The Thought Pushers (Mind Dimensions #2)(14)

Either seeing her brother in the way or hearing his words causes her to hesitate.

I’m speechless. She really was about to kill me, and Eugene obviously thought so as well. As I take a calming breath, I try not to focus on this fact. The knowledge of what she was about to do stings badly. More than I would’ve imagined. Thinking about it now, I realize everything I’d convinced myself of was just wishful thinking. I was so sure she wouldn’t hurt me. Now, as the hard reality hits, learning that she would kill me feels like a deep betrayal—even though it shouldn’t.

And speaking of betrayal, Eugene’s reasoning for why she shouldn’t pull the trigger hurts nearly as much. It sounded like he only wants to spare me because of my power. Forget friendship. ‘Don’t kill him so we can use his abilities in the Quiet’ is what he seems to have meant.

“It doesn’t matter how long he can do it,” Mira says. “What good is that to us?” Her voice sounds more uncertain, however, and her hand seems less steady.

“You know it can be huge,” Eugene says. “We just struck at our enemies. They’re bound to retaliate.”

“How do you know he’s not with them? And if he offered to help us, how could we trust him?” Mira lowers the gun, as though just realizing it’s pointed at her brother’s chest.

“Snap out of it, Mirochka. You always said that you judge people by their actions rather than their words.” Eugene gives his sister an even look. “He saved me, and afterwards he saved you—risking his life in the process. Why don’t you judge Darren by his actions?”

What I can see of her face from behind his back looks thoughtful. Eugene’s reasoning is spot on. I couldn’t have put it better myself. Now it’s clear that she’s trying to make up her mind. I wish it weren’t such a tough decision.

“But he is one of them,” she says finally. I see her wrestling with the temptation to raise the gun again, but she doesn’t. “For all we know, he could’ve been trying to weasel his way into our confidence for some reason.”

“It’s unlikely, Mira, and you know it. He wouldn’t have revealed his Pusher nature to save you, if that were the case,” Eugene says.

“Maybe that was a slip,” she says, sounding less and less certain.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Eugene says. “He did it intentionally; you saw him. Assuming the worst case—that he did have some agenda before yesterday—he still decided to save you. That would count for something if it were true. But I don’t think things were ever that complicated. I think it’s much more likely that he truly didn’t know what he was . . . what he is.”

“Yes, exactly,” I finally jump in. “I didn’t.”

“Shut up,” Mira says angrily. “You would say that regardless.”

“Well,” Eugene says thoughtfully, “maybe there’s a way we can figure out if he’s telling the truth.”

“Oh?” Mira voices my own thought.

“Yeah. I’ve been pondering this very question last night, and I may have thought of a way.” Eugene sounds progressively more excited.

“What way?” Mira asks, and the fact that there’s hope in her voice gives me hope.

“A test,” her brother says.

Mira’s shoulders sag in dismay. “You tested him yesterday. You were confident he’s a Reader after that.”

“And he is,” Eugene says defensively. “My test wasn’t wrong.”

“Fine, maybe Pushers can Read as well as f*ck with people’s minds,” Mira says stubbornly.

“They can’t Read,” Eugene objects. “Father was certain of that. I remember him telling me about it, and I’ve gone over his notes. Plus, you saw Julia make the same assumptions as me, in front of a bunch of other members of that Reader community. If anyone knew Pushers could Read, they would’ve corrected Julia, but they didn’t. No, Mira. He is a Reader. That usually would mean that he’s not a Pusher. Only in this case, for some reason he is. Any way you slice it, he’s a strange case—in terms of his growing up with no knowledge of Reading or Pushing, and now everything that he can do.”

“Fine, so he’s a strange case,” Mira concedes. “It doesn’t mean he’s telling the truth about anything.”

“Which is why there’s another test I want him to take. It won’t tell us everything, but it will tell us if he’s being honest with us. See, using my equipment, I can set up a pretty good polygraph test.” Eugene is beginning to sound almost giddy at the mention of equipment.

“A lie detector test?” Mira frowns.

“Exactly.” Eugene beams at her. “Like what regular people use, only better, using my research and equipment. Ever since I learned that a Reader can’t Read others of our kind, I’ve been trying to figure out how we can keep each other honest. This is the best idea I’ve had so far. I can re-purpose some of the neurofeedback and other biofeedback devices that—”

“But can’t people beat those things?” Mira asks, interrupting him. I’m starting to feel like I’m not even in the room. “Will it be a hundred-percent accurate?”

“Nothing is that accurate. And I suppose he could beat it, but it’s unlikely. People can learn to beat the standard tests, but even then they need to do all this research into the methods used, and then train themselves to modify their natural responses. None of which Darren’s had time to do—especially since he doesn’t even know the methods I’ll be using. This is the first he’s even heard about being tested, so he’s had no time to prepare.”