by Angel Lawson
“What if it’s too late?” Monroe asks. Owen can hardly believe this conversation.
Her jaw tightens. “Failure is not an option. Not with this.”
There’s a shift in the group. They’d always known Astrid was their team leader but they usually agreed anyway. Not now. There’s hesitation and it’s not just from him. Quinn looks wary. Monroe, concerned. Casper’s mind is running a million miles. Only Draco seems to be in her corner and that only makes Owen more skeptical.
Owen finally says, “I’ll follow your lead on this, Astrid, but if she tries to hurt you or anyone else on the team, I won’t hesitate to take her down.”
“It won’t come to that. I won’t let it.”
They stare at one another for a minute, daring the other to back down. Quinn finally breaks the standoff and says, “We need to get ready.”
Astrid nods and turns on her heel, walking out of the room. The others are frozen in their spots and Owen says quietly, “I’m serious about what I said.”
Draco silently grabs his bag and follows Astrid out the door. Casper and Monroe follow. Quinn reaches for his equipment bag and says, “Don’t make this personal, Owen. We have a job to do. We’re not out there to settle scores.”
Quinn follows the others, leaving him in the room alone, knowing that this isn’t about settling scores. It’s about ridding the world of a danger, even if it hurt to do it.
Chapter 23
Astrid
Allowing the others to pass, Draco lingers back until he’s walking next to her.
“I should have told you all weeks ago that Demetria was no longer at the facility, but with everything going on there didn’t seem to be a good time.” He grimaces. “And I was worried about their reactions.”
“You were right to be worried.” Astrid holds his gray eyes with hers. “Owen had a lot of damage when it comes to Demetria. She zeroed in on him for her Lost Boy fantasy. He’s the Pan to her Wendy.”
He rubs his face. “I know. I fucked up huge—just when I’d earned their—your trust.”
“We all came into this from different places in our lives. Different connections and loyalties. I don’t fault you for caring for Demetria.”
“But…”
“But the team comes first, Draco. It’s a rule we have to live by, and one you’ve broken.”
“It won’t happen again.”
She stops in the middle of the walkway and presses her finger into his rock-hard chest. “It’s not something you can promise. It’s something you have to prove.”
The others enter the house and the minute they’re gone, he pulls her close, linking his palm with hers. “I’m committed, Astrid. Fully.”
He offers up his everything; mind and soul. She feels the rush of honesty. “I believe you, but I’m not the one you have to convince.”
He bends down and brushes his lips across hers and she feels the shiver of his intent down her spine.
“We may not be perfect, but it’ll come together.” They reach the door and she hears the others climbing the stairs to the second-floor living quarters. “For the sake of our home and community, it has to.”
*
“W-wait, you guys got to live here while I stayed in that shack? What the fuck?”
“You didn’t have to listen to Quinn snoring so loud he ripped paper off the walls,” Draco replies. Quinn shoots him a glare. “Dude, it’s true.”
“You’re here now and that’s all that matters.” He smiles at her gratefully. It’s odd having him here—in the flesh. It’s strange having all of them so close. “Grab what you need. Monroe will call when the helicopter is ready.”
She slips away for a moment alone in her bedroom, but nearly jumps when she catches a glimpse of herself in the bathroom mirror.
Good god.
Hair wild from wind and sex. She looks exhausted, not like a woman prepared to take down a major enemy.
She eyes the shower, then her watch, trying to determine if she has enough time. With a defeated sigh she settles on washing her face and brushing her teeth.
The water runs hard and if not for her enhanced senses she may have missed the vibration of her phone. It hasn’t run since she’d been here. She didn’t even think she had service. She doesn’t recognize the number but something nudges at her to answer it and she does. She swipes the bottom.
It’s not a call but a video.
“Hello Astrid.” Rowe’s mean face leers at her. Her heart skitters to a stop.
She forces herself to speak. “Rowe.”
“I was going to tell you how lovely you look but…what the hell is going on with your hair?”
She rolls her eyes. “Really? You called to talk about my hair? How psychotic.”
“It took me a while to track you down and truthfully, I don’t have a location—just a hack into your line.”
“Yay. Good for you. What do you want?”
“Just making sure you got my invite to the party.”
“Sorry, must have been lost in the mail. All I got was a nastygram filled with threats and lunacy.”
He laughs. “Always so witty. And beautiful. What’s it like hiding away with all your men? I bet they love it.”
“I bet they do,” she replies. He’s not going to rattle her.
“I figured you may not want to walk away from all that dick and fucking to fight me, especially since the Swamp had turned on you even more than the last time you were here, so I decided to up the ante.”
She keeps her face straight. What can he take from her? Everyone she cares about is in the room next to her. “Oh yeah? How’s that?”
“You left your gym in good hands while you were gone. Luby…he’s a good kid. A fighter.” Astrid’s stomach sinks. They’d already beaten Luby once. “I thought he learned his lesson but he’s not as smart as I thought he was. Came back to that dump you call a home. Tried to fancy it up. He and your manager, Mick? They opened it up as an evacuation point for residents of the Swamp. It was a kind and generous move.”
