Burn

by Adrianne Lemke

  Decision made, I raced to the office and prepared to absorb any flames that came between me and the victim.

  “He isn’t worth saving.”

  It took me longer than I wanted to admit to realize the voice wasn’t my own. “Who are you?” I asked.

  The unknown person’s amusement was clear in his response. “Someone who uses any tool at his disposal to do what needs to be done.”

  Snorting, I kept running. “I suppose I’m one of your ‘tools’? I don’t think so.”

  I could almost sense his redirect before he responded. “Perhaps tool wasn’t the right term. More a toy, really. Not completely necessary, but fun to use.”

  Right. That wasn’t creepy at all. I chose to ignore the voice, and continue in my quest to save the victim, only to find myself standing still. No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t move. My breaths came in heavy pants as the smoke made its way into my lungs.

  “I can’t let you stop this, Brennan. Now, go back outside like a good boy, and meet me at the end of the block. I think we need to have a face-to-face meeting.”

  Without my say-so, my body swung around and left the burning victim. I closed my eyes against the painful moans that were cut off as the door slammed behind me. No matter how hard I strained, I couldn’t break free of the monster’s control.

  “Not monster, kiddo. Just someone who is willing to do whatever needs to be done.”

  “Who exactly was the man you just killed?” I asked out loud, a bit surprised he allowed me to speak.

  “A criminal. Someone who used his position at the head of a company to hurt people.”

  I huffed. “Are you completely blind to the irony of using your powers to hurt people? You’re hurting me. You’re risking hurting any firemen that come to help your victims.”

  “OUR targets are worth the collateral damage. Don’t worry. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. You’re my new favorite. The old one is a bit… broken at the moment. Besides, he’s learned most of my tricks by now.”

  My anger slowly gave way to confusion when I realized he sounded almost… distressed at the state of his former… ‘victim’ would be the best word. Emotional and conflicted. Maybe something I could use in some way?

  The smell of smoke had lightened by the time I reached what was apparently our meeting place. The man who stepped out of the shadows almost seemed to appear out of nowhere. Impossible.

  “It’s possible,” he declared boldly. “You’ve met others with powers now, Brennan. You should learn quickly that anything is possible.”

  His physical and mental voices were the same. Oily and smooth, like a con artist who knew he could get away with murder. And apparently had. His appearance surprised me. Half his face was scarred. A burn of some sort, it seemed.

  “Yes. My cousin wasn’t exactly the nicest of men,”—he indicated his scars, and proved even more to me that my thoughts were open to his mind.—“But he’s no longer with us. Too bad.”

  He sounded about as sorry about his cousin’s death as I was about Greg Anderson’s.

  “Another who deserved everything he got. I learned a little something about him from your former puppet master. He… well, let’s just say he made me quite curious about you. I had to learn everything I could in order to use you properly.”

  “You’re Kindred. Jeremiah. The person who worked with Laurie and Tray before they came here. Why are you doing this?”

  He still hadn’t allowed me to move on my own, and I couldn’t help but wonder what his next step was.

  Kindred frowned. Then, as if having a tooth pulled, finally said. “I couldn’t push so many special people to forget completely. Those with powers have minds that can fight my own abilities, and if they would have kept pushing, they would have found me. They would have pushed me away from here. And I still need you.”

  “To push your own agenda? To take out people without any kind of proof they deserve punishment? I can’t be part of that!”

  His laugh gave me chills. “Oh, Brennan, you are so naïve. You’ve been a part of it for weeks now. Well… years, really. The Mastermind has been using you since you were a child.”

  That was enough to make me finally stop struggling against his control. For a moment, anyway. Someone had used me even as a kid? I would have to go back and look into the fires I’d been accused of setting. If anyone had been hurt… I couldn’t handle it.

  “I can’t answer that question. I was only able to discern that the Mastermind wasn’t ready to let you go, so he allowed your power to protect you from your foster father. Given the same situation, I would have done exactly as he did.”

