Page 109 of Sin

My face burned. Why was it so hard to breathe?

Unease settled into my bones.

As he looped the amulet over his neck, his eyes fogged and a charge filled the room. It was then, as he looked at me with cold resignation, that I realized I’d made a grave mistake.

With each new breath, my lungs became more and more resistant. There wasn’t enough air. I needed air. Please, I…

“Don’t worry, Sin. Everything’s going to be okay. I promise.”

“Shh,” a voice said in my head. “I’ve got you. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

My vision cleared, almost too fast, as if the horrible memory was sucked away. Disoriented, it took me several moments to realize I was back in the present, the memory of my father shoved back from the forefront of my mind.

Blinking rapidly, I didn’t understand. One moment, I’d been falling prey to a panic attack. The next, the panic was muted, controllable.

That’s when I glanced down to find Mare by my side, her pinky entwined with mine.

It had been Mare’s voice. Mare had… She’d pulled me from that nightmare.

My shields must have been compromised during my panic attack, giving her access to the horrifying memory I’d been reliving.

And she’d stopped it for me.

No one was paying us any attention. No one else seemed to realize what had happened.

I stared at her, my appreciation etched into my face, and she winked before letting me go.

“He’s walking around with one of Metafora’s power-enhancing talismans?” London’s voice was much louder now, like he couldn’t keep his temper down and keep playing Mr. Nice Guy any longer. “Why? How?”

Keith stared down at his lap, appearing ashamed. “We were ordered to. They wanted to know what would happen if the talisman was placed inside a person. If that person could be controlled.”

“Made into a weapon,” Blade inserted coldly.

Swallowing loudly, Keith nodded. “Yes.”

I thought of all the scars I’d seen around Lucas’s scalp. “You placed the talisman in his skull.”

Surprise flickered in Keith’s face. “Yes. How did you guess?”

“The scars,” I said in realization.

If Lucas had a talisman placed into his brain, causing his power to be magnified tenfold, then we were all screwed. Metafora had a knack for gifts. Specifically gifts to increase someone's power.

I recalled how lesser Supers with simpler gifts had been able to cause mass destruction and chaos after receiving a talisman from her. Usually, the talisman was only placed in something. The person it was designed for could wear. A staff, a headband, or like my father, a necklace. My father's amulet was destroyed in the destruction after his attack on Mercy Heights, but several other amulets that the prior UAS had managed to recover were currently locked up in the Citadel. So how did they have one for Lucas?

Unless the UAS hadn't locked all of them up? Or maybe the talisman was Lucas’s. Could it be possible they'd used Metafora’s power to create a talisman for Lucas before she’d died?

And if that was the case, it brought up another question: What if my father wasn't the one who killed Metafora?

Her death had always been a mystery. They'd found her throat slashed in the streets a few years back. Everyone had just assumed my father killed her after she made him his talisman. He'd been asked about it, but thinking back on it, he never admitted to killing her.

But none of that mattered right now. What did matter was that Lucas had something implanted into his head that amplified his powers. This not only made him incredibly strong, but incredibly dangerous. Who knew what sort of damage having such a powerful artifact put inside someone's mind could wreak on them?

I did. I'd seen it firsthand. Maybe there was a reason why Metafora's gifts were always placed in an object the person could wear or hold. Maybe the gifts could cause that person to become unstable if placed internally.

I wasn't a scientist though. So it was all speculation.

One thing was for certain though. We needed to get the talisman out of his head.

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