Page 50 of Joshua's Mistake
Joshua took a step forward and put himself between Tessa and the madman. “I can’t say that’s my first reaction. You got a lot of good people killed for nothing.”
“You must know. You must have figured out by now. You must know what I can do. How far I’ve advanced.”
“I know gathering is an abomination. Stealing the aura of the psychically gifted leaves them without a soul. You’ve lost your last scrap of humanity, Troth.”
The laugh vibrated the air and hurt his ears. From the corner of his eye he saw Tessa wince and try to protect her ears. Troth didn’t seem to be expending any energy with the shield or throwing his voice.
“I knew you were my match. I knew you would figure it out. The problem, old friend, was I couldn’t get to you. But I’m smart too. I knew if I set up a high-rated agent they would bring you in. I have to admit you threw me a curve ball when you took off with Agent Clark. I never took you for softhearted.” He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, at the Jersey Shore or here, it makes no difference to me. I’ll get what I want.
“Your right and wrong boxes don’t mean anything to me. I only care about strength. I’m the strongest and so I have the right to prey on the weak. Today you are my goal, you are the weak one. Today I get to claim the ultimate prize.”
Joshua was still looking for the angle. What had Banta learned in the last year? How was he going to penetrate his barriers? Both he and Tessa had their minds closed off. He didn’t have to open his mind to shoot the lightning. What was this guy after?
“Great, now what, Troth? Where do we go from here?”
Another booming laugh cracked the air. “Now I kill everything you love and then I take that sweet little talent you just used to kill most of my men. Or you can just come quietly and I’ll let them live.”
“You’ll have to kill me and if you could have done that I’d be dead already.”
Banta’s mouth twisted into a crooked grin. Joshua’s stomach turned as well. There was something he didn’t know. Some important fact only Banta knew.
He lifted his mental barriers enough to get the familiar sense of Troth Banta’s presence. It was the same as that of the man he’d known years before, but twisted as if he were a vine allowed to grow wild and take over the garden.
Immediately Banta pushed his mind forward and tried to invade. Joshua shut it down before he was breached.
At a hundred feet, it was impressive Banta could have gotten so close. It had been worth the risk. He’d learned something important. As whatever power Troth used to transfuse psi energy snapped back, his shoulders had slumped slightly. It may not cost him anything to keep the barrier up, but gathering appeared to take its toll.
Banta reached out one hand to lean on the Apache. The reason his enemy remained by the helicopter. Stealing the aura of another was draining. Pushing his mind across space also took a lot out of him. Joshua had a suspicion. “What happens when you succeed, Troth? I assume that chopper whisks you away to rest from the exertion.”
Troth looked inside and made a spinning motion with his finger. The propeller started to spin slowly and then picked up speed. “Make it easier on yourself, Lakeland. I’ll let your brother and your new friend live if you come quietly.”
Without the same psi gift of voice Banta had, Joshua was forced to scream over the engine and propeller noise. His entire body was on a spring waiting to see what would happen next. “That’s quite an offer but I don’t think so.”
A rifle fired from near the dojo. The wounded soldier had taken aim and fired at Joshua. In the same moment, everything slowed down. He tried to turn toward the gunman and even his movements were slowed down. He saw Banta’s eyes widen. The bullet meant for his heart spun in a path and he could see the air around it displaced as if it were shooting through water.
Tessa’s mind was open. It had to be. No one else had the ability to interrupt an instant in time. She pressed her hand forward, forcing the bullet out of its trajectory. She kicked out a leg and swept his right calf, sending him to the ground. Her movements appeared inhumanly quick while he was stuck in slow motion.
As the hard ground crashed into his backside time slipped back into normal speed.
Her mind was open!
Joshua tried to force his own walls to encompass Tessa too. He heard gunfire but ignored it.
Too late. Banta seized the opportunity as soon as he’d recognized the value of her gift. Agony stretched across her face. A piercing scream split the night and poured from her open mouth. Her skin paled to almost gray.
Joshua did the only thing he could. He sprinted in Banta’s direction, hollering his battle cry and ducking under the path of the helicopter’s propeller. In no time, he had closed the distance. He didn’t know if he would come up hard against the barrier, but he suspected the gathering would require all Banta’s energy. No walls stopped him. Head down Joshua barreled into Banta’s gut and forced him into the gaping door of the Apache, breaking his concentration.
It took a moment for the insanity in Banta’s eyes to transform into rage. When that happened, he roared as if he were a wild beast. He thrashed against Joshua, who pinned him to the floor of the craft. Joshua’s weapon tumbled out the door. It would have been difficult to take the much bigger man in hand-to-hand combat on a good day. The effort Banta had just made to steal Tessa’s psi power away from her must have weakened him.
Joshua straddled his chest and threw punch after punch against his face. His own anger pushed him harder to batter the monster Troth Banta had become. Blood splattered across the metal floor when Troth’s nose broke after one crushing blow.
The lights across Will’s property were exploding. Joshua knew it was his doing. Rage and regret swamped him and he lost control. Glass was always the first thing to go when Joshua lost his temper. If he didn’t get it under control stronger materials would bend and pop as well. He could hear the instruments in the helicopter’s cockpit sputtering and crackling.
The ground was falling away as the helicopter took to the air. Banta was only half conscious, spread-eagle on the deck. Joshua wanted Troth dead but there was no time. Standing, Joshua gave him one last kick to the ribs and stepped to the door. He had to jump before they got too high. On the ground, Kane cradled Tessa in his arms. Will looked up at him. Trip and Wanda knelt at her side.
He stepped out onto the runner, shimmied down so his legs dangled and then gripped the metal with his hands. His legs dangled and he hung there a second and took a deep breath.
He let go.
It was a ten foot drop but he’d fallen from greater heights. As soon as his body hit the ground he collapsed and rolled. He would hurt for a few days. He would be battered and bruised. He didn’t care. His hip ached and his ribs were likely bruised, maybe broken. Ignoring all of it he rushed toward Tessa.
