GERARD CROUCHED BESIDE US, peering down like a kid who'd found an ant pile. Zander quickly pulled us backward, sliding across the hard ground to put some distance between his father and us. Gerard continued to stare thoughtfully.I looked away from him to see all eyes on us. But everyone's placement had changed. A scuffle must have broken out while I was healing Zander, because blood dripped from a cut above Thaddeus' eye, and Uriel's lip was bleeding. All three sharum wore glowing collars that seemed to be holding them in place. Their faces were pinched with pain, and their hands bound behind them. The soldiers next to them also looked beat up, and they didn't seem very happy about it. Two pressed their guns against the skulls of Uriel and Thaddeus. Dr. Frankler gave me a weak smile. The side of my lip twitched to think that she was trying to comfort me, even now. When I briefly met Uriel's gaze, he appeared relieved, despite the gun at his head. I looked for my other friends and f
GERARD SIGHED, AS IF Zander's outburst hurt his feelings. But I could tell he was acting. It was obvious to me, however, Zander cringed as if regretting his words. "Let me handle this, Cynthia," Gerard said. "I'd like to talk to them privately." She shook her head with a very stubborn Zander-like expression on her face. He pressed the back of his hand along her neck, saying, "Don't you worry. He'll come around. Return to your protectors while I chat with these two youngsters." I watched as a blank look crossed her face before she sniffled and nodded, gazing up into Gerard's face almost worshipfully before walking toward the huddle of soldiers. "Did you see that?" I asked Zander, sending the question along our mental path. He must have noticed. It had to have been Gerard's mind control in action.Yes, Zander replied, and I could feel the anger in his mind.Gerard motioned for the two closest soldiers to move away, giving him more privacy. As soon as his wife stepped into her wal
GERARD LOOKED TOWARD THE loose huddle around his wife and commanded, "Tighter." The men closed in until they had formed a solid wall that prevented her from seeing outside of it ... or anyone from getting to her. I wasn't sure which was his purpose."Ken," Gerard barked. One of his soldiers hustled over and Gerard said something low enough that I couldn't hear. The man nodded impassively before jogging toward the parking lot. A minute later the Taylors walked single file along the path toward us. Mr. Taylor looked terrified, his face almost ash white against his dark suit, but Mrs. Taylor carried herself like a queen. She kept her chin up as she walked purposely toward us in her sharp business skirt and jacket, cool and confident. With a long coat thrown over her short red formal, Zena wobbled along behind her parents, her high heels making it difficult to walk along the rocky terrain. Her eyes darted about furtively, taking in the bizarre scene before her. When she saw Ruthie and
I YANKED AWAY FROM the guard holding me and ran back to Zander, who gasped, "I'll be fine, Tru. Go to him." I knew he meant my dad and that he'd realized the same thing I had. Ignoring the guns pointed at me, I rushed toward Dad and Knox. Donavitch was grinning at me, clearly enjoying my terror, and Knox was barking out a warning to Mrs. Taylor as she pointed her gun at Dad. "Look out, Dad!" He looked from me to Mrs. Taylor and flinched when he saw the gun pointing at him. "No, Eleria!" yelled Mr. Taylor.Crack!In the blink of an eye, two bodies fell to the ground. At the last second, Mr. Taylor had raced after his wife and thrown his body in front of my dad. They both went down. I fell to the ground next to Dad, frantically searching for his wound. A bright red stain in the center of his blue flannel shirt expanded to the size of my hand within seconds. Had the bullet gone through Mr. Taylor and Dad? Of course! The gun had been loaded with cutters, the Nasaru's usemi-killin
OBVIOUSLY, I WAS A healer. But I was definitely no savior. But what about destroyer?The thought of that destiny had filled me with dread before, but now I wanted it so badly that everything but my enemy faded away. I wished I could channel my healing ability into a weapon. Then it struck me. If I could heal wounds why couldn't I un-heal them? I stared at my hands, wondering if it was possible. A dark feeling swirled inside me, like attempting such a thing was straight up wrong, but as Gerard stepped closer to Ruthie, and as Zander continued to bleed out, I knew I had to do something. With shaking hands, I laid Dad's head on the ground. It was too late for him but I might be able to help the others. A fiery rage whipped up inside of me and my eyes locked onto Gerard. He wore a demented look of his own as he considered the chaos around us. I took off toward him. When I was almost upon him, he saw me and pulled out his gun. I plowed forward anyway and tackled him, sending the weapon f
I GASPED, RECOGNIZING Gerard's creepy grin. "No! It can't be!"He laughed, throwing back his head and clasping his hands together. "You've done me a favor, my dear. I may have lost my mate." A fleeting look of sorrow crossed his face. "Trust me, you'll pay for that. But now I have an even more powerful aramusatu, one that will link you and me together forever." He laughed again, and then held out his hand. "Join me, Tru. You belong with your family."I gagged and stepped away. Had I only made things worse by killing Gerard? "No!" I yelled. I felt the world caving in as Wynona's words flitted through my mind. She's a soul jumper. At that time, she'd meant Ruthie. But apparently, she wasn't the only one. Somehow, Gerard Hughes's spirit had taken over Peter's body. I had a feeling that I'd just leaped from the frying pan into the fire."What happened to Peter?" Gerard's eyes swirled, shifting to yellow slits. He squeezed them shut and shook his head. When he opened his eyes, they w
THE CIRCLE OF SOLDIERS tightened around us, drawing my attention away from my disappearing friends. Zander pulled me to his back, spinning us around as we faced their weapons. It quickly became clear that even with our abilities, we wouldn't be able to overpower them. "Tru," Zander said, mind-speaking. "This is going to hurt, but you can heal yourself. Protect your head." "What?" I barely had a chance to gasp before he grabbed me, lifted me up in the air, and threw me over the heads of the soldiers. I cleared them by at least five meters and landed in a dense thicket near the line of trees. Branches jabbed me, cutting my skin and shredding my already ruined dress.I groaned. What the heck did Zander think he was doing? I started to crawl out of the bushes and yelped when I felt a sharp pain in one hand. It felt wrong, like broken wrong. Looking up, I saw a few of the soldiers peel away from the circle around Zander and head toward me. "Run!" Zander yelled in my mind.The path
I GAVE MAVERICK A wan smile. "There're gone," I sighed, standing up to move wearily to the next body. Kneeling by the woman from Polaris, I gently closed her eyes. There was no fixing her. The other Polaris soldiers were no better. The rest were Gerard's men. My heart pounded, knowing I'd have to face my dad's body now. I dragged myself to my feet and looked toward Dad. A furry head rested on top of his chest. I ran over to them, wondering how Knox could still be alive, not to mention how he had moved. As I dropped next to them, Knox whined softly. I bent over to press my head against his. "Oh, Knox. You're okay," I wept, running my hands along his fur. Blood matted in several spots, but I couldn't find any injuries. Shaking my head at the miracle, I hugged him. "I know, boy," I crooned. "Dad isn't ... he's not waking up. But you still have me." Knox's tail pounded on the dirt, but he remained pressed against Dad.I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Maverick. "I'm