Adrian put the binoculars down and lit a cigarette. “I can’t see a damned thing in this weather. What’s going on?”

  “I don’t …” Richard’s voice cut off.

  “Well? You don’t what?”

  He turned to see Richard leaning against his snowmobile.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Adrian said.

  “The mentalist …” Richard said. “He’s pissed. Blowing up ... I can’t keep a lid on it.”

  “What do you mean? They’re not more than a hundred feet away.”

  “Too strong ...” Richard gasped. “I need to get closer.”

  Adrian’s stomach flipped. He’d never run across a power Richard couldn’t silence from a mile away.

  “Shit,” George said. “Why not let him blow up, then? If he’s that dangerous, we’re better off without him.”

  Adrian tossed his cigarette into the snow. “That’s why I don’t pay you to think, George. We need that mentalist. Go. You and Richard get close enough to get things under control. I’ll meet you back in town.”

  George and Richard sped off toward the stalled truck. Adrian climbed onto his own snowmobile and went the other way.

  Conscious thought fled as Xeke’s mind fell to pieces.

  Must get away. He flung the door off its hinges and ran out into the snow. He stumbled through drifts higher than his waist. Away ... from here.

  Ruddy screamed. Xeke didn’t care. He had to put some distance between him and ...

  Sanity returned. He was on his hands and knees at the edge of a cliff. His stomach did somersaults as he watched snow tumble down into the chasm.

  Holy hell, I almost took the fast way down.

  The blizzard had calmed, and only a light dusting of snow fell around him. He crawled back a few feet from the edge and tried to let the tension out of his shoulders, but before he could take more than a couple of breaths, the roar of engines approaching brought him back to reality.

  Now what? Xeke thought. Bright lights engulfed him. He readied his powers and twisted around to face the new threat.

  A pair of snowmobiles came to a stop nearby. The engines cut off, and the silence of the snowscape returned.

  “Hey, man.” A tall, thin figure was outlined in the headlights. “You okay?”

  “Do you mind?” Xeke’s voice was raspy. “That’s bright as hell.”

  “Sorry man.” The headlights clicked off. Seconds later, Xeke was bathed in a softer glow. The man holding the flashlight was wearing a faded red ski jacket. “We need to get you out of this cold. You’re going to freeze out here.”

  “Get away from him,” Ruddy growled. The flashlight swung around.

  Ruddy clung to his tattered blanket as he advanced on the newcomers. His teeth were bared, and his wild, icicled red hair stuck out in every direction. He looked like a cross between a mountain man and a pink bear. “I said, get away from him.” Ruddy’s chattering teeth made him look even crazier, and for a moment even Xeke considered running away from him.

  Ruddy stuck out his hand and helped Xeke stand up. The two of them stood, shivering side by side, and stared down the newcomers.

  The thin man put his hands out to his sides. “Hey, it’s cool. We’re here to help. You’re lucky we saw you coming up the mountain before the storm hit. That was one badass blizzard. We need to get you back to town before you freeze.”

  Ruddy set his shoulders. “We’re not going anywhere until we know who you are.”

  “It’s okay, Ruddy.” Corey pulled himself out of the truck and hefted a duffle bag over his shoulder. “If we don’t go with them we’ll die.”

  He smiled at the man holding the flashlight. “Sorry, we’re a little jumpy. We’ve had a rough week.”

  “No problem, man. I’m George.” He gestured to the large man on the other snowmobile. “And this is Richard. We’re from Cloudcroft, it’s a few miles down the road.”

  “We can save the introductions for later,” Richard said.

  “Sounds good to me.” Corey made his way to a snowmobile. “Let’s go, guys.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Xeke looked around. Teri was nowhere in sight. “Did we … leave anything in the truck?” he said.

  “I’ve got everything,” Corey said.

  “What about...” Ruddy said.

  Corey shook his head and patted the duffle bag. “The important thing is that we’re all safe.”

  “Yeah. Don’t worry about your stuff, man.” George said. He was hopping up and down to stay warm. “We’ll send the tow truck out in the morning. But we gotta go.”

  Corey helped Teri onto George’s snowmobile. He’d been around her long enough that he barely noticed the way George slid forward to give her room without knowing she was there.

  “You good?” he whispered. She nodded. Her eyes were empty.

  The snowmobiles roared up the hill, detouring around a collapsed section of road. It was lucky they’d broken down. Ruddy might have driven right off the mountain.

  They emerged from the trees and sped past a group of well-maintained buildings. The town was like a scene from a western, with wooden porches and rustic fa?ades. One building had a spinning barber pole out front. Next door, there was a sign proclaiming “The Tin Star Saloon.” There were a few more structures going up in the same theme.

  Looks like we’ve joined the gold rush, Corey thought.

  They pulled up to a big building on the corner with an Rx sign. Corey reached out to give Teri a hand. She ignored him and slid off the snowmobile herself.

  As they made their way onto the porch, Ruddy whispered, “Where’s Teri?”

  “Not now,” Corey said. Warm air washed over him as he pushed open the door to a doctor’s office. The waiting room was sparse but clean, with a half-dozen goldenrod yellow chairs that looked like they came from the set of a ’70s movie, a stack of old Highlights magazines, and a few Norman Rockwell paintings on the wall. There were no other patients waiting.

