by Carver Pike
Before long, Gabe was standing next to Tact as he steered the ship. He played with Vision, trying to get his son to laugh with a game of peek-a-boo, which didn’t seem to work. Vision seemed interested, but wasn’t willing to let go and laugh. It was almost like he was studying his strange father and trying to analyze and figure out where his face went before it appeared again and yelled those strange words, “Peek-A-Boo.”
Lisa leaned against a pile of rope at Gabe’s feet while she breastfed Vincent. Her eyelids bounced heavily, and Gabe had to nudge her leg gently with his foot to wake her up.
“Babe, if you’re gonna fall asleep, stop feeding him. It’s dangerous. I’ll take him.”
“I know. I’m okay. Just a little longer,” she insisted.
Gabe stepped over to the edge of the ship and stared out at the black water below and the black sky all around. He thought about all of the shows he’d seen on the Discovery Channel about the ocean and the strange oddities that dwelled beneath the surface. Some of the fish, sharks, and other deep sea creatures had seemed so alien, so monstrous, and he imagined how amplified those beasts would be here on the dark side.
“You okay?” Tact asked.
“Yeah,” Gabe said, keeping his attention on the ocean. “Was just thinking. Any idea what kinds of monstrosities are beneath the water?”
“Ha!” Tact howled. “You have no idea, my friend. Ever heard of Gildwars?”
“In fact, I have. I’ve had a run in with those sons a bitches!” Gabe informed him. “I don’t really care to do that again.”
“Wow, you dealt with the fish humans and lived?” he asked.
“Yeah. I almost lost Lisa to ‘em.”
“They’re under that water, my friend. And they’re probably the nicest creatures down there. You should see the Skimmies, the Mers, and the Vyson. To name a few.”
“Mers? Like mermaids?”
“Mermaids?” Tact asked. “What do you mean?”
“On our side of the mirror, people tell tales of beautiful women with half the body of a fish. Some are good tales, and some are horrible, saying that they lure fishermen into the sea with their beautiful singing, only to drown them, or eat them. I don’t remember which. Just tales.”
Tact laughed.
“Sounds like people on your side have too much time on their hands. Time for making up ridiculous stories.”
“Yep,” Gabe agreed.
“Well, Mers over here are long, snake-like underwater creatures. Their tongues are long and can lash out and grab you and pull you into their big mouths and sharp fangs. They swallow men whole.”
Gabe backed away from the edge of the ship.
“Don’t worry, friend. None of these creatures jump up as high as we are. The dangerous part was in the little boat we used to get out here.”
Gabe twisted up one end of his mouth and shot Tact a look of disbelief. “Are you serious?”
“The less you know,” Tact reminded him. “The better.”
“I thought we were past that,” Gabe mumbled.
***
Hawks sat in the front of the boat with Ayana, right next to her, yet it was as if they were worlds apart. He wanted to reach out and put his arm around her, or comfort her in some way, as he knew she was nervous about being on the water, but he remembered the way she struck down foes one right after the other, and he sensed that she wasn’t the type who needed nor wanted comfort.
Gabe and Lisa were behind him somewhere, chatting with Tact, and Bronc had taken Emma below deck to rest, so he was forced to be alone with Ayana, something that should have brought him excitement but for some reason made him nervous, like he was a grade school kid alone for the first time with an older girl he had a crush on.
“Chi-Killian,” Hawks said, breaking the silence. “Like Chi-Town, Chicago. A friend of mine ran a gambling house there.”
He was excited for a moment, thinking about his buddy’s business, but the thought of gambling brought him back to the moment he’d gambled and lost it all. Each time the bad thoughts came creeping back, he remembered what Gabe had told him one time back at the camp. “Look to tomorrow,” he had said. “Forget the rest.”
Hawks forced a smile. If ever there was a time for looking to tomorrow, it was now, sitting next to this beautiful warrior who in many ways reminded him of the wife he’d lost. It wasn’t her look, although the dark hair and entrancing eyes were a lot like Savannah’s. It was more about the way she carried herself. She had a silent confidence.
