Terry’s face was still a little pale, but looked much more alive than it had an hour ago. It was now well past midnight, but I didn’t feel at all sleepy. Dr. Land informed me that our peacemaker and mind-writer would join us here once they finished wrapping up our intrusion on the aged couple down the road. But I wasn’t worried about them at the moment. My main concern was with the men in the basement.
“Could I have a little time alone here with my sister?” I asked, and everyone complied without question.
Once Alia and I were alone, I asked her hesitantly, “Are you alright?”
“I’m tired, but I’m okay,” she replied. “Did you get the people out of the basement?”
“No,” I said, and added accusingly, “You could have told me who they were.”
“I tried,” insisted Alia. Then, letting out a little sigh, she said, “I should go heal them.”
I looked at her in disbelief. “Alia, they’re Wolves. All of them.”
“I know that, Addy. I saw them too.”
“You saw the man in the end room?”
Alia stared down at her feet. “Yes.”
“You want to heal him too?”
I realized that I had lost my chance for revenge. At least for now, I couldn’t simply go down there and shoot unarmed men in jail cells. But I wasn’t about to deliver care packages to them either.
Alia looked up into my eyes, saying quietly, “He’s hurt and alone, Addy.”
I shrugged. “It’s no more than he deserves.”
“Nobody deserves that.”
“Oh, for the–”
Suddenly my sister shouted furiously into my head, “Adrian Howell, what is the matter with you?!”
“The matter with – with me?!” I sputtered, “Alia, you – I mean – you honestly–”
“He’s hurt, Addy! Don’t you get it?!”
“Damn your conscience, Alia!” I spat, throwing my hands up in disgust.
I looked at Terry, still sleeping peacefully. What would she say about this when she woke?
My first thought was that Terry would agree with me. She had lost her brother to the Angels, who had tortured him to death. She knew what it felt like to truly hate. But then again, Terry was a pragmatist. She, like her grandfather, did whatever needed to be done to accomplish the task at hand. And when my thinking was clearest, I was that way too.
I took a deep breath and said slowly, “Alright, you can heal him, but I want to have a chat with this man first. Stay here until I call you.”
Alia shook her head. “Addy, no! Please!”
“I promise I won’t kill him, Alia,” I said. “Just give me a few minutes. I swear, okay? I won’t hurt him.”
Alia slowly nodded and hugged me, and I realized once again that there was simply no arguing with a healer. At least not with this one.
It took a few more minutes to convince Merlin and the others of my non-lethal intentions regarding the Wolves, but they reluctantly agreed to let me speak to the leader alone. Scott managed to break the padlock on the farthest cell door, and I asked him to leave me and go back upstairs. Scott still seemed to think that I was planning on killing the Wolf, but he obediently left the basement.
The blindfolded Wolf had lifted his head when he heard Scott break the lock, and he seemed to be following the sound of my footsteps as I slowly walked around him once, looking him over.
He wasn’t even wearing socks, and I noticed that he was missing two toes on his left foot.
Standing behind his chair, I reached around his head and gently pulled his blindfold off.
The Wolf didn’t turn his head. Facing straight ahead, he said in a quiet tone, “You’re psionics, aren’t you?”
“That’s right,” I said evenly.
“Meridian?” he asked. “Guardian? Avalon?”
“Guardian,” I replied, stepping around to his right side.
The Wolf looked surprised when he saw me, but then said calmly, “I was expecting someone older. Who are you, kid?”
“You don’t remember me?” I asked, genuinely disappointed. “I admit I look rather different from the last time we met, but so do you.” I lifted my left shirtsleeve up to the shoulder. “Maybe you’ll recognize this.”
The Wolf looked at my P-47 tattoo for a moment, and then nodded. “Adrian… I heard of your escape.”
His composed manner irked me, but I wasn’t going to let it show. I kept my tone equally calm as I said, “I never got your name, sir.”
“Major Edward Regis,” the Wolf replied casually. “You can call me Ed.”
I sighed. “And I didn’t even have to beat it out of you, Major Edward Regis.”
“Names are free, Adrian. Are you going to kill me?”
I slowly shook my head. “I promised Alia that I wouldn’t.”
“She’s here too?”
“Yes. And she also knows that you’re here. She wanted to heal you, which is certainly more than I want. I still have nightmares about what you did to us.”
“You were a prisoner of war, just as I am here now.”
I gave the Wolf a wry smile. “Sometimes I need to be reminded too these days, but there are rules, Major Edward Regis, even in a war.”
“Not with psionics,” he replied evenly, and then smiled, saying, “Call me Ed.”
Despite my hatred, I couldn’t help being impressed with this man who so calmly faced me as if speaking to an equal rather than a captor. I certainly wasn’t about to call him “Ed” as if he were a friend, but I decided that “Major Edward Regis” was not only too long but far too respectful to continue using on a regular basis.
“How long have you been locked down here, Ed Regis?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” he replied. “We were caught in December.”
“It’s almost March now,” I informed him. “Why haven’t the Angels transported you to Randal Divine yet?”
“King Divine has many duties,” said Ed Regis. “We were on a waiting list, but they promised that we’d be sent in a few more weeks.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You don’t seem very upset by that.”
