Mindsiege (Mindspeak #2)(76)

An agent entered the room, walked straight to Sandra, and whispered into her ear. Jonas lifted his chin, urging me to concentrate on Addison.

Keep talking to her, I mindspoke to the agent. Keep Sandra busy.

While the agent kept Sandra occupied, I went to work. Closing my eyes, I wriggled the device through the tunnel in Addison’s head that hadn’t yet healed from the recent insertion.

When I had it at the edge, I opened my eyes. Sandra had walked to the corner of the room to listen to the agent. I sat on the edge of Addison’s bed, pretending to look tired. I leaned into Addison. Lifting my hand, I brushed her hair around to hang down in front, exposing the bandage on the back of her neck. I peeled the edge of the bandage back to reveal a red and scabbed-over wound held together by a few stitches.

Again, I squeezed my eyes tight, and with one final push, I urged the tracker out of Addison’s skull, through the scab in her neck, and into my bare palm.

The wound began to bleed. I had no way of stitching it. Instead, I willed the skin to cover the bloody area. And it did heal—somehow. Flesh formed over the raw wound, leaving no sign of the scab or the stitches that were there moments earlier. I had never done that before. Healing superficial wounds was Jack’s department.

Blood dripped from my nose, and my head began to burn like a slow-burning campfire as I fought back feelings of nausea. But no seizure, thankfully.

Jonas watched me with concern. You okay? I can’t come over there, or I’d try to remove some of that pain.

I wiped my nose on the sleeve of my fleece jacket and replaced the bandage on the back of Addison’s neck, despite there no longer being a wound.

As I pressed on the bandage, Sandra suddenly shoved the agent. “You idiot, she’s controlling you.”

I slid off the bed while discreetly stuffing the tracker into the coin pocket of my jeans. The agent gave his head a shake as if he could rid his mind of my voice. Sandra crossed the room and stood directly in front of me, eye to eye. I fiddled with the ring on my finger. How quickly could I paralyze her? And if I bought myself ten minutes, was that enough time to grab Addison and get out of there?

It felt so strange to look at a woman who was the image of what I would become. Yet at the same time, I couldn’t see past her monstrous actions. I straightened, stared deep into her green eyes. Was I capable of being like this woman?

No, you’re not. Jack was in my head.

Jack.

You think I was just going to leave you?

The door opened, and Sandra spun away from me. The real Ty appeared, with two agents close behind him. The female agent had one hand on the gun at her hip.

“Great. You’re here,” Sandra said.

Ty remained silent. No grin played at his lips. His arms, clear of any ink, hung loose at his sides.

Jonas’s nervous eyes darted between his mother and his twin clone. “Mom, what are you going to do?”

Ty and Sandra didn’t break eye contact. He was so much taller than her, but the vulnerable look on his face made me want to help him.

What’s she going to do? I asked Jonas, but he didn’t answer. Only watched. His hands balled into fists.

“What happened, Ty? How did you lose control of her?” Sandra asked.

“I don’t know. At first, when I was inside her head, I was able to be Jonas. Not even Jonas knew it wasn’t him toying with her. Jonas was even sure he was falling in love with her.” Ty stifled a laugh, but only for a moment before all humor was gone from his face again.

I glanced toward Jonas. He cocked his head, staring at his look-alike. Did he think he loved me? No, that was crazy.

“Are you admitting that Jonas is stronger than you?” Sandra asked. “That he now knows when you’re calling the shots inside his head? And that he can now refuse your orders?”

Was Jonas stronger than a clone being operated by some computer-generated mindsiege? Surely.

“And are you telling me that you can no longer control Sarah? Make her see exactly what we want her to see?”

I was not liking where this conversation was going. Ty’s eyes widened with fear. He rotated his shoulders back and stood tall. He did not look away from Sandra.

“Mom?” Jonas said.

“Jonas, say goodbye to your brother.”

Brother?

“Mom, don’t do it. It’s my fault, not his. I can help him. Help you work out the flaws of his tracker.”

Don’t do what? I looked from Ty, to Jonas, to Sandra. She looked up at the camera in the corner of the room and gave some sort of hand signal.

Ty’s eyes popped open. He gasped—and then fell to the ground.

His eyes remained open. Still. Glassy.

“Is he…” Dead? Tears flooded my eyes.

Two agents gathered up Ty’s limp body and whisked him out of the room.

My heart beat out of control. I swallowed against the taste of bile in my throat. “You killed him?” My mind reeled. Addison still hadn’t moved.

Jonas’s face was red with fury.

“Jonas, if you don’t want to face the same fate, you will come with me,” Sandra ordered, then turned to the remaining agent. “Show Miss Matthews to her room. She gives you any trouble, tranquilize her.”

Jonas? What’s going to happen?

Don’t fight it. Even inside my head, I could hear the devastation in his voice. I felt a strong need to reach out and touch him. To console him. They won’t do anything to you. Remember, they want you here more than they want you dead.