Empath Reborn

by J. A. Culican

  Glenn huffs, glaring at her. "I'm curious, too, but we can’t go see them. We can’t risk revealing that we know about this. Plus, I don't want to get cuffed by guardians for stalking people."

  “Dead people don’t call the guardians.” Ida looks at me and shrugs with her hands facing up. "See what I'm dealing with?"

  I give her a polite smile, then get back on target. "About Birka, I don't know enough about the politics involved, or even the laws. Talon, can you shed some light on that?"

  He glares at me. "Don't bring me into their argument. I haven't even seen the list. It might depend on who's on it. If it's no one important, then maybe Ida has a point."

  Glenn harrumphs and clenches his jaw. "I'm telling you, keeping Birka in the dark is just a road of trouble we don't want to go down. Not reporting something that affects Landing’s security feels kind of treasonous. And what if there is an important name on the list? Are you still going to side with Ida's dumb idea?"

  Ida’s glare this time looks serious. "Hey! I didn't tell you how stupid your idea is, did I? Courtesy, man, you should try it."

  "Knock it off," Talon says, his voice rising. He takes a breath, then says, "Just show me the list so we can figure out what to do with this bombshell."

  "Fine. Here." Glenn hands him a manila folder.

  I crane my neck to get a peek, but Talon takes a single glance inside and slams the folder shut before I can see anything.

  "Glenn, go put this somewhere safe." He holds the folder out. "I need to think—"

  Forget that. Anything Talon doesn't want me to see is almost guaranteed to be something I should know about. I snatch the folder and step away, turning my back on them, and almost tear the folder getting it open as fast as I can.

  "Ela," he says, trying to reach the folder over my shoulder, "don't do it. You don't want to see that."

  But it's too late. I do see it. The names on the list are all a blur save for the last one, which stands out with stark clarity. I read it over and over, willing it to change, but it stubbornly refuses.

  It's Luka.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I can't believe it, but there it is printed in black and white—Luka's name on a sheet of paper that lists people who have all been part of experiments to bring people back to life.

  “This has to be a joke.” I turn to Glenn, glaring at him, daring him to lie to me. "You tell me right now, did you set this up? Is this your damn idea of a practical joke?"

  He looks back and forth between Talon and Ida, mouth open like he's going to say something, but nothing comes out.

  Ida is at my side in seconds, sliding her arm around my shoulders. "I'm sorry, Ela, but it's no joke. I mean, we don't know if it worked, but this isn’t some setup."

  Before I can think of anything to say over the storm of emotions rocking me, Talon stands and takes my hand in both of his. "Ela, I'm sorry. I didn't know, but I tried to keep you from seeing this. I want to check it out and do some digging first, okay?"

  "No, it's not okay!" My face is hot. I must be turning red. But, am I angry or afraid? I can't tell which one I’m feeling. "I'm going, too."

  Talon shakes his head, looking at Glenn as if he can do something about me. "Just let me check it out first. If there's anything to this, anything at all, I swear you'll be the first person I tell."

  Why would he want to keep me away from this?

  "I can take care of myself," I say, though I don't feel it in my gut, especially after tears begin to fall. I’m not crying from anger or sadness, though. This is just too many feelings all at once. "I said, I'm going.”

  I want to beat the truth out of Glenn, but it's not his fault I'm feeling way overboard right now. Still, it's hard not to threaten him. I want to scream, or maybe break things. Dawson and Meredith did this, and they looked me in the eyes and smiled, pretending. Those are the two I should save my rage for.

  I sigh, then say, "Glenn, where are these resurrected people? If you've ever been any kind of friend, you'll tell me what you know, even what you think you know, and you'll do it right now, dammit."

  "I..." Glenn pauses, his usual cocky swagger missing.

  Talon lets go of my hand. "Tell her what you know. She won't take no for an answer."

  I look at Talon, and he’s looking at me with a weird expression. I can't quite figure out what it is. Maybe angry and afraid? That's a feeling combo I know quite well, right now.

