The Freaks

chapter thirteen

"This really isn't that difficult, Luca."

"That's easy for you to say," I reply, stretching out my legs from where we're positioned on the floor. The tips of my boots hit the edge of the bench when I cross one ankle over the other. "You've been doing this for, what, six or seven years? You could probably do it with an accent, for all I know."

Nox sighs, leaning his head back to stare at the ceiling of the train. We're alone in here, so the exasperated sound echoes around the space. When he looks back at me, his dark eyes appear both tired and irritated. "Do you even want to be here?" he asks quietly.

I meet his gaze head-on. "Honestly? Not really."

"Then why are you—"

"Because Sigma wants me to train with this ability," I interrupt. "She thinks it could be useful when I'm up above."

Nox runs a hand through his mess of curls, blowing out a breath between his teeth. "Okay, you know what? Despite what you said, let's try again."

I sit up a little straighter, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "Fine."

He doesn't remove his eyes from mine when he says, "Listen and really feel how this power works. It took me a few months to get it right, and I didn't even have anyone to help me."

"Then how did you know it was working?"

"Because I could feel it."

I nod slowly, the silence in the train deafening. I swallow, closing my eyes and concentrating on the push and pull he's creating in my mind. It's hard to explain with words how it makes my mind feel. It could only be described as a blunt instrument trying to penetrate a sponge. It tries, but it can only go so far. The push hurts more than the pull.

Nox's voice rings in my head a moment later.

Remember, Luca, I hear his voice say, the strange sound almost echoing in the silence, the words in your head are not spoken—they're thought. They don't hold the same weight as if you said them out loud.

With his words still ringing in my head, the meaning settling in my mind, I breathe deeply and reach out. I connect with him easily, my grip on his mind tight but slick. I breathe once more and focus on the feeling of the energy. It's both uncomfortable and exhilarating at the same time, the ability like nothing I have ever experienced.

Once I find an opening, I seize the opportunity.

Can you hear me? is the first I ask, like I always do.

He furrows his brows and leans back. "I can. It's a little louder than it should be, but it's an improvement." He slaps his thighs once and says, "Come on, let's try again."

The next hour passes slowly, with both of us trading sentences between our minds. Every minute that goes by, I can feel the grip loosening as I get tired. And it must be my fatigued mind that asks, without thinking, "Can this power kill a Soldier?"

Nox blinks at me, brown eyes worried, suddenly. He shakes his head slowly. "I... I don't—"

"It's all right," I interject quickly. "I was only joking."

He shakes it off, but his eyes remain the same. He presses his hands against the bench and rises from the floor, instructing me to do the same. "We're finished with this." He looks out the dirty window, at the few Freaks passing in between the tunnels. "I've got an idea. Follow me."

I reluctantly do as he says, urging my tired legs to fall into step with his long strides. We quickly make it to the training room, passing very few Freaks along the way. Two boys nod in greeting as we pass them, continuing with their conversation a moment later. From the sound of what they're speaking about, it makes it feel like we're not in the former Underground, hiding from the people hunting us down. It's like they're trying to forget about all of the horrors we've been through.