Cherry Blossom Girls Box Set

by Harmon Cooper

I don’t know how to describe the feeling of crashing into a solid steel wall yet being protected from the crash by an invisible barrier. There was some rumbling, like that of a plane landing on the tarmac, followed by the creak of metal and an exasperated sigh from Stella. There was also a feeling of weightlessness that reminded me of free-falling in a dream.

  Veronique gasped, the sound of reality coming together around us as we skidded to a halt, the Tesla’s frame scraping against the gravel.

  “Holy shit!” were the first words out of my mouth as I opened my eyes to see that we were all alive.

  A trained combatant, Veronique kicked open her door and was out seconds later, protecting us from gunfire. This gave me about thirty seconds or so to get my bearings and orchestrate the next part of the plan.

  “Everyone stay near Dorian!” I said, thrusting open my own door.

  Paramilitary soldiers fired at us from all angles, but Veronique’s power kept the bullets from hitting us. This gave me the time I needed to group with Dorian, Stella, and Grace, who had all come around the front of the vehicle.

  As Veronique continued protecting us from gunfire, Stella also cast a shield around us. She was starting to heat up a bit but not as bad as she had been back at the New Mexico facility.

  Dorian took some deep breaths and focused on forming a ball of purple energy.

  Still holding her shield, Stella began adding to Dorian’s energy ball, her power almost translucent yet still visible, like a heat wave. Grace stood in front of it now, her eyes blazing white as she stretched her hands in front of her.

  The vector shield cut out a lot of the sound from outside the shield. That said, I was able to hear a few cries once Veronique released her bullets.

  Still touching Dorian, I reached for Veronique and placed my hand on the small of her back, anchoring her to us.

  “Don’t add to it if you don’t have enough power!” I shouted to her as the others continued to expand the ticking time bomb of energy.

  She smirked, still holding back bullets with her left hand, her right aimed at the sphere of energy the CBGs had created.

  A swirl of red appeared in the center of the sphere, and it continued to grow larger, now reaching the size of a beach ball. We were all on one side of it now, as close to Dorian as we could possibly get.

  It was clear that the facility was straight ahead, but they’d have to drop the vector and bullet shield to push the energy bomb out.

  Once the ball of energy was three times the size of a beach ball, Dorian nodded for me to crouch before her.

  I gave the signal and Stella also dropped in front of us so that she was pressed against my knee, within arm’s reach of Dorian. Grace leaned into me, her ass resting on my right elbow, and Veronique took her place to my left, my hand still touching the small of her back.

  It was an odd pose, sure, but shit was going to hit the fan when the shield came down and we needed to get out of there pronto.

  Grace’s hair started to stand on end as she used her power to push the sphere of energy toward the northern edge of the vector shield.

  “Ready?” I called out.

  “Ready!” they all responded.

  The shield filtered away, Grace cast the ball of energy forward, and we were gone in a flash.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine: Here We Go Again

  “Hell yes!” I pumped my fist in the air as our bodies took shape in the back yard of our borrowed home.

  We’d done it! The embryo storage facility was kaput, and we’d made it back to Colorado safely without a scratch.

  I find that the most interesting moments – and maybe the most harrowing – are when life changes at the drop of a hat. An example of this would be when Grace first showed up at my doorstep, or when Veronique burst into the hotel room in New Haven. Or any number of other occurrences that came as a surprise, such as the time Dorian rescued me from the private military facility, or when we barely escaped the bomb in Ken’s apartment.

  All this to say: It took me a second to register the look of shock on Grace’s face, and my first response was to check my own body to see if any parts were missing.

  I was so elated that I couldn’t process her concern, the way she turned to Veronique and Veronique instantly knew, the way Stella cried out and took off toward the house.

  Dorian zipped away in a burst of purple energy.

  “What’s going on?” I still couldn’t figure it out. Grace had knelt to one knee and was touching the soil. Veronique had taken off after Stella, yelling for her to stop.

