Sleight of Hand: The Final Card

Chapter 12

The morning sun was watery as it shone through the trees and speckled the ground with golden-white light. Rae watched as—one by one—the group woke, groaning and turning over to block the light from infiltrating their eyes. Eventually everyone was awake, albeit bleary-eyed from sleeping fretfully on the hard for­est floor.

The group took turns sending people away to use the bathroom privately while everyone else packed up their supplies and made ready to move again. Nobody talked, probably from a combination of exhaustion along with the knowledge that the group would be going sepa­rate ways in mere moments.

The silence of their group didn't help Rae's head­ache. Because of her power, she had the "gift" of hearing everything. She'd heard people mumble in their sleep as she kept watch, heard every breath and heartbeat of every person. She could tell who was having night­mares and who was sleeping soundly.

Not very many of them slept soundly.

She'd heard every rustle of leaves or shrubbery as an animal stalked by in the dark of the forest. She'd heard every breeze whistle through the trees.

Thankfully, there were no humans around, no highways to hear. When her headphones had broken after their crash, the noise had invaded her mind and almost brought her to her knees. It was so loud, hearing every roar of engine, every stomp of pedals, every screech and grind of tires against the road. Not to mention the conversations and detached voices she heard from the humans themselves. One of these days, all the noise was going to drive her insane.

She rubbed her temples, wanting to groan as the last of their group came back from relieving themselves. They all gathered, looking back and forth at one another to see who would speak first.

"Bacon, Mac, Alyakim, do you all feel confident in getting back to my house?" Kurtis finally asked. They nodded.

"I remembered passing a car junkyard while we were traveling," Bacon said. "I'm sure Mac and I can find something to use there to get us home."

"Very good," Kurtis nodded. Their group cleaved in two as everyone exchanged goodbyes. The group headed home separated themselves and set off with Bacon and Mac in the lead, Bacon holding some sort of gadget that glowed along with his eyes. A makeshift GPS system, Rae guessed. It was impressive how tech-savvy Bacon was. The rest of them watched until they disap­peared from view.

Kurtis turned to Aivilo. "Are you ready?" he asked, and she nodded. Her eyes blazed a little brighter, and she seemed to bow ever so slightly as more power was used, but then she straightened and fixed her eyes on something invisible to everyone else, telling her which direction to go.

"Follow me," she said, and they started off through the woods, picking through trees and overgrowth.

For a long time, no one spoke as they walked. Each person seemed to be in their own world. The only sound to be heard was the crunching of dead leaves and forest growth underneath their feet. Which, to Rae, was still heightened and made her want to cringe every time someone's foot dropped.

"It really bothers you, doesn't it?" Trebor's deep voice said beside her. She jumped. Trying to shut out noise took all her concentration.

She looked up and found his intense green eyes focused on her. His hands were stuffed in the pockets of the shorts he'd changed into, and she noticed he also wore a pair of high tops. Her favorite style of shoes when she was being casual.

She saw the dark circles under his eyes. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that he didn't sleep well—she didn't think any of the original Elite did. Besides Trebor, they were the most restless as they slept. Aivilo, Mac, Bacon. But for some reason, when she had taken her turn to keep watch, Trebor had been almost completely silent.