The Forbidden Trilogy(73)

"Sam, did you just read my mind?" Mrs. Rosewood pulled her hand away.

"I don't know what that means. You said it was awful, that I was alone and your heart was breaking. Don't be sad. I'm not."

***

"...Mrs. Rosewood rushed out of the room, and the next day I was moved to a different class. Looking back, I don't understand. I was already at Rent-A-Kid—that's what we called it. They knew I could read minds. I guess this teacher just wasn't prepared for it. It freaked her out. After that, I learned to tell the difference between thoughts and speech. I only responded to what people said."

Brad nodded. A mime started to follow us while we walked. He pantomimed swinging one arm while holding his phone up, then mimicked Drake's arm around me. At another time, I might have laughed—he captured the nuances of their body language perfectly—but my mind was too distracted. He shrugged dramatically and moved on to another group when we ignored him.

"No wonder you and Drake bonded. He's had similar experiences."

Catching Drake's eye, I smiled and blew a kiss at him. He leaned down to make it real.

"What experiences did you have?"

'There's a funny story about a Bishop that I'll tell you later. But there was other stuff too, like that time I beat up one of my foster dads when he was beating on his wife and the other kids. It's impossible to live a normal life with power like this, no matter how hard you try.'

Brad nudged us, and we nearly toppled over like dominoes. "Get a room, guys."

Drake punched Brad's shoulder, though I could tell he held back considerably. After all, a true punch would send Brad flying across the sidewalk and would probably break his arm.

Brad retaliated with his own punch, and the boys were suddenly running around me like toddlers.

"Hey, guys, you're making a scene."

They straightened themselves and lowered their heads. "Sorry, Sam," they said in unison.

I laughed and swatted each of them in the arm. "Back to the questions now?"

Brad cleared his throat and reset the recorder that he'd dropped. "Right. So, Sam, you can read minds, and you just recently learned to control minds. Which power do you like best or find more useful?"

"I don't like using the mind control, but reading minds isn't as fun as it sounds either." Drake tensed next to me, but I refused to acknowledge the discomfort inherent in this topic.

"Why don't you like being able to control minds? I think everyone would want that power."

"It makes me feel dirty. When...." I looked at Drake, then looked away. "When it was done to me, I realized how it felt to be powerless. I'd never want to make anyone feel that way."

But I had, just a few minutes ago, and for the pettiest of all reasons. What did that make me? Self-loathing clawed at my soul. A part of me would always be tainted by this immoral power. A power Drake also shared—and embraced. If I hated myself for what I could do, then what did I feel for the man I loved?

Drake caught my eyes, and I could see him waging his own internal war. Neither of us said anything about our run-in with Kylie, but it weighed heavily on us both for different reasons. Drake, I knew, wanted me to embrace my new powers and use them to protect myself and our baby. I wanted him to find other ways of handling conflict. I feared we would never resolve our differences, and it worried me. This power had always been a part of him; by rejecting the power, was I also rejecting the man?

Brad broke the uncomfortable silence. "Okay, what are some of your friends' para-powers?"

"My best friend, Lucy, is a human lie detector. She's a pain in the butt to be around sometimes."

Brad laughed. "I can't imagine what that's like."

I stuck my tongue out at him, then continued. "Her twin, Luke, is also my best friend. He walks through walls, or anything solid. There are teens and kids with all kinds of powers—super strength and mind control like Drake, fire starting, the ability to freeze things, seduction."

Brad's eyes perked up. "Seduction, huh? Is this a sexy girl, by chance?"

"You are such a man. Yes, she's sexy. No, you can't date her. She's a bitch."

"Okay, what else?"

"Hmm... teleporting, floating in the air, levitation—just about anything you can imagine."

"What's the worst thing you ever had to do for Rent-A-Kid?"

Five years of assignments, of spying on people with my "gift," rushed through my thoughts. The worst thing? How do you pick out the worst from a sea of awful?

Images of Tommy flooded my mind. Poor, sweet, innocent Tommy, stuck with a father whose thoughts alone had plagued my nightmares for months. The things he did to those little girls.... I shuddered.