Gifted Connections 1

“I’m in the alley,” I responded immediately. I knew he was nearby. His voice no longer came to me muffled; it came as clear as if he was standing next to me.

I saw a dark shadow enter the alley.

“I’m not alone,” I warned him quickly.

I saw the man beside me take menacing steps toward Jax; his hand producing what appeared to be a taser.

I felt my panic rise. I had to protect Jax. I tried to tap into that calming place I felt when my gift came to me, and I felt the energy flow, stronger than it ever had.

“Stop,” I growled.

I saw the man freeze, and suddenly Jax was by my side. He knelt next to me. “He had you cloaked. Are you okay?”

I nodded, surprised I didn’t stiffen or freeze when he embraced me. He suddenly felt safe to me. “Who are they? What do they want?”

“It’s Horatio and a few of his strongly gifted, his Tens, and he wants you,” he said as he caressed my cheek.

I looked at him in surprise. “Why me?”

“He wants to convert you to his side. He wants you to work for him,” he explained gently.

“How are we going to get out of here?” I asked, looking at the man still frozen a few feet from us.

“Well, there’s seven of us and ten of them. We have to think quickly. The guys are getting tired, and Dad has Horatio occupied at the moment.” Jax said as he crept to the mouth of the alley.

Suddenly, I felt protective of these guys. I didn’t know why, but I knew they were the better option of the two. I knew at that moment I needed to control my gift, and I would need their help. There was no use hiding or denying it any longer.

“Dance for me.” I felt perversely vengeful as the man started gyrating his hips. “No, be a pretty-pretty ballerina.”

The man began doing pirouettes and leaping. The man was on the thicker side, almost portly. Watching a man that was approximately five feet seven or five feet eight poorly imitating a ballerina dancer was quite amusing to me.

Jax let out a bark of laughter as he looked over at me in shock and amusement. “You have a twisted sense of humor.”

“You haven’t seen nothing yet,” I muttered with a grim smile as I joined him at the mouth of the alley.

I could see better now and saw that Jax was correct when he said the guys were getting tired. Troy was the closest to me as he launched another fireball at a man wielding ice. It occurred to me they all battled silently except the occasional expletive or yelp of pain.

I looked in confusion at Jax. “Why aren’t they vocal?”

&nbs

p; He gave me a lopsided smile. “It comes with control, you’ll learn,” he said reassuringly. His brows knitted. “Maybe you should stay here.”

I shook my head emphatically. “I’m done being the victim.”

There was too much adrenaline coursing through me to hide. I looked at the ice wielder and tried to find that place again. I tapped into my instincts as I said, “Bite your rear.”

Suddenly he was making biting motions with his mouth towards his rear as he spun in circles. Then he began to scream as he started swatting his butt.

Jax smiled at me. “I made sure he could see the fleas too.”

Troy gave us a thankful smile as he turned towards Mr. Jace and Drake to help them out. Drake had a weird blue force field around himself and Mr. Jace as they fought off four men. One man appeared to be trying to scream tree-bending wind at them. The other man looked like he was trying to crash into the field with enough force to knock over a car. The third man was curled up in a fetal position crying as Mr. Jace stared him down. While the last man was uncontrollably laughing.

Troy started throwing fireballs at the two men that were actively using their gifts. I took a step beside him.

“Time to play patty-cake, boys.”

The man that was screaming and the man that had been trying to crash into the force field turned towards one another and started clapping their hands.