by LeAnn Mason
"The illusionist is here."
Holden cocked his head to the side, a very animal like gesture, as I assumed he listened. He knew better than to turn and look. He trusted that I was sure.
"What do we do?" I was looking over Holden's shoulder to the smaller man still standing at the counter. He was short and thin with thinning dark hair, which didn't match his younger features. The man looked to be maybe late twenties, but it was hard to tell from this angle. All I really saw was a profile.
Sharp would be how I described his features—chin, cheekbones, nose—all seemed thin and pointed. Much like the wicked witch in an old movie I had seen as a child, and I wondered if there were any warts on his face.
I couldn't tell what color his eyes were from where we sat and I really didn't want to draw attention to myself, as I had a feeling he knew who I was and had no way to know if he knew I was enforcing. I remember him watching me outside the hospital, had he seen me with the commander and Holden? Would he recognize Holden now?
I looked back at Holden and gasped, shooting away from the table and back into my chair. He had changed. No longer was the man across from me tall and broad with dark hair and intense blue eyes.
Now there was a man who was much narrower, though he had a rounder face, gray eyes and thin lips. A dusting of light freckles sprinkled his face and reddish blonde hair sat thickly upon his head. It was a bit creepy just how much he could change his appearance. He didn't look like a Primal outright anymore. He was still too tall and…rotund to be a Sage, but he could pull off a ninny with this look. I found this version of Holden much less appealing, and cringed a bit at the thought. This was so not the time for superficial realizations.
I'm going to send a message to the commander and ask for backup. We don't know why he's here, and right now we have the element of surprise. We don't want to lose it. We don't want him using his ability to cause more harm because of us.
I nodded and tried to nonchalantly hide my face behind Holden while continuing to keep an eye on Mr. Illusionary.
Up at the counter now, giving his order, he was nearly at the edge of my mental range but still came in clearly. Our corner spot was great for privacy, not as great for invading it. He was getting riled up a bit. The girl who served Holden and me was now taking his order with even less enthusiasm than she’d shown us. She wouldn't give Mr. Illusionary the courtesy of direct eye contact, instead talking while looking at the counter or register.
"Excuse me, but can you at least pretend to be interested in my order so I can pretend that when I get it, and it is not correct, that you were not the responsible party for the fumble." There were plenty of insults laced throughout that inquiry but the girl didn't seem to notice.
"Small spinach, tomato, and chicken pizza with extra cheese," the teen drolled in a monotone voice, obviously unconcerned.
"No," he attempted an intimidating growl, "light cheese and extra sauce." Each word was said slowly and individually punctuated, further insulting the girl. Once again, seeming to go straight over her head, or else she was consciously ignoring the jabs at her intelligence. Another Sage trying to make others feel inferior, should have known.
So far, his detrimental illusions, at least the ones we were aware of, had all been aimed at Primals. Except Jessica didn’t fit, she was a Sage. Only way to find out was to get him into custody, which hopefully would be happening any minute now.
Holden looked up, pulling his attention from the com he had been furiously tapping, his back still to the suspect who hadn't so much as glanced our way. My uncle is rallying the troops. Luckily the others were all at the gym doing drills. Holden narrowed his eyes as he focused his hearing behind him, without looking back and giving himself away.
I wasn't paying attention to Holden though. Our target's hostility was increasing, which pushed his voice my way. He was thinking about ways to get the girl's attention, though it was no longer about courtesy, or his order. He wanted to once again flex that mental muscle. He was looking for ways to make her hurt herself.
What? Holden apparently picked up on my worry. What is it? Every muscle tightened as he stared at me, waiting for me to reveal some horrible truth. Eyes narrowed, he watched me but I was still watching Mr. Illusionary. He definitely meant to "teach her a lesson" but hadn't landed on how just yet, though the scenarios he ran through his head were anything but benign. From handling broken glass unbeknownst to her or having her believe the pizza ovens were closed.
