by Lucy Rains
“How,” I prodded.
“I’m able to persuade someone to do something without looking at them or even saying anything.”
“You mean,” I searched for the right words. “Mentally? You’re going into people’s minds?”
He nodded, and though his expression gave nothing away, I felt his unease.
“How did you realize this?”
A small smile tugged at the corners of Gavin’s mouth. “It's why Alex was the one to meet you at the grocery store.”
“Whoa, wait. What?” Alex perked up in his seat. “You screwed with my head, dude?”
“Did you mind?” Gavin snorted.
Alex looked at me, his eyes wide. “No. But still. Thats…”
“That sounds,” I paused, looking over Gavin, “Powerful. Dangerous.”
“In the wrong hands, of course.” Pierce said. “But for us it will be extremely beneficial.”
“Don’t screw with my head, okay?” I said to Gavin.
“Or mine,” echoed Kyson and Alex.
“We trust each other with our lives,” Pierce said. “There is no reason to think that Gavin would use his ability for anything other than to support us.”
I wanted to ask more questions, how he had come to find out about this, and even have a demonstration, but it wasn’t the time.
“Got it,” Alex said, then holding up a finger. “Question, what happens if Jason calls between now and tomorrow night? Has us for an assignment?”
We all looked to Pierce, waiting for his answer. “Let’s hope that he doesn’t.”
Alex coughed, “That’s not helpful.”
“We just need to get through till tomorrow. If he calls with an assignment for anytime after tomorrow, we tell him we’ll take it as normal. Than we will be gone by the time he notices we didn’t show.”
There was a moment of silence when a question came to my mind. “The other test subjects, their bodies...If you leave behind all that tissue, blood, DNA, that’s just going to leave an opening for my mother and the other scientists to recreate more.”
Pierce spoke first. “We have a solution for disposing all of the DNA remnants left behind in the lab.”
I nodded, “Great.”
Kyson spoke next. “It involves fire.”
“Absolutely not.” I sat up straight, looking between the two of them. “You’re going to burn them?”
Alex and Gavin didn’t react so they must have known this detail as well.
“Was anyone going to tell me, or were you going to wait until the matches were being lit?” Anger pulsed in my tone and I glared at Pierce.
“If all goes according to plan, you will not be in the lab when that part of the plan is carried out. Kyson and I will take care of it.”
I swore and wiped a hand over my mouth. “This is insane.”
“It has to be done,” Pierce said unapologetically and I withheld my angry retort.
My stomach chose to growl at that point, bringing everyone’s attention over to me. “Sorry,” I mumbled, rubbing a hand on my stomach. It was dinner time and the doughnuts did little to ease my hunger.
“I’ll go pick up some dinner,” Pierce stood up. “Kyson, go over the maps with Jade.”
Kyson spent the next 15 minutes running over the lab blueprints with me. Helping to familiarize me with the building. I pulled the printed off pictures over to me and compared them to the rooms, trying to feel as prepared as I possibly could.
Over a dinner of fried chicken and mashed potatoes on paper plates, we brainstormed our departure after the lab. The routes, the procedures, and the different options we could pursue. I offered little input, not sure what my place was in this ordeal. Wanting to be apart, but also becoming numb to the continuing high pressure events that were overwhelming my mind.
Through the weeks events I had been pulled and stretched in ways that I couldn’t ever imagine. If three weeks ago someone had told me I would not only kill someone within a few days, as well as kiss four guys, I would have laughed hysterically in their face. But here I was. Sitting at a table with four guys that my inner being told me I belonged with. Even if I didn’t know my purpose in the large upcoming operation, I knew that these guys needed me. Just my presence brought a sense of connection between all of us. A sense of fulfillment that allowed them to be stronger in their abilities and mental capacities. Alex worked at a faster rate on his computer, Pierce moved around the kitchen with an easy grace he lacked a week ago. Kyson commented on his ability to read through his texts and complete his medical labs within hours instead of days. Gavin never said much, so I don’t know how his abilities may have been mutating. All I knew is that I felt a decrease in his internal fury, and I hadn't heard him wake up screaming since that night I had went to comfort him.
