Empath

by Emme DeWitt

  “Mama told me you visited,” Tio continued. “I was so proud of you. She wasn’t all there in the end, but that day, she was like her old self. You gave her peace in the end. And I gave her my promise that I would take care of you.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. I felt numb. Besides the prickling of my skin, all my other senses had shut down. My mind scrambled to make sense of what I was hearing. “My mom said you weren’t Elevated. She said it was just my dad. She said you wouldn’t understand.”

  “One of our many regrets over the years.” Tio sighed. “The distance between you and your brother and the rest of the family…”

  Tio cleared his throat.

  “I wonder how much of this is our fault. For not standing up for you kids,” he said. His eyes wandered off toward the wall, and I wondered what he could be remembering.

  Part of me thought it would be easy to find out. His energy was shaken from whatever he had done to wake me up. The cracks were enough that I could weave myself in before he even thought twice.

  I shook my head hard. Absolutely not. Not okay, I told myself. These are not okay thoughts to have. Just because it’s easy doesn’t make it right. He’s your uncle. He’s allowed his privacy and his memories.

  I squeezed his hand. He squeezed right back, his eyes sliding back into focus.

  “Ah, I’m wasting time,” Tio said. “Forgive me.”

  “So what’s going to happen now? Am I going back to the lab in New York?” I asked, fear bleeding into my tone. “Or Montana?”

  At least we would be closer to Noah, a voice said in my mind.

  The cold shiver that shot down my spine rallied against that fleeting silver lining.

  “Do you want to go back?” Tio asked. Curiosity colored his weak aura, and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Do you think I’m that crazy?” I asked. “I’m a bit tired of learning the hard way.”

  “I wasn’t sure if you had a plan,” Tio said. “Or some need to prove yourself. You wouldn’t be the first de los Santos to fight their way out of enemy territory just for fun.”

  “You owe me so many stories,” I said, wagging my finger in Tio’s face. “I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

  Tio chuckled.

  “Of course,” he said. “So now we agree that your place is not in New York. Or Montana.” He paused. “Oh, I’m too old for all this nonsense,” he muttered to himself. He shook his head, leaning down from his chair to reach under the bed.

  In his hands sat a brown paper wrapped box. The stamps looked recent, and domestic, but the style seemed out of place. Tio’s large hands wrapped around the box effortlessly, but it took both of mine to take it from him.

  The handwriting was jagged cursive. Beautiful, slightly illegible, and very memorable.

  “Is this from…”

  “Jasleen.” Tio sighed. “Fascinating woman. I play it safe and do what she says without many questions, so I can’t help you much. Didn’t dare ask.”

  My fingers hovered over the crisp paper. The date on the package was from six months ago.

  “That’s not scary intimidating at all,” I said out loud.

  Another rumbling chuckle emanated from Tio’s chest.

  “Whenever you find the Seer in your generation, be sure to play nice,” Tio warned.

  Mags’ angry face popped into my mind.

  “Whoopsies,” I said. “Already messed that one up.” Tio harrumphed to himself, but I could see the laughter dancing in his eyes. He was just too tired to let it escape again.

  “Jasleen mentioned you would need this. I’m sorry I’m the one to have to give this to you instead of your abuela. She was looking forward to your visit ever since we got it last fall.”

  My fingers traced the outer dimensions of the package.

  “Jasleen didn’t say anything about this when she met me,” I muttered darkly. Even amongst allies there seemed to be many, many secrets. “Heads up would have been nice.”

  “The only instruction she gave us with this is that you would need this if you went into hiding. That you would be able to hide in plain sight.” Tio shrugged. “She seems to know the players on all sides, and that you might know what that means. I know you’re frustrated that you don’t know as much as you feel you should about the Elevated, but I think it’s been a blessing for you up until now. Between your parents’ divorce and the accident and losing your brother, you didn’t need to be worrying about this, too.”