We needed to get to him. He was going to hurt someone again, and I could not just sit here waiting for the green light to move or, more likely, for the Primals on the team to take him down.
What was that?
"Hmmm?" I answered Holden distractedly, still trying to keep my focus on Mr. Baddie.
You mumbled something.
I flicked my gaze briefly to Holden, then back to the counter. The man had moved to the side, closer to Holden and me, but was still watching the server. Plotting, with his back now toward us. I wondered how long it took for him to put an illusion together and project it, hopefully much longer than it would take for my squad-mates to arrive. I must have mumbled my concerns, because Holden once again tried to get me to explain myself.
"He's thinking of harmful illusions to throw at the girl," I said absently as Mr. Baddie's thoughts focused on one illusion and all that he would need to pull into it. He definitely needed time to take in his surroundings: the gleaming silver of the oven, the brick colored tile of the floor, the giant dough mixers against the far wall. Then there was the refrigerator door in the wall opposite the ovens, not to mention the other workers and all the toppings…
I watched as he soaked it all in and began developing his deceit.
"Holden, he's about to make the server girl think the pizza oven is closed, so when she reaches to open it…" I finally gave him my attention. "She’ll burn her hand," I whispered harshly, beginning to panic at my forced stasis. My leg was bouncing like it was working the bass drum in a heavy metal song, my only outlet for growing anxiety.
We'll give the team as much time as we can. You let me know when that time runs out.
I nodded vigorously, still bouncing my leg. I chewed my lip as I focused on the man. It had been awhile since I noticed what song rang out among the hidden speakers in the ceiling, or how many other patrons were in the restaurant. Our target had become my only focus.
I narrowed my eyes. "He's about done and seems to be putting the finishing touches on his illusion."
I was marginally aware that Holden was preparing to make a move when the bell on the door rang out, announcing new arrivals. All our attention swung toward the door as several imposing figures in tactical gear entered the restaurant. I deflated, my muscles beginning to uncoil. The team was here.
CHAPTER 23
DANE AND DEVLIN STOOD just inside the door, scanning the interior, two uniformed enforcers filing in behind them. Squished within the horde, nearest Dane and Devlin, were Jade and Steve, looking a bit wild eyed at the situation.
Holden and I stood, our chairs scraping across the linoleum flooring and garnering Baddie's attention momentarily, to which he did a double take when he saw me. The situation registered on his face as well as in his mind.
We were here for him. Somehow we had figured out what he had done and we were here for him.
His anxiety began to climb. "He's panicking."
The group which stood by the door began moving into the restaurant. The other patrons scrambling toward the exit as the enforcers moved inward, meals abandoned in favor of vacating the premises. The workers hadn't yet noticed the tension, still toiling away at the orders which had been placed.
The illusionist was looking at the mass group moving to encircle him with growing dread, his mind whirling, but spinning in circles.
He knew he couldn't do a detailed illusion this quickly, or for so many.
That's when everything went black.
One moment I could see. I saw the team
encircling our target, saw the panic on said target's face, the sweat on his brow; the desperation in his mind. I saw the team's determination and poise, even Jade and Steve had looked confident. In the next moment, nothing but complete darkness.
Then chaos.
Panicked voices whipped at me from every angle meeting both my ears and my muddled mind. Pans clattered to the ground, chairs scraped as they were bumped by those suddenly in the dark.
Devlin, Holden, and Dane all kept their cool thankfully, and were focusing alternate senses to attempt to overcome their new infirmity. I focused on their low directives. Dane knew the guy’s scent and was inching in the direction his nose pointed, or so I assumed based on his comments and Devlin’s acknowledgement.
Jade and Steve were pretty panicked, and Jade would be overwhelmed with adrenaline and fear wafting from so many at once. Steve’s gift would have been awesome at this moment but without heightened senses to accompany his telekinesis, he wouldn’t know where to aim and he wasn’t yet strong enough to hold multiples for more than a few moments.
