The Mind Readers, Book 1

by Lori Brighton

  Chapter 14

  “Cameron, wake up.”

  I snuggled further down into my warm, soft bed, thinking maybe I was dreaming. I could have sworn I’d just fallen asleep. No way it was already morning. Besides, I didn’t want to wake up. I wanted to sleep. Sleep was good. Very good.

  Vaguely I was aware of the sound of wind battering the windows, rain tapping at the glass. It was bitterly cold outside. A storm had arrived. Yes, it was definitely a good idea to stay in my warm bed.

  “Cameron.” Someone gently pushed at my shoulders.

  Suddenly fully awake, I bolted upright. “What’s happened?” My voice was mumbled, sleepy.

  Aaron stood next to my bed, the lamplight on the bedside table highlighting his tense features. He wore a sweatshirt and jeans, not his normal dress clothes, and his hair was all messed up. I’d never see him so out of sorts.

  “What is it?” I asked, sudden panic gnawing at my gut. What had happened? Why wasn’t Lewis here? My thoughts were a jumbled mess of feelings I couldn’t control.

  “Shhh, Lewis is fine. Come with me. I need your help.”

  I pushed my comforter away, my body shaking from the sudden dive into the conscious world. I was aware, even in my whacked-out state that once again Aaron had read my mind when I’d asked him not to. But I didn’t have time to dwell on that, I was too worried about what the heck was going on. Aaron handed me a hoody and I pulled it over my head, cuddling into its warmth.

  “I don’t understand.” I glanced at the windows. No light came through the cracks between the curtains, so it wasn’t morning. I’d gone to bed almost immediately after Lewis and I had returned home. The house was still silent, which meant everyone slept. I turned and glanced at the clock. 3 a.m.

  “Ugh,” I said, brushing my hair from my face.

  Aaron didn’t seem to notice, merely handed me my tennis shoes. I took them reluctantly. “Are we going outside?”

  “No.” He started toward the door. “Hurry.”

  I slipped my feet into my shoes and followed him into the hall. “Aaron, what’s going on?”

  “Shhh, everyone’s sleeping. Block your thoughts. If the others hear your thoughts, you might as well be yelling out loud. They’re vulnerable when they sleep. It will wake them.”

  I tried to meditate as he led me down the steps, but worry and exhaustion made it difficult. I imagined that steel room, keeping my thoughts contained.

  “Good,” I was vaguely aware of his voice as my walls went up.

  We’d made it to the first floor and were headed down a back hall. Too busy concentrating on my mental steel room, I was barely aware of where he led me. At the back of the house, Aaron pushed open a door that led to a long flight of stairs. Only a dull light highlighted our descent into the dungeon.

  Surprised, I paused. “What’s going on?”

  “No time to explain, come on. I need your help.” He took my hand, his grip warm and strong, and pulled me down the steps. It was your typical basement with stone walls, stone floor, empty of boxes, dreary and creepy looking. What was surprising was the very fact that he had a basement on an island, as usually the water table was too high for even a crawl space. Only one light was on and I couldn’t see the entire area to know how far the basement ran underneath the house.

  To say I was nervous would be an understatement. We paused at a steel door that ironically reminded me of the steel walls in my mind. I reinforced those mental walls, pulling my thoughts inward, keeping them close as Aaron punched in a code on the panel next to the door. I made out a one and a three on the keypad before he shifted, blocking my view.

  The door slid open to reveal a dingy, stone room. Caroline stood there, trembling in her long, white nightgown. She looked so small, so lost. Her pale face turned toward me, those eyes wide, empty, almost.

  “Caroline?” I started toward her, Aaron moved in front of me, blocking my entrance.

  “Caroline, Sweetheart, go to bed. You’ve done what you can.”

  The child moved around him. She slid me a glance, something…something in her eyes… a silent message I wasn’t getting.

  “Why was she here?” I demanded the moment she left the room.

  “She was helping. She’s fine, there’s nothing to worry about. Caroline is quite powerful.”

  But it didn’t seem right, something wasn’t right. A child here… in this dingy cell. No windows and only one single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. But it was the man sitting on a chair in the middle of the small space that drew my immediate attention. No, he wasn’t just sitting; he was tied to that chair. His arms were pulled tightly back behind him, his biceps bulging underneath his white dress shirt. His wrists tied to the spindles on the back, while his ankles were tied with white ropes to the legs of the chair.