  A small explosion shot Stella backward, and it would have killed her had it not been for her ability to manipulate vectors. I hit the ground, my hands on top of my ballistic helmet (which, come to think of it, kind of negated the point of having the helmet).

  Dorian reappeared next to me and grabbed my arm.

  “They’re gone. They’re all gone,” she said as smoke filled the air. “Michelle, Ingrid, Fiona.”

  I tried to piece together what was happening. “How? What about Angel? Check!” were the only words I could form.

  Dorian disappeared again. The flames flickered off the house, and I knew we needed to leave soon.

  Soon, as in the next three minutes or less.

  Grace stood and finally said, “It was a helicopter. And there was some struggle. Also, do you see the craters over there? Something big touched down.”

  “Did you pick up anything else?”

  She shook her head.

  Veronique moved over to us. She had her hands poised and ready to combat any explosions if need be. Stella sobbed, arms crossed over her chest as she waited for Dorian to return.

  Dorian was back seconds later. “He’s gone. Our backpacks are gone too – at least the frag pouches and IEDs. We still have money though.” She showed me a duffel bag of cash.

  I took it from her and threw the strap over my shoulder. “We need to get out of here now. I also need my laptop. No, the house could be booby-trapped. Too dangerous. Let’s just go. We can pick up the pieces later.”

  “Where to?” Dorian asked.

  “We need to go to a parking lot and get a vehicle; that will help. Then we can get to a hotel or something … regroup, figure this out.”

  “We have to go after them. We have to go after them now!” Stella shouted, taking a step closer to me and pressing a finger in my chest.

  “Stella, we have to figure this out before we start going anywhere. We don’t know where they are. They could be here in Colorado, or they could be getting transferred somewhere else.”

  “You don’t know that, Gideon!”

  “And you don’t … not know that, Stella!” I felt my powers – I mean, Grace’s powers – tingling. Apparently, getting angry ignited them.

  “Everyone relax,” Grace said. “Let’s get to a parking lot, get a vehicle, and go from there.”

  “P.F. Panda’s,” I said, the sound of sirens in the distance meeting my ears. “Let’s go to the same spot as earlier. We’ll get out of our armor, get a vehicle, and figure things out.”

  “Wait.” Veronique turned back to the flames. “Are we sure no one is in there?”

  “I don’t sense anyone,” Grace said.

  “Then we should probably destroy the house. Gideon’s laptop is in there and there’s other evidence we were here. I say we bring the home to the ground.”

  The four exchanged glances.

  Dorian pulled her paintbrush out of her pocket, placing the tip in her mouth. Her hands in front of her body now, Veronique brought down anything metal she could latch onto. While Grace blew out all the windows, Stella used her vibration abilities to rumble the foundation, eventually causing a small crater to form under the living room that only added to the destruction.

  It wasn’t long before the place looked like hell, and that was before Dorian’s energy creation got to it and set the rubble on fire.

  Dorian reached her hands out and all of us touched her. We appeared in the clearing outside the sh
opping center near P.F. Panda’s and she staggered forward.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “A little overtaxed,” she said, the vein appearing on her head. “Although, I think some of it is stress. I can’t believe …”

  She gulped.

  “We’ll figure out what to do about the teens,” I told her and the others. “You know me by now. We don’t leave someone behind, even if … um … we have to go back for them later. Sorry, that doesn’t sound as brave as I’d like it to sound. Point is, we’ll figure out our next move and execute it.”

  Stella nodded at me, and for the first time, I could tell by the look in her eyes that she believed me.

  I dropped the duffel bag full of cash to the ground and took off my helmet and body armor. The others followed suit, running their fingers through their damp and matted hair.

  “We’ll be back in just a few minutes with a vehicle,” I told them. “Grab the stuff, and meet us at the curb.”

  Grace changed into a redhead with glasses and a puffy jacket. She grabbed my hand, and we walked through the edge of the woods, toward the parking lot.

