“Well, that’s something, I suppose,” Brigs said. “A worry off Quinn’s shoulders at least.”
“Just don’t get in our way when it matters, and you’ll do just fine,” Sawyer added.
“How will they train?” Danica asked. “We have to get them prepared for what they’ll see. The only way to really do that is to jump in, sink or swim.”
“We’re going to do a mock battle soon,” Quinn said. “Just a quick skirmish to show Allie and Livia what to expect. Do whatever you have to do to make sure you can be here for the skirmish. You’re not going to want to miss it.” He grinned. “It will be the one and only time I give you all permission to raise hell.”
Chapter Thirteen
Aidan
Cologne, Germany, November
“How dare you question an underage Immortal without his guardian present!” Scott McBrien roared at Lieutenants Sinclair and Schreiber.
Poor Fitzy. Aidan shook his head, watching his brother behind Cleo’s transparent wall. Scott was scruffy, dirty, and decidedly un-Fitzy in his rumpled clothes.
“Mr. McBrien, we are perfectly within our rights to question young Aidan given the charges against him.”
“I know the law.” Scott slammed his fist down on the table. “He is underage and nothing gives you the right to question him without a parent or guardian present. He’s just a child.”
“An unregistered and very powerful one you and your family have concealed from the Senate. It is within the law to arrest you and every Proven member of your family to pay for this crime.”
Scott deflated. “You have no right to hold him like this. Do you have any idea what you’ve put our family through?”
“Lieutenant Schreiber is going to take you home, Mr. McBrien. We will call you when there is news.”
“Like hell. I am not leaving without Aidan and Naomi.”
“If you’d just let me talk to him, I could calm him down.” Aidan watched with clenched fists as three officers dragged his brother from the precinct and Cleo removed her hand, letting the wall return to its normal state.
“There’s still the matter of answering a few questions to satisfy the local authorities,” Cleo said. “They still need to finish booking you so your arrest is properly recorded. Then you may go home.”
“I’m not telling these idiots anything.” Aidan turned to face them, refusing to sit down.
Naomi sat on the tabletop and reached to pull him closer. He went willingly, leaning against the table beside her. “Try to relax, Aidan. You’ll be going home soon.”
“Yeah,” he scoffed. “Without you.” He almost choked on that last word. How could he possibly say goodbye to Naomi?
“We’ll see each other again soon,” she murmured. “It won’t be so bad.” She tried to smile, but her eyes still reflected her sadness.
“Well, we’re certainly not going to tell them the truth,” Cleo said. “But we have to give them something.”
“We’ll fill out the forms for you,” Genevieve said, taking the iPad from Cleo.
“Name. Aidan … Aloysius McBrien II.”
“The third,” Cleo corrected. “We might as well throw them off as much as possible.”
“Aloysius? Really?” Aidan scowled. “That’s ridiculous.”
“And Loukas isn’t?” Genevieve arched a perfectly sculpted brow at him.
“I was named after my uncle and one of my father’s best friends.”
“Age? They know he’s eighteen, but he’ll be nineteen in less than a month. Lets fudge the month of birth so he’s slightly younger.”
“September thirty-first rather than December? That makes him eight months younger,” Cleo suggested.
“Jeez, what don’t you know about me?” Aidan shoved his free hand into his pocket, feeling nothing so much as numb at this point. Naomi still sat next to him, clinging to his other hand. He could feel her desperation at the thought of their impending separation.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Genevieve smirked. Their demeanor had changed the moment they had their signed contracts tucked away. Both women were more at ease. Less formal.
“Abilities. Shoots fire from fingertips. Fast healer. And something completely random … Let’s make him a telepath.”
Aidan wasn’t going to tell them that was partly true. He was a receptive telepath, but just with Allie. Not that it helped him now. He tugged on the collar still clasped around his throat.
“Ooh, I know, let’s give him the ability to manipulate dark matter.” Genevieve continued typing her ridiculous responses for his benefit.
