Emotionally Charged Page 6
He said it so plainly, like it was nothing. Not praise, not flattery or a shot at getting something from me. He said it just like a fact, like the sky is blue.
Nothing Dean said felt like it had any emotion so I clung to his words for meaning. Like how he said prettier and that maybe the “er” meant he thought I was pretty even now when I was doubting myself. My heart was doing silly maneuvers and I shook my head, looked into my foamy coffee and added another sugar.
“Your teeth give you character. It’s cute, the way one crosses over the other a bit at the front—”
I put my hand over my mouth.
“Sorry, I’m saying dumb things. But you shouldn’t feel bad about them. I suppose you’re going to get them fixed though, aren’t you?”
I shrugged, not entirely sure if it was up to me.
“I guess you’ve got the money to get whatever smile you want.” Dean eyed the bags surrounding me.
“Oh, the shopping. I kind of came to stay with friends for a while without packing and needed some things. The money isn’t mine. It’s sort of complicated.” I shuffled around on the seat as though it would hide some of the mountain of purchases behind me, suddenly embarrassed by it all.
“What about that necklace? You were wearing it the other night too. Silver, or...?”
“White gold.” I wrapped my hand around the heart-shaped pendant I had been wearing since the earthquake, covering it from sight. “My parents bought it for me when I got a B on my last tests.”
“Shouldn’t that have been an A?”
“Probably, but B was the best I could do. It’s not like I don’t try; I just suck at tests.” And my parents are big softies. My vision glazed with tears. I missed them so much. I blinked the wetness away.
Dean rolled his eyes. I didn’t have to sense emotions to know the blatantly sarcastic ‘poor you’ look.
Did he think I was spoiled? Was that what he was getting at? This whole conversation had been weird. He was all questions and no answers. I wanted desperately to know why his eyes were red, whether he had been crying or not. Whether he had any feelings at all. I wanted to know how he felt about being attacked and how he felt about me saving him, and I couldn’t read a thing.
Embarrassment unfurled inside me without warning, coloring my face. I gulped my coffee to hide it. Dean stared.
A beeping noise distracted me, and it took a moment to recognize the message tone of my new phone. I apologized and pulled it out of my pocket.
A message from Jake. I smiled at seeing his name, then pulled my lips back over my teeth again.
Coming to pick U up. Meet west mall exit. C U in 15. Team stuff.
I typed quickly. Cya soon.
I slipped the phone away and told Dean I had to be somewhere.
He helped me load my bags up again and thanked me for the coffee, even though he didn’t have anything.
We stood for a moment, facing each other silently.
I wasn’t sure if I’d see Dean again after this and I kind of wanted to. In the whirlwind my life had become, the last twenty minutes had felt like the only time recently when my feet were safely on the ground. There was something cooling, calming, and down to earth about Dean. Also something frustrating and confusing, but that just made me want to work him out even more.
I could ask for his number, but then what? He didn’t seem that interested in me. He probably only came over for coffee to be polite. I should have just said goodbye, but instead I blurted out more crazy words. “You really think my teeth are okay?”
Dean half-smiled and walked away.
Chapter Eleven
Donny’s jeep screeched to a stop in front of me where I waited on the curb, doing a balancing act with my purchases. I threw them all in the back and climbed in next to Emma who shuffled into the middle seat. It was a full house, with Donny driving, Jamie shotgun, and Jake and I in the back with Emma as an unfortunate barrier between us. I handed the remaining unspent cash to Jake, and he pocketed it.
“So, team stuff?” I asked, hoping it was fun, heroic team stuff and not ‘let’s all point out Livvy’s flaws’ team stuff.
“Last night at the fire we were getting to know the strength of your powers. This afternoon, it’s time to prove you’re one of us, part of the team.” Jake gave me a serious look, with just enough flirty smile to make me swoon. “We’re doing a fundraising activity.”
“Oh, like, charity work?”
Emma barked a high-pitched laugh that faded into a giggle. I frowned. Since when is charity work funny?
