Remember Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #3)(90)

With my ears so focused on his heartbeat, the loud shout from Lorenz in the other cell rang through my ears, forcing me to drop my connection and grab my head. “Harper!” he shouted. “Do your job! You have her powers! You can get yourself out! Take her to Donovan! HARPER! COMPLETE YOUR OBJECTIVE!”

Whether because I’d stopped the connection or those were the magic words, some phrase programmed into the soldier’s mind to renew his compliance, Harper snapped out of his shock and grabbed my arm with superstrength. I tried to pull away, but with him so full of my energy, he and I were on the same playing field, and it came down to who was physically stronger. You can bet your behind that the ex Marine Force Recon soldier had more muscle than me.

“Harper, don’t do this,” I said, trying once again to break his hold.

He looked down at me with sad eyes and pulled me tight against his chest. “I’m sorry, Angel. I have my orders. I must complete my objective.”

I kicked and flailed and tried to claw him, but again, soldier versus cheerleader…and I couldn’t even remember being a cheerleader. “Dang it! I really need to learn how to fight,” I grumbled as he pulled me toward the front of the cell and snapped the bars open with a single hand.

Several of the ACEs tried to physically stop him, but he knocked them easily away. It was enough of a distraction, though, that I managed to punch him in the face. My hit was totally wimpy and girly, but it was enough of a surprise that he let me go. “Fight it, Marine!” I shouted as he squared off with me.

The ACEs gathered around us, weapons drawn, but the way they all hesitated to shoot, I didn’t think their guns were loaded with tranquilizers. “Don’t shoot!” I shouted. “We need him!”

Glaring at the man, I matched his small steps as he tried to watch the surrounding soldiers and me at the same time. “Fight it,” I said again. “I know you can. I know what the impulses feel like. They feel wrong, don’t they? Confusing? Stop and think about it. You don’t want to hurt me, Marine. We’re on the same side.”

“We’re not on the same side!” Lorenz yelled. “Harper, she’s manipulating you. You know how dangerous she is. We need to bring her back to Donovan. He’s the only one who can help her. Remember?”

Harper blinked and shook his head. His eyes made contact with me again. “He’s right. I like you, Angel. I want to help you.”

“Then help me. Tell me where Donovan is.”

His frown grew. “No.” He reached up and grabbed his head as if it hurt. “No, I need to take you to him. That’s the only way.”

He pulled his shoulders back and balled his hands into fists. When I saw the determination in his eyes, I knew I was screwed. I hadn’t killed enough of the nanobots. He was still under their control, and now he was confused, thinking that he was protecting me by taking me to Donovan. The orders were working with his heroic military-trained personality, and against me.

“Don’t make me hurt you, Harper,” I whispered, raising my hands in his direction.

He realized what I was doing and narrowed his eyes. “I’ll knock you out if I have to.”

“And I’ll blast you to kingdom come if I have to.”

I heated up my palms, calling my energy to me in a way that wasn’t going to feel good for Harper when I released it. When my eyes lit up and my hair started doing its freak windstorm thing, Harper realized he was out of time and charged me linebacker style. His shoulder dropped, and he crashed into me with the force of a wrecking ball, knocking the wind out of me. He rammed me down the hall into the thick metal door that was the only entrance to the stockade. I smacked my head, immediately seeing black spots. Chalk up my second superconcussion.

“I’m sorry about this, Angel. I don’t like hurting you.”

He moved to punch me, but his energy was already starting to wear off and he didn’t know how to use it as well as I did, so I was easily faster. I ducked under his arm and jumped on his back, wrapping my arms and legs around his large body. “I don’t want to hurt you, either, so I’m sorry, too. I really hope you live through this.”

Needing to make sure I finished the job this time, I unleashed all of my energy into him in one violent burst that exploded out of both of us. It shook the room with a thunderous crack and obliterated all of the electrical equipment in the stockade. And judging from the warning sirens suddenly blaring throughout the base, the damage probably extended beyond the walls of the small prison.

“Jamie?” Ryan’s worried voice rang out in the silent room. He clicked on a flashlight and pointed at me. I was lying on top of the unconscious marine. At least, I hoped he was only unconscious.

In the dim light I glanced up at Ryan, then around the wrecked room at the cracks in the walls, and then at the shocked faces of my team members, and grimaced. “Sorry. I can pay for that.”

Somebody snorted. The laughter was exactly what I needed to break me from my shock. I listened for a heartbeat in Harper’s chest, and when I found none, I immediately called up my energy again. “Oh, no. No way. You’re not dying on me now.”

I had no idea if this would work, but I didn’t have a set of defibrillators and I refused to be a murderer.

“Jamie, what’s wrong?” Ryan asked when my eyes started to glow again.

“Stay back!” Placing my hands over Harper’s chest, I steadied myself and took a deep breath. “If I could stop his heart with a bolt of lightning, I can restart it with one, too.”