Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(33)

And Jonas.

I brushed my fingers along my jawline where Jonas had brushed his lips. Even though it was a dream of some sort, it had seemed so real. But he wasn’t really there.

What was real? I wondered.

Jonas wanted Sandra cured, as did Georgia and Fred. The clones in the underground facility knew Sandra, and they recognized me as a younger version of her. IIA agents swarmed The Farm. Dad said in his letter to me that Sandra had always intended for the embryos to become humans, and that the IIA had funded her efforts. But Dad didn’t know the location of the IIA facility until days before he was murdered—according to Jonas.

Was Jonas controlled by the IIA? And since Jonas controlled me—directly or indirectly—was I now being controlled by the same government agency?

I would not be controlled by those evil nut jobs. “I am not a puppet,” I whispered to myself. I shoved my book into my backpack. Yes, a date was definitely in order. I needed normal.

~~~~~

Seated on a blanket, I leaned against Jack, who was supported by a tree behind him. My back was to his chest, and his arms circled around me, holding me tight. “This was a great idea,” I said. I tilted my head up, giving Jack access to my lips, which he gladly took advantage of. We pretended all was well.

Kyle and Jack had organized and pulled off the perfect date inside Wellington. A candlelit picnic in the woodsy area behind the stables was a brilliant idea. We had privacy, ambience, and all the awkwardness of a first date—Kyle and Dani’s first date.

“As much as I’d like to take credit, I can’t. This was all Kyle.” Jack smiled down at me, but the smile didn’t reach all the way to his eyes. He rubbed a thumb across my cheek. “I’m worried about you.”

I faced forward again. His words squeezed my heart. I know. I mindspoke because I didn’t trust my voice.

You’ve shut me out.

I’m trying to protect you. The words were out before I could stop them. I felt Jack’s body go rigid. I knew immediately I had said the wrong thing.

Jack took in a slow, steady breath. Kyle, why don’t you take Danielle for a walk?

Kyle, who had been whispering and laughing with Dani far enough away from us that we couldn’t hear their conversation, looked over at us. His face grew serious. “You guys are zero fun.” He stood, then reached both hands and pulled Dani to her feet. “I’m taking Dani for a walk.”

They walked toward us. “I think you’re fun,” Dani shrugged with a giggle.

“You…” Kyle said, pointing at Jack. “You can clean this up.”

When they were gone, Jack nudged me gently away and stood. I immediately felt the heat leave my backside.

He paced in front of me, running his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t bring you back to Wellington so that you would hide everything from me.” I stared at the ground, refusing to look at him. I don’t want your protection. His booming voice inside my head made me flinch. Look at me!

I slowly tilted my head toward him. The hurt look on his face sent a stabbing pulse straight through my heart. I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat as he stared at me in silence. Finally, I said, “Why exactly did you bring me back here?”

“I brought you back here because we need answers, and right now, Wellington can provide some security while we search for those answers.”

I raised a brow. “You think the truth is here?”

“I do. Come on. I have something to show you.” Jack pulled me up by my hands. Keeping hold of one, he pulled me after him. “Let’s walk.”

“What about this stuff?” I motioned toward our picnic mess.

His lips quirked on one side. “I already told Kyle he needed to come back and deal with it.”

“I bet he was furious.”

“He can’t mindspeak to me, only hear.” There was a twinkle in Jack’s eye that confused me a little. We headed back toward the main part of campus.

“So, you can speak directly to Kyle’s mind and choose whether I hear it?”

“Yes.”

“That must take a lot of control.”

“I’m learning.”

“But Kyle can’t speak back to you. Interesting.”

Jack rubbed his thumb in circles on the back of my hand as we made our way around the stables. “When you’re ready, Seth would like to start working with you.”

I bet he would. I stopped and pulled my hand away from him. The smells of hay and manure from the stable wafted toward us.

He took a step closer, refusing to let a gap grow between us. “I also brought you back to Wellington because Jonas was inside your head. He was able to control your actions. I figured that since I had to be in close proximity to mindspeak with you, Jonas needed the same.”

Jonas didn’t have the same limitations, but for some reason I was unable to tell Jack. Jonas had somehow blocked my ability to reveal his plans. “Do you still wonder at times if we’d be better off running?”

“Of course. When I think you might be harmed, I fantasize about helping you escape. However, while I respect the fact that you’re struggling with how we came into this world—”

“You aren’t. Struggling, that is. You think we could use these abilities for good. That it’s somehow okay. Okay that so many embryos died during the process of creating each of us.”