I let out a small laugh, barely able to believe the turn of events, and pulled away. I reached for the box of tissue on the nightstand. “Dani says I get wayward snot,” I said, half-jokingly. I plucked a tissue, then handed my mom the box. “Apparently it runs in the family.”
My mom choked out an emotional laugh and took a tissue. “I should let you rest.”
“It’s no use,” I said and blew my nose. “There’s too much going on to sleep. Too many things that need to get done and plans to make. And I’m already feeling better.”
“You need to rest.”
“No, I need to help.”
My mom’s eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward. “Don’t make me get your brother,” she threatened. “Or Danielle.”
I gaped at her. “You wouldn’t.”
She nodded. “If you want me here, you’ll have to get used to the phrase ‘Mother knows best,’ just like Peter’s had to do.” She smiled.
“Wow, you fit in already,” I said and leaned back against my pillow. “There’s no need to tell, I’ll stay here until Jake wakes up at least.”
My mom’s smile widened in victory, then faltered, and her teal eyes were cast in worry. “I know all of this is my fault, but I promise you, Zoe, I won’t let Gregory hurt you, or your brothers. I’ve—”
“I don’t blame you,” I said. “Not for this. I sort of expected it, actually. You getting away from him that easily…” I shook my head, wishing I’d been wrong. “He’s been in the shadows my whole life. I’m just glad I’m old enough to fight back with you this time. All of us can, as a family.” I glanced at Jake, his back to us now as he snored softly. “I know it’s selfish, and I hate that this is happening, that there’s absolutely no guarantee any of us are going to survive the next couple days, but I’m glad you left him and that place. I’m glad you brought Peter here, and I’m glad that you and Dad are talking again, that we’re all together. It’s worth it to me.” I shut my eyes as my head started pounding.
“Here,” my mom said. I opened my eyes when she scooted closer and reached for the tea mug. “Have some of this. It’s cool enough now.”
I leaned forward and she brought the oversized mug to my lips. I sipped the hot liquid, loving the way it coated my throat and insides. After another sip, I leaned back again.
“Now rest,” my mom reiterated, brushing a stray strand of hair from my eyes. Her gaze drifted over my face, and she held the ends of my hair between her fingertips. She smiled. “I always wondered about the woman you’d grow up to be,” she said, though her mind seemed far away. She dropped her hand and straightened. “You and Jason are so beautiful and strong. I couldn’t be prouder of you both.”
She rose from the bed and smoothed her tan cardigan, glancing at Jake, then back at me. “Try to get some sleep. It’s going to be a long couple of days,” she said and turned to leave.
“Mom?”
She turned around. I held up the tea mug with a small smile. “Thank you,” I said, though the tea wasn’t all I was grateful for.
40
ANNA
DECEMBER 17, 1AE
The Farm, California
Anna stared out the nearest window in the dining room, the waning moonlight teaming up with her exhaustion and mounting nerves to trick her into seeing trespassers—attackers—where there were none. At least, not yet.
Zoe was still upstairs, resting with Jake, and the children had gone to bed in another of the upstairs bedrooms hours ago, guarded by the watchful canine duo of Jack and Cooper. Camille and Mase had made the short trip up valley to the Re-gen farms to rally the proverbial troops, leaving behind Becca as the Re-gen representative during the tiring late-night planning session.
The only others missing from the “war room” table were Danielle and Jason. The pair had slipped away to the living room to sneak in a quick power nap; Jason had insisted, and considering how exhausting Danielle’s telepathy could be and how much they would depend on her for coordinating their efforts over the coming days, everyone had agreed that snatching up rest whenever possible was wise. After all, she would be their only telepathic connection to the farm while the others were away. They couldn’t risk burnout, not where her invaluable Ability was concerned.
“You know him best, Anna,” Sanchez said, dragging her back into a conversation she’d effectively been zoned out from for minutes. “What do you think?”
Anna rubbed her temple and glanced around at the faces surrounding the table. “I’m sorry.” She smiled apologetically and shook her head. “My mind was elsewhere. What did you want to know?”