The energy inside us was morphing us into more powerful beings then we already were.
All because I had begun living with the guys. Or is it because we were becoming intimate?
So much to consider that I laid in bed for a few hours until my eyes fell closed again for the night.
Chapter 36
I swirled through the pool water like a torpedo, racing to the other side while simultaneously spinning. My feet kicked quickly, my arms out straight above my head, hands flat. I opened my eyes, seeing through the water as the other guys swam around me. Staying close but out of my way.
Kyson and I had managed to convince Pierce that swimming would be beneficial to the group before the tasks that loomed before us that night. Clearing our minds, purifying our senses, strengthening our muscles and bodies. We would be better off taking the time to swim then staying holed up in the house staring at maps till night came.
Twenty minutes later I felt good as new, refreshed and cleared. I ended my swim at the pool steps, pulling myself out of the pool, with a huge sigh of satisfaction. Water dripped off me, making small puddles as I walked to the table of towels.
Gavin sat slouched in a thin metal chair, done swimming several minutes earlier, chewing on a fingernail and looking into the pool. His eyes were unfocused, attention elsewhere, and he didn’t look at me as I walked up. It was his usual withdrawn posture, ignoring everything around him. I took the liberty of digging into his mind, feeling for his emotions he kept so tightly hidden.
Bitterness, and heavy anxiety.
“You thinking about tonight?” I asked, drying myself.
His gaze focused but he didn’t answer. The fingernail came out of his mouth. I waited, hoping he would acknowledge my question but not surprised when he didn’t.
My shoulders slumped and I shook my head at his ever present moodiness.
“Do you think you will be less of an ass after this all goes down?” I asked curiously.
That got his attention, he looked at me and scowled. “I’m not the only one with issues.” He paused for a moment. “I think I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen you smile since we brought you in.”
I raised an eyebrow, while squeezing my hair with a towel. “And yet, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. Let's hope tonight is therapeutic for everyone.”
Gavin stood up and pulled his t shirt off the table, shrugging it over his head. My eyes followed the hem as it fell over his tightly lined abs. His eyes met mine when his head pulled through and he swiped a hand through his hair. “I am trying Jade, I told you that yesterday.”
I tilted my head, and pinched my lips together, thinking back to his words to me on the kitchen floor. I hesitated speaking my mind, never knowing what kind of reaction I would get from him.
“I know you did.”
He stood there, leaning his hip against the table, glancing behind me to the guys and then back to my face. He was so unreadable on the surface.
“Maybe you should say sorry,” I suggested. “As a step in the right direction.”
He balked and I smiled knowing this was the last thing he wanted to do. “Maybe, you should apologize. Since the first time we were even in the same
room together you've been consistently rude and resentful.”
His jaw snapped shut and he took a step closer to me, his emotions not as dark as they were a moment ago. They still held his anxiety, but there was a tender taste to them now.
“You want me to apologize?” He asked cautiously.
I looked into his dark eyes as he came closer, letting him close the space between us. The splashing noises behind us disappearing as Gavin filled all of my senses. Studying his eyes, I saw the green flecks in the center by the pupil. His wet hair dripped slowly down the side of his face and my hand came up without thinking, ready to wipe them away. I stopped before touching him, hesitating and then dropping my hand.
I swallowed and struggled against the desire to move backwards. I thought of his snide comments, his hostile tones and the desire that brewed so hot within him on a daily basis.
“Yes, I do. And your apology needs to be as loud as your disrespect was.” My hands pulled my towel around my waist and tied it tight as we continued holding each other’s gaze. My fists brushed his waist, unable to avoid contact with him as near as he was to me.
I battled the desire to shrink back as I always did with Gavin. Knowing I was no match for his physical strength and the pure intimidation that rolled off of him, I had always been sure to keep a safe distance. But I held my ground this time.
