“Okay, we’ll meet you at Syndicate headquarters. We shouldn’t be far off now. We’ve hitched a lift with some decent EVO. I love you, Baby. We’re good, yeah?”
“We’re perfect. We’re setting off at midnight. We have a bus load of EVO who want Syndicate’s protection to keep under the radar. I won’t link again in case of drones. Just get to the headquarters if you can, and we’ll meet you there. I’ll explain everything, I promise. I love you and stay safe.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Pug shuffles to the communal tent with both feet still in his sleeping bag. “Is that coffee hot?” Cooper hands him a cup. “My nuts have retreated back into the warmth of my stomach.”
That’s an image I could have done without. Coco groans, swatting him with the back of her hand. The guys laugh in agreement. I feel at ease with these people. They remind me of the old gang. My heart breaks a little bit more. We’ll never be whole again, not without Golding and Haydn. I will find the others. There’s no way I’m losing them too.
Rio knocks Brick’s feet off of the remaining chair and flops in half asleep.
“Do you want a coffee?” Coco asks him.
Brick winks at me. “Seeing as you’re offering, we all could do with a refill.”
We all agree, passing up our cups. Coco is seconds from protesting, but in doing so, she’ll admit her crush on Rio. She sucks her teeth and starts tipping the coffee sachets into the cups.
Rio reaches back, giving her forearm a squeeze. “You’re a good’en, Coco Loco.” She blushes and hands him his drink.
The others may not have seen it, but I’m guessing the feeling is mutual. I didn’t miss the eye contact, or his hand lingering on her arm for a moment longer than necessary.
Brick leans across to me and whispers in my ear. “Everyone knows what’s going on except them. We kind of work it to our benefit.” He shakes his cup of coffee at me, holding a finger to his lips.
“So, how’d you get your nicknames?” I ask him.
He sits forward eagerly. I get the feeling he’s surprised it has taken me this long to ask. “Well, Pug is self-explanatory.” Pug flips him the bird. “I’m Brick because of my size. Kid because he was the baby of the group. Crow because he’s Peter Pan to our lost boys.”
“And lost girl,” Coco adds.
“Quite right, my lady. Coco because Rio had started calling her Coco Loco and it stuck, and Rio because the first time Crow and I met him, he was at an eighties party dressed as Simon Le Bon from Duran Duran.”
I splutter into my cup. “That’s something I’d pay to see.”
The radio crackles causing everyone to start. “Who’s on duty?” asks Crow.
Pug raises his hand for everyone to shut up, and then he presses the button. “What’s up, Crow?”
“You guys better be loading those vans. We’re out of here in thirty minutes.”
Pug rolls his eyes, and the others hold in their laughter.
“Yep, we’re on it.”
“I mean it, Pug. If you’re still piss arsing around I swear I’ll—”
“I said we’re on it, didn’t I?” He drops the radio onto the table and sets about refilling his cup.
“You’re on it alright,” says Crow, appearing at the tent door. Pug launches to his feet, dropping his sleeping bag around his ankles. “I said move it,” he shouts at us.
Brick just roars with laughter at him.
Crow shakes his head, but there is a smile playing at his lips. “Get the damn vans loaded, you bunch of lazy bastards.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Pug grumbles.
I follow Crow out of the tent and help pack the camping mats away. Rio and Cooper kick at the tent pegs, allowing the tents to fall in a crumpled heap. Their lack of care annoys Crow. He sighs and bites his lip, but doesn’t say anything; the job is getting done at least.
I know why he’s in charge. He’s a leader- just like Jude- just like Rafe would have been; a family of strong men with people willing to follow their every word. I’m happy to follow Crow. Even if he has no idea what he is doing, he makes me feel like he does and that’s enough. That’s how most leaders roll- without a clue, but a steely, infectious determination.
“What are you thinking?” he asks. I snap out of my reverie. “You’re thinking about something.”
“That someone needs to show those lads how to take a tent down,” I say, laughing. Crow smiles, his eyelid heavy over his eye with exhaustion. “I was also thinking that they listen to you. They’d follow you anywhere.”