  Any lingering sleep disappeared; my mind was no longer muddy. Shocked, I froze while Aaron went inside, strolling toward Lewis. Yes, Lewis was there, standing casually to the side like they hung out in stone cells together often.

  “What the hell’s going on?” I demanded, but he didn’t bother to answer.

  Was I dreaming? It was like some bad horror movie. With quick assessment, I took in what I could of the situation. A cot was placed against the far wall, no sheet or blanket. Obviously he was a prisoner of some sort. Was he S.P.I.? As if sensing my question, he slowly lifted his head. A gag bit into his mouth, the white material contrasting against his tanned skin. His gray eyes met mine, mutinous gray eyes that pierced my skin, seared my soul. He hated me with a hatred that was almost tangible.

  I sucked in a sharp breath. Although he was tied and unable to move, it didn’t make me feel any better. His skin had an unhealthy ash color to it and his hair was matted with sweat and dirt. But even in his animalistic state, I could see he was gorgeous. As ridiculous as it sounded, I wasn’t expecting that. Weren’t evil people supposed to be big, bully men…not freaking models?

  Twenty, twenty-one? I wasn’t sure about his age. The white button-up shirt he wore was filthy and ripped on the left sleeve, as if he’d been in a fight. His gray slacks were just as rough looking, caked with mud at the cuffs.

  “What happened? Who is he?” I demanded, my voice harsh with emotion.

  “This,” Aaron nodded toward the man, “Is part of the group who wants us dead.”

  This? As if he wasn’t a real person? I looked at him again. He seemed so young, so harmless. So human. Did he really work for S.P.I.?

  “This can’t be legal,” I whispered the obvious.

  The man narrowed his eyes into a glare, as if agreeing with me. I had to resist the urge to step back, intimidated by his stare. He was broader in the shoulders than Lewis, taller than Lewis, angrier than Lewis and Aaron put together. I didn’t blame him. I didn’t like this situation. It didn’t feel right.

  “Aaron,” I whispered.

  Aaron waved me over and as I stepped inside the small room, he shut the door behind me so that I was trapped as well. “We caught him lurking around the property.”

  The man mumbled something indecipherable through his gag, but I could imagine it wasn’t pleasant introductions.

  “He works for S.P.I., the very people who killed your father and Lewis’s parents.”

  I glanced at Lewis. He was merely standing there, arms crossed over his chest, glaring down at the man. He didn’t bother to glance my way. No, he was focused on the S.P.I. agent, like a dog wanting to go after a squirrel. I didn’t know or understand this angry Lewis. The Lewis I’d been introduced to on our date was back.

  “We need to find out what he knows,” Aaron explained.

  I brushed aside Aaron’s comment. At the moment it didn’t seem important. No, what was more important was that we had someone illegally restrained in the basement. “How long has he been here?” I should have felt angry toward the man who worked for S.P.I., the people responsible for my father’s death. But all I felt was sick.

  “A week.”<
br />
  Startled, I was quiet for a moment, mulling over the reality of what they’d done. A week? For a week they’d kept this man tied up, alone in this cell? Smudges marked the area under his steel eyes. The shadow of a beard was beginning to form along his jaw line. A week with no sunlight, apparently no bath. My horror increased. “Why?”

  “What would you have us do?” Lewis snapped, finally looking at me. The anger in his gaze was shocking. “We can’t let him go. He knows who we are, where we are. We’re tired of running, Cam. Tired of hiding. We shouldn’t have to.”

  I looked at the agent again; he was staring daggers as if he blamed me for this entire incident. Why me? I hadn’t tied him up. I hadn’t even known he was here.

  Aaron rested his hand on my shoulder, the touch jarring. “We can’t just let him go.”

  “What does that mean? What will you do with him?” I demanded.

  “We have no idea what he knows, that’s why we need your help,” Aaron said, ignoring my question.

  “How,” I asked, not sure I really wanted to know.

  Aaron cupped my shoulders, stepping in front of me and blocking the man from view. “We need to pull out his thoughts, his memories.”

  Pull out someone’s thoughts? It sounded invasive, wrong. It was one thing to read someone’s thoughts that were flowing freely into the universe, but to drag them out? “Okay, so why haven’t you?”

  Aaron released his hold and stepped back. With a sigh, he rubbed his brow. He looked tired, worried. “S.P.I. places a chip in their officer’s heads. A chip that blocks their thoughts from being read by people like us.”

