Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(4)

“Jonas, I’m warning you…” Jack straightened, his shoulders back. A vein on the side of his neck quivered.

“What is all of this really about?” I asked. What’s going on here? Why are you yelling at Jonas?

Jack shook his head at me.

“Friday night was a disaster.” Leave it to Georgia to be the honest voice in this lot.

I agreed with her, but… “What do you mean?”

“You were supposed to run, not end up here. Jack said you would run.”

Jack shook his head. “Stop it, Georgia.”

“Stop what, Jack? You’ve protected her long enough. I don’t see a fragile girl about to crumble before us.”

Jack crossed the room. He slid his hand into mine. “This is all new to her. And we all still have a lot to learn.”

“No, she’s right,” I said. “You’ve protected me. We got away from Wellington and bought ourselves some time to figure out what’s truly happening.”

Jonas let out an under-his-breath chuckle. Jack gripped my hand tighter.

What’s with you? I asked.

Later.

“So, what have you decided?” Georgia asked me. “Jack must return to Wellington. What will you do?”

I glanced at Jack. I knew he intended to return to Wellington. He wouldn’t have left if it hadn’t been for me. He needed to return and watch over Addison, who was like a sister to him. I shuddered just thinking about the story of a horse crushing her skull when she was seven years old.

If Addison were to wake, Cathy and Dr. Wellington would know that I healed Addison’s brain injuries Friday night—that I did exactly what they suspected I could do. And if they were to discover my abilities, everyone in this room was convinced that they’d stop at nothing to find me again. They’d force me to join their cause, whatever that cause was.

Cathy had pretended to be Jack’s caring and loving mom one minute, then imprisoned us with an electric fence around our school the next. And Dr. Wellington, president of Wellington Boarding School and brother to Cathy DeWeese, had allowed her to interfere without ever explaining their ultimate intentions.

What I feared most was that they could force me to use my unnatural abilities—abilities I knew little about—against my will.

Someone was definitely inside my head this morning, controlling my actions and forcing me to hurt the one person in my life I would die to protect.

I studied the people in the room, each of them waiting for me to answer Georgia’s question. My heart tightened. I knew what I had to do. I dropped Jack’s hand and massaged the bridge of my nose.

A presence entered my head. A presence that was not Jack.

“Lexi?” Jack said. “You okay?”

My head jerked toward him. “Fine. Why?” Could the presence inside my head hear my thoughts? My knees began to shake. I was unsteady on my feet.

You’re a good actress, Lexi. Don’t let them suspect that someone’s inside your head.

Georgia stared at me, still waiting for me to answer. Fred and Kyle whispered to each other in the corner. Jonas had turned away and was rinsing his coffee mug in the sink.

What do you want from me? I thought to the presence.

Tell them you’ll return to Wellington.

No. I can’t go back there. I wanted to go back to Wellington, to my friends, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t allow Cathy DeWeese, or anyone else, to control me.

You can. And you will. Do I need to remind you what I can make you do?

Why do you want me to go back there? I tucked my clammy hands into my armpits, hugging myself.

I need you to do something at Wellington. You’ll find out what when the time is right.

My eyes found Jack’s. A line formed between his brows. “What is it?” He pulled one of my hands free and wrapped his fingers around mine, brought me closer to him, and slid his other arm around my waist.

“Nothing. I’m fine.” I dared a smile as I told a flat-out lie. I hated lying to him after everything we’d been through. “Georgia, I will not put you and your friends in danger. I won’t be staying here, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Where will you go?” Fred asked.

“I think it’s probably better you didn’t know.” Mainly because I didn’t know where I would go. But it wouldn’t be Wellington.

Jack slid inside my head and poked around. I felt his familiarity. The other presence had gone silent, but I assumed he hadn’t gone far. What are you thinking? Jack asked.

I shrugged and swallowed hard. That our lives are a mess.

“I thought we always planned to stick together if and when we found others like us.” Fred was obviously the more na?ve of the bunch. His voice and face screamed fear.

“That would have been true if someone weren’t trying to kill one of us.” Georgia was the cynical one. But she was right. I’d put her and everyone in the room in danger if it was my ability someone was after. More likely, we each endangered the others just by being together.

“What changed, Georgia?” Jack asked. “You welcomed us Friday.”

“I’m not a monster, Jack. You needed our help, and I know you would do the same for any of us. But we’re going to be safer if we split up. I hate to think what would happen if the wrong people found us all in one place. We know how to get in touch with each other.”