“You said that your father and uncle weren’t the ones orchestrating these attacks. What makes you so sure they’re being held at the estate?” Jon’s voice was deep, deliberate.
All my senses were on alert. I chose my words carefully. “Like I said, Theo was held at the estate. I don’t know who is behind the attacks, but it makes sense that the others are being held where Theo was.”
“And yet you didn’t see the need to return to the estate until now. Until Thirteen.” His voice was so low it came out in a hiss. “Was this your plan, Magnolia? Set up Thirteen’s capture then return to your family?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake!” My stance relaxed. I rolled my eyes. I should have known this was where his thoughts were going. Stupid distractions! I was missing everything! I pierced Jon with a look. He took a step back.
“Listen to me very closely, Jon,” I said, my voice like ice. “Thirteen is the one and only person in my entire existence to truly care for me.” Theo shifted behind me. “I will do whatever it takes to get him away from my family. Whatever it takes.”
I let the threat hang in the air as Jon processed my meaning. His hand fell away from his gun. “Whether he’s being held there or not, it’s not like we can just walk onto the Kelch estate and start looking around. It’s something the Network has tried in the past with exceptionally bad results.”
“But I can go,” I insisted. “I can search the grounds undetected.” My stomach dropped at the idea, but I held my ground. Jon looked at Theo.
“What about getting in his head and bringing him back the way you did me,” Theo said tightly. “You can get him out of there and not have to risk yourself.”
“I already tried that. It doesn’t work on him.” I glanced at Theo over my shoulder. When I turned back to Jon, concern softened his glare. He was truly torn.
“Jon,” I said, keeping my words and tone as civil as possible. “I will not lose Thirteen. And you are not capable of retrieving him.”
I could see his next argument coming.
“I do not report to you, Jon, and I sure as hell don’t take orders from you. I will find Thirteen and I will bring him back.” I stalked into the entryway and laced up my shoes.
“You can’t do this by yourself,” Theo called out. His long strides brought him quickly through the kitchen and into the hall. I fumbled with my sneakers. The laces caught in my fingers. Why couldn’t I tie my freaking shoes?
Theo and Jon exchanged a look and once again their thoughts mirrored one another. I glared up at both of them, ready for an argument. A loud scrambling from the great room stopped us all. Great. Now what?
Chang moaned from the great room floor. I rolled my eyes again. Shane went to check on him.
“Too much, dude,” Chang moaned. “That chick is just too much.”
“Don’t worry,” Shane said, and shot me a glare of pure venom. “Apparently she’s suicidal. We won’t have to deal with her much longer anyway.”
“What the hell is your problem?!” The room shimmered. My vision darkened as red tint shaded everything around me. I stifled a gasp. Shit! It was so close to the surface now. A little agitation at Shane and—bam!—my blood dream came to life. I forced some deep breaths. Once my vision was normal again, I turned back to Shane. “What in the world did I ever do to you?”
“You exist!” he snarled.
That was it. Thirteen’s abduction, Theo’s hurtful thoughts, my powers acting up—I’d had enough. And Shane’s perpetual attitude was just the outlet I needed. I narrowed my focus and drilled into his mind in the most violent way possible. Mindsweep.
His hands flew from Chang’s arms, dropping the man back to the floor with a thud. His fingers pressed hard to his temples. He crashed to his knees with an ear-piercing cry. Guilt tightened my chest but I didn’t stop. At least not until I saw the buried reason behind his anger.
Shane cared for me. Really, really cared for me. So much so, he didn’t know how to handle it. The images in his mind were like a slideshow of every moment I’d ever been near him. When I’d first entered the conference room of the Thirsty Turtle. Sitting beside him on the way to Banks’s house. The first time I’d smiled in his direction. And every magical illusion I’d created in training. He had found inexplicable joy in everything I had done.
And he hated himself for that.
My family had killed his parents. He’d hated me before he even met me. But when I walked into the conference room that first time, everything changed. He saw the bond forming between me and his teammate—a teammate with a long history of getting whatever female he wanted. Nothing would ever happen between Shane and me. He hoped that knowledge would be enough. It wasn’t. He didn’t want to care for me. He simply couldn’t help it.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
He met my eyes. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Because I had been so cruel, he knew what I had seen in his thoughts. I couldn’t speak for what I’d done.
“Shane? You all right, man?” Jon had pulled his gun and was pointing it at the floor in front of me. Shane lowered his head and wiped a hand over his face.
“I’m good,” he said finally. He pulled himself to standing and brushed off his clothes.
“Is everything cool here?” Jon asked, his eyes darting between me and Shane.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Shane said. He ran his hand from the back of his neck over his hair and down his face. Then he shook his head like a wet dog. “So what’s the plan?”
I just stared at him. What could I possibly say?
“Take the blueprints,” Chang called from the floor. “They’re still in my car.”
Shane once again bent down to help. Theo moved behind me. He lifted his hand, reaching for the side of my arm. I moved swiftly out of his reach. Shane’s pain was too close to my own. And now wasn’t the time to deal.
“I’m going after Thirteen,” I said to Jon, needing to get back to business. “But his retrieval will be my only concern. If Banks or anyone else is there, I can’t guarantee their safe return.”
