Accused (Ganzfield) (14 page)

Her eyes lit with understanding
. I don’t have to blast with energy the way you do. I can simply yell into people’s heads.

It’s painful to Seth.
I’d also done something like that to a sadistic charm once, overloaded his mind with the sound of my mental voice
. It would slow down an attacker, if you did it right. And if they weren’t expecting it, it’d be scary, too.

I could even practice on other people. I could do it from a distance, so it didn’t hurt them as much. I’d just have to work on building up my volume.

I think it’s better for you than blasting people. And better for the fish.

She grinned.
And the cows. Seriously, Maddie, would you’ve made me kill a cow? I haven’t… I haven’t been able to eat meat since you suggested it.

I cracked up.
Make you? We’re powerful telepaths, Ann. No one makes us do anything, got it?

Now she laughed outright.
Including elaborate weddings?

My lips twitched.
You read my mind.

We walked along the path through the cluster of cinderblock houses where the sparks lived. Nothing came from the empty shells, and we sensed most of the sparks working on shorting out electrical systems in the large warehouse.

Drew’s Fireball Arena.

A wave of yellow energy flashed in front of us, flowed across the ground, and then disappeared behind one of the buildings.

We froze and our thoughts bumped into each other in a rush.

Did you see that?

What the hell was that?

The yellow band slid around the back of the house, climbed over the roof, wrapped around the chimney, and then slid down the other side of the roof toward us. Ann took a step back.

I grinned and stepped toward it.
I know what this is. Cool!

The liquid sunshine flowed up and over me. It touched my face, running over my features, especially my eyes. It didn’t feel like anything physically—without my ability, I wouldn’t know the energy was there.

Ann watched with a hand over her mouth.
Oh!

I followed the yellow tendril of energy back to its origin, stopping at the door of one of the cinderblock houses.

I’m going to find Zack and see what we can do with the loudness attack.
Ann waved as she headed off.

See you later.
I knocked on the door.

Rachel looked beyond the book of baby names in her hand. Ellen McFee babysat from a chair across the room. The ray of sunshine clustered around my head and the tail of it led back to Rachel’s abdomen.

“Hey, Maddie,” Rachel said, without enthusiasm. She felt miserable—tired, achy, and trapped.

Rachel, you’ve gotta see what your kid’s doing right now!
I flashed a mental image of the yellow energy that still explored my face.

“She’s RVing!” Rachel’s misery evaporated into wonder.

She’s been exploring outside
. I sent her the memory of the yellow light that’d been crawling over the vicinity.

Rachel looked down at her belly. She really was getting big and she still had more than a month to go. The yellow energy slid down off my face and seemed to curl around Rachel, connecting to her with a strong glow of familiarity. I flashed an image of that to Rachel, as well. She choked up and, before either of us realized what she was doing, she connected to her baby the same way.

“Did I just—”

Yeah. I think Heather might be right—your kid might be making her own dodecamine. Or the natural equivalent.

“And she’s dosing me, too.” Rachel was feeling rather proud of her little prodigy at the moment. RVing was a talent she could understand—one that didn’t scare her the way the thought of a pyrokinetic toddler did.

I wonder if superkid will have any other abilities
. Would the baby be able to telepathically cry directly into people’s heads? Yikes. I didn’t share the idea with Rachel.

THAT would stop an attacker.

Ellen thought out a smoldering place in the bedding next to Rachel’s belly. She had the long-suffering attitude of someone who’d done a task so often it’d ceased to be noteworthy.

That happen a lot?

“Several times an hour. Day and night.” Ellen’s normally bouncy thoughts sagged with fatigue.

I gave a low whistle, grateful that Trevor and I weren’t expecting a combo telekinetic-telepathic baby. Wait, Rachel was RVing again.
Rachel! Can you locate Belinda?

