Recognizing their treatment of me was helpful, though. It got my inner bitch to wake up. I don’t cower for long, and the badass in my head suddenly smacked me hard.
Screw these people. They can kiss your ass. They should kiss your ass, because you’re the reason they aren’t mourning the deaths of hundreds. They should be smiling at you, thanking you, warmly shaking your hand and grateful that their marketplace didn’t become the site of a new memorial. I took a deep breath and coolly looked everyone squarely in the eye. I had nothing to be ashamed of. They were the ones lacking in manners.
I felt triumphant when Ryder’s mother gave me a small smile of approval.
Still, I appreciated it when Ryder’s hand found its way to my thigh under the table, which also gave me a hit of warmth. I squeezed his hand gently in thanks.
Not so strangely, Ryder’s mother seemed to pick up on our body language and continued looking between us searchingly, as though she suspected there was something going on. I flushed guiltily, knowing exactly what was between us. Her green eyes widened slightly, as though she’d just had her thoughts confirmed, and I looked away quickly.
If I clicked my heels three times and said home, home, home, would I find myself there?
“Images of the marketplace have been compiled,” Talon told the group. “The purpose of this meeting is to review the images and clarify any questions we might have over the incident. It will allow us to better evaluate the case and make necessary decisions.”
There were nods of assent all around.
At first, it all went smoothly.
The cool, 3-D imaging technology came out of a small metallic box, of which each corner was made of glass. Four different projections allowed everyone to watch from their own angles as Cynthia and I walked down the aisle of vendors toward the transfer location. The images, which were voice controlled, were stopped along the way numerous times. There were a number of questions about how I was able to pick up on the emotions, being a newcomer, when no one else in the marketplace had noticed anything. How was it that I could bypass mental shields, which everyone agreed were impossible to pass through. Did I believe I was more gifted than the rest of the people of Sunan in mind reading and perception?
The questions were borderline hostile, and I could feel Ryder tensing. Not knowing what he would do, I tried an experiment. I tried to hold my shield, but I sent him a reassuring mental blip, letting him know I was okay. That may or may not have been the reason he kept his seat. It didn’t stop his anger though, especially toward his father. His eyes kept finding the man seated almost directly across from us, his jaw clenched.
I kept explaining to the best of my abilities that I didn’t know what anyone else could do. I only knew that in that moment I was able to locate the two terrorists, though it had taken a lot of effort and concentration.
“Cynthia, did you feel the energy that Taylor is speaking of?” Miara asked her.
“Only after she was able to find the general location of where it was coming from, and only in small quantity.” Cynthia had gone quiet over the course of the questioning. Her toffee eyes were like round saucers, telling me that she hadn’t expected this meeting to go quite this way. “The truth is, she is very powerful. She was able to tap into what they were thinking despite their shields, something I couldn’t do.”
“Is that right? Can you bypass shields?” One of the other representatives was looking at me, aghast.
Ah. So it was my abilities that made me suspect.
“Not all the time. In that moment, a hit of power seemed to boost me, and I don’t know where it came from.” I shook my head to show my own befuddlement over it all. “For some reason, in the heat of the moment, I could see the bomb in my mind. They wanted to plant the bomb right next to the transfer units and transfer out before the bomb went off.”
A few gasps sounded around the table, along with murmurings about how mylunate from the transfer area would have created an explosion several times more lethal. No one would have survived.
I continued delivering my information. “The smaller one, the one that got away, was actually feeling horrified and coerced into doing what he was doing. He was holding the bag with the bomb in it over his shoulder, and both he and the large one were arming the bomb.”
Miara frowned her concern. “So what happened next?”
“I just knew that there was no time. Somehow it came to me. They were going to do this horrible thing, and only I knew about it. Then the smaller one said...” I closed my eyes to better remember. “The smaller one said that the marketplace would be our tomb. The larger one, though, he was out for blood. He felt a personal stake in this. He wanted revenge for a terrible wrong he felt was done to him by your people.”
“We wronged him?” one of the others sputtered. “That’s rich.”
“We lost close to a thousand in their attack twenty-five years ago,” one of the more elderly council members protested.
“Animals!”
“Subhumans.”
A general din of disapproving statements, comments and exchanges filled the room until Talon held a hand up for silence.
“Let’s finish watching images before we decide on the punishment for the Brausiian warrior.”
Punishment? Was this like...a trial?
The images played on, capturing my attention again. There were a few horrified gasps from the round table as I ran at the hooded pair, throwing my shoes. I had the grace to roll my eyes at my own actions, though there hadn’t been anything else I could have done in the moment. I hadn’t exactly had the luxury of time. I smirked and happened to glance at Ryder, which was a mistake. He had a dangerous look on his face. He was not amused. Well, if he didn’t like that, he was definitely not going to like the next part. Wait for it...
The Brausiian warrior unleashed his roar of fury as his partner escaped and began his mad rush at me with his knife drawn. I heard Ryder’s sharp intake of breath, and his hand tensed on my thigh. I tried to rub it soothingly, reminding him that I was here and okay, but he wasn’t eased. The warrior’s crushing embrace, where he was yelling at me to transfer him, only lasted a few seconds. Then the warrior collapsed in anguish, and I fell into a deep slumber. End of images. Another barrage of questions began.
“What did he want?” a representative near me asked.
“He wanted me to help him escape.”
“And you resisted,” a representative on Ryder’s other side stated with some awe. I decided to omit that my resistance was less by choice than by lack of knowledge. Who knows what I would have done if I’d actually had the knowledge. He was a scary guy.
“What did you do? Why did he let go?” Talon turned to me speculatively.
“It’s hard to explain.” I looked at Ryder, who seemed shaken by the images he’d just seen. This was clearly his first time viewing them. “I sort of went Rocky Balboa on the guy. The warrior’s mind was mostly open to me, like he was new at shielding and forgot to do it. I just imagined a hurtful power, allowed it to build strength, and bombed on him mentally. I thought of a huge fist delivering a powerful left hook.”
“This isn’t new. We just never found it to be effective,” one of the other members said.
“It appears to be highly effective,” Talon responded, eyeing the still again. “This small woman was able to bring down one of the warriors.”