Surveying the scene, Devereaux arched a brow at us.
“Hey, Snitch!” he said, pointing to Glitch. “You been pushin’ buttons on my desk?”
Glitch glowered at him. “It’s Glitch, and no! Why does everyone think it was me?” he whined.
Beside me, Mia was baring her teeth, her hands engulfed in flames once more.
Devereaux’ partner held his hand out and ice formed from his fingertips. In a sudden blast, swirling frost shot out and hit Mia’s hands. There was a brief sizzle as ice met her skin, smothering the flames.
I hit back with my telekinesis, knocking the young blond on his ass. With his concentration gone, Mia was able to recover and in a flare of heat, the ice melted from her hands. She flexed her fingers, looking warily at the stranger.
“Hey, hey now!” Devereaux said, holding up his hands as he stepped in front of his partner. “No need to get violent, kids. Max was just keeping little sister from doing anything stupid. Let’s all just calm down a moment, shall we?”
"I know you." Mia sneered, looking at the younger man, Max. Her eyes snapped to Devereaux next.
Max folded his arms and arched a brow, shooting his father a sly tilt of a smile. Confusion and intrigue swept through him, but Devereaux still gave nothing.
"He's your kid. I saw the pictures of him in your house," Mia added.
"You only see what I want you to see, cupcake." Devereaux grinned.
"You were in his house?" Glitch asked, feeling almost left out, as if it were a good time.
"Let's get back to the point, shall we?" Devereaux rolled his eyes and met Cash's.
“You set this up,” Cash said darkly.
"I'm pretty sure it was your psycho friends that set this up. I just got here.”
“You knew we were coming. You set this up so that we would trigger the release of the experiments!” Mia shouted.
“Now, I did know you were coming and I told the Director as much, but I didn’t have a hand in how things went down here. I wouldn’t have gone about it this way. I’m a little more subtle.” He gave a careless half-shrug of his shoulder.
“I’ve already put in a call for reinforcements, but how’s about I give y’all a head start?”
“Why would you do that?” Glitch asked.
“Maybe I’m feelin' charitable today.”
I was dangerously close to snapping at him, but he was a mind reader. He could anticipate my every move the moment I thought of it. He wiggled a finger at me, clicking his tongue. I'd already thought it through and decided against it. If reinforcements really were coming, we couldn’t afford to stay.
"Smart girl," Devereaux smirked and gave me a gentle nod.
“This isn’t over,” I hissed.
“You are correct, but now is not the time to finish this.” Devereaux grinned wider, and then stepped aside as though to let us pass.
Warily, we headed back toward the door we’d entered from. As we passed the pair, Mia let her fire flare with a sharp sizzle, making Max flinch. His brow dropped low over his eyes and he made a move to retaliate, but Devereaux put a hand on his shoulder. He sternly shook his head. “One more thing," Devereaux called back to us.
We stopped. I knew it had been too easy. I turned, gathering my telekinesis.
“Easy,” Devereaux intoned. “You've been moving around a lot lately. I hope that’s not on account of us.”
Glitch snorted bitterly. “Of course it’s because of you!”
“Why don’t y’all just head back to that little shack on the beach? Seemed cozy enough there.”
“Why would we, when you know where it is?” I snipped.
"You're right. You know, it's a little more difficult to keep track of y’all without the tracking chips. What used to take three seconds now takes about ten,” he laughed. “Don’t you get it yet, Olivia? It doesn't matter where you kids go. One cheap motel after another, lakeside mansions. We always know where you are.”
My heart sunk. Cash’s hand tightened on mine, our anxiety shared.
“Why haven’t you come for us then?” I asked. My voice was barely above a whisper.
“I already told you. It's not time for this to end yet. When we want you, we’ll come for you.” His grin was cool.
I met his gaze steadily, squaring my shoulders. “And we’ll be ready for you.”
“Go on, then. The troops are almost here.” With a sigh, he looked back into the room with the dead failed experiments. “Man, you kids sure do know how to make a mess. It's gonna take hours to clean this up.”
Mia was standing still, smoldering as she looked back at Mars.
I couldn't feel him, but I saw Devereaux soften for a moment. He looked back at my sister and got her attention. He didn't say anything aloud, but I could tell by the surprised and slight ease in Mia that he had said something to her. She blinked away tears, smothered her flames and turned toward the exit. I gave Devereaux and Max a final glance before following after them. Cash and Glitch led the way out.
Chapter Twenty Five
Mia and I sat in the back of the twin's mustang, her hand almost comfortably in mine as she stared out the window; like she were in a trance. We were all still covered in the blood of the experiments and our bodies groaned with a collective ache as the adrenaline subsided.
"What did he say to you, Mia?" I whispered.
Mia pulled herself from the window, tightened her grip on my hand and rested her head against my shoulder. I felt her tears as if they were sliding down my own face.
"He said, I'll take care of your boy."
I rested my head atop hers and shared in the comfort that gave her, no matter how minor it was.
“What do we do from here?” Mia asked. Her voice was wavering. Her heart still ached for Mars. I could feel that part of her wanted to rush out and find Jason and Lexa, but another part of her was afraid of it. I understood that fear; the uncertainty that they would accept her again after she left them. I'd done the same and they hated me for it.
Cash's eyes were on the road, his hands tight on the wheel. He cleared his throat and said, "We get back to the others and we go home."
I could feel the cold fear in his gut as it formed a ball of ice in mine, but as the idea settled in all of us, it began to melt.
“It doesn’t matter where we go," Cash said. "They can come for us whenever they want, apparently. We might as well go where we’re comfortable and happy.”
“Man, there’s gonna be a lot of seagull poop to clean up when we get back.” Glitch shook his head, grinning.
Cash cracked a smile and I felt it inside me too, but I wasn't ready to embrace it yet, not after everything we'd been through.
Glitch looked back at me and reached his hand out to mine. I gave it a squeeze, and felt the same emotions flowing through him as the day we sat by the lake, when he told me to honor the dead by living fully. I knew that's what he was getting at.
"I know, buddy," I said, smiling and misty-eyed. "Sunsets and starry skies."
Glitch just nodded, happy that he'd gotten the point across, and then turned his attention to my sister. "You're going to love the Lair, Mia."
I felt an almost startled wave of shock pull through her as she raised her head. It was as if she hadn't considered that she's be coming with us.
"Maybe you could turn a little section of our beach to glass," Glitch said excitedly.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Cash broke in, shaking his head.
Mia deflated and I felt a sudden burst of panic settle inside of her. "I'll be fine on my own."
Cash's eyes found ours in the rear view mirror and clarified, "I just meant the glass beach isn't a good idea. Devereaux may always know where we are, but that doesn't mean we need to tell everyone else."
I smiled back at him in the mirror, grateful for every ounce of compassion he gave my sister and how easily he let her into his heart. Cash shook his head, grinning. "I don't know what makes you Rivera women such lone wolves, but you're part o
f this family now. You may be able to escape ACT facilities with ease, but the Nomads are far more formidable."
"Damn straight," Glitch proclaimed.
I felt something leave Mia. It felt like the all the fight had bled out of her. She felt vulnerable and scared and hopeful all at the same time. She looked up at me and smiled. It was slight, but it was warm and genuine. All of a sudden, I could see that little girl from my memory shining out of that tiny smirk, and it felt the breaking light of a new day.
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Collide (Anomaly Book 3) Page 17
