The Mind Keepers (The Mind Readers) (13 page)

“Seriously? You really think I’m
going to trust S.P.I.?” Insane. The guy was freaking insane. “You pretend
you’re doing this for the greater good? Bull. You’re doing this for the same
reason men have been starting wars for centuries: for power. At least have the
balls to admit it.”

What’s the plan?
Cameron mentally asked me.
Attack together?

“If that’s what you wish to
think, so be it,” the man said.
 

Whether it was a whispered
message from the heavens or just plain luck, I realized in that moment what we
had to do.
No, not together. You attack
first. When he sends out his energy, that split second while he’s focused on
you is when he’ll be most vulnerable, when it will be hardest to block me. But
we better do it fast because your boyfriend is going to get himself killed
trying to reach you.

She threw a startled glanced
toward Lewis, who was still fighting his way here like a maniac. It was the
push she needed. Without pause, she faced Father Myron and threw her energy.
The man wavered but didn’t fall. When I saw him focus on Cameron, his eyes
intense and determined, that’s when I took her hand.

The energy came fast, my body familiar
with it now. Our powers mixed together and flowed from us in a brilliant burst
that tossed aside the rain, and made the trees and leaves rattle. Struck hard, Father
Myron’s face went pale, his body convulsing. He was doing his damndest to fight
us back, but it wasn’t working. We’d hit him when he was most vulnerable. Together
we were unstoppable. I tightened my hold on her hand and didn’t let go, not
even when Father Myron cried out, jerking back and forth like a worm on a hook.

“Cameron,” Lewis cried out.
“Watch your back.”

We both jerked our heads toward
him.

Five soldiers had formed a wall,
their rifles pointed at us. “Hell,” I muttered.

“Aim, fire!” one of them yelled.

I didn’t think, I didn’t have
time. Instinct had me focusing on the agents. Just like that, the energy we’d
used on Father Myron shifted, surging toward the line of agents. I couldn’t see
it, but I could feel the clear shield around us. Light faded, the sounds of
soldiers shouting faded. Vaguely, I was aware of Lewis and Aunt Lyndsey
panicked behind that line of agents, terrified we were going to die, yet unable
to get to us. But we didn’t die. The bullets bounced off the energy shield,
falling pathetically to the grass.

“Holy crap,” I whispered,
turning my shocked gaze to Cameron. “That’s amazing.”
 

She looked back at me, just as
startled. “I’m not doing it.”

“Then who…”

She quirked a brow.

It was me. I was creating the force
field. Surprised, I released my hold on her hand. The energy field wavered,
collapsing like a bubble that had burst.

“Hold it,” Lewis called out.

Aunt Lyndsey had managed to
destroy the line of soldiers with her energy, sending them falling over like
dominoes. They lay strewn unconscious about the tracks, their rifles useless
beside them. But there were more… at least fifteen more coming at her.

Reaching us, Lewis grasped onto
Cameron’s hand. “If I help, can you form the shield?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea
how. Nora was doing it.”

He raked his wet hair from his
face and glanced at me, as shocked as I felt.

I shook my head. “Don’t look at
me, I have no idea how I did it either.”

“Then Cameron and I will use our
powers to hold them back as well as we can.” Lewis swiped at the rain trailing
down his stoic features. “You search for Maddox.”

I didn’t hesitate but raced
toward the car where Father Myron had appeared. Jumping over his lifeless body,
I grabbed the hand-rail and leaped inside. My heart hammered frantically,
urging me to hurry. I could hear the shouts of the few remaining soldiers
fighting Aunt Lyndsey. She’d managed to destroy most of them, but S.P.I. would be
sending more agents, I had no doubt.

The car was pitch-black. Empty. Only
a few seats were bolted to the floor. Frantic to find him, I started to turn
away when a familiar sensation, a comforting sensation, wrapped around me,
urging me to stay. “He’s here.” I darted toward the dark shadows at the back of
the car, evading the chairs. “He’s in here!”

“Get him out, hurry!” Lewis
shouted back.

I found Maddox easily, a large,
dark shadow in the corner of the cart that I’d almost missed. Falling hard to
my knees, I slid toward him. His chin was on his chest, his eyes closed. Still,
so damn still. “Maddox, can you hear me?”

