Page 115 of Sin

“I know what they did to you,” I said, out of breath as I backed up from my team who were closing in on me. The only chance I had of getting us all out of this situation was if I could make it past them to the van. But even if I did fight them off and get the cuffs, I’d still have to get close enough to Lucas to get them on him. “I know what they put in your head. I understand you’re in pain—”

Lucas laughed with near delirium. “But you don’t! You don’t understand. They cut open my skull, and they studied my brain. They didn’t even put me to sleep. They didn’t even give me medicine for the pain.” His lips curled. “I was awake for all of it. I felt every cut and stitch as they studied me like I was a lab rat. They messed with my head! So many times I stopped keeping track. Each time, I lost more and more of myself. I stopped remembering. I couldn’t… I can’t…” He growled in frustration, let me go to claw at his hair. “All the surgeries and operations, all the poking and prodding… My head’s all so jumbled and fragmented. But he knows. He lied to me because he knows…”

“What are you talking about, pendejo?” I asked as the entire team circled me, blocking off all exits. “Are you talking about Keith?”

“How do you think I found everyone?” Lucas grinned a devilish grin, but it quickly faded.

He wasn’t listening to me though. He sat on the rain-soaked ground and hugged his knees to his chest, shaking his head almost violently. “It was all a game. Because I saw. I took too much, and I saw what he did. All this time, I thought he was helping me. But he knew everything all along.”

My concentration was split in so many ways, that I almost didn’t see London coming up behind me, his hands reaching for me.

I jerked away, but then had to avoid Blade as she jumped at me.

I’d focused so much on strengthening my mental shields recently that I’d neglected my physical body. It showed too as I struggled to keep up with the attacks coming from all directions. It didn’t help that I didn’t have use of my right wrist because having to hold it against my chest to keep it out of the way only threw me off balance.

Just when I’d dodge a blow from Lewis, Jinx was there, knocking me aside. I blocked as many punches as I could, but they just kept coming.

As I attempted to evade Lewis’s sneaky nanobots, my head suddenly snapped to the side. It took me several precious moments I didn’t actually have to realize Blade had slapped me across the face with hands clad in spikes.

I cried out, falling back several steps. But then Mare was there, swiping at me with her claws, and I narrowly avoided those poison tipped nails slicing my skin. Her pupils dilated then shrank repeatedly, and her breaths came faster like she was exerting herself. But none of the others showed any sign of exhaustion. In fact, they were all deadly calm.

As she attacked me again while the other circled closer, I studied Mare more thoroughly. Though her facial features remained slack, her face twitched to the side every so often.

Blade stepped in front of Mare, and something on her hip caught my attention. Blade always had an assortment of weapons on her person at all times. And as her jacket shifted, I spotted something I could use.

So even though it went against all of my instincts, I let Blade close in, let her grab for me…

I ripped the taser from her holster and spun. Taking off at a run, I bulldozed past London, and aimed the taser at Lucas.

Lucas dropped immediately, writhing and shaking on the ground as the electricity shocked him. I could only hope I wouldn’t kill him as the electricity met water.

Twisting around, I noticed the team collapsed on the ground. There were collective groans, but they didn’t seem capable of getting up.

I raced around them, jumping over some broken glass, a rogue tire, and rushed to the van. Snatching Lewis’s bag, I awkwardly one-handedly unzipped it. Just as I found the cuffs, I was yanked back by the collar of my shirt.

I choked as Lucas, not down nearly as long as I’d assumed he’d be, dropped me to the ground into a puddle.

He looked so angry now, his furious gaze leveling mine. “I was hoping it wouldn’t have to come to this,” Lucas said. “I didn’t want to hurt any of you. But you will tell me where he is, or else I’ll break their minds to find him.”

The threat was clear. He knew as well as I did that he wasn’t in control enough to safely navigate through their heads. Not the way he needed to anyway. If he pushed much harder in his current state, he could very well kill them or drive them insane.

He’d start with the more defenseless minds first, hoping they’d crack under pressure. Then I was sure he’d go for Mare, and then me.

Lucas approached, kneeling beside me. “Will you tell me where he is?” At my silence, Lucas sighed. “Fine, I gave you your chance.”

He gripped my head, and ghost-like fingers poked at my mental walls, making me wince. But I was ready for it. This was what I’d been practicing with Mare for, and even knowing his powers were enhanced because of the talisman, I wasn’t letting him in without a fight.

The fingers slid along the diamond barrier I’d erected, and I sensed Lucas’s surprise. But I wasn’t the same person he’d fought in that house of mirrors. That version of myself was weakened after years of neglect and fear. But now? I remembered what it was like to have something to lose. What it meant to have something to look forward to.

My shields glinted with billions of diamond facets, reflecting Lucas’s image as his mental self circled them. But no matter how hard Lucas pushed and shoved and pounded, he couldn’t find a weakness in them.

His mental fists pounded at the shields, and an intense pressure promised I’d be recovering from a migraine for days if he kept that up.

Joder, it hurt.

Concentrating, I breathed. Then I imagined my walls branching out, the ends of those offshoots coming to a needle-sharp point. Lucas’s pained grunt sounded in my head as one of those diamond branches managed to pierce his mental self. While it wouldn’t cause any physical damage, this was his consciousness in my head, making it vulnerable.

But then he was screaming, the sound so intense my barriers shook. The next wave of assault had me crying out in pain as felt like a dozen sledgehammers started hacking away at my shields. Though my shields were strong, even diamonds could crack.

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