Page 49 of City of Love

These events hadn’t happened yet, she was sure of it. But she felt they were imminent. They would start happening soon unless they could somehow change the future… change it now.

“Gideon,” she spoke through tears, “they’re going to take your people, study them, force them to try and stay in our world. They want the secrets of your abilities. They don’t care how many people suffer or even die in the process as long as they learn something from each one first.” She paused to take a breath. “They’ll take as many people as they need, and they won’t stop until they’ve learned all there is to know.”

She looked back and forth between the faces of Gideon and Julian. She’d never seen such huge, powerful men looking so utterly immobilized. They looked at each other, the two cousins, with equal horror in their eyes.

“Right about now a simple rebellion is sounding pretty damned good,” Julian leaned his back to a concrete wall, sliding down into a squat, head bent forward.

“No!” Gideon roared, racing to the door, fists lifted in rage.

Matthew pulled him back. “Stop,” he said, his voice low. “If they even think you’re going to attempt to move that door again, they’ll fire against it.”

The four were silent as Gideon returned to pacing. His taut muscles rippled beneath the tight leather breeches. His restless movement around the confined space reminded her of a caged predator.

“We can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to get out of here, now,” he said, forcing himself to whisper. He stopped his restless movement and stepped in front her. “Lexi, please, tell me exactly what’s on the other side of this godforsaken door.”

“But that’s not precognition, that’s…”

“Clairvoyance, remote viewing, yes. I know you’ve been doing that too, lately. It’s the same process, Lex. Try.”

She closed her eyes, asked, and saw. This time she was seeing the present, seeing what was happening right at that moment, as she had when she’d seen Gideon and Benjamin on the Philly streets. She noticed the difference in sensation again, between the present and future images, the clairvoyance having a soupy, dreamy feeling. She was rapidly catching on to the subtleties of her gift. “Four men, the two who took me, plus two others. They each have guns pointed at the door.”

“Gideon, if we can move fast enough, you can raise that door and blow all four of them away before they can fire,” Julian said in hushed tones. “It’s no more than what you did to the trees in the meadow earlier, cousin, and you weren’t even trying then.”

“And assuming my car is still right there, and they haven’t damaged it, all we need to do is hop in and go before they come around,” Matthew whispered.

Lexi searched for the images. “The car looks to be fine. The key is still in the ignition, Matthew.” She couldn’t believe how easily, and how precisely the images were coming to her now. It was quickly becoming as natural as breathing, and scared as she was, she was also excited, proud. I’m doing it—I’m really helping them.

“You are, love, I’m so proud of you,” he responded to her telepathically, “but—”

“I don’t know if I’m strong enough right now to—” Gideon said out loud.

As if on cue another jet passed overhead, bringing the two cousins back to their knees, hands clapped over their ears. This time Lexi felt Gideon’s agony. All of the strength rushed out of her body like a vacuum had taken it, and in its place was a white-hot misery.

On her knees she crawled over to him and wrapped her arms around his back. She wasn’t sure if she was comforting him or herself, but as she did so a sensation of cool water washed over them, calming them both. She could feel his relief in her mind.

Together, they were stronger.

Slowly standing back up, Julian spoke through gritted teeth, his eyes bloodshot and angry. “We can do this together. Lexi can help you fight the pain, and with what little I have left I will too. My words will calm both you, and them,” he gestured toward to the door, “long enough to do it. Take. Them. Down. Cousin. Now.”

But a new image came to Lexi on its own. “Another car just drove up,” she whispered. “Benjamin Smythe is here now, along with two men dressed in business suits. We’re outnumbered.”

The door to the storage unit slammed up and she saw that she was right. Four men, including the two who had taken her from the zoo, stood like soldiers, two with shotguns, two with pistols, all pointed at the four of them. Benjamin Smythe stepped out of a car, leaving two men inside behind tinted windows. He strolled into the unit, looking as out of place in her world as he did in his own.

“Hello, gentlemen, and lady,” he bowed formally, that disgusting grin sliming his face.

Gideon made a lunge toward him, but Matthew and Julian held him back. The click of a hammer being pulled back on one of the handguns seemed to remind him why, and instead he reached an arm to pull Lexi partly behind him.

“Benjamin, what the hell are you doing?” Gideon asked. “And why? Why are you doing it?”

She felt the mixture of hate and utter bewilderment whipping into a confused frenzy within Gideon. She ran her hand along his arm trying to keep him from losing his last shred of control.

“Well, I could give you the long answer, Gideon, and tell you it’s because after one hundred and fifty years, give or take a decade, I’m tired of our world. I want life to be a little easier. For example, that fantastic automobile I rode in just now,” he said. “Do you know it only took the driver fifteen minutes to travel the eight or so miles to get here? I find that marvelous. I’ll think I’ll choose a red sports car for myself.”

Benjamin picked a speck of non-existent dust off his shirt, then looked back up at Gideon, the smile now utterly absent from his face. “Or I could give you the short answer,” he said. “Which is simply, that I hate you.”

“Are you crazy?” Gideon was shaking now, and Lexi had both of her hands in a strong grip on his arm. “Do you know what they plan to do to our people?”

“I do know, and frankly I don’t care,” he said, though a ghost of doubt flashed across his face.

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