by SM Olivier
“Where is he?” Micah asked urgently. “I can just go get him.”
“He’ll be here any−” Alex started to say as the door opened and my brother stepped into the room. My eyes eagerly examined him. He looked tired, and the bags around his eyes were dark. He also looked like he had lost weight since I last saw him.
Standing next to Micah, I noticed how drastically different they looked. Kade was older than Micah but he was a full head shorter than him and they couldn’t look more different. Micah had to be mixed with a Hispanic heritage with his dark skin and dark eyes. Micah, on the other hand, was fair skin, he shared my green eyes, and his hair was a bright red.
“We need to get Mr. Moore and Herman,” Kade grabbed Micah’s hand. “They’re in the basement.”
I balked for a moment. The Mr. Moore and Herman, as in Rachel’s dad and brother. She would never forgive us if she knew we were so close to her family and left them. Although I wanted to get out of there ASAP, I understood the need to go get them.
“Let’s go,” Micah stated resolutely. I was proud of him for the fearless look in his eyes. He didn’t show any of the panic I felt radiating from him.
“Time out,” Jace said. “You can’t go alone.”
I could see the war behind his eyes as well. The silent alarm bells that were going off in our head, telling us to run, and our hearts knowing we needed to at least try.
“We need to hurry,” Kade said urgently. “It’s shift change and they won’t be guarded for five minutes. We need to leave now.”
We all grasped onto Micah, and soon we were teleported into another room. This one was much smaller. It smelled like mold and the walls were made up of cinder block. An older man was lying on a bare, stained mattress. His clothes hung off his skinny frame. His hair was greasy and hung down to his shoulders. He had a dark beard laced with gray that grew in wild disarray.
“Kade?” He looked over at us, blinking slowly like he didn’t believe we could be here. We were all crammed into the little room. “What are you doing here, Bud? You’re going to get yourself in trouble again.”
“We’re getting you out of here, Mr. Moore.” Kade hurried to his side and tried to remove the shackles on his ankles.
“I’ll get these,” Troy stated quietly as he moved to the bed.
“Kade, Sierra, Micah,” Remy spoke quietly his eyes filled with anger at the conditions we found Mr. Moore in. “Let’s go get Herman.”
“You can’t,” Mr. Moore said in a near panic. “We can’t leave here. Horatio will come after us again.”
Remy gave Micah a pointed look, and soon all four of them were no longer there. I rushed into action.
I put a reassuring hand on Mr. Moore’s wrist. “He won’t be able to get ahold of you again,” I stated resolutely.
I grasped his shackles and imagined the fire within. A small ball of flame hovered from my palms as I began to melt the thick metal chain links away. The metal wristbands were still there. There was no way for us to remove them with our fire without burning them.
“We’ll remove the rest when we return to base,” Troy stated as he stood up.
“Who are you guys?” Mr. Moore asked as he sat up. I could see that he struggled to do the simplest task. He was scrutinizing me to the point I almost squirmed. He cursed under his breath. “You’re Randy’s girl. You have no business here. You need to leave!”
“We will once we have your son,” I stated resolutely.
“Let’s go,” Remy stated with a determined look in his eyes as Micah, Sierra, and Kade reappeared with a younger man that didn’t look much better than his father. I could see his resemblance to Rachel immediately.
He, too, looked like he needed a good meal. His face was marred with bruises and cuts. His dirty blond hair was greasy and hung around his face. His beard was dirty blond with red patches of hair in it. Blood clung to some of its strands. I could smell his body odor from where I stood. His blue eyes were glazed over, and he didn’t look like he knew where he was at.
We all grasped onto Micah and…nothing. Even with Sierra boosting him, Micah was unable to transport all of us. The door burst opened, and several armed guards came piling in. Loud sirens made me flinch as they went off.
“Take them, Micah.” Jace pushed Mr. Moore towards him as Drake created a force field around us. Just in time. “Hurry back,” he urged as Micah’s eyes widened in fear and shock.
