by J. D. Dexter
I watch as one of his hands fiddles with something on the back. Suddenly, the plastic turns black, and a high-pitched squeal breaks through the silence.
“Is it on? Why can’t I see anything?” Josh’s voice comes from the piece of plastic.
“Josh?!? I’m here. I’m here!” I rush to Lando, squatting down so I can see the rectangle of plastic a little better.
“I can hear her, I just can see her,” Josh says, still invisible in the plastic.
Muttering can be heard coming from the plastic, but I can’t catch any of the words. The rectangle begins to flicker, looking like the screen when you paused a VHS tape on an old tube TV set.
“I’m here, Josh. Can you see me?” I wave my hand in front of the flickering screen.
“No, Fin. I can’t. Hang on. I’ll try to get you back. Their technology is shit,” Josh says clearly. “Yes, it is.” The sound is getting harder to hear. “You didn’t even know what I was talking about, Hugo, so don’t tell me that Ankarrah tech is—”
The rectangle is clear again, no more voices, or even static, coming from it.
I fling my arms around Lando. Distantly, I’m shocked that he feels fluffy instead of scratchy and crispy. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“I’ve got the hookup, Legs. Don’t let anyone tell you different.” He wiggles his diminutive shoulders. “Loosen up. I’m about to drown in your goodie-bags.”
I scoot back. “Sorry.” I wipe a tear away on a laugh.
“Eh. I don’t get Dude Skipper’s fascination with them.”
“Dude skippers?”
“Yeah, you people from Earth. Time moves so fast it’s like you’re skipping instead of walking.” He winks at me.
I shake my head at him. Of course he would come up with a name for Earthlings.
Getting back to my feet, I run at Hunter and jump. I hook my ankles behind his back and smash my mouth to his.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I say between kisses all over his face.
“I would say anytime, but it took forever to have Lando cross back and forth with the right equipment, and then to get their smart people working on it with one of Lando’s people here. But I’m glad you’re happy,” he says, kissing me back.
“Lando has people?”
“Bitch, my people even have people,” Lando scoffs. I can tell by the sound that he’s shaking his head at me.
“What’ve I told you about calling me a bitch, Crispy?” I glare at him.
His sigh is heavy. “Princess Fyndrexia, your lowly servant humbly utilizes his multitudinous connections in order to better serve you. My reach is far, my resources deep. Please, call upon me should you ever have need.” He sketches a deep bow, almost able to kiss the floor.
“I’ll take bitch over Princess Fyndrexia any day.” I snort.
“I’ll lose bitch if you lose Crispy.” He raises his clenched fist to me.
I unlatch from Hunter’s body, giving him another kiss.
I scoot over to Lando, bump my fist to his. “Deal.”
“Hello? Fin, can you hear me?” Josh’s voice comes from the plastic screen again.
“Yes, Josh. I can hear you. I still can’t see you, though,” I tell him.
“Yeah, Hugo here thinks there may be some kind of interference with the video signal,” he says. “Don’t whine, Hugo, at least I made you sound smart.” It sounds like he’s pulled the phone away from his mouth to talk to someone else.
“Josh, how are you? How have you been?”
“Listen, this is a recording. Kind of like a voicemail, but with video. The way time moves makes talking in real-time a little tricky. I’m getting Hugo on it, we’ll try to have a work-around for later.”
“I’m good. Shavix is a nice guy, but definitely not what you’ve been imagining.” He chuckles. “It’s only been about a week here. When I got here, I was apparently close to dying. The ride was rough; you sent too much power.”
My heart squeezes.
“Don’t worry about it. It was actually a good thing. If you hadn’t, I don’t know that Shavix’s team could have helped me. But there is some bad news.”
No, no, no.
“Fin…” I hear him swallow. “Fin, I can’t come home.”
“What?” I whisper, even though I know he can’t hear or see me.
