Avenged (Altered #2)(12)

“Goldstone, again.” Nick put down the pack he’d brought from the ATV. “They rehired him last month. Our sources say they were concerned that Fields could still be traced to them, and they wanted to control the fallout.”

Back where he belonged, then. Kitty sighed. “Well, he helped me learn a lot about how my power worked. Stretched it and stretched it. Worked through the headaches and the nosebleeds, even one seizure.” She smiled without humor. “Apparently, it’s like a muscle. As long as you advance slowly, you won’t get hurt. It’s when you try to push beyond your limits that…” She left the rest unspoken.

Nick nodded. “The rats.”

“What?” What rats? They used rats in the labs, but how would Nick know that?

“Oh, that’s right. Maybe you were gone before we learned about this.” Nick put his hands on his hips. “They found some research—lab work Fields had done on rats. The rats advanced with their skills, but then some died, as if it had gotten too much for them.”

She nodded. “They did a lot of work on rats. The rats haven’t got our higher order thinking. We, the human test subjects, can choose not to use the skills. Or to what extent we use them. The rats don’t use that much restraint.”

“No. I bet not.”

She continued. “I figured out yesterday that I could project my thoughts into someone else’s head.”

He remained there in the entryway, blinking. “Project your thoughts into someone’s head.”

“Yes. As in, I think something and put it in their head.”

His mouth dropped open as he stared at her like she’d spoken another language. “How?”

“I don’t know. I did it to the assistant in the lab. When he caught me, I tried to…get away.” The details seemed irrelevant. She changed the subject. “What about you? How did you get here, Nick?”

He folded his arms over his chest, the muscles of his forearms flexing. A cocky halfgrin split his face. “You aren’t happy to see me?”

“I’d have been happy to see anyone. Don’t be flattered.” The words tripped out so fast, like a slash of a knife. His grin slipped.

What was the matter with her? He’d risked his life to come for her, and she was being rude to him. That wasn’t fair or kind. But she was so edgy. She wanted to yell at him, to strike out.

She was angry, that’s what she was. So incredibly angry.

The realization shocked her, left her reeling. She’d never considered herself an angry person. In her family, she’d been the diplomatic one, the one who softened communications between her parents. But she felt the anger coursing through her. It was red and ragged and nasty. It was completely unfocused. Worse, it filled her up and spilled out over her.

Her legs weak, she dropped to sit on the cot closest to her. “I’m sorry. That was mean.”

“No problem.” He shrugged.

But it was a problem. This wasn’t who she was. Had spending three months as a prisoner changed one of the most basic parts of her? She was kind, caring. The type of person who always saw everyone’s side of the story. She didn’t treat people like this.

She didn’t want to treat people like this.

She couldn’t think about herself and what was left of her, not so close to leaving her cell, or she might break open. What she needed was for him to talk, to distract her. “Why didn’t one of the others come?”

“Jack and Luke split town around the time you were taken. Did you know that?” Nick’s mouth thinned. He didn’t think much of them.

She nodded. That’s right. They’d talked about going to Mexico.

“And Blue blew up Fort Sam Houston a few months ago. I’m not sure the military has forgiven her for that yet.”

“Blue?” Kitty shook her head. “No way. Blue’s as much of a pacifist as, well, I am.”

“Yeah. That’s what she thought. Until they were shooting at Seth.” His mind played over the events of that day, and Kitty watched as Blue brought down the side of an administrative building. As Seth caught and carried her, Kitty witnessed the protectiveness and fear on his face through Nick’s memories.

Seth and Blue were together, then. Kitty had heard their attraction, had listened in on some of their self-doubt. It had been hard to watch them dance around it all. Kitty didn’t like conflict. Apparently Kitty was still enough of a romantic to be happy they worked things out.

“Where are they? Blue and Seth? Are they okay?”

“They’re fine. After Sam Houston, they left for her mother’s house. They wanted to recover away from the military. I’ve kept in touch with Seth.”

Wait, though. “You were at Fort Sam Houston, too?” This had been from his perspective. He’d been running from the explosions, too.

He’d been in danger. She didn’t know if she liked that.

Nick shrugged again. “Seth needed help.”

It was the only explanation he offered, and he said it like it was enough. His friend needed him. The end.

“Why did you come for me, Nick?”

His thoughts jumbled before he focused on facts. “I was the best choice. Seth and Blue are changed. Like you. But I’m normal.”I’m not a danger to society. He left that part unspoken, but it explained everything. Of course the military wouldn’t trust her, or Seth and Blue. The Army didn’t understand them. They didn’t even understand themselves.