I swallowed thickly.
Greg cleared his throat and smiled. “So that’s how I know him.”
A door slammed. “Lena, yo!” Jet called. “Let’s get a move on!”
Flint and Jet stood by the back of the Yukon. Everyone else was already in the vehicle. I shaded my eyes. “Are you going to wait here?”
Greg shook his head. “I’ll fly back to Florida and wait to hear from Conroy. He’ll let me know when and where I need to pick you up.”
I wondered what else Greg knew about Father and us. He obviously knew we’d lived in hiding since he was the one who flew Father in and out of the Hills. I had no idea if his knowledge ended there or if he knew about Project Renatus and that Father had drugged us. For all I knew, Greg had been the one to help carry us from Montana to the cities we woke up in last April.
“Lena!” Jet yelled again.
“I better go,” I said. “It was nice to officially meet you.” I flashed him a smile before hurrying to the vehicle.
“About time.” Jet opened the door and climbed inside.
Flint’s chestnut hair whipped in the breeze. He cocked an eyebrow. “Did you make a new friend?”
“I think so.”
Flint smiled. He looped his arm around my shoulders and propelled me to the door.
Someone had already configured the vehicle to seat nine. Jacinda’s faint jasmine perfume hung in the cab. She sat in the front with Di. Amber sat in the back by herself and the twins and Mica sat in the middle. That meant Flint and I were going in the back with Amber.
“You guys better move so we can get in,” I said.
Mica and the twins grumbled.
After everyone was situated, Father drove us away from the airport. I had no idea where we’d go from here. No doubt Father and Di had schemed something. My guess was either another secret house or a five-star hotel. It amazed me again that Father had lived with us for so long in the Forbidden Hills. Our lives there had been so simple. Luxury was non-existent. Now, it seemed wherever we went, we were treated like royalty.
I glanced out the window. Greg was taxiing the jet back to the runway. The jet gleamed in the sunlight.
Everywhere we’d gone since Father moved us from the Forbidden Hills had been in luxury and style: private jets, new vehicles, bulletproof houses. I couldn’t imagine growing up like that. It was completely opposite from our humble beginnings in the hidden cabin.
Money, in a way, could be very isolating. Because of it, we’d never run through a busy terminal or stand in line at a restaurant, striking up small talk with strangers while lamenting the long wait. But then again, I’d never done that in my other life either.
In a way, we’d never been normal. I cupped my chin in my hand as I once again became lost in daydreams. It felt like I’d spent most of my childhood dreaming of what could be.
Father pulled onto the interstate. Planes roared above. Huge passenger jets depicting Delta’s logo flew in from all angles.
Father weaved the Yukon in and out of lanes, passing cars as needed until we got on the right road. I guessed it wasn’t a coincidence that the windows were darkly tinted. Traveling this close to other vehicles, our faces could easily be seen. As always, Father considered all safety issues.
“Where are we going?” Amber’s voice sounded so small in the large cab.
Father glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “We’ll drive to Wisconsin and stop for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll carry on to Chicago.”
“How long of a drive?” Jet asked.
Father switched lanes again. “About four hours today, another three tomorrow.”
Mica made an exasperated sound. “That long? I hope we stop for supper before then.”
My stomach grumbled too.
Father frowned. “I’d prefer we get out of the metro area, then we may stop whenever you like.”
“Good,” Mica said tartly.
Since Mica sat in the middle with the twins – Flint, Amber and I had a perfectly unobstructed view of the three. Jasper put his arm around Mica’s shoulders, almost brushing me in the process. Amber emitted a small sound. I put my arm around her and gave her a half hug.
Amber’s large luminous gaze met mine. With a small smile, she leaned her head against my shoulder. I kept my arm around her until she closed her eyes. A few minutes later, her breathing became deep and even.
We stopped an hour later. I had to nudge her awake. I again wondered how well she was doing. Amber slept like the dead on my shoulder, making me think she might not be sleeping much at night.
“Are we there?” she asked in a small voice.
“Nope, just stopping for food.”
Father pulled into a fast food drive-thru. According to Father, it wasn’t safe to go into a restaurant as a large group, not with how close we were to Chicago. A few weeks ago, I would have sighed, and Flint would have rolled his eyes. Now, neither of us was quite so sure about Father being paranoid.
Flint had learned enough through his hacking to know that Project Renatus was real and alive, and I’d learned enough about our abilities to know that we did pose a threat to the project’s covert nature. None of us were normal humans, not even close – we were all a liability. It was a good reason to want us dead. Perhaps Father wasn’t paranoid after all.
A breeze blew in through Father’s open window when he ordered. The temperature had cooled since we landed. The smell of humidity hung in the air. Gray clouds filled the horizon, promising rain or snow in the not too distant future.
“Everyone keep your heads down or averted,” Father said when he pulled closer to the window.
Nobody argued.
A general feeling of anxiety strummed in the group. The feel of it coated my skin like oily grime that wouldn’t wash free. The closer we got to Chicago, the more real everything was becoming. Tomorrow, or perhaps the next day, we’d return to O’Brien.
