The Elders (Mind Dimensions #4)(60)

No. As I examine the door he’s standing next to, I note the bloody prints on it—prints that match Thomas’s knuckles.

He hurt his hands trying to enter this locked room.

I check the door that was torn off its hinges. Thomas’s blood is smeared across the back, and there are also boot prints. Thomas was likely locked inside this room and broke out, and now he’s trying to get into the other room.

I think I know what’s happening, but I want to be sure.

I make my way back to the battlefield, this time running as if a rabid tiger is chasing me.

I use a stick to pry the shotgun out of George’s arms; I don’t want to accidentally pull him into the Quiet with me. Then I return to the upstairs of the guesthouse and use the butt of the shotgun to push Thomas’s frozen body out of my way. I don’t want to bring him in either.

I fire the shotgun at the door over and over. My ears beg for mercy, but I ignore them. On the fifth shot, the shotgun makes a clicking noise, indicating it’s empty. The door is in shambles, and I kick away what remains of it.

As I suspected, Mira is inside. She’s lying on the bed, unconscious.

Given Thomas’s crazed approach to opening the doors, I have to assume he’s trying to break in so he can hurt her. The ferocity on his face and the deep cuts on his knuckles offer no other alternative.

There’s only one probable explanation.

The Super Pusher is also controlling Thomas, the way he was controlling him at the funeral.

Thomas is determined to get to Mira, and her door won’t last much longer.

Shit.

I look her over.

Mira’s face looks almost angelic. The full intensity of how much I missed her hits me. I can’t bear to think there’s even a chance she’ll get hurt.

No. I refuse to contemplate that possibility. I touch her forehead, determined to pull her in and warn her.

Nothing happens.

I touch her again.

Still no effect.

I shake her as though I could wake her up from the Quiet, and even try kissing her as if she were Sleeping Beauty and I her prince.

Nothing.

She must be Inert on top of being drugged up. Knowing Mira, I suspect she fought them as soon as she woke up from the van ride.

Crap. I’ll have to continue facing this war zone alone.

I consider pulling Thomas in, but that wouldn’t improve the situation. At best, I could make him Inert, but in the real world, he would still be quite capable of breaking down the door and hurting Mira.

Pulling him into the Quiet to make him Inert would be too dangerous, anyway. If I failed to kill him and he killed me instead, I would be made Inert and left with no chance of untangling this mess—not that I can, at present, see any way to do so.

Actually, there is one way.

If I could reach Level 2, I could reverse whatever the Super Pusher did to Thomas. For that matter, I could reverse what I assume he did to George, Kate, and her crew.

Of course, I can’t get to Level 2, so it’s pointless to dwell on it. For now, I need to get a better grasp on this f*cked-up situation.

With purpose adding stamina to my aching legs, I run out of the guesthouse. I have to find a way to get to the back of the Temple.

I sprint, Reading young monks as I go, and I’m glad that I do. The exit is actually a hidden passageway. I have to go down into the Temple’s basement and take a bunch of winding corridors, and I do just that.

When I exit the hidden passage, I find myself in the forest, surrounded by cops and Richard. They’re all pointing their guns at a white-robed figure.

Edward.

He’s one of the Enlightened and my step-grandfather of sorts—husband to Rose, my father’s mom. She had my father with Paul, who’s not her husband, for the sake of genetic purity. Of course, none of that Jerry Springer stuff matters right now.

The bullet-riddled bodies of monks are strewn everywhere, confirming what’s already obvious: Edward is about to get shot.

But then I notice something strange about Edward. He looks frightened, sure, but he also appears determined. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say there’s triumph in his frozen eyes.

I touch his forehead, determined to pull him in and find out what he’s doing.

Bringing him into the Quiet doesn’t work, likely because Richard made him Inert.

Edward’s right hand is hidden in the folds of his white robe. Something about the way he’s standing makes me suspicious of that hand, so I examine it—and my stomach turns.

He’s about to pull the pin out of a grenade that’s been secured to his body.

He wants to blow himself up and take his attackers out with him.

No, that’s insane. There has to be a better way of dealing with this situation.

I enter the mind of the first cop and watch Richard’s sickening, execution-style attack on the monks who are now dead on the ground.

Then I start Guiding him.

I instruct the cops closest to Richard: “You will not shoot this old man. You will swap your gun for a Taser and point it at Richard; then you will pull the trigger. Richard, the big guy to your left, is the FBI’s most wanted criminal, and you’re here to take him down. As soon as the Taser neutralizes him, cuff him. After this, do not allow anyone to follow the white-robed people.”

To the cops closer to Edward, I command: “Use your Taser on the old man and then carefully secure his hidden grenade. You will tell him that everything is okay and that he can catch up with his people. You will make sure they are not followed.”