Page 39 of Dark Flame

“I’m sorry I scared you, Valentina,” said Flip, lowering his head. “I just… It just got… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Flip,” she said, smiling at the big man. “I was just worried for Spook. I could feel the anger coming from you and knew he was near. I heard him in my head praying for me.”

“You heard that?” asked Spook.

Spook, never a religious man, was indeed praying for Valentina in his head. He prayed that if something happened to him, she would find peace and strength to not take the easy way out. He wasn’t exactly praying for her to find someone else, just to find the peace and strength to not kill herself.

“I did. I’ve never heard that before, but it’s the second time I’ve heard someone’s thoughts since I’ve been here. And you,” she said, smiling, “you are going nowhere. I can have no peace without you.” She kissed his jaw and curled against his side. Flip watched the affection developing before his very eyes and smiled. Valentina turned to look at Flip and spoke again.

“I also felt the earth quaking beneath my feet.” Flip rolled his eyes in disgust with himself. “Are you able to make the earth move? I mean, I know you can make objects move, but have you ever tried to create an earthquake or something?”

“I don’t know,” he frowned. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually created an earthquake, but I suppose it’s not out of my realm. Even though I was in the moment, I could feel the earth moving as well.”

The door pushed open once again, and Nat came storming through. Her blonde hair was wild around her face, her hands clenched to her sides.

“I felt your anger,” she said, racing to Flip’s side. “I felt, or rather heard, Valentina’s concern. Then I felt it. The earth was moving. It was actually moving.”

Flip just shook his head, staring at the massive amount of paperwork still to be reviewed. He rubbed his temples and looked back at the three who were still eyeing him warily. He looked down at the paperwork once again and then back up at them. Something in his memory triggered, and he started flipping through the stacks of paper with fury.

“Flip? What’s wrong?” asked Nat.

“Not wrong, right. I read something, something… Here!” he said, waving the paper in the air. “I thought it was nothing at first. It’s Mary’s file. When she was at the Depot, there were thirteen other children there as well at the same time!”

“Thirteen?!” said Spook, standing to look over Flip’s shoulder.

“Yes, they got rid of the other children. And I do mean got rid of. They found an anomaly. When there are groups together for long periods, they are able to speak to one another through telepathy, no matter their skill set. They noticed the children were having conversations with one another but without speaking. They couldn’t control them. They couldn’t make observations, so they literally disposed of those they didn’t need.”

“That’s what’s happening to us, to all of us. We’re not hearing one another. We’re literally learning to speak telepathically,” said Valentina.

“I think so,” grinned Flip.

“That’s why she wants us all dead. Together, we can’t be stopped.”

“Can you hear me?”asked Spook telepathically to Flip.

“I can.”

“I can hear as well,”said Nat.

“Me too,”said Valentina.

“Holy shit!”

“Holy shit indeed,” said Flip. “Let’s find Adam and Kane.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“So, we all have the ability to speak telepathically?” asked Kane once more, pacing back and forth in front of the small group.

“It seems so,” said Adam, reading the documents once more. “I’ve heard of cases of people being able to communicate without verbal communication, but I’ve never seen it. I mean, hell, our Special Forces teams are almost telepathically communicating at times.”

“It explains a lot,” said Aislinn. “I mean, Valentina and Spook have been ‘hearing’ my dreams, but in fact, I think they were hearing me.”

“I agree,” said Valentina. “I’ve been hearing a lot of things lately and have been trying to block some of it out. There is a lot of noise in people’s heads.” She smiled at Spook and blushed, looking down at her black boots. He sat closer to her, his hands clasping with hers, and the others smiled.

“But why would she be afraid of that? I mean, wouldn’t that make an army stronger?” asked Nat.

“It would,” said Kane, “but it would also make them uncontrollable. Even if she had us all as her army, we could be plotting and speaking to one another, and she would never know it. She’s not one of us, so she can’t get inside our heads.”

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