The Embers Of My Heart (35 page)

"That's a good idea," I said. "Things haven't been great out here."

"I know what you mean. We've been busy here. I'm coordinating a bunch of newbies and we have to deal with some of the craziest people coming across the Pacific. I think the Bureau just gave up the fight. Haven't seen or heard from them in the past week." She continued to tell me about her adventures out there for a few minutes. I closed my eyes and leaned back on the bench. "So the splinter Kaze group is basically in charge in northern California. Not much we can do about it now, not with the resources we have."

"Why don't you just have Todd beat them down?" I asked.

"Todd's gone," she said. My eyes sprang open. "He took off about a week after you left. He's the boss, Kevin, he doesn't stay in one place too long. You're lucky he was around when you came out here."

I closed my eyes again. "Yeah."

"Something wrong?"

I swallowed and sighed. "Lisa."

"Jessy's roommate?"

"She was in a car accident. She didn't make it."

"What? Oh my god! Kevin, I'm so sorry, what happened?"

I swallowed again. "Shade woke up. He came after me. He's coming after me."

"Are you alone right now?"

"Always."

"You need to be protected. All the time. Are they watching you? Why are you on the phone with me?"

"If they are, I haven't heard about it." Absynthe hadn't contacted me since the funeral. Nothing had come up about the hearing. No one from the Establishment was talking to me. If someone was watching me to make sure he didn't come after me, they were doing a good job of staying hidden. I'd checked. "I don't think they're trying to keep me safe. I think they realize I'm a liability now."

"That's a bad sign."

"He's after my friends and family. He made some random normal guy smash his car into Lisa's. When I found the poor guy, he had a message for me. Suffer. That's what he told me as he bled out." I shook my head and tried to force that memory out. "I tried to help Lisa, but he was there. We fought, but all he did was force me to waste time until it was too late. I can't let this happen again."

"My sister?"

"She's not taking it well."

"You'll protect her. Right?"

"I'm going to do my best, but I'm only one man." I considered my next words for a moment. "I'm going to tell her about our powers. All of my closest friends deserve to know why someone might try to kill them."

Star didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm scared."

"I know."

"This is what took me away from her."

"I know."

"I don't want her involved."

"I know. But she already is, and it's my fault."

"I know." She sighed. "I know. I know! When are you going to tell her?"

"As soon as I can convince everyone to get together again." I told her the quick version of how everyone seemed to be avoiding Drew. "The guys already know, but your sister and Kaitlyn don't, and they're definitely at risk."

"I hate breaking the rules like that, but I think you're right."

I started to say something, but a hand dropped on my shoulder. I jumped and looked over my shoulder. Absynthe stood behind me. "Don't make any rash decisions yet," she said quietly as I almost dropped the phone. "Please finish up your conversation. We need to go."

"Where? Why?"

"We have him."

My mind fizzled for a moment. I brought the phone back to my ear. "Kevin? Kevin, you there?"

"I'm here," I said. "I have to go. I just found out they have him."

"Call me soon." She paused, then added, "Bring Jessy and her boyfriend."

"I will."

"I love you."

"I love you too." I hung up and looked back up at Absynthe. "Do I need to keep this hidden any more, or am I already dead?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She turned her back.

I didn't know why she was giving me the chance to cover this up, but I wasn't going to ask any questions. I put the phone back in its hiding place and stood up. "Thanks," I said.

"Let's go." We walked to campus together, heading for the main administration building. Instead of going up to Alistair's office, she led me to an unfamiliar wing of the building. A door that looked like a closet turned out to be a small hallway that led to another door with a keypad. She hid the code with her body, but I counted twelve clicks as she pressed buttons. The door slid open and we walked down three flights of stairs, below the normal basement. I felt a hum in the back of my head as we came to the bottom.

"I didn't know we had a secret base," I said as she punched in another code at a similar door.

"This is a high security area," she said. "Most operations take place openly or thinly disguised, as you know. This is for things that we do not want anyone to find. Nothing you see or hear here should leave this secure area. Understood?"

