Chapter 27 #2
“Of course not. Because then you would have realized I had been playing games with you all that time. That was my fun, and the fact that you didn’t know just made it extra special for me. And those abilities gave me the upper hand for all my special deals that you would likely call stealing.”
It was another betrayal all over again, as Steele listened to this friend talk about all the things he had done. “And are you still doing them?”
“Yeah, sure am,” he declared. “And you’ll never find me in your system, so you can’t stop me. Therefore, I’m not too bothered about you knowing.”
When Steele felt a hand on his shoulder, he spun around quickly, Cyan eyeing him with concern.
Yet her gaze was locked in on something else, and a probe threaded around him. He raised one eyebrow and then slowly lifted his hand and placed a finger against his lips and tapped the side of his head. Her eyes widened almost immediately, and she nodded.
And he realized that she understood. Mostly because she could feel him. She could see him. She could read his thoughts.
They were one .
Yet her energy, new and still integrating, hadn’t blended with Brent’s. She closed her eyes, and, damn, if Steele didn’t feel her deep inside his mind, already right there, listening in.
Hello, Steele , interjected a new voice, female .
We can help you root out this malignant energy.
Just keep Brent talking for a bit, all right?
And, Cyan, open your energy to include ours too, please.
We must isolate the foreign energy to lessen the blow to both of you.
When we have Brent’s hook located, we’ll let you know that it is safe to remove.
Plus, the Beacon has given us permission too, so everybody is on board. She laughed as she sent out feelers.
Steele noted the newcomer’s feelers, then saw more incoming, each with its own energy. He wanted to thank them all—yet didn’t want to alert Brent. So, his expression schooled, his emotions tapped down, Steele tried to focus on the separate conversations going on in his mind.
Then he decided, what the hell, he would also speak telepathically to Brent too. Besides all that, what other kind of stuff have you been doing? Steele asked Brent in his head.
The same old stuff—mostly boring. If I were supposedly dead, I was free to do anything I wanted.
Not hindered by the same rules you and the old me had.
I was free . An ugly silence followed. Now this too is coming to an end—now that you’ve found me out at least. So I’ll have to disappear again.
And, damn it, that takes time, money, and a shit ton of effort. It’s crappy timing .
Is there ever a good time for this?
Yeah, when I’ve had time to prepare.
You’ve had six years to prepare a backup plan. You’re lying if you tell me otherwise.
In truth I already had to use it. Things got a little hot a while ago, so I mended my ways and retired. I don’t want you to mess that up now. I’ll still set up plan B, but I need time to do that.
Knowing you, you’ve been sitting around and letting other people do all the work. You never did like to get your hands dirty. Even better is if you could find someone else to take the fall for the shit you did.
Brent laughed. I agree that’s fun. But that too is coming to an end. It’s sad, but I’ll need to think on how best to make this happen. Even more brownie points if I can use you and better yet if I leave you holding the bag for my exit strategy.
Not happening , Steele declared. Big talk from someone who hasn’t got a backup plan ready to go.
Sure, it is. I don’t know what all is going on in your world , Brent pointed out, because I haven’t been paying a whole lot of attention in the last couple years. But believe me that I will now. Because now, things in your world are getting interesting.
Steele closed his eyes and thought about all the trouble he had been through with this man who he had once called a brother and friend. Steele shook his head.
The female newcomer added, It’s time, Steele, Remove him now.
Steele opened his eyes as chills swept over his body. No, not happening, Brent. Because right now, right at this moment in time, I’m gonna boot your ass out, and you’re never coming back .
And with that, he closed his eyes. Not even knowing where the Brent energy was, and not really caring, he followed his instincts and made a hard jerk and pulled and pulled and pulled, suddenly realizing there was more than enough energy helping him.
Suddenly it wasn’t something he was pulling.
It was being blasted from his system, exploding into a million tiny pieces.
A huge breath released as the explosion died out.
His shoulders slumped, as he waited for any fallout.
When that disturbance finally cleared, he turned and looked at her.
Her eyes were open wide as she smiled at him. “Now that was well done, I must say. But was it all of him?”
He considered her words. He felt a weird emptiness, but her energy had mingled with his, moving in to fill the void.
“I don’t know for sure.” He cocked his head as he continued to scan his system, then nodded.
“Yes, he’s gone.” He felt such a definitive sense of completion that the relief washed through him.
Cyan said, “We have to consider another thing, and I know you won’t want to think about it just yet, but we need to. So, let’s say he’s completely out of your system, but he’s also trapped here then, isn’t he?”
He looked at her in shock, then pulled her into his arms, holding her tight.
That was something he hadn’t considered.
Yet she was right. They needed to deal with it.
“I had no idea. Something to ask Terk. I just needed Brent gone, so I wasn’t thinking about what comes afterward.
The other consideration is, that was his energy, so is that locked in here, in this simulation.
But what about him? Is he feeling this? Is he here?
I originally thought he was, but now I’m not so sure.
The energy is really hot right now, steaming with turmoil, so hard to sort out how much is left and even now could be hiding in the woods. ”
“This Brent character, tell me about him,” Cyan said.
Steele winced. “He was somebody I once called brother. He was a friend in arms, someone I trusted,” he began, “but he clearly wasn’t the man I thought he was.”
She nodded. “There always seems to be people like that, doesn’t there?”
“I never thought it would happen to our team, but he betrayed us all. Several of our men were killed, and he disappeared. We didn’t know what happened to him.
The military rumor was he’d died, but no details were forthcoming.
I don’t know that the file on the murders was ever closed, but that was the general assumption.
He’s responsible for three men’s deaths, and those are the ones I know of.
And he was a thief, using his abilities to steal from the government and from anyone he thought he could. ”
“Do you know where he is now?”
“No,” he said. “I was trying hard to get a lock on that, but I couldn’t.”
“I may have it,” she shared. “I don’t know whether it’s a true lock or not because, again, I don’t think he’s particularly interested in what other people can do with energy.
I think he’s only interested in what he can do with energy.
” At Steele’s frown, she shrugged. “With Terk’s assistance, we could quite possibly go get him. ”
“Do you know where he is?” Steele asked, staring at her.
She smiled and nodded. “I do, but I don’t know for how long,” she replied. “So, let’s get back in there and go see if we can pick up this guy, who really shouldn’t be on the loose.”