Gifted Connections: Book 2(121)

“Follow us, or we’ll just carry you out,” he rolled his eyes at me. They were both bigger and a lot taller than me, so I’m sure they could easily carry out their threats.

I tried in vain to call my gifts again and my heart sank when I realized he spoke the truth. I couldn’t call upon them.

I gaped at him. When he advanced towards me, I held my hands out towards him. “Fine, fine I’m coming.”

I knew I was being childish as I dragged my feet behind me. I was led to a door not too far from mine. When the door opened, I was gently pushed inside. The room was dark, but at least it looked more inviting then the room they had put me in. There was one of those two-way mirrors located to the left of the room. Two men sat at a table. One was dressed smartly in a suit and tie, and the other one was dressed like the other two that brought me here. They were sitting at a nice mahogany table with a small flat screen television sitting on the end.

“Hello, Blake,” the man in the suit smiled warmly at me. He reminded me of a younger version of Robert DeNiro. “My name’s Paul.”

I heard the click of the door shutting behind me. I leaned against the wall, warily eyeing him. “Are you one of Horatio’s minions? He’s dead you know,” I said snidely.

Paul frowned as his ‘body guard’ snorted. “I wish that were true,” I thought I heard him mutter before he indicated the seat across from him. “Please sit, there’s a bottle of water right there. If you’re hungry, I can get you some food,” he grimaced slightly. “Our operative had the wrong tranq in his gun, so you’re probably parched.”

I stared at him with a deadpan expression, making no move to sit down.

He sighed. He was looking at me kindly, but I didn’t trust him. How could I trust anyone that took me against my will? “Well then.” He cleared his throat. “Stand if you like. I don’t work for Horatio. I own a private company contracted out by the government. I’m sorry if you feel we can’t be…trusted, but you must understand that you were in danger and we had to remove you before Horatio got you. We thought if we helped you and your family out of your situation, you would be able to help us out. We didn’t have time to call you in or ask. As it was, we barely extracted you in time.”

“Horatio’s dead,” I stated again. “Where’s my family? I want to see my family.”

“I will take you to them shortly. I assure you, they are safe. I wanted to talk to you and see if you would be willing to help us out. They are talking to some of my men at the moment, too,” he explained. “If what I have heard is correct, I know that if you’re willing to help us, they will agree to it as well.”

“Prove it,” I stated.

He turned on the screen, and I could see Rachel, Jemmy, Gavin, and Sierra on split screens. Each one of them were talking to men in the black uniforms. He pushed another button, and I was able to see Jaxson, Troy, Remy, and Noah. He pushed the button once again, and I saw Terrance, Will, Jace, and Drake. They all looked fine, although some of them had belligerent, angry expressions. I was surprised to see Will. I had never heard him come back to the house. I also noticed I had migrated closer to the table.

“I’m a 17-year-old girl, how can I possibly help you big bad men?” I asked suspiciously as I played na?ve.

He gave me a long-suffering look. “We know you are gifted, and we have a common enemy. I figured with our efforts combined, maybe we can finally put the rabid dog down before he further hurts your community and hurts innocent people. The government is now aware of your community, and I would like to diffuse the problem before it escalates.”

“I think you have me confused for another person,” I tried to act bored with the whole conversation as I picked my nails of the nonexistent dirt under them.

He sighed once more as he picked up his remote. I gasped, and my eyes widened as I saw Troy, Micah, Sierra, Rachel, and I on the screen. We had just appeared at the building, and Troy and I were setting the building on fire. I watched as we disappeared once more. Then moments later, I saw four men running from the building. The video was paused, and then Paul zoomed in on the faces of the men.

It was definitely Horatio. He had gotten out. I stifled the tears threatening to spill. I thought I had avenged the people he had wronged. I had failed once more.



“What can I possibly do?” I asked again, feeling the numbness within once more. I was sitting now. My knees clasped to my chest as I sipped on the bottle of water.

“We would like it if you would help us. We have battle-ready men and woman, but they don’t have the gifts you do. We need people like you and your boy—" he squirmed in his chair, searching for the right words.

“Men, boyfriends, connections,” I supplied dryly.

“Right,” He cleared his throat with a blush. “We need people like you and your men to help us. Horatio’s becoming a thorn in your side, and believe it or not, we want to protect your community, too. We’ve been aware of your activities for some time now, and every successful mission with low to no casualty rates have involved you and your team.”

I felt a sharp pain within my chest. I would have preferred no casualty rates. I narrowed my eyes on him. “How can I trust you? Even if I could, you realize you went about it the wrong way. You came into my home. You drugged me. You took me away from my family. Even if I had the power to sway them, like you think I do, I couldn’t or wouldn’t make any decisions without them.”