“I can.”
“Are you good enough at it to control a person who seems to disappear in seconds?”
“I… I don’t think I’m that fast at it. I’ve used it very little. Both the length of time I can do it and my control over the person varies.”
“But if you practiced?”
Nolan laughs. “Who exactly is lining up for me to control? People don’t like it when their mind is taken over.”
“Control me, right now. Make me pick up that gun and shoot the target on the right.”
Nolan stares at me for a minute, like he’s not quite sure what he thinks about what I’ve said. “You want me to control you?”
“I spent over twenty-six years being controlled by sociopaths; I’m no stranger to having no control over myself. Do it.”
“You trust me that much? You don’t even know me.”
“You could do it without my permission, could you not? Trust doesn’t matter. I want you to be good enough that you can stop a person from leaving so I can shoot them in the fucking head.”
His eyebrow lifts. “Care to explain what’s going on?”
“Make me.”
“What?”
“Make me tell you.”
Nolan hesitates before sitting up; his eyes touch mine but nothing happens. He breaks eye contact as he rubs his head like it hurts. “I’m still… the drugs make things a bit foggy and I have to concentrate harder.” He falls silent, his eyes refocusing on mine, making me question if he needs eye contact. If he does, this might not work.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Nolan says in my mind, and it’s like everything grows quiet in there. The hell that constantly bounces around my head stills while everything revolves around his words. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I believe a person is stalking Ellison. There were two people in those woods. One was the brother of a girl I knew when I was in the cult. He wanted to kill me because my elders killed his sister to harvest her eyes where they believed her power was stored and gave them to me so I could use her power. I’m the reason she’s dead. I’m the reason they slaughtered her?—”
“Stop. Stay focused. What’s going on with the person stalking Ellison?”
I abruptly stop spilling everything like I have no filter. “I believe the second person from the woods is following Ellison. They’re so fast that I can’t even track them. Their power must allow them to teleport or something. They’re gone as quickly as they’re there. But it’s like they’re toying with us. They want me to know that I can’t keep Ellison safe. I want you to use your power to keep them there long enough I can shoot them.”
“Pick up the gun on the table.”
I do so without hesitation. I even think about fighting against it, out of curiosity over whether I could, but it feels so peaceful and I find myself wanting to follow him more than anything. I want to do anything he says.
“Shoot the far-right target four times.”
I fire off four shots, and then the hold on my mind stops and I turn to Nolan. He looks away from me and I realize that he thinks I’m going to be upset with him.
“Faster.”
“What?”
“You need to be faster. Come on. I can’t teleport, but I can turn invisible. I need you to snatch onto my mind the moment you see me.”
I grab his wrist and haul him off toward the large indoor training area. He reluctantly follows while Nemesis and Pocket Lint trot after us.
“I… I don’t think I’m supposed to be training this aspect of my powers. Most people, including Valerie, would be very against this,” Nolan says.
“Good thing I’m not like most people.”
The door opens and Lex steps in just in time to see me dragging Nolan around by his wrist. His eyes zero in on my hold and he looks at me like I’ve betrayed him.
