I only wished I had more time. Forming energy balls at a moment’s notice was still hard for me, and I still couldn’t guarantee one every time despite my newly learned skill to harness my own energy first. I could only hope we were prepared enough for whatever was to come.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Puffy clouds skimmed the jet’s wings as we descended into Minneapolis. My ears popped, and the coffee I’d had an hour ago left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. Flint’s hand rested on my thigh. It felt warm, comforting, safe.
Safe.
I always felt safe in Flint’s presence. I wondered if that would still be the case at O’Brien, when we broke into the warehouse and anything could happen. It didn’t help that worry hung heavily in Flint’s cloud. He said he believed in me, yet with each passing second, the worry in his cloud grew.
I told myself it was only natural. Flint always worried for my safety, but I still wondered. Perhaps he questioned how safe I’d be because in reality, he doubted if I could defend myself.
The pilot came on the overhead speaker just as I began chewing my lip. “Please secure your seat belts. We’ll be landing shortly.”
Those of us that weren’t already buckled did as instructed. Clicks flowed quietly through the cabin in that muffled way that sound travels through aircraft.
“Nervous?” Flint asked.
I straightened in my seat. “I’m okay. What about you?”
“I’m good.” He stared straight ahead, his tone clipped.
We sat near the back of the plane. An entire row separated us from everyone else. His scent surrounded me. Spice, wood and tangerines. I leaned my head on his shoulder and inhaled deeply. My nerves automatically calmed. If only I could provide that kind of security for him.
We’d left the impenetrable fortress in Arizona earlier this morning. I had no idea if we’d ever return. Forever that home would be where we readied ourselves for O’Brien, where we became a family once again, and where my memories returned. It was hard to believe that living there for only three weeks could make me nostalgic for the place. I missed our real home in the Forbidden Hills terribly, but that life seemed eons ago. Now, I had no idea what the future held.
My stomach grumbled loudly, reminding me I’d passed on breakfast. I’d been too nervous to eat. I kept thinking about all that could go wrong, or if we were lucky, all that could go right. Three people could be joining us in the near future, in a way, becoming part of our family. It was ironic considering we didn’t know their names, if they were male or female or what special abilities they had. They were from Marcus’ group, we knew that. Father said Marcus conducted the animal genetic group, but we had no idea what that meant since the program was still in its infancy when we left. For all we knew, the new three could be complete freaks of nature.
Thinking about them always made my stomach churn. Fifteen years. They’d been kept in subterranean levels and experimented on for fifteen years. Bringing them into our family could cause huge dynamic changes. I could only hope we’d be able to help them. But that was only if we succeeded in rescuing them.
The worry that hung most heavily on my mind, though, was that we still didn’t have a plan to shut down Project Renatus. Father was hoping to gain more information from the new three. We were counting on them to help us understand how many people within the corporation were still involved. Even though Father had friends within O’Brien, he hadn’t contacted them. He felt it was risky enough to reach out to his inside contacts. Reaching further would only bring more attention to him and potentially us. However, if the newcomers didn’t have any answers, he’d have no choice but to call them.
It was yet another obstacle we’d have to overcome.
WE LANDED IN Minneapolis just after one in the afternoon. The late autumn breeze brushed long strands of hair in my face when the pilot opened the plane’s door. The fresh air smelled good especially after hours in the aircraft.
Sunshine streamed all around. I shaded my eyes so I wouldn’t trip on the stairs. Mica chatted excitedly while Flint’s shadow hovered at my side. The rest of the group disembarked, everyone stretching now that we could stand fully upright.
A new, black GMC Yukon waited for us on the tarmac. The windows were so tinted they were black. The pilot handed Father the keys. “Your vehicle, Conroy.”
Everyone pulled their luggage from the cargo. The pilot helped. I studied him while he worked. Father had given me his contact information, in the event one of us needed to call him, but I still didn’t know anything about him. Our pilot was tall, lean and wiry. Despite his trim, fit figure he didn’t appear young. Creases lined his eyes, and his skin had a rough consistency that only came with age. I guessed him to be in his late forties, even fifties.
I had no idea how he knew Father or for how long. The two seemed to have a long standing friendship. They talked comfortably but half the time seemed to communicate things with only a nod or a brief glance.
I vaguely recalled him from my trip to Washington all those years ago. He’d been younger then, but he had still catered to Father’s every request. I didn’t know if he was the sole pilot Father used or if there were others.
“What’s your name?” I asked him as he handed me a bag. His knuckles brushed mine when I took it.
A smile spread across his face. “Greg, and you’re Lena, right?”
“That’s right.”
He handed me another bag which I gave to Jacinda. The damned Louis Vuitton. I practically dropped it, it was so big.
I slung my backpack over my shoulder and eyed him curiously. “How do you know Father?”
Greg sealed the cargo bay and glanced over his shoulder. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Father nod.
“I met Conroy in my early twenties, right after my brother got out of Iraq.”
I cocked my head. I knew everyone else was packing the luggage in the vehicle and getting ready to go, but that familiar buzz I got when meeting new people strummed through me. Besides, this was the first time I’d heard anything about Father’s past.
