She cleared her throat. “Anyway, apparently, it's similar to the mutation—or whatever it is—that the Crossers have. Go figure, right? When you come back, you could travel between dimensions if you want. How cool would that be?”
Chloe stood up and stretched, then reached for her lukewarm tea and took a drink. “I mean, that's if we decide to stay with WARDEN after all of this. Gavin says they still want us, but we're not going to make the decision without you, so . . .” She crossed to the window. It was another fake one, a monitor displaying a sunny beach. The waves lapped hypnotically against the sparkling sand.
“So, you'll just have to wake up to cast your vote,” she said quietly. “Just . . . wake up, okay?”
“Okay.” The murmur was so quiet, Chloe almost missed it.
Almost.
She whirled around and ran back toward the bed, half crawling on top of him. “Ethan?”
His eyelids fluttered open and he blinked, bleary and dazed. “Chloe?”
“Oh my God!” She couldn't hold back the tears of relief. Of joy. “Ethan, are you okay? Are you in pain?”
“Pain?” He swallowed, then shook his head slightly. “Thirsty,” he said, his voice cracking.
She scrambled for the pitcher at the side of the bed and poured him a glass with shaking hands. She put the straw to his lips and he drank greedily.
“Thanks,” he said, leaning back and for the first time noticing his surroundings. “Where am I?”
“At WARDEN.”
“Where?”
She realized that Ethan would have no idea what she was talking about. She laughed through her tears. “It's kind of a long story.”
At that moment, the door to Ethan's room slid open and Dr. Chandler entered, along with two nurses. Chloe backed away, but while he examined Ethan, she told him about everything that happened since he vanished in the clearing. About how they'd searched for him. About WARDEN and Gavin. About Dr. Barrett and the portal.
About her father.
She really hadn’t known Stephen Barrett, so she shouldn’t have felt the loss so deeply. But she did. Perhaps it was more the idea of having a father than anything else, but nevertheless, she felt it.
Chloe was an orphan. She’d never really thought of herself like that before. Aunt Cara was the only family she had left.
Aunt Cara. Holy crap. She was going to be furious when Chloe finally told her about all of this. Maybe she could put it off for a while.
Ethan listened quietly while Chloe talked, and she wondered more than once if she was overwhelming him. But when she paused, waiting nervously, he always asked her to continue.
Finally, Dr. Chandler declared him healthy, if a bit weak and malnourished, and left with the nurses, saying he'd have some food brought up. Ethan watched him go, thoughtful, and Chloe watched Ethan.
“Are you really okay?” she asked, taking his hand again.
She wasn’t sure he was going to answer, but finally, he said quietly, “I remember.”
Chloe climbed up on the bed, one knee tucked under her. “What do you remember?”
He turned to face her, blue eyes damp with tears and she was stricken by the pain she saw in them.
“Everything,” he said. “I remember it all.”
“Oh, Ethan.” Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him close. He shuddered in her embrace, drawing her tightly against him.
“It was dark,” he said. “I couldn't see anything. Couldn't breathe. It was like I was buried deep inside my body, and the Chaos was all around me, but part of me, too.” He reached up and started to stroke her hair and she tried not to cry—she did. She tried to be strong for him, but she couldn't hold back the tears.
“It was so angry.” He shook his head, his chin bumping her. “It kept trying to get out, but it couldn't. I couldn't. We were both trapped, together. I had no idea how much time had passed—I guess that was one good thing, and then . . .”
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. “Then what?”
He smiled at her. “Then I heard you. I heard you calling my name.”
“You did?” Chloe placed a hand on his cheek. “I felt you,” she said. “I wanted you to know that we were coming for you. That we wouldn't give up.”
He turned his face and kissed her palm. “I knew,” he said. “I think that's what got me through it.” Ethan ran his fingers through her hair slowly. “How about you? You’ve been through a lot—and losing your father after you’d just found him? I’m so sorry.”
Chloe nodded, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment on a rush of grief. “It’s weird, you know? Deep down, I always knew he was out there, somewhere. And when I found him, it kind of made sense, I guess? I mean, before he even admitted it, I knew there was a connection there.”
He pressed his lips to her forehead, but said nothing.
“I barely knew him,” she whispered. “But he gave his life for me—for you, for all of us. He saved us all. So how can I not forgive him for all those years I never had him? How can I not love him?” She blinked, and tears trickled down her cheeks.