  “And you want me to remove the chip?” I asked, my voice shrill. Well really, there was a limit to what I would do and I drew the line at surgery.

  “No, of course not.” Aaron moved around the room, pacing as he rubbed the back of his neck. “If we concentrate hard enough, we can override the chip and pull the info from his mind, but Lewis and I aren’t strong enough alone.”

  Oh God, I didn’t need to be a genius to know where this was going. “You need my help.”

  He nodded.

  My stomach twisted in protest. “But I don’t know how.”

  “You do. We’ve taught you.”

  I swallowed hard and dared to glance at the man. He was still glaring at me and his gaze sent a shiver of unease over my skin. Those eyes…those eyes promised retribution if he ever managed to free himself. He could easily kill me with his hands. My attention slipped to the ties binding him to the chair, making sure he was secure.

  They wanted me to help. What choice did I have? I owed Lewis and Aaron. Besides, this man was responsible for my father’s death. This man would kill me if he could. So why did I feel sick at the thought of invading his mind?

  Aaron sighed, raking his hands through his hair. “I suppose we could try to use Caroline again.”

  “No!” She’d had enough, didn’t they notice how tired she’d looked? “I’ll do it.”

  Aaron smiled and moved toward the man, edging around him, his gaze unwavering like an animal of prey. Lewis did the same, while I was forced to stay in front. We formed a sort of triangle, three points and the agent was at the center. With my legs trembling, I stood my ground, reminding myself that he was responsible for my father’s death. For some reason it didn’t make me feel any better. I was far enough away that if he was able to reach out, he wouldn’t touch me, but I swear I could feel his hot breath on my face.

  He was hunched slightly, like an animal in a cage, his gray eyes piercing me, not wavering, not looking at Lewis or Aaron. He knew I was the weakest link. Heat crawled slowly, torturously, up my neck. He jerked forward. I jumped back. But his bindings held him tight and he merely scooted an inch, his chair scraping against the stone floor.

  “Cam, you’re all right, he can’t escape,” Aaron insisted.

  Right. Tell that to my heart, which was currently threatening to make a mad leap from my chest and hightail it out of there. I was the one standing directly in front of him and I was the one he seemed intent on coming after. I stepped forward, back to my spot, determined not to flinch under his hard stare. He wasn’t much older than me, maybe three years. How had he gotten involved with S.P.I.?

  Damn it all, as much as I wanted to hate him, I couldn’t. Rationally, I knew he had nothing to do with my father’s death; he was too young. But was Lewis right? Would he kill me if he had the chance?

  “All right, Cameron,” Aaron said. “I want you to relax. Deep breaths in, out, close your eyes. You know the drill.”

  Being a coward, I was glad to close my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look the agent in his eerie steel colored gaze. I tried to relax, I pictured my ocean, breathed in and out, but it was difficult, to say the least. I wasn’t sure how many minutes had passed, but I suddenly found myself sitting on my beach, everyone forgotten. Only peace and contentment surrounded me.

  You’re going to concentrate on the man in front of you, Aaron said, his voice invasive. Slowly open your eyes, Cameron.

  I didn’t want to, but I did. I opened my eyes, but I no longer saw his glare. I only saw that steel gray. A pool of melted metal that I sank into. As I fell, I felt like I was falling through the very universe. Brilliant white stars flashing past me on a cool breeze. I hit something hard, and stopped, suspended between the dark reality of my subconscious.

  “You feel it,” I vaguely heard Aaron say. “That’s the chip that’s keeping you out. You have to push against that blockade, Cameron.”

  I focused more intensely, I couldn’t let them down. Aaron and Lewis were counting on me. They’d taken me in, they’d taught me when no one else would.

  I didn’t question his decision, but reached out and pushed against that wall. It was like I was working on auto pilot; focused only on success. I concentrated as they’d taught me, and a small sense of release whispered through my mind, a slight budge of the wall giving way. Thrilled, I pushed harder. Sweat broke out on my trembling body, but I didn’t relent. It didn’t take much before the dam burst. I felt as if a river of color was suddenly flooding around me…memories that burst into full bloom.

  People swept through my mind in a whirlwind of emotion; laughing, arguing, talking, hugging. I tried to grasp onto them, but they were gone before I had a chance. Christmas trees, presents, birthday cakes, a mother and father beaming down at me. I saw teachers and then college professors, I saw grades, sports…. Then suddenly it switched to men in suits coming to my room, talking about recruiting me…

  Everything went so fast I could barely hold onto a single thought. I felt like I was spinning in space, attempting to grasp onto anything that might help. But it was all too quick, too confusing. And then I was looking at a girl…a girl with dark hair and a wide smile and my heart expanded. The girl he loved, I realized.

