Avenged (Altered #2)(43)

She didn’t allow the impulse to master her, though. For one thing, she was severely outnumbered. In this closed room, she would have no chance of launching a successful offensive.

Most important, Nick would come to her rescue. As she met his eyes, it was there, the fierce protectiveness on his face. His huge body was tight, waiting.

If he stepped in, he would expose his talent to these people. Then, if they didn’t win the fight—and she had to assume they might not—they would take him away from her.

She couldn’t allow that to happen. She didn’t have much in this piece of hell, but she had Nick. She wouldn’t let them ruin that. So, she restrained herself.

As Ahmed stumbled to his feet, she braced herself, though. She might not want to start the fight, but she wouldn’t hesitate to defend herself, either.

She’d come a long way.

“Stop.” Fields’s voice cut in to the melee as hands circled her forearms and Jeremy’s fingers rested on his tranquilizer gun. “That’s enough.”

Mr. Ahmed recovered. He brushed at his jacket and straightened it, shifting the way his tie sat at his throat, and pulling at his sleeves. He stretched his neck, breathing deeply and forcing his mind to calm.

“Indeed, doctor. Indeed.” He and his assistant exchanged glares, but when Ahmed faced them again, he was composed. “That is sufficient, Dr. Fields. I will take the girl, the soldiers we’ve spoken of, and the drug. I will move the money tonight. The funds will be available tomorrow. We will arrange a transfer for tomorrow night, at dusk.”

Wait. The girl? Her? Fields was selling her to this predator?

She met Nick’s gaze, blood rushing in her ears, her heart speeding. They were going to send her away from him.

He stared at her. No. He can’t have her. She stays with me.

“Splendid.” It didn’t take mindreading to see Fields’s glee. “We will make arrangements.”

The group—Fields, Ahmed, his assistant, and the two guards—left the conference room the way they came, still discussing their sale, without any comment to the rest of them, as if they’d been dismissed or were just below their notice.

Jeremy nodded to the other four soldiers. She and Nick were pulled to their feet and yanked toward the door.

“Oh, thought I should mention,” Jeremy added as they started into the hall. “I had a nice conversation with your friend Kenny, Nick.” He opened and closed his fist, stretching his fingers. Kitty noticed the bruising on a few of the knuckles. “Him and your pal Brian, both… I figured you hadn’t come alone. It only took me a few days to figure out who you brought with you. It’s done.”

Blood roared in Kitty’s ears as their hope of escape evaporated. They’d lost Kenny. Their plans for rescue were gone.

As the disappointment crushed her, she gritted her teeth. The anger boiled up, pressed out her despair, and tightened her resolve.

They didn’t have Kenny, but they had themselves. It would have to be enough. Because she wasn’t going with Ahmed, or whatever his real name was. No way.

This was their chance. They were out of their cell. They needed to move.

In the corridor, she reached out to Nick. Freeze them. Freeze them now. Now, now, now.

She and Nick were suddenly standing in the middle of five statues.





Chapter Thirteen


A moment after Nick froze the soldiers, he was frozen himself.

Except while he allowed the five of them to breathe, whoever was holding him wasn’t as generous. His lungs tightened, sending dread lacing through him.

Next to him, Kitty had stilled as well.

One of the guards was a mover, then, like him.

He’d known there was a chance. A very good chance, actually. He’d been trying to formulate another plan, something that might neutralize a mover. But when Kitty told him to freeze them, he’d needed to follow her orders. The thoughts that she placed in his head, they were almost impossible to defy.

Now, they were frozen. He wouldn’t be able to go much longer without air.

The moment panic began to lick at his gut, though, he was free.

Beside him, Kitty could move as well. She swept forward, undoing one of the soldier’s belts.

A bad time to be undressing people. “Kit? What are you doing?”

“You can’t use your power if your eyes are closed, right?” She wrapped the belt around the man’s eyes and cinched it tight. “This is our mover. So, I’m taking his power from him.” When she finished, her forehead relaxed. “There.”

“How’d you do that?” Nick asked. “How’d you get him to let us go?”

“I told him to stop.” She shrugged. “We can’t go back to the cell. Not after that…” Her eyes fanned the door to the conference room. “We need to get out of here. Get help.” She was on to the next thing as if nothing had happened.

He could only stare at her. A moment ago, he’d been about to pass out. Now he wasn’t. She told him to stop, she said. Sometimes he forgot how powerful she was. To control how others thought, to know their intentions… She would know when people were lying. She would know their secrets, if they were careless enough to think them around her.

He wasn’t sure she even knew how dangerous she was.

That kind of power in the wrong hands would be lethal. Nick could see why her talent was the one that captivated Ahmed.