"I know." Marina's voice caught her by surprise, and she jumped, whacking her arm on the back window of the car. "It's freaky. I almost couldn't enter the room. The humans don't know anything about the power, and they're all a little terrified around her."
That resonated with her. "You did say she injured an orderly."
"Before they sedated her."
"I don't know anything about drugs; I'm not a doctor. But…"
Marina interrupted her. "But you're wondering just how much medicine they needed to feed her to get any kind of reaction at all. All the while considering that nothing works on us for very long."
"I had to get my tooth drilled once." Charma shuddered at the thought. "The Novocain wore off in two minutes, and the dentist didn't believe me. He said it was impossible."
"We're lucky the woman's not dead."
Charma stared into the green depths of the woman's eyes. "I think it would take a lot to kill her."
Deciding not to be a coward, Charma reached down and grasped the woman's hand. For a moment nothing happened, and then her unknown kinswoman squeezed back.
Swirls of color crossed Charma's eyes. She blinked several times trying to clear the images she saw. This was much more akin to what she was used to than what happened with Jason. The human brain was not usually this fast.
Name. Charma concentrated on a name. What did this woman go by? A vision of a garden met her eyes. Not the same one she and Jason visited, but a beautiful, wild, untouched place with wildflowers everywhere.
A soft-spoken voice met her ears but she knew only she could hear it. Everything was within her own mind.
"My name is Eden."
"Like the garden. I see." Charma nodded. Vaguely, she was aware of her head going with the movement of the car, but she was so focused on her internal observation she paid little attention to it.
"How are you doing this?"
"It's what I do. Most people don't know I'm visiting them."
In real time, Eden blinked her eyes. "I've felt so strange for so long. It's been hard to communicate." She paused for a second. "I'm sorry, that was rude. What is your name?"
"Charma. Spelled with a ch, pronounced like a k."
"I can't seem to wake up, which is probably a good thing."
Sighing, Charma smiled. "Why is that a good thing? Are you dangerous in some way?"
"No. I don't think so, or at least, I don't mean to be."
"Tell me what you mean."
Marina's voice interrupted her communication. "Five minutes from the hospital, Charma."
It felt like she had stabbed Charma in the head by speaking to her while she did this. Closing her eyes, Charma didn't know if she wanted to pull out of Eden's head or not.
"Please don't leave me in here." The frantic plea in Eden's voice made the decision for her. Raising a hand to indicate Marina should stop speaking, she continued her communication with Eden.
"Okay, for now I can stay. However, when we get where we are going, I will have to leave you for a while so I can go inside and get Jason."
"Who is Jason?"
"He's my soul mate. Right now he doesn't believe it, and even though it would give me a certain amount of satisfaction to leave him strapped to a bed for several days, I can't seem to leave him defenseless." Charma squeezed the other woman's hand again. "But I won't leave you forever, and when the drugs wear off you'll be able to speak to everyone. Tell me why it's better to leave you uncommunicative."
"Because of the things I can see. No one believes me. The terrible visions. Violence, death, hell. It's coming. Since I turned thirteen, I've been able to see what will happen. I touch someone, and I know if they will die soon. The more violent the visions become, the more I can't control them. Sometimes I do things when I'm in the throes of them, and I can't seem to help it."
A tear slipped from Eden's eye. Charma gasped. Visions? She'd only heard of this happening to one Outsider. "We've been looking for you, Eden. You're with family now."
A gasp slipped from the strawberry-blonde's mouth and Charma pulled back from her consciousness. Giving herself a second to regulate her equilibrium to the 'real world,' Charma climbed into the front seat.
"Rina?"
"What did you learn?" The car was stopped at a red light and as the light turned, Marina gunned the gas. The car jerked forward.
"You found the Great One's daughter. Her name is Eden."
Marina's mouth formed an O. "You're sure."
"Visions and everything that comes with them."
"Leonardo is going to freak out."
Charma shrugged. "It will be good for all of us." She smiled. "And for Eden. She's been suffering alone since she was thirteen."
The imposing view of the mental health facility came into view. Stopping at the security check went faster as the guard nodded his head at the approaching vehicle and opened the gate. "Did you mess with his head again?"
Marina shrugged. "No."
"Then aren't you concerned about the fact that he just let us in like we're supposed to be here?"
Squinting, Marina bit down on her lip. "Maybe it's still valid from the first attempt?"
"You're asking me? You don't actually know?"
"It's not like I have all that much experience doing this kind of thing." Marina raised her voice. "You're the one always rummaging around inside people's psyches."
"I'm helping to relieve emotional pain. I don't alter their brains."
"Look, I don't know the answer to your question." Marina returned her gaze to the front of the car thereby shutting Charma out. "Let's just be grateful that it worked, shall we?"
Charma had never been a fan of things that came too easily. When she was younger, if she'd practiced with her powers and something came without much effort, it was likely to blow up in her face.
"Marina…"
"We're here." Marina pulled the car into the parking space, skidding as she came to a stop. All three occupants of the vehicle bounced forward, and Eden hit the seat in front of her. Charma gasped and looked back at the other woman to make sure she was okay.