He doesn’t know Jensen got a message to them. Maybe he’s one step ahead. “They’re kind and generous people. But you wouldn’t understand that.”
“Look,” Rowe says, “I have a fond place in my heart for that gym. That’s where I got my start. Where I found my purpose. Where I met you.” He grins. “And I don’t want to destroy it. I really don’t. In fact, I plan on making it my headquarters once the riff-raff is gone. But your people…they’re breaking the new order. Harboring refugees isn’t permissible, and the last thing I want to do is torch my new office to make the rats scatter.”
“You’re disgusting. And the only way you’ll get that building is over my cold, dead body.”
“Don’t tempt me, Astrid.” His voice is hard. “I had no problem taking out Jensen or the others. I have no problem eliminating you, too.”
He looks at his watch.
“The destruction of the Swamp begins in ten hours. Collateral damage is a bitch. You need to come back here and face your past, Astrid, or I’ve got a trigger-happy blow torch ready to burn that sucker to the ground, because now that I think about it, a sleek modern building overlooking the park and harbor may be the perfect thing for that location.”
Astrid’s voice comes out in a whisper. “Why are you doing this, Rowe. What’s the point?”
“The point is that I’m sick of bitches like you telling people like me what to do. And if the good guys don’t want me on their team, then fuck them. I don’t have to be a hero, but I will be your reckoning.”
His face blinks out and she stares at her reflection in the black mirror.
Something tugs at her…something deep and buried.
Leaving her room, she sees the boys have settled into the sitting area, all dozing or asleep. She passes them, headed for the stairs and the testing facility. There’s no time to waste, but this is important. Inside, Monroe is in her office and she takes the steps two at a time.
“Astrid,” she says, face sh
owing surprise. “I thought you were preparing.”
“Who is Rowe?”
“Excuse me?”
“Who is he? Like really, because there’s something I’m missing.” Astrid can feel it. Not in Monroe. Not in the others. In herself.
The doctor sighs and walks around the desk. The monitor remote is in her hand. She presses a few buttons and a photo of a child comes up on the screen. He’s skinny but looks tall. Light hair and dark eyes. He’s got a distant glint in his eye, like he’s not exactly looking at the camera.
Astrid reaches behind her for something to steady herself.
The boy walked through the backyard, picking up rocks. Astrid sat on the porch; Harry curled up in her lap. She kept an eye on this one—something about him felt weird. Not weird like Owen or Demetria where they made ships and forts out of thin air. Or scary like Devin and the fires he made in the pit behind the garage. He wasn’t quiet like Quinn or strong like Junior. He lurked around and kept to himself. He didn’t seem nervous. Just…angry.
Restless, Harry jumped from her arms, skittering across the porch. The boy looked up, eyeing the cat, and in a move too fast to comprehend, threw a rock hard in Harry’s direction. It landed hard, hitting him in the side and the cat squealed, leaping high before jumping over the fence.
Astrid stood, tiny gloved hands on her hips. “Don’t hurt my cat.”
The kid laughed. “You going to make me?”
He lifted another small rock and reared his arm back, beaming it in her direction. Astrid jumped out of the way and it slammed into the house behind her.
“Can’t stop me? Don’t have special powers? No fire? No super strength? No magic toys?” he cackled, inching closer. The pebble rolled in his fingers. “What can you do?”
She shook her head. Astrid didn’t know what she could do. Everything about her just hurt and she knew everyone else hurt. She felt it and tried to dull the pain beneath the layers of clothes.
“Don’t lie to me. I know why you’re all here. I know why he loves you so much. Obsessed over you.” The boy’s eyes were filled with anger. “You’re special.”
Astrid hoped, prayed someone would come outside. The kid was moving closer, his shoulders tensed and chest heaving. He wasn’t as big as Junior but lean muscles corded his skinny arms and there was a sense about him, a danger, and she desperately wanted him to stop looking at her.
He moved so close she could smell the sweat on his body, feel his breath, hear his heartbeat. She covered her ears with her hands.
“What makes you special, you little freak? What makes him love you more than me?”
She saw the intent of evil in his eyes interrupted by the screech of the screen door, pulling at the rusty spring. The sound was followed by the heavy clomp of Ms. Rosalie’s shoe.
“Baby girl, what’re you doing out here? Come get ready for dinner.”
Astrid turned, relieved, but noticed that Ms. Rosalie isn’t looking at her. She’s staring down the monster on the porch. The one holding a rock in his hands. The one barely containing his rage. Astrid darted inside, past the long skirt of her guardian.
“He was there,” Astrid says. “At the group home.”
Monroe sits in one of the leather seats across from her desk. “Rowe isn’t one of you—that’s the problem. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much his father wanted it, he didn’t have the specific qualities required to be in the project.”
“His father is Scheid.” The pieces start to connect.
“Yes. He put Rowe in the group home, hoping it would draw out some latent ability. He was convinced something was hidden. I think, unfortunately, what he saw was simply sociopathy.”
“Okay. Wow.”
“After he confronted you at the group home, Ms. Rosalie made him leave. She had enough on her hands with fire-starters and electricity users. Scheid raised him on his own, channeling the rage he had for losing you all into his son. Rowe, desperate for his father’s approval, located you and entered your Elite program. From there he overtook the entire agency, kicking out Jensen and threatening the city.”
