Meg stepped out of Creed’s arms and squinted to the doorway. There stood Margo, arms crossed over her pink cotton robe. “Meg? Creed? I thought I heard voices out here. What are you two up to?” One of her brows rose as she waited for an answer.
“Mom, hey. We were just talking, but—wow, look at the time. We’d better all get back to our studies. Later, Creed.” Meg stammered, feeling like an idiot being caught by her mother in such an intense moment with Creed Young.
Creed ground his teeth at being interrupted, but slipped his impassive expression over his face like the mask he wore most of his life. He’d reverted to his soldier’s ‘at ease’ stance.
“Right, so…” Meg walked quickly to her mother and grabbed her arm, hurrying her back down the hallway, “I have one question about the plan I wanted to ask you about,” Meg babbled, mind racing.
Margo allowed herself to be dragged to Meg’s room, but looked back curiously at Creed one last time before rounding the corner. When they reached Meg’s room, door closed firmly by the girl’s shaking hand, the girl breathed deeply and slumped against the cool of the wood frame.
“Now,” Margo started gathering the papers still strewn across her daughter’s bed. “Do you really have a question about the plan?”
Meg shook her head, still trying to get her heart to stop trying to leap out of her chest.
“Do you want to tell me what was going on with Creed?” Margo asked, sitting at the edge of the bed, absently rubbing Maze’s ear.
“Why does everything have to be so complicated?” Meg sighed.
“Well, kiddo. That’s just life. Although your situation happens to be especially complex—I’ll give you that.” She smiled apologetically.
“Sucks to be me,” Meg collapsed beside her mother at the edge of the bed and leaned her head on Margo’s strong shoulder. She sighed feeling her mother’s hand reach up to smooth her curls away from her face and offer a comforting side-hug.
“Ah, now. It’ll be okay. I have a suggestion, though,” she hedged. “How about we focus on the plan for now? Afterward, you’ll have all sorts of time to figure out what you want to do, and whose company you want to keep.”
Meg pressed her lips together, thoughtfully. “Will there really be life after Williams? It feels like he’s been this constant threat looming over us forever.”
“Yes, my sweet Megglet. God willing, there will be life after Williams. And it’s going to be a beautiful one. Have faith.” She leaned over and kissed the top of Meg’s head as she had as far back as the girl could remember.
“I love you, mom.”
“I love you more, Meggie.”
Chapter 37 Cole and Meg
The evening meeting began on time for everyone except Cole, who was still a no-show. In all the chaos, it hadn’t occurred to Meg to worry about where he was.
Everyone sat around the living room and started back at point A walking through, step-by-step, planting contingency plans as they went and smoothing over possible scenarios.
Though the anxiety in the house was defiantly at an all-time high, at least now Meg could feel more excitement and hope than desperation and anger. A couple hours into it, she stepped out of the detail planning still going on, and headed into the kitchen to make everyone some late night snacks.
She was deep in thought as she opened the refrigerator to retrieve the cold-cuts and sandwich spread when a jolt of terror ripped through her empath’s mind. Meg screamed at the searing pain gushing down her connection—her hands instantly dropping the glass container and flew to clutch the skin on her face as it felt as though it bursted into glass flames. Her head flung back with the impact, her neck exploding with volcanic ice before she felt nothing.
Creed was the first to react to Meg’s scream. He leaped over the sofa in his direct path to the kitchen only to see her crumple to the floor.
The room burst at the creases with terror as the others ran into the room seconds behind him.
“What happened?” Margo was yelling, trying to figure out what she was seeing.
“Meg?” Alik yelled across the room even as he ran to his sister.
Creed was already at her side, desperately watching her chest for movement, fingers gently pressed to her carotid artery anxious to find a pulse.
Evan shoved Creed aside to assess her himself. “What the hell happened?” he tried to maintain his clinical cool, but was losing it at the sight of his sister on the floor with what looked like claw marks all over her face. The blood was red and angry as it surfaced to fill the jagged rips.
Margo pushed Alik aside to grab her daughter’s wrist, feeling for herself the racing pulse under her fingers. “Oh, dear God, why would she do this to herself?” She held up her daughter’s hand. The blood and tissue under her nails made it obvious that Meg had mauled herself.
Theo wet a clean kitchen towel and rung it out, mumbling with as much fear as worry. He handed it to Margo who carefully laid it on her daughter’s forehead.
“Is it safe to move her?” Alik asked the room.