The Tower (49 page)

I nodded gravely, and Mr. Baker laughed, saying, “You just keep Cindy safe for me.”

After Mr. Baker left, I asked Cindy incredulously, “He wanted to put cameras and microphones in this place?”

Cindy nodded. “As if it’s not bad enough that we’re practically living in a jail.”

“It’s not a bad jail to live in,” I said, looking around at the spacious living room and comfortable sofas. “Nice and secure.”

It turned out that Mr. Baker had left without introducing the last addition to the penthouse’s security. The following day, while Cindy was tutoring me in the living room after lunch, the doorbell rang, and Cindy opened the door to...

“Terry!” I exclaimed.

“Hey, Adrian,” said Terry, stepping into the living room.

Then she snapped Cindy a smart salute and said, “Terry Henderson reporting in for security duty as ordered, Ms. Gifford.”

Cindy gave her an exasperated look. Terry laughed, saying, “I’m kidding, Cindy!”

Alia came running from our room. “Terry! Terry!”

“You’re living here again?” I asked as Terry gave Alia a hug.

“Where else can I get a proper meal?” said Terry, grinning.

Cindy turned to me and said, “Mr. Baker insisted on live-in security.”

I laughed. “Somehow I doubt Terry would have been Mr. Baker’s first choice.”

“No,” confirmed Cindy, “but it’s not his choice to make.”

“You look better,” I said to Terry. “It’s really good to have you back.”

Terry replied quietly, “I’m not entirely over it yet, Adrian, but yes, I’m back.”

Without thinking, I said, “Your brother would have been proud of you.”

I half-expected Terry to knock me down for saying something so tactless, but she merely smiled and replied, “Gabriel wasn’t a psionic, Adrian, but he was a Knight. He was a soldier. I think he would have understood. In a way, he died to save the Heart of New Haven. I’m just continuing his work.”

“Will you continue teaching me how to fight?” I asked.

“Sure, Adrian,” said Terry, and then laughed, adding, “As long as you don’t mind being taught by a cripple.”

Laughing with her, I replied, “It can’t be nearly as bad as being taught by a
girl.
”

Terry lunged at me. “Oh, you’re gonna pay for that, Adrian Howell!”

Fortunately, Cindy and Alia were there to save me from serious harm.

Terry brought the rest of her belongings (there were very few) up from the fourth floor, and it seemed that she was moving in permanently. Terry wasn’t one to decorate her room with posters or photos, but at least she was no longer living in the makeshift camp that it used to be. I noticed that she had even brought up the plastic hook, which was now sitting on the corner of her desk.

That night, after Alia went to bed, I joined Terry in the pool room. Without her left hand, Terry had to learn how to play all over again, resting the tip of her cue stick on the edge of her stump.

After I lost the first game, I asked hesitantly, “Would it be too much prying to ask where you’ve been this last week?”

“I’m sorry about that, Adrian,” Terry said in an uncharacteristically civil tone. “It’s not like I was avoiding you or anything. I know you’ve been coming to my place, and I really was glad that you came by on the day of Gabriel’s funeral.”

“So where were you?” I asked, setting up the table again.

Terry made the break shot as she said, “I was out at the cemetery for a while, and then I took a trip back to the last town where my brother and I used to live together.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” I asked, miraculously sinking two balls in one shot.

“Yes and no,” said Terry. “The truth is, I wasn’t exactly sure why I even wanted to go back there. I guess I was just looking for something that didn’t exist anymore. When I got to the town, I realized that everything I had was back here, in New Haven.”

I missed my next shot. “You mean your normal life?”

“People like us don’t have normal lives, Adrian,” said Terry, sinking one. “But this is the best we can hope for.”

“At least you have school friends.”

“Yes, but probably not for long. All the Guardian families know I’m living with Cindy now, so I guess I’m about to find out who my real friends are.”

“You’re not going to have to drop out of school, are you?” I asked worriedly.

“There’s no telling, but hopefully not anytime soon.”

“Good,” I said as I watched Terry line up her cue again, “because I don’t know if I could survive you living here all day. Alia is trouble enough as it is.”

Terry missed her shot, and three turns later I managed to sink the nine-ball.

“I guess we’re finally evenly matched at this game, Adrian,” said Terry. “At least until I get my prosthetic.”

