Mind Over Matter Page 8

  Bryan glared back at him. “PAPRA doesn’t kill dissidents. We retrain them.”

  Adam shook his head. “You have a lot to learn about the people you work for, Campbell. That is, if you really want to know.”

  “I saw what they did to Shanna. What they made me do. I told you I have my doubts, but I have to be honest. I think what they stand for is best for all of us in the long run.” Bryan figured he’d better be up-front with how he felt. He’d made enough mistakes with Shanna by hiding the truth.

  Althea and Adam stared at each other, and then Althea nodded. She came forward and placed her hand on Bryan’s arm.

  “Althea, no,” Shanna protested.

  “He has to be given a choice, Shanna.”

  Bryan stared down at the tiny woman. “What do you want?”

  “I’m an empath, Bryan,” she said softly. “If you will allow me, I can read your heart. We will know if what you say is true or not.”

  “A human lie detector,” Bryan grimaced. “I’ve heard of your kind, but I’ve never met one.”

  Althea wrinkled her nose. “That’s one of the names I’m called. I’ve heard worse.” She patted his arm. “Will you let me read you?”

  Bryan looked at Shanna when he answered. “If it will prove to you that I don’t mean your people any harm, then go for it. I’m here for one reason only.”

  “And what’s that?” Adam questioned.

  Bryan’s eyes gleamed. “I’ve come for Shanna.”

  There was a long silence before Ethan cursed aloud. “You bast ….”

  “Stop it!” Shanna cried, her voice shaking. Her eyes searched Bryan’s, and then she turned to Adam. “Do what you need to do with him. Just leave me out of it.” With that she pushed away from her brother and walked out the cabin door.

  When Bryan tried to follow her, Althea’s hand tightened on his arm and she shook her head slightly. Heaving an impatient sigh, he obeyed, but everything in him wanted to go after her.

  “Do it. Do the reading. Just get it over with.”

  Althea nodded and closed her eyes. He felt a warming sensation start in his toes and make its way through his whole body. He felt like his very soul was being judged, his every thought sifted.

  Her eyes opened and stared at him in surprise. A slow smile touched her lips.

  “What is it? What did you see?” Ethan pounced on her expression.

  “I saw nothing that would lead me to believe he is a danger to us. He is angry and confused. There is no true evil in him, though he has done evil things. And he will be open to all you tell him. He is too honest to be any other way. Shanna is right, he is a good man.”

  “Why did you smile?” Adam asked.

  She shook her head. “That has nothing to do with you or the movement. It’s private.” Her golden eyes met Bryan’s, and she smiled wider.

  He realized suddenly that she knew exactly how he felt about Shanna. He felt himself turning red.

  “So what happens now?” he asked gruffly, trying to change the subject. “What do you want me to do?”

  Adam shrugged and walked over to a large cabinet. Opening it, he pulled out dozens of documents and files. “You want to know the truth? Fine.” He dropped the armful on the table and gestured at them meaningfully.

  “You’re this top notch investigator--investigate.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Bryan buried himself in paperwork for the next several days. It was all he could do. They refused to let him see Shanna, so he figured the best way to prove himself was to do the research that they asked.

  He had no idea what he would find, but as he dug deeper into the actual facts about the PAPRA organization, a sickening reality began to reveal itself.

  None of what he’d been taught was actually the truth.

  The files went back over a span of thirty years and were meticulously kept. They began with the inception of PAPRA and then went on to state the true reason for the agency’s birth.

  The destruction of all those with Psy powers.

  Several times, Bryan found himself swearing in anger over the twisted reasoning of the agency’s founders. From the first declaration of intent, to the actual rules and regulations that the agency lived by, the sole purpose was to systematically weed out those people with talent.

  Those that they could use, like him, were put on a temporary living status. But if what the regulations said were true, on the eve of his fortieth birthday, if not sooner due to malfeasance in performing his duties, his life would be terminated.

  All other psychics, those whose abilities were not needed, or who proved ... unmanageable were killed immediately.

  The more Bryan read, the angrier he got. He and dozens of others were told lies, trained to track and then to catch the rogue Psys. Not to help his people as he’d been promised, but to assist in the genocide.

  On the third day he found a list of terminations. Every psychic that had been killed in the last thirty years. His hands shook as he searched through the list. He remembered the identity and face of every Psy he had helped to ‘rehabilitate’. Emotion clogged his throat when he saw name after name jump out at him. With a roar of rage, he swept the papers from the table.

  There had been no rehabilitation. They were all dead, and he had killed them. Oh, he might not have put a gun to their heads, but he might as well have. Other than a couple of recruits into the PAPcops, every Psy he had tracked and caught had been terminated.

  He sunk back into his chair and buried his face in his hands. He was a murderer. How ironic that his last case was to catch one. All he had to do was look in the mirror.

  He heard the door open behind him, but he was just too heartsick to care. If he was lucky, maybe it was Ethan come here to beat on him some more. God knows he deserved it.

  “You look like you could use a drink.” Adam’s deep voice startled him out of his reverie. He set a beer down on the now barren table and sat down himself.

  Bryan shook his head. “How can you stand to be in the same room with me?”

