Jaden Baker (71 page)

For a heart-stopping instant, Baker recognized him. As soon as their eyes met, Madrid pushed the button.

Joseph almost thought he could hear the array winding up, imagined it firing off inside Baker’s brain. A look of blankness fell over Jaden’s face, wiping it clean of emotion.

“Sklávos dechteí ti diavívasi,” Madrid said, hoping his Greek was good enough.

Jaden blinked once, and he answered back in a clear tone: “I’m ready.”

Releasing a sigh, Madrid grabbed the door frame and bent over. That was close. He clutched his chest and wiped fresh sweat from his brow. Jaden stared into space, hands at his sides.

Joseph regained his composure, walked down the hallway after commanding Baker to follow him. He fell into step behind Madrid, striding along with what looked like confidence. The feeling of total power was never stronger. He had complete control over him, as it should be. Walking behind him was nature’s most formidable weapon, and it followed his command.

Phone out, dialing, Joseph got a hold of Sam.

“I’ve got him,” he said, grinning. “He’s walking behind me. Start the van, we’re getting him out of here now. Then call facility 3, tell them to get ready to take him.”

“Congratulations,” Sam said. “We’re here waiting for you. Shall I have the buyers informed?”

Madrid considered it for a second. “Not yet. We’ll call them once we have him secured.”

An elevator pinged behind them. Joseph and Jaden walked on. They would take the stairs.

“Jaden?” called a familiar voice.

Madrid turned, saw Chad Dalton. Of course he would be here.

“Joseph?” Dalton said, his eyes wide. “You’re alive?”

There wasn’t time for explanations. A small recovery team was waiting in the parking lot. He’d been waiting ten years to get his project back, and he wasn’t going to waste time discussing how he’d done it with the former handler.

“Of course I am, Chad. But I’m a little busy at the moment.” He and Jaden took the stairs, Dalton followed.

“Why is he following you?” Dalton asked, trailing them.

“Sophisticated control. He’s radio activated.” Madrid smiled to himself. “Ingenious, isn’t it?”

“You’re just going to take him?” Dalton asked, his feet loud on the stairs. “You’ll walk right out with him?”

“That’s the plan.”

They reached the ground floor and the three of them went for the front doors.

“You can’t get away with this,” Dalton said.

“Hmm,” Madrid grunted. “You know, I think you’re right. We need a distraction so no one notices us leaving.”

Madrid stopped, faced Jaden, who made eye contact with him, exactly as he’d been trained to do. With a quick hand motion, Madrid pointed at Dalton, then up in the air, and released his fist, accompanying the motion with a Greek command.

Before Dalton could question, he was lifted off his feet, rocketed through the air high above the lobby, then fell, limbs flailing. Screams from the staff and family members in waiting ran to the fallen Chad Dalton.

But the two who caused the accident ignored the scene, and proceeded to the back exit, where ambulances dropped off their patients.

Waiting there now was a long, silver van with windows only for the driver and passenger. The back doors swung open as Jaden and Madrid approached.

Madrid pointed into the back and Jaden climbed inside, then lay on a gurney. He was strapped to it, his eyes looking at the ceiling of the van, as three men locked him.

“Amazing,” Sam said, helping Madrid inside. “He just followed you out?”

“Yes. Now he needs rest. We have a long ride ahead of us. Jaden, nekrós alepoúdes mov.”

With a deep breath, Jaden’s eyes closed, and he fell asleep.

He awoke lying in bed, the sun in his face. He felt rested and alert. Jaden squinted and swung his legs out of bed, rubbing his eyes. The carpet felt warm on his toes. Though awake and ready to start the day, Jaden fell back in bed and watched light reflected from a lamp dance across the ceiling.

He watched Libby’s horses grazing, tails swatting at flies. It was a perfect, cloudless day and he assumed she’d be out soon to go for a ride. He wanted to see her before she left, or perhaps tag along. Jaden pulled on a pair of pants and a white t-shirt, then padded down the stairs, rubbing his stubbly face.

“Libby?” he called. She did not answer. Trinity and Tucker, her two shelties, did not come running to greet him. “Libby?” he called again, walking the length of the house and popping his head in every room. Perhaps she was outside walking the dogs. He shrugged and went back into the kitchen to get a drink of water.