  I looked up from my obsessive stroking of the mystery package to see the sincerity in Tio’s words. His aura flickered with caring, protection, and another wave of grief and loss.

  “Maybe let me decide from now on,” I said. A tendril of anger licked at the corner of my mind, but I stomped it out immediately. Throwing a tantrum right then was just plain dumb. Nothing could change what had led up to all this, or at least nothing someone with my Elevation could do. I was just cranky and in dire need of an Elevated-free vacation.

  “Fair enough.”

  A zing of fear flared out from the kitchen. My attention snapped to the wall between me and the wave of anxiety.

  “Evangeline?”

  “Where’s my phone, Tio? I need it.”

  “I don’t know…”

  My neck snapped over to lock eyes with Tio.

  “Do you want to do this with or without the cavalry? Because I’m pretty sure I’d prefer the cavalry,” I said, throwing my mental net wide to catch all the consciousnesses in the nearest three city blocks.

  I hissed. This was not good.

  “Tio!”

  “I heard you,” the old man grumbled, lumbering up from his perch on the uncomfortable sewing chair. His large hands pawed through the bags by the door just as the air from the front door opening rattled the old door in its frame.

  Tio paused.

  “Tio!” I growled through my gritted teeth. He waved a hand at me, continuing to search the outer pockets of the carry-on bags with his other hand.

  Then, he turned, tossing the phone toward me on the bed.

  “Stay here. Lock the door,” Tio said, his hand on the doorknob. “Don’t come out for any reason, do you hear me?”

  “Why are you saying it like that?” I said, my voice a tight stage whisper.

  “Because you are a de los Santos, and that means you do stupid things for the ones you love,” Tio Manuel said. “But you need to get out of here. Count of three. Remember we love you, mija.”

  Tio signaled the countdown, opening the door and strolling out as if he had just put a child to bed, shutting the door softly behind him.

  Apparently, a flare for the dramatic also lived strong in the de los Santos line. My cheek pulled at an almost smile. Before it could bloom fully, I was across the room, my hand twisting the lock home just as a scream ripped through the building.

  My stomach dropped.

  I pressed my phone hard against my cheek, and I counted the infernal rings as the phone dialed out.

  The phone clicked.

  “About damned time.”

  “Missed you, too,” I hissed into the phone. “Now is not exactly the time, Eli.”

  “I was about to lose the bet. You called right before the end of my time window,” she replied, a little petulantly. “I almost had to wash Niko’s delicates for a month. Do you know what that would do to me?”

  “Eli!” I hissed into the phone.

  “Yeah, yeah, SOS,” Eli replied. “What level of extraction are we talking?”

  “Depends on if you want me to bring the party to you,” I said, counting the consciousnesses again within the neighborhood. “There was nobody until there was everybody.”

  “Fun times,” Eli said. “So coming in guns a-blazing then?”

  Another scream launched through the walls from the kitchen.

  “What the hell was that?” Eli said, all snark gone from her tone.

  “Did you think I just called for a girl chat?” I growled. My teeth were clenched so t
ightly I was beginning to give myself a headache.

  “What happened to Sir Lancelot? Is he the one screaming?”

  “I don’t know because I was told to stay out of the way and not get involved,” I said, my forehead braced against the cool frame of the old carved door. “And I can tell you right now, I am about to go rogue.”

  “Stop that,” Eli said, the phone line rustling. “Describe to me in detail what’s going on.”

  “I hate you,” I said, the thought making bile tickle my throat. I was keeping a big wall between me and the kitchen goings on, and I knew the second I dropped that barrier I would absolutely lose any resolve I had to stay out of it.

  “Okay, and?” Eli said. “Peel back layer by layer. Not the hatred. I don’t need a blow by blow of that. I get the gist.”

  I let out a massive sigh.

  “Who and how many?” Eli said. The phone muffled again, and I could hear her shouting orders. Only the tone made it through the phone, and I wondered what was happening on that end of the line. “Hello? Earth to the Empath!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I shot back. “Give me a second.”