I cupped the sides of his face,
his cheeks rough with whiskers. He still lived, I had to remind myself,
resisting the urge to panic. His body was weak, but his energy was still
strong.
 

“Maddox!”

His thick lashes lifted, his hazy
gaze focusing on me. My hope flared. It hadn’t all been for nothing. He was
here; he was alive.

“Hands,” he muttered. “Tied.”

I pulled the knife from my boot
and reached around him, cutting the bindings that dug into his wrists. He was weak,
almost gone. The anger inside me flared, thrumming, urging me to take revenge.
This source was a real witch.

“You idiot,” he mumbled weakly.
“What the hell are you doing here?”

“A thank you would be nice.” I
shoved the knife back into its sheath and wrapped my arm around his waist,
helping him to his feet. As much as I wanted to hold him, kiss him, tell him
what a jerk he was for staying with S.P.I., we didn’t have time. He leaned heavily
on me. Gritting my teeth, and using what strength I retained, I somehow managed
to lead him toward the open door.
 

“Nora!” Lewis called out. “Could
use some help.”

Not a moment’s rest. I released
my hold on Maddox and jumped from the train. Lewis and Cameron were doing their
best to fight off five soldiers, while Aunt Lyndsey took on the three
remaining. But it wasn’t the remaining agents who worried me. In the distance I
could hear the sound of sirens. If the local police arrived, no way we were
getting out of this without media attention.

I helped Maddox down. Great, he
looked even worse in the moonlight. “You okay?”

“Nora!” Cameron called out.

With a sigh, I wrapped my arm
around Maddox’s waist, and we hobbled toward them. Maddox put more of his
weight on me with every step, making our process painfully slow.

“You need to go,” he gasped,
breathless with exhaustion. “Leave me behind.”

I ignored him, struggling on.
“We didn’t come all the way here to leave you behind, so shut up.”

“I can’t hold up much longer,”
Cameron warned, her body trembling. I didn’t miss the way she leaned against
Lewis. They were both done, and Aunt Lyndsey, only a few feet away, didn’t look
much better. I studied the area, taking in the multiple, unmoving bodies. We
had taken most of them out, but at least seven remained. We couldn’t fail now.
The police sirens grew louder. They were almost here.
 

Aunt Lyndsey leapt over a fallen
agent, breathlessly reaching our side. “Can you replace the shield with my
help?”

“I think so.” I glanced at Lewis.
“Take Cameron and get to the car. We’ll be there soon.”

“No, we need to help,” Cameron
protested.

Ignoring her, Lewis scooped
Cameron up into his arms just as she started to slump toward the ground. “We’ll
be waiting.”

They merged into the trees,
fading into the darkness.

“Looks like you’re stuck with
me,” I said to Maddox.

He grinned, his white teeth
flashing, charming even half-dead. “I wouldn’t want to be stuck with anyone
else.”

I paused at Aunt Lyndsey’s side.
Maddox leaned heavily into me, but I was barely aware. I needed to concentrate
on surviving, not on the impossible, gorgeous man beside me. “Ready?”
 

She nodded. “Ready.”

I slid my hand into hers. The
energy flared through my body, a heated wave that threatened to burn me from
the inside out. I bit my lower lip until I tasted blood, refusing to cry out.
Aunt Lyndsey’s hand tightened, as if she feared I’d bolt. I admit, I thought
about it. The source hit me hard, tearing through me like a tornado. What
Cameron and I had done was nothing compared to this. I stumbled under the
weight of the force, the entire world fading. The source of all energy, all
power…coursed through me.
Me.
 

I couldn’t hold on much longer. My
head began to ache, pain radiating through my body. One by one the soldiers
began to fall. They weren’t the only ones going down. My knees trembled under my
weight.

Unable to take the energy
radiating from us, I felt Maddox fade, leaning heavily on me. Crap, crap, crap.
I knew what was going to happen.

What do you do when a 180 pound
muscled man collapses?

You collapse with him.
 
 

Chapter 9

“Damn stupid,” a familiar voice
growled, breaking unceremoniously through the fog where I floated in wonderful,
peaceful oblivion. “She could have died.”

