Bent (The Gifted Series) (4 page)

              A soft moan escaped her as their eyes locked and he slid home.

              Gently, Tiago kissed her.  “Baby, I didn’t know paradise until I found you.”

              She opened her mouth to reply, but Tiago cut her off with a claiming kiss, and all Leah could do was groan against his tongue and lock her thighs around his hips as his slow ride accelerated. 

    *     *     *     *

              “So did T inquire as to why you knew about my cousin and he didn’t?” Declan asked. He and Leah stood on the driveway in front of the main lodge which once served as an old logging camp.

              Leah glanced over Dec’s shoulder, looking for Carter who was at the shop gassing up the Tahoe. “Come on,” she muttered, checking her watch. “Did he decide to gas up every vehicle in the garage?” She then focussed on Declan’s question. “Yeah, he asked last night.  I shrugged it off—explaining that it was just a random conversation that popped up.  Gracen didn’t push it further.”

              “So he’s not in the know about your bullet dodging ability either?”

              Leah glared skeptically. “My
presumed
ability that I have yet to confirm, nor do I look forward to confirming.”  Since the night of her father’s death, Declan suspected that Leah ducked a bullet that her father intended for the back of her skull.  Leah mentally scoffed, still feeling that the notion was crazy, but deep down, way in the depths of keep-your-trap-shut-cuz-it’s-loco, Leah suspected it to be true.  And she shared her suspicions with no one except Declan, and only because he directly accused her of having this ability in the first place.             

              “No worries, luv.  I’ll gladly shoot atcha whenever you muster the stones.”

              Full of sarcasm, “Glad I’m a chic because
mustering stones
is definitely never gonna happen.”

              “And T will be glad of that,” Declan snickered but quickly sobered, sighing loudly.

              Leah switched subjects to the one she knew Declan’s sigh centered on. “So what’d your mom say about Jocelyn?”

              “She has no confirmation that Joss has been taken.  Our family is dispersed far and wide, so tough to track.  Apparently, Joss went into hiding with my Aunt Bea and cousin Aidan.  Mum said the location that Bo described is correct, and she fears Bo’s account to be true.  See the family attempts to stay in contact at least once a year and apparently Aunt Bea is long overdue.”

              “What about the agencies help?  Can’t they search?”

              “What the bloody hell do you think they’ve been doing?” Declan snapped, quick to offer an apologetic gesture. “You know we’re short agents.  Some have quit and taken their families into hiding.  Everyone’s on high alert and stretched thin with so many recent calls and concerns.”

              Leah reached out and grabbed Declan’s hand, giving it a squeeze.  “I’m sorry, Dec.”

              Declan squeezed back but released when he saw the Tahoe pulling up.  “I know, and I’m sorry for snapping like a croc. 
Bloody Landons
!  The sooner they’re all six feet under the better.”  Realizing his faux pax, he countered, “Present company excluded, of course.”

              “No apologies.  I couldn’t agree more, and I sure as hell don’t consider myself to be a Landon.”

              The Tahoe halted in front of them.

              Declan turned to Leah before grabbing the door handle. “Drop the conversation.  I have yet to fully explain everything to everyone else, and I’d rather not until I get more information.”

              Leah nodded with a quick lip zip as Declan opened the passengers door. 

              Right as it opened, Carter’s head swiveled toward them and he animatedly mimicked the verse coming from the booming stereo. 

              “Not Zombie,” Leah groaned.  “Dude, you’re in dire need of new tunes.” She plopped into the backseat and buckled up as Carter began to sing each word of “Living Dead Girl” with perfect inflection.

              Singing the entire way, Carter hauled through the grounds toward the double gated entrance.  He waved at his father, Carter Sr, and one of his sisters, Jessie, and then pulled out heading north bound. 

              “Hey blondie-locks,” Declan teased at Carter, jerking his head toward the stereo,“I think yer right fond of this guy.  Maybe you got a wee crush on
Robbie Zombie
?”

              As he sang, Carter flipped off Declan, causing both Dec and Leah to chuckle.  If anyone could lighten a mood and stir laughter from the crowd it was Blondie-locks. 

