The Pursuit (The Permutation Archives Book 2)

by Kindra Sowder

  “Oh, did I forget to mention that won’t work?” He waved his hand in the air as if dismissing it. “That doesn’t matter. Where was I?”

  I wasn’t about to give up. I knew my power was strong enough to take anyone down any way possible that I could find. I just had to want it bad enough. Or, at least, I hoped. I knew King had been injecting the collected powers into those who didn’t already possess abilities, but what else was he doing? And where was the rest of my group? I couldn’t stay focused as images began to flood my mind, instantly knowing they did not belong to Cato. They belonged to a stranger that was attempting to make me believe that my companions were all dead, but I knew better than that. They wouldn’t kill them. Not yet. Because they needed them to get to me.

  “You were about to tell me where my friends and my mother are,” I stated matter-of-factly as Ryder finally stopped screaming and was now focused on the man in front of us. When I glanced down at him, he was shaking his head past the after effects of the power the man had used on him.

  “Ah, well, I don’t remember that…”

  “You will,” I interrupted him, rising to my feet as I let the rage and fear consume me, the images of my mother screaming and Julius crying out feeding the emotions that would only strengthen my power. It rose from within my belly, warming my entire body as it washed over me and filled the air within the plane. The ramp was still down, but I no longer felt the chill of the wind as we moved through the air even though it caused my hair to whip around me, stinging my skin periodically. The slight pain only fed my emotional state. Without having to raise my hand again, I reached out to him and caressed his mind, sliding an invisible hand over his body and gripping him until his eyes widened with terror and shock.

  “I don’t care what they did to you in the compound. Nothing lasts forever and, if I get just angry enough, what King did no longer matters,” I explained. “And everyone has an expiration date. Now,” I took a few steps closer to him, “where are they? And don’t make me ask again. You won’t like the result. Neither of your shifters did.”

  He didn’t answer me, his face the epitome of defiance and stoicism. Keeping a firm grasp on him, I walked further into the plane. They had to be in here, right? They just had to be. I looked at each metal table, all of them empty and panic began to set in which I knew would cause my power to waver. I had nearly gone toward the front of the plane, crying out in frustration, but then I saw something. No, that wasn’t something. That was someone. I ran to the booted foot sticking out past one of the tables on the ground and came to find Julius in much the same state I had been during our first plane ride when taken to the compound. Now I wasn’t even sure where this aircraft was going, but I did know that we wouldn’t be showing up if I had anything to do with it.

  Julius was out cold, his eyelids fluttering and a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his chest as if he had attempted to approach someone and they shot him with it. He hadn’t been hit with the Paralisix as many times as I had, so he hadn’t been able to adjust to its effects like me, but I was certain that would be changing. Every time I had one hit me, it was from the side because they knew that if I were approached from the front that there was no way they’d be walking away from the encounter. My power took no time to use, while Julius’ took long enough for the acid to eat away at the flesh that held it inside of him. I kneeled down next to him and removed the dart, placing my hand on his cheek and giving it a light tap as I attempted to rouse him.

  “Julius. Julius,” I practically begged, needing him to wake up. “Julius, please wake up.”

  He groaned, his eyes fluttering again and then flying open as he took in a deep, shuddering breath. Thoe steel gray eyes were confused for just a moment, but then he finally saw me and held onto me like I was a lifeline. I was the only thing holding him to reality instead of the effect of what he had been shot up with.

  “Mila,” he gasped.

  I placed my other hand on his face and rubbed my thumb over his cheekbone. “I’m here. Are you okay?”

  He nodded and moved to sit up, swaying just slightly as the drugs left his system. My hands flew from hs face to his shoulders, attempting to help him steady himself as he sat. Getting him to a standing position would be an entirly different thing altogether, and I knew he would have to lean on me for support to get moving until the drugs completely lost their effect on his body.

  “Can you stand?” I asked, rising to my feet, staying bent over at the waist to assist him if need be.

  He cleared his throat and replied, “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” As soon as he was on his feet, I threw his arm over my shoulders as I watched him sway slightly on his feet, stumbling a couple of paces.

