Free Oblivion by Adrianne Lemke

to keep your friend safe!”
    He scoffed. “Yeah,
look how well that turned out.”
    I narrowed my eyes
at him. “It isn’t my fault that bad people are drawn to Jason like magnets. I
went with him to help him. Until I decided to find out more about the people
who took him, I was able to keep him calm. Not sure what else you would have me
do in that situation, agent.”
    Before he could
answer, Sam burst into the foyer. “What are we going to do?” He was frantic,
and his voice was loud enough to make me cringe. “My brother had a major
meltdown just before you contacted me. We need to get him!”
    “We will get your
brother,” I assured him, “but we need to be smart about it. They know about me
and what I can do, but they do not know anything about you. Sneaking in will be
difficult, but with your powers combined with mine we might stand a chance.”
    “Who are these
people?” Alice came up behind me. Like the FBI agent, her hand also hovered
near her service weapon.
    I chose to ignore
the obvious threat in order to answer the detective’s question. “I don’t know
who they are, but there are a lot of them. The man in charge calls himself ‘the
Doctor,’ and so far doesn’t seem like he wants to harm Jason. His second in
command, however, may be a different story. He seems a bit more likely to do
something harmful.”
    “What would he
do?” Jones asked. “Will he hurt Jason?”
    “Maybe not at
first,” I answered. “The Doctor doesn’t want him harmed before they figure out
how his abilities work. But from what I could tell, the Boss is significantly
more sadistic. He relishes holding others in his power and hurting them.”
    The look on Sam’s
face darkened, and I could feel something stirring. “Stay calm, Oblivion.” I
used the name to remind him to keep control, and he jumped at my use of it.
“You don’t know what will happen if you do not.”
    The boy took
several deep breaths, and his friends watched him warily. Interesting. They appeared…
frightened. “He will not harm you,” I informed them. “At that moment his anger
may have been unchecked, but it was aimed away from those he cares about.”
    Alice’s eyes
widened and she took a small step back. “We…”
    “Are made nervous
by abilities you do not understand. But your reticence makes Sam more likely to
lose control. He is a child in need of guidance.”
    Mark put a hand on
Sam’s shoulder. “We’ve been here for Jason, despite his occasional lapses in
control. I think we can handle being here for you too. Don’t be afraid to talk
to us, kiddo.”
    Sam smiled weakly.
“I’ll try, but Jason doesn’t even know yet.”
    “And he won’t for
some time,” I informed him. “At this moment, he knows you only as Oblivion. He
is aware he has a brother, but he doesn’t know you are the one who caused his
memory loss.”
    The boy looked at
me, an unreadable expression on his face. “Why didn’t you tell him?”
    I cocked my head
slightly as I explained, “Think about it, kid. If Jason thinks his brother
caused him harm, but can’t remember anything else, how would he react? Would he
be able to set aside his feelings and allow you to help me rescue him? Admittedly,
I don’t know for certain. But I don’t want to cause him any unnecessary hurt.
Knowing exactly what happened can wait until we set him free.
    Then we can figure
out how to undo what you did.”

THIRTEEN
    Sam

 
 
    Kindred’s tone
sounded accusatory, but he looked at me with sympathy. Having a killer look at
me with such understanding made me seriously reconsider my use of power. My
uncontrolled use of power had killed Hunter and destroyed my brother. Was I
different from Kindred? I think the answer is still yes. I haven’t killed on
purpose, or set out to harm someone.
    His ability to
empathize also makes me wonder how bad he truly is. How can a soulless killer
be sympathetic? How can someone who has murdered an unknown number of people
still manage to