I grinned. “Don’t you mean your hook?”

“Well, that too.”

“It’s nice to finally beat you at something, Terry,” I said. “It’s not easy being third-rate at everything that’s expected of you, you know.”

“What are you talking about?” said Terry. “You’ve got lots of things going for you.”

“Oh yeah?” I scoffed. “Name one.”

“Well, let’s see... You’re a much better cook than I’ll ever be. You’ll make a great househusband someday.”

“Thanks a lot, Terry,” I said dryly as Terry laughed.

Then she said more seriously, “Fighting skill isn’t everything, Adrian. I saw that on the boat that night. Now I know why Alia trusts you so much.”

“I don’t,” I said. “I’m usually much better at getting her into trouble than out of it.”

“But you do get her out of it. I’m no good at protecting people, Adrian. I can’t worry about others and fight at the same time. A good offence isn’t always the best defense, but it’s the only way I know. You’re better than that, and I was right about you when I said you were a natural fighter.”

Terry didn’t often compliment me, and I wasn’t sure how to respond.

Terry smiled and said, “If we’re both still alive when we come of age, I’m going to hold you to your promise to hunt the Angels with me, Adrian.”

“Sure,” I said. “But you’re going to help me find Cat.”

“I will,” promised Terry.

After playing a third game of nine-ball (which I lost), I bid Terry goodnight and returned to my room.

As I lay on my bed and pulled my blanket over me, I heard Alia say into my head,
“Who won the game?”

I shook my head in resignation. “Why am I not surprised that you’re still awake?”

“I couldn’t sleep. I’m just so happy Terry is living with us again.”

“Me too, Ali,” I said, “though I had been hoping to put you in that room soon, so I could have this one all to myself.”

“Addy!”

“Still,” I continued, smiling, “I guess it’s worth it to have her back. This time for real.”

“I just wish I could do something for her arm.”

“She’ll be okay.”

“Are you still dreaming about her?”

“No,” I said dryly. “And for your information, Alia, Terry was never my girlfriend.”

“I know,”
said Alia, giggling.
“I just like bugging you.”

I used my telekinesis to yank Alia’s pillow out from under her head and smack her with it a few times as she laughed hysterically.

Once Alia managed to catch her pillow, she sat up on her bed and looked at me seriously.
“Do you think you’ll ever find your real sister?”

I smiled. “I already have. She’s living in my room, and she’s an annoying little
–
”

“I meant Cat!”

“I know what you meant, Alia. And I hope so, but after what they did to Terry’s brother...” I paused, not sure if I wanted to talk about this with Alia. But then again, she was the one who had brought it up. I continued quietly, “The really scary part is, I think the Angels already know that Cat is my sister. I think they’ve known all along. I don’t know why they haven’t tried to use her against me. Maybe because they managed to convert her... I just don’t know.”

“I think you’ll find her, Addy. I think she’ll be okay.”

“You’re just like Cindy, Alia. You’re an optimist.”

Alia looked at me worriedly.
“Is there really going to be a war?”

I grinned. “There will be if you don’t go to sleep soon.”

“I’m serious!”

“I think,” I said slowly, “that the war has already begun. I think it began long before we were born. I hope it ends soon, but I’m not an optimist like you.”

Alia lay back down on her bed and closed her eyes.
“Will you still protect me?”

“Always,” I whispered. “As long as you can keep me alive.”

“I can do that, Addy. I’ll keep you alive no matter what.”

“Goodnight, Alia.”

“Goodnight.”

This pentalogy will continue right where it left off in

Adrian Howell’s PSIONIC

Book Three

Lesser Gods

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About the Author

Born of a Japanese mother and American father, Adrian Howell (pen name) was raised for a time in California and currently lives a quiet life in Japan where he teaches English to small groups of children and adults. Aside from reading and writing fiction, his hobbies include recumbent cycling, skiing, medium-distance trekking, sketching and oversleeping.

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Adrian Howell’s PSIONIC

Book Two: The Tower

First Edition

All characters, places and events in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, real persons, living, dead or yet to be born, is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2010 by Adrian Howell

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or psionic, including photocopying, recording, telepathy, dreamweaving, and information storage and retrieval systems without the permission of the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles and reviews.