Mindsiege Read Free

The Program together, so they understood that each of them was cloned from another human.
    “Back off, Jack,” Fred stepped between them.
    Jack backed up and leaned against the opposite counter, his arms crossed. Kyle’s eyebrows shot up as he and I made eye contact.
    Georgia finally spoke up, cutting the tension that was growing like algae. “So, what are we going to do? Do we move? Do we stay?”
    “What do you mean, move?” I asked. And was I included in her plans to move? “Why would you move?” Of course, I didn’t even know where we were. I hadn’t ventured outside since we’d arrived here more than two days ago.
    “Well, thanks to you, our covers could be blown,” Jonas said, his mouth hidden by the edge of his coffee mug. The way his eyes drilled into me unnerved me.
    “Jonas, I’m warning you…” Jack straightened, his shoulders back. A vein on the side of his neck quivered.
    “What is all of this really about?” I asked. What’s going on here? Why are you yelling at Jonas?
    Jack shook his head at me.
    “Friday night was a disaster.” Leave it to Georgia to be the honest voice in this lot.
    I agreed with her, but… “What do you mean?”
    “You were supposed to run, not end up here. Jack said you would run.”
    Jack shook his head. “Stop it, Georgia.”
    “Stop what, Jack? You’ve protected her long enough. I don’t see a fragile girl about to crumble before us.”
    Jack crossed the room. He slid his hand into mine. “This is all new to her. And we all still have a lot to learn.”
    “No, she’s right,” I said. “You’ve protected me. We got away from Wellington and bought ourselves some time to figure out what’s truly happening.”
    Jonas let out an under-his-breath chuckle. Jack gripped my hand tighter.
    What’s with you? I asked.
    Later .
    “So, what have you decided?” Georgia asked me. “Jack must return to Wellington. What will you do?”
    I glanced at Jack. I knew he intended to return to Wellington. He wouldn’t have left if it hadn’t been for me. He needed to return and watch over Addison, who was like a sister to him. I shuddered just thinking about the story of a horse crushing her skull when she was seven years old.
    If Addison were to wake, Cathy and Dr. Wellington would know that I healed Addison’s brain injuries Friday night—that I did exactly what they suspected I could do. And if they were to discover my abilities, everyone in this room was convinced that they’d stop at nothing to find me again. They’d force me to join their cause, whatever that cause was.
    Cathy had pretended to be Jack’s caring and loving mom one minute, then imprisoned us with an electric fence around our school the next. And Dr. Wellington, president of Wellington Boarding School and brother to Cathy DeWeese, had allowed her to interfere without ever explaining their ultimate intentions.
    What I feared most was that they could force me to use my unnatural abilities—abilities I knew little about—against my will.
    Someone was definitely inside my head this morning, controlling my actions and forcing me to hurt the one person in my life I would die to protect.
    I studied the people in the room, each of them waiting for me to answer Georgia’s question. My heart tightened. I knew what I had to do. I dropped Jack’s hand and massaged the bridge of my nose.
    A presence entered my head. A presence that was not Jack.
    “Lexi?” Jack said. “You okay?”
    My head jerked toward him. “Fine. Why?” Could the presence inside my head hear my thoughts? My knees began to shake. I was unsteady on my feet.
    You’re a good actress, Lexi. Don’t let them suspect that someone’s inside your head.
    Georgia stared at me, still waiting for me to answer. Fred and Kyle whispered to each other in the corner. Jonas had turned away and was rinsing his coffee mug in the sink.
    What do you want from me? I thought to the presence.
    Tell them you’ll return to Wellington.
    No. I can’t go