The Unseen Trilogy

by Stephanie Erickson

  Nodding was the only thing I could bring myself to do. The ramifications of what had unfolded weighed heavily on me. Despite the fact that I hadn’t pulled the trigger, I couldn’t help but feel responsible. I’d spent most of my life with Amanda, and although I still didn’t feel any love for her, I felt sorry for the role I’d played in her death.

  “I’m sure the police will have some questions for you.” The EMT startled me out of my inner thoughts. “We were never able to get a heartbeat. I’m sorry.” He put a hand on my shoulder, squeezed, and left.

  As he walked out, I noticed a huge crowd had gathered outside the doorway of the conference room. Police officers were keeping them back, and I eyed their vacant expressions. As I realized they were being controlled, I spotted Agusto and understood why. He was keeping them away from me so he could have me all to himself. He gave me a hard look before turning and walking away. The crowd parted for him, and I knew I was supposed to follow. My mind and heart rebelled against the idea of following him, but my feet did as they were told. People watched us as we went, but I didn’t make eye contact. I couldn’t worry about what they thought. I needed to focus on surviving whatever happened next.

  As we walked down the hall to his office, I risked sending a quick message to David.

  Amanda dead. Agusto number one. Going to his office now. Then I buried my signature as deeply as I could. I had no idea what Agusto was capable of doing, and I didn’t want to risk exposing our headquarters to literally all the Potestas. It would mean the end of us for sure, and without our protection, the people of our country would be at their mercy. As it stood, I was fairly certain this little exchange would be the end of me. There was no need for others to share my fate.

  The two guards who’d interrupted my call for help fell in on either side of Agusto as we drew closer to his office. Just a few more feet and I’d be closed into a room with five guards and him. Six-to-one odds.

  My mind reeled as I followed him into the office. I glanced around for some kind of safety rope to pull me out of the pit of quicksand I’d tumbled into, but there was nothing. Anyway, I wasn’t sure what I expected to find. I had no allies in this building. They were all a few miles away, safely within our headquarters. Well, all except for our mole, and I had no idea who that person even was.

  Once I was inside, the door closed loudly behind me. Agusto was already making his way toward his desk, so I followed, eying the guards as they took their places along the wall. I knew two of them weren’t readers, including one of the ones standing closest to Agusto.

  But before I could form a plan, Agusto spoke to me. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

  My voice was shaky as I gave him the details. “We got to talking while we were cleaning up the room after the campaign meeting. I don’t even know what set her off, but the conversation turned south. She said something about being a failure and feeling trapped…and…and then she pulled a gun out from under the table and shot herself. It all happened so fast. I called nine-one-one, but they arrived too late to help her.” I hoped that by telling him most of the truth, it would seem believable. After all, I hadn’t lied; I just hadn’t told him the whole story. But the thought of her with the gun pressed to her head set the room spinning. But instead of sitting down or steadying myself in any way, I straightened my spine and swallowed the bile in the back of my throat.

  “And that was that?” His tone was flat and hard to read, making me even more hyper-aware of the precarious situation I was in.

  “Except for the part where your two lackeys came in and tried to shoot me, yes.”

  “That is unfortunate,” he said, ignoring my comment about his lackeys. “I now find myself without a campaign manager. Despite the fact that Amanda was a bit of a blundering idiot, she was loyal.” He turned his chair around, mumbling to himself. “Not out of respect, but out of fear. Fear makes people reliably loyal. Respect can be taken away at any moment, but fear…” He trailed off as he considered his options. “But who could replace her?”

  As he tried to work through his problem, I took another assessment of the situation. Could I get into his mind while he’s distracted? A quick glance at the closest guard made me hesitate. If he suspected anything at all, it would be over for me.

  If I can just keep him talking. Keep him distracted. I would need to speak to Agusto while making my attack on his mind, and I’d need to keep broadcasting nothing thoughts to trick his attack dogs. Sure, I’d managed to multi-task with Amanda, but she had been relatively weak. Surely their number one would be a formidable foe.

  Agusto was still mumbling about his options, and what to do, while I felt time running out. I couldn’t stand there forever.

  It was now or never.

  Eighteen

  “What about Bob Yarwick? He worked closely with Amanda on a few projects,” I said, trying to keep Agusto distracted. Bob worked downstairs, but I didn’t actually know what his title was. He seemed to be one of Amanda’s go-to people for getting things done for the campaign. I had no idea if he was a good candidate or not. At the moment, his best interests weren’t foremost in my thoughts. Keeping Agusto talking was job number one.

  “No. He’s an idiot. Too much of a yes man. He’d be crushed by the politics of this. In fact, why does he even work for us? I should fire him immediately.”

  I nodded, my mind too busy trying to find a way to survive this mess to worry about Bob Yarwick and the fact that he was about to be unemployed. I tried to come up with other names, but as it turned out, he didn’t need that much prodding to keep talking.

  I looked absently out the wall of windows and turned my focus inward, feeling like it was time to act. I split my concentration so I would keep hearing the audio of what was happening in the “real” world in the forefront of my mind.

  Not bothering to risk another glance at the guards, I pressed my mental attack, but I couldn’t find him. He was sitting right smack in front of me, and yet his psychic space was like a black hole.