The street team–enforcers who generally only did routine calls in town– who came in behind the team and was not cool. They lashed out, knocking over everything within striking distance and barking out orders to get down. They had drawn their weapons and were blindly waving them, mental voices indicating how close to the edge they were. For supposedly trained first responders, these guys were as bad as the customers.
I moved my attention to Dane. I needed him to make his way to his panicking brethren. Those idiot patrol guys were going to shoot any moment, money said the illusionist wouldn’t be the recipient of the bullet.
“Dane, I need you to move to the patrol unit. They’re panicking and have itchy trigger fingers.” A low curse came from just a few feet away, and a chair skidded as Dane changed course, now tracking the not-too-cool members of the enforcement ranks. Apparently poise under pressure was something they needed to work on.
“Happy place, guys. It’s an illusion. You know this. Use it to break free,” I called as calmly as I could. I couldn’t worry about Jade or Steve, they were at least not adding to the mayhem. I couldn’t worry about the panic stricken pizzeria employees, not until we were all out of this mess. I noticed that the target’s mind was no longer one I heard raised in panic. He was back to being calm, gloating even. Why hadn’t he fled?
He wanted to watch what he wrought. He thrived on the panic, the adrenaline, the power.
I knew I could get out of this if I could force myself to think. I couldn't let the panic clawing up my throat win. I knew it was just an illusion, and I could combat that. I stilled and focused inward, trying to block out the surrounding voices. I felt a foreign buzz, a wavelength not my own, humming within my mind. I took deep breaths in my attempts to separate it, to disengage the intrusion from my mind.
Once located, I focused on the fact that I could in fact, see. There was more than blackness around me. There was Holden, Jade, and the rest of the team. There were tables and chairs. There were gaudy cliché Italian furnishings. And suddenly it was true. I saw the chaos which the illusionary wrought. My head was pounding with the internal and external chaos. The panic of those around me. I needed to stop this, I needed to stop him.
“Guys, I’m free,” I called triumphantly. That seemed to calm Steve, his competitive nature kicking in. Jade would be harder. The Primals on our team all attempted to pull themselves from the dark using the mind tricks we’d been working on in our mental training. I didn’t hear the patrol units, and a quick scan showed Dane standing in between two prone and unconscious men on the floor among discarded pizza and upturned chairs. Dane’s belt was now adorned with two additional weapons.
I spun toward where I last saw our suspect; he wasn't there any longer. Not that I expected him to just stand there, but it would have been nice. I pivoted back and forth, looking. There was too much noise to really pinpoint his mental signature and that confused me. As I came back to the right, facing the storefront window, I was blindsided by a large object which gleamed silver in the sunlight of the window as it fast approached my face.
Pain exploded across my right temple and cheek, whipping my head to the left. I shook off the stinging ache in my face, not allowing the moisture gathering in my eyes to escape. Now was not the time to have my sight obscured. I gained my bearings in time to watch the illusionist book it out the door of the restaurant, the bell dinging merrily as it was jostled.
I had only a moment to decide whether to pursue him or to stay and attempt to stop the havoc. The chaos of the workers’ minds which reigned inside my skull, making a pick ax to the eye sound perfectly appealing, hammered home my decision. I needed to worry about my team and the other victims in the restaurant, find out the damage of this little stunt. So instead of heading for the door, I veered toward the counter where this all began.
The once overly stereotypical decor was now strewn about the floor in a manner which resembled the aftermath of a bar fight, or tornado. Tables and chairs were on their sides haphazardly, pizza and drinks splashed violently across the linoleum flooring, very nearly resembling expanding puddles of blood either in color or rate of expansion.
Shaking off the magnitude of the destruction, I found Jade and the rest of the team each working on extracting themselves from the imposed sightlessness. Surprisingly, most of them were successful and had pulled themselves from the hole and were searching for our target.
