logan brought his bound fists up to his chest and rapped them against his heart. “Remember what you did in Carlsbad.”
Jade was frozen, eyes wide.
“I said eyes on me!” Nicodemus shouted at Logan, thrusting his knife forward. The beam of the flashlight lit his own face. He leaned over Logan until he was inches away.
Logan held Jade’s gaze for a half-second longer, burning his passion into her green eyes, feeling his heart swell with his love for her, with the intensity of his emotions. He ripped off every layer of emotional protection and laid his soul bare. She would feel that. He hoped it would show her the answer.
Logan saw his captor in his peripheral vision. The tip of the knife as it touched his throat told him his time was up.
He turned to meet the man’s cold gaze.
Irritation flared in Ethan at how long this was taking. Getting Kelsey had unraveled into a four-captive ordeal, plus the additional bodies. Not that he minded having to kill people, but all these extra steps were flies in his glass of finely aged wine.
He strode to back of the truck where Nicodemus had finally gained control of the boyfriend. The flashlight created a haze of white that blocked his vision, but it surrounded only the two men—everywhere else was fair game.
Ethan averted his eyes from the light and glanced at the two girls. Kelsey had either tipped over or else wormed her way down the side of the truck. She lay next to the albino, and looked to be comforting him. That kid was the least of his problems at the moment. While Nicodemus had the boyfriend restrained, Ethan would take care of the impostor.
He strode over and reached beyond Nicodemus. Yanking her to her feet, he pulled her just past her boyfriend’s reach. Her time was up.
Ethan shoved the gun down the ba
ck of his pants. He would savor this more with a proper weapon. He touched the handle of his knife and pulled the weapon from its sheath.
“I believe you two have met.” When she didn’t respond, he quirked a smile. “Just a little witticism to end on.”
With jaw set and eyes wide, she stared at him. “It all goes back to Carlsbad, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, it goes way further back than that. I found you weeks before.”
“So you were stalking me that whole time?”
“It’s all part of the plan.”
“To get Kelsey?”
“Indirectly.” Ethan tightened his jaw, not about to admit to her how his cravings had temporarily morphed into something different, those weeks when she’d been his sole focus.
“I’m surprised you want to throw this opportunity away so quickly. You have us both now.”
He frowned. “Don’t expect me to believe you’re enjoying this.”
“I didn’t say I was. But I can tell you are. Kill me and you won’t be able to play your little games anymore.”
“Sure I will. I have Kelsey.”
“Isn’t two better than one?”
For a moment Ethan was caught off guard by the possible truth in her suggestion. Then resolve rose inside him. “No. Not you. You aren’t Kelsey.”
“I’m not, but I remember the way you kissed me in Carlsbad.”
A flutter of attraction churned inside his gut, and heat licked his limbs for an instant. The sudden feeling confused him. “That’s not what happened! You kissed me!”
“Kelsey wasn’t there. She wasn’t the one you wanted then.”
“Yes. She was.” He ground his teeth together. He fought off the inexplicable desire to grab her and pull her close. He could still remember her taste and the way it mixed with the moist cavern air. The intensity in her eyes almost knocked him down.
“You’re nobody! You’re an impostor!” Ethan swallowed. “You—you did something to me. You hijacked my head. And you’re doing it again!” The pull to kiss her was stronger than ever. He raised the knife higher, pointing the tip toward her neck.
Protector: The Flawed Series Book Three Page 21