Chapter Three
It was getting late but I decided to brave the outside world since I was hungry. I grabbed the keys, the phone, and out I went. The sky’s gray tones matched my apartment, but instead of providing that sense of comfort I’d left behind, it made me feel on edge.
As soon as I left the building, I noticed the black car on the opposite side of the street with two men inside.
One man got out and followed me while the other stayed put.
My building was close to the corner of the block, so it was a short walk to the busy street that ran perpendicular to mine.
It really was convenient and kind of cute.
I could see why I’d chosen to live here.
I stood at the intersection, taking it all in.
It was interesting how one small point gave a path to two different worlds.
The quiet street crashed into the busy neighborhood full-on.
There were a lot of small stores, restaurants, and even a cozy bookstore.
I went in there first and picked up a couple of books and a newspaper.
The guy who followed me waited by the entrance, but I did my best to ignore him.
Robert had warned that they would be watching me, after all.
Happy with my purchase, I couldn’t ignore my rumbling stomach any longer. I went to a diner, and the guy at the counter greeted me immediately. “Hey, Ryan! Haven’t seen you in a while. Want the usual?”
“Hi,” I said, smiling. “Sure, the usual is good.”
“One tuna sandwich coming up!”
I raised an eyebrow at that. Tuna, huh? I suddenly remembered what it tasted like. How curious that I could remember certain things but not others. My brain was really messed up.
I sat at a small table and ate while deciding which book to read.
I chose one called . It certainly felt like the nightmare I was currently living in.
Before I could start, I looked up and noticed the man who was following me was nowhere in sight.
Instead, I found a guy in his twenties staring at me.
Attractive, about five foot eight, with a light scruff, golden-brown eyes, and dark hair that was a bit on the long side.
The side of his mouth curved up halfway, smiling, as he stared intently into my eyes. It felt wicked.
I felt the blush coming as he approached me and pulled out the chair across from me.
“’Sup, Ry Ry?”
My brow creased. “Do we know each other?”
“As far as I know!” He laughed and leaned over. “How you been, girl?”
“I’m sorry. I had an accident recently and lost my memory.”
“Ouch!” He put his hands to his chest. “Of all the excuses, that one hurts the most.”
“No, seriously, I have amnesia. Who are you?”
“Jay.”
“Jay?” He nodded, and I had to admit he looked familiar. Trustworthy, even. “How do we know each other, Jay?”
“You and I are both Luminaries.”
“Oh, I . . . I don’t really remember any of that. I was told about it, but I don’t know. Do you know someone named Nick?”
He smiled. “I know of him, yes. I’m not part of the Org, though. I came to you on the side so you could help train me.”
“Are you a rebel?”
“Wow. Now I know you’re telling the truth. No, I’m not one of them,” he said, looking at the table next to us. A man holding a baby in a blue blanket while a woman played peek-a-boo happily held his attention.
“You know me well?”
“Hmm?” His eyes turned back to me before looking at the baby one more time. “You could say that. But just because someone talks about Luminaries shouldn’t mean you can talk about your powers or about Nick. You must be more careful, Ry.”
“I feel I can trust you.”
“Ah! Doing your sensor thing, I see. That’s good. Keep following your gut feelings. If someone gives you the heebie-jeebies, my advice is to run.”
“I almost feel like I’ve known you my whole life.”
“Sort of. But right now, you have to go back to your apartment. I’ll take care of these guys and meet you in a few.”
I followed his eyes and saw there were a few guys standing outside the diner looking straight at me. They looked like thugs. Much different from the two men from the car. My phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?” Robert asked on the other end.
“I’m out eating. Why?”
“The two detectives keeping an eye on you are dead. One of them called and left the phone on. We heard them being shot.”
“What?”
“We thought you ran away. Your apartment is empty.”
“No, I’m literally around the corner. I’ll be on my way back there in a minute.”
“Ryan, call Nick. Get out of there and run. I’ll call you back when I get a chance. Don’t go back home.”
“If I run, won’t I look guilty?”
“You can’t get out of this one. You weren’t at your apartment and that makes everything worse. You were set up.”
“No, but—”
“The order is out to find and kill if you resist. I gotta go. Listen to me: RUN!” He hung up.
I stood up to leave and noticed Jay outside locked in a fight with the guys. People surrounded them to watch the fight, and even I was in a trance. He was good. He was in the middle of two guys when he kicked one in the nose and simultaneously broke the other one’s jaw with a punch.