“They had to do something to me to save me. Think Iron Man and the Hulk. Whatever they did to me won’t work on Earth. Don’t beat yourself up about this, or I’m going to be really pissed. I’m fine. In fact, I feel better than ever.” I can hear his smile.
“I’m getting the signal that I need to wrap this up. Just know that I love you, I’m fine, and I’ll figure out a way to tell my parents what happened. Hugo’s going to help me with that, too.”
A shuffle and a muffled yell. “Yes, you are Hugo, you little pipsqueak. I’m going to—”
The sound shuts off and the screen goes back to full static.
Behind me, Kezi clears her throat. “Finley, we’ve got a problem.”
18
“What’s up? What’s the trouble?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen to find a huddle of Hunter, Lando, Brockten, Kez, Brent, Brian, and Sarah.
“Hey, Sarah. When did you get here?”
“I snuck in with Brent while you were distracted.” She glances at the clear square in my hands.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. How’s Jamie?”
“She’s doing so much better after you and Hunter helped her. I’m still not sure how you did it, or even what you did, but she sends her love. We all do.” She gives me a huge smile.
“I’m just glad we could help. Tell her to keep doing the exercises Hunter gave her. He’s been practicing with his adira, so he has some kind of idea on what he’s doing.” I wrap my arm around his waist.
“I’ll do that. I’m here because I’ve heard through the grapevine that Finley and Hunter are going to be pulled to D.C. for some kind of hearing,” Sarah answers.
“What does that mean?” Hunter asks.
“It means nothing. They aren’t going,” Brent says. “They have no legal right to pull them across multiple states just for a hearing. And why D.C? No.” He shakes his head. “They aren’t going,” he says firmly.
“Because that’s where Scarsman and Lockwood are stationed now,” Sarah answers. The energy in the room heightens the way it always does when supernatural abilities are being used.
“Don’t manipulate me, Sarah. I’m entitled to my feelings.” Brent steps away from her, removing himself from her touch.
She steps back, her head bent, her shoulders drooping.
I step up to him, making sure to speak only loud enough for him to hear me, “Yes, you are. But it doesn’t give you the right to be a douche. She’s trying to offer you comfort. She hasn’t gotten the hang of it yet without her abilities. Don’t knock her back for trying.” My voice reaches only him.
He closes his eyes, breathes deeply through his nose. I see his shoulders settle as well. “You’re right. Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize to me.” I flick my eyes to Sarah.
He steps over, pulling her into his arms. She ducks her head into his shoulder. Low murmuring is the only indication of a conversation.
“How did Scarsman and Lockwood get into the D.C. branch? I thought Rickman fired them after we got back and gave our statements a couple months ago.” Hunter asks.
We all wait for an answer.
“Ahem.” I raise my voice, interrupting the couple a handful of steps away.
“Sorry,” Sarah says, blushing.
“Yeah, making out when we’re having war discussions isn’t really the best use of our time,” Brian says, all snark.
Brent flips him off behind Sarah’s back.
“What was the question?” she asks. She runs her hands over her hair, tucking the strands behind her ears.
Hunter repeats it.
“Through political maneuvering. Lockwood has someone high up in D.C.
She pulled some strings for herself and Scarsman. They actually work for DHS now.” Her nose wrinkles.
“Great,” I mutter.
“Then how do they expect us to go to D.C. for some hearing? We haven’t done anything to land on anyone’s radar since getting back. No one’s shot at me or tried to kill me, at least that I know about. What would they need us in D.C. for?” I ask her.
She shrugs her shoulders. “I haven’t heard specifics, only that there’s a chance you’ll get pulled into the hearings.”
“Where are the hearings going to take place, if they happen?” Hunter asks.
“One of the Senate Hearing buildings,” she replies.
“Why do they need us for a senate hearing?” Brian asks.
“Us?” I repeat.
“If you’re going, we’re all going, Finley-babe. Don’t doubt it.” He nods at me, his eyes fierce.
“Seconded.” Everyone, even Lando, says.
“Aww, I’m all warm and tingling, guys,” I say, hugging myself exaggeratedly.