“I wasn’t until you showed up.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re contaminated, Adrian,” explained Ed Regis. “The Wolves never take a captured soldier back because that soldier could be converted or worse. We would be hunted as if we were psionics ourselves. There was nowhere left for us to go but to join the Angels anyway. But now that you have us, I’m guessing we’re all about to be executed after all.”
“I already told you that I’m not going to kill you, Ed Regis,” I said. “I can’t promise anything regarding the other Guardians, but if you’re ‘contaminated’ as you say, well, that makes things much easier for me.”
I gazed at the Wolf’s face for a moment, wondering if I was really going to say what I had come down here to say. But it had to be said, so I did. “How would you like to join us, Major?”
Ed Regis finally looked surprised. “You’re joking, right?”
I wasn’t. I had already told Merlin and the others up on the first floor that I was going to ask the Wolves to help us. Without a master controller, we would have to convince them to join us willingly, and for them to do so, they would have to trust us. That’s why it had to be me.
“We’re putting together a team to get us through the Angel blockade of the Historian’s mountain,” I explained. “We could use some good soldiers. I assume that you know who the Historian is?”
Ed Regis nodded.
“And you also know that the Guardians are all but destroyed,” I said quietly. “We believe that the Historian may be our last hope to find and kill Randal Divine. The truth is, Major, we have common enemies. When the Guardians fall, even the strongest governments of the world won’t be able to stop the Angels.”
Ed Regis remained silent, but nodded slightly in what I took to be grudging agreement.
Feeling a little more confident, I continued, “Since the Guardians
don’t even have a master controller anymore, if you join us, you might still make it back to your unit someday if you can convince them that you haven’t turned Angel. What better way to do that than by helping us kill Randal Divine?”
Ed Regis still didn’t reply. I couldn’t be sure if he was thinking it over or simply ignoring me, so I added, “Don’t think I like this any more than you. I was a heartbeat away from killing you today. But if Alia can suffer your company, then so can I. This is very simple. You can either join us or you can walk free and go live your life however you want.”
Ed Regis gave me a skeptical frown, asking, “You’d let us go?”
I nodded. “If I’m to trust you, then I can’t make your freedom conditional on your help. But we could really use your help.”
I undid the ropes binding him. Ed Regis remained sitting, but looked at me in astonishment.
“Please,” I said, ignoring the horrible pain that word was causing me. “Please will you help us, Major Regis?”
Ed Regis stroked his beard. “If I do this, I will want their master alive.”
Not a chance. I wasn’t going to let the scientists of any government learn how master controllers tick. But first we had to get to the Historian.
“That’s perfectly fine,” I lied to his face. “We’ll even help you capture him.” If Ed Regis was still with us when we moved on the Angel king, I’d personally make sure that the Wolf didn’t even walk away with a corpse to dissect. “So will you help us?”
“Yes,” Ed Regis replied carefully. “I will need to speak with my team, but I believe they will agree.”
“We’ll get them out in a minute. Stay here.”
As I turned to leave, Ed Regis said, “What I did to you, Adrian… What I did to that girl… It was nothing personal, you know. It was my job to get information.”
I rounded on him furiously. “Nothing personal?! You shot me, Ed Regis! You tortured my sister! It doesn’t get much more personal than that!”
Ed Regis said quietly, “For what it’s worth, I am sorry.”
I steadied my breathing. “Alia will be down in a moment to heal your injuries.”
“No,” said Ed Regis, shakily getting to his feet. “I’m alright. There’s no need to put her through that.”
“She has survived much worse than you,” I told him stiffly. “So have I, for that matter.”
“Nevertheless–”
“Alia insisted,” I said coldly. “My sister is incapable of ignoring any person’s suffering, so you will believe me when I tell you, Major, that I’m absolutely sure it’s nothing personal. Now sit down!”
Back on the first floor, I found Alia waiting with the others.
“Their leader, Major Edward Regis, has agreed to join us,” I announced. “He’ll need to talk with his team, so please get them out of their cell now.”
Alia looked at me in surprise. She hadn’t known what my new plan for the Wolves was.
“Your turn, Alia,” I said to her. “I’m going to go check on Terry.”
Alia gave me an uncomfortable look. “Addy…”
“Hey, don’t expect me to watch you do this,” I said gruffly. “I’d just as soon shoot them all.”
“It’s alright,” Candace said to Alia. “We’ll stay with you.”
Scott grabbed the crowbar and headed for the basement, followed by Alia, Candace and a few others.
Up in Terry’s room, I telekinetically pulled an armchair up to the bed. Sitting down heavily, I tried not to think of what my sister was going through as she faced the Wolf again. I knew she was still terrified of him, and I felt guilty about not holding her hand.
But then, what was Ed Regis going through now? The Wolf was a soldier. He might not always follow the warrior’s code of honor, but he knew it. I felt that in a strange and sick way, being indebted to Alia was the most fitting punishment possible for a man like him.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
“Addy?”
I first thought that Alia was sending her telepathy from below, but then I felt her hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you coming,” I said, turning my head. “I must have dozed off. So how are they?”
