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that’s why Tyler decided to move on to you, you were more like me than me.”

Charlotte gave her a stunned look. She couldn’t obsess over Charlotte and Tyler doing

the nasty for long she had other things to occupy her mind.

It was time to clobber some Triad ass.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 145

“How many telepaths is there onboard the
Excalibur
?” Samantha asked, jogging

alongside Devlin and Charlotte.

“There are two, not including you and I. But then I told you that already, or weren’t you

listening?” Charlotte tossed Samantha an irritated gaze. “I never should have let my guard down.

The only reason I didn’t notice them before is because I’ve been giving Rory my all in looking

out for her. I let the ship down. I’m sorry. Winter needs us as soon as we can get to her. She

doesn’t have any telepaths in the crew manifest on the
Snow Queen
. She needs us. The telepaths

are playing havoc with the members of Winter’s crew. They are literally living out their own

worst nightmares.”

“Winter had shield training from a certified telepath,” Devlin muttered.

“That might be…but still, Winter isn’t any match for what The Triad has on reserve.

These Telepaths are good. Almost too good.”

Samantha had a sinking feeling in her gut. She shivered and sighed. She hated it when

the fighting got into the telepathic realm. It always complicated matters.

“We might have to split up.” Charlotte looked over at Samantha. “Will you be okay, if

that happens?”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “Of course, I’ll be okay. I’m not a little girl anymore,

Charlotte. But just for everyone’s information, I hate psychic combat. Really, I hate it!”

They stopped. They stood just outside of the abandoned dining hall.

“They’re in there…waiting for us.” Charlotte raised her right hand. “I’m going to open

the door…you two can take it from there. Devlin, I’ve erected some makeshift telepathic shields

in your mind. Stay strong. No matter what you think you might be seeing; it isn’t real. Just

remember that.”

“I’ll remember. I’ve run into my fair share of telepaths in my lifetime. I can handle it.

But thanks for your concern, Charlotte.”

Samantha felt antsy. She could feel the pandemonium onboard the
Snow Queen
. No

doubt Charlotte could feel it as well, only her senses would be amplified tenfold.

“Okay, let’s do this. Charlotte, let it loose.”

Samantha watched as Charlotte’s violet blue eyes transformed to a dark shade of

amethyst, they were so dark they looked almost black. Incredible. Charlotte’s powers were

being summoned. Soon, the goons on the other side of the door would be shaking in their boots.

The door blasted backward. Surprised cries met Samantha’s ears. She stepped over the

threshold and went into battle mode.

Throwing stars arced toward her. She went into a backward flip and extended her Bo

staff to fighting length. She deflected the throwing stars easily and then went into a fighting

crouch. Two more black-garbed Triad fighters barreled toward her. Devlin was busy with three

fighters and the two telepaths in the bunch converged on Charlotte. Should Samantha be worried

about Charlotte? She couldn’t worry. She didn’t have the luxury.

Charlotte had a glowing purple pink force-bubble shield wrapped around her own body.

It actually extended out a few feet. Stunning. She wanted one of those.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 146

One of her attackers split off and ran toward Charlotte. Samantha grit her teeth. She

knew what the stealthy kung fu dude was up to. He wanted to stab Charlotte in the back while

she was distracted. But he was going after her twin…if he thought she was going to let him hurt

Charlotte he had another think coming. Despite the force-bubble shield that Charlotte had

erected, the knife could slip through while Charlotte was distracted. Psychic combat required a

lot of energy…especially when the odds weren’t even. Samantha twirled her Bo Staff in the air

and blocked one of the remaining kung fu dude’s roundhouse kicks. As he was coming back for

another attack she brought her Bo Staff up and caught him between his knees. He made a

strange gurgling noise and dropped to the floor.

“Life’s a bitch and then you got in my way.” She brought her Bo Staff up and whacked

him across the back of the head. “Light’s out, bastard.” Stepping over his lifeless form, she

dashed toward Charlotte, there was still a kung fu dude gunning for Charlotte and Charlotte

didn’t seem to sense the guy’s approach.

She wouldn’t reach Charlotte in time. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Reaching for one of her grappling hooks she shot it off and made contact with the ceiling of the

dining room. She tugged on it a few times to make certain that it was secure. Then, she pressed

the retraction mechanism. She sailed upwards and pulled out her pistol with her free hand.

In the blink of an eye, she had crossed the distance to where Charlotte stood. Lowering

the grappling hook she appeared in front of Charlotte’s would be backstabber.

“Hello, asshole!” Without giving it much thought she shot him. He fell, crippled to the

floor. She hooked her pistol back onto her hip. “And Tyler said I wasn’t a Suzy Homemaker. I

think I’m doing a bang up job of cleaning out the trash.”

Standing back to back with Charlotte, she looked over to where Devlin stood. He too had

taken care of his attackers.

“Good going, Dev.” She gave him thumbs up. He grinned back at her.

Samantha could feel Charlotte gaining the upper hand on the two telepaths that Charlotte

was locked in combat with. Should she stay and watch over Charlotte, or should she hightail it

for the
Snow Queen
? She hated having too many choices.

“Go,” Charlotte said between clenched teeth. “I’ll be fine.” With her final word, one of

the telepaths she fought let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to the floor. His eyes were

locked open and they looked glassy. Samantha shuddered. The lights were on for the telepath

but no one seemed to be home. Yuck. Charlotte was certainly someone you didn’t play mind

games with.

“Stay safe,” Samantha called, darting for the door that led out into the main hallway of

the
Excalibur
.

Devlin was hot on her heels. She opened her com frequency that led to Johanna.

“Johanna, we have the ambush details on the
Excalibur
taken care of. Could you ask

Ross to come down to the abandoned dining room and haul them to the brig?”

