No Peace for the Damned

out of his chair, twisting him to his knees in front of me, his back pressed to my front, his broken-handed arm pinning him in place. The Glock 34 he’d had tucked into the waistband of his jeans now rested nicely in my other hand. I pressed the gun to his temple.
    Everyone leaped to their feet, guns out, all pointed at me. Charles gurgled and I pressed the gun tighter to his forehead. Thirteen waved his arms in the air yelling something like, “Don’t!” or “Stop!”
    “Magnolia…” Banks said, as if trying to reason with me. But he didn’t lower his gun.
    “Lower your weapons!” Thirteen commanded. No one moved. “Lower your weapons! NOW!”
    All guns pointed to the floor.
C’mon Thirteen, don’t be a buzz kill. Let’s see what they’re really made of
. His stare bored into the side of my face.
    “That means you too, Magnolia.”
    At a normal speed, I released Charles and lowered his gun to my side. I watched with amusement as he scurried across the floor to Marie. Well, that had been fun. I turned to Thirteen and my amusement evaporated. He sighed deeply, his thoughts full of disappointment and regret. Damn it, it wasn’t my fault that Charles guy had grabbed at me.
    “Heather,” Thirteen said, “please run upstairs and get some ice and a first aid kit from Miller.” Heather didn’t look at me as she rushed to the door.
    “Please,” Thirteen continued. “Please, everyone just find your seats and let’s start again.”
    I took my place beside him, leaning against the wall.
    “Magnolia is here to help us,” Thirteen began again. “She can very obviously handle herself, but more importantly, she is offering her insight, her knowledge. And she is offering this at great personal risk and sacrifice.”
    Thirteen looked each person in the eye before he turned a softer gaze to me. The disappointment was gone, replaced by a warm reassurance. How could he make me feel so accepted with just one look? Even after I’d just injured one of his agents? Shit. I was
way
too close to Thirteen.
    When Heather returned, she wrapped Charles’s hand in a makeshift splint and an Ace bandage. “Be careful,” he hissed between clenched teeth as she finished taping him up.
    I could heal him. It would be painful, considering how many bones were broken in his hand, but I could still do it. He glared at me over his shoulder. Maybe I’d offer later.
    “Magnolia is here to share her insight,” Thirteen explained again, trying to get the meeting back on track. “And just to give you an idea of how valuable that insight is, she has agreed to a demonstration.”
    “Haven’t we already had a demonstration?” Theo asked, getting comfortable again in his seat. “I think we can all agree that the whole take-Charles-down-in-a-blink-of-an-eye thing was proof enough that she is who she says she is.”
    “Not to mention that we already knew that Kelches could kill with merciless efficiency and unnatural speed,” Shane added. It was the first I’d heard him speak. Considering the way his words oozed with malice and hatred, I kinda hoped he’d go back to being the strong, silent one of the group.
    Jon leaned forward on the table, his hard stare locked on me. “We need to know why she’s here in the first place.”
    I stepped forward, power already rising under my skin. Thirteen touched a hand to my arm, stopping me. He had had this whole explanation planned for the group: how I would use a power they’d never seen before to project a memory of my family into their minds, providing real-life footage of my family’s abilities. He’d been so eager for them to see what a valuable resource I’d be that he’d forgotten the most important thing about me: I was a Kelch. Charles’s jumping the gun and now Jon’s questioning my motives brought him back to reality.
    Thirteen looked at me, then without a word, stepped back, offering me the floor. Guess we’d do the explanation thing later. Resigned, I closed my eyes and reached out with my power, pushing past Heather’s and Theo’s blocks, until I was deep within the mind of every person in the room. They might have tackled supernatural beings in the past, but they had no clue what horrors awaited them when it came to my family.
    It was about time they found out.

Thick leather restraints dug into my wrists and ankles, holding me tight to the metal chair. The chair itself was large, heavy, and bolted to the floor of an otherwise empty tank. I took a deep breath