  “Doc Zimmer will take care of you,” George said. “I’ll go let Mayor Wiley know you’re here. He likes to meet new people in person.” He waved and left.

  Teri sat down in a chair that was off by itself and hid her face behind a magazine.

  “Teri’s fine,” Corey said in a low voice. “She’s right here in the room with us.”

  “Why can’t we see her?” Ruddy said. “Teri? Are you here?

  She buried her face deeper in the magazine.

  “If she wanted to talk you, you’d be able to see her.” Corey’s eyes narrowed. “You could apologize for whatever it is you did to upset her.”

  “What? I didn’t do anything!”

  Teri threw the magazine down and turned to face the far door.

  “You’re upsetting her more,” Corey said. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it.”

  “I ... I …” Ruddy looked like he was about to cry.

  Corey started to say something else, but the door at the far end opened. An older man in glasses and a white coat looked out. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Come on in.”

  Corey waited until Ruddy and Xeke had followed Zimmer. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked Teri.

  Her face was swollen from crying and she shook every time she took a breath. “They hate me.”

  Corey shook his head. “They don’t hate you, Teri.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I can’t think of a reason to live. Nothing. No matter how hard I try, no matter how far into myself I look, there’s no inspiration. There’s nothing. I’m nothing. It’s like I never existed.”

  Corey didn’t know what to say.

  “Stop worrying. I’ll … be fine,” she said. She turned her back on him and walked into the exam room. He followed her.

  Ruddy was already sitting on the examination table, one bare foot extended toward the doctor and the other soaking in a small tub of warm water.

  “I’ve seen worse,” Zimmer said. “You’ve got some necrosis here, but I’m pretty sure we can save the toes.”

  “Save the toes?” Ruddy’s lip quivered. “But …”

  Corey’s fist clenched. “Why are you wasting the doctor’s time? Just heal yourself.”

  Ruddy hung his head. “Sorry.”

  Corey felt like kicking himself. Not because he’d snapped at Ruddy, but because he’d all but told Zimmer that Ruddy was afflicted.

  But Zimmer hadn’t reacted at all. Interesting.

  A handsome, middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair walked into the office. The mingled odor of expensive cologne and cigarette smoke was overpowering. His new-looking suit was an Armani—they didn’t even make those any more. His nails were manicured and gleaming.

  He stuck his hand out and smiled at Corey through perfect teeth. “Sorry I wasn’t here to greet you folks,” he said, “I’m Adrian Wiley, the mayor. Welcome to Cloudcroft.”

  “Thanks for helping us out,” Corey said. He extended his hand. Adrian squeezed it a little too hard. Corey matched the pressure without upping the ante.

  “Well, George and Richard weren’t going to leave you out there to freeze,” Adrian said. “That’s not how we treat people around here.” He turned to Zimmer. “How does he look?”

  Zimmer lifted one of Ruddy’s feet out of the warm water. “Hmmm. There was frostbite, but now there’s nothing. Perfectly healthy tissue.”

  Ruddy flinched. “Oh, I’ve got, um, a foot condition,” he said. “They look like they have frostbite when they get cold, and then it goes away. Been that way since I was ... a kid …” He trailed off when he realized everyone was staring at him.

  Corey cleared his throat. “Look, we appreciate you taking us in, Mr. Mayor. But …”

  The mayor smiled even wider. “Please. Call me Adrian. And to be honest, Richard and George didn’t exactly happen along.”

  Corey nodded. “Didn’t figure you had. Just a little too convenient.”

  Ruddy’s gut clenched. “You’re with the government?” He stood up so fast he almost overturned the tub of water.

  Zimmer jumped back and knocked over a glass jar. It shattered onto the floor. “Sorry!” he said. “Sorry.” He bent down to pick up the glass fragments with his fingers.

  “You’re going to cut yourself, doctor,” Corey said. He grabbed a roll of paper towels. “Let me help you. Oof, it’s iodine. It’s going to stain your floor.”

  Ruddy ignored them and glared at Adrian. Xeke stepped forward to stand next to him.

  Adrian held up his hands. “Woah, fellas. You’ve got me all wrong. The government doesn’t come around here. We take care of our own.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Xeke said.

  “I keep the government out of our business,” Adrian said. “That’s all you need to know for now.”

  “That’s debatable,” Xeke said.

  “Look. You’re suspicious, and that’s understandable. But all I mean is we keep an eye on who’s in the area. People like us can’t be too careful, you know?”

  “What do you mean, people like us?” Ruddy said.

  Adrian pulled a cigarette from a pack and put it in his mouth. The tip began to smoke on its own. “I think you know what I mean.”

  Ruddy’s eyes widened.

  “If you don’t want to talk about it right now, I understand,” Adrian said. “The way they hunt us, none of us would be walking around if we weren’t careful. But trust me—you’re among friends here.”

  “I hope you won’t mind if we don’t take your word for that right away,” Corey said.

  “Don’t blame you,” Adrian said. “But you’re welcome here regardless. Do you trust me far enough that I can offer you a hot shower and some rooms at our resort?”

  Corey threw a wad of iodine-soaked towels in the trash can, then smiled. “That, I think we can deal with.”