Cat jumped on the island counter, tail up.

“Hi,” Jaden said, smiling as he rubbed the top of Cat’s head. Cat arched his back when Jaden moved his hand down his spine. Cat purred. “Where is everyone?” he asked the cat, but Cat only closed his eyes and meowed in response.

Jaden scratched the top of his head and stepped into the living room.

Someone sat there, hiding behind a newspaper, one leg crossed over the other.

“Hello?” Jaden said, frowning.

The newspaper folded in on itself.

“Seth?” Jaden asked.

Seth did not smile in response. He folded the paper, set it aside.

“Hello, Jaden,” he said.

Jaden crossed his arms. “What are you doing here? Where have you been?”

Seth pointed to a chair, signaling Jaden to sit. “I’m here to help you,” he said. “If you want it. I’ve been here the whole time. You forgot about me. You had Libby,” he said, and Jaden thought he heard bitterness.

“Where is she?” Jaden said, remembering she was in the hospital. Why was he in her house without her?

“I don’t know,” Seth said. “Things have changed, haven’t they?” he asked, leaning forward. “She’s made you different.”

“She’s made me better,” Jaden answered. “Is she still in the hospital?”

Seth smiled sadly. “Aren’t you going to ask where you are?”

Jaden looked around. It was obvious where he was. “I’m here, at Libby’s house. But she’s not here. Where is she? Is she okay?”

Seth paced the room. “We have a serious problem, you and I,” he said.

“What’s that?” Jaden asked. “You still haven’t told me where she is.”

“I don’t know where Libby is. I don’t even know where you are. This is not Libby’s house,” he said, waving his hand around.

“Then what is it?” Jaden asked. “You’re supposed to have all the answers.”

“I’ve never had all the answers. I help you find them. But you’ve really done yourself in this time, my friend. You don’t remember what happened?”

Jaden shook his head.

“Think back. You were in the hospital, you finished talking with Dalton, and were coming back to see Libby,” he said, and this time Jaden was certain he heard bitterness. “What happened next?”

Jaden thought. He was walking back to spend the night with her, to watch over and keep her safe while she slept. Christine, his half-sister, had attacked them. Dalton filled in some blanks, and Jaden was almost to her room, when Madrid walked out of it first.

“Madrid was there,” Jaden said, standing up.

“Yes he was.” Seth grimaced. “He has you now. You’ve been under his control for a long time. Months, maybe. You’re just now starting to come back.”

Madrid was dead, how was it possible?

“He was never dead. He tricked you. You allowed yourself to be tricked so you could have a life with her. I warned you about this kind of thing. Now he has you. They’re doing things to make the control even stronger than before.”

“Like what?” Jaden asked. He felt sick.

“Reinforcing what they’ve already done. Strengthening the bonds. You’re more a slave now than ever. You’re in deep, Jaden. Everything you worked for over the past ten years is gone, all for a woman.”

Did Madrid have her? Was Libby safe? If he wasn’t out there to protect her, who was?

“Where is she?” he asked again.

“I don’t know!” Seth yelled. “Didn’t you hear what I said? You’re trapped again, locked tighter this time. You wouldn’t be in this if it wasn’t for her. Libby led to your recapture. You went along with her and now you’re here, stuck in your own head! Wake up!”

“It isn’t her fault,” Jaden said. “I’ve lived for her. She’s my purpose.”

Seth’s face was brutal, ugly. Beastly. “Fine,” Seth snarled. “Then that’s it. You’ll live for her as a slave, and the people of Archcroft will make you do things you don’t want to do. Life as you’ve known it is no longer. You’ll be trapped here, in your head, in moments like this for the rest of your life. You’re property now, hardly human. That’s what she’s done to you. You’ll never see her again.”

“No, that’s not true.”

“It is. They have you.” Seth’s face smoothed. He came to Jaden, put his hands on each shoulder, squeezed them. “The only way out of this is me. I can help you.”

“How?” Jaden asked. “You’re stuck here, too.”