“He fled a moment ago,” I informed them as they cautiously maneuvered around the debris in search. The workers behind the counter had all pretty much adopted a cowering position at various places within the kitchen, but we had one casualty. The girl still burned her hand and still due to an illusion. I had to worry about that in a moment however.
I picked my way to Jade as quickly as I could, “Jade, I’m here,” I soothed. When her head whipped in my direction I continued. “I need you to focus on that, on me. I am here.”
Jade whimpered slightly, “Nat, I can’t hold out much longer. The emotions are crashing me. I’m barely holding on.” A tear escaped her eye as she clamped her mouth closed, her limbs shaking from all the emotional buzzing that even I could feel. The pulsing behind my eyes was going to kill me if it went on too much longer so I could totally relate. I needed to take Jade out of this so she could give everyone else an emotional tranquilizer, and we needed to do it fast, before we lost our illusionary.
“Jade, sweetie, I need you to focus on me. Me only.” When those gem colored eyes met mine, I gave her my best attempt at a reassuring smile. I tried to be soothing, giving Jade a calm aura to latch onto, maybe act as a grounder, a way to pull out of her head.
“Hey,” she said shakily, still affected by the major turmoil which others were embattled in.
I smiled ruefully at her. “There she is.” We were the ones more affected by this event, our gifts were like a sponge, soaking up what others flung about. But I needed to push aside my telepathy woes and get this figured out, quickly. “Can you give everyone a bit of calming juju? I know you’re still riding their emotions, but we need to pull everyone out of it. I’m thinking our best shot is to make them stop panicking first.”
Taking a deep, shaky breath, Jade nodded and closed her eyes. She needed a moment to center herself before she could even think of calming anyone else. Just after, I felt a balm of soothing energy adhere like a second skin to my body.
“Where’d he go, Dane?” I heard Devlin ask.
“He’s in a car. Well, Holden’s truck, heading toward the fields,” Dane relayed.
He must have swiped the keys while he was gloating, Holden had set them on the table when we sat down. Thoughts still hammered at me, but I no longer cared. They didn’t puncture my bubble of tranquility. That was a nifty trick. One by one, other minds began to calm as Jade made her way to everyone affected, and together we pulled them out the damaging illusion. It was taking too long and we were now several minutes behind the illusionist.<
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My sight began to fuzz at the edges, disorienting me yet again, so I moved to sit in the nearest chair, remembering that they were no longer upright only as I began my descent to the floor. With my rear’s connection to the sticky floor, the fuzziness began to expand, making me dizzy. “We need to get medics here, check for injured.” As my vision tunneled to black, I realized I was going to lose consciousness. I’d have to work on that.
I careened into awareness with the jolting of my prone body. I was being picked up from the floor, completely encased by strong arms under my arms and knees so as to carry me with ease.
“Oh, thank God.” Jade breathed as she hung her head and repeated the litany mentally.
I winced as I registered a throbbing across the right side of my face. Bringing up my hand, I poked at the swollen and battered flesh, also finding a largish gash marring my cheek. Man, that was tender.
Don't poke it, Holden scolded as he pulled my hand away and gave it a tender kiss across the knuckles. We will get you all fixed up once we nail this guy down. The last of his thought was practically growled. Holden was pissed. I began to sit up but was once again caged by Holden's iron arms.
"I'm all right.” It wasn't a total lie. I was starting to feel better, though my face still felt like I had been hit by a cement truck, which reminded me. "What hit me? I swear I feel like it was a bat. It was silver. I remember that much." I opened my jaw, feeling the stiffness and pain all the way past my ear. When I turned my head to look at Holden, I wasn't surprised to see those mercury pools laser focused on me.
Once again, Holden was taking in every detail, cataloging my features, every ailment. I bristled but backed down just as quickly. He was right. I was fragile. This experience only brought that notion screaming into clarity. I was easy to evade, hurt.