Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

63. The Second One is back

Even Daniel's usual stony mask cracks at Khan's words.

"What do you mean you don't have a Gift? That's impossible!" exclaims Jack, staring at Khan with a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"I mean," says the president, as if he were talking to a child, sounding annoyed with the whole situation. "I don't have a Gift, and no my dear boy, it is not impossible."

I wince, remembering the past seventeen years of my existence, without a Gift. Obviously, it wasn't impossible, but it is very surprising.

"But how?" I ask "How can you not have a Gift. It says in every history book, the Khan family line always has the strongest Gifts in the world! How did you... Not inherit a Gift?"

Khan sighs, leaning back on the desk, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I used to have a Gift. What it was is unimportant. Because it was taken from me, when Diana discovered her own."

A sad smile appears on his face, a stark contrast to all of our confused frowns.

"We were playing in the yard you see. I was telling her bout the time I learned about my Gift. She was upset because she didn't have hers yet, and so like any father would, I tried to comfort her."

His eyes shine with old memories, as he revisits his past.

"She hugged me," a laugh escapes his lips, "more like tackled me to the ground. We both ended up in the grass, laughing, and when her little hands found my face I felt a shock go through my body, so painful it felt like I had been hit by lightning. I remember her screaming for me as I fell. The guards came a few minutes later, but I was already unconscious. When I woke up my Gift was gone, and Diana had found hers."

He shivers, as if the memory of his loss is too much for him to bear. So, Diana was a real-life Gift thief.

"When we found out what happened well, Diana blamed herself. She has grown up hating her Gift, wishing she didn't have one at all, and hating people that were born lucky, with Gifts that could be used for good. For the longest time she hated everyone, both Elites and Norms, she was convinced she was cursed, and that everyone else was blessed. Why couldn't she just be a Norm, so that she wouldn't hurt people?"

Daniel nods, putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"So you decided to make up a cover story for her, turn her into the Norm she wished she could be. I bet it didn't hurt you either, she has been great for publicity hasn't she?"

Khan scowls but doesn't deny my mentors remark. It's true that Diana had made people think better of the Khan name, seeing as she was someone the majority could relate to.

"And now," he continues, "someone is out there, looking for her, and I fear they might have somehow found out about her Gift. No one knows about it except for our family members, and yet no one knew where she was going, and they figured that out as well."

I mull over what that the president just told us, trying to take everything in stride. Diana is an Elite, but nor just any Elite, she has the Gift that allows her to take away another person's Gift. That makes her a huge threat, but it also means she would be in constant danger if anyone found out about it. I try to put all my thoughts in order when a knock comes at the door.

Khan stiffens, but Daniel nods at him, giving him permission to answer. It is obvious now that the President isn't our ghost. Which brings us back to square one.

To say I'm surprised to see Cassie and Jayson standing there, hands behind their backs, is an understatement. They are pushed inside by a guard, the same woman that stopped us from getting into the Mar. The glare Cassie sends her way makes me smile internally, at least she hadn't lost her fiery personality while she was in here with all the big shots. In fact, it looks like she is even more ruff around the edges than before, if that's even possible.

"Sir," says Sabine, motioning in Jayson's general direction. "This one didn't pass your interrogations. The girl tried to stop us when we were taking him away, which leads us to believe they are working together. They must be the spies you were worried about."

Khans eyes widen, but before he can say anything Daniel storms up to the guard, yanking our friends our of her grasp.

"These happen to be Elite trainees from the Landa compound, working under my orders. What they are doing here and why is none of your concern, but because it seems like they won't be needing to stay here any longer, we won't bother you with them anymore."

Without letting the guard say a word he slams the door in her face, turning Cassie and Jayson around to uncuff them. Cassie smiles when her eyes land on me, but her expression turns serious when she sees the looks on our faces. She raises an eyebrow, coming to stand next to me.

"We heard about Anna," is the first thing she tells me when she comes to my side. "Xavier's compound just contacted him half an hour ago. He is off the mission, so are Asher and Anna, he went to the hospital to be with his team"

I curse. Of course their compound would pull them out, their trainee got seriously injured. Heck not just injured; she lost her Gift! I don't even want to think about her reaction, or how she will bear to live without her Gift. Gifts are what make us who we are, taking one away is like stripping us of what makes us... us. Suddenly I understood why Diana thought her Gift was such a burden.

"Yeah, well sadly," I tell her, motioning at Khan, "he isn't who we were looking for. His Gift doesn't allow him to kill when he touches someone else."

At my words the president whirls on me, grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me roughly.

"What did you just say?" He asks, voice dangerously low. I try to wriggle out of his hold but it's futile, he just holds on tighter.

"Your Gift, it doesn't match--"

"I heard that!" He yells, spittle flying at my face. I flinch, and I start to weigh my options. How long would I be in jail for punching the President in the nose? I have my gloves on, all it would take is one swing.

Finally Kalen and Daniel come to my rescue, pulling the man off me.

"You said," he pants, "that the Gift killed with a single touch, are you certain of this? Are you one hundred percent sure that that is the Gifted you are looking for?" His eyes are crazed, and he looks like he just saw a ghost.

I nod, put off by his sudden outburst. All the fight seems to leak out of him at my simple gesture, as he slumps in Daniel and Kalen's hold, sliding into one of the chairs.

"That's impossible," he whispers, "he's dead, I killed him, it can't be. That's impossible, it can't be, it just..."

"What can't be?" Exclaim Jayson and Mara at the same time, getting sick of the Presidents rambling. Khan just stares at them with wide eyes, the look reminding me so much of that of a lost child's that it makes me pause.

"There is only one person, one person in our entire history, that possessed that Gift."

He looks at Daniel, as if waiting for him to understand what he is implying, to guess the solution to his crazed questions. But my mentor just shrugs, obviously as confused as the rest of us.

"But I killed him" continues Khan, this time softer, looking at the floor in shame. "Killed him for a crime he committed five years ago. He should be dead. I saw him die. And yet, it has to be him."

He scrambles for his laptop, rereading the message he showed us just a few minutes ago.

"It has to be him!" he cries, pulling at his hair in hysterics. "Who else would know of Diana's visits, of her Gift? He knew about her and now he is going after her! But why? Why if he loved her like his own daughter?"

"Mind letting us in on the secret," I huff, getting tired of the presidents crazy rambling. But at the same time, imagining a possibility that sounds crazy even to me. Could he really be implying what I think he's implying?

"The only person in the world with that Gift," he says, "was my brother, Dominic Khan."