Bullets pinged off the shield as Kade, Alex, Micah, Mr. Moore, Sierra, and Herman vanished. I tried to focus on the nearest guy as he depressed the walkie talkie on his shoulder.
“Not so fast,” I stated grimly. “Tell them we’re gone,” I compelled him.
Jaxson grasped my hand beside me, and I felt my gift surge as the guards started to stumble around in confusion. I realized then that Jaxson had cast an illusion like we weren’t standing within feet of them.
We’re not here, Jaxson stated in our heads.
“Hey, boss,” the man stated in his mic. He looked like he was in a panic with fear. “They’re gone.”
“What?” I heard a cold but deadly voice return. “I know I didn’t hear you just tell me they’re gone.”
“Sir…they were right here and now they’re gone,” I could hear the tremble in his voice.
A tall elegant woman came into the room, followed shortly by Horatio himself.
“They’re still here,” the woman said. “I feel my sons.”
Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun on the top of her head. Her face was expertly made up in thick make up, and her blue eyes were startling. She wore a white blouse with an expensive diamond necklace around her neck. Her black slacks were fitted, and a bracelet hung around her slender wrist, showcasing expensive rings that adorned her fingers. She wore high stiletto heels despite the conditions down here.
I gasped as I looked over at Jace and Jaxson. Jace had a face full of rage. Jaxson looked like he was torn between calling out to the woman and hurt that she was helping Horatio. It didn’t take much for me to realize that it was their mother.
Horatio had a small satisfied smile curving his lips. My biological father was a handsome man with his thick blond hair and clear blue eyes. I irrationally thought he looked a lot like Bridgette.
Too bad he, too, had a black soul.
“You know I can still feel you all. Your brains are a jumbled mess. Why do you continue to fight me when you know resistance is futile? Why are you fighting on the wrong side? Why must we continue hiding in the shadows when we are superior to everyone else? This shouldn’t be the way we live. Afraid to be ourselves. It’s about time we took our rightful places. Join me,” he demanded as I felt his icy presence begin to push against us.
Chapter 15
Grab me, I told the guys insistently.
Without hesitation they all grabbed me as I felt my head begin to pound. It felt like someone had put my head into a vice grip. The ice-cold feeling, I now associated with evil, flooded my veins and head. Horatio was pushing us to command him. I felt his strength and knew he could bend us to his will.
“Jaxson, Jace,” the woman had a calculating look in her eyes as she tilted her head to the side. Her voice was gentle as it came out. “I know it’s been years, but we can try to build a relationship. Your father took you away from me, and there isn’t a day I haven’t thought of you boys. Let’s stop playing this game. Come give your mom a hug and a kiss.”
I could feel Jaxson wavering.
No Jaxson! I yelled at him. I could feel her presence too. I didn’t know what gift she had but it was a strong mental one.
I felt my body begin to shake with trying to fight her and Horatio. The guards began stumbling around the room until they hit the forcefield with a solid thud.
“Jaxson,” Horatio commanded firmly. “I’m sure you missed your mom. I know she missed you.”
He’s trying to break our connection, I insisted. Jaxson, please! I pleaded.
I felt the continual pressure in my hea
d, and I didn’t know how much longer we could keep our protection and barriers up.
Micah and Sierra returned, clearly visible. I quickly grasped onto them as Horatio started barking orders to grab them.
“Go!” I yelled. I barely blinked. I saw the fear, anger, panic, and pain on some of the faces I stared into. I stumbled in a jarring return. It was the roughest ‘landing’ I ever experienced.
We returned back into the girl’s room. I slumped to the floor taking deep breaths in. My body was wracked in tremors. Remy kneeled down in front of me and pulled me in tight. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my head into his neck.
“How’s everyone feeling?” Jace asked as he sunk down onto the floor.
“We stood up against Horatio,” Noah breathed in wonder and then gave the guys an apologetic look. “and your mom.”
“She’s not my mother,” Jace said concisely. “She’s just the woman who shares the same DNA as I do.”
My mind was still reeling with surprise. I knew this needed to addressed but it wasn’t the time to. Jaxson still looked devastated, and Jace looked like an impassive rock.