He cocks his head, still filling the boxes. “Yeah, I know. I’ve always been the man with the plan, the ‘keep our shit’ together man. I kind of fell into the role.”
“It’s a burden, isn’t it?” I know how Yana, Haydn, and Golding looked to me. I know how it feels to have the weight of their loss on my shoulders. I let them all down in one way or another.
“One wrong move can mean somebody’s life. They reckon I’m a kill joy, but I’m forever second guessing myself. If something happens to one of them—”
“They’re grown-ups. They’re here, because like me, they want to make a difference. You’re our leader, not our minder.”
“You really believe in us, don’t you?”
“Here’s what I know: When I needed you, you were there for me. When that Non-EVO woman at the fight house needed you, you were there for her. When those EVO asked you to take them to safety, you were there for them. Syndicate needs you, and you are going to be there for them too. I believe in that.”
I hadn’t realised everyone had started listening to our conversation.
“Aw, Cub, you’re making me well up,” says Brick. He’s joking, but I know I’ve struck a chord.
Rio wraps his arms around me from behind. “Okay, this one can keep the mask. She’s one of us,” he says.
Kesh appears from the tent, white faced and glassy eyed. “The E.N.C have just carried out three attacks at the houses of parliament, at a hospital, and at Tower bridge. Hundreds of Non-EVO are dead. This is bad… really really bad.”
Crow squeezes his temples. “Shit! Let’s move out,” he bellows.
***
I rest my head against the cool glass, feeling every judder and bump of the van. I won’t let myself get excited about seeing Adam and Yana. Nothing is a dead cert and I can’t keep taking let down. It’s eating me up. It’s easy to picture Adam waiting for me at the warehouse, but I quickly push the image away. I will relax when I can see him, touch him, kiss him. I need him with me, more so now I’ve heard about the E.N.C attacks in London. It’s easier not to think about that, to concentrate on Shift- Syndicate- anything other than E.N.C or Towley. I’m scared of what this could mean.
I lie on the floor and look up at the night sky, although, it’s not really the sky at all, it’s Adam’s voice glittering above me like stars. The stars start to fall, bouncing off me, and leaving a little zing of electricity on my skin. They hit the floor like rain drops, only to spark like fireworks. I turn my head and see Adam lying beside me.
He flashes me the most brilliant of smiles. “Dreaming again, huh?”
“Are you real?” I ask him. “Not just a dream?”
“Well, some people have called me a dream before,” he jokes. “I’m real, Baby. You’re linking again.”
“Can you see this?”
“Of course, you’ve popped up in my dream.”
I sit up on my elbow. “No, it’s mine. Look.” I take his hand and the blue glow of his electrokinesis ignites in his palm. I cup my hand around it, forming an orb, and then I take it in my palm.
“This electrokinesis malarkey is easy,” I say, passing it from hand to hand.
“Oh, really,” he says, laughing. He runs his fingers down my cheek, and I kiss the palm of his hand. “So, are we sharing a dream?”
“I guess so. I’ve missed your face,” I say, sliding my hands over his neck. It’s an odd sensation, he doesn’t feel real. My mind thinks he’s a solid form, but my ha
nds tingle with a current. “Are you sure you’re not just part of my imagination?”
“Are you sure you’re not mine?” he says, brushing his lips gently over mine. “I thought you said you had a slice to your face?”
I touch my injured eye, but it is dressing free and unblemished. “Maybe this is your dream,” I say, leaning away from him. “I no longer look like this.”
“Teds, don’t pull away from—”
The image of my blood washed face lashes through my mind. I can feel the intense pain again. Adam recoils slightly as blood sprays across his face. I jump to my feet, touching the open skin. My hands come away bright red.
“I’m scarred,” I cry. It’s the first time that I’m letting myself feel sorry for myself about this. “I’m scarred.”
The burn on my wrist sears until I’m screaming in agony. I pull up my sleeve, and the red, blistered EVO lettering glows against my pale skin. Adam reaches for me, but I fall to my knees with blood gushing over my sweater, and a knife handle sticking out of my chest. Maggie kneels just feet away, cradling her bloody stomach and laughing at me. She raises her gun at Adam. One magically materialises in my hand and I shoot her dead.
