Gifted Connections: Book 4

by SM Olivier

  He yelped before he laughed in shock. “You know I really can’t help picking up your feelings more than others.”

  I looked around to see if we were being noticed, but everyone was still poring over our intel. “Did you…grow since you got it back?”

  His brows knitted for a moment before he nodded reluctantly.

  “Why do I have a feeling you’re not telling me something?” I asked him suspiciously.

  He tweaked my nose before looking at the black clock on the wall with the red digital display. “Later.”

  “Go ahead and take your places,” Darren called out. “Thirty seconds until our time officially starts, and I’m hoping to beat the time of twenty-four minutes and thirty-four seconds.”

  “You’re hoping,” Jaxson teased. “Last time I checked, we were the ones going in, not you.”

  “Shut up Jax,” Remy stated with an eye-roll. “You know we need Darren.”

  “I know,” Jaxson laughed as he left the room. “Couldn’t help but clown him, though.”

  As we closed the door to the conference room, I heard an ear-piercing scream. It took me a moment to realize it was Darren’s cry that I had heard. Jaxson was laughing as Remy and I went running back inside.

  “Jaxson James!” I yelled at him.

  “What,” he said with a feigned look of innocence. “I heard Darren was afraid of heights. I didn’t realize sitting on the top of a high wire hovering over a canyon would have such an effect on him.”

  “One day,” Jace warned with an indulgent shake of his head.

  Poised next to the door leading to the arena, I took deep calming breaths in and out. I looked up and noticed that Will, Paul, Kirk, and a few other people I didn’t recognize were in the viewing area directly in front of us.

  It was eerily silent. The teams that had already gone were in the viewing areas above. I could see most of them were animatedly talking and laughing, but it was sound-proof, so we couldn’t hear them. The groups still awaiting their turn were sitting on half bleachers or in the break room to the right.

  “Team Four, are you ready?” Paul asked through the intercom system.

  Remy nodded and held up a thumb.

  “Excellent. Your time starts… now!” Kirk directed.

  “Let’s go,” Remy bade us. “Jace, Baby Girl, Linc, and Dre after you.”

  I allowed Lincoln and Jace to proceed me into the double doors.

  I didn’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t a hotel-like lobby we stepped into. There was a registration desk to our left and what looked like a café area to the right. Straight ahead were three sets of elevator doors, but we knew it was just background aesthetics in this simulation.

  “Okay, I see you guys,” Darren said through our earpieces. “Problem is, that’s all I see. All the other feeds are blank. I can’t see anything else.”

  “What do you mean you can’t see anything?” Jace said quietly back into his com.

  “I mean. You entered and now…you’re gone,” Darren said in frustration. I could hear him angrily tapping away at his keyboard. “Someone created a backdoor into my system. Dammit! I’m going to have to shut it down. We’re flying blind.”

  “No,” Lincoln said in a deep soothing voice. “Darren, relax. You can still be our eyes. I’m looking at a room that’s painted with red walls.”

  I looked over at him, and I noticed his eyes were wide open, and he seemed to be in the present but had a faraway look in his eyes. He seemed to be rubbing the pendant on his necklace. It was slightly disconcerting to me to realize I was observing him so carefully and remembered the first time I saw it.

  “I have two rooms with red walls,” Darren said in a much calmer voice, causing me to focus on the task at hand.

  “This room has pictures with a lot of orchids in them,” Lincoln stated.

  Darren muttered something. “Stand by. This may take a moment.”

  “We got to get moving,” Jace said quietly. “We have…three people coming our way.”

  I closed my eyes and reached out to the three people using my gift of empathy. I could feel their giddiness. I knew in a typical situation they wouldn’t be expressing these feelings. I’m sure to them this was like a game of manhunt.

  I smiled as I felt them draw nearer. Should I end this exercise now? I asked the guys silently. At the last second, I included Lincoln in the connection.

  “I hear people coming our way,” Elvis cried out quietly.

