Our gift is strong. We induce madness. You crave it already. We could feel that girl’s sanity at our fingertips. We were almost there and you chickened out.
“Stop!” He leapt to his feet, his fists clenched as if to fight the half of himself he was now at war with. “I will never give in to this. I will not be a monster.” He caught his reflection in the window and wondered if he wasn’t the one losing his mind.
~~~
CHAPTER
FIVE
Quinn: Summer
Atlanta, Georgia
“Did you even know what you’d done?” Livia’s mocking tone almost hid the fact that she was impressed with what Quinn had been capable of such a short time after his Awakening.
“Not really.” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat back in the white room.
“You are a talented young man.” Livia released his hands.
Quinn hung his head in exhaustion. She’d made him relive every moment of the worst mistake of his life. Like he didn’t already do that every single day. She made him listen to that voice again. The voice he’d conquered years ago.
“You have so much potential, Quinn. But you mistakenly believe your gifts make you a monster. You have an ability to induce madness. Can you not see how much of an asset that makes you in a place like this? You could go far if you allowed yourself to embrace your power for what it is. Your gifts don’t define you. It’s what you do with them that makes you who you are.”
“That’s rich coming from you.” He’d heard those same words from his family for years, but from her, it didn’t make any sense.
“It’s my job to teach you not to fear this gift, but to use it as it was meant to be used. Don’t hide it. Don’t suppress it. That’s weak. And you are not weak, Quinn.”
“I will never use that gift against anyone. For any reason. Ever. Do what you will with me, but you will never defeat me on this.”
“You’re focusing on the gift as a weapon because that is how it manifested. Have you never thought about what positive things you might be able to do with it if you fully understood your gift? How you might be able to help those with mental illness?”
“No. It would mean unleashing this gift I’ve fought to control. I won’t do that.”
“Your gift could give you a unique understanding of the human psyche, but you have to master it, not suppress it. Suppressing it will keep the gift from developing.”
“It will only develop into something worse.” Quinn dug his heels in. He didn’t want to hope that his gift could become something good. He’d longed for a gift like Aidan’s or Sasha’s. Something truly remarkable. But he seemed to only manifest gifts that fed his addiction and fueled the darkness inside him.
“Maybe I should just take it from you permanently since you clearly don’t want it.”
“It is my burden to bear, and I will not see it in the hands of an evil woman with zero moral compass.”
“So naive. And so easy to read. Your moral compass is black and white. You haven’t lived long enough to see the gray areas yet. But you will.” She was back to looking at him like he was a science experiment. Something to deconstruct and reassemble to her liking. “Your tortured mind speaks volumes. I know exactly what to do with you now. You’re the heroic type that will withstand anything we do to you. Pain won’t work with you. Physical pain, psychological, emotional, you’ll withstand it all because you think you deserve it. No, you need a different kind of coaxing.”
Livia fixed him with her mesmerizing gaze, like a snake hypnotizing its prey. She clutched his forearms, her nails digging into his skin before he even realized she’d moved. She searched his mind, looking for his other abilities. He could feel her, sifting through his body without his permission. Anything she wanted to know about his power, she could find. She didn’t need to torture it out of him.
He felt it the moment she discovered his gift for attracting metals and minerals from the earth. A harmless gift she discarded as useless. She moved on, digging deeper and deeper, looking for the thing he protected at the core of his being. The gift he never wanted her to find.
Quinn had spent every moment since that day with Eva learning how to control the power that fueled his gifts. The madness whispered to him constantly at first, enticing him to let it run rampant. The voice eventually quieted as he gained the upper hand, but it was always there, lurking just below the surface. Half the time he felt like he was losing his mind to the insanity of his own gift. His self-control was all he had.
The battle to control the power was just part of being an Immortal, but for Quinn it was a daily war against his very nature. If his family ever truly realized what kind of monster lay at the root of his power, they would be appalled. He could so easily find his home here at Soma with those like Michael and Ryan. It would take nothing more than letting nature take its course for him to become the person he was destined to be. He’d always known he couldn’t resist it indefinitely. The pull was too strong. It was only a matter of time before the addiction won and everyone knew what he was: a weak junkie.
And Livia was about to become his dealer.
“Quinn?” She released him. “How do you do it?” Livia shook her head. “How do you resist the lure of such a seductive power? You’re persuasive. You can make people—Immortals even—do your bidding with just the power of suggestion. If you were a little older, and I didn’t have control over you right now, you could just force me to let you go. You’d walk out of here without a backward glance. A free man. Manipulating everyone here to your will. You could be running Soma within a few weeks.” Her laughter filled the stark room. “But you resist it? How noble of you.”
“Go ahead. Mock me. Those who do not have such power can never understand the burden of it. It is not my right to control anyone. Even you. Just because I may have the ability to do it one day doesn’t give me license to rule the world. These kinds of gifts aren’t meant to be abused and should only be used when necessary. And only for the briefest of moments.” Quinn sat back, clamping his mouth shut. There was no use trying to convince her she was wrong.
“Go on.”
“No.”
