“I can’t…do this without him.”
Jamie sounded so lost, so grief-stricken, that Alexei had to bite his tongue until it bled to keep from screaming.
Then do it with us,Katie said softly, bringing with her the rest of the team, their presence filling Alexei’s mind as they all reached for Jamie.You’re our captain. You’ve led us this far, but let me help you lead us the rest of the way, Jamie. Lean on me. Onus. We’ll carry you home.
Alexei opened his eyes, staring at Jamie, watching how the devastating grief eased in his eyes and on his face. He didn’t know what Katie was doing, but whatever it was, Jamie was looking less like a man standing at the edge of a dark abyss and far more present in his body.
“Do I give him a gun?” Matthew wondered out loud.
Alexei grunted as he got to his feet, pulling Jamie with him, needing all his strength to do so. His body screamed from dull pains and aches, but none of it touched the tight knot of agony in the center of his chest.
I’m keeping Jamie’s thoughts from overwhelming him. I can’t do anything for his grief. I need an empath for that.Katie’s mental voice wavered in Alexei’s mind before firming up.Echo has orders to teleport one of our empaths to me. I’m going to try the same thing I did with Prism with them.
What did you do?Alexei asked.
We…merged our powers, for lack of a better way to explain it. I needed a power boost in order to break through the other telepath’s shields. Prism gave it to me.
Alexei frowned as he thought back to that moment where he’d heard both their voices intertwined almost as one in his mind.Telepaths merging their power is going to make a lot of people scared.
I don’t give a fuck about people. I’m worried about my team.She paused, her telepathic touch in his mind a weary pressure.You watch his six, Inferno. Don’t leave him alone.
Alexei thought he knew what had gone down in the courtroom. From where Stanislav lay dead on the courtroom floor, a hole in his chest in nearly the same spot as Kyle’s, to the blood on Jamie’s hands, Alexei knew a nightmare had been born here.
And they would have to live with it for the rest of their lives.
One of Matthew’s people silently came over and handed Alexei a scavenged handgun. He took it and weighed it in his hand, thinking about all the options Jamie must have had in that moment. Sucking in a harsh breath, Alexei turned and pressed the gun into Jamie’s hand, unable to look away from the blood there. Jamie shuddered, staring blankly down at the weapon before slowly curling his fingers around it.
“Need to move,” Alexei said gruffly. “Capital still under attack. Declan still out there.”
A spark ofsomethingflickered in Jamie’s eyes before fading away. It was enough for Alexei to see that some part of Jamie was still willing to fight. He watched as Jamie closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the broken pieces in his gaze still remained, but Katie was holding him together.
Jamie turned, took aim at Stanislav’s body, and proceeded to empty the magazine into the corpse. Then he dropped the empty handgun on the floor, taking a deep, shuddering breath.
“I need a better weapon,” Jamie said.
“You heard the man,” Matthew said, signaling his people to move. “Let’s find Apollo something to shoot with.”
By way of the tried and true FPSG, someone discovered one of Declan’s people dead near the justices’ robing room and purloined their neglected rifle, handing it off to Jamie. Alexei stayed on Jamie’s six as they headed for the exit, knowing he needed to finish this, wishing he didn’t have to, and wondering why he was so clearheaded when he knew he shouldn’t be.
Did you think Jamie was the only one I was looking after?Katie asked him.
Alexei swallowed thickly, ignoring the way tears pricked his eyes, because if he let them fall, they wouldn’t stop.
Where’s Declan?Jamie wanted to know.
Close. I can—
No.Jamie’s mental voice was viciously hard.He’s mine.Find him for me.
Yes, sir,was Katie’s response before she turned her attention elsewhere, though her presence remained in their minds.
They were leaving the Supreme Court Building when an explosion off to their left on East Capitol Street NE had everyone seeking shelter behind the marble pillars. Alexei chanced a quick look around his cover in time to see one of Madison’s more spectacular energy blasts hurl through the air and find its target amidst the Sons of Adam fighters making a run for the Capitol Building.
Declan is near the Capitol Building,Katie said. Alexei could hear the exhausted stress in her voice and practicallyfeelit. He wondered if she had an empath with her.
Lead me to him,Jamie ordered.
Jamie almost sounded like himself if one ignored the agonized look in his blue eyes, the tension in his body, and the white-knuckled grip he had on his weapon. The way he seemed like a dead man walking. Alexei felt strangely cool-headed as he followed after Jamie, and he knew that was Katie’s doing. He’d be angry about it, but he thought she’d hidden his anger the same place she’d hidden his own grief—out of reach.
