Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(64)

My face must have reddened from the fire that flared there. I took in a long breath and let it out slowly, studying the quizzical look in Jonas’s eyes. How would I know if he was telling me the truth? Was I capable of hiding thoughts from him? Could I, for example, pocket the thought that I was wondering where that tracker that Ty gave him went? Could I hide from him my constant questioning why Sandra allowed Jonas to live if she had the ability to terminate anyone with an implanted tracker? Maybe she still had a use for him. And maybe he knew it.

“Let’s take a break.”

“What? No. I can’t afford to take a break. Dani and Addison need me.”

“You need a break. We also can’t afford to keep going while you still don’t trust me.”

“What do you mean?” I looked down at the floor, focusing on a used band-aid wadded up against a floor mat.

“Don’t even bother denying it.” Jonas sighed. “You did a great job just now, and I’m positive you’ll only get better and better at pocketing your thoughts. But you’re afraid I’m not being completely honest with you.” He stepped close to me. He slid a hand behind my neck, and forced me to look up. “And you’re definitely not being honest with me. Tell me you’re not afraid of me.”

I blinked. Stared into those dark brown eyes, dilated to the point of total darkness. “I’m not afraid of you, Jonas,” I whispered. My mouth ran dry. “I…”

“Are you sure?” He wrapped a strand of hair around his forefinger, while simultaneously rubbing the skin beneath my long hair, a touch more intimate than I was comfortable with. “I’m not here to hurt you, Lexi. Only to help you.” He tilted his head. His eyes narrowed, and I was certain he saw straight through me.

“Help me what?”

The expression on Jonas’s face changed ever so slightly. Had I blinked, I would have missed it.

“Help you realize the fate you’ll eventually face. You know I can make you accept it as well.”

“What fate would that be?”

His lips twitched, lifting upward at the corners and sending a chill over me. I concentrated hard on the pockets I had just formed and immediately tucked away my latest observation: Ty had just slipped inside Jonas’s head and taken over. I pulled Jonas’s brain up as an image inside my own mind, and examined the fiery neurons ablaze there. I knew what Jack and Jonas looked like inside my head, but what did Ty look like inside Jonas’s head?

“What is going on in that head of yours?” Jonas/Ty stood close enough that his breath warmed my cheek, and I could see my reflection in his eyes.

“Welcome to the party, Ty.”

His grin grew. “Very good, Lexi. I wondered when you’d finally learn to recognize me.” He suddenly leaned in and kissed me, forcing my lips to open. His arms hugged me close, and I squirmed to get away. My eyes widened.

A growl vibrated from my throat as I brought my hands up and pushed hard against his rock-hard chest, but failed to budge him at all. Suddenly, he shoved me away hard enough that I stumbled backwards into a body bag and fell to the floor. The breath was knocked out of me. I gasped for air.

Jonas’s chest rose and fell in rapid movements. He bent over at the waist as if catching his breath. When he looked up, pain filled his eyes as he examined me where I fell. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t me.”

“I know.”

Wrinkles formed across his forehead. He approached me slowly and reached out a hand. My gaze lowered to it, then back up to his bright amber eyes. “Please take my hand.”

Without thinking, I slid my palm into his. He wrapped his fingers tightly around mine and pulled me up, our eyes never leaving each other. “Looks like we both still need a little practice,” I said, my voice low.

“Yes, but… it’s time we shut my mother’s operation down.”

I studied the look in Jonas’s eyes—the look I had been searching for since I left Jack and found Jonas. The look that said, “I’m on your side—not the side of the crazy woman running the IIA.” This was the Jonas that Jack swore existed. “Good. Then you can start by teaching me more about the trackers.” I tried to drum up enough saliva to swallow, my heart still beating from the hold Ty had had on me. “And you can teach me how to get inside The Farm. Alone.”

“I’ll teach you more about the trackers, but there’s no way in hell I’m allowing you to enter that IIA freak show alone.”





Chapter Twenty-Six


I cocked my head and examined the tracker from a different angle. The small object made from a combination of metal, plastic, and wire was lodged at the base of the skull where the cerebellum meets the spinal cord.

“Oh, my,” I said, staring at the eight lit-up MRI images in the basement of the infirmary. Jonas and I were alone. Only one nurse was on duty, and she was upstairs on the other side of the building. Jonas was giving me a lesson in trackers. “It’s practically touching the spinal cord. I could paralyze her if I tried to remove this thing.”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Jonas stuffed both hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “Mine is in the same spot.”

“Why there?”

Jonas shrugged. “Maybe to make it near-impossible to remove. It runs on tiny electric impulses.” He approached the screen. The images of the skull glowed a bright blue color against the black background. Very pretty, actually. Jonas pointed a finger at the back side of the device. “There’s a microchip right here. That’s the data center.”