No Peace for the Damned

palm, gently forcing his entire hand to cup my cheek.
    “Magnolia…” he breathed. My body flexed as a steady pulse built inside me. My powers swelled beneath my skin. Theo’s handsmoved from my face to pull me to his chest. I rested my head on his bicep as his other arm wrapped around me.
    “Sleep, my Mag,” he whispered. I let him hold me tighter and let the confusion of the unknown wash away. I drifted into a serene sleep.
    This time, I dreamed of gold.

“You know, your attitude really sucks.”
    The next morning when the others arrived for the briefing, Shane decided to take it upon himself to fill in the role of asshole now that Marie was away with Charles and Heather on
l’annuaire
guard duty.
    “I’m just trying to understand what the hell happened yesterday,” he snapped at me. “The whole ‘I would have seen Magnus’s thoughts in Maxwell’s head’ thing—it’s bullshit! It doesn’t make sense!”
    I took a long pull on my whiskey and slammed the glass hard on the table.
    “I don’t know how else to explain it other than exactly the way I have already explained it like a hundred times!”
    There was something else tainting his thoughts. An anger that had nothing to do with the mission. I’d felt it the moment he arrived, but his thoughts were racing and pulled in all directions.I couldn’t tell what his anger was about. Maybe he’d had messed up dreams last night too.
    Whatever it was, Shane reeled with questions. And the order for more investigative research had him pissed to an unreasonable level. He didn’t trust my detail of the events and felt we shouldn’t steer away from Uncle Max just because I
claimed
he wasn’t behind the Network abductions.
    “Shane, man, we’ve been over this,” Jon said from the counter, where he finished off the coffee. “We need to completely change our approach. Thirteen’s decision is made. So either offer something new, or shut the hell up.”
    Cordele sighed from the seat next to me. She spun her glass of OJ on the table between her hands the same way I spun my whiskey. When had she started doing that?
    “We’ll just see when Thirteen gets here,” Shane mumbled under his breath.
    I rolled my eyes. “Where
is
Thirteen?” I asked.
    Jon and Theo exchanged a quick glance, then frowned. Immediately, both men whipped out their cell phones and punched speed dials.
    “Nothing on his cell,” Theo said after several moments on the phone.
    “No answer at home,” Jon replied at almost the same time. We looked at each other, the same thought in mind, and were on our feet, moving toward the door without a word. Jon was in front but I was tight on his heels. He stopped so abruptly I stumbled into his back. “Where do you think you’re going?” It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me.
    “Where the hell do you think I’m going?” I said.
    Jon opened his mouth, an order for me to stay already on his tongue. My power flared.
Just try it, Polo Boy
.
    Theo put a hand on my shoulder. His fingers brushed against my neck. Warm comfort trickled through me as I slowly turned to face him. His eyes softened the way Thirteen’s did sometimes—patient. “Thirteen would want you to stay here,” he said quietly.
    I narrowed my eyes but couldn’t hold it. Against my will, I calmed down.
    “If he’s not OK, or if we need your help, we’ll call,” Theo continued. “I promise.”
    And just like that, I knew I wasn’t going anywhere.
Damn him
. Using our connection to manipulate me like this. If I could, I’d be totally pissed off at him. As it was, respect grew inside me. Smart guy to recognize a valuable resource when he had it.
Crap
.
    He held my gaze a moment longer then walked out the front door.
    Cordele turned to me as she backed down the front hall. “Do you have our cell numbers in case you hear from him?”
    “Yeah, I got ’em,” I said and snatched up my whiskey bottle.
    “We’ll be back soon,” Cordele called. The screen door bounced on its frame behind her.
    I poured a tall glass of whiskey, no ice or sour mix. Might as well finish off the bottle. Not like I had anything else to do.
    …
    I stretched out on the extended sofa in the great room. I’d never tried this before, but what the hell? Everything else with me was so out of whack, this might actually work. I closed my eyes and concentrated.
Where are you, Thirteen?
I focused on his image—the little crinkles around his eyes when he smiled. The deep tremor of his