  I tried to make myself more presentable this time. My hair had grown out some, but not enough that I could really fix it. I wore one of the T-shirts we’d bought in Austin, an Ice Bats shirt, but tucking that in wouldn’t make me look any more presentable.

  Why are you worried about appearances, Writer Gideon? No one will remember you.

  Sorry, I thought back to Grace, old habits die hard.

  We would need to find someone either getting to their car, or someone in the restaurant. And since no one was getting into their vehicle at the moment, it was easier for us to just go inside and find a ride the old-fashioned way.

  “Find someone who has an SUV,” I told her. I knew it was beyond my abilities to simply figure out what vehicle a person had based on their thoughts, regardless of the fact that I could ‘hear’ their mental chatter.

  Grace took over, and within seconds she located a stocky guy who owned an SUV. He brought us his keys, I thanked him, and we got the hell out of there.

  The guy’s vehicle was a newer model Toyota Land Cruiser, white with a Denver Rapids bumper sticker on the back.

  I got inside, Grace hopped in next to me, morphing into her base form almost immediately, and I pushed the leather seat back a bit. I pressed the button that started the vehicle and threw the SUV in reverse.

  We pulled up to the curb and I popped open the back door so Veronique and Stella could put the cash and body armor in back.

  The CBGs got in, Dorian in the middle again, and we moved toward the highway.

  I didn’t know where we were going, but we needed to get somewhere far away. I figured we’d take I-25 South toward New Mexico and find a place to stay in Pueblo. We needed to get our bearings, dammit.

  “This is so fucked,” Stella said, her attitude worsening.

  “We have to remain calm,” I said. “We’ve had something like this happen before; in fact, it seems to be like a freaking trope with my life. Grace, can you update her?”

  Grace’s light blue eyes turned back to white.

  “Damn,” Stella said, the look on her face softening a little.

  “Yep, we’ve been through some real shit. Every time we get comfortable, something happens, and someone gets kidnapped, or I get kidnapped, or something equally shitty happens. We can handle this, but I need a little time to do some research and regroup.”

  “But all of your stuff was on the computer, right?” Veronique asked.

  “Yeah, but I can also look it up on my phone because it’s in the cloud. I do need to get another computer though. Maybe we can find a hotel in Pueblo and just take someone’s laptop. Everyone has a laptop. Hell, the receptionist probably has a laptop with him. That’s the least of my concerns. My biggest concern is getting the Teens back.”

  “It could be a suicide mission,” Veronique finally said. “It would be smarter for us to continue our mission, destroy what’s left of the New Mexico facility, and move forward. They’re expecting us to come after them.”

  “That never stopped us before,” I reminded her. “They were expecting Dorian and me to come after you, and once we got you, they were expecting all three of us to go after Grace.”

  “It’s just …” Veronique considered how she should word her thoughts. “We have to keep them on their toes. They won’t kill them.”

  “You don’t know that!” Stella yelled. I felt the vehicle tremble a little as she let off small bursts of her power.

  Is there any way you can put Stella out? I thought to Grace.

  Grace’s soft voice appeared in my head. Yes, but she’s not going to like it.

  It may be better for now if we just bring her down a little bit. We’re going eighty on a highway; if she isn’t careful, our vehicle could flip over.

  “Hey, Stella?” Grace asked, turning around.

  “No –” Stella started to say when she saw Grace’s white eyes. To help Grace, Veronique touched Stella’s arm, a red glow radiating off her hand.

  “She’s going to be so pissed,” Dorian said after Stella was out cold.

  “We’ll deal with that later. We need to get this mission under control; we can’t have her getting emotional right now.” I clenched the steering wheel tighter.

  I noticed that my knuckles were white. I also realized the vehicle had auto drive and I didn’t have to drive at the moment. I activated the auto drive and pulled my hands away. My palms were covered with a layer of sweat.

  “Who’s down for some music?” I asked.