  In my mind’s eye, the loose map of people in the neighborhood flared brightly. Starting from the outside, I discarded people on the periphery who were clearly not involved. The couple arguing and the lone man doing laundry two blocks over were weeded out, which allowed me to focus on the closer consciousnesses in greater detail.

  “Tio, Tia, Brendan.”

  “Friendlies?”

  “Mmmmmmmm,” I said. “Yes, yes, maybe…not.”

  “What an asshat,” Eli said.

  “Not now, Eli.”

  “But am I wrong?”

  I sighed. Tia was in a lot of distress. She had been the one screaming. Her aura was pulsing with fear and sadness and anxiety, but I didn’t see her body react in physical pain. Tio stood in the doorway, and it looked like he was being restrained by two normal guards. No Elevated. Plenty of anger, which was warranted. From my perspective, I couldn’t quite tell what was happening.

  “A dozen trained suits on the first floor,” I counted aloud to Eli. “Two per floor doing sweeps, probably for me. The rest are in the kitchen with—”

  “The hostages,” Eli finished for me.

  I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat.

  “Breathe,” Eli said, her voice full of calm and strength. “What else do you see?”

  “Brendan…”

  “Sir Assclown.”

  “…is also in the kitchen,” I said, my tone going up in a question. “He seems afraid, too, even though no one is bothering him.”

  “Maybe Sir Assclown has a conscience and is not okay witnessing the torture of loved ones,” Eli spat at me.

  “I’m not calling him Sir Assclown,” I muttered, losing myself in my web of consciousnesses again. “And I don’t know if Tia is being tortured or not.”

  “Fine, we can pretend she likes to scream in agony for fun,” Eli shot back at me. She sounded out of breath. “Where are they coming from? Do you see any more than the twenty or so you already tagged?”

  “They keep flickering in,” I muttered into the phone. Every time I went to count them, another one or two seemed to pop in from the periphery.

  “That is not…good,” Eli said, her voice tense. “How well can you read objects?”

  “Objects?”

  “Yeah, like can you tell if a person is traveling by bike versus motorcycle versus car, for example?” Eli said.

  “Depends on if they’re thinking about it. Or sometimes their body position…”

  My mind went off on that thought, trying to remember exactly how I distinguished them, if I did at all.

  “Can you tell me if there are people outside waiting in cars?”

  “Let me—”

  “Damn it, Niko! I’m going to put a tracker on you that rips you through time and space. Did you crawl here?” Eli bellowed into the phone.

  I flinched, pulling the sweaty screen from my cheek.

  “It’s like I sent smoke signals,” Eli muttered to herself in exasperation.

  “Um, I can’t tell if there are cars…where did they come from?” I squeaked, suddenly accosted by two people on the other side of the door.

  I bounded toward the bed and launched myself onto the pile of afghans and decorative throw pillows. The corner of Jasleen’s box stabbed me in my ribcage, and I buried my face into the knitted blankets to stifle my pained groan.

  My phone squawked from underneath me. I palmed it clumsily back to my ear.

  “Evangeline!” Eli was yelling at half-second intervals.

  “Shhhhh,” I hissed into the phone. “I now have a team of guards outside my room. They don’t know I’m awake.”

  “Niko is coming. Can you distract them to cover the pop?”

  “What?” I hissed. “Don’t you think that’s—”

  Another scream rattled through the wall. All the color drained from my face right as Niko appeared in front of me.

  “That’s so messed up,” I said into the air.

  “Nice to see you, too,” Niko said, his grim determination clouding the potential and familiar snark of his comment.

  “We can’t leave them here,” I said, my eyes already pleading with him. “Niko, I can’t leave without them.”

  “I’ll come back for them,” Niko said simply. “I have to save you first.”

  “Just shut up and listen,” Eli said from over the phone. “I know you’re not a fan, but you’re very important. Without you, there is absolutely no hope for the rest of us, your aunt and uncle included.”