“You got it. So we’re safe, then?”

“You bet we are. I’m on my way to lend Winter a helping hand. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck. Where’s Charlotte?”

“She’s still in the dining hall taking care of the second telepath that boarded the

Excalibur
.”

“Shit. What are you and Devlin going to do to take care of the telepaths onboard the

Snow Queen
?”

Samantha bit her lip. She really hadn’t considered that. But Charlotte had given her the

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 147

go ahead to move onto the
Snow Queen
.

“Don’t know. I guess our mental shields will have to be the only defense we’ll have

against them.”

“Samantha....” Johanna trailed off, but Samantha could already guess her thoughts.

“Yeah, in a pinch, I might be able to take one of them out.
Might
, being the key word,

Johanna. I haven’t hung around a campfire telling ghost stories with certified Alpha Telepaths in

ages.”

“The last time you were in a training session was right before....”

“Dad’s murder. I know. Trust me, Johanna. Charlotte does.” Samantha smiled.

“Okay. Just don’t let your....”

“Worst fears come back to haunt me? I know their tactics of battle, Johanna. You need

to stop worrying. Dev and I will be fine.”

“Speak for yourself,” Devlin muttered. “My main concern is getting to my little girl.

Now I definitely know how Quinn feels.”

Samantha quickened her pace. She could hear the screams of Winter’s crew. Before

they stepped into the main part of Winter’s ship, Samantha locked gazes with Devlin.

“We might be walking into a psychic landmine on Winter’s ship. Are you sure you don’t

want to stay behind, where it’s safe?”

“To hell with staying behind. Do you honestly think I wouldn’t walk through the fires of

hell for my daughter?”

Samantha studied his serious visage. Devlin literally reeked of being genuine. “Nah.

Maybe in another lifetime I might have thought that…but not now. You should be careful, Dev.

I might actually come out of this little war respecting you.”

Devlin shuddered. “Oh, the horror!” He held his hand dramatically over his heart.

“Show off.” She reached out an arm to hold him back before he waltzed ahead into the

lion’s den. “If we do come across a telepath, you get your ass out of there. Your main priority is

Winter. Get her to safety. I’ll deal with the telepath.”

“Samantha, you are almost making me love you.” He laughed. “Don’t worry, when push

comes to shove, I’ll be more than happy to leave you at the mercy of the terrible telepath.” A

cocky grin flashed across his face. He was trying to look smug but his heart just wasn’t in it.

“Okay, then. Here we go. Let’s hope we get out with all of our marbles intact.” She took

a deep breath and pushed the necessary code into the
Excalibur
to release the door that would

lead onto Winter’s ship.

“Hate to break this to you, Samantha. But you were born without your marbles.”

“Ha. As always, Devvy boy, you are a barrel of freaking monkey laughs.” She forced out

a laugh, and stepped into her own personal hell.

MAXIMUM VELOCITY Marly Mathews 148

Chapter Thirty

Fleeting images of her father’s bloody body flickered through her mind. Overlapping

with those visions were the images of the many bounties that she had taken in, alive or dead.

She only took her bounties in dead as a last recourse. She didn’t relish having the blood of any

living being on her hands, even if they were the bottom feeders of society.

A metallic taste entered her mouth. She licked her lips. Sheer panic gripped the crew of

the
Snow Queen
. Their fear lapped over her in unrelenting waves. A sickening dread again sank

into her gut. Summoning all of the energy she could spare, she began erecting her psychic

shields. After she had constructed many layers, she felt secure enough to proceed. If a telepath

were stupid enough to try and attack her, he’d get all of the negative energy shooting back at

him, and then some. Glancing down at her hand, she smiled. Like Charlotte, Samantha’s aura

shields were a pretty purple pink color. Amazing. It had been so long since she had used her

mental magic on purpose. She’d almost forgotten how astonishing it was. Almost.

She looked to her side.

Ashen faced, Devlin stood with his hands gripping his pistols. His knuckles had turned

white. He was in shock. Telepath induced shock. Samantha really hadn’t expected anything

else. The same shell shock had possessed Winter and her entire crew. To think that Devlin

would be immune was a ridiculous thought indeed.

She didn’t want to admit it but she needed Devlin. Somehow, she had to knock some

bloody sense into him. The only way to bring him back to her would be to take a walk through

his mind. When she walked through his mind she’d leave shields in her wake, which would

force the telepathic suggestions out of Devlin’s head.

“Jane. I’m sorry. I failed you. I failed you!” Devlin’s voice cracked. Genuine grief tore

at his chiseled features.

Samantha bit her lip. She’d have to touch him. Not only would she have to touch him

physically, but also she’d have to touch his mind.

Well, Samantha. You do what you have to do. She sighed.

“I’m expecting a gold freaking medal for this, Dev.” She’d have to move quickly. It was

only a matter of moments before the telepaths focused in on her position. She could keep the

sharks at bay for the time being…but she certainly wasn’t Charlotte.

Gripping him firmly by the shoulders, she looked up at him and made eye contact.

Think, back to your old lessons, Samantha.

In one second, she dove into Devlin’s mind. She spiraled down a long winding hall.

Portraits lined the wall. This had to be a picture gallery found in so many of the English Estates

back on Earth. In her astral form, she wore white robes. Devlin’s voice echoed through the

hallway.

“Jane, you’ll love life on New Scotland. It will be a whole new beginning for us. A way

for me to make my mark on the galaxy. It is our only choice, if we stay, you’ll be in great peril.”

“We can’t abandon your brother and father, my love.” The female voice that answered

Devlin was soft and melodious. Obviously, the voice belonged to Jane.

“My father and brother want us to flee Earth. They can’t win the war the way it’s