Chapter 1
“Are you really going to run a whole marathon, Aunt April?”
April was still thinking about Tanner, and his business card sitting on her bedside table - a nightly reminder that she was yet to send him a text message as she had promised before he’d gotten that urgent call.
April sighed, and looked down at her six-year-old niece.
Their eyes met, and April was amused by the intrigue in her tone.
As if her running a marathon was news to either of them.
April had been running marathons since her first year in college, and had only skipped one year in the last decade when her entire life had fallen apart.
“Yes,” April said, wondering what this was really about.
Violet walked beside her, holding her hand, as they made their way around the track just outside the Integrative Training building on the expansive DynaTech Campus. It was a walk they took every morning before going inside for Violet’s daily training exercises.
“Can I go with you?” Violet asked.
April forced a smile. “One day.” Nothing would make April happier than to run beside her sweet niece, but other than being too young, Violet was also under the strict care and guardianship of her step-father and CEO of DynaTech Corp, Ned Dynam, a Texas billionaire who married Violet’s mother when the little girl was only two years old.
Violet didn’t remember life before Ned, but April hoped to one day get her niece away from the man who used his six-year-old stepdaughter mercilessly for her incredible gift.
“It’s almost time to go inside, isn't it?” Violet asked with a hint of trepidation.
April’s stomach clenched at her niece’s words, but she steadied her breathing and gave a slight nod.
“We have a few more minutes. Do you want to go over your reading from last night?” Violet loved school and especially anything to do with reading and writing.
They often spent any extra time they had together reading books for fun or making up stories they would write down and draw pictures for.
Violet had an entire library of books she’d come up with, and April hoped to one day see them published.
Violet shook her head, already retreating into herself, just as she did every morning.
April was well aware of how much Violet hated her morning exercises, but there was nothing she could do to stop them.
It was one of the non-negotiable conditions covered by the NDA that April had signed when she’d come to work at DynaTech as Violet’s teacher and nanny.
“Let’s just go in and get this over with,” Violet said with a resigned tone to her sweet little voice.
“Then I just want to go back to my room and finish reading the book we started.”
“Sounds like a plan.” April had thought they would finish the math and science lessons they had been working on last week, but Violet was already months ahead of where she needed to be for this school year.
If she wanted to take a day off for some pleasure reading, April was more than happy to give her that time.
Just as they turned off the track and started making their way toward the imposing concrete building, April caught sight of a large man, wearing dark sunglasses and a bullet proof vest, coming toward them.
She cocked her head, not sure what was going on, then heard the unmistakable sound of a bullet whinnying straight at them.
“Violet!” She screamed, trying to push the girl down as she fell to the ground beside her, but Violet’s body stiffened.
April watched in horror as the bullet slowed and came to a near stop just inches from Violet’s face, then dropped at her feet.
April was shaking, but Violet stood stock still, tears streaming down her cheeks as another bullet came at them, and once again, the bullet stopped inches from her face and then dropped at her feet.
Three more bullets came at them, all from different directions, and Violet never failed to stop and drop them before they ever made contact.
“Enough!” April called out. The man in the bullet proof vest closed the distance and came to stand beside Violet.
He raised a hand, pressing a button on a small remote, and the shooting stopped.
“How could you do that to her, Echo? We weren’t even inside yet.
She wasn’t prepared for this onslaught!”
“Boss needs Violet to be prepared no matter where she is,” he answered coldly. “Let’s go.” He picked Violet up and proceeded to carry her into the building, not giving April a second glance as she got to her feet and ran to catch up.
Walking into the building, they passed all four shooters, each one holding a weapon with an advanced silencer, and wearing special head gear with integrated artificial intelligence goggles that concealed Violet’s identity.
These men were trained soldiers, and even Ned knew that no man in his right mind would attack or shoot at a six-year-old.
The only way for these exercises to proceed was to hide her identity and make them think they were training with a computer-generated image.
Or in some cases, several images that were armed and ready for onslaught.
The men wore sound proof ear pieces to keep them from hearing Violet’s voice, and they were never allowed to touch the subject.
To them, it was high tech training exercises, advancing on the skills they’d acquired during their time as members of special forces units in the military.
Only April, Ned, and Echo knew that the person on the other end of their attacks was a six-year-old girl, whose only defense was her ability to affect things with her mind.
When Casey first told April what her niece could do as a baby, April thought she was joking. But April never forgot their first day together at DynaTech, when she first saw her three-year-old niece stop an axe mid-flight with nothing more than a quick glance.
Over the years, the exercises got harder.
Smaller objects took more concentration.
As did larger ones, like cars. The fact that Violet could use just her mind to lift a car and move it several feet was mind boggling to April, and she would’ve never believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own two eyes.
But after three years of spending every free minute with her niece, whether she was on the clock or not, April had no doubt that Violet was gifted in ways most people couldn’t even imagine.
Echo carried Violet to the Integrative Training building where he proceeded to unlock a door with his key card.
Violet didn’t even bother fighting him anymore like she used to when April first started working with her.
She knew Echo would always overpower her since she wasn’t allowed to use her ability against him.
Instead, she saved her energy for what was coming.
Once inside the building, April followed him down a long hallway.
They arrived at a large metal door that Echo once again had to swipe his keycard to open.
When he set Violet down, she simply walked inside, but when April tried to follow her into the large room known as “the gym,” Echo blocked her with his body, effectively reminding her that she wasn’t allowed inside.
Annoyed, but careful not to let the full force of her anger show, in fear that she would somehow be even further removed, April took a step back and marched to the next door.
She pushed it open and stepped into the smaller room that had a large, bullet proof glass window overlooking the gym.
April immediately came right up to the glass, pressing her hand against it.
She wanted to knock, to gesture, to let Violet know she was here, but it was useless.
The glass was not just bulletproof, but sound proof, and one way.
So, while April could clearly see Violet, all Violet saw from her side of it was a mirror.
Echo stepped inside the gym, and stood off to the side. April’s muscles tightened between her shoulder blades. Echo had never hurt Violet, never so much as laid a hand on her except to pick her up or guide her from one place to another, but his presence signaled the beginning of another exercise.
April watched with fury in her eyes as two soldiers advanced on Violet.
They wore head gear that made them look more like aliens than humans.
Violet stood still, her eyes growing wider the closer they came.
The door opened behind April as Ned walked in.
“It’s about time you got here. You know she won’t defend herself in there until you instruct her to.
” April hated how callous and nonchalant Ned was when it came to his stepdaughter’s safety.
Ned simply gave April a smirk, then turned his attention to the one-way glass. His dark eyes focused on Violet, and the two men who were moving in on her. April was about to scream at Ned to do something when he finally flicked the switch on the microphone.
April breathed out a sigh of relief as Ned’s voice filled the large padded room instructing Violet on how to defend herself from the coming attacks.
The men threw darts, knives, daggers, and even shuriken at Violet.
Each time she could only defend herself using the exact method Ned instructed her to.
If Violet made even one mistake, or veered from his instructions in any way, she would have to perform the entire exercise all over again.