“None of this is real, Teds.” Adam drops to his knees, lifting me onto his lap.
“It’s all real,” I scream. “It’s all real.”
I start awake to screams, and a swerving sensation in my stomach. Rio wrestles the wheel as we careen off the road and into undergrowth. Cooper’s full weight pins me to the chair, but I push him away, raise my hand, and force out a blast of energy. The windscreen shatters outward in a splintering crash. The van stops dead, its tail end rising, and then slamming to the ground with a brain rattling thud.
“Is everyone alright?” Rio asks, his voice shaking.
I feel every inch of my body to double check. “What the hell happened?”
“You just saved our asses that’s what,” says Brick. “Was that lightning?”
Rio just nods, staring out at the smoking bonnet. "Isn't that lucky or something?"
Pug pulls a gun from his waistband. “Lucky? Where the hell did it come from?"
“The sky dumb ass," Brick says, laughing.
“Hardy har. Don’t you think it’s a little coincidental that there’s not a cloud in the sky, and yet, a bunch of renegade EVO get struck by lightning? Everyone out, masks on, and be ready.”
“Do your thing, Cub,” says Brick.
I suddenly feel incredibly vulnerable. “I can’t- it doesn’t work like—”
Leoni takes my wrists gently. “Remember to breathe, close your eyes, and just sort through what you can hear.”
I reach out my telepathy and the voices, thoughts, and images instantly flood my mind. How can there be so many thoughts in such a small group of people?
“Find something that can help you differentiate from each person or mind,” she says.
It’s not so much the thoughts, but the feelings that accompany them. They overpower me, especially when everyone is hyped up and on alert. “I think I’m going to throw up,” I say.
Leoni squeezes my wrists tighter. “Okay, then stretch out a little further if you can. What do you hear?”
There is silence, and then Kid’s singing to ACDC fills my head. It’s the only mind I can hear, and although he is out of tune- even in his head, it’s a welcome relief. I reach out a little further, but still only Kid rings in my mind. “I can only hear Kid for as far as my telepathy can reach.” I’m physically shaking and sweating from the effort.
Leoni pulls me into her chest. “Good girl. That was more minds than you’ve dealt with before. You did so well,” she says into my hair. I’m stunned for a moment. Is this what having a motherly influence feels like? As soon as I think it, I feel guilty. She’s not my mother, she is Adam’s mother, and he hasn’t even seen her, yet.
Pug chews at a hang nail, unsure of my ability or the reliability of what I said. “Just keep your heads out of your asses and be vigilant.”
I pull my mask over my face and step out into the chilling air. Pug’s right, the sky is clear. Lightning is not a possibility.
Brick shoves a gun into my hand. “There aren’t any drones, so stick with your telekinesis, but if needs be, just aim and shoot.”
“Crow, the van is a bust. We got struck by lightning,” Rio says into the radio.
“What bloody lightning?” Crow snaps back.
Kid pulls over at the top of the embankment. “Anyone hurt?” he calls. “The pylon exploded and caught you guys a beauty. How’s the van?”
“Fried,” Pug calls back, his voice distorted through the synth. “Are you sure it was just the pylon?”
“Yeah, you passed it and boom.” Kid pulls his own mask over his face before leaving the cabin.
“What’s happening,” bellows Crow’s voice over the radio.
“A pylon exploded. Cub reckons the area is clear. We’ll load up Kid’s truck and follow on.”
“Hurry it up. Wipe the van down, and we’ll wait for you to catch up.”
I help carry the boxes of food up to the already over flowing truck. Kesh and Brick start unloading and reloading the tents and equipment in a bid to make room for the rest of us to squeeze in.
Leoni grabs my elbow. “We’re you dreaming? Did you link with Adam again?”
“Why?”
She shifts awkwardly. “It’s nothing.”
“What’s nothing?” asks Cooper. It is weird seeing them both with masks on. “Speak up.”