A symphony of snorts sound around the room.
“The question is still valid,” Hunter says.
“Syv Global is a heavy-hitter in government contracts. They hold close to three billion dollars in government contracts. Due to that, they have to answer to various Senate and House committees for their actions and behaviors. Once Mark’s work was discovered, Syv Global, and Collaborative Genetics especially, has been under very close scrutiny,” Sarah says. “The Senate has some questions about how they treated you and your information.”
“And they can’t do that over the phone or through an intermediary, why?” I ask.
“I have no idea. Well, none that make legitimate sense, anyway. A lot of people in the government contracts world are making noises about the number of contracts SG gets. I think this is a ploy to get SG’s government contracts spread around to others,” Sarah says.
“Then why would they bother us for their hearing? We have absolutely nothing to do with their contracts or business, other than being targeted because I was included in one of their studies.”
“Like I said, I have no actual knowledge. I’m just letting you know what I’ve heard, and the only logical answer I can think of,” she says.
“Do you have any idea on the time frame?” Hunter asks.
“No. The rumors just started to fly, so I would guess anywhere between a couple weeks to a couple months. But again, don’t take my word for it. It could be later today, tomorrow, or next year. I simply don’t know. I just wanted to let you know that something is in the works.” She lifts her hands as she shrugs.
“Well, thanks. I appreciate you letting us know.” I squeeze her arm.
“Of course.” She pats my hand.
We all stand around looking at each other. My thoughts are going a mile a minute, consumed once again with what-ifs and maybes. We’ve had six months of monotony and normalcy. I’m not ready to give that up yet.
“Well, what’s for dinner?” Brian asks.
Chalk one up for normalcy. I laugh as I walk around to his side and give him a hug.
He kisses my hair and gives me a squeeze.
***
19
“How’d the consultation go?” I ask Hunter as we’re driving. I see a sign that says Chicago, 100 miles.
Our first stop on this trip is almost within our grasp.
“Not too badly. They had to do a splenectomy on a ruptured spleen on a seventeen-year-old male. The surgeon hit one of the major neighboring arteries. He got it sutured and cleaned up, but it shook him badly. I watched the video and did an evaluation.” He shrugs his shoulders.
“He couldn’t have done anything else. Just that particular kid’s anatomy. He’ll have to do some extra training on the vasculature surrounding the spleen, pancreas, and stomach, but he’ll do fine with those.”
“Well, that good then. I’m sure he was glad you were his reviewer instead of Dr. Gloomy.”
Hunter laughs. “Yeah, he was pretty happy with that.”
“How’s Grayson doing?” I ask. His favorite patient in the hospital, a little six-year-old cancer patient was just released from the hospital after almost a full-year stay.
“He’s doing great. I saw him for his check up,” Hunter says.
“Give him a boost?” I ask quietly.
“Just a tiny one. His lymph system was overworked with the chemo and radiation. I just cleaned it out for him.” He hunches his shoulders.
I lean forward and kiss him softly. “I love your heart.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“And I love it if you would keep that smoozy, smoochy crap to yourselves,” Brian barks from the driver’s seat.
“Seconded.” Everyone in the van agrees.
“You’re all just jealous.” I smack another kiss to Hunter’s lips.
His mouth stretches under my own as he laughs.
***
“Well, I’m stuffed and exhausted. I’m all for heading back to the hotel and getting some shut-eye.” I stretch my arms over my head, letting my head drop back.
“Seconded.” Surround sound once again.
“What rooms are you guys in?” I ask Brian, Kez, and Brockten.
Brian and Kez look anywhere but at each other. Brockten rolls his eyes. “I’m in seven-fourteen.” He waggles his thumb between Brian and Kez. “These TWO are in seven-thirty-one.”
I pump my fist in the air. “I knew it!” I sing. “I’m so telling Josh when we get back home. I left him a message saying I thought you guys were dating. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it.” I shake my butt a couple times as we make our way back to the hotel.
