Gifted: Now You See Me

Jenna grabbed her jacket. ‘I’m going with you.’

He didn’t protest. In fact, Jenna could have sworn she saw relief in his eyes. She couldn’t blame him. She wouldn’t want to face an irate Amanda alone either.

And she was glad Ken was by her side when Amanda opened the door. The look Amanda gave Jenna was a lot scarier than the one she gave Ken.

‘What’s she doing here?’ Amanda wanted to know.

‘Don’t worry, Amanda, I’m not armed,’ Jenna said.

Amanda sniffed, but she stepped aside and let them both in. Before Ken could say anything, she made a statement.

‘I am not the spy.’

‘I know, I know,’ Ken said. ‘Tracey told me.’

That didn’t seem to make Amanda any happier. ‘Oh, so you believe Tracey but you wouldn’t believe me.’

‘I want to believe you, Amanda!’ Ken exclaimed. ‘It’s just that, I don’t know, you get me all mixed up!’ Suddenly, his face was red. Jenna had the feeling he’d just admitted something he didn’t want to say.

And Amanda went pink. ‘You mix me up too!’ she blurted out. ‘I mean. . Oh, never mind, just forget it.’

Ken looked like he was about to smile, but then thought better of it. ‘Well, for cryin’ out loud, Amanda, what was I supposed to think? I find out you were at that seance all the time, knowing full well that it was a scam, but you let me go on and make a fool of myself believing that woman was a real medium. I was pretty pissed off at you!’

‘Aw, you can’t blame her, Ken,’ Jenna broke in. ‘She got to be a twenty-five-year-old woman for a weekend. It opened up new shopping opportunities.’

Amanda glared at her, and Jenna actually backed down.

‘Sorry. I’m sure you had other reasons.’

‘No kidding. Look, I know what you guys think of me. You think my gift is worthless and I only think about myself. I wanted to show you that maybe I had something to offer. Like, I could find out more about these people who are out to get us. And I did.’

‘What did you find out?’ Ken asked.

Amanda smirked. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’

‘Oh, go ahead and tell him, Amanda,’ Jenna said.

Amanda narrowed her eyes. ‘Did Tracey tell you? She promised to keep it a secret.’

‘She didn’t have to tell me. I read her mind.’

‘She wouldn’t tell me either,’ Ken said. ‘Tracey told me to ask you to tell me what you told her.’ He grimaced. ‘Did that make sense?’

‘I guess so,’ Amanda replied with clear reluctance. She paused dramatically. Jenna had an enormous urge to scream, ‘Spill the beans, Amanda,’ but she managed to keep her mouth shut. She knew the girl would want to make the most of this moment.

First, they had to hear the tale of her two hours in jail as Margaret, her desperate attempts to get back into her own body, her fear of never seeing the light of day again, blah, blah, blah. Someone bailed both her and Serena/Cassandra out of jail, and they went immediately to a meeting in a nondescript suburban house on an ordinary tree-lined street.

‘And there they were at the dining table, the conspirators,’ Amanda said. ‘Clare, the kidnapper. Stuart Kelley. And. .’ she paused dramatically.

Jenna couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘Mr Jackson.’

Amanda’s eyes shot daggers at her, but she was distracted and rewarded with Ken’s wide-eyed reaction.

‘So it is true?’

Amanda nodded solemnly. ‘He’s one of them, Ken. The second I saw him, the shock sent me right back into myself. But I decided I was going to find out more about this. That’s why I took the job in his office, so I could spy on him. On Mr Jackson, Ken. Not you guys.’

Ken offered a weak smile. ‘OK, I was wrong about you. I’m sorry.’

Amanda affected the look of a martyr. ‘I just wanted to prove to you all that I could do something to help us.’

‘Did it ever occur to you that we could have all worked together and accomplished more?’ Jenna asked.

Amanda made a face at her. ‘Look who’s talking. Miss Sociability. Since when have you been into teamwork?’

‘Since I came to grips with reality,’ Jenna shot back. ‘You should give it a try sometime.’ She turned to Ken.

‘Can I use your phone? I want to make some calls.’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

HOW LONG HAD SHE been here? Lying on a bed, Tracey stared at the ceiling and realized that she’d completely lost track of time. She had a vague memory of being brought into this bedroom, but when? She felt dizzy and disoriented. Had they given her some kind of drug? Or was she just suffering from the shock of suddenly finding herself made of flesh and blood and bones again?

The clouds in her head began to float away and she started thinking more clearly. Serena had probably hypnotized her, and she was just now coming out of it.

She was quite a hypnotist, that Serena. Tracey always thought hypnosis could only happen if the subject cooperated, if the subject was willing to be put under. Tracey certainly hadn’t given permission.

And what kind of hypnosis had she been using on Carter? From what she’d observed, it was like he was in a constant state of hypnosis, and she brought him out of it only when they wanted information.

But all these questions could be put on hold. Right now she had to concentrate on getting out of there.

She got off the bed and grabbed on to a bedpost as a fresh wave of dizziness swept over her. Her legs were trembling too. But the sensations passed, and she made her way to the door. She wasn’t surprised to find it locked. Of course, she was being held prisoner. And even if she went invisible, she couldn’t get through a locked door.

But they’d come in here sooner or later, she assumed, and if she was invisible, she could slip out while the door was open. She tried to concentrate, to pull up the feelings that could make her disappear.

You’re worthless, you’re alone, nobody sees you, nobody cares about you, you’re depressed. .

It wasn’t working — she was still all there. Maybe Serena had given her some post-hypnotic suggestion. .

There were windows in the bedroom. She went over to them and examined the latches.

With the sound of a lock turning, she faced the door. Clare stood there. ‘What are you doing?’

What could Tracey say — ‘Admiring the view?’ It was a stupid question.

‘I’m trying to get out,’ she replied.

‘Well, you can’t,’ Clare said. ‘Come with me.’

The others were still at the dining-room table. ‘You’re slipping, Serena,’ Clare announced as she pushed Tracey towards the table. ‘She’s already awake.’

Serena frowned. ‘It’s not easy with these kids. They’re not normal, their brains don’t work like other people’s. I’m going to have to develop some sort of special individualized hypnotic programme for each of them.’

Stuart indicated Carter. ‘You didn’t have any problem with him.’

Serena gave him a withering look. ‘Of course not. He isn’t gifted.’

Now, that was interesting, Tracey thought. She’d always wondered about that. So he hadn’t been put in their