  “Wow, alright. Lean on me and let’s get moving, shall we? We’ve got to get off this ride.” A masculine scream that I recognized floated to us from the back of the plane before I had a chance to see who else was on the plane from our group. From what I could see, no one else was in there, leaving me to wonder where they were. “That’s Ryder,” I said, panicked.

  Julius leaned against one of the metal slabs and waved me off, “Go, I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Okay,” I breathed, not letting him go until I was sure he could stay upright, and then running toward the back of the plane where the ramp was still wide open, the wind whipping at me even more ferociously the closer I got to the opening.

  What I saw almost stopped me in my tracks, but I kept going, knowing that Ryder’s life depended on me making it to where he was. He was kneeling at the very edge of the ramp, someone standing in front of him that I hadn’t even seen in the entirety of the plane. Someone that had come out of the woodwork, but I recognized this person from the back. I wasn’t sure how, but I did, causing me to question anything I saw. How did he get past me? Was it when I was distracted with Julius and was barely paying attention? I wasn’t sure as I watched Ryder’s lips turn blue, the oxygen sucked from within his lungs, and Nero turned toward me, his eyes that matched his brother’s boring into me with such rage I nearly swayed under its weight. I felt Julius walk up slowly behind me, leaning on the metal slabs as he went and his breathing heavy as he struggled to stay on his feet. His knuckles were white as he gripped the metal table beside him.

  “Let him go, Nero. He has nothing to do with this,” Julius said, his chest barely touching my back now in a protective stance. His free hand was on my lower back.

  “Oh he does, brother. He works for Mila’s mom, doesn’t he? He has everything to do with this,” he replied, gesturing to Ryder behind him who was now close to falligng backwardsand out of the plane altogether. I wanted to run to him, but I was certain that Nero would turn back around and push him out of the plane. In his weakened state, he wouldn’t be able to fight back.

  “He’s not the one you’re mad at.” I took a step toward him. “You feel betrayed, and I understand that, but if you want to take that out on anyone it needs to be me. No one else.” I took another hesitant step with my hand out toward Nero as if I was trying to comfort a scared child. I still had a hold on the man in the white suit, so he wasn’t going anywhere, but I needed to keep Nero from lashing out at those who had done him no harm. I was the one worth his rage. Not anyone else.

  “Stop moving or I’ll bring this plane down, and all of us will die. And your cause will be over.” Little did he know that the cause would go on without me because of my mother who would continue to fight the good fight because I was gone, and my death would make me a martyr.

  “Nero, please,” Julius beckoned from behind me. “Listen to me. You don’t want to do this.”

  “But I do, Julius. I do.” His eyes flicked from his brother behind me and back toward me.

  It felt even though the air was moving around me, like all of the air had left the atmosphere. It was all sucked from within my lungs in an instant, and I knew Nero was wearing his particular br
and of magic if that’s even what it was. I fell to my knees, my lungs already starting to burn from the lack of oxygen, and Ryder gulped in air as he stared at Nero’s back. The anger rippling through his muscles was evident as he watched me fall to the rubber, my knees impacting hard. I lost my grip on the man in the white suit, and he stumbled forward a step with a broad smirk on his face that I wanted to slap from it. Ryder and Julius pounced at the same time, Ryder colliding with Nero’s back and Julius with his chest, becoming a tangle of arms and legs. I couldn’t tell which pair belonged to who anymore.

  Air forced its way back into my lungs, causing me to gasp and then to cough and sputter as I gulped in air, falling forward onto my hands as they scraped on the edges of the striated rubber. I heard the click of a gun being loaded, and the safety being turned off. A large gun at that. I looked to my right to see the man in white loading it with tranquilizer darts filled with Paralisix and the booster I was sure. It was obvious he had no idea of my growing resistance to the drug and its effects, but I decided to let him figure that out on his own. I rose to my feet, taking a step toward the man as his calm expression turned to one of panic, not knowing what to do besides continue to attempt to load the weapon as his fingers fumbled with the darts. One fell from his trembling hand, but he had another already there as back up. He hadn’t had his power long enough to have proper training in what it could be used to do and how to use it in a pinch. That much was evident. It could’ve been used to stop me in my tracks, but he didn’t seem to know that. My steps became surer as the dizziness and weakness from oxygen deprivation began to dissipate, and each step brought me closer to him, turning his panic into sheer terror. But then he seemed to remember something and smirked as he stared down at the tranquilizer gun in his hands.