“Did your brother work for him?”
Greg shook his head. “My brother, Brendan, was pretty messed up after the war. He’d lost an arm and tried to commit suicide twice. My mom reached out to a few charities. One of them was founded by Conroy.”
For a moment, I didn’t think he was going to continue, but then he said, “With Conroy’s help, we got Brendan the help he needed. It didn’t matter that it cost tens of thousands of dollars and years of therapy. Conroy paid for it all. And then when my mom called him with an additional problem, he talked to her personally and listened to the entire story.”
“What happened?”
Greg’s jaw tightened. “My dad left her just as Brendan finally started getting better. She hadn’t worked in years since all of her time was devoted to helping my brother, and with my dad gone,” he made a sound of disgust, “she had nothing. That month, she couldn’t make the rent.”
“So Father, err Conroy, paid for it?”
“Yeah. He sent money monthly until she got back on her feet. I tried to help as much as I could, but I was in flight school and in debt up to my eyeballs with tuition. If it weren’t for Conroy, she probably would have ended up on the street.” He glanced at Father.
Father was in the driver’s seat of the Yukon.
“I’ve never forgotten what Conroy did for my family,” Greg said quietly. “He helped us when no one else would. It’s because of him that my mom and brother are okay.”
I swallowed thickly.
Greg cleared his throat and smiled. “So that’s how I know him.”
A door slammed. “Lena, yo!” Jet called. “Let’s get a move on!”
Flint and Jet stood by the back of the Yukon. Everyone else was already in the vehicle. I shaded my eyes. “Are you going to wait here?”
Greg shook his head. “I’ll fly back to Florida and wait to hear from Conroy. He’ll let me know when and where I need to pick you up.”
<
br /> I wondered what else Greg knew about Father and us. He obviously knew we’d lived in hiding since he was the one who flew Father in and out of the Hills. I had no idea if his knowledge ended there or if he knew about Project Renatus and that Father had drugged us. For all I knew, Greg had been the one to help carry us from Montana to the cities we woke up in last April.
“Lena!” Jet yelled again.
“I better go,” I said. “It was nice to officially meet you.” I flashed him a smile before hurrying to the vehicle.
“About time.” Jet opened the door and climbed inside.
Flint’s chestnut hair whipped in the breeze. He cocked an eyebrow. “Did you make a new friend?”
“I think so.”
Flint smiled. He looped his arm around my shoulders and propelled me to the door.
Someone had already configured the vehicle to seat nine. Jacinda’s faint jasmine perfume hung in the cab. She sat in the front with Di. Amber sat in the back by herself and the twins and Mica sat in the middle. That meant Flint and I were going in the back with Amber.
“You guys better move so we can get in,” I said.
Mica and the twins grumbled.
After everyone was situated, Father drove us away from the airport. I had no idea where we’d go from here. No doubt Father and Di had schemed something. My guess was either another secret house or a five-star hotel. It amazed me again that Father had lived with us for so long in the Forbidden Hills. Our lives there had been so simple. Luxury was non-existent. Now, it seemed wherever we went, we were treated like royalty.
I glanced out the window. Greg was taxiing the jet back to the runway. The jet gleamed in the sunlight.
Everywhere we’d gone since Father moved us from the Forbidden Hills had been in luxury and style: private jets, new vehicles, bulletproof houses. I couldn’t imagine growing up like that. It was completely opposite from our humble beginnings in the hidden cabin.
Money, in a way, could be very isolating. Because of it, we’d never run through a busy terminal or stand in line at a restaurant, striking up small talk with strangers while lamenting the long wait. But then again, I’d never done that in my other life either.
In a way, we’d never been normal. I cupped my chin in my hand as I once again became lost in daydreams. It felt as if I’d spent most of my childhood dreaming of what could be.
Father pulled onto the interstate. Planes roared above. Huge passenger jets depicting Delta’s logo flew in from all angles.
Father weaved the Yukon in and out of lanes, passing cars as needed until we got on the right road. I guessed it wasn’t a coincidence that the windows were darkly tinted. Traveling this close to other vehicles, our faces could easily be seen. As always, Father considered all safety issues.
“Where are we going?” Amber’s voice sounded so small in the large cab.
Father glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “We’ll drive to Wisconsin and stop for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll carry on to Chicago.”
“How long of a drive?” Jet asked.
Father switched lanes again. “About four hours today, another three tomorrow.”
Mica made an exasperated sound. “That long? I hope we stop for supper before then.”
My stomach grumbled too.
Father frowned. “I’d prefer we get out of the metro area, then we may stop whenever you like.”
“Good,” Mica said tartly.
Since Mica sat in the middle with the twins—Flint, Amber and I had a perfectly unobstructed view of the three. Jasper put his arm around Mica’s shoulders, almost brushing me in the process. Amber emitted a small sound. I put my arm around her and gave her a half hug.
Amber’s large luminous gaze met mine. With a small smile, she leaned her head against my shoulder. I kept my arm around her until she closed her eyes. A few minutes later, her breathing became deep and even.