  I’m Maddox, a voice inside my head explained.

  Nora, the girl said softly and then in a flash she was gone.

  More memories. Nora dancing…Nora slipping her hands through my hair…or Maddox’s hair. So many memories…so confusing…And then I heard it…a scream…as if someone was in pain. The sound jerked me from his mind. The memories were gone and I floated in blackness. Suspended for a brief moment in the silence of the universe, those white stars pulsing around me. I couldn’t move, couldn’t see or feel anything. But I wasn’t alone…no, there was a small white light in the distance.

  There it was again. A scream of pain.

  I dove toward the conscious world, that small beam of light that I knew would send me back into reality. Within moments I slammed into my body. Freezing cold, like I’d been thrown into ice water. Gasping for air. I stumbled back, falling against a warm body. The room spun, the walls wavering in and out of focus. Aaron, frowning with concern, stared down at me, yet there was something else in his eyes…excitement?

  “What happened?” I demanded.

  Pushing away from Aaron, I focused on Maddox. The man wa
sn’t moving, slouched forward so I couldn’t see his face.

  “Nothing, everything.” Aaron grasped my shoulders and spun me around to face him. Dizzy, I wavered, his beaming face going out of focus for a moment. “Did you get that?” His gaze jumped to Lewis. “The information? My God, with her ability we can break in anywhere.”

  But Lewis was frowning. “They’re coming.”

  I was barely aware of what they said, barely cared. I felt dizzy, off balance. My stomach was twisting and turning. I glanced over my shoulder. Maddox still hadn’t moved. Why wasn’t he glaring at me? Why wasn’t he trying to curse me out?

  “Yes, but we can be ready for them,” Aaron was saying.

  Unconcerned with my safety, I stepped closer to Maddox and knelt to get a look at his face. For some reason, I needed to see his face. His eyes were closed, his forehead damp and pale. I hesitated a moment, then reached out, nudging him in the shoulder. He didn’t move. My heart jumped into my throat. Cupping the sides of his face, rough with whiskers, I lifted his head. Blood trailed from the corner of his mouth. I dropped my hold and jumped back.

  “Oh my God.”

  “What?” Aaron was at my side, his arm around my shoulders.

  “He’s…he’s dead!”

  “No. Of course not.” Still, if Aaron wasn’t concerned why did he leave me and feel the man’s neck for a pulse? “He’s fine.”

  Fine? He wasn’t fine! Horrified, I stared up at Aaron. He was way too blasé about the fact that Maddox was totally not fine. I threw my hands in the air, unable to stand still. “He’s bleeding! From the mouth!”

  “It happens, when you break through the chip.”

  “The scream was his!” I clasped my hands over my mouth, trembling with shock, fear, worry…a jumble of emotions. I’d heard him screaming with pain…a pain I’d caused. Why was no one else upset about this? “No.”

  My stomach churned, acid rising to my throat. I was going to be sick, vomit all over the floor, but I didn’t care. I shook my head and backed up a step. I had to get out of there; I swear I could smell his blood. My lungs shrunk, I couldn’t breathe. “I hurt him.”

  Aaron stepped closer to me, his face full of concern. Concern for me when he should have been worried about Maddox. “Cameron, you have to understand, it’s either us or them. I know you feel bad, but do you want to give your life for his?”

  I looked at Maddox, so large, yet at the moment so vulnerable. Would he recover? Even though he was my enemy, I prayed he would.

  “He’s with S.P.I.,” Lewis said. “The same branch that’s responsible for killing your father.” He slammed his hand against his chest. He was angry with me and even though I shouldn’t have cared, I did. “My parents.”

  But he knew as well as I did that Maddox had nothing to do with the death of our parents. “So I have to do this in order to stay here? I have to hurt people?”

  Will they throw me out if I don’t?

  “Of course you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Aaron started toward me. “We’d never throw you out, Cameron.”

  Damn it! I’d forgotten to close my mind. I didn’t want them reading my thoughts, I already felt too vulnerable. I didn’t want to hurt people. I didn’t want to disappoint Aaron and Lewis. So I did the only thing I could. I pulled open the door and raced up the stairs, leaving them to deal with the mess.