“Come on Creed, wake up. You’re just dreaming.” Farrow was kneeling at her friend’s knees, willing him to focus on her and not the devastating dream that still curled a boney grip around his dazed eyes.
She and Alik exchanged identical worried expressions.
“She was there, in the water, but she wouldn’t even look at me.” Creed’s voice was graveled emotion. “I kept pounding on the glass, but it wouldn’t break. I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t get to her. Nothing I did mattered. She was gone.” Creed’s blue eyes looked crazed and lost as he pulled his legs in, leaned over and buried his face in his hands.
“We’ll find her, Creed. She’s not gone. This is the closest we’ve gotten to finding her. We know who has her now. Don’t give up hope.” Farrow offered her hand to the heartbroken soldier.
They didn’t care that several people around them were watching the whole scene play out. After all these months of interacting with humans, the three had become accustomed to being stared at for their looks. This was no different.
“Flight 1731 to Cairo, Egypt will now begin boarding passengers with special needs, followed by first class.” A female’s voice sounded over an intercom in English before she repeated the message in Italian.
“We’ll feel better once we’re back with the family. We’ll figure out our next move together,” Alik said to Creed.
“You’re forgetting something brother,” Creed worked his jaw before he continued. “Evan will be there, too.”
Five minutes later, when they stood to join a line forming behind an elderly man, Creed heard a little voice coming from beside him. He turned to see a little girl holding a handkerchief out to him. The cloth was pink and simple, but Creed couldn’t help smiling widely at the sweet gesture.
“Per favore non di piangere il signore.”
“What did she say, Alik?” Creed asked, eyes never leaving the little girl. Alik had turned into their translator at every foreign destination because of how quickly he could memorize and assimilate new information. It only took him two hours to learn Italian during their flight to the country two days ago.
“She asked you not to cry.” Alik smiled at the little girl who had large dark eyes and curls looking hauntingly similar to his sister at that age. Alik swallowed hard his sadness for her loss.
“Tell her thank you for me,” Creed said, reaching out to take the tiny cloth in his huge hand.
“Dice, ‘il Ringraziamento Lei’.” Alik nodded toward the little girl.
She tipped her head to the side and asked, “Lei hanno paura di volare?”
“What was that?” Creed asked, as he used her handkerchief to wipe the tears away. His eyes were red-rimmed and dark circles stood prominently in the soft skin beneath.
“She asked if you’re afraid to fly.”
Creed shook his head no and smiled. “Tell her I miss my best friend.”
“Manca il suo migliore amico,” Alik offered and stepped up to the moving line, trying to signal to everyone it was time to go.
“Dove ha partito? è morta? Il mio gatto è morto ed è andato al cielo. Era il mio migliore amico.” The little girl shook her head sadly.
“Oh, I am so sorry,” the little girl’s mother interjected, blushing deeply. “Adelina, we do not ask strangers about such things,” she said with a beautifully thick accent.
She swept the little girl into her arms and shouldered her carry-on as if she had balanced the two a hundred times before. She stepped up to the line to board the plane. The little girl turned on her mother’s shoulder to keep watching the beautiful man wipe his tears away with her pink cloth.
“What did she say?” Creed asked Alik pointedly, watching the child, watching him.
“She’s just a kid, Creed. It doesn’t matter. Let’s get going.” Alik started toward the gate but was stopped by a hand on his arm. Other passengers filed past the three handsome young adults as they spoke intensely with one another.
“Alik, what did she say?” The stress and worry he’d been through over the past half year had made Creed look at least ten years older than his nineteen years.
Alik sighed deeply and shoved his hands into his pockets. “She asked why your best friend left,” Alik cleared his throat, “then asked if she died. She said her cat died and he was her best friend.”
Fresh, warm tears filled Creed’s eyes. Alik couldn’t watch so he looked away and flung his arm over his brother’s shoulders, leading him to the gate. Creed used the little girl’s handkerchief to try to keep up with his sadness, but her little blanket only made Creed miss Meg’s empath blanket even more. Everywhere he looked, everything reminded him of the dark-eyed angel of his dreams.
Chapter 51 Caged
Theo got home just in time to see Evan and Cole position Maze into his crate and secure the door with the double locks.
“Someone want to tell me what happened?”
“He tried to run again,” Margo’s voice was hollow and she hadn’t looked away from the still sleeping coydog.