by Jenn Nixon
MIND:
The Fracture
Jenn Nixon
The rights of Jenn Nixon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him/her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it was published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Cover Design by:
Emma Michaels
Edited by:
EAL Editing Services
Published by Vamptasy Publishing
Acknowledgements
If you are new to the series, there is a full glossary of terms at the end of the book.
MIND: The Vision and MIND: The Fracture are two of the craziest books I’ve ever written. When I started peppering in the weird dream Dina started having in MIND: The Message, I honestly didn’t know what it was. As it started unfolding, I knew that every Sci-Fi show and book and movie I’ve devoured over my life was responsible for this crazy idea and I went with it. I had no idea if it would work given how complex a few of the characters have become. To my shock and surprise, MIND: The Fracture ties up a huge arch of the story going all the way back to book one in a way I never saw coming.
I’d like to thank SJ Davis from the bottom of my heart for letting me tell this story the way it wanted to be told. Taking a chance on a romance like this isn’t something many publishers are willing to do and without her, Elizabeth Lance and the entire CHBB-Vamptasy pubfamily, this series wouldn’t be possible.
Thank you to all the readers for sticking with me. To my family and friends, your support means the world to me. A super special thanks to the one and only Smeddely for coming up with the pet shop name, and to my beta, ARC readers, and Street Teamers for all your help over the years.
Chapter One
June 15th 2034
Wilmington, North Carolina
For the fourth time in the last hour, Sanjeeta picked up the white business card with the Netphone number she had already dialed six times in the past week and stared at it as the phone rang. She hung up for the seventh time, turned back to her tablet, and glanced at the local message board hoping her new online acquaintances were just being paranoid. Lacking the technical skills to do anything on the internet other than a search, Sanjeeta tapped in a reply, lifting her hands off the keypad before hitting send.
After stuffing another piece of chicken into her mouth, her gaze went to the card again, unsure if a couple of ‘missing’ people from an internet group was out of the ordinary enough to get her new Good Samaritan friend, Harvey, involved. In truth, no one really knew anyone was missing. People came and went daily on the deepnet. She had recently chatted with two girls from New Korea and a guy from Iceland only to find their internet handles deleted from the message board the following day. The only difference with the current ‘missing’ people was the abruptness of their departure and the fact their handles were active in the member list.
Sanjeeta read her reply again. I may know someone who can help. I can reach out? This time, she hit send. The tablet chimed. Then again. A dozen chimes echoed through the air as people responded. Four people said no. Seven said yes. Grump333y called her an idiot for thinking anyone would care or help.
She knew there was at least one man out there who seemed to want to help. Why else would he have given her a stack of cash with no strings other than keeping an eye on the town? Despite not knowing if the people on the board were actually local to Wilmington, she assumed they would be, why go through all the trouble of getting into the deepnet group in the first place?
Unable to make up her mind, Sanjeeta left the message board app open, hoping for one or two more replies as she scanned the news and finished her tandoori and naan thinking it wasn’t half-bad for a fast food joint. She lifted her hand and waved backward to open the refrigerator, then spread her fingers and caught the bottle of water as it flew through the air. Sanjeeta set the bottle down, waved her hand again, and closed the door.
She was definitely getting faster and stronger every day. Most of the people on the message board didn’t believe her when she told them her skills included telepathy and telekinesis. They were adamant psychics couldn’t ‘move shit with their minds’. Only when another person, gender unknown, claimed they had telekinesis did the group open up about techniques and things to do to practice and get better. Sanjeeta took notes on everything, even the skills she didn’t have like empathy and clairvoyance. To be honest, she wouldn’t mind a trade, hearing people’s thoughts sucked worse than she’d imagined.
Her Netphone chirped. Surprised someone was actually calling, Sanjeeta hit the speaker button and said hello.
“Sandee, wassup girl?”
“Holly?” she asked, raising a brow as she leaned closer to the coffee table. “Did you steal another phone?”
“Who…me? No, honest, I’m calling from the bar’s phone.” Her former co-worker and current casual acquaintance sounded not exactly drunk, but definitely close. “What’s his face says it’s unlisted and untraceable, isn’t that cool?”
“Naasir?”
“Yeah, him. So good looking, right?”
“Never noticed,” she replied only to hear Holly laughing, everyone noticed Naasir. “Do you need a ride?”
“No, silly, want to hang out again. You free?”
“I wish, I’m up super early tomorrow. Bosslady is going on a spiritual couple’s retreat with her wife and I have to open the shop.”
“Don’t know why you still work for that dragon, she’s the worst.”
Sanjeeta rolled her eyes. “She’s not a bitch, Hol, she’s just…different. You were here for a month along with fifteen other temp hires, you can’t expect her to remember everyone’s name.” Certainly not a reason to quit a decent job, especially when you have student debt, she added internally.
“I’m pushing forty, girl. You’ll be there one day and get it. I need to find my forever job, you know. Wasn’t cut out for retail, I guess.”
