* * *
The next morning I awake to the delightful aroma of breakfast delivered by room service. I sit up and am amazed at the mess of food setting at the foot of the bed. Is that burned toast I smell? What kind of restaurant burns their toast? The stack of golden-brown bread confuses me further. It isn’t burned at all.
Wait. I smell poison!
“Stop eating, it’s poisoned,” I shout and bolt out the door for Chris’s room. I pound on the door. Jonas opens it and I quickly push him aside, my eyes searching the room.
“Did they bring you food?”
“Who?” Jonas asks.
“Anyone? Did they bring you breakfast?”
“No.”
“Don’t eat anything brought to your room!” I run back to my room and find three Runners on the floor, writhing in pain. Justin is one of them. Michael and Jessica are the other two.
I panic and yell to the nearest person, Shanika, “Call 911!”
She doesn’t move. She only exchanges helpless glances with the others.
“Hurry!” I insist.
Beth speaks up. She has tears in her eyes. “Calli, we don’t do that. It’s probably magical poison anyway. Only a Healer can help now.”
The door opens and Chris’s group enters the room.
I kneel over Justin because Michael and Jessica are clearly already dead. I examine his body with an MRI kind of vision and find the poison on its way to his heart and brain like an evil serpent. I stop the progression and will it backward against the flow of blood, back to his stomach, forcing re-entry. I pull the toxin up his throat, causing it to exit his mouth as a dime-sized puddle of clear liquid. It floats into the air above him and then falls on the carpet.
Will and Kayla collapse as I work on Justin. I hurry over and do the same procedure on them simultaneously, with one hand on each of their stomachs. Then I check Beth and Ricky to make sure their bodies are clean of the poison. Apparently they didn’t eat any toast.
I go back to Justin and press my hand against his stomach to determine whether or not the poison is still present.
“It’s gone now. You’ll live.”
I stand to leave, but Justin catches my wrist. My peripheral vision takes in Chris from the doorway as my mind enters Justin’s. His humility and thankfulness compound exponentially by the second. His eyes express deep gratitude that could be mistaken for love or attraction by Chris. Is Justin attracted to me? No. He views me as an attractive girl, but he has no romantic feelings. What I do sense within his mind are feelings of desire, but not for me—for power, an insatiable lust for the incredible superpower I hold.
I pull my wrist away and look over for Chris. He’s left the room. I run out the door, but he’s already out of sight.
I don’t know how to handle the all-consuming turmoil that comes next. Two dead friends, sobbing girls, and somber boys—what is the protocol for this type of situation? With calling 911 out of the question, what needs to happen next? I have to find Chris and ask him. I go down to his room and find him sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.
“Chris, what do we do?” I ask, barely able to talk.
He doesn’t make eye contact. “I called Clara,” he says. I sense his anguish. “She’s taking care of everything. Your group will be moved to another room, and some people will be by to pick up . . . ”
I feel he needs comfort, so I go over and sit beside him on the bed. The moment my butt hits the covers, he vaults up and crosses the room. I guess I’m still pretty scary to him.
“Calli, please go back with the others. I’ll be over in a second. I think it’s time everyone learns exactly what we are delivering and why our two friends died.”
“Okay.”
I leave his room and walk back to mine, dragging my feet. What a horrible thing to have happen. The remorse I feel for not being able to help the two fallen friends eats at me.
Before I reach my door, I hear two car doors slam shut and tires squeal as an expensive sports car speeds out of the parking lot. I make eye contact with the female passenger. I enter her mind with ease and discover she’s responsible for the poisoned food, but that she considers the mission a failure because the trio lived. Interestingly enough, the woman is not a person with powers. I look for the vehicle’s plates, only to find nothing. For a brief moment I consider chasing after the car. I decide against it. My friends need me.
I enter the silent room where my fellow teammates sit with their heads hung low. Beth sits by Jessica’s body, gently smoothing Jessica’s red curls with her fingers. Sniffles are heard throughout the room. I squeeze between Jonas and Yang and grab hold of the breakfast cart. They move out of the way as I wheel the cart out the door and leave it on the sidewalk. I take the platter of toast and dump it in the trashcan just inside the door to the room. I don’t want to take any chances that some unsuspecting soul may eat a piece. I study the remaining foods on the cart, sniffing for any other tainted items, but I find nothing. I move back into the room and stand by the door.
Justin sits at the other end of the room with his back to the wall by the bathroom, gazing at me in admiration. I almost prefer his seething glares to this. At least I could tell what was going through his head when his expressions gave him away.
To keep my mind and hands busy, I pull the blanket and sheet off the nearest bed and gently cover Michael’s body with the blanket. Then I hand the sheet to Beth and help her cover Jessica.
Chris enters the room and walks straight to Justin. Justin stands as Chris approaches. Some of the Runners near me are talking so I can’t zero in on Chris and Justin’s conversation with my intensive hearing. I can’t read Chris’s lips because his back is to me. I pick up on half of the conversation by reading Justin’s lips, which is easy to do because he’s still looking directly at me. Our eyes meet, but his mind is blocked tight. Chris must be frustrated with Justin’s lack of attention because he turns his head and follows Justin’s unbreakable gaze. As Chris’s eyes meet mine, he whips his head back to Justin and then to me again. Chris has a confused expression I can’t read. He turns his back again and speaks harsh words, pulling Justin’s eyes off me by saying something stern enough to irritate Justin.
Justin thunders back, loud enough for everyone to hear, “You can’t tell me what to do!”
Chris continues dressing him down, to which Justin replies in an irritated voice, “Whatever.”
Chris turns to find the entire group glued to their conversation. He clears his throat and removes the box from his pocket. “Losing our friends is the hardest thing we’ve had to deal with on this journey so far. This room was targeted, I believe, because two of the trio members were here. Without Calli’s healing ability, five of our delivery team would have died, including one of the trio.”
A few of the team members talk to one another. Chris looks at me and I sense he’s putting thoughts out for me to read. I enter his mind. Late last night, Beth reported that Justin had called someone and told them he had the package. I felt I should take the diamond from him. He was reluctant to hand it over, but finally did. He’s responsible for Michael and Jessica’s deaths. I will make sure he pays for what he’s done.
Chris continues to address the group. “The three of us have agreed to show you what it is we are transporting. You will find out soon enough anyway, but with all the clans coming, and with the many powers that will be floating around this small town, it’s vitally important to control your thoughts, avoid other people, and not accept gifts of free food or mysterious packages.”
He holds the black box out in front of him and lifts the lid.
“This is what the Death Clan wants in exchange for the release of the hostages. This diamond is what Michael and Jessica died over, but if we can be successful in its delivery, then they won’t have died in vain. Two men are on their way here to take Michael and Jessica and it’s absolutely important for us to block our minds and keep our mouths shut. We can’t fail now when we’re so c
lose to completion.”
“Who’s coming?” Will asks.
“I’m not sure, but other than Hunters, this will be the first time on this journey we deal with people who have powers. We won’t know what their intentions might be.”
I say, “I’ll be able to tell. When the men arrive, I will give a signal of either a smile or a frown depending what I pick up. They’ll know we’re a delivery team even if they don’t know anything else. We must all use caution with what we say and we should be ready to run on a moment’s notice, just in case.