Alex frowned. “Seriously?”
“Hey, I look like a gangbanger,” Eli said. “We’re in fuckin’ downtown Dallas. You might fit in at some corporate party, but I’m down and dirty, and that’s where we’ll find Lang and his pricks. Not at some high flying hotel,” he said pointedly to Gideon, who ignored him. “But in the underground. My home away from home.”
Alex had nothing to say to that. He didn’t think he looked upper class at all, but since no one argued with Eli, he figured why bother disagreeing.
So they found themselves driving around the crowded city at night, just the two of them.
“So, ah, you doing better about your sister?” Eli asked.
“I’m okay.”
Eli was silent. They drove a tricked out SUV that fit big men comfortably—no cheap vehicles for Gideon’s team—past city lights and buildings. At ten o’clock the city continued to bustle with activity. Alex preferred a quieter existence, away from people.
“You know, I never had a family,” Eli said, and Alex tuned in. Eli never talked about himself much. “Grew up poor outside of Philly. My dad used to beat on my mom, then she took off. I left soon after. Last I heard the bastard was in jail for attempted robbery.” Eli chuckled. “The shithead. The guys I thought of as family were a small-time gang. I was maybe thirteen. Was with them for years. Then I saw how stupid that was, with all those dicks turning on each other, anything to stay out of juvie. Man, you can’t trust anyone on the streets.”
Which said a lot about Eli’s state of mind.
“So how long ago did you meet Carter?”
Alex knew the pair had known each other before they’d met Gideon.
“Carter? I met him, oh, maybe eight years ago? Knew right off he was different. Like Gideon. Like you,” Eli added. “It’s like I can sense there’s something different about you guys. An extra energy.”
“Yeah. Gideon’s really strong.” A powerful psychic with an odd ability to tele-blast his opponents’ minds and defeat them using their own moves against them. “So Eli, I know Carter can mesmerize. I look into his eyes and start to obey a little too easily unless he’s holding himself back.”
Eli sighed. “Yeah, that shitty serum enhanced him. He was strong before, but now he’s a little scary.”A little?“But he doesn’t use it too much. Thinks it’s cheating or something. Carter’s a Boy Scout under all that surfer ‘tude.”
Alex grinned. “He’s so easygoing. It’s weird. Because when he’s intense, he’sintense.”
“I know.”
Alex continued, “Bailey’s empathic. I can touch an object and know things. Psychometry, they call it.”
“Right.”
“And you… You’re venomous because of what Lang did to you. But what exactly could you do before that? It’s killing us that we don’t know.” Gideon had talked to Alex about it, not wanting to force Eli to talk, but needing to know his team’s strengths. Eli swore up and down he was nothing but a badass Circ with a toxic nature, who could identify others with psychic ability. But Alex sensed more.
Eli squirmed in his seat.
“Oh, come on. I know it’s not super intelligence or extraordinary sex appeal.”
Eli huffed. “Very funny.”
“So what is it? What can you do?”
“Nothing, okay? I have no idea why Lang chose me to experiment on. I think it’s because I was friends with Carter.”
“No. I feel it when I’m near you.”
“I’m telling you, man. I don’t know. Sure as shit I never had any kind of great intuition about stuff growing up. I got into more fights, did jail time. Hell, I got nabbed by Lang. The only good thing to come out of all that are these awesome fangs and claws. And the venom.” He laughed, but Alex heard the bitterness. “Must be from my poisonous personality.”
“You know, you have a point,” Alex teased, pleased to earn a glare that turned into a grin.
“Yeah, probably. So what’s it like, being able to touch something and know shit about it?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t know anything different. I’ve always had the ability. It took a long time to learn to control it though. I used to wear gloves all the time, and man, did people think I was weird because of it. My sister could see the future when she touched people, so she’d wear gloves too. We were the weird family.”
“Yeah, but knowing secrets. That’s gotta be a rush.”
