Hero Reborn (Keepers of Justice, Book 3) (22 page)

As Kale
does it, X turns his head like he’s hiding his tears. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he walks away.

Kale
finishes just in time before we’re thrown out.

X paces around our room. “We need to tell Samson and Cindy what we learned.”

It’s after four in the morning and we should be tired, but we’re not. I’m wide awake with the info Stealth gave us. I can’t believe
Vlayne is using President Ashford as her puppet.

Kale scans around.
“But they’re not home yet.”

X grabs a notebook and sits down. He poises the pen over it. “Clearly they haven’t found
the Blades or a solution to the problem. I don’t think they will.”

Kale drops down next to him. “Probably not.”

“Can you contact your parents?” X asks. “Don’t give them details, just tell them we need to discuss something important with them. In case someone intercepts your message.”

“
Got it.”

X continues to write in his notebook. I play with my limbs, stretching them, then retrac
ting them.

“
Done,” Kale says. “They’re on their way.”

***

Kale, X, and I are on the couch in Samson and Cindy’s office. They’re at the desk. They look like they haven’t slept in years. I swear they’ve aged a good ten years since we were attacked.

“Okay, boys,” Samson says. “What is it?”

X and I look at Kale. He’s always the guy to inform his parents about these things. “You’re not going to like what I’m about to tell you, but hear us out. Please.”

They exchange a look before nodding. Kale inhales, then exhales. “We met with Stealth.”

Cindy sits up sharply. Samson’s face gets white.

“We went into her dream,” Kale continues.
He gestures to me. “Stretch got a new ability ever since he came back from the dead. He can go into people’s dreams and have real conversations with them.”

Samson and Cindy don’t look too happy to hear this.

“So,” Kale says. “The three of us went into Stealth’s dream. I connected us.”

“Boys—”

“I erased her memories. That way when she woke up, Vlayne wouldn’t read it in her mind.” He looks from one parent to another. “We were careful.”

Cindy sighs. Samson rubs his temples.
“How are you so sure her memories were wiped?”

Kale shifts in his seat
. “Because we tested it on you, Dad. We learned that Stretch can bypass telepathic holds and that I can erase the memory of the dream.”

Samson’s jaw clenches.
“Is that why you woke me in the middle of the night?”

“I know we invaded your privacy,” I say. “But we’re trying to save the normies.”

Now Cindy massages her temples. “Do you realize how dangerous this is?”

“Ye
ah, we do,” Kale says. “But it’s for the humans.”

“We don’t have time to argue,” X says. “We need to tell you what we learned.”

Samson leans back in his chair. “You’re right. Go ahead.”

Kale tells him everything,
how Stealth wouldn’t tell us the location of their headquarters, how we were thrown out and had to go again the next night, that the virus is the same one her dad has, just as we suspected. He then mentions Vlayne controlling the president.

Samson and Cindy’s eyes are huge. We wait for them to
talk, but they’re dumbfounded. In shock.

“Can you guys undo her hold on the president?” I ask.

Cindy intakes a shaky breath. “No. Vlayne’s telepathy is too strong.”

We fall
against the back of the couch.

After about a minute, Kale says, “What if we pool all our energies. We take all the telepaths we know and connect us so our power will be greater than Vlayne’s. Maybe we can push her hold off the president. Then we’ll convince him to tell everyone to accept the antidote from us.”

Samson and Cindy talk it over telepathically before Samson nods. “Alright. That seems like the best option.”

Cindy gets up from her seat and sits near Kale. “This isn’t the time to reprimand you for your actions.” She holds up a finger. “But I want you to know that I’m not happy. Proud, yes. Very proud.” She pats X and my arms. “But not happy. The next time you have an idea to do something dangerous, come to us.”

“Going after the ShadowBlades four months ago, sending Stealth undercover, going into her dreams.” Samson shakes his head. “Do you want to get yourselves killed?”

“No,”
Kale says. “We were just trying to help.”

“We found a solution to the problem,” X s
ays. “That’s what’s important.”

A small smile tugs the corner of Cindy’s mouth. “The three of you are going to send me to an early grave.” She pinches Kale’s cheek.

“Geez, Mom!”

She bends close to him. “Keep yourselves out of trouble.”

“Okay,” he mutters, rubbing his cheek. “When are you going to gather the telepaths?”

She glances at her watch. “It’s too early right now. Your father and I have a few things to discuss first.
You three should get some sleep.”

We say goodnight, head for our room, and collapse on our beds.

***

I’m
falling down the hole. Aw, man. Am I going into Furball’s dream again? I don’t remember thinking about her before I fell asleep. Maybe it’s my parents this time. But I didn’t think about them, either.

I fall on my butt. On the cold ground. Ouch.
Am I ever going to get this landing under control?

Voices. I’m a few feet away from a building. Hold on. I know this building.
The White House.

The—the president? What the heck am I doing here? Was I thinking about him before I fell asleep? Well, of course I was. I mean, we did find out the way Vlayne’s operating. So yeah, he entered my mind a few times.

Okay, I’ve gotta breathe and remember it’s only a dream. But oh, man. I’m invading his dream. If he sees me, he’ll remember it when he wakes up. Vlayne will probably read it in his mind.

I squint at the house. People
come in and out, dressed fancy. Like some sort of party is going on. And I’m crashing it.

Just as I get to my feet, I’m tossed into the house through an opened window like a rag doll.

