“Cole is mangled in the hospital. Mom and Theo broke up. Our plans to end Williams flopped horribly. Slider turned in to some bad guy named ‘Miro.’ Gavil was killed in an awful shoot-out. Williams escaped because, and I still can’t wrap my head around this part, he’s a demon.” Alik sighed deeply and shook his head before continuing.
“Eleven of the twelve babies I saw in the basement of that vile hospital are still in the hands of that monster. Miro shot Mom in the back, repeatedly and she may be paralyzed, but there’s no way of knowing how bad off she is until we get back home. Oh, and this is the same home Williams was completely aware of and he and his sadistic second-in-command, Chaunders, could easily send in some real bad meta henchmen to kill us all. Have I forgotten anything?” His attempt at sarcasm missed as sadness eked too far into his voice.
“Um, yeah. We’ve adopted a little boy who could have serious post-traumatic stress disorder and none of us are equipped to deal with that,” Evan added logically.
Alik sighed deeply but cringed halfway through his inhale, his breath hitching painfully.
“Oh, and you probably have four or five cracked ribs,” Evan added.
Evan didn’t duck in time before a pillow whacked him upside the head.
Meg couldn’t help but smile through her exhaustion at her brothers. “Okay, fair enough. The attack on the Facility didn’t go as planned, but we know more about Williams than we ever have. Yes, we have suffered some tragedy,” Meg leaned closer to Creed, resting her head on his shoulder, “and we will all miss Gavil.” She paused, offering a silent prayer for Gavil’s soul before continuing.
Creed had to swallow hard as tears threatened to fall again for the loss of his brother.
At least he redeemed himself in the end, Creed told himself, taking solace in that truth.
He sighed deeply and turned to breathe Meg’s strawberry scent into his lungs and finding strength there.
Meg continued, “But we also gained Danny and Sloan. We destroyed the Facility’s Research Hospital before we left. And, on a personal note, my gift finally finished its evolution.”
Evan sat up and looked intently at his sister.
“What do you mean, Meg?”
“I mean, I was able to do one more thing before discovering how to refuel myself.”
“What?”
Meg replayed the events that occurred with the metasoldier, Laz. Creed’s body was ridged with fury when she got to the part where her captor behaved vulgarly. She reached out to hold both his hands and wrap them around her waist to help him calm down. Then she got to the part where she could project her energies, zapping those who touched her with feelings of anguish and despair before finally learning how to force her will on Laz, influencing him to do her will repeatedly, eventually escaping. When she got to the part of the story where she could channel Creed’s emotions and siphon energy from his connection to refuel her reserves, she felt him curl his body lovingly around hers and press a soft kiss to the top of her head.
Farrow found herself watching the couple and feeling pangs of envy curl around her heart. She tried not to stare at Alik during the conversation, but she couldn’t help wishing he was holding her the way Creed held Meg. Alik’s arms were hanging loose in his lap, his eyes fixed on his sister.
Farrow felt ignored, but in her heart, she would accept whatever attention he would give, when he was willing to give it. Her eyes dropped into her lap before she brought her knees up tightly against her chest and wrapped her arms around herself.
He has enough to worry about, Farrow, she scolded herself. Alik needs you to be strong. Be the soldier he can depend on. Nothing else matters now.
She sighed deeply, feeling resolved. Her role in the life of the man she had come to care for and respect was already defined, and there was no need to worry about anything more. With all that was happening, they might never get a chance to even try to get to know each other on a different level. One, or both of us, might very well die before this war is over. She flinched at the thought.
“What are we going to do about Williams?” Evan finally asked in the quiet of the cabin. Everyone knew they needed to deal with this topic, but were loath to do so.
“Meg, how are you feeling? Do you think you could give us a heads-up as to what’s going on with him?” Evan asked his sister.
“I’m sorry guys, but I’m beat. I need to rest more before I’ll be able to try that. I’m worried if I send out my feelers now, I’ll be too weak to pull out,” Meg admitted, disappointment in herself creasing her face. Maze, who had positioned himself right at Meg’s feet sat up and offered his sweet face by draping it over her legs.
“I know buddy,” Meg mumbled to her dear coyote. “I am worried about everything, too.”