  Glenn lets out a long breath through pursed lips and looks down at his feet. "Oookay. If you really want to know..."

  I stare at him. I'm too amped up for subtleties at the moment.

  "I guess you do." He takes a breath and continues, "Ida and I were once assigned by Dawson to guard a lab, separate from any others. It's hidden on the far edge of Mortals Landing.”

  Talon frowns. “That’s a weird place for a lab.”

  “At my clearance level, I get all sorts of weird assignments."

  There he goes, bragging again. I let that slide, though. I’m more irritated that this is the first we're hearing of it. "You didn't think it was worth mentioning that first?"

  My tone is harsher than I mean it to be. He may be cocky, but he's here and he's a fighter, and Talon likes him for some reason. "Sorry. I'm just freaking out a little."

  Glenn shrugs. "S’okay. I get it. But no one ever told us what's in there. It's just that, if I had to guess where Dawson was doing secret research, that'd be my bet."

  Talon rubs one finger back and forth across his chin, thinking. "I didn't know there was such a facility. This gets weirder by the minute. I should know about every research facility in Mortals Landing. I wonder if Birka knows about it."

  Ida smiles at me, but her expression looks strained. There's too much cheer in her voice as she says, "Well, that's it then. We go take a look, and if there's anything to report, then we can bring it to Birka. There's no point bothering her if they're just researching the mating habits of armadillos."

  "Let me go,” Talon replies. He turns to me and adds, “If anything sets off my warning flags, we can go get a strike team. I'll take you in then, when we have some firepower to protect you, but not before."

  Is this guy serious? I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and then open them to stare at him. "You’re not going there without me. I am going."

  "Ela, you know I can't—"

  "We're talking about Luka.”

  “Yes, but let me find out more first.”

  “No. If he’s there, you can't just go in there asking, 'Hey, is this where the resurrected peeps are?' So, the question is, are you coming with us, or are we going without you? Because you sure aren't going without me. Not unless you want to tie me up or arrest me."

  He meets my gaze as seconds tick by, each feeling like minutes, but in the end, he looks away first. "Fine. I was only trying to keep you safe. You have to give me your word that you'll stay close to me. If anything happens to you, I'll kill you for making me bring you."

  I grin and throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him. "I knew you'd see it my way."

  Glenn shrugs. "I guess we're doing this, so there's no time like the present. Don't worry, ladies, I'll keep you safe."

  I couldn't agree more with the first half of that, nor any less with the last half. He’d better keep them safe from me. "Great, you can tell me if I'm about to stub my toe, and I'll tell you if we're about to die. Can we go, now?"

  Chapter Twenty

  We walk to avoid any chance of being tracked, and once again, I'm glad this place isn't the police state Hollows Ground is, but that does little to help my poor feet. They ache a bit, but I try not to slow down.

  Talon keeps pulling ahead and then falling back to walk beside me, glancing at me furtively each time he’s near. Maybe he wants to talk. If so, I can guess what it’s about. After what we shared, I want to know what's bothering him and that he feels he can talk to me. But do I want to talk about what I think is on his mind? I'm not sure. Things are really confusing for me
right now.

  I feel bad for him, too, since it has to be ten times worse for him. If I left him for a resurrected Luka, he’d be the one left hurting, not me. Not as much, at least.

  After wrangling with it in my mind for a while, I make a decision. "I know you aren't the 'talk about your feelings' kind of guy, but I hope you know that if something is on your mind, you can tell me. Maybe it'll help us both."

  I take his hand in mine without another word. Just walking hand-in-hand, I love the heat coming through him into me. If he doesn't want to tell me, that's okay. The fact that he didn't pull away when I reached for him speaks volumes about what kind of guy he really is beneath the masks he uses as armor.

  We're three blocks away when he says, "I have to tell you now, in case this scouting run goes sideways and something happens."

  "It won't. I haven't had any visions."