Man, the place is packed. People are all over. I don’t know who they are—I’ve never really paid much attention to current events or politics. Quickly, before anyone can see me, I hide behind a closet. I notice the vice president and his wife talking to some other people who seem important. The First Lady is also here, chatting up some woman. So are their kids, two girls and one boy, all dressed perfectly. I don’t see the president.

Again, what the hell am I doing here? Does this have to do with Vlayne? Could
she know about my new power and be screwing with me?

Nothing seems to be going on. People are just eating, talking. Some couples are dancing. This is a dream. Maybe the president’s, maybe his wife’s. I have no clue. I’m not sure if this is how parties go down in the White House, since I’ve never been to one.

Oh, man. Does someone plan on assassinating the president? Did I fall into this to save his life?

I watch some more, but nothing’s changed. A few minutes later
, the president walks into the room. He looks normal, not like he’s being controlled by an evil villain. I guess since it’s his dream—that’s what I assume, anyway—he’d be normal.

I’ve
got to make sure he doesn’t see me.

Cameras are in his face. Some people cheer. He waves his hands to quiet them down. Then he steps onto a podium as everyone sits down. After clearing his throat, he starts a speech on his re-election. Re-election? But he’s got
three years until then. His second term must always be on his mind and that’s why he’s dreaming about it. But what the heck does it have to do with me? Maybe I’ve got to learn something. Something to help us remove Vlayne’s hold.

This speech is so boring. He goes on and on about the issues he plans to fix in his next term. My head droops and droops and droops.

Clapping. They’re so loud I jump and bang my head against the wall behind me. Ow. President Ashford seems so pleased with everyone’s reaction. His wife and kids walk over to him, smiling brightly. He takes her hand, leading her to dance.

Dreams are so
weird. Especially this one. I’m pretty sure re-elections don’t happen like this. But it’s not my place to criticize the president’s dream, not when I’ve had some crazy ones myself.

I
keep watching, waiting for the president—or whoever’s dreaming this—to wake up.

Wake up. Wake up. Wake up.

A voice says, “Congratulations President Ashford on your second term.” The entire place roars with clapping and cheers. I peek my head out, watching the leader of our country bask in his glory.

The place gets fuzzy. Finally, I get to leave this place. I’ve never liked politics. I just don’t get it.

Everything starts to sway. A second later, I’m launched through the roof, into the sky.

I jump up in bed. Scratching my head, I look around. What did
the dream mean? Was it something important? Should I worry about it?

The clock says it’s
six AM. I’ll tell the guys about this later. Maybe they’ll help me figure it out. I yawn and fall back in my bed. Hopefully this time, if I go into a dream, I’ll go into one I actually understand.

The first thing I do when I wake up is tell the guys about my crazy dream. “What the hell? Kale says. “The president?”

“I know. Weird.”

“Did he see you?” X asks.

“No. I hid
behind a closet.”

He
sighs in relief.

“What do you think it means?”
Kale asks. No one says anything. “X?”

He grabs a notebook and scribbles something inside. “No clue.”

“Maybe it doesn’t mean anything,” I say. “I mean, I was thinking about everything Stealth told us. That’s probably why I went into the president’s dream. He’s the foundation of all this, isn’t he?”

Kale twists his mouth. “I guess.”

“Do we tell Samson and Cindy?”

X shakes his head. “They’re going to be busy today gathering telepaths. I don’t think we should bother them.”

“You think the telepaths will be able to remove Vlayne’s hold?” I ask.

“I hope,” X answers.

Kale frowns. “Sucks Stealth can’t tell us the Blades’ hideout. But I get it. She’s a Blade and can’t betray them.”

“She’s also protecting us,” I add. “And
Lindsay.”

X clenches his fist.

“Her choice wasn’t easy, man,” Kale says.

He doesn’t say anything.

“We gotta remember that Vlayne’s her mom. Yeah, she’s the evilest person in the world. But she’s still her mom. Can’t be easy for her.” He looks from X to me. “I really hope the telepaths come through.”

We’re quiet.

I poke Kale’s chest with my finger. “You gonna be part of it?”

“I hope so.” He’s got a look on his face. Like he really, really, really wants to help.

“You’re a strong telepath,” X says. “They’ll most likely ask you to join.”

Kale shrugs. “I’m not that strong.”

“Yeah, you are.” I lightly punch his shoulder.

He shrugs again.

***

Kale, his parents, and some others left to meet the telepaths. Regina teleported them someplace where no one will see them. They’ve been gone for only ten minutes, but I’m driving myself crazy, which makes my stomach rumble. I head to the kitchen for food. I
grab some cereal and a few donuts. As I’m chomping them down, someone sits beside me. Furball. I nearly choke. “H-hey!” I blurt.

She smiles.
I return a wide one. Giggling, she grabs a napkin from the table and brings it to my mouth. “You’ve got jelly.”

“Oh…t
hanks.”

“No problem.”

My donut is oozing more jelly. It’s getting all over my hands. It doesn’t help that they’re shaking a bit.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

I stuff the donut in my mouth and bite. Jelly splats all over the table. “Oh, crap. Sorry.” I reach for napkins, but end up knocking down the napkin holder and the salt and pepper shakers.

Furball clutches my hand. “What’s wrong?”

I pull away. “N-nothing! Everything’s perfect. You hungry? Did you eat? You’re probably so hungry. Here, take this donut. It’s really good. Oh, and this cake. You’ve got to try it!”

I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
Why she’s making me feel this way. It’s like I can’t control myself.