The Mind Keepers (The Mind Readers) (9 page)

She jerked away. “No, not until
we know for sure. Not until we check every inch of this prison.”

“Why do you care?” I finally
snapped, my emotions and worry getting the better of me.

She turned her startled gaze my
way. “Because he’s a human being who doesn’t deserve to be tortured, doesn’t
deserve to die.”

“Or is it because you like him?”
There, I’d said it. Part of me was horrified, part of me relieved.

Her shocked gaze gave way to
fury. She tore her attention from me to pierce Lewis with her unrelenting
attention. Lewis hadn’t said a word, but I knew he was awaiting her answer as
much as me. “Are you freaking joking?”

No one responded. Aunt Lyndsey watched
as if finding mild amusement in our silly, human emotions, and it was then that
I realized how stupid I’d been.

Cameron released a wry laugh. “I
thought we were beyond this. I thought you trusted me.”

Okay, yeah, I felt sort of
guilty when she said it that way. “You can’t deny you’re interested in him,” I
argued. “More than most people would be.”

“No, I wasn’t. Not until I had
the dream that he was going to be shipped out. In fact, I feel damn guilty for
not thinking about him at all when he saved me more than once.”

So, she was saying she owed him,
nothing more? Truth was she had seemed overly happy these last few months.
Yeah, she’d mourned our mother’s death, but she practically glowed around
Lewis. They were obviously in love. God, I was being an idiot and ruining the
only decent relationship I had. Or maybe my emotions were whack since I’d
inherited my powers. Whatever it was, I didn’t like it.

“And yeah,” she snapped. “You
know what? I do like him because he’s fun, and he’s a good guy and he doesn’t
deserve to be tortured. He doesn’t deserve to be forgotten like we did, while
only God knew what happened to him.”

But I hadn’t forgotten him. No, I’d
thought about him every damn day. Every damn night. Even my dreams were muddled
memories of him. He had burrowed inside of me and wouldn’t let go.

“Ladies, can we save this cat
fight for another, more convenient time?” Aunt Lyndsey asked.

“And you,” Cameron said,
ignoring our aunt and turning her anger toward Lewis. “How can you doubt me? I
left this place, risked my life to escape this compound, left Maddox and the
man I thought was my father so that I could find you.”

Score one for Cameron. Truth
was, I believed her. It might have taken me awhile, but I did. I’d been a
complete ass. I couldn’t explain it. My powers? No, more like unresolved
issues. Hell, maybe Maddox was right after all, we did need closure. The
problem was, now that I was in the process of obtaining that closure, I wasn’t
sure if I wanted it.

Lewis sighed. “Cameron—”

“And you didn’t even remember
me! But still I stayed with you!”

“I’m sorry.”

He reached for her, but she
ignored him, brushing past all of us and heading farther into the compound. “Just
don’t.”

It was their first real fight,
and I’d started it. “Sorry,” I muttered, but Lewis merely shook his head,
obviously not in the mood for my apologies.

I sighed, pushing aside my
guilt. I’d have time later to make peace. Instead, I focused on my
surroundings. Maddox was gone, I had to accept the facts. But there had to be
something here to indicate his whereabouts. The place was creepily silent, way
too quiet. Something didn’t make sense. It was abandoned, empty, yet there was
something off.

“There are three buildings,”
Cameron stated, back to business.

I shoved the backpack into
Lewis’ hands and started after her, determined to uncover some fraction of the
truth.

“Offices.” She pointed toward
the first building. “Then interrogation rooms, then the prison ward. Spread out
or stay together?”

“Together,” Aunt Lyndsey said.
“I’m still not quite sure we’re alone.”

“Wouldn’t they have attacked by
now?” I asked as we moved across the large, overgrown lawn.

She shrugged but still looked
uneasy. “Probably.”

“Did you have any clue he wasn’t
here?” Cameron asked me as I fell into step beside her. I didn’t miss the
suspicion in her voice. I might trust Cameron, but she didn’t trust me, and it
was my own fault.
 

“If I had, don’t you think I
would have mentioned it?” Damn, why hadn’t I asked him when I’d traveled? “We
didn’t meet here when I mind traveled, we met at the college locker room where…”

I didn’t dare go on.

