Page 51 of Joshua's Mistake
Chapter 9
Kane cradledTessa’s upper body as if she were a sleeping child and looked up at Joshua. “She’s alive, Josh, but it’s not good. I don’t detect an aura.”
His brother could also sense the psi vibration more commonly referred to as an aura. If she had no aura, then she was not inside the shell of her body or she had retreated so far into her mind she might never find her way out. Either way Kane was right, it wasn’t good.
Joshua knelt next to her and gripped her face with both of his hands. “Tessa.”
Why he thought yelling in her face would help he didn’t know. It didn’t work. The beautiful vibration that made Tessa unique was quiet. Joshua couldn’t detect any of her essence. He couldn’t get his brain to accept what he was seeing. He waited, knowing at any moment she would open those pale-blue eyes and smile up at him.
“I’ll call an ambulance,” Wanda said.
The brothers stared at each other a long time. No words were spoken nor did they communicate psychically. This was not a psi moment. What passed between them was purely emotional, one brother crying out for help and the other being there.
Kane finally responded. “No, it won’t help. She needs a different kind of medicine.”
Joshua’s chest and stomach ached. His heart pounded in his ears. “You could heal her.” He grabbed Kane by the shoulder.
“No. I wish I could.”
“I’ve seen you do it. You can heal people. You can go inside her mind and lead her back to me, Kane. You have to do it. You have to.”
“This is beyond what I can do, Josh.”
“You’ve done it before.” If his brother hadn’t been holding Tessa, he would have punched him in the face.
Kane must have known Joshua was close to losing his temper. His voice was eerily calm. “Those people had lost their way or suffered some tragedy that needed suppressing. This is not the same. I don’t know where she is and I could do more harm than good.”
He wanted to hit someone. He wanted to lash out and make someone hurt as badly as he did. His mistake had caused this. He should have seen the gunman. He shouldn’t have underestimated Banta. He should have shielded Tessa or made her stay away. His mistake had cost her life. She was a vegetable. She would wither and die and it was his fault.
His brother was talking but Joshua didn’t hear the words. His brain had completely shut down to everything but grief. Pain cracked across his cheek.
That snapped him back to the present. Kane stood in front of him. “Did you hit me?”
Kane’s mouth was turned down and he took Tessa from Will’s arms. “You need to wake up, Josh. We need to get her help and I need you.”
Ever since his brother stepped back into his life Joshua had been the more reasonable of the two. Kane was impulsive and brash. Joshua took care of business and followed all the rules. Suddenly their roles were reversed. He needed his brother’s help and not the other way around.
Joshua tried to clear his mind. “We need a plane fueled up.”
Kane said, “Now you’re thinking.”
“I’ll take her,” Joshua said. Not waiting for a response, he took Tessa in his arms. Her body was warm against his chest. He felt her heart beating but she was otherwise still and lifeless. His throat tightened and it was hard to breathe.
Will said, “My jet is already fueled up. Go put Tessa inside and I’ll run the flight check.”
“I’ll fly,” Joshua said.
“No,” both Will and Kane said at the same time.
“You keep talking to Tessa. Will can fly us to Nevada.”
Will took a look around his property at the blood and bodies.
Trip said, “Wanda and I can clean up here. Someone will have heard all the gunfire. The local police will get calls and eventually make their way here. We’ll take care of it.” Wanda nodded.
“Thanks,” Will said.
Jess and several others ran across the tarmac toward them. Jess took one look at Tessa and his frown deepened. “We lost Lon and Brady is shot, but it’s not too bad.
