by KT Webb
Dorian and Romulus had begun training sessions to help everyone prepare for battle at any moment. It finally seemed like things were falling into place.
There was still no word from Tahlia or Eric, and the country presumed them dead. After the utter destruction of Washington D.C. and the emergence of the Evolved, the country had turned to their family for guidance. Nora stepped up and showcased her leadership skills by essentially becoming the commander of their army.
“How are the troops today?” Dorian asked when Nora breezed into one of the dining areas at the Luxor.
She sighed. “I hate that we’re preparing these people to fight a battle they might not survive.”
“As do I. They understand the purpose of the war and have accepted the possible outcomes.”
Nora nodded before silently leaving the kitchen in search of some solitude. Dorian knew how she felt; he too had been charged with leading innocent people who may not survive the trials they faced. He himself watched his descendants die one by one for an ancient feud they had no knowledge of. He couldn’t say which would be worse: to know you were facing a death sentence, or to live blissfully unaware until your time was up.
Their army had grown exponentially since the whole world learned about them. Dorian wondered if their news stories reached anyone that may have been swayed by the other side or not have cared at all. They hadn’t gathered any information about the size of the opposition. The death toll from the freezing temperatures left them uncertain of the remaining population. The complete destruction of major cities across the world had decimated another massive chunk of what was left of mankind.
Dorian knew they had to find out what they were up against sooner or later.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nora
She took a deep breath and tried to force herself to take a nap. The room she shared with Kerr, Hadley, and Thatcher was mercifully empty when she arrived. She understood that moving everyone into these hotels meant they’d have to double up on room occupancy, but she missed having her own space.
They tried to give the suites and adjoined rooms to families with children, so the rest of them made do with what they had. Nora was just drifting off to sleep when she heard a faint call. It sounded like someone was whispering her name. It didn’t take long for her to realize who the voice belonged to.
Callie was whispering her name over and over. Part of her wanted to ignore the call after Callie had abandoned them, but she might need help. Nora sat up, grabbed her coat, and disappeared. She found herself standing behind a large battered building, facing Callie.
“Thank goodness you came,” Callie said quietly.
“I almost didn’t. What do you want? You don’t look like you’re in any danger.”
“You have no idea, and keep your voice down!”
Nora looked around her and could tell from the landscape that she was back in the Midwest. “Where are we?”
“Some ghost town in South Dakota. Does it matter?”
Nora looked at her blankly and waited for her to get to the point.
“I don’t have a lot of time; I have a few things to tell you that you need to know. Absalom knows you are moving your people. He’s going to target one of your allies that you haven’t made it to yet.”
“Where? I’ll go now.”
“He didn’t tell me where. You’ve got five more to go, and he plans to attack at sundown.”
“I have to go. Thanks for the tip. Are you coming?”
“I can’t—“ Callie began.
Nora cut her off. “Suit yourself. I have to go.”
She disappeared and reappeared in front of Dorian.
“We have to go. Absalom is going to attack one of the allies we haven’t brought in.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Callie called to me and gave me a warning . . . ”
“Callie called?” Joe asked as he entered surrounded by the rest of her family.
“Yes. We can talk about that later. Right now I need to get to moving our people here.”
The others looked at her as though she was missing the most important detail, but she couldn’t bring herself to think of anything other than their allies.
“You realize this means Callie is on our side, right?” Whitley asked Nora.
“But she was with them,” Nora insisted.
“Are you losing brain cells from lack of sleep, or what?” Thatcher joked.
Nora narrowed her eyes at him. Leave it to Thatcher to crack jokes when lives were hanging in the balance. But Nora began to realize what they were telling her. If Callie was on their side, she was trying to help them. Nora remembered her saying she had more to tell her. It would have to wait.
She grabbed the other Evolved and whisked them away to the first location. Hours later, they only had one location to go and had yet to run into Absalom. It was nearing sundown, but had Absalom meant sundown for them or for the location of their allies?
Her heart was pounding as they arrived in Mecca. They rushed to the mosque, only to find it burning in ruins. Nora could smell burning flesh. They instantly fanned out in search of survivors.
“Took you long enough to get to these people.”
The voice behind her made her stomach churn. Absalom. She whirled around. “Is this what you call restoring justice to the world? You’re a spineless coward. You hide behind some great ideal that you’re superior to us, but you have no respect for human life. Here’s a dose of reality for you. This is our world, the human world. You don’t belong here.”
“Strong words from a little girl who can’t do anything more than hide and disappear.”
“You have no idea who I am. You’re a monster. These people did nothing to you! Why don’t you just kill us? Why are you toying with us?”
“He doesn’t kill us because he can’t,” Kerr said, coming up behind her.
Nora glanced at him. She hadn’t heard that from him before.
Absalom growled as he looked between them. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I could kill you in the blink of an eye.”
“I’m blinking. A lot,” Thatcher quipped.
