by Eaton, Pam
We both nod.
“Excellent. Be at my office tomorrow at noon,” Mr. Smith says as he moves away from the chair.
We watch him leave the room and then I’m walking over to Gregory and sitting on his bed next to him. “I don’t know if I can ever watch you go into that place again,” I tell him.
He wraps his arms around me, and I carefully burrow my face into his chest. “I don’t really like reliving those memories either.”
I tilt my head back so I can look into his eyes. “We’re both going to need serious help. You know that, right?”
He lets out a puff of air. “Let’s just see if we survive the next week, and then we can figure that all out.”
“It’s a plan,” I promise him.
We stay in each other’s arms for a while, letting the warmth of our bodies settle us somewhat. “We saved Eloise,” I tell him, remembering that bit.
He pulls back and looks at me. “You did?”
“Yeah. We found her in a cage in Spain. Xavier saw everything that happened to her and her parents.”
“Is she okay?” he asks.
I shrug. “As okay as she can be.” I debate for only a second, but he’s probably already seen the thought flash through my mind. “Do you want to see her? I can take you there.”
He takes a step back, keeping his hands clasped to my arms. “Can I?”
“Yeah. Let’s just double check with Tiberius. Make sure he thinks it’ll be okay.”
I grab Gregory’s hand, and in a blink we’re in front of Tiberius’s door at Project Lightning. Gregory places a hand on the wall.
“Sorry. It takes a bit to get used to.”
He shakes his head like he’s trying to clear fog. I raise a hand and knock on the door. It takes a few moments, but Tiberius opens it. “Can we come in?” I ask.
He looks between Gregory and me. “Of course,” he says and steps out of the way.
We walk in the room and I wait for Tiberius to close the door.
“What’s going on?” Tiberius asks.
“He was there when everything happened to Eloise, and he wanted to check on her. And I thought I’d introduce him to Lucy,” I tell him.
Tiberius looks between the two of us. “And we can trust him?” He looks over at Gregory. “I’m sorry, but this is no small thing.”
“I get it,” Gregory says. “I can see in your thoughts that you’re unsure about me.”
Tiberius’s face loses some of its color.
“Sorry, I can’t help reading your mind. And I know you don’t know me, but Becca does, and I wouldn’t do anything to harm her or her family.”
They stare at one another, not saying a word out loud but having a conversation with their eyes and whatever he’s saying in his mind for Gregory. “Then let’s get going,” Tiberius says.
I give him a small smile and grab his hand and Gregory’s. In a blink, we’re back in Fordlandia.
Thirty-Two
Gregory stumbles to the side and clutches his head the moment we appear in Fordlandia. “Are you okay?” I ask, reaching out a hand to steady him.
He crouches low to the ground. “Where are we?” he asks, his head tucked down towards his chest.
I get down next to him and rub a hand up and down his back. “We’re in Brazil. Basically in the middle of the Amazon jungle,” I tell him. “What’s going on?”
He grips his head. “It’s all gone.”
I look up at Tiberius, hoping he might have a clue, but he just shrugs his shoulders, not understanding. “What’s gone?” I ask Gregory.
“The voices,” he mutters to himself.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Tiberius come a little closer. “Ahh. Our small town happens to be built on an area filled with carnelian,” Tiberius says.
“Like the stones in your earrings?” Gregory asks me, still sounding pained.
I want to smack myself in the head. I forgot. “Yeah. Are you going to be okay?” I ask, still hovering next to him.
“It feels like when I was with Chelsea.” He looks tortured, and I hate that the first time he’s here it’s making him think of his time in France.
I look down at the dirt road underneath our feet. In a way, I get it. Not being able to transport was like losing a limb. It was agonizing being stuck in that room, but I was only there for a day. He was a prisoner for months.
I stay crouched with him, watching him take deep breaths. “I’m okay,” he says. “It’s just the loss took me by surprise. And it…yeah…” He shakes his head.
