The truck hit a bump and Teri screamed. Ruddy's shoulders tensed so hard it hurt his neck. He jerked the steering wheel.
You’ve got to slow down! Teri said. Ruddy slammed his foot down on the brake pedal, and the truck jerked and skidded.
You’re driving too fast, she said. Everything’s going too fast!
Another wave of panic hit Ruddy. Sweat poured down his face. He swerved to avoid … he didn’t know what. Something was out there. Something horrible.
Xeke flailed awake. “It’s after us!” he yelled. His hand smacked Ruddy in the face.
Corey gripped Ruddy’s shoulder. “Hey! You’re going to flip the truck over!”
Ruddy’s hands tightened on the wheel. He wrestled his fear under control. The truck slowed.
Corey swept his gaze from Ruddy to Xeke, and then to Teri. “Did I miss something, guys?”
Sorry! Teri said. Her face was wet. “Sorry,” she said out loud. “That was my fault.”
Corey frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I can’t sleep,” Teri said. She punched her tiny fist into the seat in front of her. “I just can’t sleep! I can’t get comfortable, I can’t stop thinking about everything. They’re never going to stop hunting us, and I’m so tired of it. All I want is for everyone to leave us alone. I just want to sleep.”
“I can use my powers to help you sleep,” Corey said. “If that’s what you want.”
Teri eyed him for a moment, then exhaled. “Go ahead,” she whispered.
Corey cupped his hand over her forehead. Ruddy could see the blue glow of healing spread over her, even in the rearview mirror. Her face softened and her breathing steadied.
Ruddy’s own mind relaxed as Teri eased into sleep. Corey brushed a stray hair out of her face, then looked up.
“I’m going to be up front with the two of you,” Corey said. “Teri’s falling apart. I don’t know if she can go on like this.”
“She just needs some sleep,” Xeke said.
“She’s been through hell the last few days,” Corey said. “It’s probably triggered memories of her childhood abuse. We need to be careful.”
“We don’t know for sure what happened to her when she was a kid,” Xeke said.
“I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Corey said.
“So she’s been through a lot,” Ruddy said. “She’s stronger than you think, and she’s smart. Like really, really smart. You should have seen her when we met. She was hurt so bad she could barely even stand up and she took on a whole DSSA team. They still don’t know what hit them.”
“Ruddy’s right,” Xeke said. “She’ll be fine. Just give her some space to adjust.”
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“It’s not that simple.” Corey made eye contact with Ruddy through the rearview mirror and held it. “Even the strongest person has a breaking point, and that’s a big deal here because of the magnitude of her talent. She could do a lot of damage without meaning to. If she loses it, we need to be prepared to deal with it.”
Ruddy glared at him. “Be careful where you go with this. I don’t care what happens, I won’t let you hurt her.”
“No, no, God no,” Corey said. “I wasn’t going to suggest ... that. All I’m saying is we have to think about how to talk her down if she loses it”
“She won’t,” Xeke said.
“Look, we’ve all had a rough day,” Corey said. “We don’t have to hash all this out right now, but I want you two to be thinking about it.”
It was getting dark outside. Ruddy flicked on the headlights, then reached out to Xeke. About what Corey was saying …
Hang on. A mental wall sprang up in Ruddy’s mind. For a second, he thought Xeke was blocking him out—but the wall was between them and Teri.
Wow. How did you do that? I really need to practice some more.
I hope it’s strong enough.
But Teri’s asleep.
Teri’s asleep, yes. But her other half never sleeps, remember?
Oh. Ruddy frowned. You don’t trust Terry? She saved our lives back there.
It’s got nothing to do with trust. We need to have a private conversation about Teri. We’ve never been able to do that and it bugs me. It’s like Big Sister is always watching.
Ruddy glanced in the rearview mirror again. Teri’s head lay against Corey’s arm. She was snoring. Corey was watching them.
- Let’s talk, then.
Xeke leaned back and closed his eyes. Corey’s right. Teri’s in bad shape. When she freaked out back there, I thought all my nightmares were coming for me.
Ruddy shivered. I know. She’s been jumpy since I met her, but never like this.
Yeah. I think Amelia did something to her. Or maybe it was killing Amelia that pushed her over the edge.
Isn’t that what Corey was saying?
Yes, Xeke said, But—look. Forget about Corey for a second. We’re the only ones who have all the facts. Corey doesn’t know about the bond. Whatever we say to him, we may as well say to Terry—not to mention whoever is in this “organization” he belongs to that we don’t know anything about. We’re the only ones with Teri’s best interests at heart.
Yeah, I guess that’s true.
Bottom line, Xeke said. Teri is our responsibility. We need to help her get through this.
That’s what I’ve been trying to do! She won’t let me help her do anything. She won’t even look at me. I think she hates me.
Xeke frowned. Woah, calm down. She’s just lashing out. Don’t take it so personally.
Easy for you to say. She doesn’t hate you.
She doesn’t ... Dammit, Ruddy. This isn’t about you.
The tips of Ruddy’s ears turned red. I never said it was!
Xeke took a deep breath. You’re making my point for me. Just stop being mad and think for a minute. You’re angry and upset, and she’s picking up on that. She’s feeding off our emotions the same as we were feeding off hers earlier.
Ruddy glared straight ahead. Hmph. Maybe.
Think about how you’ve been feeling since … what we had to do at the base.
Ruddy flinched.
You don’t think Teri is having some of the same issues dealing with what she had to do to Amelia? Xeke said. If she’s shutting you out, it’s because she’s at the limit of what she can handle. We can’t pile our baggage on top of hers.
So … you don’t think she hates me?
No. We’re family. Getting annoyed at each other is part of it. You didn’t have siblings. Trust me, this is normal. It’ll pass.
I hope so.
If we start falling apart, it’s over. Teri needs us to be strong for her. We have to stay calm and get her mind off all of this.
Okay, okay, you have a point. But how do we do take our minds off all this when everyone is chasing us and shooting us and blowing us up?
I don’t know, Xeke said. Stay positive, I guess. Just keep telling yourself Teri’s going to be fine. The mountains are going to be beautiful, and everything is going to be okay.
Ruddy caught Corey staring at him in the mirror. He blanked his face.
Corey knows we’re talking to each other, Ruddy said.
Maybe, Xeke said. I hate leaving him in the dark, but I don’t think we should say anything about the bond. He’s worried enough about Teri flipping out as it is. Besides, if he’s keeping secrets from us, maybe that’s a good reason to have a few of our own.