Ethan thumbed them away. “You can’t.”
She smiled faintly and looked into his eyes, shifting up on the bed until they were a breath apart. “Don't ever leave me again,” she whispered.
He huffed out a laugh and she felt it on her lips.
“Not a chance,” he murmured before he took her face between his hands and finally—finally—kissed her.
“You sure you don't feel anything?” Gavin asked, eyeing Ethan warily. He'd been questioning the boy for about an hour, and he could tell the rest of the Order was getting irritated. They were a united front, glaring at him from their spots around the room, but he refused to be intimidated by a bunch of kids.
Beck's hand glowed for a moment, then went out. Gavin shot him an annoyed look, and he grinned in response.
“No, it's gone,” Ethan said. “I don't feel the Chaos at all—not inside me. Not anywhere.”
Gavin scratched his cheek, the five o'clock shadow raspy against his fingers. Their research had shown a unique connection between the Prison and the Chaos. Even Gina Talbot had felt the connection, and she lacked the genetic makeup to serve as a true Prison. The fact that Ethan Reynolds no longer detected the Chaos was a good sign. Maybe it really was gone for good.
“All right, I'll leave you to it for now,” Gavin said. “When you're up and around, we'll want to run a few more tests. And get you some information on Crosser training, if you're interested.” He watched Ethan for some indication of whether or not he was interested, but man, the boy had a poker face.
“I'll think about it,” Ethan said finally.
Gavin nodded. He didn't bother asking the rest about joining WARDEN. The ball was in their court. After all that had happened, he knew he'd have to win their trust, but Gavin was up for the task. He'd do whatever it took to bring them in.
WARDEN needed them. The world needed them.
He left the room and headed down the hall, unsurprised when Eve DuBois fell into step beside him.
“Anything?” she asked.
“Nah,” Gavin replied. “Looks like we might have actually gotten the job done this time.”
Eve nodded, a rather smug smile on her face.
Gavin stopped and turned to her, folding his arms as he studied her. “You knew.”
She shrugged. “I suspected.”
“Why didn't you say anything?”
“Oh, Gavin, you know how this works.” She hooked her arm through his and started toward the elevator. “Some things have to unfold without interference. If I told you anything, maybe you would have screwed it all up!”
He shot her an affronted look. “I do not screw things up!”
Eve laughed and pressed the button to call the elevator. “We all know what we need to know,” she said. “Me, you . . . Therese.”
“Chloe's mother saw this?” He'd seen a lot, but to think this had all been in the works decades ago mad
e his head spin.
“Therese was a very gifted Seer,” Eve replied. “Just like her daughter.”
Gavin frowned. Eve was so irritating when she was self-satisfied. Still, he had to ask, “What about them?” He jerked his head back toward Ethan's room. “Will they join us?”
The elevator doors opened and they walked in, Eve pressing the button for the third floor.
“I can't say for sure,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “But I will say I have a very good feeling.”
Chloe slid open Ethan's hospital room door to let Dylan in, along with the stack of pizza boxes he had balanced in his arms.
“Thank God,” Ethan groaned. “I'm starving!”
“You should be.” Beck nudged his shoulder. “You haven't eaten for months.”
Dylan plopped the boxes onto the end of the bed and handed one to Ethan. “This one's all yours,” he said. “You definitely earned it.”
They divvied up the pizza and the room fell silent for a while, except for the occasional appreciative moan and slurp of a soda.
“Did you call your parents?” Chloe asked Ethan.
Ethan swallowed, then nodded. That had to have been a tough call.
“What did you tell them?”
Ethan sighed, then took a sip of his drink. “That I was coming back to town and wanted to see them. They were so happy to hear from me—” He stopped, a little choked up, and Chloe reached out to squeeze his hand.
After a moment, he continued. “I feel so bad for what I put them through.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Chloe said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ethan replied. “I know they’re going to want answers, and I’m not sure what to say.”
“Fall on the sword, my man,” Dylan piped in from across the room. “Say you’re sorry and you love them. That’s all they want to hear.”
Mumbled agreement went through the room, and they finished their meal.
“So,” Chloe said, wiping her hands on a paper napkin. “We need to talk about the future.”
“Oh no,” Wren chewed on a piece of ice, then tossed her cup into the trash. “What have you seen?”
Chloe laughed. “No, nothing,” she replied. “I mean our future with WARDEN.”