  What are you suggesting? Remy asked. He held up his hands at the Nons, letting them know to stand down.

  I can have the three guys that are getting ready to join us find the other abductors and shoot them. I said mischievously, making sure to include the rest of my team in our communications.

  It’s not against the rules, Jace said with a smile in his voice. Let’s see if we can end this in less than ten minutes.

  Jace, Jaxson said with a mock gasp. Have we finally corrupted you?

  Shut up, Jaxson, Jace and Remy said simultaneously.

  The three men were almost upon us when I pushed my thoughts onto them. “Find the rest of your team,” I compelled them. “Shoot them.”

  “They’re leaving?” Elvis asked in confusion.

  Jaxson looked over at him with a smile. “What did you think she meant?”

  Elvis looked slightly embarrassed as he shrugged.

  “Okay team, did you move?” Darren asked.

  “Negative,” Remy answered back.

  “We have a problem,” Darren sighed. “Some of these rooms were built identically. One’s at the end of the hall and to the left. The other’s at the end of the hall and to the right.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Remy stated. “We’re checking the left hallway first.”

  “Okay,” Darren commented. “Once you get to the left hallway, you are looking for the third hallway to the right. Then it will be the sixth door to your left.”

  “Copy that,” Remy said. “Third hall, sixth left door,” He repeated back.

  “That’s correct,” Darren stated.

  As we continued into the mock “hotel”, I took in the amazing authenticity of the place. It even had the gaudy printed carpet some hotels had. As we passed doors with numbers on them, I noticed the simulation also went as far as to put the numbers in braille.

  In the distance, I could hear the occasional yell and scream. Jace stopped abruptly and held up a fist. He held up four fingers.

  We all nodded, and I went to reach out to them. I didn’t bother conferring with the guys I just decided to tap into my inner Jaxson. Find some paper and a pen. I want you to write: ‘It’s not nice to hunt Team Four’ five hundred times.

  “That should keep them busy for a while,” I smiled impishly.

  “What did you do?” Jaxson asked.

  “I made them go write sentences,” I shrugged.

  Some of the guys chuckled, and I suddenly felt a shift in feelings.

  “Drake, shields!” I heard Jace cry out.

  I was glad Drake had quick reflexes as Micah and a Non with a gun popped up five feet away from us. The Non had his weapon trained on Remy. Drake dropped the shield right in time as the laser beam deflected off the guard.

  Drake’s shield looked like it had transformed. It shimmered and pulsed, effectively protecting our team.

  “Woah,” Jaxson said. “It’s changed.”

  “Just wait and see how much,” Drake said with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “Is it my turn?” Jaxson asked hopefully, looking over at Micah and the Non.

  “Who approved Micah to join in this training?” I asked curiously as he tried to teleport into our bubble.

  He was unsuccessful. One second he was there, and the next he would blink out and return. In the past, he was able to enter one of our forcefields with no issue. This really was blowing my mind.

  “We did. Remember?” Remy said with a smirk. “And yes, Jax, go for it but remember… that’s your brother in law.”

&nbs
p; Jaxson looked down at their feet. “Careful, boys, the red stuff is lava. If you want to stay alive, you should stay where you are.”

  The ground below the two guys gave way. They were now standing on a small boulder. The guy who held the gun nearly stumbled in before Micah reached out and firmly grasped his arm. His rifle wasn’t as lucky as it melted away.

  “Not fair, Jax,” Micah said in a dissatisfied voice.

  “All’s fair in love and war, bro,” Jaxson said gleefully.

  Lincoln knelt, and I quickly grabbed his hand. “Careful,” I warned him. “Jaxson’s illusions aren’t really illusions. They’re real.”

  “Let’s go,” Remy stated looking down at his watch.

  We picked up our pace as we went to find the red room.

  “What happens if they really fall in?” Lincoln asked in dismay.

  “Now?” Jaxson asked with a confused look. “Nothing,” he stated with a laugh. “It’s no longer tangible. The moment we left. It really is just an illusion, but they don’t know that.”

