48.
Before I could speak, Jag shoved something in my mouth. “Swallow.”
I obeyed before groaning from the spike in techtricity. A moment after I choked down the purple pill, the burning in my chest faded. I blinked and saw Ty and Pace standing in front of me on the sidewalk.
“All you have to do is make a choice.” Thane edged closer to Zenn, who stared straight ahead. “I told the Association you couldn’t make choices. I asked for authorization to kill or capture any of you on sight. They wouldn’t listen—and I obey the rules.” He glanced at Ty. “Hello, daughter. So what are you two going to do now?”
No one spoke. Nobody moved.
“I can’t believe my daughters have turned against me,” Thane continued, his words sharp as steel. “I sacrificed everything for you two.”
“Shut up,” I growled. “That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. And believe me, I’ve heard some real shit.”
Jag laughed and threw his arm across my shoulders. “That’s my Vi,” he whispered before kissing my temple.
Thane narrowed his eyes. “Get your hands off my daughter.”
I laughed a little too loud. “Yeah, that’s a good one. Like you give a damn about me. You just want to use me for my powers. If you cared, you wouldn’t have left seven years ago.” I slowly wound my arm around Jag’s waist in an exaggerated gesture. I tucked my hand in his back pocket, and smirked.
“I had to. I—”
“Yeah, yeah. Your duty. I’m so freaking sick of that. Save it, Dad, for someone who cares.” I glared at him, daring him to do something.
He glared back, waiting.
“Gavin?” Jag asked. I wasn’t sure how many other unspoken words followed her name, but she looked at me and then him. She shook her head slowly, and I took that to mean that whatever she’d seen remained unchanged.
Zenn blinked and looked right at me. On the outside, he looked controlled. I studied him, finding his mind easily. He loved me. He hated my father. He was still resisting in his own way, but he needed my help.
“Jag.” I tried to shake my hand out of his. “We have to help Zenn.” He’d already been broken, but maybe he could be fixed.
“Let Zenn go,” Jag said. His voice reached a new level of control. Powerful, well developed, commanding. I felt an overwhelming urge to get Zenn and drag him to Jag.
Thane’s smile evaporated. The emotion in his eyes blanked out. Then the intense burning came back, hotter and brighter than before.
He laughed again, but this time it sounded low and terrifying. “That was very good. You almost had me there.” His face took on a wild quality. Dangerous. “Now what?”
All I could think was, Save Zenn. I took two steps before my arms were pinned to my sides. Jag still had one arm, and now Ty held the other.
Zenn, save Zenn. I broadcasted my thoughts toward Pace as I struggled against the grip.
He met my eye before sprinting into the street. He let loose a wild roar and flung himself at Thane. They collided with a crunch of bone and a spattering of blood.
A sickening thud sounded, and Pace didn’t move again. Thane spit blood and wiped his mouth as he stood up. Ty had one hand on Zenn’s jacket when Thane thrust his fist forward.
A jet of white mist hit Ty in the face. She choked and stumbled, knocking Zenn back toward Thane as she did.
I buried my face in Jag’s chest so I wouldn’t have to watch my sister die. “Stop!” I screamed. Everything turned still, silent. Thane waited—like I was the one calling the shots.
Because I was.
Oh. No. I was in control here.
No, no, no. Bile rose in my throat. The clenching in my gut wasn’t from the bloodstained stones in front of Ty, though that would’ve done it. No, I’d become what I hated—a Director.
I’d finally found myself.
But I didn’t like who I was.
Bright red blood stained Ty’s stark face. I moved to revive her, tears already streaming over my cheeks, but Jag held me fast. “Let me go!” I thrashed against him, letting the rage blossom and replace the hurt inside.
“No, Vi,” Jag said, his voice soft and soothing. “Stay with me.” He spoke as a command. I sagged into him, but my eyes never left Ty.
Time slowed. The crickets became the loudest sound.
Thane took one step while I fumbled in my pocket for the tech. I hoped like hell I had the power to do what needed to be done.
I made my choice.
I spun toward Jag. His cheeks were wet.
“Jag, baby, take this and go.” I pressed the diminisher bracelet into his palm.
He looked at it, defiance seeping into his eyes. “No way in hell. I won’t run again. I’m not hiding—”
“Yes, you are. I love you, you idiot, and I refuse to watch you die. Now, go. This is my fight.”
He shoved the bracelet back at me. “No. What’s yours is mine. I won’t—”
I squeezed my eyes shut and forced him to be quiet. “You have to go. It’s the only way I know how to save you. Go, please.”
His beautiful blue eyes glazed over. He fingered the device that would allow him to hide and escape. Just when I thought he was going to slip it on, he looked at me. “But I promised I’d never leave you.”
“So you lied. I do it all the time.” A hole opened in my soul that could never be repaired. I’d lose him, probably forever.
It’s my choice, I thought when I felt the weight of my actions. Thane said to make a choice.
Jag wiped his thumb across my cheek, and I almost collapsed in on myself.
“I love you,” he whispered. “I promise, I’ll find you.”
I nodded, desperate to believe him. “I know you will.” I pried my fingers out of his. Focusing on his blueberry eyes, then his delicious lips, I mentally instructed him to put the bracelet on and run. I imagined him doing it.
A surge of tech burned my face, and I flinched away. Where Jag had just stood, a blank space stared back.
Feeling lost and alone, I sank to my knees. Exhausted and with my new power consuming me, I curled into a ball on the cold stones. Silence pressed down. Slow footsteps approached. I felt the careful caress of a father’s hand. I sobbed at the touch I’d longed to feel for seven years.
“That boy has poisoned you, V.”
I pulled away and staggered to my feet. “You’re lying. Jag loves me.”
He glanced at Zenn, who remained lifeless. “Well, I can see this is going to be a problem.” His face twisted with determination as his hand shot toward me.
I tried to dodge, but he caught a fistful of my hair. The leathery scent of his jacket stained my senses with unwanted comfort. I twisted, but his grip was firm.
Icy fingers of control stabbed into my awareness, starting where Thane’s fingernails dug into my scalp. “Violet Schoenfeld, you will forget about Jag Barque. You will remember him no more.”
I struggled against his hold. “You forget about him! Leave me alone.” My command entered Thane’s awareness. His grip loosened for a split second. It wasn’t enough for me to get away before he regained control of himself.
I kicked, screamed, swung my arms. Thane stood resolute, holding me at arm’s length where I couldn’t reach him. An intense hatred resided in his eyes. “You will forget about him.”
“No! I need him!” I clawed at his hand where he gripped my hair. “Let me go! I hate you!” Desperation overrode the control I might have had.
A cruel smile painted Thane’s features. “I need the old you, not this new Jagified version. Violet Schoenfeld, forget about Jag Barque. Forget you even met him. Forget he exists.”
I fought his voice, but a black weight slammed into my mind.
“You’ll never make me help you,” I gasped out as the darkness spilled into my memories, covering the guy’s name, his face, his voice.
“I can do anything I put my mind to, Violet.”
Pain rippled from my scalp to my neck and back. Thoughts fled. Memories darkened into sinkholes. Footsteps moved away. Coldness smothered me into a hole so deep and narrow, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
“So can I,” I choked out. “And you’ll never . . .”
I couldn’t finish, because I couldn’t remember what Thane would never be able to do.