As Marina set the car in park, Charma glanced up at the building they were going to reenter. Her breath caught in her throat. A giant rain cloud, the kind she'd seen on television when they showed funnels had formed over the building. Glancing left and right, she quickly determined that everywhere else around them was still a beautiful day. She narrowed her eyes. This was power, pure and simple, and she doubted very much that it was Jason who caused the tempest to form.
Feeling suddenly sick to her stomach, she grabbed Marina's arm. Unable to come up with the right words, she pointed at the sky. It took her cousin a moment to catch on to what Charma wanted. She slammed open the door and darted from the car. Charma followed her, both of them keeping their eyes on the sky. Rushing winds howled around the building. Dirt kicked up from the gardens.
"Could your soul mate be doing this?" Marina had to shout to be heard.
"Doubtful." While Jason was still unsure of his powers, Charma couldn't see weather manipulation as coming in conjunction with body control.
"Damn." Marina walked towards the building.
"Wait." Charma felt frantic. They couldn't just blast through the door. There had to be some kind of plan first. She'd been dealing with this demon all day, and she had a pretty good sense of how to handle it. By contrast, Marina was likely to get them all killed with her lack of thought. "First, what about Eden? We can't just leave her in the car."
Marina tapped her foot. "You're right. She'll be a sitting duck."
Charma looked around, her eyes finally falling on the perfect solution. She ran to the wheelchairs stored by the front entrance and grabbed one pushing it back to the car. "Help me."
Between Marina and Charma, they managed to put Eden into the contraption.
"Why will she be any safer in this?"
"We're going to put her with the rest of the patients."
Shaking her head, Marina blew her
hair out of her eyes. "What?"
"Look, for whatever reason, Self-loathing never knew Eden was here. That means whatever her power is, she's not as obvious as we are. She was safe here, for the most part. We need to get in, get Jason, and get out. So we'll leave her somewhere that will be easy to get back to, and then we'll grab her on the way out."
Nodding, Marina pushed Eden forward. "You know this isn't going to be that easy, don't you?"
"I know, but I'm trying to act like it will be so I don't freak out." There was something she was forgetting to tell the other woman that was important. Like a light going off in her head, she remembered the piece of her demon fight that she'd not yet told Marina. "Something weird happened when I was fighting Self-loathing earlier."
"We have to find another name for that thing. Can't we just call it the bad dude like we always have?"
Shaking her head, she couldn't help her smile as she remembered Leonardo naming the creature that when they'd been children. "No, because this is not the same demon. This is a different one."
Marina stopped walking. "Now we have more than one?"
"Looks like there might be a whole family of them."
"Can't get a break on that front."
"Nope."
Stepping into the building, the door banged closed behind her. The temperature dropped a few degrees. Charma shivered. "The other thing was that Self-loathing didn't seem to be able to harm me. It was like I blocked it somehow. She was very interested in this. Said I had something inside of me or something like that." The details of that highly stressful time were slightly blurred to Charma even though they'd just happened. She wondered if it was something the demon had done to make her memory fuzzy.
"Hold on here a second, Charma." Marina's eyes glistened in the darkening sunlight. "This is way out of my league. Something inside of you? That's bad. What did you do the other night when you soothed the night?"
Charma shrugged her shoulders. "It's complicated." She didn't think listening to Marina's lectures about what she shouldn't have done were on her agenda for the day.
"Maybe we need to wait for Leonardo. This is way above my pay grade."
Charma whirled on Marina. Angry and ready to explode, she pointed her finger at the other woman and was glad to see Marina's eyes widen in response. "I was the one who suggested we wait for him in the first place, but now it's too late for that. Yes, I did something I shouldn't have done, and now, maybe, there is some sort of evil living inside of me. I can't deal with that now. Not to mention that, yes, I left Jason in here unprotected. It's highly likely that Self-loathing got him. That has to be our main priority, and with or without Leonardo we are going in there." She paused and took a deep breath. "So get it together."
Charma stomped towards the elevator, noticing for the first time smoke coming through the bottom of the elevator shaft.
"That can't be good."
A giggle started in Charma's throat and before she knew what hit her it was a full-blown laugh. Marina smiled, patting Charma on the shoulder. "You're really odd sometimes, did you know that?"
She had. Still, Marina calling anyone else weird was absurd.
"I'm going to go put Eden in the lounge area. Then you and I are going to take the stairs and save your soul mate. Be warned, I'm going to tell Leonardo that I tried to wait for him, and you wouldn't."
"Rina, he's going to Maine. Even when he lands in two hours, it would be six more hours until he could get here."
"No, he'll be landing in Newark in three hours."
"What?"
"I diverted their plane. Leonardo, Kal, and Isabelle will land and be here in about four hours."
Charma raised an eyebrow. "And dealing with a demon is above your pay grade?"
As Marina walked down the dark hallway, Charma let herself experience the sick feeling that had been forming in her stomach since she'd seen the storm brewing above them. She'd abandoned Jason here. It had been dramatic behavior, and at the time, it felt great to leave him staring after her like a gawking monkey. But if he was dead or terribly injured because of her diva tantrum, then she was never going to forgive herself, and it was unlikely he ever would.