Leoni shushes him, pulling us both around the far side of the truck. She scans over her shoulder before speaking. “Something similar to this happened when Adam was a boy. He was asleep in the car and started having a nightmare. Before I could wake him, the traffic lights exploded, and the car’s electrics frazzled.” We both stare at her in confusion. She turns to Cooper. “You said she was having a bad dream. She did this. I don’t know how, but like Pug said, it’s too coincidental.”
“The link is one thing, but accessing Adam’s electrokinesis is another.”
“Why is it so hard to believe? You’re already linked into his mind, so why can’t you link into his ability?”
I open my palm and will a spark to appear. “See? I can link on command. I should be able to produce electricity on command.”
Cooper huffs his annoyance. “Leave her be. Just because Lovick pulled some freaky shit as a kid, it doesn’t mean Teddie had anything to do with what just happened. Get in the truck, Teds.”
“I’m just saying to be aware, Teddie,” Leoni urges.
I trust Leoni, and if she is worried, I should be too. I try to rationalise her concerns as coincidental, but if there is one thing I have learnt throughout this living hell, it’s that coincidence rarely happens where I am concerned. I nod to Leoni and climb in the truck after Cooper.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The landscape starts to look familiar, so I know we’re close. Crow and Coco wait for us outside of the mini bus. We pull up alongside them, and I can see the restless occupants of the bus. They must be desperate to stretch their legs or relieve themselves.
Crow gathers us for a quick meet. “The plan is to leave the bus and our guests hidden in that field. We’ll approach on foot. Once we make it to headquarters, they’ll be Grayson’s responsibility.”
We arm up, and I feel like a fraud with a gun. I have shot people, but the fact the bullets hit them is nothing short of a miracle.
Brick sees me eyeing the gun. “I’ll teach you how to shoot if you want, Little Cub? For now, though, just aim and pray.”
Crow barks orders at the bus occupants, and then locks them in. We set off down the lane at a jog. Brick and I bring up the rear.
The warehouse roof is visible now, and my hands shake on the gun. Please, let Adam and Yana be there. I’m so nervous I feel sick.
There’s a light in the very far window. My heart kicks at my chest with extreme ferocity. I hold my gun poised, creeping behind Brick and Coo
per. Crow motions to the sky, and of course, there is a damn drone. Give us a break.
“Slowly, guys,” whispers Crow in our comms.
A door opens and a shadow stretches out of the warehouse. Crow holds up his hand, and we stop against the hedgerow. The figure looks up to the sky and watches the drone, and then leans back in the door as if speaking to someone.
“There’s more than one person,” says Pug. He steps closer, his foot snapping a stray twig.
Every head turns to him and back to the figure. We’ve been seen. The figure steps out of the doorway, striding toward us with their hands up in the air in surrender. My eyes can’t adjust to the light shrouding them. I’m unable to make out their height, build, or gait. Then, they rub a hand over their scalp to the back of their neck. I know that gesture.
“Are you guys Shift?” he shouts. “I’m unarmed and there’s a drone, so there’s no chance of me using my ability.”
Adam.
I break into a run, barging Crow aside as I race to him. He stops briefly, unsure of what’s happening. I rip the mask from my head, allowing my hair to fall in a mess around my cheeks. I launch the gun away and the clatter echoes throughout the empty warehouse.
He sprints forward, eyes only on me. I launch myself into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. He catches me effortlessly, his hands so firm against my thighs and back that my skin smarts from his grip. I don’t care. I kiss him- hard, passionate, and brilliant.
“Let me see you,” he says, wiping my hair back from my face. He sighs as he strokes a thumb over my dressing, and then kisses me again. His face is black and blue, and Steri-strip dressings dot his cheeks, eye brow, and jaw.
A little figure limps out of the door. “Teddie!” Yana cries. She grabs the both of us, nearly pulling us to the ground.
I hold her tightly to my chest. “Oh, God. What did they do to you both?” I ask.
Yana waves it away. “Couldn’t break us, could they, Adam?”
He kisses the top of her little forehead. “She has been amazing, Teds.”
EVO Nation Series Trilogy Box Set Page 45
