The Fire In My Eyes (31 page)

“Let me guess,” I said. “You're going to kill me.”

The agent gave me a vicious, tight little smile. He was going to kill me. He was going to kill me just to make sure no one ever found out about this. Running was no longer an option. I smiled and tapped into my power. Psionic energy flooded my body and I lunged for him, driving my fist toward his face, as hard and fast as I could.

He lifted his hand and caught my fist. “Provocation.” His eyes blazed with scarlet light.

“What the shit, Kevin?” Star's voice was suddenly surprised.

“Kevin Parker, overstepping your bounds.” He made a tsk-ing noise and shook his head. “Unfortunately for you, you're all alone here. Alistair Ripley isn't here to protect you. I'll make sure to write him a letter, personally, telling him how you screamed and begged for mercy.” The agent squeezed and the bones in my hand creaked. His other hand rose, pointing right between my eyes. “Good night, Mr. Parker,” he said.

The agent froze as the doors to the bar crashed open. Star's friends spilled out, followed by my roommates. The agent's fingers were pointed at my forehead, his eyes were glowing, my eyes were glowing. No one spoke. Even the street was silent, abandoned. The thugs who were out earlier in the evening had vanished, as if they had decided it was a good night to stay indoors. They were right.

The agent's fingers twitched. Star grabbed my shoulder and flung me backwards, hard enough for me to lose balance and fall on my ass. The agent grunted and pointed at Star. Red sparks danced from his fingertips to her forehead and she staggered backwards, lifting her hands to her eyes. I scrambled to catch her as she fell. Her hands seized and I saw that her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated. She gasped erratically for breath as I lowered her to the ground, then convulsed, clawing the sidewalk, fingernails raking the concrete. I grabbed her hands before she could hurt herself. Her grip was shockingly strong. “Star?” I called her name. Her hands squeezed mine, but other than that, she made no response. I wasn't sure if she had even heard me.

“There's nothing you can do for her,” the agent said. He took a step toward us, ignoring our audience. “There's nothing you can do for yourself either, but I'll give you a fighting chance. We'll play a little game. I’ll go easy on you. What do you say?” He gave me a twisted smile. I knew where this was going. It was the sort of game that a cat would offer a mouse.

Behind the agent, I noticed Star's friends moving to flank him. I was sure he knew they were there, but he was ignoring them, as if they were no threat. I didn't think they were either, not until both of them manifested an electric blue eyeglow that I'd never seen before. “Get down!” the blonde shouted. Max and Drew hit the deck and I tried to flatten myself on the sidewalk next to Star. I could feel psionic energy carving the air above me. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and I heard glass shatter somewhere behind me.

“Fools.” I looked up. The agent had flung himself sideways, but one of the girls had grazed him. He clutched his right shoulder and smoke was curling up from under his hand. He grimaced and then removed his hand. Whatever wound had been there was already closed. He lifted both hands and a scarlet shield flashed to life. Almost as soon as the shield appeared, a gap appeared in the middle and he flicked another series of red sparks out through it, all of them aimed at the blonde.

The red sparks burst against a hastily created shield and the girls countered with whip-like lashes of blue energy. While they battered each other, I returned my attention to Star and tried to figure out what he had done to her. I could sense injury, but my medical knowledge was limited to whatever I had seen Absynthe and Nikki use on me. The only biokinetic ability I was proficient with was a simple pain relief method. I cautiously attempted to use it on Star. She swatted my psionic touch away, blue light sparkling from her eyes. “You too?” I asked her, even though I didn't think she could hear me. “Stop resisting me! I'm trying to help you!”

Her hands squeezed, but psionic energy was still raging through her. I grimaced. She was out of control, focused completely on defending herself. I'd have to either wait it out, or break her defenses. Her friends might know what to do, but I didn't dare distract them. If I could get Max and Drew to help me get her into cover, maybe I could do something for her.

A flicker of energy directed toward me gave me just enough warning to throw my own shield up. The attack cascaded off it, electric red ropes snapping into the air. The nearest streetlights blew out in showers of sparks. “Parker! I won't let you do that!” he shouted at me. The girls attacked him again, spreading out to attack him from multiple angles, but he manifested a second shield and blocked both of them at once.

