Alise scowled at him. “You have a visitor. Someone who wants to say good-bye.” She stepped aside, and another face took the place of hers. Jonathan Barrett, of Fallen Oak, South Carolina. Sebastian immediately wanted to spit in his face.
“What are you doing here?” Sebastian asked. “Coming to see how you’ve destroyed our lives?”
“Are we not having a happy day today?” Barrett asked, grinning.
“You’d better get us out of here, Barrett. This place is a prison run by crazy people.”
“You got exactly what I promised,” Barrett said. “Scientific testing of your abilities. I heard you were doing well here until recently, Sebastian.”
“You’re a liar,” Sebastian said. “I’m warning you, Barrett. You get us out of here now, or I’ll make you pay for it.”
“And how are you going to do that? You look so cozy there in your cell.”
“I may not know how, but it will happen,” Sebastian said. “I never forget. If you leave us here, I will come back and I will destroy everything you care about. Your ridiculous idea of a legacy. Whatever you create, I will ruin. I’ll burn your house right to the ground. I’ll burn your name right out of history. Nothing you do will last, and everyone will forget you ever lived.”
Barrett chuckled and shook his head. “Sad. Truly sad, threats made from a cage.”
“Mr. Barrett,” Alise said, “We’d better get going. You don’t want to miss your train.”
Barrett nodded. “Nice visiting with you, Sebastian.”
“This is your last chance, Barrett. Get Juliana and me out of here now.”
Barrett smirked and walked down the hall with Alise.
“I mean it, Barrett!” Sebastian shouted after him. He banged his fist on the door. “I won’t forget. Even when I’m dead, I won’t forget.”
Barrett laughed without looking. “Destroy me from beyond the grave? You’re amusing, Sebastian.”
They walked out of his sight. Sebastian slammed his head against the door, furious with himself for ever getting tricked by such a man. His hatred for Barrett seethed all the way into his bones, right down into his soul.
Chapter Forty-Two
Tommy’s heart raced as he approached the narrow armorglass window looking into Esmeralda’s cell. She looked up at him from her bunk, her eyes widening slightly in recognition, but otherwise her face remained blank.
“Let me in,” he told the two guards that accompanied him.
“We don’t take orders from you,” one replied, while swiping the access card the opened the door’s electromagnetic lock.
Tommy didn’t have time to fight, so he nudged past the guard and pulled the door open. The guards waited outside as he stepped into the cell. Esmeralda looked him over quietly. She wore an orange jumpsuit so that everybody at the facility would know she was a prisoner.
“Hello,” he said. It seemed a little weak, since he hadn’t seen her in months, but he wasn’t sure what else to say.
“You finally decided to come see me.” Esmeralda spoke softly, looking at the concrete floor and avoiding his eyes. “That took long enough.”
“What do you mean? I thought you just got here.”
“I’ve been here for weeks. Or months. I don’t know, it’s hard to keep track anymore.”
“General Kilpatrick didn’t tell me that.”
“Who could have guessed he was dishonest?” She looked up at him, and her eyes were full of hate, startling him. “Lucky you, you agreed to do what he wanted. If you’d said no, you’d be locked up here like me.”
“The general says it’s because of national security. They don’t want any paranormal types like us running loose.”
“Oh, no, can’t have people running loose,” Esmeralda said.
“I just think we have a chance to use our powers for greater good, like General Kilpatrick says. We should take the chance.”
“Who decides what is good and what is evil?” she asked. “The guy who kidnapped me? Or is it you who decides? Or is it me?”
“Just...the people in charge. The experts.” Tommy didn’t really know how to answer her question.
Esmeralda sighed. “You always believe what people tell you, Tommy. You’re like a fucking clueless, needy child. If you don’t have Ashleigh to lead you around, you find somebody else. You never look at anything with your own eyes or measure them with your own mind. You never make your own choices.”
“You’re still giving me the same shit after all this time?”
“You’re still doing the same shit, so you don’t leave me much choice.”