Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(36)

I looked quickly from Jack to Addison. “You lied. You told me you could block Jonas from hearing me.” Defeat and disappointment tinged my voice. I had trusted this girl I had only just met. Why? Because she was like a sister to Jack?

Addison shook her head quickly back and forth. She looked more her age as she reacted. “No! I didn’t lie. I did block him. He couldn’t hear anything you’ve said. It’s someone else.” Addison squinted. “Are you sure it’s Jonas?”

I shook my head. “Jonas has all but admitted he’s inside my head, but only some of the times. It’s Jonas I see when he speaks to me. But sometimes, his demands go against everything else I’ve learned or know about him. He claims he’s not always in control of the mindsiege.”

Jack stormed toward me. “Lexi, listen to me. You have to find a way to push this person out.”

I felt Jack slide into my head. Instead of pushing him out, I let him in. I can’t feel Jonas inside my head the way I feel you, I told him. If I wanted to, I could push you out right now. Your presence has hard edges, ones I can get leverage against. Jonas’s is like a cloud. As soon as I get a handle on him, he morphs into a different shape.

I searched my mind further and found Addison. She was like a water balloon. I pushed on it and felt resistance. It moved with my touch, but it wasn’t as easy to shove away as Jack’s.

Allow me. Jack eased further in, and his hard edge knocked up against Addison’s softer one. I nudged my barriers up against her too, and suddenly, she was gone completely from my mind.

“Very nice.” Addison clapped like a little kid watching a circus. Fitting, since I felt very much like part of a three-ring act at times.

“So, how do we get Jonas out?” Jack asked Addison.

Why was he asking her? How would she know this?

Her smile fell away. “From what I’ve learned so far, I’m afraid you can’t.”

“Why not?” Jack and I asked at the same time.

“Someone else is controlling Jonas so that it always looks like it’s Jonas inside her head.”





Chapter Sixteen


Jonas remained enemy number one for now. He could claim someone else was controlling him; Addison and Jack tried to convince me of the same. But as far as I was concerned, Jonas was the one slithering around inside my mind like a serpent.

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time.” I nudged Jack’s shoulder.

He walked me back toward the dorm. Before we came into sight of the security guard that stood at the entrance, he pulled me behind a tree.

I stumbled against him, laughing, but his hand to my elbow steadied me. “We’ve got a few minutes before curfew.” He lifted my chin. The worry I was becoming accustomed to was back on his face.

I reached up and massaged the line between his eyes. “If someone wanted to hurt me, they would have already.”

His expression didn’t change. “Something feels terribly wrong. How much of your father’s journals have you made it through?”

“A lot, but so much of it is technical science stuff that I don’t understand.”

“You feel like getting away from here tomorrow? After the swim meet. We can spend the night at my house. Use a more secure Wi-Fi?” Jack tugged on my jacket, pulling me even closer. He leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Pull an all-nighter?”

I laughed. He made poring through science journals sound hot. I peeked up through my lashes. “Addison thinks Jonas and I are marionettes. Someone is pulling both of our strings. And she’s right, isn’t she?”

“That’s my fear.” Worry overflowed the trenches across his forehead. “Question is who. And why your strings, and not mine or Kyle’s?”

“Or Bree’s. Why can’t someone pull hers instead?”

Jack smiled. “You don’t mean that.”

“No, I don’t.” I reached up and played with the sandy hair that lay across his forehead. He needed a haircut. What a normal thing to think about, I mused. “I better go.”

“Yeah.” He leaned in and brushed his lips across mine. His hand slipped under my jacket and shirt until he touched bare skin. “You better go.” He pulled me closer, smiling against my face.

“That’s not helping,” I giggled, but made no effort to pull away.

He leaned his forehead against mine. “Part of me is sorry we didn’t run Friday night. We could be spending more of our time doing this.” He kissed me again.

“Shh. No regrets. We do what we’ve gotta do until we’re on the other side of this.” Whatever this was. “We’ll have more time for other stuff later.”

“Promise?” he asked, and I nodded. “I knew you were strong the moment I met you.” His voice was almost a whisper and somewhat strained. “But I’m sorry I didn’t run from you when I realized you were like me. I loved you even then, before we met. But if I had run then…”

I cupped my hand over his mouth and stared straight into those intense sapphire eyes. “Then we wouldn’t have met, and I would have been left to fend for myself when the IIA and Jonas found me. And they would have.” I shivered, wondering where I would be now had Jack not eased me into the truth of what we are.

“Maybe.” He hugged me closer. His fingers spread wider against my back.