  Maybe I’ve lost my touch, I thought as I reached out for the guards, all of whom I located easily.

  I listened to him as he combed through his options again and again. His mind was running a mile a minute, so he should’ve been easy to find. He was practically screaming at me. But he just wasn’t there. Over and over, I tried to find him; each time, I was met with nothing. Not even darkness or a wall, like I was used to seeing in protected minds, just nothing. Like the man in front of me wasn’t a living thing at all. It made me feel even more desperate.

  I’d already reached out for the guards, potentially alerting them to what I was doing. Time was ticking away while I floundered in front of the leader of the Potestas. I had the potential to end their organization right then and there, but I couldn’t tap into the mind of the man sitting right in front of me.

  “You.” He interrupted my thoughts and brought me slamming back into myself rather uncomfortably.

  Clearing my throat, I struggled to respond. “Excuse me?”

  “You. It has to be you.” He smiled at me, as if he’d found the perfect solution.

  “What?” A feeling of dread filled me at his suggestion. He’d zeroed in on me for a reason. None of Joyce’s qualifications pointed toward her being a logical choice for campaign manager. He was angling toward something. But what? Was he just trying to keep me off kilter, so I couldn’t press my mental attack, or was there more to it?

  In the silence that followed, I listened to the bubbling of the river, which created a false sense of peace. It was nothing close to peaceful in there. Calm, yes, but in a sinister way that let me know he could kill me at any moment and feel absolutely no regrets about it.

  As his eyes bored into me, my discomfort grew. “You heard me. I know you haven’t worked for me long, but I can already tell you’re perfect for the job. You’re already very involved in the campaign, so you know what needs to be done. You’d need minimal training. And, I tell you what, I’ll hire someone to replace you, so
you’ll have help.”

  Desperate to stall him, I fumbled for something to say, anything at all that would keep him talking for long enough for me to make another effort. But what if I was doomed to act as his second in command for the rest of my life, never being able to escape back to the Unseen?

  I took a deep breath and scolded myself. Stop it. You’re being melodramatic. They know who he is. They’ll get to work. All you need to do is hang in there.

  “I can see that you’re overwhelmed with gratitude. No need to thank me now.” He turned his back to me. “Go, gather your things, and get settled into Amanda’s office, I mean your office.” He turned around and smiled at me.

  I knew I couldn’t take him at his word, but I wasn’t sure what to do. Just keep him talking, I thought.

  “Perhaps you’d like to go over some of the details of my duties, since Amanda never shared that kind of thing with me.”

  “I don’t think that’s a valuable way to spend my time right now. In fact…” He trailed off and nodded to one of the guards. The man approached, keeping his eyes glued on me.

  “The campaign manager is someone I need to keep very close. I know you are going to be well suited for the post. Do you know why?”

  Instead of responding, I watched as the other four guards slowly closed in on us. The final guard stood close to Agusto’s side, and I knew we were getting to the meat of what he had in mind.

  Despite my best efforts to stay calm, my heart was racing, my breath coming in short gasps. I was probably visibly sweating, but I didn’t want to bring my hand to my forehead to find out. No need to draw further attention to my distress.

  I need to abort this, right now, I thought.

  “You know what? It’s been a very stressful day. I think I’ll leave you to it, and I’ll get to work on figuring out where Amanda left off,” I said. So much for seizing the moment; I was in survival mood. “At any rate, I think the police were waiting to speak to me.”

  I took a half step back, but he stopped me. “You’re not going anywhere. You didn’t answer my question. Don’t you want to know why I need to keep you close?”

  I shook my head as the guards continued to close in on me. Soon, Agusto was on one end of the circle of guards, and I was on the other—surrounded. The two guards closest to me could’ve seized me in an instant.

  “Because you keep your friends close, but you keep your enemies closer.”

  Nineteen

  Swallowing hard, I tried to keep my cool. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He glared at me, and his tone turned so cold, I was surprised I couldn’t see his breath. “Don’t lie to me. I can smell a liar from fifty yards away. Call it one of my talents.”

  His talents? He was a one-man lie detector in addition to being able to read minds? Well, all bow down to the great and powerful Oz, I thought, secretly hoping he heard me.

  “Tell me, what are your other talents? Maybe we should be exploiting them for your campaign.”

  “I believe you know full well what they are, not to mention who I am.”

  “You believe? Shouldn’t you know without a doubt? Seems to me your talents are less impressive than they should be given that you’re the leader of the Potestas.”

  His smile was vicious. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” He took a step toward me, and the circle around us got smaller. The air was close, and I struggled to keep my panic at bay. “How long have you known who I am?”

  “I think part of me suspected it all along. Maybe a better question is do you know who I am?” I was getting antsy. This back and forth had gone on for too long. Someone was going to draw soon, and if I wanted to win, it needed to be me. All I had to do was find his mind—a task easier said than done.

  “I know you’re a member of the Unseen, and a thorn in my side. And I know that I’m going to crush you, and the rest of your sad little organization, one by one.”

  Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. He had no idea specifically who I was.

