Stunned (The Lucidites Book 2) (30 page)

Everyone instinctively bows their heads. Silence follows, interrupted only by Samara’s quiet whimpering.

Trey clears his throat again bringing all our attention up. “Before we begin I want to express my gratitude to the rescue team. Thank you for fighting so bravely and for bringing Aiden back safely. I knew I was risking your lives by sending you to the Grotte, but I also knew if Aiden wasn’t rescued, along with the dream blocker, all our lives would be endangered. With the dream blocker the Voyageurs could have abducted any of us. It was not an easy decision to ask you to risk your lives for this mission, but it was one I knew was right. Thank you again for serving the Institute.” He looks at me sharply, his turquoise eyes draped with new wrinkles. “And Roya, thank you for leading this mission. Again you’ve demonstrated great honor and sacrificed yourself for others.” He drops his head at me in a show of respect.

“Now at this point I’d like a full report of what happened in the Grotte. It’s important that we have a thorough understanding of what the Voyageurs are doing, thinking, and feeling so that we can prepare ourselves if necessary.” Trey looks at each us in turn. Finally he extends his arm at Aiden and says, “I’d like you to start by telling us specifically why you were abducted.”

Even though his bed is right next to mine, I’ve still tried to avoid looking directly at Aiden. It’s difficult, especially when I’ve sensed him attempting to capture my attention. Maybe it’s the painkillers or the need to process the events from the Grotte, but everything is raw between us right now. A surreal tenderness surges through my heart when I look up at him now.

“All right, I’ll do my best to string coherent words together, but I apologize if certain things I say don’t make sense. I’m still trying to regain my faculties.” For a guy who’s been starved, tortured, and drugged he sounds amazingly lucid. Even his energy, though still less than usual, flits around each of his words. “I wouldn’t be here right now, I wouldn’t even still be alive, if it wasn’t for everyone in this room. Thank you,” he says, scanning faces, avoiding mine. “As you already know, Amber was sent here to spy on the Lucidites. When Chase learned about a recent project of mine, he ordered her to steal the device once it was completed.”

“Chase?” Trey interrupts. “Why Chase?”

“Pierre is no longer first in command. It’s Chase.”

“Oh,” Trey says, astonishment written on his face.

“Anyway, Amber’s plans were foiled when I fired her before the project was complete. So taking orders from Allouette, she abducted me instead.”

“How did you find out about all of these events that preceded your abduction?” Trey asks.

“Amber is—should I say was—an easy person to incite. During interrogations I used my own strategies to draw information out of her. I needed to understand how I’d been fooled into hiring her. And even more critical was if there was a play I could make to turn Voyageurs against each other.”

“And besides what you’ve told us, did you learn anything else?” Trey asks, tipping forward with interest.

“Oh yeah, a ton. And once I found Amber’s buttons I was able to create all sorts of mischief. Thanks to me, she and Allouette had more than one altercation.”

“Is that the position Amber was after, second in command?” I ask, the heated conversation from the Grotte rushing back to me. “She told me that she’d been deceived into believing she’d be rewarded, but it was a lie.”

“No,” Aiden says, not looking at me. “Allouette and Amber were after the same thing: Chase. From what I figured out they were both competing for his affection and I also gather he was more than willing to lead both of them on to get what he really wanted.”

“And did you determine what he was after?” Trey asks.

“Yep,” Aiden says, popping his lips together. “Since it hadn’t been built yet, he wanted the blueprints to the emotional modifier I’d been working on.”

I flash on George. His bottom lip is firmly pressed between his teeth. He sucks in a long breath, a slight shake of his head.

“What? Why would he want that?” Trey asks, a crease indenting the space between his eyes.

Sighing, Aiden says, “Unfortunately, I failed to discover that reason. It was the most guarded of any information I came close to.”

“You hadn’t completed the blueprints for the emotional modifier before you were abducted, correct?” Trey asks.

“I had, but they weren’t perfected and Amber was well aware of the status of the project.”

“You didn’t give them anything, did you?” Trey asks, worry in his voice.

“Well, I withstood the torture both mentally and physically, but wasn’t able to resist the powerful drugs they gave me. It made me a slave to their will.”

Color drains out of Trey’s face. “So they have the blueprints for the emotional modifier,” he says. It isn’t a question.