“Do we have a future with WARDEN?” Maia asked. She was perched on the windowsill, picking off pieces of pepperoni. “Personally, I'm not so sure I trust these guys.”
“I don't either,” Beck said.
“I don't think any of us do, not entirely.” Chloe got up on the bed and settled next to Ethan, his arm around her shoulder. “But if we're going to keep doing what we're doing, we may need them.”
“Doing what we're doing?” Dylan leaned back in his chair, and Miranda grabbed the leg, almost tipping him over. “Hey!” he shouted, landing with a thump. She sat on his lap and he smiled, appeased.
“What exactly are we doing?” he asked.
“Um, fighting bad guys?” Miranda offered.
“Saving the world?” Wren added.
“Being superheroes?” Tru said from her spot sprawled on the couch.
“We've been through the pros and cons before,” Chloe said. “So it's just a matter of whether we still feel the same. Do we still want the alliance?”
After a moment, Ethan said quietly, “I think we do.”
“You do?” Chloe was surprised. “They didn't even want us to try and save you. They tried to stop us.”
Ethan shrugged. “It was all in the interest of the greater good,” he said. “I get it.”
“Well, I don't,” Beck snapped. “We're expendable soldiers to these guys. We can't trust them to protect us.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the room. Chloe understood. WARDEN had betrayed them, and there was no way to know they wouldn't do it again.
At the same time, WARDEN also saved them all.
“We don't have to,” Chloe said slowly. “We don't have to count on them to protect us. We protect each other.” She took Ethan's free hand in her own, still thrilled that she could.
“She's right,” Miranda said. “WARDEN's powerful, we know that. But we are, too. We can take care of ourselves if we need to.”
Chloe looked around the room at these people who had become her friends—her family—and she knew she would do whatever it took to keep them safe.
And she knew they would do the same.
“So we vote,” she said finally. “And it has to be unanimous. If we do this, we do it together. Who's in?”
One by one, each hand was raised—even Beck's—and Chloe smiled.
“Okay, then I'll let Gavin know.”
“How about tomorrow?” Dylan said. “Make him sweat a bit.”
Everyone laughed and Maia turned on the television.
One day soon, they'd have to fight again, Chloe was sure of it. They'd risk their lives to save each other . . . to save the innocent. One day soon they'd come together as The Order to defend the world against an unspeakable evil, or a crazed dictator . . . or an otherworldly threat.
But tonight? Tonight, they were just a group of friends hanging out and watching a movie.
And as she curled into Ethan, she knew it was worth it. Everything they'd been through . . . everything they would go through in the future . . . it would all be worth it.
Ethan bent his head to whisper in her ear, “You okay?”
She smiled and kissed him softly. “Yeah, I'm good.”
“Oh my God,” moaned Dylan. “Get a room!”
Chloe's friends laughed, Ethan threw a wadded up napkin at Dylan, and Chloe grinned.
If this was her future, she was ready to face it.
My editor, Kathie Spitz
My proofreader, Amy Gamache at Rose David Editing
My formatter, Tammy Clarke at Formatting by Tammy
The T.M. Franklin Book Club and T.M. Franklin ARC Team
…and of course, to my wonderful family for their never ending support.
T.M. Franklin writes stories of adventure, romance, & a little magic. A former TV news producer, she decided making stuff up was more fun than reporting the facts. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days.
MORE was well-received, being selected as a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book Awards, as well as winning the Suspense/Thriller division of the Blogger Book Fair Reader's Choice Awards. She's since written novels in a variety of genres, as well as several best-selling short stories...and there's always more on the way.
Find out more at www.TMFranklin.com
And to be the first notified about upcoming releases, sales, and giveaways, subscribe to T.M. Franklin’s newsletter at www.TMFranklin.com/Subscribe. All new subscribers get a FREE copy of Unscheduled Departure!
The MORE Trilogy
“Reminiscent of the Mortal Instruments series... only better!” – Penny Dreadful Reviews
MORE
The Guardians
TWELVE
The New Super Humans
Super Humans
Super Powers
Super Natural
Super Heroes
Standalone Books
A Fun and Quirky YA Romance
How to Get Ainsley Bishop to Fall in Love with You
Adventure and Romance on the High Seas
Cutlass
A Magical Holiday Romance
Second Chances
Visions of Sugar Plums
Short Stories
Unscheduled Departure
A Piece of Cake
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Super Heroes (The New Super Humans #4) Page 18
