by Leigh, Jena
“You can read minds?”
Alex conducted a quick inventory of the thoughts she’d had since arriving.
Oh, geez. Declan’s abs. Nathaniel’s god-like good looks. She’d heard all that?
Alex turned ten shades of red at the realization.
Maybe the whole thing was just some sort of parlor trick. Maybe Kenzie had just made a lucky guess. Any explanation would be preferable to the alternative right about now.
“Not to worry, chica.” Kenzie winked at her. “Your secrets are safe with me. And I promise—no more going into your head without your permission. If you want, I can even teach you how to block people like me from getting in.”
“Hey, Nate!” Declan’s voice called from the cabin’s front entryway. “Heads up!”
A bottle of Gatorade spiraled through the air, heading straight for the back of Nathaniel’s head. He turned, but not quickly enough. There was no way he’d be able to get his arms up to catch it in time.
Alex’s eyes widened in surprise.
The bottle of red liquid had come to a complete standstill and now hung suspended, frozen in place, a few short inches from Nathaniel’s nose.
He plucked it from the air a moment later.
“For Alex,” said Declan. “Grayson thought she could use it.”
Alex blinked. Had she really just seen that? Or were her eyes playing tricks on her?
Nate offered her the bottle.
First Declan zaps her out of a burning bookstore and then Kenzie potentially reads her mind… Now Gatorade bottles were defying gravity and Newton’s first law of motion?
Gingerly, she accepted the beverage.
“You’re wondering what just happened.” Nathaniel’s smile was almost apologetic.
“Did you just…?” Alex couldn’t find the words to finish her question. What, exactly, had he done?
“Suppose I ought to explain.” He folded his arms across his chest. “You see, everyone here can do something kind of… special. Kenzie reads minds, Declan teleports, Grayson and Brian can see glimpses of the future—”
A gentle tug pulled the unopened Gatorade bottle from her hands and thrust it back into the air. It hung there for a moment before falling slowly back down to her.
“And I’m telekinetic,” he finished. “I can move objects with my mind.”
She stared at him dumbly, wondering if her day could possibly get any weirder.
“Oh,” said Alex. She had no idea what to say. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed it. “Okay, then.”
Kenzie laughed. “Come on, Nate. Let’s get her inside before the cold air and all our weirdness sends her into shock.”
Alex allowed them to lead her through the main entryway and into the cozy warmth of the cabin. They stepped into a spacious living area, lined with hardwood floors, softly lit and filled with wrought-iron furniture. Comfortable-looking leather couches faced a large stone fireplace at the center of the room and a kitchen table sat off to one side. Against the left side of the far wall, an oval pass-through window offered a glimpse into the kitchen.
Her gaze traveled upwards.
A cathedral ceiling towered high above, one massive wrought-iron chandelier hanging from its center. The second floor was open to the living room, the banister-lined hallway offering those upstairs a birds-eye view of the downstairs living area.
Despite the intimidating beauty and size of the house, it was most definitely a home.
In the dining area, she noticed a backpack sitting next to the kitchen table, textbooks and a laptop spread out on the tabletop. A jacket was slung over the back of the loveseat, a variety of tennis shoes and boots were sitting next to the front door beneath the coat rack, pictures of the four kids and Grayson sat on the end-tables, and there was a fire roaring in the fireplace.
Fire.
Alex shivered despite the warmth, unable to look away from the crackling flames. Had she really almost died in that bookstore?
It all seemed so impossible. The way the fire had followed her down the aisles as though it had come to life and was determined to envelop her. The way the man had controlled it so completely, the flame not even burning his palm as it hovered less than an inch above his skin. The way Declan had transported them from the bookstore to the lake in a blinding flash of light.
A creaking sound interrupted her thoughts and she tore her gaze from the hearth.
Grayson was coming down the staircase.
From the corner of her eye, Alex could see Declan and Brian standing in the kitchen.
“Kenzie, would you mind finding some clothes for Alex to borrow? And show her to one of the spare rooms upstairs. Prove to her we’re not completely lacking in our hospitality when it comes to greeting guests.” Grayson sent Declan a pointed look through the pass-through window.
Declan only smiled.
Kenzie took the now soaked peacoat from her shoulders and hung it on the coat rack. “Allons-y!” she said, making for the stairs. “Next stop: dry clothes and a hot shower.”
Alex had a million questions still to ask about what had happened at the bookstore, about where she was and who they were and about how she was going to get home—but right now, the offer of a warm shower and dry clothes was too enticing to ignore.
The aching cold Alex had been experiencing since their splashdown in the lake had left her feeling weak and increasingly disoriented, her thoughts becoming harder and harder to organize. A chill had settled over her and she was starting to think that even the heat being produced by the large fire wouldn’t be enough to warm her.
That worry she’d had earlier about suffering from hypothermia now seemed very real. She needed to get out of these wet clothes.
Shower first.
Then she wanted some answers.
— 6 —
The bathroom had become a sauna.
Alex sat on the tiled floor, wrapped in a terry-cloth robe she’d found hanging on the back of the door, wondering what she should do next and trying hard to feel warm again.