    *     *     *     *

              Six hours later the three reached their vehicle near a city park in Chehalis.  “And why did we spend an entire bleedin’ day here?” Declan ridiculed, then eyed the keys in Carter’s grip. “Hey, I’m driving,” he barked, swiping the keys and jogging toward the driver’s side as Carter muttered a couple of insults about the Irishman's bad skills.

              “Who called in the sighting anyway?” Leah asked, sliding into the backseat and grabbing for the buckle.

              Carter and Declan both glanced at one another, then shifted their gaze toward her. “Anonymous,” Carter chirped.

              “Seriously?  We’ve been sitting here for half the day because of an
anonymous
tip?” Leah protested. 

              “You were anonymous,” Declan sang, reminding Leah of how the agency had been tipped off about her.

              “True,” she grumbled low, giving him that.

              “Dude, I’m dying here,” Carter whined.  “31 flavors is two blocks back that-a-way.” His thumb jerked over his shoulder. “I be needin’ some brownie sundae. STAT!”

              Declan rolled his eyes. “You and yer brownie sundaes.  I’m surprised yer not packin’ fifty extra pounds with that ice cream fetish of yers.”

              Leah laughed from the back, but Carter shrugged without embarrassment. “Hey, what can I say?  My metabolism rocks, dude.  Now U-E this bad boy so Metabo-King can brownie up.”

              The smack continued as Declan checked traffic and then expertly flipped an illegal U-turn.  Just as he righted the steering wheel and began to surge forward, a jogger with earbuds intact and a baseball cap pulled low, shot out in front of their vehicle.  Cursing, Declan slammed onto the brakes; the anti-locks locked up then released before locking again.

              “What the fuck!” Carter blurted as the Tahoe came to a screeching halt in front of what they now recognized as a petite woman.

              “She’s gifted!” Leah blurted. “And a threat,” she added, reaching for her holstered gun.

              In the same moment, the jogger turned to face them, and out of nowhere, a portion of a small pine tree from the nearby park landed on top of the back end of the Tahoe then lifted and came crashing down again.  Leah shot to the floorboard, mentally reaching out to the woman to take control, but she couldn’t connect, and it wasn’t similar to the black wall she saw when tapping a fellow reader.  This was an entirely new sensation. 

              Carter, a reader as well, cursed harshly. “I can’t get into her mind—she’s a granite wall.”  

              “Are you getting the same block I am?” Leah shouted as the tree pummeled again.

              “Yeah. Oh, shit!”

              “What’s happening?  I can’t see a damn thing,” Leah said, trying to squeeze this way and that, but did manage to crack the backseat door before the window frame bent from the walloping tree branch.

              Curses resounded as the tree swung into the front window, shattering the glass all around them.  Then it halted, landing unceremoniously next to the car. Calmly, the petite woman stalked around to the passengers side. 

              As she raised a gun, her head lifted, and her gaze locked with Declan’s.

              “
Joss
?” Declan gasped.

    *     *     *     *

             
Fight it
! A wince of pain escaped Joss’ lip. 
Don’t let them win
. 
Don’t take his life
.  Joss battled for control against the hypnotics.  Her body shook and her skin itched as a multitude of voices thundered in her head, vehemently ordering her to pull the trigger.  She’d already broken a light sweat from the half mile jog she’d made—attempting to look like the innocent runner—but now sweat rolled freely along her forehead, burning her eyes. 

              She knew she had mere seconds before she would pull the trigger.  She managed to mutter one word, which left her lips with desperation. “
Run
.”

              The voices in her head pressed harder and she winced at the pain. Dammit, he needed to run, so she could stop fighting the pull.  The hypnotics would become suspicious.  She also knew her pickup vehicle was only seconds behind, and they would do the job if she didn’t.  Not to mention, the
job
they’d do to her for not following directives.  They’d find out that she’s been pulling away from the hypnosis, and she couldn’t afford to let that happen until she was strong enough to break completely free.

             He had to make a break for it.
 