The agent was more powerful than the two girls put together, and I doubted that my own attacks would make a difference. I reinforced my shield and expanded it to cover both Star and myself. She shuddered as the shield stabilized. The agent stepped back as my shield's strength grew, and I saw his eyes widen. Was my shield that strong? I deliberately focused my power, a precursor to an attack, and the agent leaped backwards across the street, focusing one shield to defend against any attack I might make.

My distraction worked. Two shields seemed to be his limit. The blonde rushed forward, her own shield reinforced and blazing with energy. When the agent landed, she simply thrust forward, smashing her shield into him. The agent's other shield buckled and he crashed backwards through the window of the building behind him. I could hear a crash and a scream from inside. “Did you get him?” I shouted.

The blonde was already falling back to our side of the street, breathing heavily. “Not a chance,” she called. “I think I just made him angry.”

The agent burst through the roof of the building, showering everyone with dust and pieces of masonry. Debris bounced off my shield and I heard Max and Drew curse as rubble rained down on them. The agent floated into the air above all of us, a bubble of red energy deflecting a hasty lash by the brunette. He pointed down at the blonde. With the power she had just expended, she had nothing left to defend with. He grabbed her with telekinesis and pushed her down to her knees. Before anyone could focus a shield, he forced her backwards. She shrieked in pain and I could sense the agent pressing her down, crushing her down into the pavement.

The brunette launched herself into the air and flung energy at the agent, flanking him and trying to distract him from the blonde. It worked. He tried to swat her out of the air, but she was agile enough to dodge his attacks. Her attacks were weak, but enough to force him to focus on defense. He couldn't keep the pressure up on the blonde and shield against the brunette at the same time. After one dodge, she locked eyes with me for just a moment. The message was clear. She was buying time for me to do something.

What did she expect me to do? I glanced down on Star. She was starting to hyperventilate. Her uncontrolled power was still enough to block anything I tried. I had to get her away from the agent. I looked over at Max and Drew, who were both clinging to the ground as if the earth was going to try and throw them off. “Max! Drew!” I snapped, trying to get their attention without drawing the agent. “Get the blonde! Bring her back inside!”

Drew looked at me wide-eyed, then nodded. He crawled forward to the blonde, then grabbed her under the shoulders. Before the agent could renew the pressure on her or attack Drew, I extended my shield to protect them. The agent's telekinetic grip broke and Drew dragged her back toward the bar. Max looked at me for instructions and I gestured for him to help Drew. “This is an amazingly fucked up situation,” he said.

“You're telling me,” I said.

“What the hell is going on?”

I didn't know what to tell him. The agent and terrorist story was far-fetched enough without the psionic twist coming into play. “I'll tell you about it later,” was the best I could do.

He laughed harshly. “If we live that long.” He jumped up and yanked the bar's doors open for Drew. The agent started to fling an attack toward him, but the brunette flayed his shield, forcing him to concentrate on defense again.

Max gestured at me and pointed at Star. If I could get her into the bar, at least she'd be a little safer, and I could try and do something for her while the brunette held off the agent. I scooped Star up off the ground and headed for the door. I'd do my best to save her, at least.

“Wait! What are you doing?” the brunette shouted.

The agent laughed. The attacks had stopped. I looked back over my shoulder. The brunette was shielding against the agent's attacks, but her eyes were on me. I could see the expression on her face. Betrayal. “That's right, Parker, leave this one to me,” the agent said. “Run away, coward, run inside so you don't have to watch. I'll come for you and that bitch when I'm done breaking this one.”

“Don't let him get to you,” Max said, still holding the door open. “He's trying to confuse you. Don't listen.”

“Max,” I said. “Take her inside.”

“Don't listen to him!”

“Do it!”

Max propped the door open with his foot and I shoved Star into his arms. He grunted and looked down at her, then back up at me. “I hope you know what you're doing. If Nikki finds out that you were risking your life to save another girl, she's going to kill you.”

I had to laugh. “If we live that long.”