Sanchez made a visible effort to contain her frustration, taking a deep breath and just barely rolling her eyes. She was so very military it was almost comical to Anna. “Is everything we’re doing pointless? Isn’t Herodson going to be prepared for us being prepared for him, and have tactics and strategies in place to counter anything we might do?”
Again, Anna shook her head. “He’ll assume that I’ll be expecting him to come after me at some point—I did betray him, after all—but nothing more specific than that.” Her eyebrows drew together. “I’m not sure I follow your thinking.”
Sanchez gestured, with more than a little hostility, toward Becca. “We’ve got his favorite crystal ball, so doesn’t that mean he knows that we know he’s coming now?”
“Ah…” Anna smiled broadly, and Sanchez blinked in confusion. “I see where you’re mistaken. No, he won’t know, at least not because of Becca’s presence here. He thinks she’s dead,” Anna said, and a quick scan of her companions’ surprised faces told her that nobody had considered that possibility. Even Becca wore the telltale raised eyebrows, wide eyes, and parted lips. “After Danielle escaped, I stumbled upon one of Herodson’s creatures, Clara—I believe some of you are familiar with her—attempting to kill Zoe. It was Clara who ended up dead instead, and wanting to sever as many ties as possible between your group and Gregory, and seeing that Clara was roughly the same size and build as Becca, I burned her body until it was unrecognizable, then showed it to Gregory, claiming the body belonged to Becca.”
“And he just took your word for it?” Sanchez asked.
Anna arched one brow. Quite the skeptic, that Sanchez. “Why wouldn’t he? He believed he had a double hold on me, one on my mind and one on my heart. Of course, I also offered to do a DNA test to verify the body’s identity.” She smiled primly. “The results were quite conclusive, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
At the end of the table, Gabe started chuckling. “Did you show him my charred remains, too, Wes?”
“I think—” Daniel began.
“That would’ve been pushing it,” Anna said, shaking her head yet again. “I decided that I’d rather he think you were with my children than Becca. I couldn’t have him start doubting my claims; it would’ve been too risky.” She met Gabe’s clever blue eyes. “He knew that you, Camille, and Mase left with Danielle—assumed you’d been the one to help them escape—but I gambled that even the three of you together wouldn’t be enough to rouse his vindictive side, not like the urge to seek retribution from Becca would’ve been, had he believed her to still be breathing.” Anna felt a sudden chill as she thought aloud, “Gregory is a man who acts on need, not on anger. Gabe’s betrayal angered him, but Becca’s would’ve been, well…”
Everyone eyed Anna, including Becca herself, clearly expecting more.
She sighed. “Becca is—was—one of the first successful Re-gens. She was with him the longest, a testament to his moving one step closer to achieving his ultimate goal—the Great Transformation.” Anna swallowed thickly. “Gregory doesn’t like to lose assets, especially when the loss threatens his grand plans. And you, Gabriel, while clearly a valuable ally, weren’t the only person Gregory had under his thumb who could enter dreams. His plans were achievable enough without you.” Anna could only imagine how Gregory had reacted when he finally realized that she’d left him—that, in his eyes, she’d betrayed him yet again.
“Clever, as usual,” Gabe said with a bow of his head.
“Necessary,” Anna countered. “On top of Becca’s importance to him, the night Becca helped you and Danielle escape was undeniable proof that Gregory has weaknesses, that he could be beaten. Or, at least, that he isn’t all-powerful, and that fighting against him isn’t always a death sentence. He wouldn’t have been able to let such an extreme betrayal stand; he would’ve had no choice but to come after her—after all of you. It’s not in his nature to let something like that go, not when it weakens his very position.”
“Might it be wise to—” Daniel said, trying to interject again.
“Just like he’s doing with you,” Chris said, leaning back in her chair on the opposite side of the table. She stretched, then crossed her arms over her chest. “Which you knew he would do. It’s why you stayed with him for so long. It wasn’t just for Peter; it was for Tom and Zoe and Jason, too, wasn’t it—you knew it would lead to this.”