“You worry that you won’t be able to live by the rules you were taught. That the gift will rule you.” She shook her head, impressed. “There are other rules, Quinn. Especially for those like you. You are worth your weight in diamonds. I’m not sure I even want to let anyone else have you.”
“To sell me like a pig at market, you’ll have to break me first. And that’s never going to happen.”
“We will see about that.” Livia stood and crossed to the door, gesturing for someone waiting in the hall to join them.
Quinn watched as a young girl stepped inside. Her thin arms crossed over her chest as the only protection she had against whatever Livia was about to do. She was a gangly thing. All arms and legs. As she came to stand at the center of the room, lifting her head in defiance. Quinn’s heart filled with dread. This girl had been treated badly and she couldn’t be more than thirteen.
“Stand there, Lennox.” Livia gestured to a spot right beside her chair.
“What are you doing? Are you insane? She’s just a little girl.”
With a wry grin, Livia gripped the girl’s arm tightly in one hand and dug her nails into his forearm with the other.
Quinn tried to stand as if he actually had the strength to help the girl, but a sharp tug gripped him in the gut and he fell back into his chair. He’d felt it many times before when Livia had used his cloaking gift. The first time was the night she took him from his family, shielding them with his gift as if it were her own. She’d worn him like a cheap suit that night. And now she was pulling on his power to remind him she was in control.
The surge of icy heat in his core surprised him. He hadn’t felt this much of his power in a long time. In moments, Livia had driven him to his limit, and he realized what she intended to do. She wasn’t going to hurt Lennox. She was going to make him do it, using his gift
for madness as a weapon.
Livia would shape him into the image of what she thought he should be—if he allowed it. But he could fight her. He had to.
Just do it. It’s our nature. The voice echoed in his mind. The voice he hadn’t heard in years. He’d worked so hard to choke the life out of that voice. The sound of it reverberating through his head almost brought him to his knees.
You really didn’t think you’d conquered us, did you?
Quinn put everything he had into resisting his desire to hurt the girl with his madness. But as Livia used her gift to force his hand, she soon had his power raging inside of him.
She’s so tender and young! Let’s make her scream! Just a little. Just a taste. And like the addict he was, Quinn found himself rationalizing the situation, taking one step toward giving in, and then another. He didn’t have any control here. He was exhausted and at the end of his endurance. Livia would have her way one way or another. He had every reason to just let it happen. He didn’t owe the girl anything.
Still, Quinn fought to take back the steps he’d lost. His mantra filled his mind, pushing the voice back into the darkness. Just one more minute. I can last one more minute. But he was fooling himself. He didn’t have the stamina to battle the force Livia was pressing against him. Quinn watched like a spectator as his free hand wrapped around the girl’s arm. The dam burst.
He looked away the moment Lennox screamed. Ashamed of his weakness.
“You will pay attention, Quinn,” Livia insisted, forcing him to watch as the girl’s eyes glazed at the touch of his sick ability. He felt her fear and her loneliness. Yet with that first taste, it was like the sweetest air. He wanted more. Quinn pushed the girl toward the brink of her sanity, forcing her to relive the worst moments of her life. He could see it in her eyes as she faced the reality of a world where no one wanted her.
“I’m not doing this!” He resisted Livia’s influence, but Quinn couldn’t seem to release his grip on Lennox. His gift was mesmerized by what he saw in Lennox’s eyes.
Yes! Feel it, Quinn. Feel how strong her sanity makes us. Think of what we could accomplish if you stopped fighting us.
Physically, he wanted it. He wanted the feeling to last forever. The rush of blood through his veins. The way her madness caused his senses to awaken. He was flying high, his pain a distant memory. The ecstasy the girl’s sanity gave him was like nothing he’d ever experienced. But logically, he knew he would never forgive himself if he didn’t fight this. I am not choosing to do this. This is her. Not me.
Lennox screamed and the voice inside Quinn’s head rejoiced, relishing her fear and anxiety. The more she screamed, the stronger he felt.
Quinn was more like himself than he’d been since the night Livia took him. See? We make you strong. You need us. It’s not our fault she chose an innocent. For a brief moment, he found himself agreeing with the voice. That was when he knew he had to end it immediately.
“Stop!” He slammed his fist into the table, the pain instantly pulling him from the ecstasy of Lennox’s insanity. He released his grip on the girl and she crumpled to the floor.
“Give in to me,” Livia panted. She held her grip on him, still pushing him. “Give in to me and she goes back to her room now and this all ends.”
“No.” Quinn hung his head in shame, letting out a growl of frustration. He couldn’t even look at Lennox. The tension in his body tugged at all of his injuries, splitting his back open again. His fists dripped blood onto the table and his peripheral vision went dark as the strength he’d gained from Lennox left him.
“Let’s see what we can make her do then, shall we? I’m most interested in seeing more of what that twisted mind is capable of.”
With an anguished roar, he leapt to his feet, breaking Livia’s hold on him. He was closer than ever to submitting … just to put a stop to Lennox’s suffering. But it wasn’t that easy. It went against everything he’d ever been taught. In a situation like this, Quinn was taught to fight. Period. Giving up was not an option. But in that moment, he would have done anything to end the girl’s pain. It was the tiny voice in his mind that gave him the strength to continue—and it wasn’t the voice of his insane gift.