She was currently weighing the pros and cons of making a break for it.
Sure, Grayson and his family seemed nice enough… But who were they, really? And could she trust them?
A simple look around earlier had made it clear that she was far—unbelievably far—from home. They didn’t make mountains like these in the Sunshine State.
So how was she going to get back home again, without Declan’s help?
She could sneak out and pray that the others, Kenzie especially, failed to notice…
But then what?
The cabin was surrounded on all sides by an ocean of trees—a forest so vast she hadn’t been able to see to the end of it. If she chose the wrong direction, she could end up hiking for days before she found help.
Alex frowned.
They’d given her no reason not to trust them. If anything, Grayson and his family seemed like they genuinely wanted to help. And she liked them. Especially Kenzie and Nathaniel.
As for Declan… Well, he might be an incorrigible jerk, but he had saved her life. That should count for something, right?
Her mind made up, Alex stepped out of the en-suite bathroom and back into the sizable guest room. Grayson had promised her answers, but she wasn’t going to learn anything by hiding out in there.
Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Laid out on the bed were a pair of jeans, a black camisole, a hairbrush and a zip-up hoodie.
Dry clothes!
As she slipped into them she made a mental note to thank Kenzie… Then wondered if the other girl hadn’t just heard her, anyway.
Moving to exit the room, Alex had made it halfway to the door before something caught her eye—ten feet away, standing upright in its charger atop one of the mahogany dressers, was a cordless phone.
By her count she was almost an hour late for meeting Cassie back at the house. Knowing her overprotective aunt the way she did, the odds were good that half the town had already t
aken to the streets in search of her. And if they knew about the fire in the bookstore…
On impulse Alex crossed to the phone, plucked it from the charger, and dialed.
Her aunt answered on the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Aunt Cil? It’s me.”
“Alexandra! Thank goodness! Where are you, honey?”
Alex hesitated.
She suddenly had no idea what to tell her.
“I’m… I’m not exactly sure,” said Alex. “Before I tell you what happened, you need to promise me that you’re not going to freak.”
“Freak? Why would I freak, Lee-Lee? What’s happened?”
Alex grimaced. “I went to Ballard’s like you asked.”
“I am aware of that, Lee-Lee.” Cil’s patience had obviously worn thin. “Cassie told me as much.”
“Well, I was at the bookstore,” said Alex, deciding in that moment to give her aunt the Cliff’s Notes version of the story, “and this crazy Scottish guy started torching the place while I was in it—”
“What?”
Whoops. Definitely could have worded that better.
“But it’s okay!” Alex said hurriedly. “This other guy sort of… well he showed up, out of nowhere, and he managed to get me out of the building before I was hurt.”
“Where are you now, Lee-Lee? Why didn’t you just come back to the house? Oh, god. You’re in the hospital, aren’t you?”
Alex could hear her aunt snatching up a set of keys on the other end of the line.
“No, no! Imnotatthehospital,” she said in a rush. “I’m fine!”
This was definitely not going the way she’d hoped.
“Then where are you? Why haven’t you come home?”
Alex let out a slow breath. How do you go about telling someone that you’ve pulled off the ultimate disappearing act and teleported to the middle of nowhere, with the help of some mysterious stranger… and not sound like a prime candidate for the psych ward?
Yeah.
Alex didn’t know either.
“See, that’s the thing. This guy… He can sort of disappear into thin air and reappear somewhere else.” Alex winced.
Her aunt was going to think she was nuts.
“He took us someplace safe,” she finished lamely.
Alex waited for her aunt to say something. When no reply came she kept going, the words tumbling out.
“I know it sounds crazy, but he sort of… zapped me here.” She glanced around the elegantly decorated spare bedroom. Wherever here was. “I’m pretty sure I’m a long way from home right about now.”
“Where are you?” Her aunt’s voice had turned hollow.
“Some cabin.” Alex wandered to the windowsill. “We’re in the mountains. Near a lake. I’m still not sure where, exactly.”
The line went dead.
“Aunt Cil?”
Silence.
Alex hung up the phone, turned it back on, and redialed. Halfway through the second ring the sound of raised voices carried up the stairs. Curious, Alex left her place at the window and walked out into the hallway. She came to a stop at the banister and stared wide-eyed at the scene unfolding downstairs.
The phone clattered to the hardwood floor, forgotten.
“What were you thinking bringing her here, Jonathan? Of all the idiotic, irresponsible—”
“And hello to you, too, Cecilia,” Grayson sounded tired. “Long time.”
“Aunt Cil?”
Declan and Nathaniel wandered into the living area from the kitchen. Alex barely noticed. Her eyes were glued to the frazzled form of her aunt standing in the room below.
Alex gripped the banister railing for support. “How did you…?”
Her aunt finally looked up. “Alex!” she cried.
Alex watched in disbelief as Cil took one step forward and disappeared in a ripple of violet light. A split-second later she had reappeared on the landing beside her.
Cil pulled her into a fierce hug before Alex could react.
