“Of course not,” Denver agreed. “That was never the plan.”
“They will be in my care,” Denver’s look-alike spoke stoically.
“And what about the wall? Isin asked. “It needs to come down.”
“It does need to come down.” Thomas smiled. “How would you like to lead a group to do just that?”
“I’m on it.” Isin nodded. “But I’m sorry to have to take leave of you, Addison.”
She kissed his cheek. “I’m sure we’ll meet again sometime.”
Several men volunteered to stay with the kids. Another group offered to help Isin. The remainder came with us. I felt uneasy leaving them in the desert, but it wasn’t my choice and I wasn’t sure that there was any sort of better place to bring them. Certainly, Central wasn’t that place. After refilling our water with a hidden supply in the lab we headed back out.
The best part about heading to Central was that we were heading back toward Kayla. I knew I couldn’t see her yet, but somehow each step we took after going back over the wall felt lighter. I’d promised I’d be back for her, and I would. That is if I could approach Central and come out alive.
As the hulking building came into view I thought back on the last time I’d been there. I’d been willing to do anything to go in and save Kayla. I felt the same way now.
“Are you going to be able to get us in easily like you did last time, Denver?” Addison asked.
“I’m afraid that trick isn’t going to work again.”
“We’ll sneak in a back way.” Benji grinned.
“You have a plan to make that happen?” In the months spent getting to know Benji I’d learned he was constantly full of surprises.
“Of course, I do. Don’t all of you?” Benji looked around our assembled group. I’m sure we all looked worse for wear. Extra clothes weren’t a luxury we had. “Otherwise why are we even here?”
“I was relying on Denver.” Addison playfully punched his arm.
“How do you know I wasn’t relying on you?” Denver grabbed hold of her fist and pulled her into his chest.
“Were you?” She looked up at him with wide eyes. Watching them together made me long for Kayla. I wanted that feeling again. The feeling you only get when you are so deeply in love that no matter what else happens you know you are going to be okay.
“You are rather resourceful.”
She spun out of his embrace. “Not about breaking into a reinforced compound. I’m not sure even willingly turning myself over is going to help this time.”
“How do we know we can’t just walk in?” Thomas paced around us.
“Uh… how would that work?” Addison asked.
“Everyone else has dropped dead. No one has stopped us this far. Why are we so convinced there is anyone in there?” Thomas replied.
“There are some people around,” I pointed out.
“Yes. Regular, everyday people. But has anyone seen a single militia member?”
“Not ones that are alive.” He was right. We’d seen corpses even on this side of the wall. I should have been thinking along the same lines, but I assumed like everything else, this couldn’t be simple. I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“We are walking right in?” Benji adjusted the sack on his back.
“Does anyone have an objection to trying?” Thomas looked from face to face.
“Why not do it in two groups?” I suggested. “That way if some of us get taken the rest can go in another way.”
“Let me guess.” Addison frowned. “You want me to go in another way.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” I shook my head. “I don’t care, but we need a second line in case we are captured. I figured you’d want to be the one doing the saving.”
“Good point.” Addison grinned. “Maybe you know me after all.”
We broke into three groups. If two groups were helpful, three would be too. After some deliberation, I ended up with Thomas and Benji. I was glad Thomas was with me. I felt protective over Kayla’s younger brother even if she didn’t even know we had met.
We moved around the building. The only Central people we saw were dead. In the same way as all of the others. Maybe Thomas was right. But even so, we had to get inside and find out who was behind it. Hopefully, they weren’t even worse than Central.
The doors were barred. Clearly, we couldn’t just walk in—but the fact that they were locked and no one was guarding them was more proof that something different was going on.
Benji pulled out a crowbar. “You might want to back up.”
We all stepped back. Benji smashed the crowbar into the doors. They splintered.
He grinned. “Easy does it.” He pushed open the remainder of the door and we walked in, stepping over the bodies of another set of guards.
“This is starting to get eerie.” Thomas slowed his pace. “Very eerie.”
“I’d call this lucky, not eerie. We couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome than this.” Benji whistled under his breath.
“Unless whoever did it turns against us.” Thomas looked around the darkened halls warily.
“Or maybe we’re on the same side. We don’t know. Let’s hope for the best.” Benji resumed his whistling once he finished.
“Always the optimist…” Thomas trailed off.
We stepped over another set of corpses. Then another. We moved into a dark hallway, I was grateful I could see better at night than most.
“Where are we headed exactly?” Even though no one was specifically in charge, Benji was the one who said he had a plan.
“The center hub. We need to turn after we cross the next fork.” Benji knew the layout well. He hadn’t given much information about his past, but this was more knowledge than I expected.
“You know this place well,” I stated without trying to imply anything.
“I do.” Benji didn’t offer any other explanation so I let it be.
We continued in the dark until Benji stopped short in front of a doorway. He went inside. “How’d you get here before us?”
I hurried inside to see Denver, Addison, and the rest of their group inside.