Under the table, Tom’s hand found Anna’s. As he laced his fingers with hers, she felt some of her anxiety and tension abate.
“You’ve been struck by an arrow,” Daniel said. It was his third attempt to enter the conversation, and though he hadn’t spoken noticeably louder, his voice reverberated throughout the room, demanding everyone’s attention. Larissa, Carlos, and Vanessa actually glanced down at their own bodies, looking for Daniel’s ghostly arrow. “Imagine that, despite Harper’s wishes to remove the arrow and treat the wound immediately, you keep pushing him away, demanding to know who shot it and why. Did the shooter poison the arrow, too? What kind of poison might he have used?” Daniel looked at Harper. “What would you tell that patient?”
Harper looked around the room, shifting in his chair and laughing under his breath. “Um…to shut up and let me work?”
Titters and laughter filled the dining room. Daniel joined good-naturedly, but his hawklike focus switched to Anna. “And why might it be wise for you, the patient, to listen to the good doctor?”
Anna took a deep breath, not only recognizing the proverb and understanding his meaning, but silently thanking him for his much-needed lesson in what truly mattered. They needed to stop focusing on unnecessary whys and hows of the events leading up to their current predicament and put their collective mental fortitude into the whens and wheres and hows of the upcoming struggle. That was what mattered, far more than what used to be. “Because I’d likely die otherwise,” Anna said in answer to the question.
“Ah, yes…” Daniel sat back in his seat, interlocking his fingers and resting his hands on the table. “Interesting, that.” Slowly, he nodded to himself. “Very interesting…”
Chris snorted. “Alright, wise one,” she said with affectionate sarcasm. “We’ll get back on task.”
Standing, Sanchez clapped her hands together and rubbed them back and forth. “Alright, let’s get an action plan going.” She moved to stand in front of the whiteboard that took up nearly half of the room’s interior wall and picked up a dry-erase marker. “Start throwing out tasks, people; we’ll assign and prioritize as we go.”
There was a long, drawn-out moment where everyone looked around the table at each other awkwardly. Finally, and somewhat surprisingly, Tom chimed in with, “I think it’s safe to say that Abilities will be a main element of Herodson’s battle strategy.” He looked at Anna. “Is it possible to make neutralizer for all of us?” He raised a shoulder, then let it fall. “It would be nice to know we’re at least protected from mind control and the like.” He frowned. “Unless you and Jason would be able to protect us by nulling?”
Brow furrowed, Anna shook her head. “We can only create a sort of nulling field for those nearest to us—within a several-yard radius. But, as for the neutralizer…” She turned her attention to Gabriel. “Have you managed to collect any of the equipment I listed in the instructions I included with my letters?”
“Just a centrifuge and a couple of microscopes.”
Anna frowned and nodded at the same time. “There used to be a couple of labs in Petaluma that would’ve had the other things I’d need, but they might not be around anymore. I’ll need a telephone book—not just for Petaluma, but the whole Sonoma Valley. Santa Rosa is even more likely to have what I need.”
Sanchez was already writing “SCAVENGING TRIP TO PET/SR – NEUTRALIZER” on the board. Finishing, she pointed at Gabriel and Anna with the end of the marker. “You two should go, and you’ll need some muscle.” Her eyes landed on Biggs.
The soldier-turned-father shook his head. “I think I’d be better utilized spearheading the trip into New Bodega. They know me. They trust me. If it’s me who asks for help, they’re more likely to give it.”
Sanchez wrote “DIPLO TRIP TO NB – REQUEST AID” and added Biggs’s name underneath, then added her own name to Anna’s and Gabriel’s. “I’ll go with the scientists, then.” She added Jason’s name as well. “He’s not here, so he doesn’t get a say.”
Chris snickered. “We’ll see about that…”
“We’ll do a quick run for ammo and weapons in Santa Rosa, too,” she said, ignoring Chris and adding “– ARMS” to the first task on the board. “We should be able to find plenty, since the New Bodega scavenging teams have only cleaned out the western half of the city.”