As much as I wanted to ignore
the pull of his voice, I couldn’t. His words were too angry, too shocking. Confused,
I tried to swim out of the gray haze toward the light hovering above. I wanted
to see the man who spoke, to touch his face, offer him comfort for some reason
I couldn’t even begin to understand, but I could barely get my eyes open. So
tired, so freaking tired.
 

“Why test her?” he asked, the hard
tone of his voice snapping through my consciousness and bringing me harshly back
into reality. Slowly, I became aware of my body tingling, the heaviness of my
limbs.

I felt the bed dip as he shifted
closer to me, his familiar scent wrapping around me like a warm blanket. His
scent and the touch of his hand on my face made me only too aware of my body
and his.
Maddox
. Slowly, ever so
slowly, I sank into my hard, cold form. I hadn’t wanted to return, but it was
worth it, whatever uncomfortableness I now felt was worth it in order to see
him.
 

“You’d be dead, you muscled oaf,
if I hadn’t,” my aunt growled back.

Oh God, they were arguing, and I
was pretty sure it was about me. The only good thing was that we were
apparently still alive; we’d escaped S.P.I.’s evil grip. Unless this was my personal
version of hell. Stuck for eternity with my aunt and Maddox in a crappy motel
room.
 
 

You okay?
Cameron’s voice whispered through my mind while my aunt
and Maddox continued to argue about what I was and wasn’t capable of doing.

They might not have noticed that
I had woken up, but Cameron had. Perhaps she’d felt my mind become alert, or
maybe I had shifted. I reached out mentally, feeling my aunt, Maddox and
Lewis’s familiar energies in the room. Oh joy, they were all here to witness my
emergence from unconsciousness.
 

Yeah, I’m fine. What happened?
I so wasn’t ready to open my eyes
and face Maddox, and even worse, face whatever had happened. Still, the
realization that we had actually succeeded hit me hard. Maddox was alive. He
was here. The sudden sting of tears caught me off guard. I was an emotional
mess, but I refused to cry. I was a warrior, damn it.

What S.P.I. agents were left, passed out from the energy you and Aunt
Lyndsey created,
Cameron continued.
You
fainted while connecting with the source. Aunt Lyndsey called for help. I heard
her and sent Lewis. Together, they managed to get you and Maddox back to the
car.

I resisted the urge to reach for
the itch on my side, not wanting Maddox to know I was conscious. Connecting to
Aunt Lyndsey’s energy, directly to the source, had been too much. So far these
new powers were a real pain in the ass.
The
police?

Aunt Lyndsey was able to make them think they heard us farther down the
road. Gave us enough time to escape.

Of course. She had my powers of
persuasion. Or maybe my powers came from her.
Where are we?

A motel in Virginia.

“You knew she could get injured,
but you didn’t freaking care,” Maddox growled. “It’s all about the win to you,
no matter what the casualties. How are you any different from S.P.I.?”

“Watch it,” Aunt Lyndsey seethed.
Lord, they were two alphas in a small room together, having a pissing contest. I
should’ve known they wouldn’t get along.

Get our aunt out of here, will you? Give me a moment with him.

Sure.
Cameron grew silent. I wasn’t sure where she sat, but there
was no shifting of movement, and I wondered what was keeping her. I didn’t have
to wonder long.

What was it like, feeling the full force of the source?

What had it been like? I knew
why she asked: this would be not only my future, but her future as well. For
some reason, I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about it.
Hard to explain. It was…amazing, scary. As if nothing else existed. In
that power, I realized oddly enough that everything would be okay. It didn’t
matter what happened. We still survived, our energy anyway.
 

Apparently I had appeased her curiosity,
for moments later I heard Cameron stand.
Hey,
just to let you know, he’s been a wreck since you fainted.

I wasn’t sure how to respond, so
I didn’t. But I couldn’t deny the heated flush that tiptoed up my neck and into
my cheeks. I didn’t want to care, but I did. The urge to laugh overwhelmed me. I
didn’t need a guy in my life. In fact, I’d resigned myself to only the
occasional fling. I’d known after the relationship with Maddox that I could
never settle down with anyone. And honestly, I’d been fine with that. But
now…now he was making me think stupid thoughts I didn’t want to have.