  No one said anything, so we continued toward Pueblo in silence.

  Chapter Thirty: Thank You to the Stoners in Room 126

  Of course we found a Marriott in Pueblo, Colorado. Dammit, it’s our favorite place to stay for free!

  No concierge at this one; we simply pulled into the parking lot and I fireman-carried Stella inside, the duffle bag full of money slung over my other shoulder.

  The front desk clerk, a paunchy black guy with an asteroid field of moles on the side of his neck, waved us in and gave us a room key with little chatter.

  Grace was getting even better at using her ability to move us through the process quickly. If Stella hadn’t been thrown over my shoulder, I would have actually tried to use a little of Grace’s power myself, but they were treating me as the caddy, and I was glad to be of assistance.

  “Also, I need a laptop,” I told the clerk.

  “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t have a laptop with me. Maybe one of my co-workers does; Justin always brings his laptop. I think he’s a writer or something. Who knows? He’s always typing on it whenever he gets a break. If you want, I can see if he’s around. He’s supposed to be here, but I haven’t heard from him yet.”

  “You said he’s a writer?”

  “Sure is. I mean, he won’t come out and tell you, but I’ve seen him designing covers and whatnot. Damn amateur if you ask me.”

  “Absolutely not. We can’t take his laptop,” I told the CBGs and the receptionist. “Look, I don’t live by many codes. But I refuse to take, and for that matter, use another writer’s laptop. Do you remember seeing any hotel guests with laptops? You know, a laptop bag or something?”

  He thought about my question, his eyes still glazed over. “Yeah, there is one couple. I saw one of them in the lobby earlier working on some kind of project, and he was asking about the damn Wi-Fi. Everyone always asks about the damn Wi-Fi.”

  “Is our room near theirs?”

  “I put you on the top floor, but there are only two floors, so yes. In fact, your room is directly over theirs.”

  “That’s all I need to know.”

  With Stella still on my shoulder, we found the elevator and took it to Room 226, a suite with two queen-size beds and a recliner with a built-in leg rest.

  I laid Stella on the recliner, brought a blanket over, and tucked her in. She looked so peaceful and I cringed as I thought of how angry s
he’d be once she woke up.

  “Who wants to be on laptop duty with me?” I asked them.

  Grace sat on the edge of the bed. “Do you want to try yourself? I know you were interested in utilizing this power a little more.”

  “Do it myself?” I glanced from Grace to Veronique. Dorian was already in the bathroom, and I heard the shower start up.

  Veronique shrugged. “It would be good practice, and Grace can go with you just in case.”

  Confidence swelled in my chest. “Sure, I’ll do it, and then I want to come back and get in bed because I’m tired and …” I sighed deeply. “It’s been a weird day. Started good, started great actually, and then this.” A feeling of guilt washed over me. “I knew we should have kept someone there with them. Dammit, they’re just kids; they don’t deserve this shit.”

  “We needed everyone to destroy the embryo storage,” Grace reminded me. “And if you’d been there with them, they would have taken you too. So maybe it’s better this way.”

  “I just don’t know.”

  “We have to work with what we have, and you need a laptop to work better, so come on.”

  She stood, and I followed her out the door and back to the elevator.

  I didn’t know what the sleeping arrangement was going to be, and I really didn’t care. There were two beds, four of us, and I assumed I would be bedding with Grace because she was kind of the alpha female anyway.

  And while that shouldn’t have been on my mind as we took the elevator back down to the first floor, it was, to the point that Grace said something about it as we approached Room 126.

  “You can sleep wherever you’d like tonight, even on the floor.”

  “Is that your attempt at humor?”

  “Was it funny?”

  “Actually, it wasn’t that bad.” I cleared my throat. “Okay, I’m going to attempt this, please be ready to back me up when it doesn’t work.”

  “It’ll work. You’ve had confidence with my powers before; I don’t understand the sudden change.”

  “I can’t be confident all the time. I’m not a machine!”