“I’ll go with Biggs,” Daniel said quietly.
“You can use your silver tongue to sweet-talk Bethany into helping us,” Chris teased.
Daniel blushed and cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t know about that…”
The room filled with tension-relieving laughter, which seemed to unseal everyone’s lips and open the floodgates for ideas. It wasn’t long until the board was filled—Sanchez had been forced to tape several laminated maps up on the wall, using their backs for additional note-taking space.
After nearly an hour, Sanchez set her dry erase marker on the table. “Alright, should we break up and let the stragglers know what their responsibilities are going to be?”
“And then get some rest,” Harper added. “Sleep deprivation might gain us more prep time, but we’ll be fuzzy-brained and ineffective. Everyone gets a full night’s sleep tonight. Doctor’s orders.” He shot a quick glance in Becca’s direction. “Assuming you’re certain we’re not under threat of imminent attack first thing in the morning…”
Becca shook her head. “Sanchez and Gabe were more healed in my vision. Besides, the animals will warn us, I’ve seen that much, and since we’ve heard nothing from them yet, and since morning is fast approaching, I think it’s safe to say they won’t be coming this morning. We have some time to rest and prepare.”
“So we need to keep Dani on alert,” Chris commented.
“Not Dani,” Becca said. “It is Annie who will warn us of Fath—General Herodson’s impending arrival. I’ve seen it.”
Quizzical looks were exchanged around the table until, for the first time since dinner, Vanessa spoke. “The Tahoe pack—Snowflake and the other wolves—that’s who’ll tell Annie, isn’t it?”
Becca shrugged.
“It makes sense,” Carlos said. “She still talks to them every day. At least, that’s what Dani told me. Her link to them is really strong.”
“Right, so…” Harper scooted his chair backward and stood. “Let’s spread the word about duties and hit the hay.”
Sanchez rubbed her hands together once more. “Yeah…that’s not going to happen. I’m way too amped up to sleep.”
Harper settled a stern look on her. “Try, or we’ll have Gabe here put you to sleep for a few hours.”
Sanchez opened her mouth, but before saying anything, she closed it again, shoulders slumping. It seemed she realized there was no way around it. One way or another, Harper would see to it that everyone rested while they could.
Chris joined Harper, curling her arm around his back and resting her head on his shoulder. “We’ll pop in to check on Zoe and Jake and pass on their duties and such,” she said, finishing with a yawn.
“And Jason and Dani…?” Sanchez prompted.
Chair legs scratched on the hardwood floor, throats cleared, eye contact was avoided. It was obvious that disturbing Jason—or, rather, disturbing Danielle while she rested under Jason’s watchful eye—wasn’t something anyone was eager to do.
Sighing, Anna raised her hand partway. “I’ll do it,” she said with a sniff.
But when she reached the doorway into the living room and laid her eyes on the expectant couple, sound asleep on the couch, Danielle nestled against Jason, Anna couldn’t bring herself to actually step into the room. Not because she was afraid of Jason’s irritation; she didn’t know when her son and daughter-in-law would have another chance to steal such a peaceful, intimate slumber together. She wanted to preserve this moment for them. She wished she could make it last forever.
“Let them be,” Tom said from behind Anna, his voice barely above a whisper but making Anna suck in a startled breath nonetheless. “There’s nothing they could do tonight that can’t be saved for the morning.”
Anna nodded, in absolute agreement with Tom, but she was also faced with a bit of a conundrum—where to sleep? The couch had been her bed until now. “I suppose Peter and I could sleep in their cottage,” she said, thinking aloud.
“Nonsense.” Tom rested his hands on her shoulders.
Anna held her breath. Was he going to ask her to stay with him tonight?
“Peter’s already upstairs in Mase and Camille’s room,” Tom said. “There’s plenty of room for both of you there.”
Anna exhaled, both relieved and disappointed.
Tom’s strong, callused hands started massaging her shoulders, and Anna had a hard time holding in a groan. Her head lolled forward, her eyelids drooping.
The Ending Series: The Complete Series Page 165