Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(3)

I gave my head a little shake and turned back to Kyle and Jack. “What are they talking about?”

Jack glanced uneasily at me before meeting Kyle’s stare.

“What? Has something happened?” I demanded. We had found refuge in this house after escaping Wellington Boarding School on Friday night. Of course, I had slept through nearly two days. Now, the owners—cloned humans like Jack, Kyle and me—appeared uneasy. But they’d been the only people we could turn to.

When Jack didn’t respond, Kyle brought the focus back to himself. “Can you heal it or not?”

I squinted my eyes, glaring at the two of them.

Jack ran a hand through his hair before nodding.

“I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but is that the smartest choice? Won’t it make you sick to heal that?”

Before I could protest any further, Jack pressed his hands around the red, blistery wound and closed his eyes.

Kyle winced again. His eyes rolled back into his head from the pain.

Jack, we can bandage the wound. He’ll be fine. He doesn’t need to be healed completely. When Jack didn’t stop, I did what I could to get deeper inside his head. I’m right here with you. Simply heal the wound, but try to suppress the nausea. Our minds are strong, Jack. I continued to send him positive energy while he did what he could for Kyle’s injury.

Several minutes passed. I remained inside his head, attempting to be a soothing force.

Jack’s eyes opened. Kyle slouched in his chair while we studied his arm. His skin was no longer red and blistered: it was new again. Healed completely.

“How do you feel?” I asked Jack, hesitation in my voice. Setting my coffee down, I pulled some napkins from a wrought-iron dispenser on the kitchen table and blotted the blood dripping from my nose.

Jack pressed his lips together in a thin line. “How’d you do that?" he asked. “You were inside my head. More than just the mindspeaking.” He pushed back from the table and stood. “I’m not dizzy or light-headed. And I’m not nauseous.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I just couldn’t stand the thought of you getting sick right now. I need you well while we decide what’s next.”

“Your nosebleed. It seems worse than when you simply control someone’s actions.”

“It’s nothing.” I waved him off, then tilted my head back slightly while pinching the bridge of my nose. Blood slid down the back of my throat. The metallic taste mixed with the taste of sweet coffee.

Jack leaned into me. “I’m sorry. I should have thought about what that might do to you.”

Kyle held his arm up. “I don’t know what you did or how you did it, but thanks, man. It feels one hundred percent normal.”

The door squeaked behind me. Georgia, Fred, and Jonas filed in.

“Oh, good. Look who’s up,” Georgia said, a little bit of irritation in her voice. Even without dramatic eye makeup, Georgia’s exotic facial features stood out. She wore a deep shade of red gloss on her lips, which enhanced her dark skin.

Jonas passed by me. I crinkled my nose at the smell of cigarette smoke on his clothes. His hand brushed the small of my back as he whispered close to my head. “Don’t mind her, sweetheart.” My entire body tensed. “She’s just cranky from lack of sleep.” He continued past me.

Georgia shot icicles from her eyes at Jonas. The temperature of the room seemed to drop dramatically. “I’m not the one who suffered a colossal panic attack before dawn this morning.”

“What is she talking about?” Jack asked. “What brought that on?”

Jonas shrugged. He got a mug out of the cabinet and poured a cup of coffee—black, very close to the color of his dark brown eyes. “I don’t know. It just happened.”

Jack took three steps closer to Jonas. “Yeah, Jonas? Is that your story?”

Jonas took a sip, crossing one leg in front of the other, and leaned against the counter. “Yeah. What’s with you?”

“I’ll tell you what’s with me, Jonas. Your panic attacks don’t ‘just happen.’ So, what brought this one on?”

Jack’s voice boomed, and a shiver moved down my spine. I had a lot to learn about Fred, Jonas, and Georgia. Jack had known them before he found me at Wellington. The three of them lived in this house and, according to Jack, were enrolled in courses at the University of Kentucky. After watching them interact only a few times, I surmised that they trusted each other well enough. They had already been a part of The Program together, so they understood that each of them was cloned from another human.

“Back off, Jack,” Fred stepped between them.

Jack backed up and leaned against the opposite counter, his arms crossed. Kyle’s eyebrows shot up as he and I made eye contact.

Georgia finally spoke up, cutting the tension that was growing like algae. “So, what are we going to do? Do we move? Do we stay?”

“What do you mean, move?” I asked. And was I included in her plans to move? “Why would you move?” Of course, I didn’t even know where we were. I hadn’t ventured outside since we’d arrived here more than two days ago.

“Well, thanks to you, our covers could be blown,” Jonas said, his mouth hidden by the edge of his coffee mug. The way his eyes drilled into me unnerved me.