“They have
flawed
blueprints.” Aiden smiles mischievously. “The drug forced me to do as they commanded, but I was able to resist enough to botch up a few critical pieces.”

“Do you think they will be able to build it and fix the errors?”

“Honestly, I’m not certain,” Aiden says.

“Why did they have to resort to the drug? Didn’t they try to remove your protective charm?” Ren asks, irritated skepticism narrowing his eyes.

“They did, well, they thought they did.” Aiden peers down at his chest, remorse marking his features briefly. “They took my father’s dog tags which used to be my protective charm. But thanks to something I did a month ago I thwarted their plans. I had recently tested a new technology on myself, as many scientists tend to do.” He flashes us the underside of his forearm. “You see, I’d perfected an internal charm that’s embedded under the skin. I thought it was going to be pretty funny when Chase removed my dog tags and still couldn’t get into my head. Boy was I wrong.” Aiden laughs darkly. “It wasn’t funny at all. Whatever Chase wants the emotional modifier for, he wants it desperately.” Anguish wisps between Aiden’s words and echos in his breath, despite his attempts to hide it. A long burn runs down the length of his arm. It’s deep, like a branding mark made from red-hot iron.

It’s Trey who pulls my attention away from the dull aching in my chest. “I realize you faced excruciating circumstances to protect all of us. Thank you.”

Aiden waves him off. “I didn’t do anything anyone here wouldn’t have done. And I realize now that if Chase wants the emotional modifier that much then…well, whatever he wants it for can’t be good. I should have never started the project. Emotions are sacred.” For the first time all morning his eyes meet mine, a sad smile on his face. I’m suddenly short of breath, like I’ve just sprinted a long distance.
Can everyone in the room hear the pulsing in my head?

“What’s done is done,” Shuman says from the back of the room, her voice so quiet it startles me. All eyes jerk in her direction. “Regret swallows broken men whole. Acceptance builds them anew.”

Trey nods before turning back to Aiden. “She’s right. We made the decisions we thought were right at the time.”

Aiden shrugs. “That’s really all that happened. The rest is blurry at best and not of much interest.”

“Thank you. It’s good to have you back. Now let’s give Dr. Livingston a chance to relax while the team tells us about their experiences in the Grotte.”

I start off the recap telling everything until after we encountered Allouette. “Trent is probably in a better position to recount this part.”

Trent revolves his gaze around the room as he describes what happened. He makes it sound more like a ghost story than a battle. “If it wasn’t for me George would be dead,” he informs us with zero humility.

I narrate our battle with the birds and how they stole Pearl’s protective charm. “I had ordered her to return, but then George came through the hole severely wounded. The plan was she would heal him and then return. I realize now that I should have sent them both back.”

“Don’t.” George cuts me off, a reassuring glint in his eyes. “Don’t doubt those decisions. I wouldn’t have been strong enough to dream travel. I was already experiencing shock.”

“So Chase now has trained birds to go after our charms?” Trey rubs his chin, thinking. “That’s bizarre and terrifying.”

“Try being in the same room with one,” I say. Then I explain the hypnosis. “When blood began seeping out of Trent’s and George’s noses I knew time was running out. And then Samara and Joseph were lost too and I was alone.” My voice falters as the memory rushes back to me, a tender knot cutting off my air supply. “I-I-I—”

“How?” Ren interrupts, sounding especially hateful. He looks at me for a long minute, then tightens his eyes. “How could you so easily look at Chase’s illusion and resist?”

“It was difficult, but still I did. I don’t know how or why,” I say.

“Hmmm.” He looks at me suspiciously.

“Yeah, well, if you don’t believe that part then leave now, because you sure as hell won’t believe what I’m going to tell you next,” I say, throwing him a vile look. Then I launch into the shortest explanation I can manage regarding the crazy wind that saved us all.

“Wow,” Joseph says. “When were you going to tell me you could control the wind?”

“Bob just told me right before we left for the Grotte. I didn’t believe him though, but when all of you were lost in that hypnotic state I didn’t really have any other options. And still, thinking back about it, maybe I can’t really control wind. Maybe it only appeared like I could,” I say, looking at the far wall. “No, it must have been another illusion,” I decide at once. “I just thought I could control the wind. I can’t. There’s—”

“It was you, Roya,” Trey interrupts. “You were the one controlling the wind.” He fingers his blue and yellow amulet, looking down at the ground in intense concentration. His turquoise eyes rise and meet mine. Somehow he looks older than even a moment ago. “Go ahead. Continue.”