As I stared in awe, pain exploded across my already sensitive scalp as someone yanked me backward, then slammed me against the table.
I spun to face a woman who was laughing menacingly.
She had a taser in each hand, trying to get me.
I scrambled between tables and chairs, keeping anything I could between us as she came closer.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the couple with the baby. The man handed the kid to the mother before grabbing my attacker from behind. She screamed as he sent some sharp pulses of yellow light into her as. “You should go,” he said.
But she recovered too fast. In one fluid motion, she swept his legs and brought him down hard.
The taser hit his chest, his body convulsing.
I tried to pull her off him, but she pushed me backward.
Then she laughed and launched at the mother with the tasers, but instead caught the baby with the full blast.
Time froze as the blue bundle almost hit the floor.
The father had recovered just in time to catch him.
All I could see was rage. I threw a roundhouse kick, my foot smashing into the psycho’s jaw with a solid crack.
How could she do that? My heart pounded over the mother’s screams as something built inside me, an energy I couldn’t describe but had to release.
I touched the baby as the floor rumbled, and light exploded all around us.
And then I heard it. The most beautiful sound in the world: the baby’s cry.
“Thank you, thank you,” the mother said, grabbing the baby and clutching him to her chest.
I stared at the crying baby. Did I do that? No, it was the father. I turned to him. “You did that, right? With your—”
“Go!” he said. “There are more coming.”
I snapped out of it and ran toward the back as other men came running into the diner. I dialed Nick’s number but got no answer. I was starting to panic when I noticed Jay in front of me, screaming, “Let’s go!”
His hand had barely closed around my arm when I felt a tug of everything around me, pulling me inside out. I didn’t have the chance to finish blinking before we were standing in front of a white door. He opened it to reveal a set of stairs.
I tried to make sense of where I was as my phone went off. It took a couple of rings for my heart to fall back into my chest. “What just happened?”
“We walked through the walls. Now, I need you to run up these stairs and go to the roof.”
I looked at him, backing away. “Wait, what about you?”
“Just have Andrew pick you up!” Jay said, and left, disappearing into the wall again.
My best guess was he’d gone to finish beating the crap out of those guys.
My phone buzzed again, and it jolted me back to reality. The tiny screen had Nick’s name on it, so I clicked the green icon as I ran up the stairs.
By the time I got to the roof, Andrew was already there, looking down at the fight on the street. I ran to him, and the last thing I saw from above was Jay waving at us as he sent a guy flying with a back kick.
We walked out of the portal into Nick’s living room and Annie came running toward me. “What happened?”
“I was out eating when someone killed the FBI agents who were watching me. Then, I think it was the same killers? They came after me. But Jay fought them off.”
“Who’s Jay?”
“Annie, I don’t really know, honestly. He said we were friends, and I sensed I could trust him.” I turned to Kevin. “You have to go help him. I left him there fighting three guys.”
“I don’t know him. Is he a rebel?”
“He said he wasn’t.” I looked at Annie. “He wasn’t lying.”
“Nick?”
Nick shook his head. “We can’t risk it, Annie. We don’t know if he was a rebel or if he can be trusted.”
“I’m telling you we can trust him,” I said.
“He’ll be fine,” Andrew said. “He can hold his own from what I saw. Two of the guys were on the ground and he only had one left.”
“But the cops will go there!”
“Trust me, he can take care of himself,” Andrew said.
“Take me back then. If you guys won’t help him, I will.”
“He’s probably gone by now, Ryan.” Andrew walked up to me. “He seemed ready to sprint once he saw you enter the portal.”
“Who’s this guy again?” Kevin asked, frowning.
“A friend of mine. He’s a Luminary, I’ve been training him.”
“Exactly, you trained him.” Andrew smiled. “And that’s how I know he’s okay. He was doi—”
Kevin raised a hand to stop Andrew while staring at me. “And you remember him? You know for a fact he’s not a rebel?”
“No, but he told me.” I raised my chin. “And I believe him.”
Jenny touched my arm. “You can sense again, Ryan?”
“Yes, I think so. I can’t explain it, but I know I could feel sadness from Kevin this morning, concern from Robert for you, and an honest friendship from Jay. Robert wanted to know how you were doing, by the way. As soon as things are easier, I think he’ll reach out to you. I can tell he cares.”