Emotionally Charged by Selina Fenech Page A

Jake kept working his act but she wouldn’t calm down.
    Jamie called over to Jake. Trouble there too.
    I heard Jake call back, loud enough for me and Emma to hear, “Change of plans.”
    The teller stood and made to move away, and suddenly Jake had a shiny silver handgun pointed at her.
    No, no, no, no, no.
    Jamie pulled a gun from his jacket too, waving it at the waiting customers. “Everyone get back against that wall. You know the deal. If nothing stupid happens then nothing stupid happens.”
    A large man in grease covered clothing didn’t budge. He drawled in a husky voice, “Come now, boys, don’t do anything rash.”
    “Stupid.” Jamie dropped his aim and shot the man in the leg. He crumpled, gasping, trying to hold his blood in.
    I yelped and Jake shook his head at me, warning me with his expression. Others in the crowd screamed as well, cowering back.
    I turned to Emma, just a few steps away from me with the guard. She couldn’t be in on this.
    How wrong I could be. She had a petite pistol in one hand and relieved the security guard of his weapons with the other.
    “Ems?” I hissed.
    “Chill, sister,” she hissed back. “A little firearm action will get the sheep scared and our powers kicking in again so we can get our goods and clear out fast.”
    But our powers weren’t kicking in. I didn’t feel anything, not the slightest tingle, only the cold inside. People shuffled toward the wall, mumbling outrage and prayers. I looked over their faces, all of them terrified, except one. His face was blank and gray eyes stared at me, at my heart pendant, at the same clothing he’d seen me in just half an hour before and the blond wig identifying me as not on the level.
    I looked away, ashamed.
    “I’m not getting the vibe!” Jamie yelled at Jake, who was busy getting the teller to keep clearing drawers.
    “Swap,” Jake called back, and Jamie swung his gun to the teller, taking over.
    Jake scanned the room, coming to stand beside me. “You feeling anything?”
    “Just… cold.” My eyes turned toward Dean automatically, just for a second. Jake’s gaze followed mine and he grunted.
    “A blocker. We’ve got a blocker!” Jake yelled to the team.
    The hostages against the wall cowered, flinching when he yelled. Dean stood motionless and continued to stare right at me.
    “Oh shit,” Emma spat.
    Jake patted me on the shoulder. “Good pick, lookout. We’d be in trouble if you hadn’t spotted him. Nice, you’re making yourself valuable.”
     I didn’t want to be valuable like this. I didn’t understand much of what was happening and liked even less. “Why? What’s a blocker?”
    “People who grow up blocking their feelings, locking them down to the extent that it twists something inside them. Then that block extends out. It messes with our powers,” Jake grunted and pointed his gun straight at Dean. “Best to deal with them when they show up. I’ve seen one lock off an Empath’s powers for good.”
    Jake smiled his comforting smile at me. It chilled me more than the blocking coldness coming from Dean. “Once we get rid of him our powers will work again and we can get all this under control.”
    “Get rid of? What? No!” I stepped in front of Jake to try and talk him out of it. Stupid move, but I didn’t realize he was already at the point of pulling the trigger.
    Jake tensed and jerked the gun to the side.
    The sound blast from the shot left my whole head numb. It took a moment to hear the screams, and feel the burn in my cheek. My over-sized sunglasses hit the floor.
    I turned in slow motion and saw an elderly woman fallen on the ground. The pool of blood around her made bile rise in my throat. I knew she was dead, just knew it.
    Other customers cried and ran. Jake had lost any control of the situation. The people stumbled right over the old woman’s body, stampeding the door. Emma and Jamie were heading for the door as well. I heard sirens in the distance.
    Dean dodged between them but