He grinned, then stepped backwards, Star cradled in his arms. I slammed the door shut and whirled around to face the agent, extending my shield to defend the front of the bar. “All right, you son of a bitch, you've got my undivided attention now,” I said.

The agent laughed again. “I wasn't going to kill you, but now? Now you're going to wish I had.”

I chuckled and tripled my shield's strength. My power hummed through my body and mind, fully focused for the first time this evening. “One problem with that, secret agent man.”

The agent's eyes narrowed.

“I'm still here!” the brunette shouted. She had taken advantage of the agent's focus on me to get directly below him, and now she thrust both her hands upwards. A lance of blue energy flashed straight upwards and popped his bubble shield. He only barely dodged the deadly spike, but the attack had wrecked his defenses. “Now!” the brunette tele'd to me.

I reached sideways with telekinesis. None of the attacks the agent or Star's friend had used against each other had involved actual objects, only raw force and energy, things that Shade hadn't trained me on yet. I was willing to bet the entire fight on the idea that the agent wouldn't be prepared for a simple physical attack. What I was planning was an order of magnitude or two stronger than a simple punch, though.

I grabbed the base of one of the streetlights with telekinesis and lifted. It resisted and I applied some torque. It wrenched free of the ground and sparks flew as I whirled it around, driving it toward him at an angle from behind and above, whistling through the air as it moved.

He threw a new shield up at the last moment, but I was swinging my super-sized club hard enough that he simply didn't have the strength to completely block it. The strike bent the streetlight even as his shield shattered into glowing red shards and drove him down. The impact left a crater in the street. The shield had absorbed enough of the kinetic force to leave him alive, but he was dazed and staggering in the middle of the street. He was obviously in no shape to continue the fight, but I couldn't give him time to recover.

It was almost anti-climactic. I walked up to him and swung a right-handed roundhouse punch as hard as I could. I broke his jaw. His jaw broke my fingers. He ended up face down on the ground while I swore viciously up and down.

“Is he out?” The brunette regarded me with a guarded expression.

“I hope so,” I said. My hand felt like it was on fire from the inside out. The pain was enough to make my eyes water. “I'm never going to punch anyone like that again. Not without gloves. Holy shit, this hurts.”

She didn't even crack a smile. “What did you do with Star?”

“What?”

She grabbed me by the collar. Glowing blue eyes, very close to me. What was with people grabbing me by the collar? “Where is she? You brought him here. You're the reason she's hurt. So help me God, I will take you apart piece by piece if we lose her.”

“She's in the bar, with your other friend!” She let go of my collar and stalked toward the bar. I followed her, adjusting my collar with my left hand. “I couldn't help her. Her power was out of control and blocking anything I tried.”

“Of course,” the brunette snapped as we walked in. “She doesn't know you, how could she trust you? Of course she wouldn't let you through her defenses. Idiot.”

I bit back a response and looked around the bar. All of the patrons were sitting down, eyes closed, unmoving. The blonde was sitting on a barstool, breathing heavily, and Drew was bringing her a glass. Star was lying on the floor and Max was kneeling above her, fingers pressed to her wrist. He looked up as we entered. “Her heartbeat's getting weak. What the hell happened? It’s like she's in shock.”

The brunette shook her head. “You don't want to know what she's seeing right now.” She knelt on the other side of Star and placed her hands on Star's shoulders. Blue energy flickered from her eyes and I could sense her biokinetic touch with my Sight. Star's defenses challenged her, then faded. Whatever damage the agent had done was undone in seconds. Star took a deep breath and sat right up. “How do you feel?” the brunette asked.

Star looked down at herself, then glanced around until she saw me. I expected her to frown or be angry or even to attack me, but all she did was smile. “I feel like I've just found a new goal in life.”

The brunette sighed. “That agent almost kills you and all you can do make jokes?”

“I'm not joking, Beth,” Star said. She stood up, wobbling a little, then walked toward me. “Didn't you feel it? I could, and I was halfway to the moon. My boy Kevin here has amazing power. I felt like I could fall into it.” She prodded me in the center of the chest with her fingers. “I think you could be very useful to us.”