Talent Storm (31 page)

“Calm down,” said Valleri. “You’re having flashbacks. It’s not real.”

I shook my head, trying to rise. “You’re not real!” The walls shifted, their surface becoming rough rock. The vase and flowers disappeared and then so did the table they were on. My chair grew wide and long into a rock slab bed. I was curled up on it, free of the clamps.

I glanced at Kevin and could see the wall through him before he disappeared entirely. Valleri grew taller and thinner, her hair shrinking. Her silver chain turned to gold and widened. Pavel shrank and filled out, his eye twitching relentlessly. The Reminder had fooled me again. I pushed myself up, and my eyes bored into the men like drills. They exchanged a nervous look.

Despite all I endured, it was finally over. My uncle and Ben’s dad would die because of me. The Coalition would lose two powerful talent wielders and seasoned commanders. Ms. Lockhart would be devastated and alone. I had failed again, just like a million times before. Goldwater had stolen my secrets, just like he said he would.

Fury steamed inside me, like a volcano ready to blow. Clenching my fists, I quivered, then shook violently. No one would get the better of me ever again. Rage crashed inside my mind. It smashed through the inhibitor barrier and then obliterated the mental walls I created long ago to stay in control. My talent evolved and swelled, boosting my power and hijacking my mind. The thrill of it washed away my humanity. My body flared into a swirling mossy haze. The wide-eyed men pulled the alarm, then ran toward the door, pushing to get by each other, like rats feeling a fire.

☼☼☼

Gas vents shot open, hissing out toxins. My talent smacked the vents shut. Just as the men reached the door, it slammed in their faces and three bolts slid home, sealing them in their tomb. Springing to my feet with talent infused legs, I howled in fury. A burst of pain inducing talent shot from the Ripper into my brain. Before, blocking his talent was impossible, but now I was a dam against the river of his power. I grinned, and the Ripper’s jaw dropped.

My talent seized both men, stretching their arms and legs wide and lifting them into the air. With a smile, I slammed them against the wall. On the peripheral of my senses, I registered alarm bells, but didn’t care. The two torturers began to scream as I stretched their limbs to the limit.

The Ripper cried, but the Reminder was more vocal... more insistent. “Please,” he said. “You don't have to hurt us. It’s the warden you want. Please... we have families, loved ones... have mercy.”

A small human part of me preached compassion, but the monster I’d become ate that part in a single gulp. “I had loved ones too!”

I flicked my wrist shooting out a green spark. Their arms and legs popped out of their sockets with a sickening tearing sound. The limbs fell with thuds as they hit the ground. Blood sprayed the prison cell walls, painting them red. The metallic smell of it was thick in my nostrils.

“I always thought red walls would brighten the mood of this cell,” I said.

The men’s screams faded as their torsos drained of blood. I dropped the two pale-faced bodies. The walls, previously impenetrable, now seemed like nothing more than rotted wood. In a bubbling green flood of power, I unleashed a wave of talent like never before. Why had I ever worried about controlling it? Its destructive power felt so natural. The granite wall exploded, shooting chunks of rock into the cell across from me and collapsing its outer wall. A woman screamed from within.

My frail body was made strong by my sharp mind as I walked for the first time in so long. Outside of the cell, I found Peacemaker bracketed to the wall. Focusing on the brackets, I ripped it away with a cracking noise. The weapon flew into my open hand, and I felt whole again. My green cloak hung on a pin. I removed it and threw it over my shoulders. My short sword was nowhere to be found. No matter, I never liked the weakling’s weapon anyway. I telekinetically affixed my mace to my back, ready to find the warden.

The woman in the cell next to me moaned. “Help,” she said. “Please, I’m hurt.”

Should I help? I felt something strange peeking out from my ocean of talent. Was it empathy? No, that part of me died with Lilly. Who was this woman to me anyway? I strode down the hall, leaving the injured woman behind.

In one cell, a man grabbed the bars and shook himself. “Free me, please.”

I paused, my head cocked and eyed him. “All right.”

He sighed, his body slumping. “Thank you.”

I raised my glowing hand, then twisted it. His neck snapped, his eyes rolling back and his body collapsing limply.

“You’re free,” I said with a giggle.

