[Ganzfield 2] Adversary (11 page)

Holy crap.

Jonas Pike was
Isaiah’s
alias. Isaiah Lerner, probably the most dangerous G-positive on the planet, now controlled the group dedicated to the destruction of G-positives, supposedly because
we
were dangerous.

If I hadn’t been so sick at heart, I might’ve admired his chutzpah.

I now understood why Seth had that scream within his mind. I was nearly there myself. The horrible memories wouldn’t stop and the churning emotions of the people in the main part of the camp pressed in on him, even at this distance. A shuddering exhaustion paradoxically seemed to leave him too tired to sleep.

It hadn’t felt safe to stay at Ganzfield.
Seth had believed the invaders might return and try to shoot the remaining Ganzfield people from the air. They hadn’t had time to tend to the dead.

We took care of them
.

Good. We don’t need our existence becoming public knowledge.

The survivors had gotten some supplies together. After a short discussion, they’d come here. With his greater telepathic sensitivity, the long drive down to this camp had been even worse for Seth than it’d been for me. His head had nearly exploded with the second-hand turmoil from the other passengers in the overcrowded van.

All I wanted to do was curl up someplace and not move—not think—until this all went away. However, with Dr. Williamson gone, that wasn’t an option.
What do we need to do now?

Warn other G-positives. Find Dr. Williamson. Get him out of wherever he’s being held.
Seth’s thoughts flowed sluggishly, as though he was drunk from lack of sleep.

Okay.

The people up at the lodge have been contacting the G-positives in other places.
The other people who’d trained at Ganzfield in past years were relatives and friends. If the Sons of Adam had declared open war, none of them would be safe in their colleges, homes, or jobs. The camp didn’t have an internet connection and the single phone line in the lodge provided painfully slow e-mail access. However, over the course of the day, most of the recent Ganzfield alumni and their family members had been contacted. Some were coming here; a few were going into hiding; many were staying put and weighing their options.

Seth, it looks like Dr. Williamson’s safe for now. He may be safer than the rest of us. Let’s work on it in the morning, okay? Try to sleep.

Trevor and I silently walked back toward the lodge. I had only one phone call to make: my mom. She was a G-positive, too, which meant she could be in danger. I dug though my purse for my cell phone. As usual, it was dead. Why did I still carry the stupid thing? It couldn’t hold a charge for even twenty-four hours and I never got any bars around Ganzfield, anyway. I’d tossed it in my purse out of habit when we’d headed out to the hospital.

I rummaged in my bag for the cord and plugged in at the closest unoccupied cabin. After charging for a few minutes or two, the startup screen lit up. To my surprise, I got a single bar.

“Mom.”

“Honey! How are you?”

“I’m safe. But Mom, there’s…there’s been some—”

“What’s wrong?”

“Some people are…targeting G-positives.” I didn’t want to tell her. I didn’t want her worrying more than she already would and saying aloud what’d happened would just make it more real.

“Where are you? Are you all right?” Her voice had taken on an anxious edge.

“We’re safe. We’re not at Ganzfield anymore. Mom, keep alert. The people who…they’re going after people like us. G-positives. You might be—” The thought of someone trying to hurt my mom closed my throat for a few seconds. “Mom, if you feel like someone’s watching you or something like that…trust that feeling, okay?” A flash of unenhanced insight might be her only warning.

“What’s happened, honey?”

“I—I can’t go into it now, Mom.”

“You know you can always come home.”

“I know, Mom. I might do that.” I had no intention of doing that. “Mom, I gotta go. I love you. Be careful, all right?”

“Maddie? What’s going on?”

My voice broke. “I can’t talk about it right now. I’ll call soon, okay? G’bye. I love you.”

“I love you, t—”

I closed the phone. Trevor silently shook his head when I offered it to him.
I…my family…they don’t know about our abilities and…no, they wouldn’t believe me.

The lodge must have been the dining hall and rec room when this was an active summer camp. Long wooden tables and benches lined the walls. The huge fieldstone fireplace was tall enough to stand in and the blazing fire warmed the whole room. Fading amateur murals of nature scenes covered the walls. A life-sized painting of a moose gazed serenely out from the tall grass. It caught my attention for no particular reason.

Several people waited to use the single landline. Their anxiety for their loved ones crackled grey around them. I plugged my cell into an open outlet and silently handed the charger-tethered phone off to the first in line. Right now, I didn’t care if I ever saw it again.

I sat down and stared into the fire. Trevor spoke quietly to one of the older McFees—another of Drew’s uncles, or his dad’s cousins, or something. After a quick mental
I’ll be right back
, they left together. I ran my fingers through my hair and tried to keep the thoughts that hummed around me from flooding my mind.

Maddie?
Trevor called to me from the doorway. He had our overnight gear from the van along with a small tent, two blue tarps, and some firewood. My legs felt like lead as we followed Drew’s Uncle Gerry—technically his first cousin, once removed—on a wooded path to a small clearing. I sent a shower of silent gratitude to Trevor for arranging this. He’d understood that I needed to be out of other people’s range, tonight of all nights. I didn’t think I could handle a shared nightmare of the day’s experiences.

Logs framed a stone firepit. We were now on the far side of the camp from Seth, and far enough away from the others that their mental voices were no longer in my head. Uncle Gerry brushed the snow out of the firepit, set up the wood, and then started the fire with a touch of his hand. I sat and watched the flames move along the dry wood.
Hypnotic.
I felt Uncle Gerry’s mind grow fainter, leaving only Trevor within my hearing.