Chapter Eleven
Jason followed Drew into the office. Lights off, he stumbled into the desk. Rubbing his knee, he knelt down beside the other man.
"Hiding? We're going to cower like frightened children?"
Drew snorted. "Two of us versus the thing out there? We are frightened children."
Running a hand through his hair, Jason's exasperation flooded his blood stream. "Only I'm not afraid, which seems like lunacy."
Drew looked around the room. "Must have something to do with our heritage, I've never been really afraid for my own safety when it came to fighting these kinds of things. Other people I worry about, but myself, not so much. That being said, we can't win against him, at least not yet."
Jason wanted to throw something. "Then why the hell did we hole up in here instead of running out the front door?"
"The front door was blocked by the demon and his minions." Drew looked right, and then left. "And, because your soul mate and mine—although if you tell her I've acknowledged that, I'll leave you here to get eaten—are coming back, which will make it four against him, a much better number." Drew seemed to consider something as he squinted his eyes. "Also, because even if we jumped out the window, it would follow us. We need to get you to where it can't smell you."
"How do you know so much about this?"
Drew shook his head. His dark locks fell into his eyes. Jason became acutely aware of just how long his own hair had grown. As soon as he got out of this—if he got out of it—he was shaving his head.
"I don't have time to go through a brief history of Drew right now. If the thing from the Hell Dimension that wants us dead knew I was in here, it would be a lot more interested in me than you. Let's just say, we have a past, and it hates my guts."
"Do women find your brand of mystery attractive because it's really starting to piss me off." Jason didn't care that he'd raised his voice. "And what the fuck did you mean it can smell me?"
Drew had the audacity to laugh. Jason wanted to punch him. "Dr. Randall, I thought you were nothing but a stiff, but it looks like we could actually be friends."
"I don't have a lot of friends."
"An Outsider who's a loner. Imagine that?"
Jason's eyes had adjusted to the dark. He could see Drew's face turn serious. "I'm only interested in one woman, have been my whole life, as I'm sure you can relate. I have no idea if she likes my attitude or not because I refuse to get to know her."
He could understand Drew completely. "I thought Charma was a figment of my imagination."
"Oh, she must have loved that." A crash sounded in the hall. Drew's head shot up above the desk they crouched behind before ducking back down.
Can you hear me like this?
You can do that too? Not just Charma?
I'm sure there are plenty of things Charma can do that I can't. This is one of those skills we all possess, and I'm relieved to see that you've picked it up.
I've been trying to contact Charma this way, but I've been getting nothing so I thought maybe I couldn't do it.
Ignoring you in these circumstances. Wow. You're really up shit's creek, aren't you?
Drew motioned his head towards the door. I assume you just heard that boom. We got lucky. I think that might be the only warning we get and I'm sure it wasn't on purpose.
Self-loathing doesn't make a lot of mistakes.
Who? Drew shook his head.
The demon that's held me hostage.
We're dealing with a whole different creature and fortunately he screws up a lot. However, that doesn't mean he's not dangerous as all hell.
Okay, so there was more than one. That much he could understand. So how do we make it so he can't tell where I am? Jason preferred that phrase to smell him. Somehow it was less disgusting.
You have to come into your p
owers.
I thought I had. What the hell had frying of the dude in the parking lot been if not coming into his powers?
We all have more than one. Most likely you stumbled into one, your most virile power. But there is a latent power still left to discover. A fully formed Outsider is undetectable to them.
So what are your powers? This was worse than medical school. If he'd wanted to spend his entire life asking questions to get the answers he really needed, he would have become a lawyer. As it was, he hated that Drew wouldn't just tell him what he needed to know.
I have a little bit of everyone's power.
Jason sat with that thought for a while. So you could do what I do then? You could stop someone's heart from the inside out.
I think you can do a lot more than that. But no, I can't do that.
I thought you said you had a little bit of everyone's.
I do. Since I can't do that, I must have your latent ability. We just need to figure out what it is.
Okay, they'd have to work on that. Having decided that, one thing Jason was not going to continue to do was hide under this desk and wait for the demon to bust through the door. Whatever else he was, he was not built like that. Looking up, he narrowed his eyes.
Follow me. Jason crept as quietly as possible onto the top of the desk, hoping he didn't accidently knock anything over in the attempt. Standing up, he tugged and easily removed the air vent from the ceiling.
We've done the crawl through the vent thing. I don't think it's going to work a second time.
Drew sounded skeptical, and Jason couldn't blame him. Did I say we were going through the vent?
So what are you doing?
I thought I could make them think we went through the vent.
Hope you turn out to be worth it.
At that moment, the door slammed open. In front of Jason stood a man who looked to be no more than thirty-years of age. Neat and well dressed, his brown hair curled slightly on the top of his head and his posture spoke of rank and money—both things Jason was more than familiar with.
It was the new person's red swirling eyes that Jason had never seen before.