“Fundraising for us, for the team,” Jake continued. “We’re headed to a bank to make a withdrawal. We need to stock up on the spending cash.”
Donny drove us downtown. The glitzy mall area made way for the industrial and housing estate district.
I shook my head. They’re just going to the bank? Why did this need to be done as a team? Unease gurgled in my stomach. My paranoia grew sharp claws but I still refused to let it scratch down my perfect painted world.
Emma fished around in a massive designer handbag on her lap and threw what looked like a dead animal to Jamie. She grabbed more hair from the bag—wigs —and passed a black one to Jake. She took a blond wig in each hand and dangled them in front of me. “We’re both going to be blond, like sisters! You’re going to look so cute.”
I took the wig with numb fingers. A buzz of excitement came from everyone else in the car. “We’re not really withdrawing money, are we?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer.
“Sure we are,” said Jamie. “Just not ours.”
“Um...” That was the answer I hadn’t wanted to hear.
Jake sighed, shaking his head. “My little brother and his abundant tact. Don’t freak out. It’s not a big deal. This is an easy job. Breeze in, breeze out. You’re with us on this, aren’t you, Livvy?”
“Um...” I hesitated again.
“We have to do this to stay a team. Do you think we should have normal jobs with our powers? We’re better than that.”
Donny glanced at me in the rear-vision mirror. “Taking on a new member is expensive too. Got to earn that back. Where did you think the money you spent today came from?”
Trust funds? Inheritance? Lottery winnings? That was all a bit naïve to assume. This was the real world, not one of my fantasies, even if it had felt like a dream come true. Did I really expect to just take and spend their cash with no strings attached? I’d gone out and spent their money, like I’d had every right. I’d put myself into debt with them. I shivered cold sweats.
“Are you really talking about robbing a bank here? That’s all kinds of dangerous, and, well, illegal.” My heart pumped hard and I wasn’t sure what to think. It was all just too surreal. This was only-happens-in-movies stuff, not just-left-the-mall stuff.
“Honey, it won’t be dangerous at all. We have superpowers, remember? We’re just going to walk in, bat our eyelashes, ask for the money, and walk out with it. We already scoped this bank, and it’s old school. No security screens or anything.” Emma tugged her wig into place and reached between the front seats to adjust the rear-view mirror to preen. She then turned her preening onto Jamie and Jake’s wigs, also now in place. They looked so different, their hair now jet black with mature cuts. It made them seem darker, more dangerous, somehow. “My lunch date was with a worker from there who told me all about the place. We would have left it a bit longer, but now’s the best time to hit them. It’s welfare check day, and the bank tops up its tellers for everyone coming in to cash their checks. Easy pickings.”
Jake brushed Emma away and put on dark sunglasses. “Livvy, you’re just going to be lookout for us this time. Until you get some work done, we won’t have you taking on a teller, just in case.”
I breathed out very slowly, letting the air puff out my lips. “I don’t know if I can do this. Isn’t it wrong?”
“No one will get hurt and the bank won’t miss a few cash drawers. We’re not taking the vault or anything i
nsane. And we’ll use the money to help us do more heroic stuff later on. Promise.” Jake winked, and I swore I heard Jamie chuckle.
Jake looked me in the eyes and I felt him forcing the sense of trust, warmth and contentedness on me. I pushed it away. It was easier now. With Jake’s recent words and actions, I wasn’t as attracted to him as I had been before. I saw clearly, felt clearly, and the horror of it almost overwhelmed me.
A physical pain crept into my chest. I was scared of Jake. Scared of what I was doing. Terrified of all of them and what they would do if I didn’t cooperate. I had visions of jumping out of the moving car and trying to run away, but these guys had had use of their powers for longer than me. I was going to guess they’d be much faster than I was.
Jake watched me, waiting for my response. I felt trapped, but I couldn’t let him see that.
