Legacy (26 page)

Trust me,
I know how you feel.

She glanced down to where Trevor’s hand interlaced with mine. A pale glow outlined our twined fingers.
Yeah, I guess you do.

Her gaze drew Zack’s attention to us. He pinked up with a little half-smile. As he looked back at Ann, the swell of affection overwhelmed his shield. —
like winning the frikkin’ lottery, the Super Bowl, and an Olympic gold medal all at once.

Okay. We’d officially reached the too-much-information level for the evening. I mean,
aww,
but still.

Ann and Zack grabbed two cans of soda and a couple of the little white boxes of Chinese food before heading back to her tent. While the waves of emotion from the two of them receded, everyone else’s thoughts remained.

Ick
.

Most of them had ideas about what Ann and Zack were doing in her tent. Hannah and Jonah both disapproved. Melanie thought it was romantic. Ellen thought it was funny. Dave and Claire entertained slipping away together. I rolled my eyes as a sigh hissed out of me—definitely TMI from
those
two. Drew and Harrison both had thoughts along the lines of
too bad the only girls here are cousins, taken, or WAY too religious.

Ann and Zack woke us at 4 a.m. for our watch. They were better shielded this morning, but still all incandescent with joy.

Can we talk later?
Ann asked me. They headed to her tent, hand in hand.

I nodded and went in search of coffee. The morning was already warm and humid, and it looked like it was only going to get worse.
Ugh.
We didn’t have air conditioning, and weather like this made people angrier—more aggressive.

After our shift, I took a cool shower in Hannah’s trailer but the hot, enclosed space made me start sweating again before I’d even finished pulling on my shorts and t-shirt.

A few of us slumped in the small patch of shade against the fence near the gate. Drew sprawled back onto the grass. “I wish something would happen already!”

A car pulled up, showing slivers of gleaming white metal between the tarps at the gate. Melanie’s brows creased as she gave Drew a funny look.
How’d he do that?

Trevor turned.
That’s not Isaiah, is it?

I shook my head.

Two men climbed out of the front doors, both thick-necked and dangerous-looking. The thoughts of these professional bodyguards were cold as they assessed the situation for possible threats. One of them yanked open the gate; the clang seemed to travel the perimeter and surround us. I felt their employer’s mind inside the car and I gasped as my heart froze in my chest.

Ah, hell.

I jumped to my feet.
Get Ann and Zack!
I ordered Hannah. No time to be polite. She took off quickly, not knowing what’d upset me. I grabbed Trevor’s hand. His eyes widened and he sucked in a harsh breath when he saw what I did of the new arrival’s thoughts. I gripped his hand harder, determined not to let go of him.

The man in the back of the car was a charm—and he was planning someone’s death.

Drew, we’ve got a hostile charm in that car. Get the other sparks. Where are the earplugs?

The weight in the shoulder holster pressed against the bodyguard as he deferentially opened the car door. “All clear, Mr. Petras.” Fear of the person inside made the large man cringe. He had already charmed his way past all of Allexor’s security to find us here. Given the nasty feel of his mind, I expected him to look sinister, perhaps dressed all in black.

I hadn’t expected the green and yellow Hawaiian shirt, and the black-socks-with-sandals look was scary in an entirely different way. This terror of a person looked like…a pudgy accountant on vacation. Petras’s wheat-brown hair receded at the temples and too-large, mirrored sunglasses hid his eyes. “Wait with the car.” He approached the gate with a confident half-smirk twisting his lips.

Ann and Zack ran up to join us and I flashed them a silent update. They both went still as they assessed the new predator on the savannah.

Drew passed out silicone earplugs. The other sparks gathered with us in a loose half-circle around the opening. Petras sized our group up and dismissed us.
Just a bunch of scared kids.

He pulled the gate closed behind him, leaving the body-guards out of sight. “Is Williamson in there? Tell him Barry Petras is here.”

“What do you want?” Ann asked.

“I want the drug,” Petras sneered. “Go get it for me. Or tell Williamson I’m here and
he
can tell you to get it for me.”