Jon measured me for a moment. He gripped his gun tighter but left it at his side.
“So any other captives are the Network’s responsibility,” Theo said from behind me.
I kept my eyes on Jon. He cocked a brow. “Is this your way of asking for backup, Magnolia?”
“This is my way of telling you where my loyalties lie.” My voice was cold again. “If you come onto the estate with me, I can get you in undetected, but my only concern will be Thirteen. I won’t have your back in a fight with my family, and you cannot defeat them on your own.”
“You aren’t the only one who cares about Thirteen.”
“But I am the only one who can get him back.”
The room hung in the pregnant pause. Shane finally spoke up. “We’re coming with you, and we’ll bring everyone back—including each other. So let’s get organized.”
Jon nodded in agreement. So did Theo.
“Fine,” I snapped. “But get organized in the car. We’ve got to move.”
We marched out the door to Jon’s Cherokee. The metal screen bounced against the frame behind us.
“I’ll just be here on point,” I heard Chang call out as we hit the driveway.
Good. At least someone would live to tell the others what happened.
According to the clock, it was early afternoon, but the sky was thick and black. Thunder growled on the horizon. The temperature had dropped about ten degrees in the last forty-five minutes. I wanted to blame my growing nausea on nerves from the pending storm. But it was the perfectly landscaped lawns that really made me cringe. Everything was so perfect on the north side. No overgrown cornfields, no little run-down farmhouses, just golf courses or stringently maintained community parks. No one on the north side ordered carryout from King’s Rib like we did during training.
After maneuvering several trail-lined side streets, I directed Jon to pull over at the wooded edge of the property’s far east side. Jon turned
the Jeep onto a dirt inlay behind a thick grouping of trees and parked out of sight.
Chang had provided property lines and structural blueprints of the estate. Jon, Shane, and Theo huddled in the car, outlining their rescue plans for any other hostages found. The dry wind twisted my hair, and scents of the southern gardens wafted through the air. I was really here…returning to the place where nightmares came true. Thirteen had to be my focus. It was the only way I could continue breathing.
“We can hike it from here,” I told them.
Each man adjusted his weapons as we exited the car. To survive here, I had to rely on instinct alone. No feelings, no thoughts…just survival. With a deep breath, my mind relaxed into a state of suspended animation. Power hummed beneath my skin. I was all senses and strength now, pure instinct. I shuddered at the familiarity of the feeling, at the necessity.
“Mag.”
Warm breath whispered at my neck. Theo’s heart-wrenching thoughts tripped through my mind, but the force of our connection still calmed me. My breathing steadied. I kept my back to Theo as he placed his warm hand at the base of my neck. My powers surged. Golden light tinted my vision. Just a touch from Theo now and my powers jumped to this new level. Hell, this was even more intense than the red.
His hands lingered, fueling the power along with the urge to get closer to him. Another moment and I stepped away, shrugging him off. It was all just too raw. I turned away from him but I held tight to the swell of our bond inside me. At least something good came from this mess with him—my control was reinforced steel now. My thoughts, my instincts, my powers—everything that made me me—kicked into gear with evolved focus.
Voices began to come through. Four captives, over a mile away—never before would I have been able to hear their thoughts so clearly. Now I could pinpoint their exact location, hear their individual minds.
My lips stretched into a wide grin. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”
We stood in a close circle behind the Jeep. The best way to enter the estate would be over the southern wall. I used Chang’s blueprints to outline where the cameras were and the distance from the camera view to a “safe” area inside the grounds. We would go over the wall as a group so I could camouflage our appearance as we moved. Once in a safe area, I’d pull back the camouflage so they could each see where the others were.
“Thirteen and three other Network members are being held in an old two-story horse barn on the southeast acreage. Two of the members are awake, but injured. The third is unconscious.” I kept my tone distant, focused. “Thirteen is in the gated room on the second-floor loft,” I continued. “The others are downstairs in the former storage rooms. There are seven men guarding them who—”
“Wait a second,” Jon interrupted. “How the hell do you know all this? Are you sure about the other hostages, because right now just Sasser, Thirteen, and Banks are expected to be—”
“I can hear them,” I said impatiently.
“You sure you didn’t know all this ahead of time?” Shane asked through clenched teeth.
My hands fisted. The world flashed red, but only for an instant. My control was resolute. “We are here. We are about to go over that fucking wall. If you people don’t believe in me by now then just go the fuck home. I’ll do this myself!”
Jon stepped between us, his arms outstretched as if to hold us back. I bit my tongue at the irony: wasn’t it Thirteen who had jumped between Jon and me, in that very same position, just a couple of days ago?
“That’s enough!” Jon yelled. Theo had his gun gripped in both hands, but pointed it at the ground in front of him. “We cannot get over that wall and to our captured teammates without Magnolia’s help, Shane. So either get on board with the plan or return to HQ with Chang.” Then he turned to me. “Magnolia…hell, we may never completely trust you. That’s just the way it is, so get over it. But right now, for this mission, we have no choice but to get your back. And we will trust you to get Thirteen out of there safe and alive.”