I clenched my fists and continued on. I yearned to destroy more guards, to end their lives like they ended mine. Seconds later, I heard shouts and footsteps behind me.

“Kill him!” a guard yelled.

I rotated to see five men round the corner. They carried an assortment of weapons and each wore a steel breastplate. The one with a pistol aimed and fired. My talent whipped out deflecting the bullet with ease. The man’s jaw dropped as the others murmured. They looked at each other, frowning. I pulled forth my great mace before skimming at them, inches off the ground, my cloak rippling in the air. A rapier stung my side as I swung Peacemaker into a guard’s unarmored face. His head exploded in a mass of blood, brains, and gray hair.

A shaking man with blood coating his face hit another guard’s shoulder. “Run, run!”

The four remaining guards dropped their weapons and fled. I didn't move. The guards were halfway to freedom when my talent rooted their feet to the earth. All four men’s faces planted into the ground, their breastplates clanging. One man’s skull split open with an audible crack. The three living guards twisted simultaneously, their bodies shaking. I levitated again, then glided toward them.

Two of the guards screamed, straining uselessly to escape while a younger one babbled and begged. “Please... don't... stop.”

“All right, I won’t stop.”

My mace crashed into him, shearing through his armor, crunching his bones, and splattering his insides. The two gore covered guards scrambled to escape.

It was useless. I smiled wide as I raised my glowing fist. The two men floated into the air, their arms flailing.

“Die,” I said while slamming my fist down.

The men smashed against the floor, their armor ringing upon impact. They moaned and twitched. I raised and lowered my hand, repeatedly slamming them down until their armor was flattened, with them inside.

I returned my blooded weapon to my back before treading down the hall. Until everyone was dead, I wouldn't be satisfied. For a second, I remembered the old me, the one who wouldn’t even kill an animal to eat it. Now, all I wanted to do was kill. I needed to kill. The alarms continued to ring, sounding more desperate.

Guards harassed me, leaping out of doors or charging down halls. I killed them all with simple flicks of my hand. I strode on, following arrows that pointed toward the warden’s office. After several turns and two flights of stairs, I arrived at a door with the fist of Liberty carved into it. Warden Kataeb was stenciled above it. I bared my teeth while raising my shaking fists, ready to repay his ‘hospitality.’

Before entering, I surveyed my body. I was bleeding from several minor cuts, but my enemies faired much worse. My talent sealed my wounds, stemming the flow of blood. I slammed my fingers through the wood of the door before ripping it from its hinges. Growling, I launched it into the room. The edge of the door sliced through a guard's neck. His head bounced on the ground, his body crumbling. He still held a polished cutlass and a handgun. In the room, I wheeled around, counting ten more guards all holding pistols and cutlasses. A man dressed in a fine, white suit, with gold chains around his neck, sat on a throne. Despite his elegant attire, his lanky frame, sharp nose, and close-set eyes made him look like a rat. Staring at the warden, I relived the months of torture in an instant.

“I don't know how you got this far, but it's over now, boy,” the Warden said, his face twitching. “We have your secrets. Your Coalition is finished; now die.” He raised his hand.

The ten guards’ pistols were aimed at me in unison. My stomach tightened as I doubted myself for the first time during my rampage. Would I be able to stop them all? Would this be where it all ends? I had nothing left anyway. My rage chased away my worries. Either I’d kill them or they’d kill me. Either outcome was fine.

In a single deafening bang, the bullets sped toward me. Immediately before they hit, my talent whipped out in a wide swath. Most of the bullets ricocheted into concrete walls, but two ripped through my left shoulder. I grunted, but my talent dampened my pain.

“My turn,” I said.

I threw my hand in the air, enveloping every man in talent before lifting them off the ground. The guards wailed as I shattered the bones in their hands. Their cutlasses and guns clattered on the ground.

Through gritted teeth, the warden said, “I demand you release me.”

“Not likely,” I said and met each man’s eyes in turn.

Guards cried, shook, begged, and wet themselves. My eyes landed on the Warden’s. His jaw was set, his eyes slits under his lowered eyebrows. His defiance wouldn’t last. I’d do whatever it took to ensure it. Empathy no longer swayed me, and my mercy had surrendered to my anger. For that, I had Goldwater and the Warden to thank. Each of the guards had lives, loved ones, and happy memories, but none had futures.