  Adam’s hard eyes narrowed. “A man who would ask that is worth sitting down with.”

  “God damn it,” Bryan swore. “I killed those people. I might as well have tossed them over a cliff. I killed them.”

  “The agency killed them. You were just a tool. But the point is, you are a tool with a mind. So what are you going to do now?”

  Bitter hatred welled up inside of him, and he stared at Adam with icy blue eyes. “Do to them what they want to do to us. PAPRA needs to be destroyed.”

  A satisfied smile curved Adam’s firm lips. “I’m no empath, but I sense some real sincerity there.”

  “I’m sincere all right,” Bryan snarled. He slammed his hand on the table spilling the beer. “Give me a gun, and I’ll go right now.”

  Adam laughed as he righted the beer bottle. “You and Ethan will get along just fine. But I think we can use you in a better way.”

  Bryan calmed himself enough to take a few gulps of the beer. “How?”

  “You know the agency better than any of us.” Adam shrugged, sipping his own drink. “We have some lower level Psys who have belonged and then come over to our side, but you are the highest level to turn.”

  “So?”

  “We need information. Our resistance is built on it. They give out misinformation ….”

  “Lies,” Bryan growled.

  Adam rolled his eyes. “Lies. And we tell the truth. But the media is owned by the government, so our message rarely is heard. You can show us how to let people know what is really going on.”

  Bryan sighed and took another long drink. “I’d really like to go kick some ass!”

  The dark haired man laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll fit in just fine.”

  Since his host seemed to be in such a good mood, Bryan broached a touchier subject. “About Shanna.”

  Adam frowned. “I don’t think you want to go there just yet.”

  “She’s the reason I’m
here, Adam. That hasn’t changed.” Bryan swept a hand through his long hair impatiently. “I’ll join the resistance because I want to pay those bastards back for what they’ve done to us. But I came for Shanna, and I mean to have her.”

  Adam’s amber eyes flashed. “Don’t push me, Bryan. You about killed her last time. I don’t know if she’ll ever be ready for you again.”

  Bryan’s throat tightened. “All I want is a chance to make it right. Just me and her. Without any interference from you.”

  “Why?” he was asked bluntly.

  It was the moment of truth, but for some reason it was easy. Bryan met Adam’s eyes evenly. “Because ... I love her.”

  Adam stared at him for a long time. Finally, he nodded. “You’ll have your chance, but high level talent or not, if you hurt her again, I’ll kill you myself.”

  * * * *

  Shanna walked slowly down the path by the lake. A light breeze teased her hair, and she brushed at the stray strands absently. It had been almost a week since they’d captured Bryan, and she hadn’t seen him once.

  They’d told her he asked for her, but her heart wasn’t ready to deal with him. While she was sure that he would see the wrong he’d done to their people, she was less sure that he would choose to be with her.

  She touched her abdomen. Either way she would soon have to tell him about the baby, and she wasn’t sure how he’d react to that at all.

  That thought kept her up at nights. She knew that Adam was hoping to have Bryan join the upper echelon of the resistance movement. With his first-hand knowledge of how PAPRA worked, he could really make a difference. But that meant he’d be around all the time, and she knew that she wasn’t strong enough to deal with that.

  “I’d probably be better off at home with Mama,” she whispered.

  “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Shivers went down her spine as she recognized Bryan’s deep voice. She swallowed the sudden tears that formed and turned to face him.

  “And why is that?” she asked icily.

  Bryan groaned inwardly. Ordering her around was not the best way to show her he loved her. “I just mean that you are high profile. It’s best you stay in camp.”

  Shanna turned to look at the lake. “I can’t hide here forever.”

  He gazed at her lovely profile, aching to take her into his arms. “You need to be safe, Shanna. You’ve been alone for a long time. Let someone else take care of you for awhile.”

  Her chin jutted out stubbornly. “I can take care of myself.”

  He laughed, and she turned back to him with a surprised look. He reached out and touched her soft cheek. “You don’t think I know that? Jesus, you took me down. You, this little bit of a thing. If I was going back to PAPRA, I’d never live it down.”

  Shanna was torn between the knowledge that he was staying and the curiosity of what happened after she’d left.

  “I tried to make it so you could get free on your own,” she said finally.

  “I did. I was spitting mad, but I finally got free.” He looked sheepish. “Didn’t tell anyone what happened. I was too embarrassed. Just said you got away.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “That thing you did, when you broke my arm.”

  He moved and was suddenly close beside her. He stroked the bandage. “I am so sorry I hurt you. I swear, baby, I didn’t mean it.”

  She covered her hand with his for a brief moment. “I know. But what did you do?”

  Bryan sighed. “I have a second talent. One that PAPRA doesn’t even know about.”

  “They don’t?”

  He shook his head. “I may have been an idiot for trusting them at all, but even from the beginning I had my doubts. I didn’t tell them that I was holding back when I was tested.”

  She pushed back her hair and gazed at him with interest. “You’re stronger than a ten. I thought so.”

  He nodded. “Off the chart. I’ve never had to use my full talent.”

  “And the other?”

