Neo shoved me into Galen as he pushed past us, standing between us and the newcomer. As his entire body bulked up, he didn’t seem to notice the other people who’d been casually dining in the car and, now, looked like they wanted to jump out the window.
For a moment, I wasn’t sure what was happening, and then a large bear stood in Neo’s place, his body nearly blocking our view of the tracker.
Needing my full power, I backed away from Van, and the full force of the terror filling the room swamped me. It nearly sent me to my knees, and my stomach rebelled. God, shoot me now. Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth. I continued the chant as I slipped into the passengers’ minds one at a time.
A small girl shook so hard I was afraid she was having a seizure, and her parents weren’t much better. The little boy with them seemed more enthralled with the fact Neo had shifted into a bear.
The tracker let out a soft chuckle and a couple of whips made of fire appeared in his hands, creeping me out even more than his words had earlier.
Frosty glanced at me over his shoulder. “What the hell kind of tracker has fire whips? You just said they’d be able to find us, not that they’d be able to…” He gestured wildly to the man in the doorway.
“This kind?” I muttered.
Taking a deep breath, I gathered my power. Could I get inside the tracker’s mind? Shoving my power away from me, I searched for his mind.
It wasn’t long before I locked onto him.
Gotcha, motherfucker. Without giving myself any time to think about it, I snuck inside.
Chaos. Pure chaos surrounded me. His thoughts swirled around me in a way that didn’t make sense.
You don’t want to do this! I thought the words as hard as I could at him, not sure how I’d done it at the train station.
His thoughts seemed to solidify until I could hear him perfectly in my own mind. Oh, doll. I do want to do this. Even if I weren’t wearing a collar set to detonate if I didn’t check-in. Cruel laughter echoed in my mind.
Donovan glanced around the room. What he was searching for, I had no clue.
Galen ducked down next to me. “Em, can you see if you can get those people out of here without drawing attention to them?”
I glanced at the handful of witnesses around the room, their eyes huge as they watched the tracker flick his fire whips at us. He didn’t seem to pay any attention to them. I gave a minuscule nod, and Galen patted my shoulder before standing.
Galen shook his head. “I believe you’re under direct orders not to harm us.”
The man smiled, and my breath stuttered out of me. I shifted my attention to Galen. I can’t affect his mind.
Just see if you can get the innocents out of harm’s way. His voice sounded urgent, making me panic.
My energy was flagging. I hadn’t used my powers this much since I came into them. But Galen was right. These innocent bystanders needed to get out of here.
Thankfully, it didn’t take much effort to force my way into their minds. While I could read the thoughts of everyone around me, I’d never attempted to shove my own into multiple people before. The man was in a panic, trying to figure out what was going on. His wife seemed to think this was all just some form of entertainment. I shuddered, hating that I had to force myself into their heads, but they didn’t seem inclined to leave otherwise.
Go. Leave quietly. Draw as little attention to yourselves as possible. The man jerked at the sound of my voice, but he wasted no time doing exactly as I directed.
While I was distracted, Van had found two metal posts the same length as his forearms. He wielded them like clubs, spinning them in his hands.
I turned my attention back to the tracker, and before I could move on to the other innocents in the room, he grinned and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
He took a step forward as one of his whips shot out, aiming straight for the little girl. I screamed as I shot my power at the girl, forcing her to drop to the ground.
Before the whips could make contact, though, Frosty dove across a table, landing directly in front of her as he grabbed it. Blisters rose instantly on his skin before the fire hissed and sizzled, going out completely where his hands came in contact with it.
Frosty gritted his teeth, his features strained as he shoved ice through the entire whip, and the fire completely winked out. He dropped the whip, radiating a coldness I felt from across the train car. Neo, in his bear form, lumbered forward to block the little girl and her family from further danger.
Shocked when the fire vanished from his whip, the tracker stopped concentrating on the rest of us as he tried to fire it up again. Clearly, he was nothing without those things.
As he took a step forward, I searched frantically for anything else I could do. My gaze landed on the last few people watching the spectacle, jaws dropped. Sliding into their minds was as easy as the first family had been, and their escape went smoother.
When the tracker took another step forward and sent his second whip toward Frosty, I yelped, wishing there was something I could do. What use were my powers when I couldn’t do anything?
Aidan appeared out of nowhere, catching the second whip and wrapping it around his wrist. He didn’t even flinch as the fire flickered along his skin. Unlike Frosty’s wrists, blisters didn’t cover Aidan’s arms.
With the tracker’s attention occupied elsewhere, Van let both sticks fly in rapid succession. The first hit the man in the gut with a resounding whack, while the second got him right in the throat.
The tracker’s eyes rolled up in his head, and he dropped to the floor, his breathing shallow.
Aidan released the whip, stepped closer to Frosty, and I heard the murmur of their voices as they both made sure the other was okay.
Neo stood in front of the family I’d tried to get out of there, his large, furry body making him a bigger target than they were. I moved closer to him as I checked the family over for injuries.
Frowning at the bruise forming on the little girl’s forehead, I asked, “Are you okay?”
Her mother stared at me, and I wasn’t sure if it was in awe or horror—or possibly an equal amount of both.