  Lincoln chuckled. “That’s evil.”

  “That’s genius,” Elvis laughed as we finally reached the door that Darren directed us to.

  “There aren’t any guards here,” Jace frowned in confusion.

  “Maybe our three traitors got to them,” Troy said hesitantly.

  “Or they’re inside,” I added tentatively.

  “The door’s locked,” Troy frowned as he attempted to open the door.

  “I got this,” Sylvia, the Non, stepped forward and pulled out a lock pick set. We looked at her in surprise. She smiled and shrugged. “I grew up on the streets of New York.”

  We were almost done untying the last hostage when I looked down at the person I was untying. “Stop,” I yelled out.

  “What’s up?” Remy asked, freezing in mid-motion.

  I saw one of the hostages to my left make a move. He was trying to remove a weapon from the fake plant that none of us had even seen.

  “Freeze!” I compelled them. “All of you!”

  I waited for my heart to quit beating rapidly before I turned to glare at them. “They’re not the hostages,” I finally explained. “We have to go to the other room.”

  “But this is the red room,” Elvis said in exasperation. “Come on. We can finish in less than ten minutes.”

  “They’re not the same people in the images,” Lincoln confirmed. His eyes went vacant for a moment. “And they’re definitely still tied up.”

  “Let’s go!” Remy stated. “Darren,” he said in the com. “We need directions to the next red room.”

  Darren started to rattle off the directions to the next location but not before I decided that our faux hostages should play tag. After all, I was already told duck duck goose got boring after a while.

  At precisely thirteen minutes and twenty-two second, we had all our hostages and were making our way back towards the exit. We were almost to the lobby when the lights cut out. I frantically looked up, but the whole area was black. Pitch black. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.

  I suddenly got a flashback of Bradford advancing towards me. I could smell him. I could feel the evil that emanated from him. I felt paralyzed once more. I felt helpless and incapable of movement.

  I felt a hand reach out for me and let out a keening cry of panic.

  “Troy,” I heard Remy command.

  Suddenly there was light. I vaguely registered that Troy had a bright ball of blue light illuminating the area that we were standing in.

  “Five hostiles are coming our way, let’s go.” Jace’s voice sounded like it was coming from the distance.

  “Come on, mon trésor,” Lincoln reached down for me. His voice was garbled and sounded like he was underwater.

  I wasn’t able to comprehend that it was his hand that reached for me, and I shirked away from him and held my hands out, trying to ward him off.

  When did I end up on the floor with my back up against the wall? I felt my chest constricting. It was hard to breathe. My hands were shaking as they clasped my knees. In fact, my whole body was trembling. Mentally I was at war with myself. I knew my reaction was unfounded, but I was powerless to stop it. I was well aware that Bradford wasn’t here, and I wasn’t in the laundry room. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pull myself out of the dark hole I had fallen in.

  Jace knelt beside me. “Blake?” he asked.

  I nodded, desperately trying to get my breath back, knowing what he was asking. I never wanted to use him as a crutch. I never wanted to come to rely on him to rescue me every time I felt the panic set in.

  Slowly I felt the feelings of peace and calm envelope me.

  “How are you feeling?” Jace asked, although I knew he didn’t really have to ask.

  I took a deep breath in. “Better, thank you.”

  The rest of my senses slowly came back, and I looked up in surprise. “What happened to the goons?” I asked.

  “Lincoln has them occupied,” Remy replied gruffly as he placed a hand on my lower back.

  “Let’s go,” Lydia stated as she looked at me with a strange expression.

  I nodded. “Let’s go,” I agreed.

  We began running once more, and the moment we exited the training arena’s doors, the lights came back on. The large black clock that was timing us flashed fifteen minutes thirty-six seconds. I frowned, I had caused our team to lose time.

  Chapter 22

  “That was really amazing and fun,” Kade stated as he picked up his chopsticks and picked up some noodles with it.