  Okay, so he wasn’t going to allow me to be killed. I guess that was good to know. “I appreciate the thought, but you can’t just use me like this. Didn’t your friend…” I stopped to think. “Jason, right? Didn’t Jason teach you the dangers of manipulating people like this?”

  “He did. And I do regret how everything turned out. And… You remembered!” He interrupted himself suddenly. “The conversation I made you forget, how did you…?”

  The details still escaped me, but somehow I knew he had been at least partly responsible for nearly destroying Jason’s mind. “You know they called Lena, right?”

  His eyes closed tightly for a moment, another moment of apparent regret. “I know. My time here may end up being cut a bit short.”

  “Too bad.” My voice clearly showed my lack of sincerity.

  Kindred’s eyes narrowed. “You know, just because I won’t be here, doesn’t mean I can’t still use you. Don’t get too comfortable.”

  “I can’t move my own body right now. Comfortable isn’t exactly on the table,” I snapped. “Why are you using me? From what I can tell, you could pretty much just tell your victims to walk out a window, and they would.”

  He shrugged. “We’ve talked enough for now. You’re going to come with me, and I’m going to pay a little visit to your friends. I need to see what they’re planning so I can keep you from them.”

  My body unlocked, but the movement still wasn’t by my choice. I found myself following my captor to his vehicle. “Now, lay in the back seat and go to sleep. I’ll wake you when we reach our destination.”

  As much as I wanted to fight him, my body put me into the back seat. Once I was laid on my side, I knew no more.

  EIGHTEEN

  Jade

  “None of these people are innocents,” I told Tray as he drove us back to Brennan’s house.

  I flipped through the files. “None of them had anything the police were ever able to get them on, but they were suspected of plenty, from corporate crimes to murder.”

  “How would this guy know any of that?” Tray asked. “Unless… if it is Kindred, he can make himself look like anyone. Or at least project images into other people’s minds. He could get anywhere.”

  Which made me question why he’d attract attention by using someone like Brennan. It wasn’t exactly the quietest way to fulfill his agenda. “What else do you know about Kindred? Anything that might explain why he’s taken Brennan?”

  He shrugged, looking over his shoulder as he turned onto Brennan’s street. “Not sure. I heard he threatened to do the same to Jason at one point, but never followed through. Maybe he wanted a chance to follow his twisted dream of having a super powered sidekick. Whether a willing one or not.”

  “Your friend Jason was willing, wasn’t he?”

  He shook his head. “Only briefly. Then Kindred gave him a bit too much of a push. And even when he was, he wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  We reached Brennan’s house. After parking, we got out and rushed into the house. “What did you find, Cade?” I asked as we ran into the living room.

  “I was able to connect to Brennan. His mind is free, but the man who has him is controlling his body. From what I saw, I don’t believe he’s planning to return Brennan to us any time soon.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Did you see anything t
hat could help us find them?”

  “I sent Cole to where they met, but he didn’t make it in time. I believe Brennan is unconscious at the moment. The last I saw, he climbed into a car.”

  The door opened and slammed shut in an uncharacteristic show of anger from Cole. “There was another fire near the meeting point. One death. No one saw Brennan there, but it was him. I got a strong hit when I managed to touch the door. He tried to go in and save the victim. Someone stopped him.”

  “Kindred,” I whispered. “He used him to kill that person. Then he took Bren away.”

  Tray practically shot his little red ball around the room. It careened wildly against the walls and back to him. “We need Lena here, now!”

  His urgency was contagious. “She’s coming. We can’t force it any sooner,” Cade answered. “Tray, we need you to calm down, okay?”

  Tray was pacing, his ball flying angrily through the air. The couch rose slowly into the air. “Tray, breathe. You need to breathe. Bring your power back under control. Just settle.”