We stopped an hour later. I had to nudge her awake. I again wondered how well she was doing. Amber slept like the dead on my shoulder, making me think she might not be sleeping much at night.
“Are we there?” she asked in a small voice.
“Nope, just stopping for food.”
Father pulled into a fast food drive-thru. According to Father, it wasn’t safe to go into a restaurant as a large group, not with how close we were to Chicago. A few weeks ago, I would have sighed, and Flint would have rolled his eyes. Now, neither of us was quite so sure about Father being paranoid.
Flint had learned enough through his hacking to know that Project Renatus was real and alive, and I’d learned enough about our abilities to know that we did pose a threat to the project’s covert nature. None of us were normal humans, not even close—we were all a liability. It was a good reason to want us dead. Perhaps Father wasn’t paranoid after all.
A breeze blew in through Father’s open window when he ordered. The temperature had cooled since we landed. The smell of humidity hung in the air. Gray clouds filled the horizon, promising rain or snow in the not too distant future.
“Everyone keep your heads down or averted,” Father said when he pulled closer to the window.
Nobody argued.
A general feeling of anxiety strummed in the group. The feel of it coated my skin like oily grime that wouldn’t wash free. The closer we got to Chicago, the more real everything was becoming. Tomorrow, or perhaps the next day, we’d return to O’Brien.
Who knew what that day would bring.
CHAPTER TWENTY
We stopped for the night in Madison. Our hotel sat nestled on the lakefront of Lake Mendota, not far from the university campus. The capital glowed in the distance, beckoning anyone near to admire its architecture. When we stepped out of the car, groups of college students walked by. Sweatshirts sporting pictures of the UW’s badger mascot were worn by a few. I watched them enviously as tidbits of conversation carried my way.
“Liz is going down to the coffee house at nine tonight. Want to meet her?”
“I got that freakin’ biology exam tomorrow. I’m so not ready, dude.”
I soaked up the conversations like a dry, eager sponge. These people were my age. In another lifetime, we could have been classmates. I wondered if that’s what my life would have been like if I’d gone to college. Perhaps tonight I’d be hanging out with friends, carrying a bag full of books while pulling my hooded sweatshirt over my curls, my college logo proudly displayed on my chest.
A twinge of envy for something that could never be filled me. A normal life like that would never be mine. Tomorrow I’d be in Chicago, casing out a warehouse which held three people captive. A biology exam was the furthest thing from my reality.
Father had us split into three groups before we entered the hotel. Again, he didn’t feel it was safe for all nine of us to appear in public together. Father checked us in while the rest of us waited in different locations.
He returned with sets of room keys and held them out. “Two to each room.”
Flint took a key which caused Jet to smirk. “Let me guess. You two are sharing a room?” He waggled his eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes at him, but it was a welcome change to the melancholy I’d been feeling since we drove through campus. That, however, had been a welcome change from how I’d been feeling all day.
While my anticipation for tomorrow at times felt overwhelming, one thing trumped it. Tonight, Flint and I would be alone, in a private room, and I was on birth control.
That only meant one thing, and it had been so long since we’d last done that.
FLINT FLICKED THE light on when we opened our hotel room door. A soft glow bathed the room. Our reflections stared back at us in the large windows facing the lake. I walked farther into the room. A king-sized bed waited in the middle, as if inviting us to hop in the second we stepped inside.
Ignoring the bed, I hurried to the window and let my bag fall to the floor. Stopping just short of the glass, I stared at the lake and wrapped my arms around myself. Now that we were he
re, goosebumps sprouted along my arms and a shiver ran down my spine. It was stupid. Flint and I had been together for years. We’d had sex more times than I could count. So why do I feel so nervous?
Flint’s arms encircled me from behind.
“Are you okay?” He whispered the words softly into my ear before pushing my hair back and nuzzling my neck. The feel of his soft lips sent a new shiver through me that was for an entirely different reason.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” I managed when he moved upward to do delicious things to my ear.
“You sure?”
I closed my eyes as his hands roamed over my stomach, hips and thighs. I tilted my head up so his lips could take mine. He kissed me deeply, his scent surrounding me. I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
He growled, pulling me closer.
We kissed for I don’t know how long. All earlier nervousness or envy for a life I’d never had disappeared. My world became entirely and completely filled with Flint. His hands traveled over my back, pulling me tightly to him as his energy grew. I felt his energy mix with mine, causing a heady scent and pulsating power in the room.
“I’ve been waiting for this night for a long time.” He pulled back. “Ever since meeting you for the second time in Pete and Val’s entryway, I’ve wanted you.”
His dark eyes swam with need and love. I tenderly reached up and pushed a lock of hair from his forehead. “Me too.”
He lifted me so quickly it took my breath away. Before I knew what was happening, my legs were locked around his waist and I was on the bed, his weight pushing me into the mattress. The familiar feel of him created an ache between my thighs.
“I want you,” I whispered.
Flint didn’t reply, his actions said everything. One minute, I was fully clothed beneath him, the next, my shirt was peeled off and my jeans were shimmied down and kicked off the bed. Flint did the same and then all I saw and felt was his smooth tanned skin.
The Complete Lost Children Series Page 43