“So he really does hate us.”
“He thinks his father loves you all more.” She shrugs. “I wouldn’t call it love, but he’s probably right. Scheid cares more about you than anything else.”
“Rowe contacted me tonight, hacking into my phone. He’s threatened my building and the refugees my people have housed there.”
She sits up in alarm. “He found you?”
“He said through my phone.”
Monroe jumps from her seat and says, “We need to get moving.”
“Now?”
“Scheid plays by a firm set of rules. He gave us a timeline. If Rowe contacted you now and pushed it…I don’t know. I have a bad feeling about this.”
“I’ll get the others.”
“Warrick will tell you where the helicopter pad is located. Get there ASAP.”
“Got it.”
She pauses and gives me a sympathetic smile. “Good luck, Astrid. Promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember the training you had here. The simulations and using your mind as well as your abilities to get through a tough spot.”
Astrid nods, but doesn’t tell her that seems ridiculous. Sure, she taught them to think fast on their feet, but in the real world, dead is dead and destruction is real. Monroe may have been living on this island a little too long.
“Thanks for the tip. And good luck.”
The doctor laughs. “We’re all going to need it.”
Chapter 24
Astrid
The helicopter sits on the cement pad in a clearing in the middle of the island. This place is full of wonder and mystery and a small part of Astrid is sad to leave.
Warrick leads them from the lodge, each with their suits on and equipment strapped to their backs. Casper has his own uniform—a different sort of super suit—modified to give him full online accessibility through voice, mental, and physical commands. With the suit, he no longer needs a computer system to help them. He is the computer.
Astrid hasn’t told any of them about Rowe and his true identity or the message she received from him, but she did see the fear in Monroe’s eyes and knows they need to get moving.
“What about the doctor?” Quinn asks.
“I think she’s staying here.”
Owen frowns. “Why?”
The sound of jet engines rumble through the early morning sky and she motions for them to get in the helicopter. “She’s got an island to protect.”
Draco looks conflicted—like he’s not sure if they should go or not, but Astrid pushes him to the helicopter. “She’s got this and we have a job to do.”
He nods and pulls himself inside. Astrid is the last in and he grabs her by the hands, yanking her inside. The helicopter rises, flying away from the island as the first sounds of battle begin below.
Chapter 25
Casper
The helicopter curves around the city, giving the team their first glimpse of home just as the sun sets. Astrid pushes over Quinn for a better view, desperate for a look.
The Harbor Line cuts between the two halves of the city and a large fence has been erected between the two. Busses line the streets to carry citizens of The Swamp away. The whole scene is devastating but Astrid gasps, pulling their attention to a specific spot.
“Is that the gym?” Casper asks, leaning to the window. The pilot planned to land on the rooftop and if anyone thought it would be hard to locate they were wrong. The flat roof had been painted, tagged, in bright, bold colors. Portraits of each of them with stylized names; Pan, Charger, Casper, Draco and, of course, Echo.
“Luby is a genius,” Quinn mutters, completely in awe.
“Or he made the building a bullseye for Scheid and Rowe,” Casper mutters.
The helicopter lands, the propeller coming to a slowing halt. They hop out of the building and she’s struck by the powerful f
eeling of being home. Rowe isn’t going to take this away from her.
A figure exits the small door at the end of the roof, shading his face from the wind. She recognizes the gait and a second wave of emotion rolls through her. Coming from Jensen and from herself.
“What are you doing here?” she asks when he gets close enough.
“Luby and Mick needed my help.” He notices the confused expression on the guys’ faces. “You didn’t tell them?”
“There’s been a lot going on the last twenty-four hours.”
“The dormitories are full. Luby, with my approval, opened them to your supporters. We’ve got a full house in the gym as well. But Rowe has made it clear any collaborators will be punished. I’m worried about the building and the people inside.”
“If you’ll protect the gym, we’ll take care of the Swamp.” She nods at Casper. “Can you set him up somewhere safe? Maybe the Lair?”
“Yep, it’s all ready.”
She turns to Casper and gives him a hug, whispers in his ear, “Don’t leave me hanging out there, okay?”
“Not a chance, babe. You’re gonna kick ass.”
He wraps his arms around her and kisses her hard on the mouth right in front of the other guys. Who is this guy and how did Monroe pull him out of his shell?
She needs to thank her for that later.
The guys slap him on the back and shake hands in that bro-kind of way. Whatever, she’s just glad they’re together, synched up and ready to end this ridiculous terrorist crap once and for all.
“One last thing,” she says, turning to her team. They stand before her; packed, hard muscles, determined heroic faces. Knowing all hell is about to break loose, she takes a step toward Draco and reaches for the mask pushed into his sandy brown hair. She pulls it down, securing it into place. “Be careful. Be strong.”
He nods and pulls her into a tight bear hug, lifting her from the ground. “You, too.”
“Stay perfect for me, okay? I’ve got a lot of plans for you and your body.”
He grunts in response, kissing her twice before walking to the edge of the building.