  “Thank you for letting us train with you today,” Micah added.

  We decided to go out to a local Hibachi restaurant for dinner tonight. The children were restless, and we still hadn’t treated them for their excellent grades last semester. We asked them what they wanted to do, and they asked to go out to eat.

  All of our plans to leave base this weekend were dashed away. As predicted, there were too many things that needed to be done on the compound, and they couldn’t in good conscience give us a pass. We would have to plan another weekend with the kids soon.

  “Honestly, after your performance today, I think if…” Will said, looking at us hesitantly. “If It’s alright by your guardians, I think you guys are ready for training with the adults.”

  Kade and Micah looked at us hopefully. I looked over at the guys.

  I knew we had told the boys that they could start training with us. I hadn’t realized until today that Will had decided to utilize them in our exercise, not until I saw Micah during our run. Kade was used on his team and was able to successfully stop two teams from rescuing their hostages.

  They had done little but talk about the fun they had today. That was honestly what frightened me with allowing them to participate. I fully supported them learning how to utilize their gifts to their full potentials. What I worried about, however, was if they were going to be allowed to go on missions as intense as some of the ones I had been on. It was no longer fun and games, then; people could lose their lives.

  I didn’t want them to experience that. I tried to protect them for as long as possible. Life had already been tough enough on them, and I wanted them to enjoy what was left of their childhoods. I didn’t want them to be caught up in this war.

  “It’s probably something you should have asked them away from the kids,” Megan teased Pops.

  Well…? I asked the guys silently. I tried to keep my inner voice neutral so they couldn’t hear my misgivings.

  I got varying answers of agreeance.

  “If we allow you to do this, you’re going to have to be self-motivated to get your school work done,” I commented slowly. “Just because Jaxson, Jemmy, and I are finished with our school day doesn’t mean our work is done. We have to find the time to complete our assignments.”

  I was really directing the statement towards Micah, because he was still struggling to get caught up from all the years he hadn’t been in school. He was making fantastic pr
ogress, but he was still behind by a year or so. Kade, however, was the exact opposite and was ahead of all his peers back at school.

  “I promise I will stay on top of my school work,” Micah said fervently.

  “If you don’t, you’ll be put right back into the other learning center,” Remy said sternly.

  “And if you feel like you’re going to fall behind or need help with your school work, you can ask me for help at any time,” Drake stated before he took a sip of his green tea.

  “When can we start?” Kade asked. He was trying to play it cool, but I could see the excitement in his eyes.

  Both of them were at a weird age. They weren’t quite old enough to be considered adults, but they shouldn’t be treated like children either. Kade had really enjoyed going with us to get Miranda. I don’t know if he did because he got to spend more intimate time with our small group, or if he just liked being treated more like an adult.

  “Monday,” Will informed them.

  They looked at each other and smiled. For two brothers that looked nothing alike, they had grown really close to one another. I was glad that they got along so well.

  “When can we train?” Alex finally said in a discontented tone.

  “You’ve already been training,” Jaxson mollified. “Until you can fit our gear, you can’t train with us yet, buddy.”

  “What if we were to run the same operation we did today, but without the guns?” Gavin suggested at Alex’s crestfallen look. “We’ll see if Terrance, Marcel, Dawn, Sam, and Ford will be willing to help us out after our duty day is over or during the weekend.”

  Alex looked at Pops hopefully.

  Will smiled at him and nodded. “I don’t see the issue in it, and if they don’t want to give up an evening or weekend doing it, it doesn’t have to be on that type of scale. The twelve of you could suffice."

  “What you did today was like hide and go seek. You’re going to lose,” Ella commented pragmatically. “He cheats.”

  “It’s not cheating if you don’t tell me not to use my gift,” Alex said with an overdramatic eyeroll.

  “We shouldn’t have to tell you,” Ella sighed heavily.

  “Kade and I choose Alex for our team,” Micah said with a sly smile.