Now!  Maybe she could scare him.

             Through a groan, she shifted her aim slightly and shot, nailing Declan in the upper right shoulder.  Because it wasn’t a kill shot, the pain in her head caused her to violently shutter and the slithering itch in her skin intensified. 
Kill him
, the voices in her head bellowed.

              Declan grunted in pain and she heard his partner yelling curses.  The blonde man then grabbed for what she knew was a gun.

             
Bloody hell
!
 
She didn’t want to kill his partner, but he was leaving her without options.

              “Run … Dec …b…bent,” she barely grunted and then turned the gun on his partner and shot his right arm, hoping this would halt his attempt at retaliation.

              Declan’s eye widened in acknowledgement, then flickered toward his partner.  The blonde man cursed loudly before raising his left arm, a glock in his grip.

             
Argh, no
! The bloke just wouldn’t stay down. 

             
Kill or be killed
fluttered through Joss’ brain.  With zero hesitation, she shot once more at Declan’s partner, watching him slump forward.

              “Noooooo!” Declan bellowed; his fevered eyes locked with hers.  Rage burned directly at her. 

              A double dose of agony surged.  The first from battling for control against the hypnotics and now from the pain she’d just inflicted upon her kin.

              Suddenly, the driver’s side door opened and Joss watched as the woman who’d been in the back seat reached across Declan’s shoulder, attempting to pull him out.

              “We gotta go!” the woman shouted, then her eyes fell on Carter and the same enraged expression landed on her.  Inside Joss’ head the woman’s unfamiliar voice thundered,
This is far from over
.
Consider yourself dead
.  Startled by such a young telepathic, Joss gasped aloud.

              “They’re all around us,” the woman yelled toward Declan, “I’ve managed to control and kill two, but I can’t locate and control them all.”

             
Kill some
? Joss thought with confusion.
How
?
I trapped her in the back of the vehicle
.
 
How is she killing them?

              Another surge of agonizing pain struck Joss; she was weakening against the hypnotics hold.  Her trembling hand suddenly aimed at his chest.  The voices slammed her mind,
Kill Declan
,
kill your target
. With zero control of her body, she shot.  A harsh “No!” left her lips as her eyes clamped shut and despair lanced her heart knowing she just killed her family. 

              Voices shouted and she opened her eyes. Miraculously, she realized that she only grazed his shoulder.  She must have struck the woman as well, as she could hear her cursing grunts of pain. This couldn’t be.  Joss knew it was a kill shot.  She was an expert marksman; Patrice made sure of that.               

              Suspicion trickled. What’s going on?  How did she miss and not feel the agony?

              Against her will, Joss’ body began to stalk toward the driver’s side, once again, pelting them with
 
branches, but they managed to run around the other side of the pummeled Tahoe.  By the time she reached the other side, they had ran through traffic and were now heading up the side walk.  Joss’ gun arm shot upward—the need to complete this mission a living monster writhing from within.  Aiming, she fired toward the back of Declan.  Again, she was dumbstruck at what she witnessed.
 
At the same moment she shot, she watched the woman with him swing an arm outward and shove Declan out of the way, taking the shot in her hand.

             
This couldn’t have just happened
.  It was …
unbelievable
.

              The woman’s reaction was a split second move that one could call pure luck, but Joss knew—knew with every fiber of her being that the woman had anticipated the bullet; she’d sensed it.

             Wonders never cease…  At least not in the world of the gifted.

          She wheeled back around toward the demolished Tahoe and spotted her ride. 
Get into the car
, was her next order, and she followed it without hesitation.  Once inside, darkness took hold as she was ordered to sleep.  The only thought that crossed before slipping under was that she’d just killed an innocent man.

Chapter 4

“Here.  Per Patrice, this guy’s your responsibility.”

              Joss stood rigid next to her bed, utterly shocked as one of Patrice’s downtarts, a man named Samuel, wheeled in a gurney holding the blonde guy she’d shot only five days prior.  She’d thought him dead, but then again, the last information they’d willingly shared was four days ago.