  "Still. You know I loved Luka like a brother, right?" His eyes seem glued to the sidewalk.

  "Yeah, I knew you were close once. Really close."

  "Does it make me a bad person if I hope this is all a wild goose chase, and he's not back?"

  I skip a step, startled. I didn't expect that kind of 'real talk' just now. But he sounded deadly serious, and I can feel the sudden tension in his hand clasping mine. "I don't know. I mean, why would you hope that? I think I can guess, but you should say it. You can tell me anything."

  "Not this."

  "Especially this. And I mean it. What's the point, if we only talk about the superficial things?"

  A few seconds later, he says, "If he's alive, I don't want to lose you to him. I've... I'm not the emotional type. Half the time, I don't even know what I'm feeling. But when I'm with you, I know for sure. You make me want to be a better person. It's weird, I know."

  Wow. That is one heck of a truth bomb. "That's not weird. That's... sweet. No, that's not the right word. It's intimate. I'm glad you can tell me that."

  I know he wants me to tell him I won't do that. And really, I know I wouldn't. Would I? Ugh.

  But I do know one thing, so I tell him. "This whole resurrection thing, it's a fantasy. Dead is dead. It's not anything you need to worry about. Let's just get in, find out what they're actually up to, and take it a step at a time. But you and me, we're good. The other night, I've never done that with anyone. You're my first, and that means something. So, just trust in that."

  I squeeze his hand and hope he can sense my feelings through that touch.

  He's quiet the rest of the trip, though he doesn't take his hand off mine the whole way. Why couldn't I have just said how I feel about him? Or told him I wouldn't leave even if Luka comes to life again?

  The thought makes me cringe, though. I have to wonder why I can't even think the words. Ugh. My stomach is churning, both at the thought of telling him how I feel, and at the thought of not telling him.

  But the alternative... It's a fantasy. Luka is dead, and dead is dead. I keep repeating that in my mind until we get to our destination.

  Talon takes his hand from mine as we all huddle up to talk, and I have the sudden fear that this was the last time we'll get to hold hands. It’s an irrational fear since I’ve had no vision, but I can’t shake it.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The buildings on this block are about the shabbiest I've seen on this floating disk of a city. And by that, I mean they're fabulous, the sort of places I dreamed of living in as a runaway kid. But here, they're slums, and they serve the same purpose as slums on Earth. They’re waystations for the unlucky and those unwilling to live under the rules their society has put in place. Shady characters fade from view into the night as we approach, and I'm very glad I have company.

  Talon breaks me from my thoughts, saying, "I see two guards out front, but they aren't making themselves obvious. That's odd, right? Guards usually stay visible to deter problems before they start."

  "Maybe they aren't worried about problems starting," I offer. "Why would guards want to stay discreet?"

  Glenn points. "The whole thing is discreet. Look at the sign."

  Above the Tudor-style grand office building we're heading to, a sign reads, "McMillan & Dempsey Law Firm."

  I say, "You have lawyers here?" I almost say it too loudly, in fact. It's kind of startling.

  "Not really," Ida replies. "They're the ones you hire if someone gets captured by mortal authorities. And if that doesn't work, we send in an ops team. Can't have them finding out about us, you know."

  An image of Talon being vivisected by white-clad government researchers sends a chill down my spine. I'd never really thought about that issue. "It seems odd to have guards at all for a simple law firm, though."

  Talon nods, then sucks his teeth to make a tsk sound. "We're going to have to get past them, and I suspect they're more than just minions. Too much doesn't add up. Glenn, if I walk up and distract them while you all sneak in, what happens?"

  After a moment, Glenn replies, "It won't work."

  Ida says, "No, but distracting them might work. Watch this." She turns to stare at a loose brick and hurdles it with only a nod. It flies across the road and into the walkway between McMillan's and the next wannabe mansion over.

  Glenn hisses, "No! Dammit, get ready."

  Crap. Glenn doesn’t like what happened, and I pay attention to find out why. I focus on the two guards, but keep my friends in my peripheral view as the brick smashes into the walkway.

