Chapter Twelve
Over the course of weeks, the twins succeeded with each test they attempted.
The items they sent through time—by minutes, hours, and even days, all went through as scheduled.
The experiment on a human, however, was far more complicated, so we had decided to stay away from that particular trial . . . for now.
Jay had been more than willing to be the first human they sent through time, but Dr. Ryder wanted us to proceed with caution.
Which, honestly, left me with mixed emotions.
It was a relief that we weren’t risking anyone’s life with a potentially deadly experiment.
However, it also meant that we were all still at risk by remaining in this timeline .
. . where we could be found at any moment.
Time seemed to stand still even as everything else spiraled around me. I needed comfort from the one person I couldn’t reach. What the hell was wrong with Kevin? Now that I was back, he seemed to have disappeared. I mean, he was here, but not really.
I hadn’t been able to get a moment alone with him. He’d been going back and forth to New York, so the others could be prepared for when they saw us next. We were all on edge because of all the variables that could go wrong, but it was the safest option we had.
He’d left my texts unanswered and didn’t pick up the two times I called. I knew Kevin was busy, but I felt the heaviness in my heart grow each day. Nothing I could do but let it go until we had everything else figured out. For now, we trained, planned, and discussed everything ad nauseam.
Nick wasn’t sure, but he figured Ava Park funded the old secret Luminary labs where Dr. Lake Sr. had done so much damage. Based on how Anali described her—assuming her redhead and mine were the same woman, white suit and all—she was deeply feared, and everyone answered to her.
“She must be the white blur,” Nick said.
I frowned. “She’s the what now? What are you talking about?”
“Well, you know we’ve interrogated rebel captives over the years?” Annie asked.
“Yeah, but those were always blurry—oh! Right. Their commands came from someone they couldn’t remember, but a lot of them said their memory of the person was all white and faded. The white blur. Freaking Kevin.”
Annie chuckled. “Yes, Kevin nicknamed her. We didn’t know it was a woman at the time, but with your and Ana’s white suit descriptions, it makes sense.”
“Right, so we know it was one person in charge because there was one specific blur of a person constantly appearing in all their minds,” Nick said. “Apart from that, the one thing we knew for sure was that their memories of anything rebel-related had been almost completely wiped.”
“Do you remember her at all, Jay?”
“Nope. Only heard people talking about the big boss, but I never had the displeasure of meeting her.”
“They might’ve made you forget,” Nick said. “I can help you remember.”
Jay took a step back. “You’re not getting in my head all freely.”
“Hiding something, are we?”
“How about I mimic you and poke around your head? Would you like that?”
“There’s no reason to.”
“No reason for me either.” Jay gave him a tight-lipped smile. “One more account of her doesn’t change that we know she exists, nor does it help us understand her motives. Besides, I have no white blur memories.”
“He’s right, Nick,” I said. “It wouldn’t be any more information than we already have from all your interrogations.”
None of the interrogated had any recollection of anything remotely helpful. Nick had used his hypnosis on them but couldn’t push too hard without causing permanent damage to their brains. So the blur had remained a mystery . . . much like her motivations today.
We could, however, be certain that if she found me, I wouldn’t be the only one at risk.
In the end, we knew this was the best solution we could hope for.
Suddenly, taking Jay up on his offer to be the first human test subject didn’t seem like such a terrible idea.
Park couldn’t find me if I wasn’t here. In this time . . . anywhere at all.
So, there we were, talking about attempting an impossible time jump over yet another breakfast without Kevin.
For our group, it would be a few minutes max.
For the others, it would be a few years.
At least, that was the ongoing plan. There was no way to predict which point in the future would make for the safest jump.
The uncertainty came from both the number of people and the unpredictable nature of the power.
It kept us locked in a vicious cycle of arguments.
“We won’t hear any more of it.” Annie put both hands on her hips. “You hear me? We’re going and that’s that.”
“Nick, can’t you at least see reason?” I asked.
“We’re not worried,” Nick said. “With Kevin, Anali, and Antonio fusing their powers, it will be fine. Fun, even.”
“I’ll keep Kevin boosted the whole time. Unless you’re telling me that you won’t keep amplifying the twins? Then, yes, we’d have a problem.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course, that’s not what I’m saying. You’re so dramatic, Annie!”