“Where is everyone else?” I asked as I stood up on shaken knees.
“They’re down at the clinic, getting checked out,” Sierra stated.
“We should go,” I commented.
“Are you going to get dressed first?” Troy hedged as he scrutinized my outfit.
I had completely forgotten that I wore a dress that barely covered me. I also realized that Troy didn’t like the idea of me wearing it in public. I smirked at him.
He had no problem when I was wonder woman for Halloween. I didn’t understand what the big deal was now.
“Nope,” I replied resolutely. “I want to be with my brother and Rachel right now.”
“Do you want a sweater?” Remy suggested.
“Nope,” I had to refrain from laughing. How quickly the tables had turned.
I walked into the clinic to see Rachel’s face was red from crying. Sam was holding her to his chest. The moment she saw us, she came running. “Thank you! Thank you!” she sobbed.
“We didn’t do anything,” I stated honestly. “It was Kade who led us to them. How’s he doing?”
Will came around the corner with Alex’s hand firmly in his grasp. He looked worried until he saw us. Alex’s eyes lit up as he saw us, and he hurled himself into my arms. “Micah wouldn’t let me come again,” he glared at his brother as he nearly choked me out.
“I’m glad he didn’t,” I said gently as I hugged him close. “It was too dangerous for you.”
Micah gave me a thankful smile as Remy clapped a large hand on his shoulder in silent approval. Micah gave him a grateful smile back. I’m sure the decision hadn’t been an easy one, and I knew he was a sucker when it came to standing up to his younger sibling.
“How are they?” I asked Will.
“They’re going to be okay. Maybe you kids need to go eat something, and I’ll brief you later,” Will stated.
“I’m not hungry,” Rachel shook her head.
“You should probably still get out of here for a little while,” Will gave Sam a pointed look. “It’s going to be some time before they can have visitors.”
“Come on, Ray,” Sam said as he gently started to guide her to the exits.
Kade came out of one of the rooms and stopped.
“Are you hungry?” I asked him as he looked at us hesitantly.
He nodded. “I missed dinner.”
“You can come with us,” I suggested, not knowing how I could bridge the gap in between us. I wanted to get to know him better. Living with Horatio these past month couldn’t have been easy either.
“Okay, thanks,” he nodded as he slowly started to follow us.
“I’ll be right back,” Jace commented quietly as he turned to walk towards his father.
“We can hit chow, or I can whip something up for us,” Drake said as he threaded his fingers through mine. “By the way, you look really sexy,” he whispered against my ear.
“Let’s go back to our apartment, and thank you, Drake.” I smiled up at him.
As we went back into the complex, a lot more people were milling about. “Hey, Thomas, Moore, Gato.” One of the guys stopped and smiled at us, giving us a slow perusal.
I recognized him as one of the guys that had been on the exercise with us, but I didn’t know his name.
“Hey,” I tried to give him a smile back, my mind was racing with so many questions and thoughts.
“Where are you ladies going?” He gave us a charming smile.
“Home,” Troy said brusquely as he inserted himself between the guy and me. He took my other hand and started guiding me to our apartment.
I guess he didn’t like it when the shoe was on the other foot.
“Are you sure? We’re going to play some poker. Want to come along?” he asked hopefully.
I gave him a rueful smile. “Maybe some other time.”
“Over my dead body,” Remy grumbled under his breath.
“Why not?” I asked him with an arched brow. “I thought we were trying to make friends.” I said passive aggressively.
He gave me a pointed look with an arched brow. “Really?”
“Yes, really.” I feigned ignorance, knowing he wouldn’t be this riled up if I wasn’t dressed the way I was.
“Hey, Troy?” Adams came into the dayroom door. “Wanna finish up the game we were playing.” She eyed me disdainfully.
“No, thanks,” Troy said as he pointedly wrapped his arm around my waist. “I don’t think my girl will like that.”
Adams snorted and muttered something under her breath. We made our way down the halls, with several more interruptions before we finally reached our apartments.
