The Mind Games (16 page)

“Good, very good,” my father said, as if he was looking over crops. He strolled from the room and it was all I could do not to lunge for him, teeth barred like some wild animal. He paused in the hall and looked back. “Remember, Cameron, your friends.”

In other words, if I didn’t open up, Caroline, Lewis,
everyone
would suffer.
Screw you,
dangled from the tip of my tongue, but I managed to keep my opinion to myself.

Turning his back to me, my dad started talking to one of the guards in a low voice that bespoke of secrecy. I shifted, tilting my head to get a better look. The guard was blond, tall, familiar in some way. Who was he? As if sensing my attention, his hazel gaze met mine. I snapped my head forward, facing the window. But I knew, deep down, somehow I knew him and it left me strangely uneasy.

Maddox knelt on one knee in front of me, drawing my attention to him.

“I’m sorry,” I said sweetly, “I can’t marry you. We’re from two different worlds; it would never work.”

He glared up at me as he lifted a chain that was bolted to the floor.

“Wow,” I laughed. “Chaining me to the floor? You guys must think I’m really powerful, or you must just be really weak.”

He slapped manacles around my ankles. “Tap into his powers,” Maddox whispered his voice barely audible over the rattle of the chain.

I frowned. “What?”

He tugged at the chain, as if testing its strength and in a voice just as quiet, whispered, “You can tap into their energy. Use their powers.”

“But…”

He glanced at the guards, as if making sure we hadn’t been overheard. “It’s how you moved the gun. You tapped into your dad’s powers.”

“I…I can’t,” I whispered.

He stood slowly. “You have to. It’s your last chance.”

Stunned, I merely sat there watching him walk away. I wanted to ignore his words; he had betrayed me, after all. But I admit I felt a keen sense of hope as he moved into the corridor, disappearing from view. Was he trying to save me, or set me up?

Suddenly I was back in Sierra’s living room. I could feel those eerie light-colored eyes on me.
“If I were a betting sort of woman, I would bet that when your powers have flared and become stronger, there has always been someone around you. Another mind reader. You, my dear, have power like everyone else. But you are also able to draw on the powers of others. You are able to use their gifts.”

My father stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. “Shall we begin?” So, Jake wasn’t doing the dirty work; my father was actually going to show off his skills and try to break into my mind. He settled at the table across from me.

Could I use my father’s powers? Had I used them that day I’d moved the pistol? My heart hammered madly as I lifted my gaze and stared into my dad’s familiar face. His lips were moving; he was talking, but I couldn’t hear the words over the roar of blood to my ears. I glanced at the window, knowing Maddox was behind that glass with the rest of them, watching, waiting for me to act.

“You can leave,” my father said, his voice finally penetrating my senses. But he wasn’t talking to me. The guards nodded and the door closed behind them. We were alone.

Suddenly, it was merely Dad and me, and it dawned that he believed I wouldn’t try to escape because of Lewis and Caroline. Or he wanted to show off. He wouldn’t want the guards in the room. No, he’d want those men and woman behind the glass to think he had total control. Control meant they’d trust him. Trusting him meant more money and power. If there was one thing I’d learned about my dad, it was that he craved power. I planned to use that weakness to destroy him.

It’s time,
the words whispered through my mind, and I knew they were true.

My dad shifted, leaning toward me. “You have one last chance, Cameron, to tell me where Aaron is located.”

Arrogance practically oozed from his pores. I didn’t say a word; he was trying to prove his loyalty. He’d hurt Nora. He would hurt me. He’d give up his own family to the cause. So much for blood being thicker than water. To think I’d grown up wondering what my dad was like; wishing my father had been there for me. But as I had sadly come to realize, just because someone was your family, didn’t mean they had your best interests at heart.

“As you know,” he started. “We need to uncover the location of the cells. You, in particular, know what Aaron is capable of as you’ve experienced the harm he can do. He needs to be brought to justice before he destroys others.”

“And who will bring you to justice for the things you’ve done?” I asked softly.

His face didn’t change, but I saw the flicker of anger in his hazel eyes. Eyes that matched mine in color. It was the only thing we had in common.