The Maladies surrounded Absalom with a massive army of the mindless drones they had corrupted. Nora had no idea if there were any survivors around them. It wasn’t just the loss of the people that would have fought with them, it was the loss of innocent human lives. So many men, women, and children who hadn’t done anything aside from hold onto hope.
Thunder rolled through the sky above them, and Nora felt heat emanating from Thatcher. Her family was ready to fight. They wouldn’t back down from a fight, even though they were sorely outnumbered.
“What are you going to do? Take us all on?” Malice shot at them.
Hadley laughed and stepped forward. Nora would have been lying if she said she wasn’t worried about the babies growing in her best friend’s belly, but she knew Hadley would never put them in danger.
Electricity crackled around Hadley, the glow getting more intense by the second. She held her hands out then brought them together in a loud clap. Thunder boomed, and a single bolt of lightning struck the ground before them. It sent off a ripple effect, and each of the empty human shells before them disintegrated.
“Holy crap on a cracker,” Callie said.
Nora had to suppress a giggle. Not only was it the wrong time, but she also didn’t want to give away the familiarity she had with Callie. Absalom roared in anger and disappeared in a flurry of fire, taking the Maladies with him.
“That was in-freaking-credible!” Nora said as she turned to Hadley.
Her excitement was short-lived as she took in the still-burning mosque. Rain broke from the sky in a torrential downpour. Within seconds, the fire was out and Hadley made the rain stop.
With the fire out, they had an easier time searching for survivors. They found very few but healed those they found.
“This is a disgusting affront to the people of Islam,” Thatcher whispered.
“Remember how Imaan told me they don’t burn their dead? And here these poor people all burned to death.”
Nora heard a muffled cry from a pile of rubble. “Kerr, over here!”
Hadley used her ability to dissolve the rock to pebbles. It looked like the people underneath had been hiding behind something that collapsed. They found twenty-two survivors. Kerr got to work healing them, while the others continued to search.
“Nora, come here,” Hadley called.
Nora rushed over to find piles of dead bodies. It looked as though they had been piled together and set on fire. They no longer burned, but smoke continued to pour from them. Hadley was covering her nose, standing a few piles away. Nora came close to her to find the smaller groupings were the children they had seen playing when they last visited.
She couldn’t hold it anymore. She turned and threw up on the ground. Hadley rubbed her back and held her hair as she somehow managed to keep the contents of her stomach inside.
“A sight for sore eyes.” The voice was forced, but she recognized the cadence.
“Imaan? Where are you?” Nora whirled around, searching for him.
Out of the smoke on the other side of the charred remains, a large group of people led by Imaan emerged from where Masjid al-Haram had stood. Nora rushed toward them and threw her arms around the professor who had helped them reach the Muslim community. Kerr followed her in and started healing the people he encountered. When they were certain there were no other survivors, Nora took them all back to their new home at the Bellagio.
Of the hundred thousand or so Muslims they had met in Mecca, only 47,000 of them survived to return with them. When they got everyone settled into their new rooms, they went in search of clean clothes for everyone. Dorian finally sent the Evolved back to their room to get cleaned up and rest.
As they settled in to bed, Nora asked Kerr what he meant when he said Absalom couldn’t kill them.
“Without us, the rest of the prophecies won’t come to pass and he won’t be able to fight the Creator. He can’t kill us because he needs us to be the heroes to his villain. We have to win the battles if he hopes to lose the war.”
“That’s gotta piss him off,” Thatcher said as he flopped down on his bed.
“You have no idea.” Kerr chuckled lightly.
Nora fell into bed beside her husband with a head full of thoughts. Her heart was broken for all the lives lost, but she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that Callie had to tell her before she cut her off and left.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Callie
After their encounter with the Evolved, Absalom was in a foul mood. Vanity started helping Callie take care of Tahlia and Eric. The others just sat around waiting for Absalom to tell them it was time to do something.
“Chaos, can I tell you something?” Vanity asked one morning as they fed the prisoners.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know why, but I actually feel really bad for these two. I’ve never felt anything like this before.” Vanity shuddered.
Callie suppressed a laugh. It was unusual for Vanity to think of anything but herself. She didn’t want to discourage this type of growth. She wondered momentarily if she should talk to Vanity about how she felt about being back with them.
“What do you see when you look at them?”
“Sadness, desperation.” Vanity’s voice broke as she stared at the sallow people in front of her.
“Interesting. Do you remember your name before we were locked away?” Callie and Joe both remembered much of their lives before when they decided they didn’t want to live the way they had been.
Vanity looked panicked for a moment. “The others don’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I asked them if they ever think about life before . . . it didn’t go over well.”
Callie decided to take the risk. She thought Vanity was starting to change, and she wanted to see how much.
“I was Calliope.”
“I know. I was Naomi.”
“I go by Callie now, but I can’t tell them that.” Callie pointed up.
“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Vanity admitted.
“Neither do I. I was starting to wonder why I still was, but this conversation tells me the reason.”