Who knew what that day would bring.
CHAPTER TWENTY
We stopped for the night in Madison. Our hotel sat nestled on the lakefront of Lake Mendota, not far from the university campus. The capital glowed in the distance, beckoning anyone near to admire its architecture. When we stepped out of the car, groups of college students walked by. Sweatshirts sporting pictures of the UW’s badger mascot were worn by a few. I watched them enviously as tidbits of conversation carried my way.
“Liz is going down to the coffee house at nine tonight. Want to meet her?”
“I got that freakin’ biology exam tomorrow. I’m so not ready, dude.”
I soaked up the conversations like a dry, eager sponge. These people were my age. In another lifetime, we could have been classmates. I wondered if that’s what my life would have been like if I’d gone to college. Perhaps tonight I’d be hanging out with friends, carrying a bag full of books while pulling my hooded sweatshirt over my curls, my college logo proudly displayed on my chest.
A twinge of envy for something that could never be filled me. A normal life like that would never be mine. Tomorrow I’d be in Chicago, casing out a warehouse which held three people captive. A biology exam was the furthest thing from my reality.
Father had us split into three groups before we entered the hotel. Again, he didn’t feel it was safe for all nine of us to appear in public together. Father checked us in while the rest of us waited in different locations.
He returned with sets of room keys and held them out. “Two to each room.”
Flint took a key which caused Jet to smirk. “Let me guess. You two are sharing a room?” He waggled his eyebrows.
I rolled my eyes at him, but it was a welcome change to the melancholy I’d been feeling since we drove through campus. That, however, had been a welcome change from how I’d been feeling all day.
While my anticipation for tomorrow at times felt overwhelming, one thing trumped it. Tonight, Flint and I would be alone, in a private room, and I was on birth control.
That only meant one thing, and it had been so
long since we’d last done that.
FLINT FLICKED THE light on when we opened our hotel room door. A soft glow bathed the room. Our reflections stared back at us in the large windows facing the lake. I walked farther into the room. A king-sized bed waited in the middle, as if inviting us to hop in the second we stepped inside.
Ignoring the bed, I hurried to the window and let my bag fall to the floor. Stopping just short of the glass, I stared at the lake and wrapped my arms around myself. Now that we were here, goosebumps sprouted along my arms and a shiver ran down my spine. It was stupid. Flint and I had been together for years. We’d had sex more times than I could count. So why do I feel so nervous?
Flint’s arms encircled me from behind.
“Are you okay?” He whispered the words softly into my ear before pushing my hair back and nuzzling my neck. The feel of his soft lips sent a new shiver through me that was for an entirely different reason.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” I managed when he moved upward to do delicious things to my ear.
“You sure?”
I closed my eyes as his hands roamed over my stomach, hips and thighs. I tilted my head up so his lips could take mine. He kissed me deeply, his scent surrounding me. I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
He growled, pulling me closer.
We kissed for I don’t know how long. All earlier nervousness or envy for a life I’d never had disappeared. My world became entirely and completely filled with Flint. His hands traveled over my back, pulling me tightly to him as his energy grew. I felt his energy mix with mine, causing a heady scent and pulsating power in the room.
“I’ve been waiting for this night for a long time.” He pulled back. “Ever since meeting you for the second time in Pete and Val’s entryway, I’ve wanted you.”
His dark eyes swam with need and love. I tenderly reached up and pushed a lock of hair from his forehead. “Me too.”
He lifted me so quickly it took my breath away. Before I knew what was happening, my legs were locked around his waist and I was on the bed, his weight pushing me into the mattress. The familiar feel of him created an ache between my thighs.
“I want you,” I whispered.
Flint didn’t reply, his actions said everything. One minute, I was fully clothed beneath him, the next, my shirt was peeled off and my jeans were shimmied down and kicked off the bed. Flint did the same and then all I saw and felt was his smooth tanned skin.
The sheets felt soft and cool underneath. He hovered above me.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered. Love and desire mixed in his gaze.
I ran a finger along his chest. He sucked in a breath.
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you too.”
He descended again. His lips found mine and everything that followed happened in a flurry of need.
My vision switched on its own as Flint and I made love. Our clouds intermingled, a beautiful array of bright green, blue, orange and pale green. With each second, the size of our clouds grew. My own energy built inside of me. I grabbed onto it. The feel of it made my control grow. Within a second, I had a huge swirling ball of energy hanging in our midst.
Triumph made me smile. I was right. This is how I create the balls. I have to harness my own energy first.
Flint’s shout when he came caused me to tip over the edge. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me. It mixed with my heady, triumphant victory as I became more in tuned to my ability.
Afterward, we clung to one another. Flint lay sleepily, cradling me in his arms, yet I couldn’t sit still.
“You seem rather energetic,” Flint said lazily.
I pushed up on my elbow. “I’m getting better at forming energy balls.” I explained how things had improved over the past few days and how just now it had happened so easily.
Flint blinked. “You’re saying it was your own power, coming from inside you that did it just now.”