  The two guards whip around, one raising a fiery ball in one hand, while the other draws a sword that immediately begins to arc with electricity, blue bolts crackling around it. Just great, another pyro and a 'lectro. But instead of rushing off to see what made the noise, they move stealthily in a semi-circle, arcing around the alley's entry, cautiously trying to see what's down there.

  One man slides goggles down over his eyes, and there's a faint green glow to them.

  Ida whispers, "Invisibility glasses."

  Seeing nothing down the alley, the guards move back to the front court at the office. They're in different spots than before, and they're crouched and ready. I imagine that I can feel their menacing gaze on me as they keep their heads moving back and forth, scanning for movement.

  Talon grunts. "That didn't work. Now they're ready for us, too. Crap. Unless we want to charge at a pyro and a 'lectro, we may need to find some other way in. Maybe we try again tomorrow."

  "No!" I cover my mouth with my hands and look at the guards, but they didn't seem to have heard me. Quieter, I say, "No, we can't wait. I have to know, and we may not get another chance at this. I get the feeling events are moving fast, and we need to get ahead of them."

  "Fine," Ida says, grinning. "Watch this."

  Talon reaches out, but before he can say no or stop her, she brings her hands together in a clapping motion and, across the street, the two guards fly through the air at one another head-first, moving fast. They collide and then crumple to the ground, motionless.

  "Crap," Talon says. “Didn’t you learn anything from the first time? Well, we won't get another chance after that stunt. It’s now or never." He draws his sword and runs across the street, the three of us right behind him trying to catch up.

  I don't know how he can move so fast and so stealthily, but I only hear our footsteps, not his, and half the time, I can't see him moving from shadow to shadow. By the time we get to the guards, he's already zip-tying their wrists behind them and unplugging little wired earpieces.

  He says, "They'll be out for a while, Ida. You did a job on them. Subtlety is out the window."

  I wish he’d lay off of Ida. “She made a mess, but it worked.”

  Glenn snorts. "Better be worth it. But we can't tumble that lock, Ida, so don't try. It's electronic. There's a window on the second floor, though. It’s how we got in. I mean, how we get in. Sorry."

  I sometimes forget he’s a precog. Once in a while, the present and the future blur for him. I’m glad I don’t have that problem.

  Talon wastes no time. "Wh
ich window?"

  Glenn points to the third one from the right, facing the street.

  Talon darts to a drain spout and shimmies up it like a snake, no problem. When he tries the window, it opens.

  Glenn and Ida are next, and they get up without a struggle. Then it’s my turn. I almost slip on the way up. Not that a ten-foot fall would really hurt, but it gets my heart pounding fast. By the time I slither through the window, I can only land in a heap on the floor to catch my breath.

  As they help me up, I look around. The room is obviously a laboratory, though I have no idea what purpose the machines lining the walls serve. Only a single door leads out of the lab. "I guess we go that way," I say, and head toward it.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Talon's face fixes into a scowl. "This is ridiculous. We've been through every room on this floor, and all we've found are these ridiculous labs. Where are the experiment notes? Why is everything so clean if this is in use? Do they have no experiments that run overnight? Something weird is going on."

  Glenn picks up an empty beaker, looks at it, and then sets it down again. "I agree. Clean as a whistle. When we were here, it looked like these were actually in use. Not that I knew what any of it was, but there were beakers bubbling, machines whirring, and things like that."

  They're right, it looks unused, but so what? “I'm not here to figure out what they use the beakers for. Let's try the top floor. If there's nothing there, either, we can get out of here and chalk this mission up as a failure."

  Talon turns and goes back out through the door. We file after him into the corridor. At the far end, there's a stairwell going up and down. We go up.

  As we reach the landing, the top floor is clearly different than what we went through already. Up was a good choice, it seems. Four doors stand close to the stairwell, but ten feet beyond them, the corridor ends at a doorway facing us.