He starts to stand, and I move away to let him. I grab his hand. Can you hear me still?
His whole body relaxes, and he squeezes my hand. Yeah. Guess we’ll just have to be touching to talk mind-to-mind.
“Let’s go see if Lucy’s at the house,” Tiberius says.
I nod, and I watch Gregory’s face as he finally looks at where we are. “Whoa,” he says, staggering back a step.
I look around at our little village, smiling. “It’s not as scary as it seems, I promise. I know it looks abandoned, but look closer and you’ll see it’s not,” I tell him.
He turns in a slow circle, taking everything in. I wonder if he sees what I saw the first time I came here: buildings being reclaimed by the jungle, kids running in the tall grasses, people moving the curtains in their homes. “When I first came here, I thought it looked like a dystopian movie from the fifties.”
“I can totally see that,” Gregory says, looking up at the water tower.
“That was Tony’s spot,” I say, gesturing towards the tower. “It’s a great spot to see everything that’s going on.”
He turns his back on the water tower. “When are we going to talk about him and everything that’s happened?”
I’m pretty sure I see Tiberius wince. “Soon, but right now I’ve got some people for you to meet.”
Tiberius leads the way and we follow behind him. “How many people live here?” Gregory asks, waving back to a man sitting on his front step.
Tiberius tilts his head like he’s counting in his mind. “I think around forty-five.”
Wow, I didn’t even know that. “And you’ve rescued all these people?” Gregory asks in awe.
“Just about. Some of the really little ones were actually born here.”
“Wow. Do you think their parents’ powers were passed down in their DNA?” Gregory asks.
That makes Tiberius pause. We’ve never talked about that, but if that parents’ DNA is changed, then maybe? “I’m not sure. We could probably run blood tests, but not only do we not have access to that here, I don’t really want to put these people through anything else.”
We keep walking down the dusty road until we reach Tiberius’s home. He walks through the front door and we follow close behind.
“Lucy,” he calls out.
We head for her work area, but she rushes around the corner and wraps her arms around Tiberius.
“You know you saw him yesterday,” I say, laughing.
She peers around Tiberius’s shoulder. “I don’t care.”
I laugh, but it’s cut off when I watch her zero in on Gregory.
“Lucy, I’d like you to meet Gregory. Gregory, this is my Aunt Lucy.”
She steps forward and holds out her hand. He shakes it and I swear he’s blushing. He steps back and I lean into him. “Power working?” I whisper.
“Yup,” he says, eyes avoiding my aunt.
“Heads up, Lucy. He can read minds,” I tell her.
“Can you hear us now?” Tiberius asks.
Gregory tilts his head to the side, like he’s trying to hear better. “A little, but it’s like a bad phone connection. When she shook my hand, it was clear.”
“Good to know,” Tiberius says.
The sound of quick footsteps has us all turning. Eloise runs into the room, a huge smile spreading across her face as she sees Tiberius standing with Lucy still wrapped around him. She runs towards him but stops abruptly when her gaze catches
Gregory. She rubs her eyes, almost like she can’t believe it.
Gregory steps away from me and closer to Eloise.
“Hi, Eloise,” he says to her softly.
She keeps looking between him and Lucy. She points toward me and then to herself. “Yeah, I saved him like you,” I tell her, hoping that’s what she’s asking.
She grabs Gregory’s hand. And his face pales. He reaches behind and grabs mine.
I’m so sorry they did that to you and your parents, Gregory says to Eloise.
Her mouth forms a perfect o.
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “This is his power.”
We can talk this way if you want, he tells her.
Tears fall and splash against her chubby cheeks.
I miss Mama and Papa, she says, and the sadness laced in those words creates a tightness in my throat.
I know, sweetheart. I miss my mom and dad too. But I think they’re always with you, even if you can’t see them or hear them. You can always talk to them. Even if they can’t respond, I know they’re listening, he tells her.
Did you get the bad man? she asks.
