Read Online The Forbidden Trilogy by Kimberly Kinrade - Free Book Online

from
somewhere. No one was created in a lab.
    Gar had left the door open for me, and I went back to the
guest room to get my bags and make sure I hadn't forgotten anything.
    Time to say goodbye to Tommy.
    He clung to me and cried, begging me not to leave.
    In a move that broke more rules than I could count, I
slipped a picture into his pocket of the two of us, from the fair we'd gone to.
I'd managed to get pictures of us together in one of those booths while Gar
used the bathroom. Don't leave any evidence of your presence. Avoid cameras and
photos. Remove surveillance before you leave. Erase anything with your image on
it. They'd drilled those rules into me since I was a kid. But I gave Tommy
something no one in the outside world had: a tangible reminder that I'd been
there.
    "I don't want you to go. Can't you stay? Please? I
promise I'll be good!" He looked at me with those big sad eyes.
    I fought back the tears. "No matter what, remember that
I love you. If you ever get scared, just close your eyes and meet me in that
special room we made together in our minds. Remember?"
    "Yes, Sam, I remember." His voice cracked on my
name. Tears slid down his soft, baby cheeks.
    "I'll always be able to hear you, and you'll know I'm
there, okay?" I hoped. Having memorized his mental frequency, I planned to
check up on him, if I could reach that far. Maybe once out on my own, I could
find a way to help him. Distance reading was no simple task, but I would get
better. I had to.
    I kissed him on the cheek and plopped into the limo,
slinging my book bag onto the seat next to me. My guard sat in the front with
the driver.
    A phone rang. I answered it, knowing who it was ahead of
time.
    "You broke protocol." Higgins didn't sound happy.
    "Yes, I had to," I replied without remorse.
    "You'd better hope this doesn't get out of our control,
Sam. Otherwise, your retirement plans might be affected."
    The threat lingered like the monster of long ago, hiding in
my closet at night, waiting for me to fall asleep. Whatever. I didn't regret my
choices.
    "Everything will be fine," I said. And I believed
it.

Chapter 8 – Drake
     
    When Drake regained some semblance of consciousness, intense
pain stripped every nerve ending raw. His mind felt crushed into his skull, not
just from the hit to the head—his powers gave him the ability to heal faster
than most—but from the mind assault when someone used Drake's powers against
him. How was that even possible?
    He didn't open his eyes. First, he wanted to get a sense of
his environment. Wheels clanked against a linoleum floor and he felt himself
move forward. Voices floated around him like clouds. The world around him
drifted through his awareness like bubbles—so fragile and immaterial.
    He'd been drugged. He remembered the dart to his arm, but he
suspected they'd given him something more since taking him.
    Who did this? Where was he?
    Questions swirled through his mind, and he couldn't steady
his thoughts enough to make sense of anything.
    He had clothes on, not just his bathing suit, so someone had
dressed him. The air smelled of chemicals and sickness, like a hospital.
    Darkness threatened to close in on him again. Panic filled
his veins and sent a small shot of adrenaline through him.
    Another mind connected with his—someone with similar powers,
someone who could help. He reached out, pushing his mind with the little
strength he had left.
    He squinted through pain, and locked eyes with a
dark-haired, pale-faced beauty who looked as if she'd been in a bar fight. One
blue eye shined bright with intelligence, while the other was swollen nearly
shut. Her pink lips curved into a frown, and she placed a fist on the swell of
her hips, which accented her petite frame.
    A protective instinct flared and Drake wanted to defend her
against whoever had given her that black eye, but he couldn't be the knight
when he needed saving himself.
    He reached out to her mind. 'Help me.'
    She held his fate in her mind. Before