“Belinda?” Ellen scowled. “The charm who killed Grant?” The image of her aunt’s tear-streaked face over her cousin’s closed casket flared up within her, and she had to think out her own emotionally charged flames.
That monster forced Grant to burn himself alive!

Rachel focused and the starburst of golden light burst from her head. Green energy swirled around her.
I can RV again
!

Superfetus reacted by sending out a questioning yellow flare, and then setting the pillow on fire.

I focused in on Rachel’s thoughts as she seemed to fly along one of the lines of light.
New York City.
The Empire State Building dominated the skyline through the panoramic windows of the opulent penthouse. My jaw clenched as Belinda came into focus. She still had the bottle-blonde hair, but the sociopathic charm-hooker was dressed more conservatively than she’d been when I’d seen her last.

I guess she’s off-duty.

Address. I need something with the address.
Rachel shifted her focus around the room, coming to rest on a stack of mail strewn casually on the small table near the front door. Sixth Avenue. Building number and apartment.

We knew where she was.

Belinda had betrayed us to Isaiah. She’d given him information on many of us—who we were, what we could do with our abilities. She’d charmed people into taking the videos that Isaiah had tried to blackmail us with, which he’d sent to Hunter. I’d been arrested and tortured because of her information. She’d forced Grant McFee to burn himself to death. And I was still kinda pissed about the fake sex memories she’d charmed into Trevor that time.

I gotta—
I waved in the general direction of Rachel as I dashed to the main building. I thudded up the stairs.

JON!

I threw open the door, panting hard. I hadn’t been able to run well in months. I’d never properly recovered the knack after Isaiah had caused a stroke in the motor cortex area that controlled my left leg and the months in captivity hadn’t exactly enhanced my endurance.

We’ve got a location on Belinda. New York City.

How?

Rachel’s RVing again. Baby’s producing a natural form of dodecamine, we think. Actually, the kid’s an RV, too, but that’s not important right now.

I’ll get a team together to go after Belinda.

I met his gaze.
I want to be on it.

Williamson’s reluctance felt like a tight collar around my neck and I tried to swallow around it.
Maddie’s still recovering. She looks too thin, although her color’s much better. Does she blame Belinda for getting her detained? Is she still out-of-control-angry about what Belinda did to Trevor? Is this too much for her? But we have to neutralize Belinda as soon as possible. She won’t just wait around doing nothing. She’s the kind who goes for a preemptive strike and now she’s turned against us.

My jaw clenched.
I can handle it, Jon. I’m under control.

Make sure you stay that way.
He looked at me—hard.
You know that with the Feds watching the gates, we can’t bring Belinda back here.

Jon, I’m not planning on bringing her back
. I’d wanted to kill her before, when she’d hurt Trevor. But I wasn’t going to become a monster, even if I felt she deserved a bit of monster treatment for everything she’d done to the people I cared about.
I’m thinking I should check her memories to see if she has anything else she can blackmail us with, take back the dodecamine she stole, and fry her Broca’s area to a nonfunctional cinder. That way, she won’t be able to charm again—she won’t even be able to speak. End of threat.

We both knew I was the only one who could do it. If William-son wanted to follow this plan, he’d have to send me. He stared at me for another eternal moment, although this time he shielded his deliberations. Finally he sighed. “Who do you want on your team?”

I just need Trevor. We need to keep a low profile in such a public area so we can’t take a large group, anyway. He can get us into the building—probably through the fire escape into an empty apartment. Once we’re past the doorman, locked doors won’t be a problem for him. And he’s immune to charms like her when we’re together. We shouldn’t take anyone else; Belinda could just charm them and turn them against us.
I shuddered as I imagined Drew being twisted into setting us on fire.

“Take Zack, too. He’s able to shake off other charms’ commands. He’ll be able to stop anyone who tries to detain you and you won’t have to break-and-enter to get inside the building.”

If Zack’s going, I’m going.
Both Williamson and I startled as Ann joined the conversation from downstairs.
Sorry to interrupt, but… Okay, I’m not sorry to interrupt.

