The Thought Pushers (Mind Dimensions #2)(67)

“No, Mira, I don’t think I can do that,” I say. “But how about this? As soon as we get back to reality, I’ll Split and pull you in. Then we can talk about this. Okay? Promise you won’t act until we talk?”

“Fine, we’ll talk,” she whispers. “But with or without your help, Arkady and the Pusher are not leaving this bridge alive.”

And before I get a chance to respond, she walks away.

Thomas was right; we should’ve come without her. It’s too late now, though. Maybe I can do something to stop her, like locking the car before she runs out. I can also phase out and warn Thomas and Hillary. But Mira trusted me, and I’m having a hard time picturing myself betraying her trust like that. Plus, there’s a tiny part of me that agrees with her. My aunt is much too peaceful. Arkady’s men repeatedly tried to kill me and my friends, and it was the Pusher who was pulling their strings. If those two die, I won’t cry over them at all.

I walk further, avoiding a few people Thomas had marked, and head toward a small clearing in the crowd. Thanks to the clearing, I see Thomas in the distance.

And that’s when I register the sight in front of me.

It’s as Mira suspected.

All the Russian goons from the banya are standing in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge. Only they’re dressed now and very likely armed.

There’s a clearing around them, probably because people were instinctively giving this group a wide berth. I don’t blame the prudent pedestrians. I would’ve avoided these Russians myself.

Approaching them, I put circles on each forehead with an X underneath. A sort of skull and bones mark I came up with to signify the mobsters. None of them were otherwise marked, which means that Thomas isn’t insane in his profiling. He rightfully realized these aren’t innocent bystanders.

Now we need Hillary.

“Hillary,” I yell, looking back. “Best come take a look at this. I think we’re pretty much done with one part of the plan.”

I see a tiny hand wave above the crowd for a moment. Did my aunt have to jump to make that happen? Or did Eugene lift her?

I decide to follow Thomas and tell him the news, because it doesn’t seem like he heard me yell for Hillary.

As I head in his direction, I see Thomas.

He’s touching someone.

Someone I recognize.

“Thomas, no! Stop!” I yell, hoping it’s not too late.

But it is.

In a moment, we’re going to have a new presence in the Quiet—someone who shouldn’t be here at all.





Chapter 27


I rudely push aside the people in my way, trying to get closer. As if getting closer is going to change anything.

Thomas’s hand is resting on Jacob’s shoulder, his fingers almost brushing against the man’s neck.

Yes, Jacob—the leader of the Reader community. The man who gave me that ‘no disclosure of powers’ lecture the other day and mentioned the name of my father.

The last person I expected to see on this bridge.

I look closer and get another surprise. Next to Jacob is Sam, the guy Caleb mentioned as potentially helping us. A man Caleb called a machine. That Jacob is with Sam makes sense. Sam is security, like Caleb. But the fact they’re here makes no sense at all.

The world seems to slow, even in the Quiet—or maybe it’s just my thoughts that speed up.

Did Caleb call in Sam despite my being against it? No, that wouldn’t explain anything. I never told Caleb any details about this meeting. It has to be something else.

Did Eugene talk to Julia after all, and did she tell everything to her father? Eugene never left my sight, but maybe he did it in the Quiet? Would Eugene be so stupid? I can’t imagine that he would be. There must be another explanation.

Then I wonder if the Readers might be after the same Pusher as us, for their own reasons, and they’re here trying to get him too. This is a more plausible guess, but the coincidence of it would be too great. And why only Jacob and Sam? Why wouldn’t they bring Caleb’s whole team, plus the man himself?

And then I notice a briefcase in Jacob’s hand.

A briefcase. The man on the phone was supposed to bring money for Arkady, and a briefcase seems like a good way to transport bundles of cash.

Can it be?

Is it possible that instead of a powerful Pusher, it had been Jacob—a Reader—on the phone?

That would explain why the mysterious puppet-master used the phone in the first place. True, it’s easier to call people than walk over and touch them in the Quiet, but phone calls are easier to trace, and the mastermind in all this always seemed to be extra paranoid. And why waste money on a convoluted hit list if you can just make Arkady kill whomever you want for free?

If Jacob is the man on the phone, everything changes.

Thomas is within an inch of touching Jacob. I take out my gun, confused thoughts still buzzing in my head.

Could it have been Jacob who ordered me to be shot? Maybe he saw my resemblance to my father? He did mention on Skype that I looked familiar. If he knew whom my father married, it’s not a big leap to assume that I’m a hybrid. And what could be worse than a hybrid to a Purist like Jacob? Not much, I imagine. Is it possible that Jacob had Caleb bring me to him in order to observe my reaction to the name Mark Robinson? With hindsight, it does make sense. There was no reason for Jacob to personally warn me against revealing my powers; Caleb or any other Reader could’ve done that.