  I advanced, closing the distance in a matter of seconds, concentrating my power into my fist as I brought it down to him. My fist collided with metal, causing it to make a grinding sound as it dented. Then the impact of a butt of a gun at my temple nearly caused me to fall to the ground, but I kept my footing, barely taking even a step back with the impact. He pulled the gun back and prepared to strike again, but I had other plans. Ones that didn’t involve the use of that tranquilizer gun. Pushing the power of my telekinesis into my fist again, I launched it at him, hitting his midsection as hard as my own ability would allow. He stumbled back and dropped the tranquilizer gun, coughing and curling around his abdomen as he coughed and swallowed in an attempt to keep his last meal inside of his stomach. I prepared to strike again when the plane lurched to the side, causing everyone to fall to the ground except for Nero and the man in the suit whose legs were spread apart as if they knew the jerk was coming. And that was when I saw it. Water just on the horizon as we flew above a river I hadn’t noticed before that very moment. I definitely wasn’t prepared for a crash, but it looked like I wasn’t going to have a choice in the matter.

  Ryder and I stood, Julius rising to his hands and knees as Nero and the man in white watched us with eerie smiles on their faces. They knew what was coming. The pilot was going to take the plane down, and the man in white had already warned him and told him when to do it with his newfound power. A power that had been stolen. A crash in water would ensure their survival, and the only one they wanted out of all of us was me, and they didn’t need the craft to take only me where I needed to be. All they needed were the drugs to keep me compliant, but they weren’t aware of the fact that I could fight the effects of it. And they probably never would. Julius was on his feet now, and I was on my knees, but the plane careened again, causing Julius to lose his footing and fall, rolling toward the exit of the aircraft. Ryder turned and tried to grab his outstretched hand, and I missed him completely when he rolled past my extended arm. As he fell out of the plane and toward the roaring waters below us our eyes met and I said a silent apology as well as a prayer, knowing it probably wouldn’t do any good. At that moment I had lost all faith in a divine power. I watched, screaming as he splashed into the water and then the plane shuddered, emergency lights flashing around us as the alarm went off in a jarring, mechanical screech that caused my left ear to ring again.

  It went by too quickly to stop it and, as the water met the mouth of the plane, I closed my eyes and felt the impact of metal on water and then my muscles, bone, and flesh. As the ice cold water rushed in it enveloped everything, including us.

  Chapter

  ELEVEN

  The cold liquid filled the cabin quickly, taking all hopes of any breathable air and a life beyond this moment with it. The water had forced us all toward the front of the plane, and now we had to swim all the way to the back to get out. These planes didn’t have windows unless you were in the cockpit with the pilot, leaving you in a hollow shell of metal tubing. My lungs burned as I searched my murky surroundings for my companions, not caring at all about Nero or the man dressed in white. Nero was a traitor, and I had no feelings for him except for rage. I turned around, only seeing a white suit covering the man who helped to bring the down with us inside of it. I didn’t see anyone else inside, so I began to make my way out, pushing the water backward to propel myself forward to get away from him as quickly as the water would allow. The lights illuminated every piece of sediment, large or small, and the emergency lights flashed across my vision with blinding clarity. The water caused the flash of light to be so much brighter, stinging my eyes as I moved sluggishly through it.

