Page 48 of City of Love

Gideon stomped to the back of the unit, picked up the chair Lexi had been in, and threw it into the concrete wall.

“Easy, cousin,” Julian said. “Save what little strength you have.”

“Little is fucking right” he said, pacing the room.

Lexi went to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close. He saw fear and doubt in her eyes, and he hated that look directed at him. He took a deep breath, needing to get control of himself or he’d be of no use to her.

“Lex, it would be really helpful if we knew exactly what was going on, either with this whole thing in general, or, even better for now, outside that door. Do you think you might be able to see?” He fought to keep his voice sounding calm, as well as inaudible to the men outside. “I mean, really see—using your sight.” He hated to ask it of her, with everything she’d just been through, but he was out of options.

She looked at him with her face blank, trying to understand. Then her eyes widened, her brow raised. “You know it doesn’t work like that. I don’t have any control as to when it comes on or what I see.”

“That’s just it, sweetheart. I think you could. We talked about you learning to control it, remember?”

“Of course, but... now? Here?”

“Now, here, would be my vote,” Julian said, picking up the pacing where Gideon had left off, while Matthew circled the room.

Gideon continued. “Remember how I taught you about the brick wall and you were surprised at how easy the idea was? This is rather like that, actually.”

“Gideon, I…” she paused. “How do you even know? I mean, you’re not a precog.”

“That’s true. But I’ve known other seers. I’ve seen it work.”

“Uh, not to add pressure when it is least needed but… tick-tock, tick-tock,” Julian added.

“Just try, that’s all we’re asking,” Gideon said. “Sit back down, breathe, and mentally ask for what you want to see. Be specific.”

“Just ask? Are you kidding?” she said, her voice rising in pitch.

Tension pulled at the muscles along Gideon’s spine. He hated pushing her like this, but it was the only thing he could think to try. His own power was fairly useless just now, unless… maybe his power right now was in teaching, encouraging. He could bring his knowledge to the table. His certainty.

He could bring his belief in Lexi.

He took her hand and guided her back to the chair, which he righted and gently pressed her down into.

“Please try for us, my sweet Heroine, okay?” he said. “Have you ever heard of a scrying pool? A reflective pool used by people seeking visions?” She nodded. “This is just like that. Only you’re a natural oracle, so you don’t need the pool. Just ask, love. Try.”

Her eyes glanced one by one at the faces of the three men. “Okay, I guess it couldn’t hurt to try. And if it works maybe I’ll use it to buy lottery tickets.”

He smiled and kissed her on the forehead, marveling that her sense of humor rarely failed her, even when she was clearly shaken in every way.

“You can never use it for personal gain, sweetheart,” he said. “It won’t work in that case. But if you get us out of this mess, I promise I’ll buy you all the lottery tickets you want.”

“Deal,” she said, and took a deep breath.

She asked for images, and they came. Easily, and without the jarring, disruptive quality she was used to. They flowed across her mind’s eye like a movie on a flat screen television hung behind her forehead.

For a second, she lost the visions, startled as she was by the ridiculous ease with which she had suddenly gained control of her ability.

Are you freaking kidding me? I’m only now discovering this?

Her eyes flew open, a shot of adrenalin sped through her, and she gaped at Gideon who returned her look with a furrowed, concerned brow. She shook her head and closed her eyes again. She could freak out later, after she got them out of this mess. If she got them out.

She took a deep breath and the images were back. Though they still came in snippets, random starts and stops, as if someone had chopped up a movie filmstrip, then plucked random segments off the floor and played them for her.

And if she could have, she would have left the theater and demanded her money back.

Helplessly she watched as people faded off the streets of Gideon’s world, surprised and reaching out for their loved ones in confusion as they blinked away. She saw other people locked in laboratories in her own universe, struggling with pain, hands held to their heads and tears streaming as they were hooked up to various machines—EEGs, EKGs, MRIs, all the letters of the alphabet. She saw them being interrogated, drilled with questions as to their abilities. She saw them tranquilized to keep from fighting. She saw someone die.

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