“We want to get them off his back, not make them terrified he exists.” Cleo reminded her.
“Right. Okay, I’ve got it.” Genevieve started typing again. “Power of persuasion.”
“Did you just give him the Jedi mind trick?” Cleo’s throaty laugh grated on his nerves.
“His mother and maternal grandfather are precedent with their persuasive abilities. Adopted or natural born, it makes perfect sense he would inherit a portion of their talents.”
“Good point.” Cleo nodded her approval.
“Do I have any secrets anymore?” Aidan asked, fury churning in his stomach for their blasé attitude toward his situation. “You know the names of my Complement and first child yet?”
“We could probably figure it out.” Genevieve grinned.
At least they don’t know that much. Aidan relaxed.
“All right you two,” Cleo said. “We just need a plausible reason for Aidan’s crime and then we can go.”
“How about the obvious reason?” Aidan suggested. “Any dumbass in my position would have done the same to save themselves a lifetime of government meddling.”
“Good enough for me,” Genevieve said, typing his official statement verbatim. “We’ll add some brown nosing to it, too. Like now that the cat’s out of the bag, I’ll register like a good boy and be a model citizen. Yada, yada, yada.”
“You know the International Senate is going to start meddling,” Aidan said. “They make my sisters’ lives a living hell. They’ll do the same to me now.”
“The International Senate no longer has the security clearance where you’re concerned,” Cleo said.
“You’re officially above their pay grade now,” Genevieve added.
“That’s not disturbing at all,” Naomi muttered.”
Aidan was far too tired to even think about what that could mean. “When do we get out of here?”
“I’ll take care of that now.” Cleo took the iPad with Aidan’s statement and returned to the waiting officers.
“You’re a good kid, Aidan,” Genevieve said. “I’m sorry this had to be such a trying ordeal, but you have my word. You can trust us. And I promise, once you begin working with these kids, you will see how much we need you and Naomi, and you will come willingly.”
“There are much better ways to recruit someone than manipulation and abduction. For that alone, you’ll never have my trust.”
“We’ve watched you for a long time, Aidan. Nothing short of this would tear you away from that school. Think of it as a means to an end and one day, you will see the bigger picture.”
“All right kid, lets get you booked and out of here,” Lieutenant Sinclair said, as she stepped into the room, checking over his farce of a statement. “See how easy that was? You could have saved us all a lot of time if you’d signed the damn statement days ago.”
“Easy, sure.” He’d only had to sign his life away. For the next three years, Aidan was beholden to the Milan Initiative, and couldn’t breathe a word of it to his family or Allie. He was trapped and his whole world was about to crumble.
Weary down to his very bones, Aidan let himself into the backdoor of the townhouse he shared with his brother, Scott. He was sick about the deal he made with Cleo, but he needed a long hot shower and some sleep before he could even think about the ramifications of what he’d agreed to.
“Dad, I don’t know what else to do.�
�� Scott’s voice drifted down the hall from the living room. “I’ve tried everything. They just aren’t playing by the rules. We’re coming up on the fourth day, and they still have him in a cell. The best I can tell, Aidan is refusing to answer their questions, so they’re saying they can’t book him yet, and he doesn’t get privileges like lawyers until he’s booked.”
“It’s bullshit. They’re breaking the law. I’ll go myself in the morning with half the International Senate if I have to.” Aidan was surprised to hear his father’s voice in the room and not on the other end of a phone call.
“Da?” All of Aidan’s emotions came crashing down around him when he realized his father was just steps away and not on the other side of the ocean. He charged down the hallway and flung his arms around Gregg.
“Aidan?” Gregg held him tight, brushing his hand over the back of Aidan’s head, like he wasn’t sure he was really there. “Are you all right, son?”
“I’m fine, Da. Just tired, hungry, and really glad to see you.” He pressed his face against his father’s shoulder, trying to rein in his emotions.