Don’t stop. I can handle it. We can’t let her win.
He caught the young girl’s gaze. There was no way she was old enough to have experienced an Awakening. But clearly, she was telepathic … and clearly, Livia had no idea.
We defy her when we can and we suck it up and take it when we can’t. She’s not the monster she wants you to think she is. You’ll win this battle. Just hang on a minute longer and she’ll be the one to give in Let’s call her bluff. Lennox looked so sweet and innocent but there was a fiery defiance there too. A backbone of steel. She didn’t want to see him fail. Not for her.
“Sit down, Quinn,” Livia snarled. “We are not done yet.”
~~~
CHAPTER
SIX
Sasha: Summer
Agra, India
“Come. Now. We don’t have much time.” Imogen grabbed Sasha’s hand and pulled her back through the house and up to her room.
“This isn’t really happening.” Sasha couldn’t mask the tremor in her voice. She was scared out of her mind despite all her bravado back in the office. “They can’t just swoop in here and take me like this! The Senate can require the assistance of any registered Proven Immortal. But I’m not Proven. I’m not even close to mastering my power yet.”
“But you’re powerful and they want you under their control while they can still get their hands on you. This isn’t just about providing you the training they think you should have for your benefit. It’s about keeping you under their thumb. Grooming you to be their creature. I imagine there aren’t many who have the kind of ability you do and they're not going to let that slip through their hands. They don’t care how this will affect you. They don’t care that they’ve asked something of you that would make most Proven Immortals pause and question the validity of their request. They don’t care. This is simply a means to test out the merchandise for the future.” Imogen whirled around to face Sasha. “You're going to have to suck at this.” She turned down a long hallway leading to their rooms, practically dragging Sasha behind her.
“I'm seventeen! Of course I'm going to suck at this. But how am I going to get through it, Gen?” The enormity of the last hour was sinking in. Sasha didn’t have it in her to become an assassin. Yes, her gift was perfect for it, but she wasn't. And judging by her sister’s reaction, the training would be brutal.
“We’ll get through it together, Sasha. I will not leave you to do this on your own.” Imogen shoved her through her bedroom door and closed it behind them. “Strip down to your underthings. We have work to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
“What? I thought we were supposed to be packing,” Sasha stammered as she watched her sister shed her sari and head coverings.
“We’ll throw some clothes in a bag after we’re done here. We’ll have most of what we need when we get there. We have to arm ourselves now. Aide will be here in a minute so we need to hurry. Turn around.”
Sasha did as she said, hurrying to finish before her uncle arrived.
“I’ve never had need to tell you of all my gifts, little sister. Only our mother, my husband and a few others know of the gift I'm about to use.”
“What is it?” Sasha watched over her shoulder as Imogen reached for her power, her eyes simmering with rage and heat.
“It’s an extension of my shielding gift. I’m going to protect you, but this is going to be uncomfortable. I’m sorry for the pain, but you cannot scream.”
As Imogen laid her hands on Sasha’s bare shoulders, fire lanced through her body, covering every inch of her skin. She gasped but managed to keep her voice in check. Her skin bubbled and shifted. It was agony like she’d never felt before. Imogen’s fire traced patterns across her skin, mimicking the Vedic designs of her sister’s henna tattoos.
When I
mogen released her, the liquid fire reverberated, causing Gen’s body to glow red like her eyes until the smoldering heat faded and the same lines traced her arms and legs, settling into small patches of lace-like patterns.
Both women panted with the effort not to scream.
“What was that?” Sasha gazed down at the strange markings across her body. The henna tattoos her sister always wore were obviously not henna, but a physical mark of her power.
“A weave of protection only I can give you. When you are in danger, the patterns will move to shield you from any debilitating blow. We have no idea what we're walking into, Sasha. We cannot assume that they will keep their word and bring you home in six weeks. We have to be prepared to fight if it comes to that. And in the heat of the moment, if you’re gravely injured, as young as you are, it could be the difference between failure and success. Escape or capture. The patterns will also warn you of the unexpected. If you feel them growing hot, be vigilant. There is no trace of my power in the designs and no one has ever suspected they are anything more than a henna obsession.”
Sasha nodded, grateful for the added protection.
“Get dressed and make sure you cover every inch of those markings. Aide will be here shortly and we need to be ready.”
Sasha retreated to her closet, pulling on a long blue skirt and tunic, carefully draping a blue and gold sari to hide the still-glowing marks from her sister’s powerful gift.
Sasha wasn't naive enough to think she'd been given the whole story. But her family didn’t trust the Senate. That was painfully clear now.
~~~
“You girls ready?” Aide asked with a soft knock on the door.
“Come in,” Sasha said in a shaky voice, opening the door for her uncle.
“Is it done?” he asked as he stepped into the room.
Imogen nodded. “I’ve done all I can given the short time we have.”
Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3) Page 5