When we came in from the balcony, the room had become divided. The Nomads were on one side, and the Hawthorn Anomalies were on the other. Dozer was holding Charlie’s hand, trying to comfort her, but it wasn’t helping. Glitch’s cheeks had lost their color. The arguing kicked up again at full volume. Mia's fury was rising, mimicking the tiny flickers of flames that were growing in her palms.
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.
Dozer spoke up first. “They’ve been killing ACT agents.”
I blinked, suddenly frozen.
“That was you?” Cash asked, sounding just as shocked as I felt.
I immediately turned to Jason as he came back into the room. "Jason, you're killing people?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he slipped by me and walked over to the Hawthorn Anomalies, drawing a clear line between us.
My stomach clenched when I recalled the description in the article, The head had been ripped clean off the body.
Mars put his hand on Lexa’s shoulder. “Taking out the Anomalies working for ACT just evens the playing field a little.” He sounded so reasonable, like he wasn’t talking about murder.
"And the beach?' I asked.
“We’re trying to get Devereaux to the Northern California facility.” Jason’s voice was steady. I was amazed that he was so collected in the face of the brutality he’d committed.
I would be the first to say that I wouldn’t cry over ACT agents dying. After what ACT put us through, it was hard to find sympathy for them. I wasn’t shocked because they were being killed. I was shocked because it was my friends—my family—that were doing it. I hadn’t thought them capable of that sort of thing until now.
“This isn’t a game! Why set this kind of trap? Do you know how much attention you’ve drawn? You’re going to get yourselves killed!” I demanded. Anger was percolating through my veins.
Lexa stepped forward, her chin tipped up defiantly. “So we can take the facility and Devereaux down at the same time.”
Cash let out a disgusted laugh and Lexa’s eyes snapped to him.
“What the hell is so funny?” She asked. I watched her hands ball into fists and knew from the violent flicker across her emotional lattice that she was seriously contemplating using them on Cash. I stepped closer to him, ready to defend him. Mars reached out and gently touched Lexa’s wrist, stilling her.
"Nothing. Not a damn thing about this is funny. Have you all really thought about this? I mean, really worked it out in your heads?" Cash asked.
“Of course we have,” Mia said darkly. She had closed her fists around her flames, extinguishing them for the time being.
“I don’t think you have.” Cash shook his head. “Even if Devereaux actually shows up, what would that accomplish? The four of you aren’t going to be able to take ACT down. They aren’t just going to roll over and die because you’re faster and stronger.”
Mars grinned, and it wasn’t kind. “It’s not just the four of us anymore.”
“What are you talking about?” Glitch interjected.
“Hawthorn is bigger than we thought," Mars explained. "They have more facilities—dozens more—and they’ve been able to take down three ACT facilities this year alone.”
“To what end?” I scoffed. “You turn into murderers, you take down one of their headquarters, and they just build more. They’re not some franchise. They’re the CIA.”
Jason shook his head, crossing his arms. “Look, we know what we’re doing. We don’t need your judgment.”
“You can’t be serious!” I ran my hands through my hair. My pulse was racing and my head was spinning. I tried to calm down and failed. “Going anywhere near an ACT facility, whether Devereaux is there or not, is a suicide mission.”
“They’re killing people, Liv. I’d say they’re pretty serious,” Lux said with a chuckle. His nonchalance didn’t surprise me, but it still pissed me off.
“Stay out of it, Lux” I snapped at him.
“You brought us into this.” Nyx was suddenly toe-to-toe with me, flashing me a vicious grin. Challenge rolled off of her in waves, and I was more than ready to meet it.
Cash pulled me back a little, and stood between us. “Nyx, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” she giggled. “I find it laughable that you’re all so terrified of these people.” She motioned over to Jason. “Incredible Hulk over there has enough strength to rip a man’s head off. Seems to me that’s pretty hard to beat.”
“Charlie?” Headset's voice echoed around us and drew our attention to the wall that separated the room they were in from ours. Only a moment later, Headset evaporated straight through it, tugging Bebe along behind him. Appearing to have heard everything we'd been arguing about, they were both the verge of tears.
“Not again.” Charlie huffed, walking over to the kids.
Meeting Nyx’s eyes one last time, I turned my back on her and went to Bebe. She lifted her arms to me and I scooped her up. She clung to me. Charlie picked up Headset and, although he rarely liked her carrying him, he grasped tightly to her as well.
Jason’s expression softened when he saw Bebe sniffling.
“I think it’s time we go before this gets out of hand,” Charlie said quietly then left with Headset and Dozer in tow. Glitch was looking between Lexa and Jason, pleading with them, but he could see it was a lost cause. He bowed out of the room. Cash was right at my side as I went to leave.
“Liv, wait,” Jason called to me. I stopped. He was walking toward me, but I didn’t want him near me, didn’t want him near Bebe. Jason slammed against the mental barrier I put between us. When our eyes met, I knew he understood that he was never going to get close enough to cross that line again.
“Wait! We need help to—” Mia started, but Jason held up a hand and it quieted her. Another wave of secrecy washed over them all.