His hand came up and I flinched. The movement so unexpected. It paused, then went up to my chin and lifted it up so that my mouth angled towards his. My breath caught in my throat and my lungs stopped working. This was not the reaction I was expecting.
He stared at me, his eyes tracing my face, my lips, my nose. My heart had also stopped and breathing became a forceful effort. The light touch of his skin on my face, so small yet so warm.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed against my lips, his tone deep with emotion. The volume of his words barely audible, but the depth in his emotion was softer than I had ever felt it. So warm, so intimate, it took my breath away and brought shivers to my skin.
His thumb rubbed over my bottom lip and he took a step back, his eyes holding onto mine for a moment longer, before dropping his hand and looking away.
I stood there frozen. Trying to remember how to breathe as the other guys piled out of the pool and began walking up behind me. I blinked, watching Gavin grab his towel and go into the bathroom, letting the door slam shut behind him.
Large bodies came into my peripheral vision as I stood there, numb and out of focus. Alex said something next to me and I blinked several times, turning to look at him.
“Tacos sound good, right?” His full lips turned up into a smile as he rubbed a towel over his chest. His dark hair hung wet around his head, giving him a young boyish look. His shirtless body, however, did not look young. Or boyish. Not as thick as Kyson’s and Pierce’s but just as cut and solid in all the ways that counted.
Suddenly Pierce cursed softly, his tone and mood shifting sharply, shaking me back to the moment. I looked at him, standing straight in front of me, his eyes closed and his head tilted back slightly.
Simultaneously a dark emotion filled my mind, multiple sources, different directions, aggressive, threatening. I closed my eyes trying to get a solid feel for the source and where it was. But panic filled my head and I couldn’t concentrate.
“No,” I whispered, my eyes going wide and I looked around the pool house, searching for something that might help us. The muscles in my chest constricted and the hairs on my neck stood up. They had caught us off guard. We were completely unprepared.
“Code Red,” Pierce whispered.
“What do we do?” Kyson asked.
Gavin barged out of the bathroom, his eyes darting around, “What is it?”
I glanced at the door and back to Pierce, who was also staring at our only exit option. “We can’t go out there, they’ll be ready, expecting us.”
Pierce opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when the sound of shattering glass filled the air around us. An arm was wrapped around my torso as Kyson pulled me backwards into the cover of his body.
Two black figures jumped into the pool house through the shattered glass, and my head jerked to the door as it was kicked in. Two more darkly dressed men entered. All held firearms pointing in our direction.
I was pulled low to the ground, letting out a scream of panic as the men advanced. Gavin and Alex rolled behind metal chairs, Pierce was using the garbage can for what little cover it provided.
Shots were fired and I heard Alex let out a guttural groan, full of anger and pain. I searched for him, but everything was moving too fast. His shirtless body was on the ground and rolling in another direction, trying to throw off their aim, red crimson trickling down his round muscled shoulder.
The figures continued coming forward and I heard something whiz past my ear. Suddenly Kyson’s arms were gone and I heard him fall to the floor behind me. Looking down, there was a dart sticking out of his left bicep. My body twisted back to the men, and I threw up my arms to let out a harsh shot of energy. Throwing the two that had come through the window backwards several steps. Another whiz of a dart flying in front of me and now Alex wasn’t moving. The dart aimed for me missed and hit the table in front of us with a sharp ping. I threw up my arms again and pushed the other two attackers backwards with a forceful bout of energy. They tripped trying to catch themselves, falling to the hard cement.
The two men that entered through the door touched their ears, speaking low and fast. They all recovered quickly, as I would expect, and started walking towards me again. I swallowed my fear, bringing myself up to my knees. Their weapons raised as I moved.
“Jade, no!” Pierce hollered.
“Hold your fire!” One of them shouted.
All sets of cold eyes locked on me, their steps slowing. I held up my hands again as though I was surrendering. Their weapons waivered, the syringe guns dropping to their sides.