I shake my head and point at Joseph. He describes the projection of Chase. “Honestly, I was kind of feeling sorry for the guy,” Joseph says at last.

“That was the point, you prat,” Ren says.

“Whatever.” Joseph dismisses his insult with a wave. “Anyway, Stark sliced him in two and then the real Chase showed up; at least we think he was the real one.”

“How about I help you figure it out?” Ren tilts his head to the side, the overhead light reflecting off his slick red hair. “Was he so attractive, Joseph, that you started to question your own sexuality?”

Joseph laughs. “Well, yeah. He was ’bout the dreamiest man I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

“Yes, that’s Chase,” Ren says, leaning back on the wall again. “Sorry, forgot to mention that bit in training.”

Joseph rolls his eyes. “So Chase was all trying to seduce Stark, and from the looks of it he was kind of succeeding.”

“He did what?!” Trey stands suddenly, pushing his chair back with a screech.

I shoot Joseph a scowl. “He’s exaggerating.”

“I’m not. I have witnesses.” He gestures to the team.

“Joseph, this isn’t the time for jokes,” Trey says, pursing his lips, folding his arms.

“It’s not a joke. Chase actually offered to let us all go if Stark stayed.” Joseph turns and grins at me. “For a moment there I thought you were gonna take Casanova up on his offer.”

“Joseph!” I scold. “What are you talking about?” Mortification burns my cheeks.

“Don’t worry, you’re not the first gal to get tricked by a dashing, young guy.”

“It wasn’t a trick,” Samara speaks for the first time, her gaze not leaving the floor. “He thinks they’re soul mates.”

I sink into my bed, pulling my covers up over my chest, which is suddenly cold.

“Samara, are you sure?” Trey asks. “Maybe he was feeding you what he wanted you to know. Maybe—”

“She got it right,” George interrupts, bitterness lacing his tone. “Chase wants Roya. Intensely.”

What?! It can’t be true.
The dream which shouldn’t be fresh anymore suddenly washes over me, Chase’s electric blue eyes swimming in my head. A shiver zips down my spine. When I look up from my fidgeting hands I find every eye on me.

“How long has Chase had blueprints for the emotional modifier?” Ren says to Aiden.

“A few days.”

“Is it possible that Amber could have built the emotional modifier by the time the team rescued you?”

“She could have had a prototype. It wouldn’t have worked very well.”

“And would the protective charms guard against it?” Trey asks.

“No, they wouldn’t,” Aiden says.

“What? What’s going on?” I ask, past the verge of disturbed.

“Roya, your team makes it sounds like Chase was trying to seduce you. This doesn’t reflect on you at all—but honestly, was it difficult to resist his advances?” Trey asks.

Heat rises in my head. Anything is better than staring at these faces and answering this question. “Maybe.” I gulp. “But I was tired and pressured and worried and still I was able to…resist.” The word sounds wrong in my mouth, like I don’t mean it.

“Like you were resisting something programmed in your emotions?” Aiden asks.

This conversation can’t be happening. Not like this, in front of everyone. “I don’t know.”

“Roya,” Trey says, “specifically, when you were in the Grotte how did you feel about Chase?”

My eyes flick up to Joseph’s. He’s stone, relentless to the persuasion issuing from my gaze. I need to be rescued from this line of questioning. I need help.

To my horror George says, “Roya, why don’t you tell everyone how you feel about Chase? The truth.” Embarrassment crashes down on me like a thousand bricks.

“George!” I scold.

“Just tell them. Maybe it will help,” he says.

Focusing only on my fingertips, gripped tightly around my covers, I say, “It was peculiar. I felt a strange draw to him, one I still can’t explain.”

“What?” Aiden says in an exasperated hush. “Can you describe it?”

“I just tried,” I say through clenched teeth, my eyes still fixed on the tan wool of my blanket.

“Maybe it would be more helpful if you didn’t describe the emotions,” Trey says. “Maybe it would be easier to determine whether they seemed abrupt and foreign to you.”