“No more going out dressed like that,” Noah stated in exasperation. “We got your point.”
“What point is that?” I asked as I opened the door to the smell of food.
He sighed heavily, clearly lost for words. This had to be a first.
Jemmy, Gavin, Dawn, Terrance, Marcel, and Ford were waiting on us and charged us as we entered. “What happened?” Jemmy asked as she embraced Sierra with Gavin.
“We got my brother, Rachel’s dad, and brother,” I explained. “Do I smell food?” I asked. I was starving right now.
Jemmy and Dawn squealed before they embraced Rachel.
Dawn smiled. “The salad is done, and baked potatoes are in the oven, but we were waiting on you guys to cook the steaks and lobsters.”
I looked over at Kade and wasn’t surprised to see him looking overwhelmed. “Sorry,” I mouthed. “Everyone, this is my brother, Kade. Kade, this is my…family.” I spread my arms to encompass the whole group. “This is one of my connections, Jaxson. You met him once, briefly. Then there’s Gavin, Jemmy, and Sierra. Over there is Terrance and Marcel. Then there’s Dawn and Ford. This is Rachel and Sam. Then these are the rest of my connections; Remy, Drake, Troy, and Noah. Jace is with his father, Will.”
“Hey,” Kade waved with slight reservations.
“Do you want to come back to our apartment and play video games, while we wait on the food?” Micah asked as he pointed to the door.
Kade looked at me hesitantly, and I nodded. “That’s fine. We can wait to talk.”
He gave me a grateful smile and followed Alex and Micah out of the room. I figured they needed to bond just as much as we did. I knew the boys would set him at ease, faster than we could.
“So where are these steak and lobsters?” Drake clapped his hands.
“They’re in Will’s fridge. I’ll go get it them” Terrance said in excitement as he left the room.
I walked over to the kitchen. “How are we supposed to cook the steaks and lobster in here?” I motioned towards the cramped space.
“They have grills up on the roof. The charcoal is already lit,” Ford explained. “I’m no Drake, but I can grill a mean steak.” He reached into the fridge and pulled out a
bottle of beer. “Beer, anyone?” he asked. Most of the guys eagerly accepted it. I passed. I didn’t have much of a taste for it.
I knew we didn’t have any, so I assumed he had brought it. Dawn was right behind him, grabbing a bottle of Moscato out of the fridge. She pulled down some wine glasses and poured some into them.
“I’ll season them, if you don’t mind grilling them,” Drake stated with a smile at Ford.
“No problem, man. Sounds good,” Ford said as he perched on one of the stools at the bar.
“Are you going to tell us who your hook up is?” I asked Dawn as Drake pulled out a large stock pot for the lobsters.
Dawn gave me a mysterious smile and shook her head.
Ford let out a bark of laughter. “Don’t let her pull your leg. I know a guy in town. He runs a restaurant down there, and after you guys fed me the other day, I figured I would reciprocate the favor.”
Dawn gave him a mock annoyed look, making me laugh. I needed some comic relief right now. I was still wound tight.
“We fed you ravioli and salad!” I exclaimed as Terrance came back in with two large cases of food.
Ford shrugged. “I make good money. There’s only so many things I can buy for myself. I don’t pay rent. I don’t have a car payment. Basically, I have no bills.”
“I’m not complaining,” Marcel said as he took a drag from his beer bottle.
Dawn handed me a glass of wine and I gladly took it. I didn’t care if it was frowned upon. I opened the top case and barely concealed my yelp of surprise. The lobster was still alive and moving around.
“They’re still alive,” I looked over at Drake.
He chuckled as he stood behind me. “Fresh lobster, even better.”
“Are you going to volunteer to butcher them, too?” Noah joked as he peered into the case.
I gave him a mock look of annoyance. “Very funny, I can totally do it,” I tried to sound more convincing then I actually felt.
Our apartment was completely packed with people by the time dinner was ready. Will and Jace were back and they informed us that Mr. Moore and Herman were getting some much-needed rest and they weren’t in as bad of shape as they looked. I could see the tension drain out of Rachel at this update.