Hawks had never thought love would be a possibility, not again. He’d never once considered it since finding himself stranded here. So the feeling he’d felt when he saw Ayana dancing in the tent had shocked him, literally, as if a jolt of electricity had awakened his heart.
***
Gabe spun around and Lisa jerked out of her sleepy state when the door behind them crashed open. Bronc stood there, holding Emma, trying to keep her on her feet.
“Something wrong.” Bronc announced. “Emma. She is bad.”
Tact handed Gabe a lantern and he moved closer to her. She winced in the light. She looked miserable. She was sweating and her bangs were stuck to her forehead.
“What’s wrong?” Lisa asked as she climbed to her feet.
“I ask. She say she don’t know,” Bronc replied.
“Cold,” Emma said. “So cold. And I have cramps. Bad cramps. My stomach hurts.”
“Maybe she’s sea sick. Not everyone can handle the water. It turns the stomachs of some of the strongest men,” Tact joked.
“Is not funny,” Bronc argued. “No seasick. Something serious.”
Emma’s knees wobbled and she almost fell down.
“You need to get her back down below deck and put her in bed,” Gabe suggested. “She looks pretty sick.”
Bronc nodded, and as he was about to turn, his gaze lingered on Vincent, who rested on Lisa’s shoulder.
“Is that little monster!” he yelled.
Gabe was shocked. He jumped into father mode. “Whoa, wait a second. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
“Same happen when he touch Tania at Sanctuary and when he touch dancer at Sasha’s tent.”
“Calm down, Bronc,” Hawks said as he made his way over to them. “You’re overreacting, brother. We talked about this. You can’t let your anger get the best of you.”
Gabe stared at his son and didn’t know what argument to give. How could he defend his son when something in his own heart told him that everything was not okay with his dark-haired child?
“Gabe. Lisa,” Hawks said. “You told Sasha that Vincent seemed to have some sort of defense mechanism, but what if it’s more than that? Emma looks bad, guys. You called it a shock, but that’s a hell of a shock he’s giving people. And it’s only happening to women.”
“This is bullshit,” Gabe argued. “He’s fine.”
He turned to look at Lisa, who had remained quiet. She was biting her lip and looked like she wanted to cry.
“He’s fine, right, Lis?” he asked.
He looked at the baby in her arms.
“Give him to me,” he said as he traded Lisa, taking Vincent and handing Vision to her.
Bronc stepped forward as if about to try and grab Vincent.
“Hey!” Gabe yelled. “Stay away from my son!”
“Gabe, I think they may be right,” Lisa said. “Something is wrong with my baby. I don’t know what’s going on, but he hurts everyone he touches. Every woman he touches. Why?”
Gabe angrily turned away from the rest of the group.
“Gabe, you need to stay open-minded. No one knows what your sons are capable of,” Hawks said, following his friend. “Not even you.”
It dawned on Gabe that Hawks was right. On the other side of the mirror, having twins was a normal thing, but on the dark side, where one child was unheard of, having twins was something altogether different. There must be a reason Colossus was sending an army after his children.
Lisa moved closer
to Gabe so that Vision, wrapped in her arms, and Vincent, wrapped in his, were face to face. The boys locked eyes and for a moment didn’t seem like newborns.
Vision smiled at Vincent, but Vincent kept his serious expression. Suddenly Vision grew serious and appeared to be challenging Vincent in some way. It was Vincent’s turn to smile, but his wasn’t a joyful one like Vision wore so often. Instead, it was a look of cunning. Vincent was accepting Vision’s challenge.
Neither boy blinked. Vincent’s face grew beet red and he began to tremble. Suddenly the fire in the lantern next to Gabe shot high into the air and the flame soared through the sky, flaring out in a giant arch, like a fiery rainbow. Vision smiled and cooed, but Vincent remained serious. No one else said a word.
TO BE CONTINUED in The Fractured Fallen, The Edge of Reflection book 4
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