The Black Coats(79)

She pointed the gun. Drew’s eyes opened wide as he struggled against the ropes. “So you are going to help us.” Julie shook her head sadly. “If you want his son to live, you’re going to call Adam Porter and tell him to come alone. If you don’t, I will have these ladies shoot Drew right here and you will spend your night wiping his brain fluid off the floor.” Julie was behind her now, Thea swallowing a wave of nausea as she smelled a bittersweet rose perfume and a hint of bourbon. The luminary’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Not only that, but your precious file will burn, and I swear to God, you will never, ever find out who wrapped his hands around Natalie’s neck and squeezed. Because it’s not who you think it is.”

Thea felt the floor drop out from under her as Julie lightly trailed her hands across the base of her neck. The look of wild fear on Drew’s face tore at her heart, and she closed her eyes. There was no choice. There was only his life, and that was all that mattered. “Fine.”

“That’s what I thought. Bea? Why don’t we start with you?” Thea’s eyes darted to the figure stepping softly out from the back of the room. In the rapidly setting sun, Bea looked so small, her black coat dwarfing her even more than it usually did. Her cheeks were drawn, her eyes were red-rimmed and exhausted. Her normally creamy skin was the color of spoiled milk. The Black Coats were chipping those Thea loved to pieces.

“Bea, oh my God.”

Bea raised her head to meet Thea’s eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Julie smirked.

“What have you done to her?” Thea demanded.

“Recently, we maximized Bea’s potential by taking her on a Code Midnight. She was extraordinary. It’s amazing what you can get someone to do when you threaten her friends. Trust me: with Bea’s talent, we will never have to worry about witnesses, ever again.”

Thea’s heart ached for what her dear friend had seen, what she had been made to do. She turned to Julie with hatred burning through her like fire. Bea was kneeling now in front of Drew with the two armed Black Coats hovering over them both.

“Are you here, Drew?” Bea whispered. Drew’s head rolled forward, his eyes on Bea’s face, and Thea knew exactly what he saw: Safety. Comfort. Gentleness. A steel trap disguised as a soft cloud.

“Mmmph,” he mumbled through the gag.

“Do you trust me?”

Drew’s eyes shot to Thea. One of the other Monarchs pushed her gun up underneath his chin, and Thea nodded. “You can trust her, Drew. It’s okay.”

Drew reluctantly turned his face to Bea, who beamed up at him like he was the only person in the world. Her voice changed to that rumbling cadence, the voice she had once used to put Thea into a deep sleep in the car, much to the amusement of the rest of Team Banner.

Her teammate leaned forward and began rhythmically ticking her hands out in front of Drew like the pendulum of a clock. Her arms were wider than usual, her gentle sway rocking her back and forth. “You are safe,” she said seductively. “You can trust me. I’m going to help you. I am safety, and sleep.” He nodded, with his eyes trained only on her face, and Thea could see that she had him in her grasp. To Drew at this moment, there was only Bea and the sweet rest she was promising him.

“You will reach out your hand.” Drew began slightly rocking back and forth in time with her movements. “Watch my hands. You are going to reach out and put your hand on mine.” His eyes darted momentarily to Thea and then back to Bea. He blinked slowly.

All eyes were on Bea now, watching her take Drew under her current to a place where Bea had full control. Drew’s head nodded automatically, almost as if he were a puppet on a string. The wicked look on Julie’s face repulsed Thea as she watched, the older woman’s eyes lighting up with the potential power she saw in Bea. With a soft hum, Bea opened her palm, and Drew reached out his hand. Bea looked back at Thea, a tear running down her cheek. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “It will happen fast.” Thea felt a physical pain rising in her chest, and she unconsciously clutched at her heart as she prepared to watch the boy she loved forget everything about her. Bea raised both of her palms to meet Drew’s.

“Now, press your hand onto mine. Slowly.” Drew leaned forward to follow her directions, but it wasn’t his hands that Bea met; instead, Bea grinned as the two Monarchs holding Drew captive both reached out their hands for her. In a second, Bea pressed her palms up against theirs and stood, looking straight into their eyes without fear, her powerful voice booming through the atrium. “Press on my hand and close your eyes. Now!” The two Monarchs obeyed as Julie screamed “No!” in the background. Then Bea violently jerked her hands away. The shock, as she had once explained to Thea, was the moment when she hurtled someone into their unconscious. And she did. “Sleep, you bitches.”

Their hands fell promptly away from Bea, and their bodies followed, collapsing at Drew’s feet. In one moment, Bea had one of their guns and was aiming it toward where Thea and Julie were standing. She pulled the trigger.

A gunshot cracked through the air, then another. Behind her Julie let out a shriek as bullets shredded the ceiling and the wall above her. Pieces of photographs began to fall. Bea kept firing, tears streaming down her face as she emptied the chamber into Mademoiselle Corday with a crazed yell. Bullets pierced tiny black holes in the gold dome, in the oak arches, in the walls. Thea began crawling toward her friend on her elbows as Julie sprinted for the door, the black file still clutched in her hand.