  “Now that we’re being honest with each other, tell me how you managed to get as far as you did. How did a little worm like you get so close to me?”

  “With a little bit of skill and a lot of luck.” No need to elaborate, I thought. If I didn’t make it out of here alive, at least he wouldn’t have any useful information. Of course, if he was as powerful as he believed himself to be, he could probably get everything he wanted out of me, whether I was willing or not. Still, I wasn’t giving him anything for free.

  I glanced at the guard to Agusto’s right, and immediately wished I hadn’t. He was glaring at me so hard it was almost comical. The look in his eyes was what kept me from laughing. Stone cold and deadly. I found I had a hard time looking away.

  “What gave me away?” I asked, still trying to find a way out of this as I tore my gaze away from the angry guard.

  He chuckled. “You’re dumber than I thought, Mackenzie.”

  I opened my mouth to respond, but my breath caught in my throat. He’d called me Mackenzie, not Joyce. That lying sack of shit! He knows exactly who I am.

  Anger and panic kept my heart racing as a smile spread across his face. “Yes. Amanda wore a wire at all times. I heard your entire exchange. Your slip up. Her realization of who you were. Her refusal to accept your offer of rescue. Her cowardly death. It was better than she deserved.” His last statement was so oddly matter-of-fact. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he meant it, and I didn’t want to take the time to imagine exactly what kind of end he would’ve given her.

  “And now my little sheep has wandered back into the wolf’s den on her own.” He paused and his smile made me nauseous. “Although, I must congratulate you on keeping yourself hidden from the person who raised you. She should’ve known you inside and out. It seems Amanda was a bigger imbecile than I thought.”

  “That’s a bit of a backhanded compliment,” I said.

  Agusto nodded in acknowledgment, staring at me intently. I could tell it was a challenge, but I wasn’t sure I could be intimidated any further. I was already scared out of my mind.

  The guard to Agusto’s right, the one who who’d been glaring at me only moments ago, cleared his throat. When I looked at him, his once-fierce glare seemed vacant. His expression was more relaxed. Confused, I turned back to Agusto, not wanting to draw attention to the guard’s apparent transformation. As far as I was concerned, he was one less person for me to worry about.

  Not seeming to notice what was going on with the guard, Agusto continued to revel in his success in capturing me.

  “You thought you’d come in here and expose me for the demon I am, hmm? That’s very heroic of you.” He turned and started walking toward the window, breaking our little circle. It gave me some space to breathe, to think.

  “What do you plan to do with me now?” I asked, stalling.

  “Oh…” He trailed off wistfully. “There are so many options. You could become my new Amanda, but I don’t think you’d allow yourself to become a prisoner to your fear, particularly since we tried imprisoning you once before. Your talents are so…extensive, I’d hate to waste them. But make no mistake, I will if you force my hand.”

  “I believe you.” I may have gotten myself into some pretty deep trouble, but I wasn’t stupid.

  He smiled broadly as he looked out the window. “Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought.” His breath fogged the window as he looked out on the county’s monuments.

  I followed his gaze. “Do you envision having a monument to your greatness out there some day?”

  He laughed. It was a genuine belly laugh, not an I’m-humoring-you chuckle. “Of course not. This country will be too busy to spend time on such frivolity. In fact—”

  The guard to his left cleared his throat, cutting him off. Agusto glanced at him, an annoyed expression on his face, before looking away. “In fact, I’m going to change the face of this nation in such a way—”

  A third guard cleared his throat, and then a
fourth. Finally, the fifth guard started all-out coughing. “I’m sorry, am I boring you, boys? Do you have something to say? Or do you just need a drink? Feel free to drink from the river, like the dogs you are.”

  My gaze bounced between them. Were they signaling each other? If so, why didn’t Agusto know what they were doing? Upon further inspection, I realized they all shared the same vacant expression.

  What the hell’s going on? I wondered.

  Before I could process anything, the original guard who’d glared at me took Agusto into a defensive hold, keeping his arms pinned behind his back.

  “What are you doing?” Agusto bellowed.

  “Now’s your chance,” the guard said, looking right at me.

  Twenty

  Questions raced through my mind. What if it’s a trap? What if they’ve designed this, and they plan on imprisoning me once I’m inside his mind? But I couldn’t dilly-dally. I couldn’t waste this opportunity. Instead of voicing any of the millions of questions racing through my head, I shut my eyes, giving myself the chance to fully focus on the task at hand.

  I was taking a huge risk by opening myself to the four other guards flanking me, but I had to put my trust in something.

  Doubling down, I concentrated on breaking into Agusto’s head. He struggled against the guard, and I could distantly hear the other guards moving away from me—moving toward him. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it’ll never work. I’m the leader of the damn Potestas. You can’t get into my head.”

  I easily found the mind of the guard who was pinning Agusto, but he felt different this time, almost familiar.

  “Hurry up, Mackenzie. Don’t waste any time.”

  I could’ve just killed him. I eyed the guard holding Agusto, wondering where he kept his gun, but I decided against it. Agusto had too much information. We needed to know where the Potestas’ supply of Zero was being kept, where they planned to release it next, how big the organization was, and how deep it went. The questions were endless, and this one man held all the answers.