That damn serum. I glared at it and the men that held it. Anger lit beneath my skin and I used that emotion to fuel my energy. My hands twitched, my fingers bending, as I picked up the first two I knocked down, lifting them off of their feet. They jerked in surprise, screaming curses. I straightened my arms in a forward motion, throwing them backwards into the pool.
Shouts erupted from various men, and I looked to the others, ready to also send them swimming but stopped in place when I saw Gavin coming to a stand and walking forward.
My heart jumped into my throat as he got closer to them. “Gavin,” I whispered, my voice to weak with fear.
Gavin stopped a few steps away, his head tilted and the taller man turned to his partner, staring at him. My mind couldn’t comprehend what I saw. What were they doing? Why weren’t they attacking, moving, yelling at Gavin?
Without emotion or hesitation the tall man shot his partner in the head. I yelped, jerking back in shock. Blood spattered onto the shooters face. My stomach turned at the sight of the limp body falling to the cement and landing with a heavy thump.
Gavin then bent down, reached out to the fallen man and grabbed his weapon, tossing it to Pierce, who was now standing. He caught it easily out of the air and quickly aimed over my head as he shot the two climbing out of the pool square in the chest, sending them backwards into the water again.
I jumped at the noise, stepping backwards and almost falling when my heel came down on a hard mass.
Kyson. Unmoving, eyes closed.
I looked back to Gavin, who stared at the last remaining threat. The gunman, shaved head, earpiece, black gloved hands lifted his gun up and handed it to Gavin.
The pool house was now eary in its silence, water lapping the sides of the pool. Those of us not shot or under a drug influence stood motionless. Watching. Alex laid on the ground like Kyson, still as stone, with a dart in the front of his chest.
“Who sent you?” Gavin asked. His deep masculine voice breaking the silence.
The man stood there, his whole body beginning to shake, fighting the ques
tion. Sweat began to bead on his forehead and his limbs trembled.
“Vera,” he ground out through gritted teeth. “She wants the girl.”
Gavin shifted, his head moving slightly.
The man tried to shake his head, but it was as though an invisible force was holding him in place. His chest heaved as he spoke again, “Only the girl.”
“Is Jason involved?”
The mans teeth clenched. “No.”
Gavin took a step back and the man let out a shuddering breath and visibly relaxed. He was a good few inches over Gavin but seemed as weak as a child.
Gavin took a step back, his turned to look at Pierce.
“Liar,” Pierce barked. “Alex says he's lying.”
The man’s eyes widened. His eyes darted down to Alex and back to Gavin. Before he could speak Gavin raised the gun and pointed it at his head. I turned my face away with pinched eyes to avoid the carnage. The sound of the shot ripped through the pool house and I choked on a strangled gasp.
Dropping to my knees, I sat next to Kyson as reality came crashing down on me and adrenaline drained from my body. I couldn't stop the shakes that took hold of my shoulders down to my arms.
Pierce was in my head, trying to communicate with me but I was too scattered to understand his words. Turning my focus to my breathing, I was able to still my body and ease the trembles from my limbs. I gripped my towel pushing it to my forehead, using the cotton material to push my eyes closed.
After a few minutes, I took a heavy breath and opened my eyes. They immediately went down to Kyson’s. My heart sank at the sight of my protector laying helpless on the floor, knowing there was nothing I could do but wait.
My mother, damn her. My fingers tightened into fists as anger rolled through my body and I became more determined than ever to make her pay. The sight of Kyson and Alex on the hard ground, unmoving, unable to even turn their heads made my energy pulse almost uncontrollably out of my hands.
Are you okay? Pierce’s voice echoed in my head.
I nodded. I shook my head. I rolled my head and shrugged, raw with shock and anger. I patted Kyson’s arms gently, pulling on his shoulders to move his body so that he could lay flat. His fingers twitched, and I knew he was trying to fight through the serum that ran through his veins.