Unravel Me: The Juliette Chronicles Book 2

me something , Kenji. You have to. I need to know.”
    “You, uh”—he licks his lips, looks around, laughs a nervous laugh—“you want to let go of me, maybe?”
    “Will you help me?”
    He scratches behind his hear. Cringes a little. “No?”
    I slam him harder into the wall, recognize a rush of some wild kind of adrenaline burning in my veins. It’s strange, but I feel as though I could rip through the ground with my bare hands.
    It seems like it would be easy. So easy.
    “Okay—all right—god damn .” Kenji is holding his arms up, breathing a little fast. “Just—how about you let me go, and I’ll, uh, I’ll take you to the research labs.”
    “The research labs.”
    “Yeah, that’s where they do the testing. It’s where we do all of our testing.”
    “You promise you’ll take me if I let go?”
    “Are you going to bash my brain into the wall if I don’t?”
    “Probably,” I lie.
    “Then yeah. I’ll take you. Damn .”
    I drop him and stumble backward; make an effort to pull myself together. I feel a little embarrassed now that I’ve let go of him. Some part of me feels like I must’ve overreacted. “I’m sorry about that,” I tell him. “But thank you. I appreciate your help.” I try to lift my chin with some dignity.
    Kenji snorts. He’s looking at me like he has no idea who I am, like he’s not sure if he should laugh or applaud or run like hell in the opposite direction. He rubs the back of his neck, eyes intent on my face. He won’t stop staring.
    “What?” I ask.
    “How much do you weigh?”
    “Wow. Is that how you talk to every girl you meet? That explains so much.”
    “I’m about one hundred seventy-five pounds,” he says. “Of muscle.”
    I stare at him. “Would you like an award?”
    “Well, well, well,” he says, cocking his head, the barest hint of a smile flickering across his face. “Look who’s the smart-ass now.”
    “I think you’re rubbing off on me,” I say.
    But he’s not smiling anymore.
    “Listen,” he says. “I’m not trying to flatter myself by pointing this out, but I could toss you across the room with my pinkie finger. You weigh, like, less than nothing. I’m almost twice your body mass.” He pauses. “So how the hell did you pin me against the wall?”
    “What?” I frown. “What are you talking about?”
    “I’m talking about you ”—he points at me—“pinning me ”— he points at himself—“against the wall.” He points at the wall.
    “You mean you actually couldn’t move?” I blink. “I thought you were just afraid of touching me.”
    “No,” he says. “I legit could not move. I could hardly breathe.”
    “You’re kidding.”
    “Have you ever done that before?”
    “No.” I’m shaking my head. “I mean I don’t think I . . .” I gasp, as the memory of Warner and his torture chamber rushes to the forefront of my mind; I have to close my eyes against the influx of images. The barest recollection of that event is enough to make me feel unbearably nauseous; I can already feel my skin break into a cold sweat. Warner was testing me, trying to put me in a position where I’d be forced to use my power on a toddler. I was so horrified, so enraged that I crashed through the concrete barrier to get to Warner, who was waiting on the other side. I’d pinned him against the wall, too. Only I didn’t realize he was cowed by my strength. I thought he was afraid to move because I’d gotten too close to touching him.
    I guess I was wrong.
    “Yeah,” Kenji says, nodding at something he must see on my face. “Well. That’s what I thought. We’ll have to remember this juicy tidbit when we get around to our real training sessions.” He throws me a loaded look. “Whenever that actually happens.”
    I’m nodding, not really paying attention. “Sure. Fine. But first, take me to the research rooms.”
    Kenji sighs. Waves his hand with a bow and a flourish. “After you, princess.”

SEVEN
    We’re trailing down a series of corridors I’ve never seen before.
    We’re passing all of the regular halls and wings, past the training room I normally occupy, and for the first time since I’ve been here, I’m really paying attention to my surroundings. All of a sudden my senses feel sharper, clearer; my entire being feels like it’s humming with a renewed kind of energy.
    I am electric.
    This entire hideout has been dug out of the ground—it’s nothing but cavernous tunnels and interconnected passageways,