Seth smiled for the first time. “I’m not. I can help, you have to let me.”

Jaden cocked his head to one side. “How can you help me out of this?”

“You have to trust me,” Seth whispered. “When have I ever let you down?” He clapped his hands on Jaden’s face, grinning confidently. “Let me help you out of this. I’m the only one who can.”

When Madrid had Jaden the first time, Seth had been there to keep him company. He sang to him when he was alone. Seth helped him escape, told him how, kept him alive for ten years. Seth always helped him.

“Okay,” Jaden answered. “I trust you.”

Seth took a deep breath. “I’m glad. I’m doing this for us, Jaden. For freedom.”

“I know,” Jaden answered.

“Good,” Seth whispered. He stepped away from Jaden, dropping his hands from his face. “I have to do this. I don’t take pleasure in it.” Seth’s hands balled into fists.

“What?” Jaden asked.

Seth punched him in the face. Before Jaden could defend himself, Seth struck him again, and again, Jaden falling to the floor. “I’m sorry,” Seth said, hitting him repeatedly, harder. “I’m so sorry!” Seth said, and with one last direct hit, Jaden’s eyes closed.

Seth stood, staring at Jaden’s sleeping body on the floor. He was out cold. Seth shut his eyes and listened to his breathing. This was it. It was time to wake up.

When his eyes opened, he saw a light above him. Bright. He squinted, put his hand out to block it. The hand was scared, some of the joints knobby. Seth sat up, flexed his fingers. The action wasn’t as smooth as it should have been, but he remembered why. Jaden hadn’t listened to him, and more punishment was inflicted.

Seth breathed in the real air. The smell was stale. A real smell. He was in a small room, padded with ice blue. Scrubs again, and socks instead of shoes. That’s what he wore. Gathering his legs under him, Seth stood, wobbling.

There was no clear exit, no doors, no alcove for an elevator. The ceiling was high, unlike the last facility. This wasn’t the same place. The one thing all three had in common was the observation mirror set in a wall, where people could watch. Seth smiled at his reflection.

A new, stronger, thicker collar was around his neck. He hadn’t noticed it there before. It flexed with his movements, when he swallowed and turned his head from side to side. The edges of it were soft to touch, and when he squeezed the collar between his fingers, the material receded, then fluffed back into place. He felt around it, hoping for a clear breaking point, but couldn’t find one. It didn’t matter.

Seth held his hands out, palms facing the collar. He had to try psychokinesis, he so wanted to experience what it felt like. Just as he was ready to blast the collar from his neck, an excruciating shock of pain crackled his skin, sent pulses of agony down his body, and Seth was on the floor, howling.

It was over. He rolled on his back, breathing hard. So that was pain. It was something he’d wanted to experience, but now that he had, he didn’t want to feel it again. The collar had to come off. Like the last one they’d put around Jaden, it powered on before PK could be used.

There were ways around everything.

Jaden had always given into pain, had let it win. Jaden always lost. Seth was not Jaden, they were separate people. Lying down so he wouldn’t fall, Seth tried again.

The pain caroused through him, but the collar burst off and the pain was gone. Easy. Seth rolled onto his stomach, balanced on all fours, and pulled the collar up and out of his spinal column, then from around his neck. Then he stood, a little shaky, but steady.

Fingers touching the walls, touching the world, he walked the perimeter of the room, feeling the soft padding, the friction it caused on his fingers. At the mirror, Seth drummed the smooth, cold surface. There were people watching him now, and one was familiar. Seth fogged the window with his breath, drew a smiley face, grinned at the people behind their mirror; they thought it was unbreakable. Nothing was unbreakable. Seth had proved that already. He felt their hearts beating fast.

Seth had no idea just how powerful Jaden was. The feel of this body, taught and trained, was nothing to the incredible ability of the mind. Even if his eyes were closed, Seth could feel the room’s every boundary and crack, control the hearts of the people behind the mirror. Jaden never rejoiced in killing, though he saw it as sometimes necessary. Seth was curious.

Unencumbered, he reached out for the mirror. It shattered with music. The shards of glass did not fall to the floor, they spread through the air, as if under water, drifting in all directions. Incredible.