I looked into his mind. Williamson did, indeed, supply this—this
mobster
with dodecamine. I felt a surge of grey anger. How could Jon condone this? He could see this man’s thoughts as easily as I could! Barry Petras used his charming ability to extort and terrorize people.

And now he’s planning to kill someone. A federal witness, no less.

Actually, Petras planned to charm someone else to pull the trigger—someone with no ties to him or the victim.
Having that stranger kill Telly worked perfectly last time. But I need a boost of the drug, or soon I won’t be able to charm for sh—

My cold eyes stayed on his face as I shook my head
. No way
.

Apparently, people didn’t say no to Barry Petras very often. He scowled as his mind darkened into a cloud of steel-grey anger.

His glare shifted to Trevor. “You! Hit the girl. Hit her hard in the face.” Powerful charm resonance enveloped each word, but Trevor’s hand was still in mine.

Trevor’s invisible hands clenched into fists, and a muscle jumped in the side of his jaw. “
Hell
no.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Ann sounded calm, but her eyes flashed with the anger and indignation I could feel in her mind. She’d seen the same thoughts I had. Supplying this man now would be helping him to commit murder.

Petras’ eyes widened.
Hey, the kid didn’t hit her.
“What are you—all minders?” His laugh held a sleazy leer.
I know how to handle minders.
His thoughts slid into a pornographic threesome of himself with Ann and me. My gut twisted sickly and I heard Ann gasp. He was taunting us, as though we had no choice but to give him what he wanted and he was going to rub our faces in it.

“Is it true what they say about minder girls?” Petras leered at Trevor and Zack. “Do they give good ‘head?’”

He laughed at his sick pun for about half a second until Trevor’s invisible fist clutched his larynx. Petras’s hands shot up, grabbing at his neck. At the same moment, Zack shouted, “SHUT UP!” with so much charm resonance that even the bodyguards outside the gate fell silent.

I hadn’t even gotten around to blasting his Broca’s area to silence him.

Zack’s shield slipped under the onslaught of crimson fury.
How DARE he talk about Ann like that!

Trevor’s anger mixed with a strangely disconcerted feeling over finding himself on the same side as Zack.

Barry Petras was even less used to
this
kind of treatment. The dirty image fled, replaced by icicles of anger. His mind filled with a new plan—
I’ll charm some guy to come here and shoot them all from a distance, sniper-style.

Ann frowned.
That’s not good.
“Um, Zack? He’s planning to have us all killed. Would you please tell him not to do that?”

Was that the reason that Williamson gave this guy dodecamine? Was he afraid that this mobster would target Ganzfield people?

“Forget about having us killed.” Zack’s lethal tone matched the look in his eyes. His shield snapped back perfectly—mentally invisible.

Why does Jon Williamson supply you?
I asked into Petras’s head.

Petras wanted me to see the answer.
I’m a powerful charm, minder-girl. People do what I tell them to.
But the real danger was that he could shake off charm commands from others—although it hurt to do so. The only reason that he wasn’t speaking now was that Trevor still had a painful grip on his larynx. His eyes narrowed with the venom in his thoughts.
And I’m going to KILL all of you for this.

I was too pissed off to be scared.
Zack, try charming him again, now that your shield’s back up. Charm him like he was a minder.

Zack frowned and looked from me to Petras. “It didn’t take?”

He’s got an ability similar to yours. He can shake off other charm’s commands.

I thought for a moment, and then grinned.
Let’s make the world a better place.

Next to me, Trevor heard the plan forming in my head and started to laugh.

I think you both should try to learn to project
. I looked from Ann to Zack.

The four of us sat in the afternoon shade cast by one of the trailers. I had my head pillowed against Trevor’s shoulder. He leaned against the skin of the trailer and used his ability to grab two more cans of soda from the fridge inside. The window above us slid open to allow the drinks to escape.

It’d been several hours since Barry Petras and his bodyguards had driven off. We kept meeting each other’s gazes and dissolving into the giddy laughter of a shared joke.