I put the wig on and smiled. I read once just the act of moving your muscles into a smile made you happy and hoped it would be enough to cover my fear. I tried to shut off the part of my brain saying no, no, no, no, no, and focused on Jake’s smile. It didn’t help. That fake smile. How much of him was real at all? Everything felt wrong.
Emma tilted her head at me and giggled. “Donny, drive around the block a couple of times while I sort out this girl’s hair.”
Chapter Twelve
Donny waited with the car down the street and Emma and I walked into the bank first.
It was a reasonably large place, old-fashioned, like she’d said, standing in a row of mostly closed shopfronts in a dying business district. Only a pawn shop, second-hand clothing store and tobacco shop were still open nearby.
Inside the bank, a musty smell rose from the threadbare carpet, and the wooden counters looked more like something out of an old western movie than a modern bank. Plexiglas dividers had been bolted on top of them, and a ticket machine stood at the entrance like a welcoming robot, but they were the only parts of the place that felt like they weren’t from the 1950s. Even the customers were old, mixed in with a few younger tradesmen and laborers.
I was in a bank. About to rob a bank.
We were seriously going to rob a bank.
I played through my memories of how I’d ended up here, as though this were a pick-your-own-adventure book and I could just flip back to the right point and avoid this outcome.
So much of the time since the earthquake was a blur; I’d been hypnotized by these perfect people. Perfect criminals, I realized. But I couldn’t only blame them. I’d made my decisions. I had wanted this.
Well, not this, exactly.
I made sure my oversized sunglasses were still in place and tugged down my wig as though I could cover all of my face with it. If I just get through this, there has to be a way I can back out gracefully from this whole team thing, right? Will Jake just let me go?
Emma scoped a security guard and went to do her job, flirting with him and keeping him entirely occupied. I just had to take a seat and keep watch. Only the bank was busy, and there were no seats left. Small detail, but I had to breathe through an anxiety attack as I tried to stand casually in the corner.
Jake and Jamie came in not long after us and took numbers from the machine. I practically counted the seconds waiting for them to be called to a teller, sure we were all about to be arrested at any second. I felt so thoroughly guilty, I was sure it could be seen oozing from my pores. I considered just flat-out bolting, but Donny was watching the street.
Jake was called, and Jamie a split second after as two tellers cleared. They were middle-aged ladies who I could tell were already swooning at the boys’ approach. Maybe this would be easy after all.
I watched with fascination as Jake leaned forward, his lips almost up against the Plexiglas barrier. I saw the attraction radiating from the lady. She probably would have played with her hair if it weren’t back in a very tight business-like bun. She kept on talking and giggling with Jake as she pulled a cash bag from the desk and opened the cash drawer, stuffing bills into the bag one wad at a time. No alarms went off. No one seemed to think anything suspicious was happening. It was business as usual and a bag of free cash for the team. I didn’t like it. It felt so wrong. But I just wanted it to be over so I could breathe again.
Coldness crept across my skin.
I hoped it just meant the air-con had kicked in, but this felt familiar.
I’d felt this sort of chill before.
The teller with Jake froze, and her flirty grin dropped into a frown. She looked at the bag in her hand like she’d discovered she held a dead fish. I couldn’t hear what she said, but her jaw wobbled up and down. I couldn’t tell how she was feeling either; my empath senses had turned off. Jake kept working his act but she wouldn’t calm down for him.
Jamie called over to Jake. He was having trouble too.
Jake called back, loud enough for me and Emma to hear, “Change of plans.”
The teller stood and made to move away, and suddenly Jake had a shiny silver handgun pointed at her.
No, no, no, no, no.
Jamie pulled a gun from his jacket too, waving it at the waiting customers. “Everyone get back against that wall. You know the deal. If nothing stupid happens, then nothing stupid happens.”
A large man in grease-covered clothing didn’t budge. He drawled in a husky voice, “Come now, boys. Don’t do anything rash.”
“Stupid.” Jamie dropped his aim and shot the man in the leg. He crumpled, gasping, clutching at the wound, trying to hold in his blood.
