They began walking once more, and I followed them to another set of doors. It looked like a large conference room. A large table dominated the room with several chairs surrounding it. I saw all my guys and Jemmy, Gavin, Will, Beth, Cora, Rachel, Terrance, and Sierra. Beyond them I could see the children playing in an enclosed courtyard. They all seemed relaxed as they ate at the table and talked quietly.
Jace saw me first, pushed his chair back and closed the distance between us. He picked me up and brought me close.
I laughed and felt the tears threatening once more. Two things happened at once. Jace stiffened, and the room suddenly became still and quiet. I looked around in confusion. Will and Jaxson were now standing side by side, looking at the woman behind me like they had seen a ghost.
“Megan,” Will finally said quietly.
We were all sitting at the conference table after I found out that the children were fine happy. Other children were playing with them, and their ordeal had been forgotten. Will had left the room with Megan, so that left us trying to make sense of it all.
“Is our home really gone?” I asked quietly from Jace’s lap. He had refused to let me go once I was returned to them.
“Yes,” Troy finally said. “Leo showed me the pictures.”
I looked over at him. “How do we keep allowing people that may harm us into our lives?”
Troy shook his head. “I still trust him with my life. He’s been running my company in my absence, and he got intel on the possible attack on us. He couldn’t reach me, since my phone was taken. He goes way back with Paul Keebler. He contacted him. Apparently, Paul had already been watching us.”
“He had to see if you were to be trusted,” Megan said softly from the doorway.
I could clearly see the family resemblance now. Jace and Jaxson’s looked exactly like her. I imagined she looked a lot like her sister.
Will followed her in the room and took a seat, after pulling a seat out for her. She gave him a warm smile before sitting down. She looked directly at Jaxson and Jace. “After I left your father and mother, I joined the Air Force. I thought if I was busy and flitting across the globe, I would be able to forget you guys.” I thought I saw a look of sadness crossed her face before she looked down. When she looked back she looked composed once more. “I was constantly deployed once my training was complete. I met Paul through my travels. He was a private contractor. He told me if I ever separated from active duty, he wanted me to give him a call. When I… had enough, I left active duty and gave him a call.
“Somewhere along the line he figured out I was gifted. His mother had been, but he isn’t. He works a lot of missions we can’t discuss. I ran one of his teams, but recently he asked me if I would move up in the ranks.
“Horatio has exposed our community in so many ways. He needs to be stopped before they can no longer ignore us. Some people are already wanting us to register ourselves. They want to experiment on us. They want to put us in camps. We have been able to coexist peacefully for thousands of years, but now our way of life is being threatened.”
I looked over at Will. “How do we know if they’re telling us the truth?”
Rachel cleared her throat. “They are,” she stated. “Horatio has my dad and brother. I’m staying here and helping them.”
I looked at all the guys, they looked back at me. Jace squeezed my hand. “It’s your call, sweetheart. They have the same mission we do. They have better resources them we do. They can help us in many ways, and we can help them.”
“What about the rest of our team?” I looked over at Terrance and then Sierra, Cora, Beth, and Gavin. “We can’t very well speak for everyone. Everyone needs to make their own decisions. They want us to move in here. We’re going to be cut off from the outside world for…awhile.”
“We’re staying here,” Beth stated. I noticed she looked like she had lost her normal sparkle, and Cora was sightlessly staring at the wall. My heart sank. This was a lot for them to take on now. They should be grieving their loss of their connection; instead, they were being forced to make decisions.
“I have to stay with my family,” Jemmy looked over at Gavin. From her defeated look, I knew she expected him to cut his losses and leave.
Gavin gave her a warm smile, before kissing her cheek. “And I belong by your side.”
She beamed at him as tears filled her eyes.
“I’m staying,” Sierra stated resolutely as she looked over at them.
I looked over at Jaxson.
They’ll figure it out, soon enough, he said to me.
I nodded wordlessly.
Terrance looked at Will. “I would like my whole team to have the right to decide, but I would like to stay with you here. I feel like I already started this, and I need to see it through.”
“Then I guess we’re all in,” I decided as I looked at the guys. They all nodded at me and I knew I had made the right decision.
Authors Note
I want to thank everyone that decided to continue my journey with Blake in Gifted Connections Book 2. I live with my husband, two children, and 3 fur babies. I love cooking, reading, and dabbling with photography.
I’ve loved writing ‘stories’ since I was ten years old. I remember starting many stories in my spiralbound notebooks. I’m pretty sure if I was to go through my parents’ house I would still find some of them.
As an adult, I traded my spiralbound notebooks for a laptop. In between my book hangovers, I started many stories. One day, my husband told me if I wasn’t going to do anything with my ‘stories,’ what was the use of them? So I took a leap of faith and released Gifted Connections.
It has been a learning experience for me. I’m still learning as I go. Thank you for the readers that have encouraged me through this process. It helps knowing I have an audience that loves this book as much as I do.