The Scribe (5 page)

I remember you, Sasha,
Ava said again, inside my head, urging me on. I collected up the pieces, gathering and shaping them, until they coalesced into a single life.

Mine.

I blinked open my eyes. Arlis lay motionless under my touch. Ava’s hand gripped my arm, anchoring me. I was so light-headed, I might have fallen over, if this tiny girl wasn’t holding me up.

I reached into Arlis’s mind and rewrote him, reassembling the pieces of him to form a new picture and scribing his mind into something better than it was. I left every memory of every wrong act intact, but made them barbs in his mind; thorns that he could never remove and that would remind him of what he had done. Then I crafted a basic need, stronger than any other, stronger than self-preservation itself.

A need to fix what he had done.

That last part drained every parcel of energy I had left. I slumped over, my head falling to my chest, my eyes tugging close.

I fell into Ava, and somehow she held me up.

The training area still reeked of old grease and ancient dust. I circled Ava, tracking her, keeping my eyes on her small hands. They could move pretty fast when she wanted them to. She watched me, her gaze flitting over my body, looking for the next move I would make. She finally worked her way up to my eyes, locking stares with me. Then she broke out into a grin.

I kept my face serious, although the compulsion to smile back was almost overpowering. “This isn’t a game, Ava.”

“It’s not?” she asked, a laugh in her voice.

“Close combat training is important,” I said. “You need to be able to defend yourself.”
In case I’m not there, next time.
I kept that thought to myself.

She moved lightning quick, leaping out and punching me in the gut, then hopping back and regaining her balance, like a bird on a wire. I barely felt the punch—it was like being batted by a kitten.

I sighed and stood up straight. “Is that all you’ve got? C’mon.” I crooked my fingers, urging her closer. “Hit me as hard as you can.”

She stood straight as well. “I just did.”

“That was pathetic.”

She leaped at me, both arms raised, and brought them down on my chest, beating me with her fists. She knocked me off balance, forcing me to take a step back, but I easily caught her wrists in my hands, holding her close.

“I surprised you that time, didn’t I?” she asked.

“A little.” I couldn’t help but smile. “But now you’re trapped.”

“That’s awful.” She smiled up at me. “Poor me.”

“You’re not taking this seriously.” I didn’t let her go. I liked having her close way too much for that. She didn’t try to move away either.

“I take you very seriously, Sasha,” she said quietly. “Always.”

I was going to kiss her. Someday. Probably soon. Very soon.

But not today.

I spun her till she faced away and locked my arms tight around her. “Try to break my grip,” I instructed.

“But I don’t want to.” I could feel her smile, even though I couldn’t see her face. Definitely kissing her. Very, very soon.

“Ava,” I warned. Her safety could depend on this, and that wasn’t something I was willing to mess with.

She stomped on my foot and shoved her elbow into my gut, both of which actually hurt a little, then she twisted out of my loosened grip and spun to face me, stepping back out of my reach.

She crouched into the fighting stance I had taught her.

“Better,” I said.

She smirked. “Try to grab me.”

“Grab you how?” I pictured grabbing her and kissing her, but I didn’t think that was what she meant. Maybe.

“Any way.”

I shot a hand out to her left shoulder, but just before my hand touched her, she dodged it. I tried grabbing her right wrist, but she whisked her hand away. I lunged for her waist with both hands, but she twirled away right before I got there. She was a slippery eel all of a sudden.

I stopped. “How did you do that?” I tried to keep the surprise out of my voice.

“You know how I promised to keep out of your head?” She gave me a wicked smile. “I don’t always keep that promise.”

I narrowed my eyes, crouched, and lunged for her again. This time she let me catch her.

Probably because I had decided to kiss her after all.

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The Scribe
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If you’ve read this story before any other Mindjack works, there's much more:

Mindjack Trilogy (novels) and Mindjack Origins (shorts)

Mind Games
 
(short story)

Open Minds
 
(Book One)

Closed Hearts
 
(Book Two)

The Handler
 
(short novella)

The Scribe
 
(short novella)

Free Souls
 
(Book Three)

coming soon

find all of Susan’s stories here

Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can't read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can't be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf's mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she's dragged deep into a hidden underworld of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

“
Open Minds
pushed me to the edge of my imagination and then tossed me over the edge as I screamed for more. When you can literally control the thoughts of others, how far will you go?” —
Michelle Davidson Argyle
, author of
Monarch
and
Cinders

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Open Minds
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