  My eyes darted to the door handle that was clattering violently against the lock.

  “I think they know I’m awake now,” I said to Eli. “And I’ve got six visitors about to make it a party in my room.”

  “You get out of there right now,” Eli said. “Don’t you dare get Niko killed. I won’t ever forgive you.”

  I locked eyes with Niko.

  “I’ll have to live with that,” I said simply, my thumb savagely tapping the screen to end the call.

  Niko’s eyebrow rose.

  “If I promise to cooperate in fifteen minutes, would you trust me?”

  “This does not sound good,” Niko replied. “I’ll give you five.”

  The problem with going up against professionally trained extraction experts is that they got the blueprints ahead of time.

  I was not so lucky.

  It had been years since I could recall toddling through the hallways of the divided building. Luckily, the building had been filled with family for decades, so the doors remained unlocked between apartments, and coming and going was not seen as an intrusion of privacy. Each floor was the same as the one before it, so the only real variable now was furniture. And people. People who may not be involved and therefore should be avoided at all costs.

  As I rested my hand against the smooth wooden doorframe and braced myself for a surprise attack, I took a moment to scan the building.

  Tia, Tio, and Brendan were being “chaperoned” in the kitchen, painted into the breakfast nook and frozen with fear against a wall of clone-like security detail. While Tia remained seated, Brendan seemed to be standing near Tio, who looked to be pinned up against a wall. The second floor was nearly empty, save for a cat lounging in the front window. A pain jabbed at my stomach as I remembered Ig at Windemere. He would most certainly have inserted himself by now. Or flagged the cavalry. Clearly, we weren’t getting any additional help today.

  I watched as a few invaders peeled off, jogged up the stairs, and cleared the remaining apartments. They were already marked un-friendly though, so I ignored them and continued on. Third floor was empty, and I took a deep breath. During my childhood, Abuela had insisted on staying on the top floor. The stairs kept her moving, she had said. In the end, I doubt she had enough energy to do that, and Tio had likely moved her downstairs. Another lancet of pain streaked through my gut, and I took in a sharp brea
th.

  “What?” Niko murmured behind me. “Too many?”

  I took a measured breath in, and a silent exhale out through my mouth.

  “It’s fine. Just us,” I said with a nod. “Round everyone up and get them back in this room. They’ll think we’re trapped, but you can safely transport us out.”

  Niko nodded, then froze. I looked back at him.

  “Do you have a human capacity for ride alongs?” I asked, picking up the slight ping of worry he had let escape through his barricaded mind.

  Niko shrugged.

  “Oh, good. Good to know,” I muttered darkly to myself. “Not like my entire plan hinges on that assumption. It’s fine.”

  “Only one way to find out,” Niko said. “Also, you underestimate my speed. I can flicker back and take multiple trips if it’s too much.”

  “Pinky promise,” I said, the doubt weighing down the question mark in my tone.

  “I will make sure everyone is safe,” Niko replied with a solemn nod. I blew out another deep breath through my mouth, and tapped the doorframe impatiently, my other hand on the doorknob.

  “Final note,” I said, fear beginning to creep in up my spine. “We are entering a no judgment zone for Elevations, okay? Anything that needs to be done will not be held against us later, kapeesh?”

  “You’ll do fine,” Niko said, reaching out and squeezing my shoulder. “Trust your gut.”

  “That is a binding yes,” I said, the tension leaking slightly from the squeeze of solidarity.

  The door banged against the frame as my honor guard tried to break through the deadbolt. They must have heard our voices, as much as we had tried to keep them low. I set the wrapped box from Jasleen on top of the dresser against the wall. It looked inconspicuous near the door, so if my plan went to hell, I could grab it quickly on my way back. I patted it twice, trying to reassure it I would be back for it.

  I counted to five on my fingers as I held Niko’s gaze.

  I better live to tell my grandchildren about this, Niko warned in my mind.