I yelped, my heart hammering. Jake shook his head at me, warning me with his expression. Others in the crowd screamed as well, cowering back.
I turned to Emma, just a few steps away from me with the guard. She couldn’t be in on this. Not this.
She held a petite pistol in one hand and she relieved the security guard of his weapons with the other.
“Ems?” I hissed.
“Chill, sister,” she hissed back. “A little firearm action will get the sheep scared and our powers kicking in again. Then we can get our goods and clear out fast.”
But my powers weren’t kicking in.
I didn’t feel anything, not the slightest tingle, only the cold inside. People shuffled toward the wall, mumbling outrage and prayers. I looked over their faces, all of them terrified.
Except one.
His face was blank and his gray eyes stared at me, at my heart pendant, at the same clothing he’d seen me in just half an hour before and my disguise, the blond wig.
Dean.
I looked away, ashamed.
“I’m still not getting the vibe!” Jamie yelled at Jake, who was busy getting the teller to keep clearing drawers.
“Swap,” Jake called back, and Jamie swung his gun to the teller, taking over.
Jake scanned the room, coming to stand beside me. “You feeling anything?”
“Just... cold.” My eyes turned toward Dean automatically, just for a second too long. Jake’s gaze followed mine and he grunted.
“A blocker. We’ve got a blocker!” Jake yelled to the others.
“Oh shit,” Emma spat.
The hostages against the wall cowered. Dean stood motionless and continued to stare right at me.
Jake patted me on the shoulder. “Good pick, lookout. We’d be in trouble if you hadn’t spotted him. You’re making yourself valuable.”
I didn’t want to be valuable like this. I didn’t understand much of what was happening and liked even less. “Why? What’s a blocker?”
“People who shut away their feelings so hard it breaks something inside them. They mess with our powers,” Jake ranted. “Best to deal with them when they show up. I’ve seen one block off an empath’s powers for good.”
Jake aimed his gun at Dean and smiled his comforting smile at me. That smile chilled me more than the blocking coldness coming from Dean. “Don’t worry. Once we get rid of him, our powers will work again and we can get all this under control.”
“Get rid of? What? No!”
Jake swore and jerked the gun to the side.
Sound exploded through my skull. Everything went numb. My ears rang.
It took a moment to hear the screams behind me, to feel the burn in my cheek. My over-sized sunglasses hit the floor.
I turned in slow motion and saw an elderly woman falling to the ground. The pool of blood around her made acid rise in my throat. I knew she was dead, just knew it.
Other customers cried and ran.
Jake had lost control of the situation. People stumbled right over the old woman’s body, stampeding toward the door. Emma and Jamie headed for the door as well. Sirens wailed in the distance.
Dean dodged between the crowd but didn’t make for the exit.
“Run, get out of here!” I screamed at him.
He kept coming my way.
I felt hard, hot metal press against my temple.
“Jake?” I whimpered. I wanted to be strong, but it turned out a gun at your head could cause whimpering.
“I should have known you wouldn’t work out, but I didn’t think you’d screw things up this much!” he yelled at me, so close spittle hit my face.
His finger on the trigger tensed.
The gun fired. A body slammed against my side, pushing me away.
Dean cried out as he fell past me and hit the floor. Blood flooded through the fabric of his hoodie sleeve.
The coldness faded. I felt some power come back to me, like it had when I’d surprised Dean and his attackers that night. I guessed when he was shocked, he wasn’t keeping his feelings under such tight rein and his emotional block didn’t extend out. Or something. I didn’t know. I just knew I had to act fast before Jake felt his powers kick in again too.
I had stumbled when Dean pushed me clear of the gunshot but I regained my balance fast. I spun with the momentum and knocked the gun from Jake’s hand. I continued the spin and cracked my elbow against Jake’s jaw, making him fall backwards.
I grabbed Dean by the arm, pulling him to his feet, practically threw him over my shoulder, and made a run for it.