“You think I can project?” asked Ann. “I never could before.”

You couldn’t shield before; now you can. I’m pretty sure they’re related skills.

“Why do you think I could project?” asked Zack. “I’m a charm, not a minder.”

First off, you can shield, so you’re sort of a mix of charm and minder. Second, you two may start sharing abilities at some point.
I didn’t know everything about how the whole soulmating thing worked. I didn’t even know if Zack and Ann were going to have that kind of relationship. But it would’ve been nice to have the heads-up about a few things, back when Trevor and I had started out together.

“What do you mean?” asked Zack.

I used telekinesis to pick up the empty can in front of Zack, lifting it to his eye-level. Zack looked from Trevor to me, silently questioning us with wide eyes.

Trevor grinned. “She’s the one doing it.” I smiled at the lack of rancor in his thoughts. Between the confidence that Zack was no longer interested in me and their shared disgust with Barry Petras, Trevor’s views of Zack had shifted. I placed the can on the table inside the trailer through the window above us.

“
That’s
why you were at the minder meeting.” Zack looked at Trevor, reassessing him. “I thought you were just there with Maddie.”

“It only works when I’m with Maddie.”

“Can you project?” Zack asked.

A little bit
.

“Hell, if
he
can do it…” Zack laughed, and Trevor didn’t take offense. I grinned—the vibe had completely changed between them. They were allies now, rather than rivals.

And all it took was death-threats from a Jersey mobster.

I showed Ann exactly what it felt like to project, the same way I’d showed her shielding.
Practice with Zack, or maybe with some of the others. I won’t be able to tell when you’re doing it, since I hear your thoughts anyway. And if you figure out how to project while shielding, you can be the one to show me.

Deal.
She nodded.
Hey, Maddie. Can we have that talk now?

We moved to the far end of the enclosure, near her tent. We sat across from one another and she dished in super-fast minder communication.
Oh, my gosh. I’ve never felt like this before. I feel like I’m about to…explode with happiness! I feel like I can tell you, since you know and I’m not always shielding and…I just feel like I have to tell someone to…I don’t know…make it real. Does that make sense?

I nodded. A quick little thud of concern gripped my heart.
I know what it’s like, but I’m worried you might distract one another. Zack’s shielding’s pretty erratic when his emotions for you overwhelm him.

Ann’s eyes brimmed with dismay.
I…I don’t want to put him in danger. What should I—what can I do to help him?

Help him keep that shield in place. You might eventually be able to shield together.
How funny was it that I was now the minder love-life expert?

“Speaking of protection, do you have…?” Ann trailed off as her face turned crimson. She and Zack hadn’t reached that point yet, but she was pretty sure they were headed that way.

Um, well…we don’t have a need for it.
A burst of pink colored my thoughts and I bit my lip.

Her eyebrows shot up.
Oh. In eight months?
Apparently, with us living together and all, the physical relationship was just assumed.

Nope. Not really a priority, you know? With the other stuff?

And now the thing with Rachel.

I cringed.
You know about that?
Did I accidentally leak something about the pregnancy to her?

Uncle Jon told me. When he was warning me about Zack.
She laughed at the thought of being warned away from someone so incredible, so perfect.
That’s why I was asking about protection.
She trailed off into blissful daydreams that I really didn’t want a front row seat for.

But Jon still let you come with us.

I think he wanted another shielding minder more than he wanted his nearly twenty-year-old niece to remain celibate.

He seems to have his own agenda sometimes.

At least it doesn’t involve a minder breeding program.

Yet,
I added.

We both cracked up.

Dave and Claire volunteered to pick up dinner again. I realized that neither Trevor nor I had been out of the enclosure since we arrived. As “bait,” it made sense for us to stay close. Isaiah could RV us at any time. Ah, hell—he could be watching us right now. I glanced around as though I’d somehow sense his mental presence. The dream with the oily black energy hadn’t faded. What if Isaiah could enter our dreams like Ann had?