“Oh, Lee-Lee!” Her aunt pushed her back to arms length, looking her up and down. “Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you?”
Alex’s head was spinning. “I… You… How did you do that?”
She heard Declan address Grayson downstairs. “You never told me she had Variants in her family tree. Or that she was that Alexandra.”
Declan sounded angry. But why? Which Alexandra was she supposed to be, exactly? And what was a variant?
“Need-to-know,” Grayson replied. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, Lee-Lee,” her aunt said again. She was staring at Alex, a mix of grief and fear in her expression. “You weren’t supposed to find out. Not like this.”
Cil reached for her arm, but Alex shrank back, just out of her reach.
“Find out what, Aunt Cil?” Alex continued backing away from her aunt, eventually running out of room and bumping into the hallway wall. “What’s going on? Since when can you do… that? How do you know these people?”
Grayson was making his way up the stairs.
Cil looked helplessly from her niece to the dark-haired man. Alex thought she could see tears welling up in her aunt’s eyes.
“There are some things you need to know, Lee-Lee. Things I was hoping I’d never have to tell you.”
“What are you talking about?”
Her aunt sighed. “I thought you’d be safe so long as I stayed out of it and you stayed ignorant to the truth… But I guess that’s no longer an option.” The look she sent Grayson was icy. “Our family’s a little… different. Your mom and I, we were both born with the ability to teleport—to move instantaneously from one place to another.”
Alex nodded slowly, trying to turn off the cynical voice of reason that was loudly protesting this turn of events in the back of her thoughts. This morning, such a declaration from her beloved aunt would have had Alex calling Dr. Moran—the psychiatrist Alex had been forced to visit for years after the death of her parents—and scheduling Aunt Cil for the next available appointment.
But now… She’d just seen the laws of physics shattered for the fourth time in a single evening.
The thing was, this time she couldn’t write it off as some stranger with a parlor trick. This was family. This was her family.
And if her mom and her aunt were different, then what did that make Alex?
Declan was standing by the front entryway downstairs watching them, his hazel eyes intent.
Nathaniel walked up beside Declan and placed a hand on his shoulder. He nodded toward the door.
Declan’s gaze didn’t waver.
Nathaniel glanced upwards. Catching her eye, he sent her a brief, sympathetic smile before exiting. A few long, silent moments passed before Declan finally looked away and followed him outside.
Alex closed her eyes and tried to focus on what her aunt was telling her.
“Teleport,” said Alex. “Like Declan. That’s how I got here, right? Teleportation?”
“Yes, sweetie. Like Declan,” she said slowly. “Declan and Mackenzie’s parents, Nathaniel’s mother, your parents… They all worked together when you four were kids.”
“Parents?” she asked. “Plural? As in, my Dad, too?”
“Your Dad, too. He was telekinetic. He could move objects with his thoughts.”
Like Nathaniel.
“Wait. If Nathaniel and Declan can do the same things as my parents, does that mean… Are we related somehow?”
Cil shook her head. “No. Teleportation and telekinesis are actually two of the more common abilities that Variants possess. And for the type of work your parents were doing… Well, those skills were very useful.”
Alex swallowed the information, feeling numb. Eventually her thoughts circled back to the second part of what her aunt had said. The bit about all of their parents having worked together.
“What sort of work did they do?”
Cil pursed her lips and looked once more to Grayson. He cleared his throat.
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br /> “Twenty-two years ago, I’d just emigrated from England and was working for the NSA.” He looked uncomfortable. “The United States government had been aware of people like myself, your parents and your aunt… of individuals with unusual talents, for quite some time. They referred to us as Variants—human beings whose DNA possessed slight variations from a normal human’s genetic code. Variations that allow us to do incredible things.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “On account of my history with the NSA and my precognitive abilities, I was selected to head a newly formed bureau—one that would employ Variants in an attempt to aid the NSA, and other government organizations, with sensitive missions where our skills might prove… useful.
“The Agency started off small. Just a handful of us, really. Some paper-pushers to handle the bureaucratic affairs in the office and a single unit to work in the field, which I commanded. There were ten Variants on our team; four women and six men. We worked together for eight years. The unit was a great success. We were a bit like family.”
Grayson paused, his jaw clenching. “They were my family,” he said quietly. “Your parents were two of my very best friends.”
Alex watched the older man pull himself back from the abyss he’d been peering into.
“One day, a powerful Variant named Masterson got it in his head that…” He appeared to be choosing his words carefully. “Well, let’s just say he came after one of our own. The team tried to stop him.”
Grayson paused again.
Realization dawned.
“My parents didn’t die in a car crash,” Alex whispered, “did they?”
It was more a statement than a question.
Cil blanched. Alex felt her knees give way beneath her and she sank slowly down the wall. Her borrowed sweater snagged on the cotton t-shirt underneath and hitched it up around her waist. She tugged it back down.
“All these years…” she heard herself say.
Alex had only been a kid when her parents had died.
Just a little girl.
These days she was hard-pressed to remember a time before she had gone to live with her aunt. A time before the “accident.”