“You have to know I would do anything for you not to have to know about what happened. I wish to God I never tried using my empath abilities on him. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?” She was desperate for Evan and Cole to understand, but terrified of their reaction, too.
“What’s going on, guys?” Alik looked between his brother and sister, sensing something big was happening.
“Ali, I’m glad you’re here. You may as well hear this, too,” Meg sighed, thankful she wouldn’t have to repeat her story to the brothers separately.
Alik stood in the aisle, arms crossed, stern look on his face as he listened to Evan back up and tell how he awoke to Meg screaming in her sleep and finished with the descriptions of her evolved gift. Evan emphasized the concern he had for the physical toll it took on Meg.
When he was done, Alik, Evan and Cole looked at her.
“Meg?” Alik said softly. “We’re your brothers. Nothing you say will change how we see you or how we will do anything to protect you.”
“And you know how I feel about you,” Cole said unabashedly. “Please let us help you, Meg.”
She couldn’t help it. Her face started leaking, again.
Meg’s brothers had seen her at her worst, most temperamental, angriest, weakest, broken, bleeding moments, and they still loved her. Those boys were her family. She had to remind herself if the roles were reversed, she would move heaven and hell to protect them, too.
Meg could also sense Cole’s devotion to her.
She sighed deeply and began.
Meg began by telling them what she saw inside Williams’ mind. She told them about the vicious animal cruelty and the progression to the violence toward humans. Meg tried to control her nausea as she put into words the thrill Williams felt during his sadistic acts of depravity.
Every few minutes she would glance at the boys, afraid she would sense judgment from them directed at her, but it never happened. She knew she didn’t do anything wrong. The actions Meg had witnessed inside Williams were his, not her own.
But, the problem with her empath gift, or, the double-edged sword of it was that she felt everything so completely, so intensely, in her own mind. It felt as though she really had committed those heinous acts and felt an empathetic surge of Williams’ arousal from them. Meg felt changed, violated and altered by the evil she experienced in a way she should have never felt.
So she told the boys everything.
In the end, Meg even expressed her terror at being desensitized by all the death she had empathetically experienced. “Maybe that’s how I could kill the two metahumans on the motorcycles without even blinking an eye back on the island.” She clenched her hands tightly and stared at them as if they belonged to someone else now that they had blood on them.
“Meg, you were protecting your family. If you hadn’t taken out those two rabid dogs, they could have killed us all. I would have done the same thing,” Alik soothed. The look in his eyes was earnest.
“As for the trauma you experienced, it’s no wonder you’re having nightmares. It’s a very common occurrence for those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The headaches, disorientation and exhaustion are worrisome, however.” Evan’s eyes were sincere.
“They could be something you can control as you learn to wield your gift more accurately—then again, what if they get worse—like a pencil that gets used up every time it’s sharpened?” Alik offered.
“Meg, I think you shouldn’t use your gift until we’ve had a chance to study it more closely. There are so many possibilities and variables,” Evan thought aloud.
“What if your gift takes awhile to evolve and it’s not ready to be used yet?” Cole offered her a box of tissues.
Meg hadn’t realized she was still crying she was so intent on listening to the boys’ assessment of her condition.
“I agree with Evan. At this point, it’s too hazardous to your health.” Alik’s sky-blue eyes watched her carefully.
“I have to try to find out what happened to Creed.” Meg muttered, softly—hoping that wouldn’t hurt Cole’s feelings, but knowing it still would.
“I am not letting you dive back into the mind of that serial killer!” Alik’s voice was raspy with barely contained protective anger.
“Meg, oh dear God, no!” Evan’s eyes were wide with fear.
Cole was shaking his head, not out of anger, but dread. “Meg, no. You can’t do that to yourself.”
She frowned and chewed her already swollen lip. Feeling cornered, she stood, stepped over Maze, who had joined them at the start of the conversation, passed Cole’s long legs and moved into the aisle. Hands on her hips, Meg paced three steps back and forth, still feeling like a trapped animal.
She knew she needed off this plane.
“Listen to me Meg Winter, what would Creed want? If he were sitting right here, what would he say to you?” Alik grabbed Meg by the shoulders and locked eyes with her.
“He would tell me to move on. He would tell me to finish what we started.” She took a deep breath before finishing, “He would tell me to cut the head off the snake.”