“Mason, you are going to want to see this.” Denver gestured to the computer beside him.
I walked over. He pointed to the screen. “The Kayla?”
I looked at the words blinking over and over against the bright white screen.
“Looks like someone made a program that detonated a chip in all of the soldier’s heads. It probably also took out the force field.” Denver grinned. “Impressive. Not that I am an advocate for ending human life, but the sheer scope of the undertaking is genius.”
“A chip?” I asked. “If these chips are in everyone’s heads, shouldn’t I have this chip after coming through the system? And you?” I pointed at Benji. Clearly, he’d been part of Central.
He shrugged. “Maybe it’s a newer chip.”
“It’s named after Kayla.” Thomas’s voice was low and dry from where he spoke across the room.
“My Kayla?” Of course, that possibility had gone through my head, but I’d brushed it off.
“She’s my sister which makes her my Kayla too.” He turned around. “But yes.”
“How do you know?” I watched him. Was he losing it after we’d come so far?
“Because of this body.” He pointed behind him. “There’s only one Kayla Ethan would name a program after.”
“Ethan?” I ran over to where Thomas stood. I bent down and examined the body. Unlike all the others this one had a definite bullet wound in the chest, and it was most definitely Ethan. The man who’d left Kayla behind to come to my club. I would never understand his decision, but I owed him. If he hadn’t made it, Kayla and I would have never met. “Who killed him? If all the chips were detonated?”
“Maybe he’d already set off the program but couldn’t get out in time,” Benji suggested. “Or maybe it’s because they didn’t all go off at once. That’s the only way to e
xplain the different rates of decomposition. But it doesn’t matter. He’s dead.”
“Or it was a cockroach.” Benji grinned at Addison.
Addison rolled her eyes. “So now what? Do we really believe Central is done?”
Thomas shrugged. “I don’t know what else we can do now.”
“It’s time to find Kayla.” I couldn’t wait any longer.
“And Quinn and Bailey,” Thomas added.
“Of course. It’s time to find everyone.”
“What if they don’t recognize me? Or they don’t want to see me. It’s been so long.” Thomas had been fretting about seeing his sisters since we left Central.
“You can worry about that once we find them. We still don’t know if we are heading to the right place.” I was done pretending to be optimistic.
“Everyone keeps talking about this place. The Glen. If they aren’t there, they should be able to help us,” Benji was leading the pack. He appeared to have limitless energy, never tiring or letting frustration knock him down. I tried not to show my worry and unease, but I’m sure I failed. The only thing that kept me moving was thoughts of Kayla.
“She’s okay, Mason. You know it.” Addison patted my arm. “You pushed me along when I wanted to give up. Now it’s my turn.”
“I never said anything about giving up. I’m only voicing my concerns that we are putting all of our trust in strangers.”
“But are we?” Benji glanced at me over his shoulder. “Are we trusting them or taking their advice? It’s two totally different things.”
I wasn’t necessarily sure I agreed, but I nodded. I wanted to be left alone with my thoughts.
“I wonder how different they are now. And Bailey. I bet she’s so big. I’m sure she won’t recognize me, but that’s okay.” Thomas fell back into his talk about his family. I didn’t mind, and I couldn’t really imagine how he was feeling.
“I’m sure she will be thrilled to finally meet the uncle who saved her life.”
“I didn’t. Kayla did.”
“You did. Kayla told me everything about that last day at home. You were a great brother and a great uncle.”
“I did everything I could.” Thomas looked down.
“What do we really know about the Glen?” I pulled the conversation back to our destination. “Do you guys really believe what everyone is saying? They think they can rebuild the population without the government? We’ve already learned the hard way the truth about rumors.”
“I don’t see why not.” Denver swung an arm over Addison’s shoulder. “They have the technology to, and if they have really been taking in all the women and children they find it might be possible.”
“But like everything else, it might be too good to be true.” I played devil’s advocate even though I desperately wanted to believe he was right.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Addison smiled. “Now stop sulking, it’s only going to slow us down.”
I laughed. “I don’t sulk.”
“Yeah, you do.”
I pushed off the negative thoughts and focused on Kayla. I would find her again even if it was the last thing I did.
Twenty-Six
Mason
I froze. There she was. Gorgeous and full of light. Yet I froze. Unable to move. She seemed to be experiencing the same sensation. Her eyes locked on mine, and her mouth fell open.
A million thoughts spun through my head. Had she really waited for me? Or had she moved on? Was she angry?
Then just as suddenly the frozen spell broke, and I ran to her. Without a single word I pulled her into my arms and held her.
She pulled away slightly and tilted her chin to look at me. “Mason. Is it really you?”
“Yes. It’s me.” I cupped her face with my hand. She was older now—but the years had done nothing to her beautiful face. I didn’t think after that. I crushed my lips into hers. She responded immediately, eagerly pushing into my mouth. I let her take control, closing off every other part of me so I would only focus on her.