“One more chance,” he said just as softly.

I leaned forward, my chains rattling, and peered directly into his eyes. “Go to hell.”

His mental energy hit me full force. I gasped, falling back against my seat. It felt like someone had slammed a boulder into my chest. The entire world faded as pain radiated through my body. Instantly, he’d invaded my mind. I screamed inside, scrambling to push him back, but I couldn’t. He was too powerful, suddenly so very powerful.

My memories were sucked from me, as if we watched a movie on fast-forward. The few memories I had of my mom and dad. The memory of being left with Grandma. Memories of the many schools I’d attended. Memories of moving, trying to evade those who wished to capture us. Recent memories of the time I’d spent here, at the compound.

He saw it all. What I had seen when he’d arrived. What I had heard. What I had felt. Then the memories slowed. Nora… at the shopping center. Nora coming for me, and I knew in only seconds he’d know Grandma worked with us. And I knew, in moments, he’d know that my mother was only five hours away in Savannah.

And then she was there…hovering in my mind, and the memory was painfully slow.

My mother.

As if we were connected, I felt his shock all the way to my bones.

“No,” I thought I heard him whisper.

“You, my dear, have power like everyone else. But you are also able to draw on the powers of others. You are able to use their gifts,”
Sierra’s words whispered through my mind once more. This was the moment I needed, while he was caught off guard.

I dove inside where the source swirled, where the energy connected me to the world…the universe. I floated there and didn’t want to leave, but I knew I had to. I knew I had to gather the power and return. Lewis needed me. Mom needed me.

I dredged up the energy and rushed forward. It was like diving off a twenty story building and hitting the concrete below. His mental wall held hard, but I swore I felt his energy waver. Fear and anger spurred me forward. Failure sure as hell wasn’t an option. My own energy pulsed through my veins, burning my skin; my insides felt on fire but I wouldn’t stop.

I swore in the distance I heard someone cry out. My father? I couldn’t see, I had no sense of time, the world had disappeared. Just as suddenly as my memories rushed through my mind, I saw his bursting into color and I realized I had broken through his wall.

A young boy growing up in a compound much like this one. I saw him leaving for college. I saw him purposefully meeting Aaron and becoming friends with the man. I saw him purposefully meeting my mother and marrying her. It had been an act. His entire life had been an act orchestrated in order to get closer to other mind readers. He’d been born and bred for this lifestyle. Horrible, disgusting memories that flipped through my mind like a dealer flipping through playing cards.

Then suddenly the memories shifted, slowing… a memory he’d tried hard to block, a memory he didn’t want me to see.

A guard dressed in black stood in the doorway of my father’s office. “Sir, we found your mother.”

My father, seated behind his desk, glanced up. “Does she have the girl?”

“Yes.”

My father nodded, stacking some paperwork together, his movements sure, unhurried, as if he had all the time in the world. “Get the girl. Make sure she’s alive.”

The guard hesitated in the doorway. “And your mother?”

My dad leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Whatever happens, happens.”

The guard hesitated, looking highly uncomfortable. “Just to make sure, you’re okay if she’s a casualty?”

My father turned slightly and picked up his phone, already dismissing the man and thinking of his next meeting. “Understood.”

The guard nodded and left. The memory ended.

Startled, I pulled back from his mind. My lungs expanded, my pupils flared. I felt like I was on an alien planet and my body had yet to adjust. Vaguely I was aware of voices outside in the hall, but the words were muffled. My father sat across from me, sweat trailing down the sides of his face, his eyes blazing.

“It was an act,” I whispered, the words buzzing in my mind so that I wasn’t sure if I spoke them out loud. “Your marriage, your friendships…”

You know nothing.

He’d spoken to me through his mind and I wondered if he was afraid that his coworkers would know the truth about him. I shoved my chair back and stood, the chains rattling. Loosened by Maddox, they fell to the floor, taking the handcuffs with them. I was free.

“You gave the okay to kill your own mother!”

He stumbled from his chair, weaving about the room like a drunken man. He was trying to get as far away from me as possible, and I realized with some shock that he was afraid.

“She betrayed me!”