Where we’d first kissed.

But they didn’t notice my lapse
because the sudden sound of a soft cough coming from building three had us
pausing in surprise. “What the hell was that?”

Cameron shook her head. Aunt
Lyndsey nodded toward Lewis, who moved stealthily toward the building. At the
door, he paused, his back to the cement.
  

Surprise attack it was then. I
should’ve freaking known we weren’t alone. I’d sensed it, hadn’t I? Why hadn’t
I trusted my instincts?

Aunt Lyndsey nodded toward
Cameron. She moved forward, latched onto the doorknob and pulled. None of us expected
it to open, but it easily glided free. The hinges screeched, rusty with disuse.
The cough sounded again, louder this time.

An animal?

Cameron shook her head.

Careful.
My aunt’s voice whispered through my mind. Her mental
message surprised me, and reminded me of the fact that Mom and I used to always
speak telepathically. But I didn’t have time to dwell on the past. Someone
coughed again, a dry, hacking sound. Definitely human.
 

“That can’t be good,” I
muttered.

Cameron stiffened. “Olivia?”

I frowned, trying to remember
where I’d heard that name. I’d met her once, a long time ago. Another mind
reader. Cameron obviously knew her a little better. “How do you know?”

“I recognize her energy.”

“Go,” Aunt Lyndsey said. “We’ve
got your back.”

Cameron moved slowly into the
foyer, her body tense, ready for attack. She had a right to be suspicious. The
gate that separated the guards from the cells was open, rusted and broken. No
one stood guard.

“Here. She’s in here!”
Cameron raced into the first cell. I
gave them only a cursory glance but didn’t watch their reunion. My instincts
were suddenly kicking me in the ass. The hall was narrow, dark, abandoned. I
looked left but could see only about twenty feet or so before it faded into
darkness. To the right the door stood open, allowing light into the building. Why
would Olivia be left behind? Lewis followed Cameron into the cell while Aunt Lyndsey
and I remained in the hall.

“Something’s wrong,” I
whispered.

Lyndsey nodded, her gaze
flicking left and right.

So, I wasn’t the only one
feeling it. I glanced over my shoulder. Cameron knelt next to a dark form
huddled in the corner. I knew Olivia was one of us, and that she was on the
list of those unaccounted for. I didn’t know much else about the girl other
than she seemed to be in her teens.
 

“Is anything broken?” Cameron
asked. “Can you stand?”

Olivia shook her head, her raspy
gasps speaking of pain and illness.

Cameron and Lewis slid their
arms around the girl’s waist and helped her to her feet. “What happened?”

It was only as they shuffled out
of the corner and into the weak light coming from the open door that I got a
look at her face. Dark bruises marred her cheeks and forehead, while her lips
were crusted with blood. My stomach clenched, anger heated and pulsing. She was
seventeen, maybe eighteen. But then again I shouldn’t have been surprised;
after all, they’d tortured kids younger than her.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“You…need…” she grimaced, her eyes
filling with tears. “To leave.”

No kidding. Hell, she was in bad
shape and was going to slow us down, but what choice did we have? We had to get
her to a hospital. “Come on.”

“No,” she hissed through
clenched teeth. “Leave…now!”

I had started toward the door,
but her comment caught me off guard—and suddenly I knew. My body went cold, the
world pausing in a long, suspenseful moment.

Set up,
I sent the mental message to Cameron just as five dark
forms rushed through the open door. The shiver of awareness coming from behind
me sent me off balance. I spun around. Not five. Crap, at least ten men dressed
in fatigues with ski masks covering their faces arrived from both directions.

“On the ground!” one of them
cried out.
 

Divide and conquer
, Aunt Lyndsey sent the mental message.
 

Hell, could we get out of this
alive? Then again, we’d won at the farmhouse in Pennsylvania, and now we had Lyndsey
to add to our team. I focused, refusing to give into my fears, attempting to
find that trained soldier I’d been before Mom died.

“Drop to the ground!” the man
barked again, pointing a rifle at us. As if on cue, the others in the group
followed suit and lifted their guns, surrounding us. We were peppered with glowing
red dots.

“Shit,” Lewis muttered.

“We can take ‘em,” I said.
“We’ve dealt with worse.”

