As they drove out of town, Rachel said, “We were pretty busy when we had our meeting with Mickey and Minnie, but we should see what we can figure out about them.”
“Like what?”
“Well, they looked like they were about our age.”
“Right. And they both had southern accents, but not too pronounced. Maybe they were born around here and moved away.”
She thought for a moment. “They found each other a while ago and worked on their talent–unless they just plain have more ability than we do.”
“I think it’s the former.”
“We hope.”
Jake swung his gaze toward her, then back to the road. “You think we’re going to meet them again?”
She felt a shiver go over her skin. “I wish it weren’t true, but I do think we will.”
“You think they got out of the warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s one advantage we’ve got over them–you. I doubt that either of them is a Tarot card reader.”
She murmured her assent. When she’d gotten interested in the field, she hadn’t thought that it might save her own life.
Jake squeezed her hand, and she knew he’d picked up the thought.
“Anything else we know about them?” he asked.
“They don’t have to touch to generate strong thunderbolts.”
“That goes to the assumption that they’ve been practicing for a while.”
The conversation petered out, and they sat in silence until Jake pointed to a secondary road.
“What about we go there for target practice?”
“As good a place as any.”
They turned off the highway onto a narrow road barely wide enough for two cars to pass. But there was no traffic coming toward them.
The road soon went from blacktop to gravel. Trees thick with Spanish moss crowded in on either side. She looked out the window trying to spot any houses that might be in the area, but she saw only swamp vegetation and pools of water covered with duckweed. An alligator plopped into the water as they passed.
Jake found a patch of relatively dry ground, and they both got out, crunching over gravel, then stopping to stare around them at the peaceful scene. It was damp and dark under the trees and probably ten degrees cooler than in the city.
“If we attack the trees, we’re going to scare the birds,” Rachel said, looking over at some egrets wading in the shallow water of a bayou and standing on the far shore.
“Let’s hope we can.”
“What did you do when you sent that mental thunderbolt toward Mickey and Minnie?”
“I’m not sure. We were under attack. After I saw them do it, I just thought of calling up energy, then sending it in a stream toward them.”
“Okay. Let’s try it.”
They walked a little way from the car and stood shoulder to shoulder, their hands clasped.
You direct it, Rachel said, since she had no idea what he had done at the warehouse.
