We practiced for hours. Jared and several members from the squads took part, eager to know what it felt like. I did pretty well. I focused and persevered, pushing past my discomfort at the knife. I had to or I’d be calling people’s blood accidentally. In a battle, that would be bad. And I fully intended to be part of the upcoming battle, whether Butch liked it or not.
After lunch, we all had a regular training session with Sam and Jared in the rainforest, during which Sam and Butch practiced extending their shields. I was exhausted by the end of the session, and I tried hard to conceal that I’d tired much sooner and easier than the others. Tried and failed, because Butch and Paige saw it clearly enough. Thankfully, neither rubbed salt in the wound.
When Butch and I returned to our apartment, we showered and changed. Dinner was a pretty quiet affair, and I knew it was because he was trying to think up ways to stop me from going to visit Marco. I couldn’t really blame him for that. I didn’t want to waste minutes of my life with the dick either, particularly since he could be the person who tried to kill—
“You’re not eating.”
I blinked. “I was in deep thought.”
His perceptive eyes narrowed. “You were thinking about Marco. He’s the only person who makes you look that pissed.” Butch put down his fork. “You don’t have to see him. No one would judge you for backing out.”
“Trying to talk me out of it?”
“Hell, yes. Going to see him is pointless, baby. He won’t tell you anything.”
I reached over and threaded my fingers through his. “I understand why you don’t want me to see Marco and give him another chance to play games, but it has to be done. Like it or not, he’s our only real hope of finding the answers we’re looking for.”
“And he’s loving that,” said Butch. “He’s loving the power it gives him.”
“I know, but—”
“And he’s loving that it gains him access to you. He’s not going to give up that power easily.”
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. But I have to try.”
With a heavy exhale, Butch leaned back in his seat. He kept a firm grip on my hand. “Ryder will be scanning his mind tomorrow night. Why not wait and see what he finds in there?”
“Because the poor guy’s just woken from a coma. Take it from someone who has a psychic hand—traversing through a person’s head is not at all easy. It’s also pretty uncomfortable. While he’s tired and unbalanced, it’ll be hard enough for Ryder to scan three minds. He’ll need time to recover before he can do a thorough scan of Marco’s mind, which means there’ll be a delay in getting the information we need. We can’t afford delays.”
Butch looked away, clearly intent on brooding. It was almost cute.
I squeezed his hand. “Look, I know this is hard for you. I don’t like it either. But you’d do the same in my position.”
His jaw hardened and I thought he’d argue again. Instead, he sighed. “Fine.”
Apparently he was learning the need to respect my choices. Progress. “It’s not—” The rhythmic tapping of knuckles on the door made me smile. There was only one person I knew who knocked like that. “It’s Fletcher.”
Still sullen and broody, Butch grunted. Whatever.
Putting down my fork, I hurried to the door and opened it. Fletcher and Norm both pranced inside, beaming. They did those air-kissing things. Noticing Butch, they each waved at him. He tipped his chin at them.
Fletcher leaned close as he asked me quietly. “What’s he sulking about?”
But Butch heard him. “I do not sulk.”
“Of course not,” Fletcher assured him. “No one would ever imply otherwise.”
I blinked as Norm thrust a bag at me. “What’s this?”
“I saw it and immediately thought of you,” Norm told me with a wink.
It had to be raunchy underwear. He liked to pick things like that up for me and the girls. With a smile, I delved into the bag and pulled out something black and soft…and my stomach sank. Fuck.
Instantly sensing my mood shift, Butch blurred to my side. “You okay, baby?”
No, I wasn’t. “I was wearing this vest in my vision.” That meant the battle could happen at any point from this night onwards.
Butch cursed. “Call Sam.”
After assuring a distressed Norm that he hadn’t done anything wrong, I called Sam’s cell phone. Like Butch, she cursed…only she did it better and with more creativity.
“We still don’t know when the attack’s coming,” began Sam, “but we’ve ran out of time to really prepare for it.”
“No, we’ve trained harder than we ever have before.”
“But we don’t know whether that will be enough against a drove of fire-breathing creatures. Imani, I don’t mean to pressure you, but we really need you to get something out of Marco.”
“I’ll get him to talk.” I wasn’t yet sure how, but I would.
“Jared will be waiting at the entrance of the cells in ten minutes.”
“We’ll be there.” Ending the call, I turned to Butch. “Now I really, really have to do this.”
He curled a stray lock of hair around my ear. “I know. I just wish this wasn’t on your shoulders. It isn’t fair to you.”