“Yes. I only realized this recently, that harnessing my own energy before trying to harness others can increase my control. Now, I know I must harness the energy swirling inside of me first. That I need to dig deep and pull on my own reserves if I want to form complete and tangible balls that I can manipulate.”
Flint tilted my chin toward him. A relieved gleam filled his eyes. “So you think you can form and control them more easily now?”
“I think so. It’s like something finally…clicked.”
He smiled sadly. “So you’re not willing to stay outside of the warehouse.”
I laid my hand on his chest. “I’m going in, Flint. I know you don’t want me too, but I can take care of myself. If I can control my ability, I’m the strongest in our group.”
THE MORNING CAME faster than I wanted it to. The entire night, Flint held me tightly as if terrified that day had come. The day he always dreaded – where he lost me once and for all.
It was a definite possibility that a week from now our family may be broken, shattered, never to be whole again. More than anything, we wished for a victory in which we all emerged – together and safe – but there was no way to guarantee that.
I knew Flint was scared. He didn’t want me going in. He wanted me outside, safe and secure, but I couldn’t let my family confront O’Brien while I hung back, not putting myself at risk.
Before and after we made love in the morning, I created more energy balls and each time they formed readily when I harnessed the growing energy inside of me first. It all made sense now and explained why I’d been able to throw Jet off me during Capture the Flag. During that game I’d been so worried, so aggravated over Jet not moving and Flint walking away. I’d been sure that it was the death of Flint and my potentially being together. That anxiety and bone-deep despair inside of me had been why the ball had formed so easily.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t put two and two together before. For years, I’d been working on and off with Father, trying to replicate the sheer power I knew I was capable of. But I’d never come close. We’d been doing it all wrong. Both of us had thought the power was outside of me, coming from other living things, and it was…but I couldn’t control that power until I controlled my own first. It was like my soul was my anchor. Without something to tether all of that power too, it simply was too great to bear and it broke apart.
Morning sun cascaded into the room as Flint and I held one another. We lay in bed, my hair in tangles over his chest, our gazes staring out the window.
He threaded his fingers through my hair. “If we come out of this alive, I’m taking you away for that week in a hotel.”
“Make it a month.”
He chuckled but it was a forced sound. Worry lined his cloud.
I pushed up on an elbow and met his tortured gaze. “I’m finally getting the hang of my ability. I’ll be okay.”
He leaned forward and kissed me softly on the mouth. I felt his anxiety, love and fear. “I love you.” His voice caught.
The declaration made my breath stop. Sometimes, he took me completely by surprise. One minute, he was hard, tough, a rock for me to lean on, and the next, he was tender and vulnerable. I knew he was terrified of losing me, but he didn’t try to hide it. With me, Flint’s walls dropped. Alone like this, it was just me and him, our souls naked to one another, our bodies bare for the other to see. All worries, faults and desires on display to the other, knowing that no matter what, we’d accept each other as we were – strong or weak, we were committed to one another until the end.
He kissed me tenderly as the morning sun streamed over us. We held each other until my phone rang. I glanced at the screen. “It’s Di.”
Flint reluctantly sat up. “We better get up. I’m sure everyone else is already downstairs.”
I answered the call and told her we’d be down shortly. Flint and I took a quick shower together. When we finally dressed, he entwined his hand through mine.
“Come with me to the window.”
He pulled me gently t
o the huge glass panes. We locked our arms around one another as our heads tilted to the side to admire the view. The lake shimmered in the morning sun. Waves lapped gently below.
“I want to remember this always,” he said.
A lump formed in my throat. Love so strong I thought I’d burst pulsed inside of me. “I love you more than life itself,” I whispered.
He tilted my chin up. “You’re everything to me, Lena. Always have been, always will be.”
I reached up. The bracelet he’d given me three years ago slid down my arm and glinted in the morning sun. Love You Forever. I remembered how much those words had meant to me, how they’d kept me going during all of those months when I’d been homeless. Even then, my soul had known I needed to find him.
We packed the car and were on the road shortly after breakfast. The promise of Chicago and an unknown future loomed. I clasped Flint’s hand tightly, the bracelet brushing my skin as the interstate passed underneath mile after mile.
Traffic congestion grew the closer we got to Chicago. Father’s hands seemed to tense more and more around the steering wheel with each mile. Jacinda and Di sat beside him, their calm presence and inner strength fueling my own, inner purpose.
Now that I knew how to better control my ability, a fierce determination bloomed inside of me. We’d come here to do a job, and I’d be damned if we failed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
That afternoon we checked into a motel on the outskirts of Chicago. It hovered off the interstate, an old, easily forgotten building that saw people in and out of its walls on a daily basis. To the check-in clerk, we were just another group of travelers, easily forgotten and practically unseen.
It was part of the reason Father had chosen this place. It was the exact opposite of every other accommodation we’d stayed at. Gone were the valets, room attendants and designer boutiques in the lobby. Here, if you wanted ice, you left your room to get it. Or, if you wanted to watch a movie and it wasn’t on cable, you were out of luck.
Remembered Page 17