“True, it’s not for everyone,” Sanjeeta replied, covering her mouth as she yawned. “Maybe tomorrow, shift manager wants extra hours so I’ll be off by six.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. Be at O’Hallihan’s Pub by seven or you’re dead meat, Sanjeeta Desai.” Holly cackled into the phone before it went dead.
Shaking her head, she cracked open the water, drank half, and then checked the message board one more time finding no new replies. She shut down the app and turned off the tablet. After cleaning up the coffee table and throwing the takeout containers away, she shut out all the lights in the studio and went to bed.
***
“Excuse me?” The tone of the woman’s voice made Sanjeeta’s ear perk and her head spin. “Don’t you know who I am?”
Crap. Knowing she missed most of the altercation, she peeked into both the cashier and the customer’s heads to figure out what had happened. She picked up a few thoughts and her heart sank.
“Mrs. Chaddswick, I can help you over here,” Sanjeeta said as she lifted her hand, drawing the woman’s attention to the customer service desk, and offered her brightest, most sincere smile. “Billy was just telling me your baby’s being a little grumpy today.”
The older woman’s face went blank and then she eyed the young cashier at the front of the shop, shaking her head as she walked away. “Do you believe these kids…don’t know which—”
“You’ll have to forgive Jasmine, she’s new. Doesn’t know you’re one of our most valuable customers,” Sanjeeta cut her off and motion
ed to the sitting area next to the puppy pen. “Clementine feeling okay? She didn’t take any of our treats.”
“Oh you know, old dogs, they get…old.” Mrs. Chaddswick frowned, pulled out a piece of paper from her purse. She gazed at it for a moment then glanced up. “My son, Tom, will be here soon, I’d like for Clementine to be ready.”
“Absolutely, a few more minutes. Would you like some tea, we have mint,” she said, crossing her fingers behind her back.
“Thank you, dear, that’s lovely.”
Sanjeeta turned to her shift manager, Ming, who was already nodding his head to take care of it. Next, she had to visit Jasmine, who was on the verge of crying when she neared.
“I’m ultra sorry, Ms. Desai,” she whispered.
“Just call me Sandee and don’t worry…it’s not your job to remember their pet’s names, Jasmine. She’s got early onset Alzheimer’s, she runs off a lot, but her son—”
A man ran into the shop. “Mom?”
“Puppy pen,” Sanjeeta said.
“Thank you.”
She leaned closer to whisper to Jasmine. “Has a tracker on her.”
“Oh, that’s so sad.”
“Yes, it is. I’ll make sure all the stations have her name and the dog’s and a picture for the future. Again, don’t worry.”
“Okay, ‘preciate it.”
Crisis averted, Sanjeeta glanced over to the puppy pen to see mother and son inside, playing with the dozen or so dogs they had up for adoption, grateful Bosslady let her try the idea. So far, it was working like a charm. It boosted moral for the team and customers as well as helped them to double their adoption rate the last two weeks.
As she walked back to the customer service desk, she saw Ming frowning and scrolling through the company Netphone while sighing.
“What’s up?”
“Can’t get a hold of Marjorie, she was supposed to be here an hour ago.”
“Hmm, okay, try again in an half an hour.”
***
Near four, Ming walked into her office with the same frown. She thought he was taking it a bit hard until he said he had hired her and she’d never been late in the two years she’d worked at Howlligans and Ruffians. Only after she promised to swing by the kid’s house on the way home, did he seem satisfied enough to get back to work.
Sanjeeta collected her purse and shut off the lights in her office. She picked up the scrap of paper with Marjorie Allen’s address, just a few blocks away, and took the back exit. Hoping the kid came down with a bug or had too many papers due at college, Sanjeeta kept her head down and tried to shut off her psychic brain while trekking through the neighborhood.
She turned down Marjorie’s block and saw a cop car sitting in front of the house making her heart stop. Crossing the street gave her an extra minute to decide if she should approach the house or not. The closer she got, the higher the trepidation rose up through her chest.
Slowing her steps, Sanjeeta gazed across the street to peek into the front window of Marjorie’s house. A woman of about fifty sat in the living room speaking to a pair of officers. Without much thought, she focused on the mother, opening her chi or energy or whatever the hell it was that let her hear thoughts and prayed something came through. She picked up the female cop first, hearing words like sad, runaway, and fight. The mother seemed to be thinking about Marjorie and worried the cops would find out…something. The male cop glanced out the window toward the street. Sanjeeta instantly moved in the direction she was facing, albeit slowly, and crossed the street diagonally to not raise suspicion.
The moment her foot hit the sidewalk, the cop’s thoughts slammed into her head. Another freak, great. Maybe we’ll get overtime.
Sanjeeta stopped cold. She balled her fists and twisted her head toward the bay window. When the garbage can on the side of the house fell over, and she realized she was responsible, she dashed down the sidewalk away from the building, cursing under her breath.
