The Whole Truth (The Supercharged Files Book 1) by Jody Wallace Page A

loss, like a gain, can become
permanent. Most supras don’t touch the stuff.”
    This was getting more science
fiction by the minute. “That’s not good.”
    “Burnout is rarely good, though
it can be relaxing if it’s brief.”
    “You’ve been burned out?” He
didn’t seem like druggie to me. That would involve having a life outside of
work, unless he did his drugs in the YuriCorp broom closet. I obviously needed
to teach the man how to have a good time.
    “Yes, of course.” John glanced at
me quickly, a surprised expression on his face. “You haven’t?”
    “I, uh, don’t know. Maybe if you
describe it?”
    He eyed me as if my ignorance had
to be fake—or made him suspicious. “Your suprasenses subside to normal levels.
There’s a numbness like mental exhaustion. Aside from amp or electric shock, a
minor burn can happen when you overuse your ability during emotional or
physical stress. As I’m sure you know, all supras lose their abilities
at...certain times.”
    He was wrong—I didn’t know. I
couldn’t recall a time I’d been unable to see lies. When I was drunk or tired,
I couldn’t see the masks as well, but they were always there.
    “I forgot about that,” I lied,
unwilling to admit I wasn’t like the other kids. “When people don’t have
anything to say, it’s hard for me to gauge.”
    He reddened, and I got the impression
it embarrassed him to discuss it. I, on the other hand, would love to be free
from lies, but I didn’t know how to ask about this universal incident I was
supposed to know already.
    “I could use an extended burnout,”
I said, to keep the conversation flowing. “It would be a nice break from other
people’s crap. Are you sure I can’t schedule one?”
    For an uncomfortable moment, I
thought he wasn’t going to answer. His flush deepened, and he avoided eye
contact. Not that he should have been gazing into my limpid pools while
driving. “As you know, I can’t lie to you,” he began, a lie fluttering around
his face. “Aside from unavoidable ones, you can’t risk a burnout.”
    Either he thought he could lie to
me, or he thought I should risk a burnout. Well, in a way, we all were at risk.
YuriCorp’s consultants were on the hot seat and it was my job to help ice the
bad guy. So to speak.
    “Are you going to require I take
Xanax to make sure I don’t get anxious?” I asked. Considering my history, I
didn’t think they had much to worry about with me losing my abilities
otherwise.
    “We’ll know more after your
tests,” he hedged. “Most of your testing will involve your chameleon side since
we need to conceal your primary ability from our lab staff.”
     “I’ve never been good at tests.”
John had gotten part of his information about me from licking my hand. Samantha
had suggested he kiss me last night, and I thought of that now—as I had several
times today. What would kissing him be like, if he were tasting me so
intimately he could sample my DNA?
    It didn’t look like I’d be
finding out from Mr. All Business. It was almost as if he’d been assigned to
tour me around the city.
    “Tell me something,” I said. “Did
Yuri delegate you to show me the sights?”
    “Er.” John stared fixedly at the
road ahead of us. “He mentioned you might feel more comfortable deciding about
your future employment if you were familiar with the area.”
    “You’re working.” That answered a
lot. “This is part of your job.”
    “No, I—”
    Whatever he was going to say was
cut off when the car ahead of us on the quiet country lane screeched to a stop
and whirled sideways, tires smoking.
    “Holy hell!” I clutched the
dashboard and braked with my feet, which, of course, did nothing to stop the
vehicle.
    John swung the truck off the
road, rattling through a small drainage ditch and onto a grassy embankment.
    I screamed. He jerked the wheel.
Our tail end spun and crumpled a section of the ubiquitous white fence before
we chunked back down the