I looked between the people that I’d once known so well. I didn’t have to read the dark blueprint of Lexa’s emotions to know she felt betrayed by me; it was written all over her pretty face, cut deep into the hard lines around her eyes and mouth as she scowled.
Bebe’s arms wrapped tighter around me and Cash’s fingertips lightly brushed the small of my back. Those simple gestures were all I needed to know that I didn’t belong with the Hawthorn Anomalies anymore. My heart and home was with the Nomads.
Nyx and Lux watched me leave, and then I felt their attention shift to Jason. He was just as annoyed at the way they laughed at ACT after everything they'd done to us. “You know, you might not be afraid of ACT now, but Devereaux is strong enough to see through your glamours,” Jason growled through gritted teeth.
For the first time, I felt a crack in their marble façade. It was satisfying to see the little smirk waver from Nyx’s lips. Something brewed between Nyx and Lux, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.
As we were in the elevator going down to the lobby, it really hit me: my Hawthorn family was alive, standing and breathing and moving.
But I had lost them for good.
Chapter Sixteen
As we pulled into the parking lot of our hotel, the twins didn’t get out of their car. Cash got out of the Beast and went over to speak with them, but he’d only been with them a few moments before Lux peeled out onto the road and headed back on toward Highway 17. I guessed they were going back to Tahoe.
When Cash came back, he was trying to hide the slight smile on his face. I could feel the satisfaction pouring off of him. They were definitely leaving, and I wasn’t the only one happy about it.
“Uh, where are they going?” Glitch asked as he helped carry the bags to our rooms.
“Back to Tahoe,” Cash confirmed. “They also suggested very colorfully that we find a new place to stay.”
Glitch’s face fell. “Awww, man! Does that mean we can’t go back to their house?”
“Yeah, Glitch. That’s what that means.” Cash sighed.
Glitch sulked off to the room, kicking the dirt as he walked away, mutte
ring something about jet skis.
The bustle over the glass beach had yet to die down. Media vans were everywhere and the streets were full of people. Since we suspected that ACT had also been drawn to Santa Cruz, we opted to stay hunkered down in our rooms.
As I tucked Bebe in next to an already-sleeping Headset, I noticed that something was troubling her. Her brow was pinched and her eyes were shimmery, as though she were holding back tears.
I sat down at the edge of her bed. “What’s wrong, baby doll?” I whispered, so as not to wake Headset.
"Did they really hurt people?" She asked in a small, wavering voice. Her lower lip quivered.
My heart hurt for her. She'd spent half of her life with Jason, Lexa, Mars and Mia. She loved them so much, and seeing the changes in them scared her as much as it scared me. Maybe even more so, because she couldn't really understand the complexities of why. I'm not sure I understood either.
Her eyes filled with tears and slipped down her full cheeks. I wiped them away. "You and headset heard a lot of things that you don't understand."
She nodded and listened, hope rising inside her that I'd have an excuse for everything she'd heard.
"Jason, Mia, Lexa and Mars have been having a hard time since we lost them and a lot of scary things happened to them. When people are scared they do things they wouldn't normally do. It doesn't mean they are bad people, and I know that they feel badly for everything they did because I can feel it, Bebe."
"What happened to them?"
"Some bad people were mean to them."
She looked even more confused and I didn't want to go down the rabbit hole with a five year old
"Look, baby-doll, I know you're scared and worried about them, but they are going to be okay now. No matter what happened to them before, they all love you very much and nothing is going to change that, okay? I don't want you to worry about them anymore because that's not your job. Your job is to be a little kid and learn and grown and play. Can you do that and let me worry about taking care of them?"
She nodded and I kissed her forehead and felt the weight lift from her a little bit. Each time she blinked, her eyes stayed closed just a little bit longer. I pulled the covers up around her and turned off the lamp on her nightstand.
“Goodnight, Bebe,” I whispered. She murmured something incoherent back and I left her to sleep.
Dozer and Glitch were in the den, sitting quietly on the couch. There was a movie on the television, but they weren’t really watching. Glitch was especially distracted. A dark cloud of disquiet hung over him. I waved goodnight to them and went to the room I was sharing with Charlie.
As I closed the door behind me, she looked up from where she sat on her bed. I changed and fell into bed with a sigh.
We just sat there, neither of us saying anything, although there was so much to talk about. Jason was alive, but he and my friends were murderers, and who knew what attention we’d drawn to ourselves by returning to Santa Cruz under such heat.
“What am I going to do with that kid?” Charlie said finally, trying to break the awkward silence.
I shook my head.
“I just don’t know what to do. He’s running up and now through walls, breaking windows..." She exhaled shakily. "And he keeps sniffing weird things from far away and describing them to me. I think he smelled old gum and dog poop the other day.”
That drew a smile from me. “Boys are so gross.”
“Amen to that.”
Cash knocked softly on the door. "Are you two decent?"
"Come on it," Charlie said. She gave me a smile and excused herself, leaving Cash and me alone for a moment.
“How are you?” His eyes swept over me, assessing me.
“Hanging in there, I guess.” I let out a little laugh but my voice was tremulous. I sat up at the edge of the bed.