“Grow up, Finley-babe,” Brian mutters, his cheeks red.
“Are you blushing, or is it just the cold?” I ask him.
“Shut up, squirt. I’m still bigger than you.”
“Blushing. Brian is bluuuushingggg.” I fling my arms out and twirl a couple of circles.
A stray thought has me stopping mid-circle.
“Wait! What’s the big deal? You’re an adult, and unless Kezi is forcing you to do things you don’t want, why have you been hiding it from me?” I plant myself in front of them, my hands on my hips.
“Because Brian did not wish for censure or difficult conversations amongst his loved ones,” Kez says, a funny shimmer in her eyes.
Huh?
“Are you ashamed of Kezi, Bri?” I ask quietly.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” He gapes at me. “NO, I’m not ashamed of her.” He pushes his huge hands through his hair. “I just didn’t want all of the talks and the warnings and the glances and the jokes.” He leans down to get into my face. “And I didn’t want to harped on about taking it slow and not rushing into things.”
I stare at him, his face redder than before. I can almost see the steam coming from his ears. I search his face. Something in his eyes seems a little scared.
The longer I stare at him, the fiercer his expression becomes. Tipping up on my toes, I kiss his pursed lips really quickly.
“If you’re both happy, then I’m happy.”
Kez laughs behind me, a smoky chuckle that I’m sure drives Brian a little crazy.
“I told you she wouldn’t care,” she says.
“Wait, why would I care?” I’m truly confused now.
“Because…reasons,” Brian says.
“That’s your best answer? Reasons?”
He hunches his shoulders. “When you say it like that, it makes it sound stupid.”
“Uh huh. When did we start being unable to share stupid things with each other? You’re the one I go to with my stupid things.”
He looks down at his feet.
“Brian?” I ask gently.
“Since you became the boss,” he mumbles softly.
“Huh?” I turn to look at everyone else in the group. Only Hunter can hold my gaze. He looks like a load has been lifted off his shoulders.
“I have
no idea what you guys are talking about. I’m no one’s boss, let alone the boss of your private lives.” I shake my head.
In my mind, I run through the last six months. I had noticed that everyone became really focused on training, but I thought that was because they were enjoying it. It hadn’t escaped my notice that Brian and Brent weren’t as jokey or laughing as easily, but I thought that was about their mom being in jail and their dad being in a different city.
It hadn’t dawned on me at all that I was to blame for their laser focus and lack of joie de vivre.
“Finley-babe, you’re the one with the quest. The one whose life is in danger. The one who has to battle evil and save universes. Did you think we were going to kick and scream, especially after you allowed us the freedom to quit our jobs and become the next best thing to ninjas?” Brian spreads his hands out.
“We have no regrets. But we’re all very aware that you’re the one in charge. You’re the one with the money that let us quit our jobs. You’re the one our mom shot. You’re the one being shot at after our dad betrayed you to his company.”
I feel like someone has just ripped me in half with their bare hands. Brian is my happy-go-lucky, let’s-tell-inappropriate-jokes-at-inappropriate-times guy.
“I didn’t mean to…I had no idea you all felt this way.” I search the faces of Brian and Brent. Two men who are willing to help me and love me.
Both of their faces, even Hunter’s, look a little guilty.
Sarah looks like she wants to be anywhere but here.
I look at Kez and Brockten. “You guys, too?” I whisper.
“We are warriors. It is different for us. As a princess of Ankarrah, you are literally our boss. We are your security force until another unit can be assigned to you. All of the children of the Trium have personal protection units,” Brockten explains. “We will follow you into battle, even if we do not walk away from it.”
I let that little nugget of information sink in. I knew that Kez and Brockten were warriors and that they were invested in helping me defeat Anixia. I hadn’t realized that I was considered a princess, or that I would have a personal protection team.
I’m not really sure what I thought, but I do know that I never once thought that I was the boss. That I had cowed my friends and loved ones into joining me on this death march.