“How are you here?” Scott crossed the room to hug his brother. “I was worried sick. Start saying things.”
“It’s under control,” Aidan said, running a hand through his messy hair. He had to get his game face on if he expected his family to buy the first of his many lies. “It’s just like you said. They wouldn’t let me call you or a lawyer until I talked. I refused to talk.” He shrugged.
“So, how are you here now?” Gregg asked.
“I made a deal.” Aidan groaned as he sat down in his favorite armchair. “It’s not like I go back to being an unknown. They know who I am now, so no matter what, it’s only a matter of time before the Senate comes poking their nose into my life. This way, at least I got to negotiate things on my terms.”
“And what are those terms, son?” Gregg crossed his arms over his chest with a look that said he’d undo whatever it was Aidan had agreed to.
“Community service.”
“Community service?” Scott echoed. “That’s it?”
“That’s it. For now anyway.” Aidan sighed. “I just have to teach a class once a week.”
“What kind of class?” Gregg asked.
“I’ll have a group of gifted students who haven’t had much training. They’ll come to me here in Cologne, so I can stay in school. And after a while, I’ll go to them once a month.”
“Go them where?” Gregg asked.
“Not sure yet,” Aidan hedged.
“What’s the catch?” Scott asked.
“They won’t press formal charges against the family or pursue an investigation. Which means they won’t find out about Allie.”
“So you traded yourself?” Fitzy growled. “Stupid, selfless idiot.” He flopped onto the sofa across from Aidan.
“Aye, he is that,” Gregg agreed. “And no less than I would have done in his shoes.”
“We can’t let them get their claws into him, Da,” Fitzy said. “They’ll never stop. We have to get him out of this.”
“It was always going to come to this, son,” Gregg said. “I had hoped it would come much later, but Aidan’s a strong young man with a good head on his shoulders. He negotiated a good deal. I’m proud of you, Aidan. You did the right thing.”
“Thank you, Da. And thank you for coming all this way.”
“I was on the first plane out of Cleveland the second I heard. Your mother is beside herself.”
“I’m surprised she’s not here.” Nothing would keep Naeemah away when it came to the safety of her children.
“She was attending the North American Assembly for us. I need to get back soon to make an appearance there myself.”
“You didn’t tell Allie, did you?” Aidan tried to hide the stress in his voice.
“No, I thought it best not to worry her or the rest of the family until there was something to be worried about.”
“Good. It’s over now so let’s not make a big deal about it.”
“Is it really over, though?” Scott asked.
“Seems like a done deal, Fitzy.” Aidan shrugged, making light of the whole incident.
“Well, before I leave, I want to talk to whomever you made this deal with,” Gregg insisted.
Aidan nodded, not sure how he was going to deal with that. “I’ll try to get in touch with the Senate rep later today. I have her number.” He did have Cleo’s phone number. Hopefully she could do her part to set his father at ease. “But first, I’m going to eat everything in sight, and then I’m going to sleep. Then I’m going to figure out how to catch up on schoolwork. I’ll have to come up with a really good excuse for my professors.”
“You should take a few days off.” Scott twisted his hands nervously in his lap. “You look like hell. And where is Naomi?”
“Thanks, Fitzy, I’m fine,” Aidan said, but he was anything but fine. “Naomi went home to rest.” In truth, they’d already taken Naomi to Milan, but he had to pick up his life as if nothing happened. Like he wasn’t missing a piece of himself. He’d have to make an excuse for her absence soon.
“What did they do to you, son?” Gregg asked gently. “They had you for three days in a cell.”
“It was a waiting game. They questioned me a lot but I refused to talk without a family member present. And then they brought a Senate rep in to talk to me and she said if I took this deal, they’d leave me alone otherwise. So I gave them a bogus statement and took the deal and that was it.”
“I still want to talk to her,” Gregg said.
