Possessed (10 page)

In
the morning, her first thoughts were of Sebastian. Keva groaned as she buried
her face in her pillow. She kept recalling the hurt expression on his face when
she’d thrown him out of her apartment. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she muttered
to herself. The man took for granted that she would be sexually available to
him whenever he wanted and here she was sympathizing with him when she finally
stood up for herself.

Muscles
aching from the workout he’d given her last night, she rolled out of bed and
got ready for work. She wasn’t in the mood for breakfast but forced herself to
eat buttered toast and drink orange juice. A knock at the door startled her as
she was putting her dishes in the dishwasher. No one ever visited in the
morning. She wondered what could be so urgent that they couldn’t wait to see
her at her desk in a few minutes.

Opening
the door to her officemate Dean, she frowned. “What…?”

He
swept inside and peered around. His movements were brisk and nervous. “Close
the door. Are we alone?”

“Yes.
Why?”

“Keva,
that psychic from a few months ago, the one whose name you wouldn’t reveal,
what kind of talent was he?”

Keva
emitted an exasperated sigh. “You, too? Like I told Dr. Garcia and the others,
I don’t know.” She crossed her arms over her chest at his odd behavior. Beyond
a few words here and there, they’d never discussed cases with each other. Dean
was often off in his own world and she’d never liked his attitude toward their
clients. “What is this about?”

He
grabbed her shoulders, his brown eyes intense. “Keva, it’s important that you
tell me the truth. Was he special in any way?”

“What
is wrong with you?” she asked, growing alarmed.

“I
overheard Dr. Garcia—”

“Overheard?”
Skeptical, she arched an eyebrow.

“That
doesn’t matter,” he snapped. “I heard her planning another ambush review—this
time with a telepath in the room to gauge the truthfulness of your answers.”

Keva’s
eyes widened. She’d never pass that type of interrogation. It wouldn’t matter
even if she were capable of training herself to think of only the answers she
wanted to give. Telepaths always knew when a person was subverting the truth.

“I
can see from your reaction that Dr. Garcia’s suspicions are correct. We’ve got
to get you out of here.”

She
shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. What’s the worst that will happen? I’ll
reveal his name and talents. I’ll probably receive a formal reprimand—”

Dean
swore. “God, you’re naive. You’ll be fired. Or worse, detained indefinitely for
withholding information, and they’ll bring him in for testing and
experimentation. IOP has been trying to get a bigger government contract for
decades. Their goal is to develop superspies—”

Keva
scoffed. “I never took you to be a believer in conspiracy theories.”

“It’s
not a fucking theory. It’s fact. I’m part of a small faction inside the IOP.
We’ve been keeping a watch on their activities. After what Garcia has put you
through, how can you be doubtful? Why do you think they study our reports so
closely? Any high-level talent is placed in the program whether they want to be
or not.”

She
bit her lip. Dr. Garcia’s rabid persistence
was
troubling. Keva recalled
Dr. Larsen’s comments about what types of reports were flagged. All high-level
talents caused a flag. And then there was Sebastian. He’d had a bad vibe about
IOP. Unstable though he was, she trusted his instincts. After all, he’d
predicted that she’d fall for him. The rumors regarding IOP’s ulterior motives
for helping psychics had circulated for years, but she’d thought it to be the
brainchild of paranoid anarchists. There was so little evidence, but in her
heart, she knew it to be true. “Do you have any proof of what you’re saying?”

He
shrugged off his backpack and took out a tablet. He ran his fingers over the
touchscreen before turning it to face her. “This is Eric Barnett. He’s a level-A
psychic. His talent is telekinesis.” A handsome, young man with reddish hair
was strapped to a chair in an examination room that appeared similar to the
ones they utilized when providing treatment to patients. But the ropes around
his chest and arms gave lie to the seeming normalcy of the scene. Keva frowned
at the screen. Drs. Larsen and Garcia came into the room to begin questioning
him. Eric made it clear from his comments that he wanted to leave. Dr. Garcia
moved toward him, her back to the camera. Keva couldn’t identify what the
doctor held in her hand as she closed in on Eric. When she touched Eric, his
body jerked. “What is she doing?” she asked, but it soon became clear as Dr.
Garcia shifted and the Taser in her hand became visible. Keva couldn’t watch
anymore as Dr. Garcia continued to torture the young man and Dr. Larsen stood
by and did nothing. He didn’t look happy, but his lack of action sickened Keva.