The little girl nodded as she stared at me with an expression of awe on her face. “I heard your voice in my head.”
I grimaced. “I apologize. I wish I could have found a better way to get you out of here.”
Galen stood to his full height. “Everyone okay?”
When nearly everyone replied in the affirmative, I got his attention. “Hey, Galen?”
He glanced from Frosty to me. “Yeah?”
“Can you help her?” I gestured to the little girl.
Sure, the bruise probably wasn’t that big of a deal, but I felt horrible that I’d been the one to cause it.
He nodded, his blond curls flopping over his forehead. He stopped moving, closing his eyes. Moments later, I felt power brush against my skin, static clinging to the hair on my arms and the back of my neck. “I need to see to Win first.”
He spun on his heel, heading to where Aidan and Frosty stood.
Neo butted his head against my shoulder, nearly knocking me over.
The mom screamed and scrambled backward as the dad’s brow furrowed. “What are you?”
“I’d rather not say,” I whispered. “Just know we don’t mean you any harm.”
I reached up to scratch Neo’s chin. I wasn’t sure what made me do it, but he let out a deep groan and leaned against me harder, succeeding in pushing me to the ground this time.
The man continued to stare, but even as a bear, Neo muted the voices in my head. I leaned against him, and Van came over, dropping to sit next to us.
I leaned away from Neo so I could use my power to speak with Van. What exactly is your ability? Turning things into weapons?
My tone was teasing, but he stiffened slightly. Yes.
You can’t just leave it at that! You can truly turn things into weapons? That seemed like a crazy ability to have, but I could see the pros.
He gave a slight shake of his head. No. I don’t turn them into weapons. Anything can be a weapon. He paused, brushing a strand of hair from my eyes. I just see the potential. The fact that I hit that tracker was training. That I knew where to hit him with the items I found? That’s what my ability does.
I studied him, my gaze skating over his body, stopping on the muscles in his biceps and chest. When you escaped from your cell? If he saw the potential to turn something into a weapon, how had he escaped a cell that was supposed to feed off our power?
He shook his head again as Galen dropped down next to us.
“Hey, beautiful,” Galen murmured softly to the little girl. He glanced at both parents before gently placing his fingers against her head. The little girl’s brother watched with huge eyes as Galen said, “That’s a pretty good goose egg you have there.”
The little girl giggled, showing off her missing front teeth as she sat mostly still for Galen’s probing. His fingers brushed her bangs off her forehead as he lightly pressed against the knot. She showed no fear, even as his ability flowed through him and into her.
The burns he’d taken from Frosty’s arms had to be painful, but he didn’t show it as he pulled her injury into himself as well.
As Neo nuzzled against my back again, an explosion rocked the train.
I spun around, adrenaline pumping through my veins as I searched for the source.
Aidan let out a curse as he dashed across the room. “He’s definitely dead now, if he wasn’t already.”
His shout carried across the dining car as Frosty came up behind him and struggled to put out the small fire the explosion had left.
I sighed, unsurprised. I should have guessed. Those tracking necklaces ensured the chimeras came back to the compound. They were meant to detonate if anything happened to compromise their mission, or if they decided to try and escape.
Neo got up and lumbered over to where Frosty and Aidan were, and I tilted my head. Are you planning to stay in that form for long? The threat was gone, and I wasn’t sure why he hadn’t shifted back, but maybe he couldn’t?
Soon.
I didn’t want to press him, so I turned back to Galen as he murmured an apology to the parents.
His gaze flickered over me and Van, then to the others. “We should head back to our seats. I don’t know if the dining car is still open for food.”
After issuing another apology, he rose to his feet.
The fire at Frosty’s feet no longer smoldered, and just before Neo reached the door leading to our car, he shifted and stretched his muscles.
We made it back to our seats without any issues, passing security on their way to the train car we’d just left. My heart was in my throat, worried that security would be alerted to the fight in the dining car.
After we all settled, Galen yawned and leaned against the window. “Anyone else ready for a nap?”
The adrenaline was finally fading from my system, leaving me feeling shaky and like the only thing I wanted to do was sleep for a week, but at the same time, I was still terrified we’d be found out. And when security didn’t come for us, I began to wonder why. I couldn’t read their minds from here.
Well, I might have been able to, if I knew where to look. But my head was pounding and my thoughts didn’t want to focus.
Aidan ran his fingers along the back of Frosty’s hand. “So, the only way we’ll be safe is if we take down the institute.”
Frosty leaned his head against Aidan’s shoulder. “If that’s the case, we’re going to have to get better at using our powers.”
“And see how they’ve changed,” Aidan added.
I curled up on the bench with my head on Van’s lap, and Aidan pulled my legs onto his. I hummed my appreciation when he slid my shoes off, and his long fingers began massaging the arches of my feet, infusing heat with each pass of his thumbs. “My family lives on a large estate. I’m sure we can find somewhere to practice.”
Galen nodded as he stared out the window, clearly lost in thought.
Between Van’s fingers sliding through my hair and Aidan’s massage, I found myself drifting in that place between awake and asleep again.