My eyes seared into the Warden’s. “Who dies first?”

Even before my words faded, a pale faced guard whimpered something.

I wheeled on him, and he wilted. “You want to be the first?”

His lips quivered as he shook his head. “No please. Don’t kill me.”

“That’s all you’ve got?” I pursed my lips. “Not going to cut it. Anything else?”

“Please, please.”

“Nope.” I twisted my hand, choking off his breath.

His mouth opened and shut but only a gurgle escaped his lips.

“What was that?” I eased the pressure to let him speak.

“Your woman is alive,” he croaked.

His words clobbered into me, sending my mind reeling at the possibility. Nothing could give me pause. Nothing could still my hand. Nothing... but those four words.

I scowled at him, my teeth bared. “Liar. I saw her die.” A thousand times.

He shook his head with watery eyes and a quivering lip. “It’s true,” he said shakily. “It’s true.”

“Impossible!” I raised my hand, ready to shatter his skull.

“He's telling the truth,” another man said. “Please just let us go.”

His confirmation just made him a second liar. How dare they use her memory to save themselves?

The warden cleared his throat. “What you saw during your capture was an illusion.”

“I would have blocked it.”

“We knew that. We mind controlled Lilly to create the illusion of her own death.”

I squinted. “Why?”

He smiled, showing small brown teeth. “To break you down without losing an asset.”

Impossible. Was Lilly’s talent that powerful? Her death seemed so real, but didn’t I doubt it in the moment? I shook my head. “No.”

“Yes. She’s how we knew that you were worth torturing. She told us that you knew the name of a general.”

“She wouldn’t.”

He nodded. “Yes, she would. Then she spilled her guts about your missions. A huge man completed your first mission. Didn’t he?”

He knew. “No.”

“She gave you up on the first day. We hadn’t even started torturing her.” His smug smile turned my stomach.

How could he have known, unless... he was telling the truth? Could she possibly have sold out the Coalition? Her sense of duty was always so strong, but who knows what people would do in the face of torture? Maybe she couldn’t hold out. I didn’t fault her for not wanting to endure it. I felt its touch for too long. If she lived, I’d forgive her. “Where is she?”

“First, you’ll let us go,
boy
.”

My eyes narrowed, my forehead wrinkling.

“Then, you’ll let us drug you. And I’ll take you to her.”

I cocked my head to the side. Did he think he had the upper hand? He was out of his mind. Growling, I clenched my fist. Ten men’s necks snapped, their eyes lolling into their heads. I released them, and they collapsed on the ground. Turning back to the warden, I constricted my fist. He wheezed, his pinched face growing red.

“I asked you a question,” I said. “Answer me and you live.” My grip loosened.

He lowered his eyes, and his shoulders rolled forward. “She’s in the cell across from yours. Now please release me.” His wrinkles looked deeper, his hair grayer since I entered the room.

I smacked him in the face with talent. His head whipped to the side, spattering blood on the wall.

He turned back, his rat eyes shooting open. “You said you’d let me live.”

“Did I?”

“Yes, yes,” he said through flowing tears. “You did.”

I shrugged my boney shoulders. “I don’t recall.”

Tremors racked his body. “What? No, please!”

“You belong in this prison forever.”

Wielding my talent, I opened my hand. The thick wall behind him cracked, then split open with a groan. Dust swirled around and pebbles pelted the ground. The warden strained uselessly against my power, his body bathed in green light. After I pushed my hand forward, he floated back between the two rock sections.

“No, no, no,” he said. “Please.”

I closed my hand, and the wall rumbled as it slid back together. The thick rock swallowed his final scream.

He had to die after what he put me through. He was lucky I didn’t torture him like he tortured me. Suddenly, I remembered what they said about Lilly. Could she truly be alive? My heart pounded with anticipation at the thought of seeing her again.

I turned, then dashed away, leaving the corpses behind. The prison halls were littered with bloody, crushed bodies. I sprinted by one armless man, who moaned. A distant sense of humanity compelled me to end the misery. I snapped his neck. I whipped around a corner, and my jaw nearly hit the floor. Oh no. My body blazed as I rocketed to the cell across from mine.