She slipped into his and picked up his thoughts. He liked that she was looking at him.
She dug deeper. His mind had always seemed so clear cut, now she sensed a level of confusion. The knowledge of the cataclysm had sent his world into chaos. He’d been so sure of his mission, of its importance, itsrightness.
That’s what had made it possible for him to do the things he’d done; kill the people he’d killed. A sure knowledge that the end justified the means, as long as the end was big enough—and it didn’t come much bigger than saving mankind. His mission had been like a religion to him, based on a blind faith. Now, he was no longer sure.
She could almost feel sorry for him.
Almost, but not quite.
He was wondering what she was thinking. Whether she still hated him.
“Yes,” she said, and his lips twitched.
He wasn’t worried. He knew she liked him deep down.
That almost madeherlips twitch. He was feeding her thoughts.
“In your dreams,” she muttered.
He chuckled, but at that moment, the doors opened.
The elevator opened directly onto the roof, and she pulled her coat around her and hitched her bag onto her shoulder. Kane had offered to carry it. Ha! As if she couldn’t carry her own bag. He was carrying Josie’s though. Josie had spent so many years living with a man who had treated her like a delicate flower, she’d sort of grown into the role.
Kaitlin suspected she enjoyed it, and so she was doing her best to toughen the other woman up. Taking her to the dojang everyday, teaching her Taekwondo. Josie had asked what was the point, when the world was going to end?
A helicopter stood in the center of the flat roof, the blades already whirling. Kaitlin ducked instinctively as they got near, though she didn’t really need to.
She was trying not to think about the flying bit. There was no one around to shoot them out of the sky this time.
Was there?
To take her mind off the possibility, she thought back to the sensation she’d felt last night just before the attack. She’d been searching for something similar ever since. She did it again now, reaching out across the city for anything unusual, anything that didn’t belong. But she found nothing.
She climbed into the helicopter without waiting for any help, tossed her bag behind the seat, sat down, and fastened the harness. Josie climbed in beside her. Kane was assisting her, and Josie was smiling at him prettily.
He glanced up at that moment and must have caught her sour look as he smiled. He thought she was jealous. Hah.
Luckily, he couldn’t speak as it was way too loud under the whir of the blades. There was no one in the pilot’s seat. Who was flying this thing?
Then Kane got in. She should have known he could fly a helicopter. Kane could do everything. But then, he had had a hell of a lot of years to learn how.
Josie slipped her hand into Kaitlin’s and the blades whirled faster. Then they were lifting into the air. Her stomach churned. An image flashed in her mind—for a moment she didn’t recognize it—then she realized it was the thoughts of the pilot who had been flying the plane that crashed. She was remembering seeing the plane hurtle toward the earth through his eyes. He’d died in the crash, and she shut down the memory.
Closing her eyes, she cleared her mind as they had taught her in meditation class, breathing slowly and evenly until her fear faded and she opened her eyes.
The sun was setting, and the sky was pink and gold. They were flying over the city, and it was beautiful. Really, it was. After five minutes of staring, she decided she’d done enough to prove that she wouldn’t be conquered by her fears. She closed her eyes and settled back.
She’d gotten zero sleep the night before; time to shut down and get a little rest. But as she relaxed, other memories slipped into her mind. Memories of Sam. Not that last day—she still couldn’t bring herself to think of that. But of Sam growing up.
They’d lived in a compound—little more than a lab—with no real family. But they’d had each other, and it had been more than enough. When they’d become telepathic, just after they turned eleven, the bond had grown even stronger; they’d lived in each other’s minds. She’d been as at home in Sam’s head as in her own. They’d hidden nothing from each other.
Sam had been so good. She’d been the selfish one. She’d tried to persuade Sam to run away so many times. She’d just wanted a little excitement, and towards the end, she’d sensed that the people controlling them could no longer be trusted.
But Sam had believed they were there for a purpose, that through them the world could be a better place. He was such a good person, even if he wasn’t as powerful as she was. She’d always believed that was why they had chosen him for their experiments.
At the thought, her heart cracked. It should have been her.Sam was the best person she had ever known, and he would have made the world better. What could she do? She’d tried to help Sam, and where had it gotten her?
Nowhere.