“What does that mean?”
“I can get us, and them, out of here.”
“But what about Panic?”
“What about Panic?” Callie hadn’t seen him since she arrived. She hadn’t thought anything of it until now.
“He tried to leave before. Absalom needs us for strength, so he locked him up in there.” Vanity pointed to a door that was only just visible behind Eric’s unconscious form.
“What the hell, Vanity? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know I could trust you. I didn’t want to get locked up too.”
“Do you want to know where I was when you couldn’t find me?”
Vanity nodded with her eyes wide-open.
“Nora!” She whispered urgently.
She wasn’t sure if there would be a response, but she hoped there would be. She said it again, “Nora!”
Nora materialized in the shabby kitchen with them. She took one look between the two and disappeared again. That hadn’t gone the way Callie planned.
“You were with the Evolved? Is that where Disease is?”
“His name is Joe.”
Nora reappeared with Thatcher at her side. Of course, she wanted to bring someone with more power to protect her if things got ugly.
“Are you ready to come home now? What is she doing here?”
“This is Naomi. She was once an angel like me and made some poor decisions.”
Nora narrowed her eyes at her, and Thatcher looked surprised.
“There’s more. It’s what I tried to tell you before.” Callie led them into the other room.
“Who are they?” Nora said as she took in the two forms tied to the beam.
Callie was momentarily surprised that she didn’t immediately recognize them, but she reminded herself that the Callaghan’s looked like death. They were covered in dirt and bodily fluids.
“Tahlia and Eric.”
Nora covered her mouth and cried, “I can’t believe I didn’t let you tell me. They could have been home by now. Oh, look at them!”
“Look, I don’t want to sound unkind, but we really don’t have much time before the others realize we didn’t just come down here to feed them. We need to get out of here.”
“Wait, what about him.” Vanity gestured toward the locked door in the corner.
“Oh yeah, Panic is in there. He too wishes to be free from Absalom. We need to go.”
Thatcher melted the lock on the door with the touch of his hand. He opened the door and the smell escaped in a stomach churning cloud of dust. Panic was huddled in the corner rocking back and forth.
Vanity helped him up and brought him to the others. Nora looked at Callie with an emotion she didn’t recognize as they disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Hadley
She was sound asleep in her bed when a rapid, firm knock on her hotel room door woke her. She sat up and mumbled that she was coming.
Hadley stumbled to the door and peered through the peephole. Joe and Whitley stood in the hallway. She opened the door and gave them her best grumpy face.
“Wake up, sleepyhead! We have to talk to you about something.”
“And it couldn’t wait until the morning?”
“Nope. Where is everyone?” Whitley pushed past her and turned the light on.
Hadley turned around and found Kerr sleeping in the bed he shared with Nora. Thatcher and Nora were both missing. She was suddenly much more awake. Something must have happened.
“Well, we’ll need to find them too.”
“What is this about?” Kerr mumbled.
Whitley and Joe are smiling like a couple of idiots. This is either going to be great news, or they
want to play another game of laser tag in the hallways.
“Pastor Jeff is going to marry us.”
“What?!” Hadley almost fell over in surprise.
“We were talking about it earlier, and we know it’s sort of sudden, but if we’re really facing imminent death we want to make the most of our time together,” Whitley explained.
“And when is this wedding happening?” Hadley asked.
“In an hour,” Joe added.
Kerr laughed and got out of bed. “Alright then, let’s do this.”
“Hadley, one more thing. Since we don’t have mom and dad”—her voice caught in her throat—“I want you to give me away.”
Hadley felt her face grow hot as tears sprang to her eyes. She couldn’t speak, so she nodded and pulled them both into a hug. One of the babies kicked against her belly at the right moment, and Whitley gasped.
“Was that the baby?” The excitement was alive in her eyes.
“Yeah, apparently they’re excited too.”
Whitley and Joe went to wake Dorian and Romulus, while Hadley and Kerr got ready. Hadley looked at the clock; it was nearly midnight. She shook her head at her impulsive twin sister, but couldn’t help but be happy for her.
They made their way down to the hotel chapel, but stopped short when Nora and Thatcher appeared in front of them. The smell hit her first, then the worried looks on their faces. It was a stark contrast to the dressed-up smiling faces she and Kerr wore.
“What’s wrong?” Hadley asked.
“Nothing is wrong, something is right.” Kerr laughed, “Looks like you won’t be giving your sister away after all.”
“Giving her awa—“
Hadley cut Nora off to ask her own question. “What are you saying?”
“Come on!” Nora said as she grabbed hold of them.
Hadley was standing in the spa that had been turned into the clinic area. Kerr took off into a room down the hall. Hadley looked around, unsure what to expect. Nora disappeared and reappeared with Whitley and Joe.
“Nora, what’s going on?” Whitley demanded.
“Stay here,” she instructed as she followed in her husband’s footsteps.