"Yes." We walked down a featureless concrete hallway with heavy doors at irregular intervals. At the end of the hallway, it split. We took the left path and stopped at the second heavy door. She pushed it open and gestured for me to walk in. The room was dark, barely lit, with a single spotlight pointing down and illuminating a circle. No one stood in the light. Absynthe guided me to the side, past a handful of people, to an empty portion of the chamber. We took places along the wall and waited. "This is an interrogation chamber, isn't it?" I whispered.

"In a manner of speaking," Absynthe said. "You don't have to worry. You're not on the list today."

"Not today. Great. Who's here?"

"More people than you know."

Someone entered the circle of light. I blinked as I recognized Alistair Ripley. "This emergency session will come to order," he said, silencing the whispers from around the room. "Relays, please confirm you are ready to proceed."

A few voices spoke up in affirmation. "Relays?" I asked.

"They're using telepresence for our agents who can't attend in person."

I nodded and fell silent again. After a moment, Alistair nodded at some unseen signal and lifted his hand. "This emergency session is regarding the events that led to the deaths of an ungifted student of Ripley University and a resident of Troy some days ago. We have already determined their deaths were due to unwarranted and unwanted psionic interference in their lives. This Establishment does not condone these actions. Indeed, we condemn them and the perpetrators in the strongest of terms. We have already provided compensation to the families of the victims and will continue to do so for a period of no less than ten years. Is there any objection from the membership at large?" There was silence. I blinked. Hard. I never thought the Establishment would lift a finger for untalented people.

"Very well. I have called this emergency session as the alleged perpetrator has been secured. We shall now proceed with testimony and questioning." Alistair stepped back from the spotlight. I heard a clunk as a door opened.

Absynthe's hand came down hard on my shoulder. I shook. He walked into the circle of light. His head was freshly shaven, dark skin reflecting the spotlight. He wore his signature trench coat. I hadn't gotten a great look at him that night. He was thinner. The coat hung loose from his shoulders. His cheeks were sunken and his eyes bulged slightly. Handcuffs held his hands in front of him. I was sure they were just a symbolic gesture. Handcuffs wouldn't hold that bastard.

Another spotlight came on. I flinched again. This one illuminated another familiar figure. "Let the record show that Patricia Parker shall be the inquisitor for this session," my mother said. "Would the accused please state his name for the record?"

"My name is Shade."

Absynthe's fingers dug in. She didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything.

My mother paused before continuing. "Several members are requesting an advocate for your questioning. Do you wish to request one?"

"I waive my rights to an advocate." His statement set off a murmur of voices echoing through the room.

"Very well. The record shall reflect that. Let the record also reflect this session's wardens are Quincy, Spectre, and Beowulf. Under Establishment penal codes, they are empowered to maintain order in this chamber and to confirm the truthfulness of any statements you make. To block their access will result in a presumption of guilt. Do you understand and agree?"

"I have no intention to be anything other than entirely truthful," Shade said. "I agree."

I felt the hum in the back of my head intensify. Green light flickered from three places in the chamber. "This is Beowulf," said a deep bass. "He has complied."

"Thank you," my mother said. "Shade, you stand accused of unwarranted interference in the lives of ungifted humans. To summarize, you forcibly controlled one's mind and caused a vehicular accident, resulting in two deaths. Under Establishment penal codes, we charge you with two counts of murder in the second degree. How do you plea?"

"No contest."

Another ripple of murmurs echoed around the room. I saw my mom frown and hold a hand up. "No contest? What does that mean?" I asked Absynthe.

"It means he acknowledges he is guilty and has no defense for it," she said. "It's a complete surrender to the mercy of the court."

"I hope the court shows him as much mercy as he showed her."

"Shade, a plurality of members requests that you retract your plea of no contest. What say you?"

"I decline."