“Yeah, well, like mother like daughter.” I threw my energy forward. The chair he’d been sitting in flew across the room, hitting him across the chest and sending him back into the wall. There was no mistaking it now…they knew I’d gone crazy.

A siren screeched to life, the noise piercing and irritating. I had to resist the urge to cover my ears. The door flew open, but there were no guards … no, instead Maddox stood there.

“Come on!”

I didn’t question his loyalty but dashed toward the door. I felt no weakness, but amazingly well considering what I’d done. I’d battled my father and won. My body practically buzzed with the urge to run, to live, to
be
. But I knew my arrogance would only trip me up. I needed to focus.

“Hurry.” Maddox grabbed my arm and jerked me forward. “The only reason you were able to break out is because your father underestimated your powers. He won’t again.”

“Why are you helping me?” I asked as we raced down the hall past guards who didn’t even bat an eyelash because they assumed Maddox was taking me back to the cells. They hadn’t yet realized I was the escapee, but they would soon.

“Don’t really have an option, now do I?”

“We always have a choice,” I said, repeating the words Nora had said to me days ago. So why had he done it? For the first time in days I felt the inkling of hope. Maybe Maddox could change. Maybe my father hadn’t brainwashed him so completely that he was beyond redemption.

We reached the gate and Maddox pressed his palm to the keypad. As the door opened, Ellen surged to her feet. “Stop!” A pistol gleamed from the end of her fingertips, but her arms were shaking with nerves. She obviously hadn’t shot a gun often.

“Calm down,” Maddox said, his palms out in surrender.

“I order you to stop!”

She wasn’t a true guard; she was merely the woman behind the desk. If I could defeat my father, I sure as heck could defeat her. I focused on that gun and threw my energy across the room. Easy peasy. The pistol tore from her hands and went skittering across the room. Maddox scooped it up and we raced out the door.

“You’re outnumbered,” she said. “There is no way you can escape.”

“Watch us,” I hissed, shoving my way out the door.

The yard had erupted into chaos. Lights were flashing, the siren’s blaring. Maddox grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the parking lot. Guards were screaming out orders, their figures dark and intimidating in the night.

Maddox shoved me behind a Tahoe. I fell to the ground; pebbles biting into my hands.

“We run north.” He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it to the ground, then pulled a pistol from a holster on his back.

I jumped to my feet. “No!”

He jerked his gaze toward me. “What the hell do you mean?”

“We have to get Lewis and the children.”

He latched onto my arm, pulling me so close I could feel his warm breath on my lips. “We don’t have time!”

I tore away from his hold and stumbled back a few steps. “I’m not leaving without him.”

He was silent for a long moment, staring hard at me while the sirens blared and the guards rushed around us. It was like we were the calm center of the storm. “Go to the north end of the fence. I’ll try to cut the electricity and hold them back as long as I can.” His jaw clenched, his eyes unreadable. “Then you’re on your own.”

I nodded, feeling the sting of tears. He was doing this for me, although he’d probably get caught. This would most likely be the last time I’d see him.

“Do you understand?”

“I understand.” Without another word, without time for regret, I turned and raced back toward compound three.

Light flooded the area illuminating the grounds; large spotlights that made the night look like day. I grasped the door handle of Compound Three with trembling hands, but it wouldn’t budge. Nothing. Lewis, Deborah, and Caroline were all trapped inside.

The siren continued to blare until I wanted to scratch at my ears in relief. The cacophony made it impossible to hear the approaching guards who ran around the grounds, shouting out orders. They were coming for me and soon it would be too late. If captured again, this time Maddox wouldn’t be there to help.

I pounded at the door. “Come on, come on!”

The shouts grew closer. I didn’t dare look back. Lewis had been able to unlock doors with his mind, but he knew the mechanics. I hadn’t a clue how the keypad worked, but maybe I could destroy it. I closed my eyes, blocking out the shouts, ignoring the panic that pounded through my body. Taking in a deep breath, I focused all my energy down my arm, to my fingertips and pressed my hand to the keypad. My insides grew warm; my skin tingled as the world around me faded. I floated in a sea of pure energy. This was me. This was the source.