  He breathed in slowly, and blew out the breath in a bit of a huff. The ball kept moving, but now he was focusing more on it and the couch dropped back to the floor with a loud thunk! His mind was a whirlwind, his thoughts creeping into my consciousness without me even trying. He was mostly thinking about how he hated that he lost control. Part of him, however, was hoping to find Kindred, so he could lose control on the other man.

  “You know, if Kindred decided your powers were strong enough, he would probably try to take control of you as well,” Laurie spoke up from the kitchen door. “He already has some idea of what you’re able to do. We don’t need to show him any more.”

  Tray huffed again, this time throwing in a dark grin. “The guy can get into people’s heads. You don’t think he already knows exactly what we all can do? He probably knew as soon as he met us.”

  Laurie sighed in a way that told the rest of us Tray was correct. “Yeah. I don’t doubt that. He always does seem to know more than he should.”

  “It does make me wonder why he hasn’t tried to take control of Tray. I thought he would, knowing his attraction to other people with strong abilities,” Laurie continued.

  I sifted through all the knowledge anyone in the room had gathered about Kindred. We knew quite a bit, although, not enough to stop him. It was potentially what I needed to form a hypothesis. “Maybe because Tray has a solid family base. Between us and his grandparents, he’s loved and pretty solid on his self-esteem.”

  “Brennan has family,” Tray objected. His hazel eyes flashed with an anger he couldn’t hide.

  I hated that I couldn’t help him settle back to his normal, happy self. Instead, I needed to make a point that would likely cause him even more emotional upheaval. “Yes, he has a wonderful family. One he feels he can’t trust. He hasn’t formed any strong bonds with anyone since he pushed them away. And the main reason Kindred connected to Jason was that he saw him as his rescuer.”

  The others considered my explanation for a moment. “That could be it,” Tray admitted. “Or he knows most of my close personal friends are powerful, mind-based psychics who would protect me with everything they have. Maybe he doesn’t realize just how dedicated we all are to protecting the people who call to us for help.”

  Laurie smiled. “You’re the one who said he knows about all of us. He knows. It seems, though, that he doesn’t feel we are enough of a threat to stay away from Brennan. I think Kindred took Brennan because he knew if he stayed with us, we would work together to protect him.”

  “We will,” I emphasized. “Kindred will not be allowed to keep using Brennan as a weapon.”

  Despite my strong words, I definitely had doubts. Would we be able to stop him? It had been so easy for Kindred to steal Brennan right out from under our noses. We’d been helpless to stop him. What could we do to stop someone with that kind of power?

  “Call Lena again. Let her know the situation has changed,” Laurie told Tray. “Maybe she’ll be able to get here sooner.”

  He nodded and moved into the next room to make the call.

  “What if she can’t?” Rae asked. “What do we do next?”

  “Try to connect to the psycho who has Brennan,” I snapped. “Do our best to get him back before…”

  Cade’s somber voice cut in. “Before someone else dies.”

  NINETEEN

  Lena

  My recently discovered cousin was already becoming a large pain in the butt. His manipulation of Jason hadn’t been enough? Now he had to go and ruin someone else’s life?

  After Tray’s first call, I’d spoken to Jason. His already pale skin had whitened another shade just hearing that Jeremiah was off causing problems. Or might be. Tray hadn’t been completely certain it was him. He’d simply believed it was unlikely another person with similar powers had set up shop less than a day’s travel from my current home, and where Jeremiah used to live.

  I agreed with his assessment.

  “You need to get here ASAP!” Tray urged at his second call. “Brennan is missing, and we have no idea where Kindred took him. Please come!”

  “I’ve spoken to Jason, and he wants me to go. But I still need to chat with Hannah to see if she or anyone else is able to get Jason to his physical therapy appointment. He can’t go by himself, and the others have stuff going on. But I will try to get there.”

  I hated how desperate Tray sounded, but I couldn’t simply leave. I had responsibilities here.