He takes a deep breath. Neither of us want to worry her, but she needs the truth. Who knows what can happen if we don’t end this soon?
Not yet, he tells her, and her body starts to tremble. But we will, and soon, he tells her with the most conviction I’ve ever heard from him.
She stares into his eyes, taking his measure, it seems. I guess she believes him, because she wraps her arms around him. I drop his hand and walk over to my aunt and uncle, leaving those two to have some alone time. “She talked to him mind-to-mind.”
Lucy puts a hand to her chest and takes a deep breath. “That’s wonderful,” she says.
“He was there.” I lean closer to them and drop my voice. “When her parents were killed. I don’t think she got a good look at him though, because Xavier didn’t see that in her memories.”
“But they have a connection, and that’s important,” Tiberius says.
“Yeah, though, an unfortunate one,” I reply.
Tiberius’s eyes stay focused on the two of them. “Lucy and I met under horrible conditions. You met Luca when he was locked in a cage and unwilling to come out. These relationships will be the ones that will last, because no one else will ever understand.”
I turn and watch Gregory and Eloise. She’s smiling up at Gregory. I don’t know if they’re still able to talk without me holding his hand, but it doesn’t matter. Eloise found another hero outside of Luca. Speaking of him—“Is Luca at home?” I ask.
Tiberius closes his eyes. “He’s at the range right now with Dante. Probably helping him learn to handle a gun.”
“We’ll head over there. I want to introduce him to Gregory.”
I hate to break up their conversation, but we’re on limited time here. And I need to pick his brain on the walk to Luca. And I have to walk. Transporting and firearms do not mix.
“Hey, Gregory. There’s someplace I need to take you,” I tell him, leaving out Luca’s name so Eloise doesn’t beg to come with us.
He looks at me and nods, and then he turns back to Eloise and cups her face. Whatever he says makes her give him a sweet smile in return.
We walk out the door and I give his arm a nudge. “What?” he asks, looking genuinely confused.
“Doesn’t matter the age, all the girls are charmed by you.”
He lets out a loud, surprised laugh.
“It’s totally true,” I tell him.
“She’s a cute kid,” he says, still chuckling. “Where are we off to anyway?”
“I want you to meet Luca,” I say, stepping back onto the main road.
He looks at me and lets out a huff of air.
“Sucks not being able to read my mind, huh?” I ask.
“Sorry. I know you hate it, and that’s why we got you the earrings, and why I was trying to find ways for you to block—”
I grab his hand in mine. “I get it. Your power was suppressed for months, and you’ve only just gotten it back. Then we come here…I get it. And right now, I’m not mad. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to put those earrings back in.”
He squeezes my hand and gives me a grateful smile. “Tell me about Luca.”
I tell him all about finding him in Rome, what his power is, and what to expect when he meets him. And I also tell him what happens when I enhance his power.
“They just left him there? In a cage?”
“I don’t think they expected him to permanently have the scales. I’m pretty sure he would have died in there if we hadn’t found him.”
We turn down a street on our left and I point out the gun range in the distance. “I can’t hear anything,” Gregory says.
“All of the guns have suppressors. Even though Lucy basically has us hidden from satellites and most of the world, it wouldn’t do us any good if people start reporting sounds of gunfire.”
We get closer, and I watch from a distance as Luca works with Dante. I don’t approach yet. I want Gregory to get used to the sight of Luca, and I also want to wait until Dante puts the gun down.
I lean close to Gregory and gesture to Luca. “The kids used to run screaming from him, but now they flock to him. He’s a good guy. I told him that everyone just needed to get used to him, and they have.”
Gregory looks around. “You’ve built a sanctuary here.”
“Oh, I haven’t done anything,” I say, waving away what he’s said. “This was all Tiberius and Lucy’s doing. They gave me a place to go when I lost everything. Helping these people with them, it gave me purpose when I had none.”