She shrugged. “It can’t be helped.”
“Okay, we’ve put this off long enough. But I’m still not willing to sacrifice any living thing,” I said.
Antonio nodded. “I agree, which is why I already set the bird free.”
“And we found a dead rabbit, so . . . the way its tissues reacted should give us an idea,” Jay said. “Or . . . or . . . or, hear me out: You can send me.”
“No. For the last time, I’m not going to be responsible for killing you,” Ana said. “Yet.”
“Yet?”
“Keep training me without mercy, and I can’t promise anything.”
Jay shook his head as she squinted at him. “Fine, we’ll do the rabbit and wait it out.”
He wasn’t the only one to volunteer. I did, too, but they’d all shut me down immediately. I had no control over my newer powers, and the last thing we needed was another purple-sky situation. I had begrudgingly agreed to let it go, knowing they were right.
Annie had also thrown her name into the hat.
She insisted she would survive it better than anyone, but Nick didn’t allow it because of Jack.
Jay then insisted he could take on her powers and do it, but that only increased Nick’s frustration toward our powers in general.
I wanted to tease him about his comment that it would be fun to time-jump, but the dread on his face shut me right up.
He’d been so antsy about powers, I was getting concerned he’d strip away his own.
In fact, he’d suggested he would do it once we’d made the jump, but Annie threatened divorce and they laughed it off.
I wasn’t convinced he’d drop it once we were safe, though.
My sensing alarm had gone off with that fake laugh, but that was a problem for another day—or another year, I should say.
And I knew Annie would support him if that’s what he truly wanted, but only once she knew we were all safe.
For now, he had no choice but to embrace that we all had these gifts and we had to get better at using them.
So for better or worse, we continued with our training.
We’d noticed that as far as getting the twins going, I wasn’t as much help as Annie was to them.
They were plenty good. They needed an energy boost themselves more than they needed to have their powers amplified.
At least for now. While they learned to manage it, I had to stay out of the way.
The last thing we needed was me amplifying them and causing some temporal storm—or whatever it was Dr. Ryder warned us about.
I let them go on about their trials while I practiced my own energy manipulation.
The fact that Kevin hadn’t been in Tennessee with us for the past week actually helped with my powers.
But I wasn’t entirely happy about it. I was angry that he’d been MIA, much like when he was with Gabby—who, coincidentally, also happened to be in New York.
So the anger, for some really, really odd reason—that I wouldn’t admit even to myself—gave my powers a much-needed spark.
I had better control as I embraced the mayhem within, and I was stronger for it.
I heard Kevin’s voice before I saw him, and consumed by fury, I channeled my energy and sent my lilac waves crashing into the ground.
A good distance away, a rustle in the surrounding trees gave way to flocks of birds flying off in different directions.
I’d disrupted their peace. I kept forgetting how much my powers had grown. My bad, birdies.
Since I wasn’t in the mood to deal with him, I decided to go inside and check on Jack, who was taking a nap.
It didn’t take long before I heard footsteps following me.
“Hey,” Kevin said, approaching me.
I quickly turned to face him and gave him a sharp look. “Well, that’s a sure sign you’re about to apologize for being such a jerk. Again.”
“What’s a sign?”
“Your hands in your pockets.”
“Ah, yeah.” He nodded. “I didn’t mean to stay away from you. I needed to work things out in my head and figure out how to move forward from here.”
Just because I was mad at him didn’t mean I wasn’t curious. I gritted my teeth before asking, “What do you mean?”
“Well, you said you weren’t ready to talk about us, but I don’t get the point. We both know how we feel. We’re about to do some crazy time jump, and honestly, it’s really hard to be next to you without at least having a discussion like adults.”
“You and me acting like adults?” I laughed. “Together?”
“Yeah,” he said with a soft laugh. “But please stop deflecting. I have some questions.”
I looked out the window. Everyone was still busy, and I knew they’d be out there for a while longer. “Okay, fine.”
He walked to the sofa and sat down, tapping on the space beside him. I joined him, hoping I could melt into the cushion. As much as I wanted to finally have this particular conversation about feelings over with, I was nervous as hell. “What questions do you have?”