“We
have to stop them. We can’t let them keep doing this.”

“We
will and soon. We’re very close, but we need to know how high up this goes. I
was planning to ask for your help. Unfortunately, you being here will only
cause another talent to be captured.”

“So
what do I do?”

Dean
expelled a deep sigh and ran a hand over his spiky black hair. “Pack a bag.
We’re going to get you out of here. You’ll call in once you’re safe and say
there was a family emergency. There’s an apartment we keep in Vegas. You can
stay there until you can get a flight out of Nevada. You can resign later, and
I’ll get the rest of your stuff to you. Hurry!”

Keva
didn’t waste any more time. She got luggage out of her closet and filled it
with clothing. It wouldn’t take long before the two of them were missed at
work. She thought briefly of trying to contact Sebastian, but quickly realized
that she had no way of doing so. Hopefully, he wouldn’t come back here looking
for her. Without her, they wouldn’t even know his name. His safety depended on
her getting out without getting caught.

Sebastian
parked his truck outside of the home of Martin and Melanie Gibbs. Their
driveway was packed, so he was on the curb behind Mike’s sporty coupe. It was
the Gibbs’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. Pink, white, and silver balloons were
attached to the mailbox. He stared at cars as he debated simply driving to the
airport without saying good-bye.

Only
he’d promised Mike. Before he disappeared for he knew not how long, he owed it
to Mike and Mike’s parents. They worried about him and they needed the
reassurance that he was doing well. Breaking only to eat and sleep, he’d driven
directly from Nevada to Mike’s place. Mike took one look at him, told him that
he looked like shit, and sent him to bed. This morning over coffee, Mike had
dropped news of the anniversary party on him.

It
had been six months since he’d seen the Gibbses, years since he’d walked into
their home. Usually they met at restaurants or at Mike’s home.

Sebastian
ran a hand over his hair to smooth it even though not a hair was out of place.
His curls were tamed by the tight elastic at the base of his skull. Taking a
deep breath, he got out of his truck and was immediately assailed with memories
of growing up on this street.

The
neighborhood looked much the way it had when he was growing up. There were a
few newer homes, but the basic layout was the same. Unwilling to dwell on the
past any further, he shut his door and approached the house. He could hear
party noises, jazz, and people’s laughter coming from the backyard.

Martin
greeted him with a warm hug. “It’s good to see you, son. Mike said you were
coming and I couldn’t believe it.” He patted him on the back. “Follow me to the
kitchen. Melanie’s in there getting more snacks. I tried to convince her to
hire a caterer, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Too much Food Network, you know.
She wanted to test some recipes. I think she was more excited about that than
the actual anniversary!”

Melanie
was arranging crackers on a plate when they walked into the kitchen. “Sebastian,”
she exclaimed. She swiftly crossed to him and squeezed him. Her head of
carefully dyed blond hair only reached the middle of his chest. She leaned back
and placed her hands on his cheeks. “Let me look at you.” Not approving of what
she saw, she frowned and shook her head after a moment. “You look wrung out. What’s
wrong?”

“There’s
nothing wrong.”

Her
eyes narrowed. “Is it a girl?”

Melanie
had always been very perceptive. She wasn’t psychic, but she was observant of
those that she loved. Sebastian wrapped his hands around her wrists and removed
them from his face. He kissed the back of her hand.

“So
it is a girl? What type of girl would be foolish enough to let you slip through
her fingers?”

He
was mute. Melanie had always been so kind to him, but surely, even she
understood that he was no catch for a woman. “It’s complicated,” he said,
hoping the vague answer would put an end to this topic of conversation.