  “Paul wants to come with me,” I continued. My voice was calm and sure, an attempt to keep Tray from flying off the handle at me. “He doesn’t like the idea of me travelling on my own.”

  “You are under eighteen. I guess I can understand that,” Tray accepted. “I needed to let you know the change in status here. Your cousin seemed to respect you and your abilities. I’m hoping, with you here, we might get him to leave Brennan out of his personal war. We want to help Brennan learn to control his powers, but he already doesn’t want them. Being used to kill people won’t help.”

  “I’ll get back to you in a few minutes,” I promised. “I’ll call Hannah now.”

  He thanked me, and hung up. I sighed, and stared at the phone for a moment. Movement to the left of me caught my attention. I glanced over as the dirt in my plant started to move, dancing around a bit until they formed the words: COME UPSTAIRS.

  Jason needed something. We’d agreed to the use of potted plants as a way for him to get our attention. It was less annoying then a bell, at least. I stuck my phone in my pocket and headed up.

  “What do you need, Jase?” I asked. He was able to walk now, but only with the use of a cane. And very slowly. He still couldn’t do steps without someone holding him up.

  He eyed me warily. “You need to go, Lena. You don’t have to stay here. If I miss one appointment, it won’t hurt anything. I’ll just do some of the exercises here. From what you said, the guy Kindred is after now has dangerous powers. He could be hurting people. No one deserves to have their free will taken away.”

  The hurt in his voice was clear as day. He would probably never completely get over everything he’d been through, no matter how much he tried to pretend he would.

  “I’ll go, but you aren’t supposed to do too much without supervision yet. The doctors don’t want you to have a relapse.”

  He sighed. His dark eyes glared at the cane resting against the arm of the couch. “I hate this thing,” he admitted softly. “I hate everything it represents. But I won’t be the reason more people die. Go, Lena. Take care of the people who really need it. If I were in any condition…”

  His voice trailed off, and he shifted his glare to the window. Despite his desire to remain safe, he would choose to help people. Again and again he made the choice to do the right thing, not the easy thing. So even now, he wanted to help me stop Jeremiah.

  “I know, Jase,” I answered softly. “I’ll call Paul, and we’ll go. I’ll keep in touch, okay? It may take some ti
me, but I’m hoping—with Laurie and Tray’s help—we may be able to stop Jeremiah this time.”

  His eyes met mine, and he raised an eyebrow as he warned. “Don’t forget how much he hates being called Jeremiah.”

  “Right.” The name had almost physically hurt him last time we’d met. As if even such a slight reminder that he was someone other than Kindred had been the worst thing he could imagine.

  I shook myself a bit, then asked. “Is there anything else you need before I go? The others might hunt me down for leaving you alone.”

  It wasn’t an exaggeration. The poor guy hadn’t had a moment to himself since he’d been in the hospital. If I had to guess, I’d say he was trying to kick me out just so he could be by himself.

  My comment drew a laugh from him. A rare, happy sound from the somber man. “They might. Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you. They’ll get it.” He rubbed his stubbled chin thoughtfully. “You know, once they find out you’re going after Kindred, some of them would probably join you.”

  “Paul already is,” I answered with a grin.

  “Kiddo, Paul would join you for life if he could,” Jason answered.

  At my shocked gasp, he waved a hand. “I may be a bit messed up, but I know my kids. Paul is head over heels, Lena. You can see into people’s minds. It can’t be that much of a surprise for you.”

  My surprise, as he might have guessed, was more at the fact that Jason had noticed. He wasn’t a selfish man, by any means. I thought—with the scarring in his mind, and the physical trauma he’d been through—he was unlikely to have paid enough attention to Paul and myself to come to such a conclusion.

  “I know. And he’s a great guy,” I agreed. “It’s just… I honestly hadn’t expected you to notice.”

  He grinned. Again, a bit of a rarity at this point. “I am pretty observant.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. “And Hannah noticed. But I had suspected.”