Cash took a seat next to me, but didn’t reach out to me even though I could feel his need to touch me pulling like a magnet.
“What is it?” I asked, feeling like there was something he was hesitant to say. His worry was clear, but there was apprehension there too, covert and slinking through his subconscious.
"I'm just worried about you."
“It was hard to see them like that, you know?” My eyes started to burn, threatening tears.
He nodded quietly, and put his arm around my shoulders, but something was still off. I sensed a flicker of dread curling in his chest.
I looked up, concerned. “Cash, what’s wrong?”
He let me go and stood, pacing. He ran a hand through his thick dark hair, scrubbing his face, completely conflicted. I watched him, confused, until he turned back to me and finally asked, “Did you want to stay with them, Liv?”
I blinked. “What? No. I just—” I stood too, reaching out to him, afraid of his sudden distance and the strange resolve that emanated from him. He backed away as if my touch would make it harder for him to say the next thing.
“I can’t feel what you’re feeling, but I saw your face when we left.”
“They’re my friends, my family,” I reasoned. Pain flashed across his heart, stinging mine. “But Cash, so are you.” Tears were rolling down my cheeks.
He dropped his gaze to the floor as a heavy, horrible silence hung between us.
“Liv…”
“Cash, please—”
“I don’t want to hold you back if that’s what you want.”
Then I realized, he wasn’t talking about me feeling like I belonged with my friends. He was talking about me feeling like I belonged with Jason.
“Cash, you can’t be serious.”
He couldn’t look me in the eye.
“You thought he was dead, and I get it if you… If you feel like you made a mistake.”
I pulled him into my arms and kissed him. I kissed him long and hard, pouring everything I had into him. Slowly, his hands came up to cradle my face. He kissed me back, joy and anxiety warring within him. Breaking the kiss, I leaned my forehead against his. He opened his eyes and those dark pools mirrored his hope. I didn’t tear my gaze away, trying to will him to feel the contents of my heart and how it beat for him alone.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said softly. “I’m not giving you up for anything or anyone.”
Cash’s relief washed over me as he let out the shaky breath he’d been holding.
“You have no idea how good it is to hear you say that,” he smiled and kissed me again. He wrapped his arms around me and we stood that way together, just feeling the warmth of each other’s bodies. Although the heaviest weight had been lifted from his chest, Cash was still mulling over things in his mind.
“We can’t stay here,” I said with a sigh, already knowing it was coming. I stepped away from him and sat on the edge of my bed again. He eased down next to me. “I guess we’re back to being nomads.” I felt a little defeated.
“Yeah. The sooner we get out of here, the better. Especially if they're really planning some kind of hostile takeover.”
"Do you think they'll actually go through with it?” He asked, squeezing my hand in his. I felt his worry mingle with my own.
I thought about it, remembering the resolved looks on their faces, and nodded.
“Something happened to them in that facility. ACT did something to them. Everything I felt from them scared the hell out of me because they felt like complete strangers.” I said, feeling my cheeks flush with anger. “So yeah, I think they’ll do it. They’re capable of anything at this point.”
Cash frowned, and pulled me closer. "Do you want to go back? Try to talk some sense into them before we leave?”
I shook my head quickly. Seeing them again was the last thing I wanted to do. It would be better just to make a clean break.
“I don’t think I could change their minds. And if there’s any truth about Hawthorn being bigger than we thought, I’m in way over my head anyway. I hope, for their sake, that they do have some bigger forces backing them up.”
I felt a
gentle feminine concern wafting in from the hallway. Charlie was waiting outside.
"Charlie is exhausted. We'd better let her get into bed." I kissed Cash one last time to reaffirm my position with him. He nodded and called out to Charlie. "All clear, Bubbles."
“Sorry to interrupt, but Dozer and Glitch went to bed early, too."
"We're all good here." Cash said, waving her in. She went about arranging her pillows while I walked Cash to the door.
“Not coming with me?” he asked in a low voice, so Charlie wouldn’t hear. The sly smile he offered me made a deep ache unfurl in my belly. My heart sped up a little.
“It’s tempting, but I should probably spend some girl time with Charlie tonight.”
“Fair enough." He pulled me into his arms, and looked at me solemnly. “Are you really going to be able to walk away from this, Liv?"
“If staying means losing you, or putting the others in any more danger, then it’s not worth it. I have to let them go.”
Cash watched me for a moment, just taking me in, then nodded. He leaned in and placed a goodnight kiss on my lips before waking backward to his room and mouthing the words, I love you.
I mouthed them back and closed the door, feeling his love rise in me like the blush in my cheeks.
When I turned back around Charlie was sitting on her bed, biting her lip. The smile she wore went from ear to ear. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement.
“Don’t give me that look,” I laughed, falling into my bed.
"Exactly when were you going to tell me about you two?” Charlie demanded playfully.
"It literally just happened last night. After the casino." I grinned.
Charlie rolled over onto her belly, propping her chin up with her hands. “It’s about time you guys got around to making it official.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on! This thing—you and Cash—has been a long time coming. We even had bets on when it would finally happen.”
I gasped, laughing. “Who?”
Collide (Anomaly Book 3) Page 11