When I looked up, Trevor had finished setting up the small tent close to the fire. I felt guilty for not helping him, but the strain of dealing with everyone else’s emotional turmoil—as well as my own—had overwhelmed me. Trevor slumped down next to me on the log and joined me in gazing into the fire. I leaned my head against his shoulder, wordless and exhausted. He wrapped his arm around me.

I felt like I’d aged several decades in a single day.

*   *   *

Fear sliced through my gut, colder than the night air. We stood crowded together. Silver-suited strangers pointed guns at us; their hatred burned me. They raised their guns to kill us all. I felt lethal energy surge through me to blast their minds, but the metallic suits blocked my line-of-sight. I couldn’t let it out!

Powerless.

Panic clawed at my throat. “Trevor!” My eyes found him across the group. He ripped weapons from enemy hands and threw metallic figures in the air.
Too many!
They targeted him and the crack of gunshots split the cold air. Time oozed slowly forward as I saw him stop several shots, but the barrage continued. More invaders started shooting; their bullets ripped into him. Trevor’s mind flashed the vivid purple shock of pain as he crumpled to the ground.
No, no, no!
His thoughts faded and were gone. I couldn’t get to him, couldn’t help him, and I was screaming, screaming—

I jolted awake with a cry in my throat. Trevor held me close and I felt his mind trying to reach mine, pulling me out of the dream’s horror. My heart pounded wildly and I drew sobbing breaths as I clutched at Trevor. He was here. Warm. Unharmed.

It was just a dream.
I didn’t know if it had come from his mind or mine.
Just a dream.

There was barely room for the two of us in the tiny tent. I didn’t remember coming in before going to sleep, although I was in my sleeping bag with another pulled over me for warmth. I put my hand on Trevor’s cheek.

Really here.

Firelight filtered through the tent fabric, outlining his features in flickering blue. I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him with fiery intensity—affirming that he was alive…that I was alive.

At that moment, I didn’t care what we’d promised Dr. Williamson. I didn’t care that it was freezing out. I didn’t care about the consequences. I opened my mind to his—no holding back.

I want you. I want you in every way.

His mind echoed my passionate thoughts. We slid aside the sleeping bag and pulled at each other’s clothing. Invisible arms supported him, keeping the bulk of his weight off of me. I thrilled at the sensation of his hands—his actual hands—on my bare skin. My insides went liquid. I trailed down and kissed his neck, his chest, and Trevor groaned.

Power flashed between us and we felt the world dissolve. Our energies merged instantly. We spun together, swirling into one another again and again to a passionate climactic intensity. Finally, we collapsed back in our bodies, holding each other close and trembling as we always did after we soulmated.

I wasn’t sure, but I was beginning to think that making love—physically, at least—might not even be possible between us.
I think soulmating might be part of a divine plan to keep us from actually having sex.

Trevor chuckled huskily into my ear.
You know what they say, “if at first you don’t succeed…”

I laughed and nuzzled in, kissing him gently. I felt healed—surprisingly whole.
Trevor, you’re the reason I can face the bad things in the world. You make life good again, even when things seemed hopeless. I love you so much.

His mind glowed with spring-green joy as he stroked my hair.
I feel the same way about you.
It was the first fully positive emotion we’d experienced in what felt like a long time, even though it had only been a single day.

And don’t think I didn’t notice that you’re rethinking the whole sex thing
, I added.

I can’t help it. You’re irresistible.
However, the guilt had started pinging within his mind, eating away at his joy and contentment. He felt as though we’d gone too far. That, if we hadn’t started to soulmate when we did, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself.
I didn’t wanted to stop myself.
He hadn’t cared about his promise to Dr. Williamson. He hadn’t cared that we weren’t being safe.

Well, if we keep doing things like tonight, we should at least have some protection on-hand.
I didn’t hold the promise to Dr. Williamson the same way Trevor did. I felt that only the two of us should decide how far we wanted to take things and Dr. Williamson had no right to impose restrictions on us.
I don’t want you to ever regret being with me.

I don’t, but…
His thoughts tread familiar paths of unhappy childhood memories and his desire to be worthy of his family. He’d made a promise to Dr. Williamson and he intended to keep his word. It bothered him now that he’d nearly broken it. He felt the need to prove to himself that he was a good person, to live up to his own standards. Trevor was…honorable.

I know.

I kissed him tenderly, trying to give him enough love to take the sting out of those thoughts. I might test the limits he put on himself, but I usually didn’t push. Now I was feeling some of that remorse, as well.
So, are we out from under that promise when I turn eighteen?

He pondered it a moment.
Possibly. But to be absolutely sure, I think I need to marry you.

That would be the honorable thing to do, it’s true.
I smiled as a delicious tenderness filled me. Wow. Trevor made me think in poetry and love songs and I’d never been one for that sort of thing.
Does it have to be legal?
I flashed the concept of a lucid dream wedding to him, to see what he thought.

You really want to have sex, don’t you?
The idea of being so desired flared tingling, red energy around him.

I can’t help it,
I replied, echoing his earlier words, y
ou’re irresistible.
He gathered me into an embrace of pure, overwhelming love and held me until I fell asleep again.

*   *   *

When I woke again in the grey dawn, Trevor was back on his tarp out in the cold—a safe distance away from me and from the remnants of the fire. He’d wrapped himself in two sleeping bags, although one had a huge rip down an entire side. Loose batting spilled from the torn nylon shell, leaving little puffs on the ground. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d had a bad dream in the night.