  I felt a hand close around my ankle, and I turned, screaming under the water to see the man in white moved a lot faster than I thought he would have. Air bubbled out of my lungs as I thrashed. I kicked out, trying to free my ankle from his tightening grasp, his fingernails digging into the flesh of my leg. The water caused my movements to be slow, so I let the power build in the palm of my hand, the fear causing it to grow quickly and bubble up in my gut, and pushed it out toward the man with every bit of force I could muster. His eyes widened as it hit him and it caused a ripple effect within the plane, the power backfiring and pushing me toward the back of the plane and shooting me out of the opening. Once I was free of the aircraft the power faded, and I floated toward the roiling surface as the current pulled at me.

  Warm, humid air met my skin, and I gulped in the air in hungry pulls as my head breached the surface of the rapids. Without a second thought, I tried to reach the grassy knoll on the bank of the river, but the current was too strong as it ripped me from any hope of salvation. Then I heard someone call my name, and I turned as best I could as the water pulled me further downstream toward gushing rapids and jagged, menacing rocks. Julius was running along the bank, trying to keep up so he could grab my hand at any open opportunity he could find. He was finally able to pull ahead of where I was as my head ducked under the water for all of a second, stealing all the air from my lungs just like Nero had. The water was freezing, causing my body to ache as if knives were being driven into my muscles. I resurfaced and was greeted by a pair of steel gray eyes and an outstretched hand, reaching out toward me as he called my name. I stretched my arm out as far as I could and his wrapped around my forearm and pulled, dragging me onto the grassy bank just before the unforgiving current would take me into the jagged rocks that would’ve meant my death. My body began to shiver once I crawled onto the bank, Julius watched me carefully as bile rose in my throat and my stomach turned because of the water that had forced its way into my gut.

  He rubbed my back in comforting, concentric circles as I vomited, only water coming up as I kneeled there on hands and knees. I hadn’t even realized I swallowed this much water when we crashed, but there it was, coming out of me in droves. It felt like liquid fire burning its way up even though the water was still cold, pins and needles of pain moving up my gullet along with the clear liquid. My lungs burned and my muscles stung after what felt like hours of retching; only being minutes as I couldn’t stop thinking about the rest of my group and Ryder’s fate since he was on the plane with us. As far as I knew he had
been the only one from our entourage besides Julius to make it aboard. I was still on my hands and knees, attempting to catch my breath, but the questions came quickly and begged for escape as I fought for composure.

  “Where are the others, Julius?” I asked through each ragged pull of air, coughs ejecting themselves from my lungs. My insides rolled again, but I swallowed down the urge to vomit. There couldn’t have been anything else left to expel. I turned my face up to him and watched as his face crumbled and his shoulders sagged.

  “After that thing took you we got separated. There’s no telling where they are now. Hell, there’s no telling where we are now. I’m not sure which river this is,” he explained as he stared into my eyes, his dark hair soaked and stuck to his forehead. Tiny rivulets of water ran from the strands and down his perfectly straight nose. He was a gorgeous man, and it was too bad nothing had happened between us before now, but it seemed it just wasn’t in the cards.

  “That doesn’t matter,” I said as I shook my head, “If we can find Ryder then he can tell us what way we need to go. I’m sure that if we got separated, my mother would want us to continue on the same route, right? I mean, she could be.”

  His shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. “I guess.”

  I shook my head. “Damn it.”

  I stood up, and the world swayed severely around me, Julius rising to catch me in case I fell. My hands shot out and gripped his arms, but I didn’t stumble. I turned and settled on a direction downstream, scanning the distance for him, but seeing nothing. Nothing at all. My chest ached as I inhaled deeply; calling his name with everything I had in me after the crash. Nothing. No reply except for the sound of the birds chirping and random forest noises from animals and falling leaves. Tears stung my eyes, and I tried to hold them back, but they fell unbidden down my cheeks in a rush. I began to move downstream, checking along the bank as Julius followed close behind doing just the same. After was felt like hours of walking, which had truly only been at least five minutes, I stopped and placed my hands on my knees, still attempting to catch my breath after the water had been shoved into my chest and stomach. I could still feel the remnants of the cold in my bones, but I chose to ignore it. The urge to heave was strong, but I held it at bay with a swallow and deep breath. Finding Ryder and the rest of the team was more important. I stood and pulled air into my lungs again, the muscles aching as they expanded.