Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(49)

Jonas appeared at the entrance to the hallway. “Jack, don’t.” He then looked at me, scanned my body starting at my face, and stopping when he saw the blood seeping through my jeans and the unnatural way my ankle stretched out in front of me.

“Tell me who,” Jack yelled.

“Who what, Jack?” Jonas moved closer. “I don’t care for Ty either, but killing him isn’t what you want to do.”

“Oh, yeah? Why not?”

“Because he’s just another victim.”

A gagging noise escaped Ty’s throat. “I’m no victim.”

“That’s not helping, Ty,” Jonas said.

Ty laughed again, and a chill moved down my spine. “Tell him who Sandra’s partner is.”

Jonas stared at Ty. Jonas’s face was unreadable. Did Jonas know what Ty was talking about? Did he already know who was helping Sandra? And what prompted Jack to ask?

Your boyfriend forgot one small detail in this plan of his to make me talk, Ty mindspoke to me. He forgot that without touching you…

My head snapped to attention.

Now, don’t even think about mindspeaking with Jack. Grab the gun.

I glanced sideways, and without a second thought, slid my fingers under the handle of the gun and brought it to my lap.

Stand and walk toward me.

I did as I was ordered. I limped toward them. Jack yelled at Ty, but I couldn’t hear the words any longer.

Shoot him. Now! Ty yelled.

I lifted the gun and pointed it at Jack’s chest. Sweat formed along my hairline. The throbbing in my ankle was almost unbearable. I held the gun tightly. My finger curled around the trigger and began to squeeze.

Lexi, no! Jonas’s presence filled my head. He bulldozed his way through Ty and Jack and tackled me to the ground. A gun went off, but I didn’t know if it was the one I held, or Jack’s. Pain erupted through my shoulder.

Before I even had a chance to get my bearings, I heard another small explosion. Smoke filled the hallway.

I tried to push myself up. Jonas lifted his shirt over his head and thrust it at me. Breathe into this. I’m going to take some of your pain away while you and Jack get to that bathroom. He pointed twenty feet away at the door we were originally headed for.

Whether it was from adrenaline or the strength in Jonas’s words, I managed to hobble over to Jack, who was hacking from the smoke. I took in a deep breath through the T-shirt, then placed it over Jack’s face. We supported each other, ran for the bathroom, and didn’t stop until we were safely inside.

Jack helped me to the floor, then stood to assess all of my injuries.

~~~~~

Jack only threw up twice after healing my injuries. I had done my best to enter his mind and lessen the side effects of the healing process.

I lay against the wall, out of breath and lightheaded. “What do you think is happening?”

“I don’t know, but I’m feeling better. I’m going to check it out.” He grabbed the gun from its resting spot on the sink and brought it to me. “Here. Hold this. Anyone enters this bathroom, I want you to shoot them.”

I gaped at him. “Jack, no.” I moved to my knees and pushed myself up. “I’m fine. We’ll go together.”

Jack stared at me for a few seconds before finally agreeing. “Fine. Stay behind me.”

The hallway was quiet. We heard shouting in the distance, though. We eased our way down the hall. Jack held the gun in front of us with one hand, and held my hand with his other. The smell of smoke was still intense. As we approached the stairwell, Jonas appeared.

“They’re gone,” he said, out of breath.

I let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Gone? Are the police here?” Jack asked.

“Yes, and so is the fire department.” Jonas glanced down at my ankle. All better?

I nodded. “It was Dia, wasn’t it? She got them into Wellington without sounding any alarms.”

“That’s right. And they set off a small bomb to throw authorities off while they escaped.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that Sandra was your mother?” Jack asked Jonas.

“Would you have trusted me if I had?”

Jack looked at me. “No, not once I met Lexi.” He reached out and cupped my cheek. “But I would have put some of our background together much faster. Made different decisions, for sure.”

I knew what he meant. He might have refused to come to Wellington. To meet me. We were meant to meet, so don’t even go there. Sandra would have found me eventually, anyway. I leaned my face into his palm. We have to find a way to protect each other.

“What’s next?” Jack asked.

“Next?” Jonas sucked in a deep breath. “We train. We become stronger than the IIA. We rescue Addison. We take charge of our own lives.”

A certain darkness shaded Jonas’s eyes, and his shoulders slumped forward. I couldn’t be sure, and I definitely didn’t understand it, but I thought a part of him had to be feeling betrayed by the woman who’d raised him.





Chapter Twenty-One


It didn’t take long for parents to learn of the small explosion on campus. But since few students were hurt, and even fewer witnessed IIA agents with guns, Dean Fisher and President Wellington were able to minimize the level of hysteria.