Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(42)

“And you’re just now telling me?”

“I couldn’t. My mind was restricted by Jonas… or whoever was invading me.”

Jack raised his hand. “We don’t have time for this right now.” He turned to Jonas. “Where will they take Addison?”

“I guess to The Farm. She’s the one that got away.”

What did that mean?

On the other side of the room, Cathy had slipped out. “Jack,” I pleaded. “We’ll get Addison back.”

“We won’t do anything. I’ll get her back. You’ll stay here. And you,” he said, pointing at Jonas. “You’re going to help me get into the IIA.”

Jack turned and walked out. He slammed the door, causing me to flinch. I stared after him. “He’ll need our help to break into that stupid facility.” My voice cracked. I started after him.

“It’s not breaking in that’s the problem. It’s getting back out.” A chill danced down my arms at Jonas’s words. His fingers circled my wrist, stopping my forward motion. “You and I have unfinished business.”

I looked down at his hold, then at his face. “Let me go, Jonas.”

“Not until you hear everything I need to tell you. Besides, he can’t go tonight. He knows that. Let him cool off.”

~~~~~

“What do you want me to do with that?” I stared at the gun lying on a table between Jonas and me.

“I want you to learn to use it.” He backed up against the wall of Coach Williams’s apartment, crossed his arms, and studied me. Coach had said Jonas could sleep on his couch. I figured an ex-FBI agent was the perfect person to watch over the boy who kind of tried to kill me.

I raised my hand very slowly. My fingers hovered just over the metal before making contact. The texture was partly rough, partly smooth. The steel was cool to the touch.

Pick it up, Lexi. His voice moved through my mind like an old friend looking for a place to relax for a while. It was confusing. I didn’t trust him, yet he seemed to want to help me. Jack was off dealing with his own issues. I needed someone.

I slid my fingers under the handle and lifted. “It’s so heavy.”

“That one’s pretty light. It’s perfect for a girl.”

I glared at Jonas. “What? Because I’m a girl I’m weak?” I held the gun in front of me, getting used to the feel of it in my hand.

He chuckled. “Uh… no. ‘Weak’ is not a word I would use to describe you. But you are small, and you’ve never used a gun before. This is a good start.”

I set the gun back down and moved away from the table. “Why do I need to learn to use a gun?”

“Because, although I was trying to get your attention by getting inside your head, I did not drug you, I did not run you off the road, and I did not put those marks on your neck. I also am not the one who murdered your father or his friend. I couldn’t hurt you, Lexi.”

Not that a gun would have stopped some freak inside my head from hurting me. “What do you know about my father’s death?”

Jonas stared down at the floor before looking at me again. “I saw your father in person for the first time the night of the talk he gave last month to that group of physicians.”

“You were there?”

“Mom… Sandra attended the event.”

I thought back to that night. I would have remembered seeing an older woman that looked just like me. That was the first night I saw Seth.

“I followed her there,” Jonas continued. “I remember thinking how strange it was that she wore black pants and a white button down shirt, until I watched her go through the employees’ entrance. She hid among the workers, making sure to keep her distance from your father. But I knew immediately that she was watching him. She was acting so strange.”

Unable to stand still, I circled the apartment, wringing my hands. “Didn’t you already know Jack? How did you spy on Sandra without Jack seeing you?”

Jonas cocked his head. “I can hear her thoughts. See what she’s seeing. Just like I can hear and see what you’re seeing.”

“How is that possible?” I asked. “I thought the only reason we have these strange supernatural abilities is—” I stopped myself. How can I speak to someone’s mind? Force them to do what I want? I turned away from Jonas. I had refused to learn this information. Seth wanted to tell me. Jack had tried to convince me to attend The Program lessons with him. I whipped back around. “Unlike me, she has no idea that you’re inside her head. Am I right?”

“Until now, maybe.” Jonas’s voice took on a regretful tone.

“Because of whatever it was she injected herself with?”

He nodded. “She has watched, studied, and manipulated human clones for the past eighteen years.”

“But she’s your mother? She raised you? What does having her as a mother even mean?” Absentmindedly, I touched my fingers to my lips, remembering Jonas’s lips on mine. I bowed my head so that he couldn’t see my face. As mad as I had been at Jonas for kissing me, it had never felt like kissing my brother or anything.

Jonas pushed away from the wall that he’d been leaning against since we started our conversation. He hooked a finger under my chin and lifted my face so that I had no choice but to meet his probing gaze. “We are not related in any way. My DNA is of some doctor I’ve never met. I share no relation to Sandra Whitmeyer, or to you.” His brown eyes looked almost black as his pupils dilated. One could get lost in the darkness and danger he emanated.