The look in his face was unreadable.
Desperate to get him away from her family to give them time to regain consciousness, Meg made a split-second decision. She turned and bolted from the room, through the kitchen and ran toward the barn. From behind her, she heard him giving chase.
“You’re going to have to let me talk with you, Meg.” His deep voice carried easily across the distance between their two racing bodies and right to Meg’s terrified heart.
She ran through the door, and breathed the familiar dusty scent of the converted barn. Knowing she was just trying to buy herself some time, Meg ducked behind one of the large bales recently delivered. Margo had been looking at buying a couple horses for the ranch and had already struck a deal with a local farmer for a regular delivery of hay cut directly from his crops. Right now, Meg was just grateful for the hiding spot.
Footsteps echoed through the wooden walls. Creed was here.
She tried to control her breathing, consciously keeping herself as quiet as possible. Though she was in excellent shape, the human in her had emotions raging, so the panting her body craved had little to do with stamina, but everything to do with the storm crashing around inside.
Creed is here. She kept hearing her brain say this over and over like it was trying to understand, trying to accept the impossible.
“Meg, I know you can hear me, so I’m just going to start talking and hope you’re not going to toss anymore knives at my heart. At least, not until I’m done.”
She heard him shuffle his feet on the dirt floor.
“I don’t remember you,” he began. “I, um… I only know what I could piece together, but it’s not a lot. The last thing I really remember was the Retribution Match with my brother, Gavil. I understand you were an assignment. Williams wanted me to kill Margo Winter and return you and your brothers to him. I have been told that I disobeyed orders and befriended you and your family instead. Apparently, I fought beside you, against Williams.” Creed’s voice cracked just enough to give away his nervousness. “But, Meg, I don’t remember any of this. I wish like hell I did, but I don’t.”
Meg shifted her weight and peeked around the frayed edge of the hay bale to see him. He was leaning against the old fridge staring down at the hand he had wrapped with a dish towel from the kitchen. He must have grabbed it on his way out as he chased her there.
Unable to stay silent beneath the crashing waves of emotions, Meg stepped out from behind the bale. “Why did you hurt my family?”
Creed’s head shot up at the sound of her voice. His eyes looked heavy with worry, and now that she allowed herself to notice, he looked much older than he did last time she had seen him just a few months before. It looked like he’d lived through a lifetime of hell since then. After having lived under Williams’ macabre attentions, he may have.
“They will wake soon, just as you did. They were just shot with tranquilizers. The metahuman bodies will metabolize the chemical more rapidly, so your brothers will wake sooner—just as you did. The humans will take about five hours longer to regain consciousness.” He looked earnestly at her, willing her to believe him.
“I was sent to finish my original assignment. Williams is holding some… very sensitive materials over my head. He wanted to give me no choice but to obey his orders. He just enjoys the torment he causes.” Creed shook his head, a haunted look clouding his eyes.
“He sent seventeen of us. Gavil and I were team leaders.”
“Gavil’s here?” Meg asked, panic returning.
Creed frowned. “Do you know my brother?”
“Oh, we’ve met. He tried to kill me with a letter opener in California.” Her eyes darted around nervously.
“Sorry about that. Well, he’s on our side this time. He wants Williams dead, too. We have another metasoldier named Slider who has chosen to join us.” Creed watched her. She had moved her body into a tense, fight-ready position instinctively, eyes warily darting around the shadows in the room.
“They went to dispose of the other soldiers,” Creed continued, hesitantly.
“I have so many problems with everything you just said. First, you expect me to believe Gavil has decided to fight against Williams?”
Creed just nodded then added. “There’s a whole backstory there. There was a girl he was really close to. She was killed by Williams. He wants revenge.”
Meg narrowed her eyes at Creed’s explanation.
“Listen, I’m pretty sure he’s never going to be my best friend, but at this point we have the same goal.”