“It’s a good deal, Dad. You know as well as I that this is the best we could hope for now that they know I exist. I don’t mind teaching. They’re even going to pay me for my time. Let’s just think of it as an after school job.”
“As long as you’re just teaching, there’s no sense in rocking the boat,” Gregg said. “But there is no way the Senate will be satisfied with community service, not once they realize how powerful you really are. I suppose we will deal with that when the time comes. You might have to go to ground for a while until it blows over.”
“You didn’t tell them everything, did you?” Fitzy asked.
“Hell no. I faked all my answers. To them, I’m Aidan Aloysius McBrien.”
“Aloysius?” Gregg’s brow rose.
“The third.” Aidan forced a laugh. “I suppose I had some fun with it.”
This community service slap on the wrist was too good to be true. But Aidan had to sell his whole family on the idea. They couldn’t know what was really going on, or they would fight it. And that would mean bad things for Naomi.
He didn’t trust Cleo and Genevieve. They wouldn’t hesitate to punish Naomi if he didn’t cooperate, and Aidan wouldn’t risk her safety any more than he would risk Allie’s.
He was trapped and on his own with no way out.
Chapter Fourteen
Allie
The Dreamworld, November
Allie sat on her yoga mat, fidgeting with anticipation and a little dread. She wasn’t looking forward to the part where she threw up in front of Commander Quinn’s walkers.
“Relax, Allie.” Quinn sat down beside her. “This is a huge part of traveling the dreamworld. You have to be in control of your mind and body.”
“Yep. I know.” Allie’s foot tapped against her mat. “Working on it.”
“Try a little harder.” He pressed his palm against her foot to still her tapping. “We need you to be good at this, Allie.”
“Right, so why are we in the Yard and not in our beds?”
“This is dangerous,” Santi said, sinking to the ground behind Quinn where Sasha was already seated.
“I thought you said nothing could hurt Allie and Livia in the dreamworld?” Darius sat behind her, trying to keep up with his role in this newest development.
“It’s rare, but things can happen in the dreamworld that affect us in the waking world. It’s important we have a safe place for our physical
bodies to rest, and those we trust to guard us,” Quinn added.
“We’re here to guard your bodies and bring you back should anything go wrong,” Sasha said.
“If Quinn is captured, there is a chance we could bring him back before Brecken has a chance to get him inside one of his prisons,” Santi said. “So we wait and watch for any signs of distress.”
“Distress? What should I look for?” Darius looked from Sasha to Santi, his hand squeezing the life out of Allie’s.
“I’ll be fine, Dare,” Allie said.
“I don’t like this.” A worried frown creased his brow.
“That’s why we do this in the underground, so Brecken’s people can’t come after your physical body in the waking world when he knows you’re busy in the dreamworld, fighting his walkers,” Sasha said. “Allie’s a bad ass. She’s got this.” Sasha winked at Allie. “I just wish I could come with.”
“So we’re pretty much just watching them sleep?” Darius asked.
“Sorry, you got the boring end of this deal.” Allie rolled her neck from side to side, shaking her hands and stretching her back to loosen up.
“But how do I bring her back if it seems like she’s in trouble?” Darius asked.
“Slap her, dump water over her head, whatever it takes to jar her out of her dream state,” Santi said. “We will guide you while they are gone, Darius, so if you ever need to guard her on your own, you will know what to do.”
“Today is about showing Allie and Livia what a real fight in the dreamworld looks like. You’re just observing today,” Quinn said.
“All right. Let’s do this thing.” Allie closed her eyes, leaning back against Darius to find a comfortable position, and reached for that state of calm that allowed her to follow Quinn to the dreamworld where her father and her sister already waited.
“Be careful,” Darius whispered in her ear. He hated seeing her go somewhere he could not.
The now familiar tug around her middle launched Allie into the dreamlike, weightless phase she enjoyed. That part felt like flying. This time she landed on her feet, but dizziness took over and she face planted.
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