I grinned.
It could be like a double-date—but with brain frying!

After what Belinda did, I’d rather try my ability on her than on an innocent cow, Maddie. And I’m immune to her charming, too, you know.

Williamson nodded.
Fine. Go now.

CHAPTER 9

I felt a surge of energy—of purpose. I bounced to the church to tell Trevor. He felt me coming and opened the door before I arrived. I nearly jumped into his arms.
Hey, stud-muffin! Up for a mission?
I flashed the plan to him.

We tossed a few things into a bag, since we’d probably be spending the night away. It was going to be a long drive to New York, about seven hours. At least it was the weekend and traffic would be lighter. We could be there by early evening, if we hustled. I grabbed my cell phone and the car charger so we could check in with Rachel along the way and get updates on Belinda’s location. I looked at my phone and wondered, yet again, why I even had it. Trevor should be carrying it.

One thing was for sure—it felt so much better to be the hunter rather than the hunted: all the adrenaline rush without the terror corkscrewing in my gut. I’d really hated being the weaker adversary against Isaiah.

I knew we could take Belinda.

“I think you’re enjoying this too much.” Trevor shook his head.

C’mon! It’s a non-lethal solution!

“That’s your top selling point? That you’re not planning to kill anyone this time?”

Ouch.

I frowned
. I need to do this. I need to fix this. I can’t just sit around here forever, all useless and weak. Non-lethal! You LIKE non-lethal! You should be encouraging this.

“I don’t want—” He shook his head as he bit his lip.
She’s all excited to go after Belinda, but she didn’t make much of an effort for the marriage arrangements.
He took the bag with our stuff and went to get the car, leaving me with my jaw hanging open and the sensation of my guts puddling around my feet.

I grabbed the camping gear from the basement of the main house. Ann and Zack met me at the front door and tossed their gear into the trunk. I squeezed Trevor’s hand as we headed toward the front gate.
Once we’re clear of the Feds, we need to talk, okay?

His eyes stayed forward as he nodded.

Where are you going?
Seth stood back from the road, still listening to the agents stationed outside the gate. He was in that inconvenient middle-range—close enough that Ann and I were too loud to him, but not close enough for civilized, audible conversation.

I waved.
Seth, what are the Feds going to do if the four of us drive out there right now?

Just put your names on a list, take the license plate number, and report in. But they’re keeping track of us through traffic cameras now, so they’ll know where you go.
He gave a silent huff of laughter
. So, who’s knocked up this time?

I rolled my eyes.
Rachel’s RVing again. We’ve got a location for Belinda in New York. We’re going to fry the charm ability right out of her and get back the stuff she stole.

You’re going to let Belinda live?
Seth was skeptical.

I think living without her ability might be worse than death, for her
. Besides, I had enough of a body count; I never wanted to kill again. Even the thought of ending another life made a rock form in my gut.

Trevor keyed in the code and the gate rolled out of the way. The Feds reacted to the movement and alertness flared through them as they took in the details.

“Grey sedan. Four occupants, Sir.”

“Get the facial recognition software working on them.”

Seth was right—we were going to be able to leave without a problem. The first group of agents occupied a parked van within view of the main gate. Their thoughts seemed… professional. Strong, but detached.

Down the road, though, the second group felt zealous. Gung-ho.
Lethal
. I inhaled sharply as I recognized two of the minds. They’d been part of the detail that’d taken me into the hospital from hell.
“Identify the targets. Report back to the Colonel.”

Duck.
An invisible hand pulled me down. By the time we rolled into view, only Trevor appeared through the windshield. His eyes met those of the man in the driver’s seat and a muscle twitched in his jaw. Cold fear froze the hardened military man—antelope sighted by a lion—until we passed them.

I didn’t start breathing again until their minds had faded from my range. The trembling stopped about ten miles later.