I ran my hands down her back, her arms, as I got lost in the kiss, in her sweetness, and passion. In everything Kayla.
“Mama,” A little voice spoke.
Kayla stepped back. I took a moment to catch my breath when I noticed the source of the voice. A little girl with dark black hair and piercing blue eyes.
“Faith, there is someone you need to meet.” Kayla picked up the girl. “Faith, this is Mason. Your father.”
“Father?” I said the word out loud, trying to follow. I was a father? All these years Kayla had been raising our daughter? And I’d missed it. I’d left Kayla to fend for herself.
Kayla seemed to recognize the look on my face. “It’s okay, Mason. We’ll make it through this. Just like we’ve made it through everything else before.”
“Kayla?” Thomas walked over with Quinn grinning beside him.
“Thomas!” Kayla ran over and pulled both her siblings into a hug. “This is impossible. How can it be possible that both you and Mason are here? This has to be a dream.”
“We came together.” Thomas smiled. “Would you like me to tell the story, or do you want to?” he looked at me.
“You can.” I knelt down next to Faith. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to spend some time with my daughter.”
Finally, after what felt like forever I had time alone with her. The first few days I’d been in shock. Meeting Faith had rocked my world in the best sort of way, and the three of us had to adjust to being together. I tried to give Kayla time, but I needed her in every possible way.
“This is where we’ll move once we’re ready.” She walked around the mostly empty house. It was late, far past curfew, but no one in the Glen seemed to care what we did. Maybe they understood what years apart could do to a couple. “They assigned me one ages ago for when I was ready, but I couldn’t be ready until you returned.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. You did what you had to do.”
“I should have been with you and Faith.”
“And you are here now. I never gave up believing you’d come back.”
I put my hands on her hips. “I would have traveled the globe ten times over to get back to you.”
“I know.” She smiled. “I never doubted you.”
“I’ve missed you so much.” I brushed my lips against hers.
“I’ve missed you too.” She reached behind her and untied the ties of her halter night dress. She let go and let the fabric fall to the floor. She was wearing nothing under it, and my hands and mouth greedily devoured her breasts and swept over her soft skin.
“What about you? You know I demand we play fair.” Her eyes locked on mine.
I reluctantly released her and stepped back. I pulled off my clothes, enjoying the way her eyes swept over me in the process.
“That’s better.” She grinned before reaching out and taking me in her hand.
“When did you get so assertive?” I teased- moaned.
“I’ve spent years waiting for this moment. I am in a bit of a hurry.” She grinned.
I picked her up and carried her over to the simple bed, pulling back the covers and laying her down gently. I sat beside her, running my hands up and down her body. She closed her eyes and moaned softly as my fingers moved between her legs.
“Mason.” She called my name, and I knew what she was asking. I moved over her, and she opened her eyes.
“I love you, Kayla. I always have, and I always will.”
“I love you, too.” She put her arms around my neck. “That will never change.”
I kissed her breast before thrusting into her and returning to my favorite place in the world.
Twenty-Seven
Faith
This was it. We were leaving. It wasn’t happening in the way I planned. I wasn’t alone and middle-aged, finally venturing out of the reinforced fences penning us all in. Instead, I was eighteen, holding the hand of a man, climbing over the fence hopi
ng we weren’t caught.
I wasn’t leaving Bailey behind really. She’d moved over to a family home a month before, and she’d understand. She knew I couldn’t live my entire life confined to these walls.
My only regret was that I wouldn’t get the chance to see my parents one last time before I left. I’d had one brief opportunity when Bailey left the dormitory to see them, but it hadn’t been nearly enough. I’d split my time between seeing my birth parents as well as Bolton and his wife. Mason might have been my father, but Bolton would always have a special place in my heart. I knew he’d always have a place in my mother’s. Still, despite my hesitation at not seeing them again, I knew my mother would understand. After all, she named me Faith. It was time to have faith in myself and my own decisions.
“What do you think we are going to find out here?” Artum offered his hand when I was close to the bottom of the fence on the outer side.
“I don’t know.” I accepted his hand even though I didn’t need it and jumped down. I was learning that it was okay to enjoy the comforts he offered. That didn’t make me weak.
“That is the fun of it, isn’t it?” Artum squeezed my hand. “Venturing into the unknown.”
“I’m glad we’re doing this together,” I admitted.
“Me too.” He tugged on my hand slightly to lead us further away from the fence. “I think it’s high time we start our own adventure.”
“Did you tell your father?” I didn’t want to ruin the magic of the moment. But I couldn’t help it.
“No. I couldn’t. He’d have stopped us. He’d have had no other choice.”
I nodded. “I figured that. Clayton likes his rules.”
“We’ll be back one day.”
“You think they’ll take us back after this?” We were breaking one of the biggest rules of the Glen. You can’t leave until you were past breeding age.
“Of course. They are our families. That’s what families do.”
Conflicted (The Corded Saga Book 3) Page 14