He looked back and forth between us. “Now everyone calm the fuck down and get your game faces on. We’ve got work to do. Magnolia, you said there are seven guards in the barn. Any of them your relatives?”
“One is, but I can’t make out who it is. Whoever he is, he’s strong. I can get inside his head, but I’d rather wait until we’re over the wall.” When the temptation to haul ass out of here will be less distracting.
“Will he sense you,” Jon asked, “like the senator did back in his office?”
“Once I get close enough to the barn, yes. He’ll be able to sense a supernatural presence, but he won’t know it’s me.”
Worry flashed through Theo’s mind, but it was gone just as fast.
“You’re not going to see me once we reach the barn,” I continued. “I’ll be invisible and will stay that way until I have Thirteen. You three worry about the other captives.”
“Once we have the members,” Theo said, “we’ll head south back toward the wall.”
Jon added, “We’ll rendezvous back here. If we need backup, Chang will be ready to make the call.” He stood straighter, a new gleam in his eye. “Things go well, and the Kelch family will have a better appreciation for the abilities of the Network.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s just do what we can to get Thirteen and the others and try not to get killed in the process. OK?”
We each exchanged glances. All three cocked their guns. And we were off.
All three guys were solid masculine specimens of training and muscle. Still, they were no match for my speed and strength. I had to practically walk for them to keep pace. Who knew working with a team would be so frustrating. And even worse was their noise. Did they try to step on every twig on the freaking planet?
You’re just irritated to be back here. Stay focused.
We approached the wall. I stopped several feet inside the tree line. I wanted the cameras to be on the out-turn, just to be safe. When the lens began its rotation away from our position, I stretched out my power and concealed all four of us.
They were quicker than I expected. We were over the wall and safe inside the opposite tree line in under a minute. I pulled back our invisible cover. They looked ready, capable. I put a finger to my lips and listened. No security breach had been detected. We moved again, quicker this time.
A few minutes later we neared a clearing and I pulled up short. I listened again. There was no time to take in individual thoughts, but from what I could tell, all four hostages were still alive. At least for now.
Nausea stirred in my gut. One of my relatives was in that barn. I could feel him. But which one? And where were the others? Steeling my resolve, I took a deep breath and scanned the rest of the estate. Father’s study was empty. So was his master suite. The library, the interrogation rooms, the dining halls—all empty. I reached out farther, focusing just on the remembered sensation of Father’s energy. Across the gardens, into every building on the estate, there was nothing.
Relief washed over me, nearly buckling my knees. Thank God! My father wasn’t home. I hadn’t realized how worried I’d been about facing him again. But now, knowing he wouldn’t be a factor, I was practically giddy. I lifted my face to the sky. Rain had started to drizzle but I didn’t care. Anything was possible now.
I listened again. Uncle Max was at his desk in the main house. He talked on the phone—an overseas call with someone in Africa. I could hear the translation device speaking in that pleasant robotic voice.
My father and Uncle Max are occupied. That means it’s either Markus or Malcolm with the hostages.
I spoke to all three of my teammates’ minds simultaneously. One of them flinched. I didn’t care. My father wasn’t here. Uncle Max wasn’t in that barn. Taking out one of my brothers would be nothing. In fact, I didn’t even bother finding out which brother it was. I just started moving again.
“What about Mallroy?” Jon whispered. This time I flinched. How could I have never noticed how loud these
people were?
Mallroy is a nonfactor.
“But—” Jon started again. A severe glare cast over my shoulder cut off his words. Uncle Mallroy wasn’t an organizer. They knew that. He rarely ever took part in his brothers’ plans. It would be a wasted effort to focus on him now.
The barn is on the other side of the clearing up ahead. The north side door will be closest to the back storage rooms where the hostages are being held. I can mask your appearance to the guards until you are in position. I’ll be upstairs getting Thirteen.
I paused a moment and looked at each of them. All their training, all my preparation. They were still no match for my family’s powers. Not even my brothers’.
I’m going to mask my appearance early. Be ready for a fight. A hard one. And please—please remember what I showed you about the illusions. My brothers’ powers aren’t as strong as Father’s or Uncle Max’s, so if you’re ready for them, they shouldn’t be a problem.
From beside me Theo lifted his hand, reaching out as if to touch my arm. Instantly I vanished. All three of them sucked in a breath.
“Let’s go.” I said.
…
I guided them with my thoughts. We crossed the clearing to the broad side of the barn. The last time I had been here, I’d eavesdropped on my father and uncles. Everything looked the same, except that the maintenance crew had replaced the wide swinging doors with an automatic garage door.
One guard—Allen the Asshole—stood at the front of the barn, so we moved against the wall to the opposite end. The camera that monitored the north door, a regular wooden door, had been disconnected; its cut wires dangled from the top of the doorframe. Had my brother done that?
No one will be able to see you, but it’s good to know that the monitor is out of commission.
“Wait,” Shane whispered.
Shhh! I yelled in their minds. Just think it and I’ll hear it. If you want me to tell everyone I’ll relay it, but you’ve got to shut up!
Fine, Shane thought at me. Should we wait for you and Thirteen to cross the wall or just meet you back at the Jeep?
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