Alia gave me a blank stare. “They’ll be okay.”
“Did you heal them all?” I asked.
Alia nodded. “And the rest of the team agreed to join us too.”
“Terry will be happy when she wakes.”
“I hope so,” Alia said sadly.
“What’s the matter, Alia?”
“I don’t know,” said Alia, tears welling in her eyes. “He said he was sorry for what he did, but I… I…”
My sister’s telepathy hardly ever failed her so I knew how hard this was for her. I asked gently, “But you didn’t want to heal him?”
Alia nodded wretchedly as her tears overflowed. “I’m sorry, Addy. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m really sorry.”
I held her quivering shoulders and whispered, “Don’t ever be sorry for how you feel, Alia.”
Alia collapsed onto me, howling at the top of her lungs. I pulled her into my lap and held her tightly. Her loud cries soon brought Candace and a few others to the room, but I told them to leave us alone for a while.
My sister eventually cried herself to sleep in my lap. Not wanting to risk waking her, I decided that my armchair was comfortable enough and closed my eyes too. Somebody thoughtfully brought a warm blanket and wrapped it around us before turning out the light.
Terry was still asleep when the morning light woke me the next day.
Alia woke too, but refused to budge, so I sat silently holding her until Candace came up to announce breakfast.
“The Wolves will be eating with us this morning,” said Candace. “If you like, I’ll bring something up so you can eat here.”
“No,” I said. “We’d better get acquainted.”
Once Candace had left, I looked down at Alia again, whose eyes were still puffy and a little wet.
I asked uncertainly, “Is this really okay, Alia? Us working with Ed Regis?”
My sister gave me a watery smile. “It’s okay, Addy. I’m sorry about last night. I just felt like crying a bit.”
“It’s alright,” I said, hugging her. “I kind of felt the same way. You had a long day yesterday. Come on, let’s go get some breakfast. We’ll probably need to leave this house today. We’ve got some people back in Walnut Lane for you to take care of, too.”
As Alia clambered off of me, I noticed that Terry’s eyes were slightly open.
I jumped to my feet and asked excitedly, “Terry? Are you awake?”
Terry’s lips barely moved as she croaked, “Where am I? What happened to me?”
“It’s a long story,” I said, grinning. “Welcome back.”
I said to Alia, “Call Dr. Land.”
“I already did,” Alia replied aloud, and I heard the doctor’s footsteps approaching.
After giving Terry a once-over, Dr. Land told me to bring up some breakfast. “Something soft,” he said. “And knock when you return.”
Alia stayed with Dr. Land as he examined Terry.
Making my way down to the dining room, I was met with the smell of bacon and eggs, and I found the Wolves sharing the table with my team. The dining table was too small for everyone to sit together, so several had taken their plates to the sofas in the living room.
Scott was busy explaining our background to Ed Regis, who nodded curtly to me as I entered the dining room. I saw that Ed Regis had cleaned himself up, shaved, and found some new clothes from the Angels’ wardrobes. His bruises were completely healed too. However reluctantly, Alia had done a thorough job, and I saw that the other Wolves were in equally good condition.
“Terry’s awake,” I announced, but everyone already knew that from Dr. Land.
Several of my team asked in unison, “How is she?”
I shrugged. “I’m a waiter, not a doctor.”
Scott helped me pr
epare three breakfast trays, and I levitated them with me back to Terry’s bedroom. There was nowhere for me to sit at the dining table anyway, so I decided that Alia and I would eat upstairs after all.
Dr. Land was just finishing with Terry when I returned.
“Oh, good,” said Terry. “I’m starving.”
Terry was not only wide awake, but sitting up on her bed. I suspected that Dr. Land’s earlier prognosis that Terry wouldn’t be walking for several days was going to be challenged within hours.
I had prepared a bowl of cereal for Terry, but she preferred the bacon and eggs. Taking the tray in her lap, she refused to let Alia hand-feed her.
“I’m okay,” insisted Terry. “Dr. Land told me I was out for a day, but he won’t tell me where this is or anything else.”
Dr. Land smiled, saying to me, “I figured that she should hear it from you. Call if you need anything.”
Dr. Land left, and as we ate, I gave Alia and Terry the details starting from the Angels’ raid on our house.
Alia had seen Max die, but she hadn’t known about Felicity. She shed a few more tears over Susan’s sister, but it was Terry that I really felt sorry for.
Terry said dejectedly, “I guess our trainees weren’t as ready as I thought. Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. Maybe they are just kids.”
“Oh, they’ve learned a thing or two from us over the months,” I said, and Alia and Terry listened quietly as I told them how our trainees had rallied to save them.
I explained how we spent the day practicing the breach, and how, despite several minor mistakes, we came through unscathed.
“I was expecting to lose at least one or two more,” I said honestly, “but everyone made it. Even Candace managed to shoot straight for once.”
“You shouldn’t have risked them for us,” said Terry, and Alia nodded in agreement.
“I didn’t,” I replied. “They insisted on helping. They’re fighters now, Terry. They’re not kids anymore. We’ve trained them well. Give them a little credit.”
The Quest (Psionic Pentalogy Book 4) Page 20