Well then,
Aunt Lyndsey said mentally.
Let’s see what we can do. Cameron, take the left? I’ll take the right.
Lewis, get whoever manages to evade our powers.

I didn’t miss the fact that she’d
left me out, and she’d obviously done it on purpose. When had I become the
helpless bimbo? Damn it all, I’d always only relied upon myself.

“Men, prepare!” The wall of agents
lifted their guns so their scopes were at eye level.

“Oh my God,” Cameron whispered.
“They don’t want to capture us, they want to kill us.”
 

“Markers ready!” the man yelled.

“If we’ve got a plan, we better
act now,” Lewis warned.

Without pause, Aunt Lyndsey
swiped her hand through the air, sending her energy toward the group. The three
closest men stumbled back, their rifles flying across the room. Cameron did the
same to the group behind us. Guns skittered across the cement, hitting the
walls. Instinct told me to duck.

“Crap!” I dove to the floor.

One of the guns went off just as
I fell, the bullet hitting the wall behind me, sparking against the cement. Lewis
tackled two men while I huddled on the floor like an idiot. They wouldn’t dare shoot
now that we were mingled together with their own soldiers, at least I hoped
they wouldn’t. Then again S.P.I. probably didn’t care about sacrificing a few
for the greater good.

I jumped to my feet, eager for a
fight, ready to expend the energy coursing through me, burning in my veins. Two
guards sensed me and turned my way.

“Bring it on.” I concentrated, throwing
my power at them. I could feel the energy leave my body, felt it expand in my
chest and burn down my limbs before exploding into the world. It hit them hard,
making them waver on their feet like toy spinning tops, swiveling off balance
before falling to the ground.

Two down, but five more emerged
from the shadows headed straight toward us. Like ants coming out of a damaged
hill, they were erupting from the bowels of the prison. The urge to kill them
all overwhelmed me, but I managed to retain a tiny bit of sanity. If I threw my
full power out, I had a feeling the soldiers wouldn’t be the only ones injured.
The room before me wavered, my contained powers too much. I needed help.

“Cameron!”

She spun around to face me only
to see the men headed toward us. We threw our energy at the same time. The
entire room quivered, the very air shimmering as somehow our energy connected.
The wave hit the men, toppling them over like bowling pins, the sick sound of
bodies hitting cement thumping down the hall.

I met Cameron’s startled gaze.
We’d done that together, destroyed a group of eight within moments. Somehow our
powers had combined, something that had never happened to me before.

“Nora! Cameron!” Aunt Lyndsey
called out, but her voice was muffled. “He’s not here. Let’s go!”

The world came into brilliant
focus. It was as if everything was moving in slow, completely detailed motion. Men
lay upon the floor around us. Some moaned, writhing in pain, others were still
and unconscious, possibly dead. We had destroyed so many. But I knew I could
take them all if I released my full potential. The realization that my powers flowed
from the universe, and that they were unlimited now struck me hard.

“Go!” My aunt grabbed my arm,
dragging me down the hall and out of my stupor. Lewis had already wrapped his
arm around Olivia’s waist, and Cameron was following them out of the building.

But something made me look back.

“Come on.” Aunt Lyndsey shoved
me toward them just as I noticed the man reaching for his rifle.

“No!” I lifted my hand to throw
my energy, but I was too late.

The gun went off. Aunt Lyndsey
stumbled into me, her weight sending me off balance. I fell against the bars of
a cell. Instinct had me reacting. I threw my energy without thinking. The man
holding the gun flew backward, hitting the wall and slumping unconscious to the
floor.

“Hurry.” I spun back around,
preparing to flee with my aunt and that’s when I spotted the dark stain
spreading across the stomach of her shirt. She stood still, silent, in shock. “Lyndsey?”

Her face was pale, as if all the
blood had drained to that wound and was leaking from her body. “Go, just go!”

The panic weaving its way
through my gut would not take root. I swallowed hard, refusing to give in. “Not
without you.”
 
I slid my arm around her
waist, cringing over the feel of her damp blood, and together we stumbled
toward the door. “Cameron! Lewis! Help!”

Lewis pressed Olivia into
Cameron’s capable hands then raced to our side. “How bad?”