  “That’s a little harder to explain.” Taking her hand, he led her over to a fallen tree. When they were seated he went on. “I don’t even know what to call it. The talent I have.”

  “You stole mine.”

  “Not really,” he argued. “It’s more like I reflected your power back at you. It’s never mine. All I can do is reuse yours.”

  Shanna chewed on her lip as she thought that through. “Like a mirror?”

  “Yeah. But I can also take a power that is around me and use it against someone else. In the alley, when you were being attacked? I took your power and used it against that thug with a gun.”

  Shanna remembered the sound that Charlie had made as he hit the dumpster and shuddered. “You’re very strong.”

  Bryan shrugged. “It doesn’t do me much good. I have to be able to have access to power when I need it. I rarely do, so it’s pretty hit and miss for a talent.”

  “Have you told Adam?”

  He shook his head. “No, I just got the go ahead to be out without a keeper. I didn’t want to overload your brother’s poor brain and make him worry I’d hurt someone.”

  “Can you do it with any talent? Not just psychokinesis?”

  “Pretty much.”

  She smiled. “Bryan, you are going to be very valuable around here. You’re like ... a power booster.”

  He’d never thought of it that way. “I’m here to help. I’m never going back to PAPRA. Not now that I know what they are.”

  Shanna smiled. She wasn’t surprised. “I’m glad.”

  He pounced on that. “Are you Shanna?”

  She flushed. “Like I said, you’ll be a valuable ally to the cause.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Right now I don’t give a flying fuck about the cause. I want to know if you’re glad, personally.”

  Shanna couldn’t look at him. She was afraid he’d see the torment in her eyes.

  “Shanna, please.”

  Slowly she turned and their eyes met. Her heart pounded as he cupped her face in his hands.

  “Are you glad I’m here? For any other reason than I’ll help the movement?”

  Shanna swallowed. She wasn’t sure she was ready for all this. Her fingers unconsciously plucked at his shirt front.

  Bryan saw her fear. He remembered his words on the rooftop and his heart sank. She’d believed him too well.

  “Shanna,” he whispered. “What I said on the roof wasn’t true. I was so furious with us both. I just said it to hurt you.” He shook his head. “But I hurt myself, too.”

  “I don’t know ….”

  “Wait,” he interrupted, terrified she’d send him away. “Before you say anything, you have to believe me. I came after you Shanna. I didn’t care any more about the agency or their directives. I came after you for only one reason.” His thumbs moved gently over her high cheekbones. “I love you, baby.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Her golden eyes shimmered with tears in the moonlight. Her heart felt like it was going to burst. “What?”

  Bending, he brushed a soft kiss across her full mouth. “I love you. I don’t want to live without you. If you had told me what you were, and we hadn’t been interrupted by those damn PAPcop, I’d like to think I would have gone with you. All I know is that I’ve been dead inside without you, and I can’t stand it any longer.”

  “Bryan,” she whispered. She was in such shock she didn’t know what to say. He loved her?

  “All I’m asking for is a chance. I know you’ll have a hard time trusting me, but I’m hoping since you put in a good word for me with your brothers, that I can make you see I’m worth it. I’ll teach you to love me, too. I’ll try anything, Shanna. Just give me the opportunity.”

  She silenced him with two fingers over his mouth. Then she leaned her forehead against his chest as she trembled against him. She wanted so badly to believe him.

  “If you don’t believe me,” he said hoarsely as if he heard her, “ask your sister. Ask Althea.”

 
; She looked up at him, startled. “But why?”

  He took the hand that was still touching him and brought it to his mouth for a soft kiss. “Because she knows how I feel. She saw it when she tested me.”

  Shanna’s eyes widened in wonder. Tears began to flow as she began to believe. “She never said anything to me.”

  Bryan bent and kissed the tears away. “She said it was private. She didn’t even tell your brothers.”

  Her lips trembled. “It might have helped.”

  “Why do you think I’m here now? I told Adam tonight.” He pulled her against him carefully. “I needed to see you. I wanted to have a chance to tell you how I felt.”

  She laid her head on his broad chest and breathed in his familiar, beloved scent. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  He frowned. “Believe it. But I need to know if I have a chance.” He pulled away so they were eye to eye again. “I love you Shanna, but I gotta know if you can forgive me. If you can ever love me.”

  Her eyes sparkled as her heart took wing. “You may be a great Psy detector, but you are a really thick-headed man.”

  His mouth dropped open. “What?”

  She laughed, and for the first time in over a month she felt alive again. “Do you really think I would have asked you to run away with me just because I liked the sex?”

  His neck turned red, but then his eyes snapped up to hers intently. “Shanna, what are you saying?”

  She smiled and flung her arms around his neck. “I’m saying I love you too, you idiot!”

  Bryan froze and his eyes narrowed. “You ... love ... me?”

  A single happy tear traced down her cheek. “I love you, Bryan. More than anything else in this life.”

  He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then his lips turned up in a smile. “You love me!” Plucking her off the log, he twirled her in a circle, as he shouted to the moon. “She loves me!”

  Shanna giggled dizzily. “Bryan, stop, please. Put me down.” When he did so, she leaned against him to catch her breath. Before they went any further, there was one more thing that he had to know.