Teaser Tuesday! MIND: The Emergence Book 2 Enjoy & Comment.
Dina, Duncan, Liam, and Bates are back in Book Two of the MIND Series.
Kimkuta Wolf remembers everything, always has. Her unique ability gives her an edge as a journalist, but the stories she's covering no longer get the attention they deserve. After reporting on a missing person's case, she's attacked by a 'vampire' who she claims stole her memories. The doctors think she's crazy, but Kim knows better. She recruits her best friend, Lexa Quinn, to help find an ancient artifact her Grandfather's tribe swore to protect.
Duncan Ranger has finally settled into his new job as the head of MIND, the Meta-Alien Investigation and Neutralization Department tasked with monitoring the human psychic and alien population on Earth. When MIND stumbles onto clues that lead them to another mysterious piece of alien technology, Duncan arrives just in time to thwart a second attack on Kim and Lexa, two powerful women who may be more than human.
Together, with the help of the entire MIND team, Kim and Duncan embark on a journey of discovery, connecting their lives and those of their ancestors to an emergence of people with abilities, which may alter the course of human history forever.
Chapter One
April 2, 2034, Sunday
Kim dotted the i, didn’t have a t to cross when she shortened her first name, and spun the media waiver one hundred and eighty degrees for the witness to sign and date. Once he did, she’d give him the three hundred bucks she’d promised for the statement.
He set the pen down, pushed the ePaper her way, and then turned over his hand, palm up.
“Thank you for your help,” she said, reaching into her jeans while checking out his name, “Mr. Tarlins.”
“Only told ya what I saw.”
Kim placed the folded bills in his hand. Tarlins grinned, stuffed the cash in his ratty coat, and darted out of the surveillance van. A throat cleared behind her, and she shook her head before looking back.
“Don’t say a word.”
“Give him a bath and a meal, and put him in a new suit, and that man would be gorgeous.” Lexa spoke anyway, though her tone was void of her usual man-hunt attitude. “I feel like we should do something else.”
“It’s hard enough to get vets to talk, let alone accept help. You saw me. I tried.”
“You got his name. Maybe we can pass it along? Do you still talk to Stu?”
“Not since he retired. He may still have some friends on the force who can hook us up with Community Services.” Kim smiled, glad to see the compassionate aspect of the job affecting her best friend. It had taken long enough. “We’ll stay on it, okay?”
“Goodie.”
“So, transfer the doc to the office—”
Lexa grabbed the ePaper, placed her other hand on the laptop, and smirked. She loved showing off her unique gifts.
“All right, now they can stream the piece tomorrow morning,” Kim continued.
“Do you really think it will get the police involved?”
“Four missing teenagers? With Tarlins corroborating that party everyone’s saying didn’t happen… I can’t see how they can ignore it.” Kim packed up the mini-cam and recording equipment and shoved everything, including the ePaper, into a secured storage bin and locked it. “Since they never believe me without some kind of evidence, this is how I have to do it.”
“We.” Lexa rubbed the side of her head, jostling her curly red-hair, determination in her eyes.
“Yeah? Are you sure? It’s only been a couple of months, Lex. It gets worse than cute, homeless vets.”
Lexa shrugged and scrunched her face. “I see how it can get rough, but you’re right. We’ve got these ‘talents,’ and doing good makes me feel hella better than making money for some trading company.”
“You’re right, it does.” Kim leaned over and hugged her. “Thanks.”
“Are we going for drinks to celebrate?”
“It’s three a.m. I need sleep.”
“Oh,” Lexa said as she shrugged again and packed up the rest of the surveillance equipment.
Kim chuckled, moved to the back of the van, and opened the doors. She jumped down, inhaling the refreshing spring air hinted with blooming flowers. Wind whipped around the van, almost blowing her hat off. Glad she had braided her hair, she pulled the ball cap from her head and stuffed it in her pocket.
Lexa called, “You sure you don’t want a ride back?”
“Only two blocks away. See you later.” Kim waved.
Lexa nodded and vanished behind the closing doors. Before Kim reached the end of the alley, the van started, and Lexa beeped as she took off down the road.
Kim watched the van pull onto the highway, heading toward the bright lights of Ocean City. Satisfied with the day’s work, she closed her dark purple trench and braved the wind on the way back to her loft. Maybe her new boss would enjoy the story and let her do the juicy reporting she had done before he’d come onboard. The paparazzi type assignments he’d sent her and Lexa on for the last three weeks had ticked her off, but the man’s team was part of the new acquisition, and a few select long-timers were getting the real news.
Turning the corner, Kim felt a sudden urge to tiptoe down the silent street leading to her building so she wouldn’t disturb the neighbors.
Taking a leisurely stroll, she took in the houses, buildings, and cars all locked up and dark, as they should be at that time of night. Everything was exactly as it had been when she’d left. No new visitors, vehicles, or animals.
Reaching the stairs, Kim retrieved her keys, jogged up, and unlocked the main door. In the foyer, she checked for mail and found none. She frowned, wondering why no one sent mail anymore. The cargo elevator carried her to the top loft, and she stuck her key in the slot to give her access to the control pad where she tapped in a four-number code, unlocking her door.
She tossed her trench on the nearby armchair, and reached for her hair to unbraid it. The big, open space of the loft was lit only by the small slits of moonlight through the blinds, but as she neared the living room area, she spotted the magazines on her coffee table.
They’re wrong.
She had stacked them in threes across the top, but the nearest pile had four.
Prickles ran across the back of her neck as Kim stepped back, she heard the slight exhale of breathing, and gasped. She spun and darted for the elevator as a shadow of movement passed in her peripheral. Goose bumps spread across her skin as she mashed the interior elevator buttons.
The doors didn’t shut.
What seemed like black silk covered her eyes, and she screamed, tearing at the unmovable cloth. Hands wrapped around her neck an instant later. Then everything blurred and slowed.
Kim thrashed and kicked. Screaming and squirming kept her attacker from getting a firm grip, and she broke from his arms, lunging forward. More fabric tightened around her neck, snapped her backward, and pulled her feet from under her.
She went down hard, head slamming into the metal plate in the elevator.
“Fighting will make it worse, Keeper.”
She screeched when two spikes darted into the side of her neck. Fire filled her jugular, the heat spreading through her veins and boiling her from the inside.
Blind and helpless, Kim’s mind exploded with images of memories and stories, poems and songs, echoes of childhood laughter, words from her ancestors and parents, tears, and pain from secrets kept.
Everything she knew and had never forgotten flashed in her head. Like the simple observations of her street, every piece of information to cross her path found a home in her mind.
The burning consumed her, acid poison drowning her in a slow torture and breaking down her will to fight with the pain violating every corner of her mind and body.
Blank.
Blank pages entered her head, leaving an empty space in her mind. “Stop!”
The attacker snarled, “I will know your mind and consume your energy.”
Her body jolted under his tightening grip. She dug her fingers into the man’s forearm, causing something unusual to happen. Kim saw memories from her attacker’s mind instantaneously. With each passing thought she knew why he was there, what he planned to do, and who he was doing it for, too. He wanted her grandfather’s artifact to fulfill some evil scheme. He fought back twice as hard to block her intrusion, regained his control, tripling the agony as he pushed back into her mind.
She refused to let him steal her memories.
With every ounce of spirit she had left, Kim protected her mind from the invader, doing anything and everything possible to break the link.
Burning.
So hot.
More blank pages swapped out the memories, creating more emptiness.
“No!”
“Yes, Kimkuta Wolf,” he growled deep against her cheek, “and you are just the beginning.”
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