“Melanie,
hon, maybe the boy didn’t come over here to—”

She
shushed her husband without ever taking her eyes off him. “Then you fix it. If
this woman is who you want to be with, you work through your problems.”

“We
can’t. I am the problem.”

Melanie’s
blue eyes turned sad. “She doesn’t accept your special abilities?”

Sebastian
couldn’t hold her gaze, and he couldn’t lie to her. Keva did accept him for
everything that he was. He’d never sensed any true fear of him in her. She was
in awe of his ability. She didn’t view him as a freak of nature. Hell, she
could even fall in love with him if given the chance. But he couldn’t ask that
of her.

“Sebastian,
look at me. If she can’t love all of you, then you can do better.”

“It’s
not that. She’s perfect, but I won’t make my burden hers too.”

“Don’t
you think that should be her choice?”

Melanie
couldn’t understand. She loved him. He wouldn’t lose her respect by telling her
the awful way he had treated Keva. “It’s too late. She’ll never forgive me.” He
kissed her cheek. “Where’s Mike?”

Martin
and Melanie exchanged glances. “He’s out back,” Martin said. “I’ll go get him
for you.”

Something
was wrong. “That’s okay. I’ll go out.”

“Don’t!
Um…” Melanie glanced around, her expression frantic. “Stay and help me…um…with
the hors d’oeuvres.”

Sebastian
arched a brow at their strange behavior. “What’s going on? What’s out there
that you don’t want me to see?” As their eyes grew wide, he moved toward the
small window above the sink that would allow him to see the backyard.

“Melanie,”
called a woman’s voice, her tone full of laughter. “The klutz has struck again.
I spilled my drink—”

Sebastian
turned from the window as the woman entered the kitchen. Her hair was still
dark but shorter than he remembered it. She’d aged well and was as beautiful as
he recalled. Her dark blue eyes locked with his and she froze, her hand paused
in midair over her maroon blouse, a wet stain extending from her neck to her
waist.

He
clutched the counter behind him as tears filled his eyes. He hadn’t seen her
since the day she’d walked in on him using telekinesis to clean his room. Leslie
Brooks had screamed in terror and raced to his father. Carl Brooks hadn’t been
interested in hearing his explanations. They’d suspected him, but they hadn’t
wanted to believe it. His father had forcibly thrown him from the house despite
the fact that he hadn’t been fighting back. He’d been terrified by the fury on
his father’s face. His father had called him a freak and told him to never
darken their doorstep again. His mother had brought his clothes to the door and
Carl had thrown them onto the lawn. Stunned, he’d sat on the lawn for a minute
before trying to get back into the house. They’d locked the doors. He beat on
the door and pleaded for them to let him back in until his father had come to
the door with a gun and told him that he’d call the police if he didn’t get off
their property. For a week, Sebastian had lived on the street, showing up at
school for meals, until Mike’s family had taken him in.

Twelve
years. He hadn’t spoken to her in twelve years. His parents had been forced to
send financial support, but the money was all he received from them. They
hadn’t come to his graduation or ever acknowledged him in any way. The pain,
anger, and shame of that rejection burned in him as bright as ever.

“W-what’s
he doing here?” Leslie asked.

Sebastian
wiped away his tears as a disbelieving laugh erupted from his chest. “You mean
you recognize me? I’m the one who should be asking why you’re here.”

“Sebastian,
son, it’s been so long,” Martin said. “They’re part of the neighborhood. We
couldn’t
not
ask them. And we didn’t know you’d be coming until last
night.”

He
nodded at the explanation. His parents’ home was two houses down. “It’s fine.
Tell Mike I’ll see him at his house.” He hugged Melanie and Martin. “It was
good to see you again.” He brushed by his mother without speaking.

He
was almost at his truck when he heard someone calling his name. Pivoting, he
saw his mother running after him. She stopped and stared up at him when she was
an arm’s length away. “You’re taller,” she said in a quiet voice. “And so
handsome.”