Half an hour later she paced in her studio, debating calling the mother. Having a legitimate reason pushed her in the right direction as she dialed the phone.
“Hello,” Mrs. Allen answered.
“Hi, this is Sandee Desai from Howlligans and Ruffians…I was just calling to see if everything—” The woman broke down crying. Sanjeeta’s heart dropped. She let the mother cry for a minute. “I’m so sorry, what happened?”
“I don’t know, she didn’t come home from school yesterday, thought she stayed with that boyfriend, Rufus or Rupert, it’s fairly new, they met in chemistry, she said.”
“We were worried when she didn’t show up for work, is there anything we can do for you, Mrs. Allen?”
“I called the police, thank you. If you hear from Maggie…please call me.”
“Of course, I promise,” she said, shutting her eyes, biting her bottom lip. She wasn’t strong enough to hear the woman’s thoughts through the phone, it was silly to think she could. Instead of upsetting Mrs. Allen with odd questions, she said goodnight, hung up the phone, and opened her tablet to do a little internet research on her missing employee. If she could find one tiny thread somewhere, maybe she’d have a reason to call her new friend.
Chapter Two
Tuesday June 27th 2034
Caelum spent three entire weeks searching for her. Although the situation he currently found himself in was completely unimaginable to begin with, under no circumstances should it have taken him longer than a day to find one hybrid. Somehow, she learned how to block him or found a way to shield her mind from his in a manner of hours. If he weren’t so annoyed, he’d be impressed.
Rivia’s ship had been the first place he looked, the first place everyone looked, after Dina’s self-imposed exile. He guessed she had taken everything she needed from the ship and its computer and vanished into the wind. When her daily emails to her father stopped two weeks later, the MIND team feared the worst. Caelum knew if he didn’t get to Dina soon, their fears might come true.
He walked through the cargo bay of ship he once shared with Rivia and Prantu and eyed the golden letters written on every inch of the interior, still trying to recall the memory, certain it was still in his head and not stored in the collector.
The short hall leading to the engine room, sleeping quarters, and the galley were pitch black. Caelum adjusted his sight accordingly and continued toward the command center at the head of the ship, already sensing the hybrid’s signature in the distance. Either her block was down or whatever she’d been using to keep hidden stopped working. Whichever the cause, it had been the lucky break he needed to locate her. He never expected her to double back to the ship after her father moved it to another location. Humans were full of surprises.
Her deep chuckle rose through the air. He paused at the next hatch and tilted his head to listen. Caelum waited for her to call him out, instead he heard her arguing…with herself. The lump in his stomach grew larger.
Despite knowing, more than most, that he had no way of stopping what had happened in the Pine Barrens, if he stuck around for longer than an hour or a day, Caelum could have warned them when the fracture occurred. Convincing the MIND team after the fact was going to be so much harder. He wasn’t sure he believed the theory either.
Caelum mentally chastised himself as he breached the hatch and entered the dimly lit command center of the ship. The panic room on the right, which no longer had a door, was as dark as the hall. Dina’s laugh bubbled through his ears. The manic undercurrents worried him the most. Normally, she was so strong, not only physically and emotionally, but mentally as well. Other than Elexanji, she was the only being on Earth who intrigued him and one of the main reasons he stayed away. Neither of them had manifested fully. Half of the MIND team still had untapped abilities strengthening under the surface. His presence, his closeness, threatened to speed up the process even further. Considering how difficult the last nine months had been on the group, Caelum responsible for the majority of it, he wanted to keep his distance and let them
grow naturally. He didn’t belong on their world. He wasn’t supposed to interfere.
That option may not apply anymore.
Before he moved within eyesight of the panic room doorway, Caelum tightened every block he had while simultaneous probing her current mental state, unprepared for the incoherent babbling going on in Dina’s mind. She seemed to be arguing within her head now, but the voices vibrated differently, similar to what he’d seen in Liam’s mind only much more severe.
Having sent hundreds of ‘visions’ to other visitors, especially recently with Rivia’s old team, he knew it was possible to implant memories or dreams or other visual images into the mind. Being on the receiving end was always unpleasant and potentially lethal if done incorrectly. Of course, that was merely one of twenty-four possibilities. Until he looked into Dina’s mind, he wouldn’t know for sure.
He stepped out of the shadow of the hall and into the command center. The metal beneath his feet creaked. A light blue glow filled the panic room, lighting up the ship enough to make out the console and command chair, which Dina covered with her clothes and a pair of shoes. Her unique signature disappeared. Her thoughts blanked. It was like she didn’t exist anymore.
Beyond intrigued, Caelum took a deep breath and stalked through the room only to stop dead in his tracks when he reached the doorway.
Dina Ranger was curled in a fetal position on the floor, the blue glow coming from a barrier surrounding her, similar the Enhancer shield. She mumbled and moaned, as her face contorted and ticked. Before he called her name, she lifted her hand, shooting him in the chest with a powerful telekinetic blast. He crashed into the command chair, knocking his head into the arm. His vision crossed.