"Very well. You also stand accused of conspiring to kill a trainee of the Establishment. Under Establishment penal codes, we charge you with one count of conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree. How do you plea?"

"Not guilty." His tone was firm. "I request an expedited questioning session. I don't feel like being tortured."

My mom paused a moment. "Your request is granted. You want to kill Kevin Parker. More so, you want to make him suffer first. You left a note saying you were going after him after awakening from your coma. You interrogated an Establishment nurse to determine his whereabouts. You told your captors what you were doing when they found you about to launch an attack on another ungifted student." I flinched. Which of my friends had been about to die? "Do you confirm or deny these allegations?"

"Those are all true."

"Kevin Parker is a member of the Establishment. Your plea makes no sense."

"You're making a bad assumption," Shade said. "He's not one of ours. Kevin Parker is a member of the Resistance."

My mother held a hand up. "Wardens, please confirm his statement."

"Spectre. I confirm the veracity of his statement."

This time, there were no murmurs. The room exploded in conversation. I turned to Absynthe. "That's not true!" I hissed at her. There was no way he could know what had happened. He had been in a coma when I was in Seattle. Whether or not it was true now, he couldn't know that.

My mother held a hand up. "Silence, please. A majority of members have requested that Kevin Parker stand as witness. Would Kevin please step forward?" Another spotlight turned on.

I swallowed hard, but Absynthe shifted her hand and pushed me back against the wall. She strode forward into the light. "I am Absynthe and I will advocate for my trainee," she announced. I could see Shade's lip curl into a sneer. "He is not a full member of our Establishment, and it is repugnant that he be asked to stand in full view of the man who has openly, willfully expressed the desire for his death."

"A majority agrees to your advocacy," my mother said after a moment.

"Thank you. Kevin Parker is not a member of the Resistance. Even if he is determined to be so in the future, he remains under Establishment disciplinary codes right now. That is a completely separate matter and one man cannot unilaterally decide his disposition."

"Untrue," Shade snapped. "The Resistance is considered a unique threat to the Establishment. Prior cases of high treason involving those terrorists resulted in retroactive dismissal of the accused from the Establishment and the corresponding legal protections and obstructions of justice."

"Obstructions of justice?" Absynthe snapped right back. "Justice is a matter for this session to determine, not for you acting alone."

"Please, don't insult my intelligence. It's an open secret that he's the primary subject of Project Threshold as well as the inquisitor's son. If there's any justice in this chamber, you'll question me yourself, Alistair."

"These are immaterial," my mother snapped. "You will confine yourself to pertinent commentary."

"Pertinent? It's pertinent that he has unregistered second tier powers, isn't it? He has the power we've been looking for, doesn't he? Is he latent for the third tier? Has anyone bothered to check that yet?"

"As a point of order, he is registered for second tier powers," Absynthe said.

Shade snarled. "Of course he is now, after he used them to nearly kill me!"

"Explain."

"I found him consorting with a member of the Resistance, in our own back yard!" He shook his handcuffs. "Lax security. Sympathizers! It's been fifteen years! How can anyone still have allegiance to Green?"

"This is immaterial!" Absynthe snapped again. "Why does any of this mean that Kevin Parker needs to die?"

"Because he's on their side!" Shade was shouting now. "Don't any of you understand that? He's with Green and his traitors! He thought I couldn't hear him while I was in a coma, but I could hear him admit what he found out. I've looked through the records since I woke up. I've talked to people. I know what's going on. You're all fools, pretending he's not doing these things because he's so fucking important to that fucking project. He isn't. We all know it. He's a liability."

I crossed my arms over my stomach and pushed back against the wall. I was glad no one could see me. I'd made a fatal assumption months ago.

"Unsubstantiated," Absynthe said. "All of your babble is unsubstantiated drivel. I'll add that mentioning Project Threshold is a lapse of security."

"So noted," my mother said. "Shade, you are to maintain security procedures."

"This is ridiculous," he said. "Why don't you just force him to stand here and have someone verify the truth?"