He grabs me and pulls me close. “I’m glad you had that,” he says and then kisses the top of my head.
“Becca?” Luca calls out walking, over to us.
“Hey,” I say, stepping out of Gregory’s arms, but keeping a hold of his hand.
Luca and Gregory have a little stare-off. Is this a normal guy thing?
Gregory leans down near my ear. “No, it’s just he’s been able to be here for you when I haven’t been. And I think he’s making sure you’re okay,” he whispers to me.
“Good to know,” I whisper back. “Anyways, Luca, I wanted to introduce you to Gregory.”
They shake hands, and I’m so happy that Gregory doesn’t stare. “Holding down the fort?” I ask Luca.
He gives me a small smile. “Trying.”
“Good. How’s it going with working on your powers?” I ask him.
“It’s hard to test the full strength of the scales. Working with Bronia has helped in seeing how strong they are. But the idea of hurting myself doesn’t sound appealing. I’ve been able to shift my arm back to normal, though.”
“That’s awesome,” I say, smiling from ear to ear. “Can you show me?”
He holds his arm out and takes a few steadying breaths. We watch the teal scales slowly turn back to his natural Mediterranean color. It’s just tanned skin all the way up to his sleeve. I reach my hand out but stop. “Can I?” I ask, and he nods.
I place my fingertips lightly on his arm. It feels like normal skin, like how my arm feels. “I want to try something,” I tell him, and he raises a brow at that. “Can you turn it back to scales?”
He does, and it’s a lot quicker than when it was the other way around. I grab his other hand. “Okay, try it again.”
His face scrunches, but he does it. I pump him with as much enhancing power as I can. My eyes become wide as I watch the scales disappear, and his face is finally revealed to me for the first time. He’s got beautiful caramel eyes that have specks of gold. His nose looks like it might have been broken a few times, but it makes him more rugged. His high cheekbones and square jaw make me wonder why he wasn’t up in Milan modeling.
“Whoa,” I hear from behind me.
My thoughts exactly.
We all turn at the new voice. Dante stands off to the side, thankfully without a gun, and his mouth is wide open. “What?” Luca ask
s, his eyes darting around the three of us.
“Didn’t know there was a good-looking Italian guy under all of that,” Dante says, pointing at him.
Luca takes his free hand and slowly raises it to his face. His fingers skim his cheek, and as it touches scale-free skin, he starts moving his hand all over the place. He turns towards me. “You,” he says. It was only a matter of time before he figured something out.
“We’ll talk about that later,” I mutter to him.
He nods, still touching his face. I drop his hand and he slowly turns back to the Luca I know. His expression falls. “Hey,” I say, grabbing onto his shirt sleeve. “It’s still you either way. With or without scales doesn’t change how any of us think about you. But if what you truly want is to be scale-free, then I’ll do whatever I need to, to help you.”
He puts his hands on his hips and looks at the ground for a moment. I wait for him, because I don’t really know how hard this is for him. This was forced onto him, but hopefully he’ll keep finding the will to turn it around and make it work for him. “It’d be a lot easier to go out into the world and not have teal scales,” he says, looking at his arms.
“Yeah, I can see that. So, we’ll keep working until we figure that out.”
Gregory clears his throat. “Can we try something else?” he asks.
“What?” Luca asks, somewhat wary.
Gregory keeps looking at Luca’s arms. “Becca said that your scales are basically like body armor?”
He stands a little taller at Gregory’s question. “Si. At least as far as we can tell.”
“Is it still like body armor when it’s not covered in scales?” Gregory asks.
Luca looks down at his arm. “I don’t know.”
“Your skin felt just like mine a moment ago,” I tell them.
Gregory’s eyes drift towards the range. “Can we test it though? Maybe see if you need the scales for it to be effective?”
I follow his line of sight. “What do you want to do? Shoot him?” I ask, horrified.
His jaw drops and Luca curses in Italian. “What? No. I was thinking about if we cut his arm a little.”
