“Holy crap, you really do,” says October.
“Well, then, we should have gone with green,” I say.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Adam throws me onto the bed in a caveman fashion. I giggle as we play fight, and he struggles with the buttons on my shirt. Adam is my best and only form of distraction. He knows that I need this; I need him to be normal with me. I want to do normal couple things. His mouth is warm against mine, and a sudden thought pings in my mind.
“I need to brush my teeth. I have garlic breath.”
He rolls his eyes. “I don’t care about garlic breath.”
“Well, I do. It isn’t sexy and I want you to think I’m irresistible.” Wagging my eyebrows at him, I jump from the bed.
He makes a playful grab for my butt. “You know exactly what I think of you.”
I skirt around him, shut myself in the bathroom, and brush the hell out of my teeth.
With fresh breath, I tuck my hair behind my ears and pinch my cheeks to get a bit of colour into my washed out face. Undoing the shirt buttons to help him out a little, I take a deep breath and make an overly sultry entrance, draping myself from the door frame.
He’s asleep. Fabulous.
I stroke his cheek and pull the sheets over his muscular frame. They cling to him perfectly. I watch his facial expressions change from frowns to smiles. I could tune in and witness his dreams, but I won’t. Dreams are private, and I’m promising myself to not read minds unless I have permission or it’s an absolute necessity. Grayson will be filed under necessity. I can’t control when I inflict my thoughts on Adam, but I can control whether I intrude on his privacy.
There’s a quiet knock on the door and Emiko pops her head in. “I’ve got your clothes,” she whispers. I graciously take them. She leans against the door frame. “Mine’s the same,” she says, nodding to Adam. “No matter how big and macho they are, they always look so vulnerable when they sleep, don’t you think?”
I smile at the sight of my big man sleeping so peacefully. “Yeah. I could watch him all night. Sometimes, when I go to sleep, I worry that I’m going to wake up and he’d have just been a dream. But then, I wake up and he’s still here, smiling at me.”
“Adam loves you very much, Teddie. We all do.”
Wrapping my arms around her neck, I hold on for dear life. “Thank you, Emi. I mean it- really- thank you.”
She plays with a piece of my hair, admiring her handy work. “You have nothing to thank me for.” Giving my hand one final squeeze, she disappears back into the hallway.
It’s only 11pm, yet the house is silent. Although Adam sleeps soundly, I’m wide awake. There’s no point trying to get to sleep. I’m thirsty and restless. I slip into my clean clothes, head out the room, and leave him to his dreams.
There’s a rustling coming from inside the kitchen area. The glow from the refrigerator casts a shadow on the far wall- a shadow with a long ponytail. Jude jumps as I enter, cursing me under his breath. I half expected him to be drunk, but I dare say he’s sober.
He hands me a bottle of water and takes one for himself. “You can keep me company,” he says, leaning against the breakfast bar. “Your Mum and I both suffer from Insomnia... or should I say suffered in her case—”
“I’ll only keep you company if we talk about something else- anything else,” I interrupt.
He takes a gulp of water and raises his eyebrow over the top of the bottle. “You know your mother had nothing to do with your being taken to Facility One or Rob’s death.”
“And that fixes everything? That woman drugged me. She let me think I was a freak,” I scoff into my drink. “I was five years old the first time I realised that she had a drink problem. Dad had been trying to shelter me from it, but Shana took me into town and threw up in the supermarket. The police called Dad to come and collect her and when he arrived she called the cashier a slut and accused her of having an affair with my Dad. That was just one of the many ways Shana Leason ruined my childhood. It only got worse from there. I feel like my whole life has been one big, fat lie. Did you know she lied to Isaac about being EVO?”
Jude sighs. “Yeah, I did. I have no idea how she thought she could pull it off. I know Shana wasn’t perfect, but you have to understand why she was the way she was. She was brought up knowing about EVO, but never fully being welcomed into it. She was always the outsider with Dad and I, not that we meant it to happen that way. She just wasn’t going through what we were. She was jealous. Perhaps, she was jealous of you too? Or perhaps, she truly was trying to protect you, Princess. I wish you wouldn’t be so hard on her.”
“I do not want to talk about that woman anymore. Can we go for a walk? I need to be doing something.”
Jude finishes his water, and then takes me by the elbow. “As long as I can smoke.”
“Nope.”
He rolls his eyes and drops his cigarette packet onto the counter. “You’re a pain in my ass, Princess.
I smile. “So you keep telling me.”
He picks a gun from the counter and tucks it into his pocket.
“Who’s watching Maggie?” I ask. There is more anxiety in my voice than I’d like.
Jude opens the door and leads me out into the cool night air. “I got sick of looking at that woman’s face, so Silvain is on duty for the next few hours. I’ll wake Adam when Silvain wants some kip.”
I nod, but I stopped listening after ‘Silvain is on duty’. As long as someone is watching her I can breathe. “Have you decided what to do with her, yet?”
He takes my wrist. “I’ll sort it. It’ll be my decision, not yours. I’ll take the responsibility for her. It’s my fault she’s gone bat shit crazy.”
“If you didn’t follow through on Gabe’s orders both Isaac and Gabe would have doubted you. You did it for me, and for Tess. I understand why you had to do it.”
“Yeah, but Maggie doesn’t. Would you if it was Adam?” I don’t know how to respond to that one and Jude saves me the awkwardness. “This is weird?” he states. “I’m not used to being outside without a smoke in my hand.”
“They make you smell, give you bad skin, make your fingers and teeth yellow, cause bad breath...and, oh yeah, they cause throat, nose, lung, stomach, mouth, and pancreatic cancers to name a few.”
“Don’t ruin it for me,” he says, smirking.
We walk across the top lawn, stopping to peer into the fish pond. It is empty of fish, but full of coins. Jude takes a coin out of his back pocket and hands it to me. I take it and toss it into the pond. I don’t make a wish.
On the lawn below us, Fabian and Cooper sit on deck chairs, talking quietly amongst themselves. Fabian leans back in his chair, catching sight of us, and waves. Cooper looks put out by the intrusion.
“What is Cooper’s problem?” I ask under my breath. “I don’t have him down as the equality, peace, and harmony type of guy.”
Jude snorts. “But you can see it of me?” He’s got me there. “Cooper’s alright. Yeah, he has some anger issues, but it all stems from Daddy issues. I like him.”
I laugh out loud. “You like him? I’ve been half expecting you to kill each other since we got on that yacht.”
“What is it with women? You can’t appreciate a decent argument for what it is. You’ve always got to turn it into a drama. Men say what they got to, scuffle it out if they have to, and get over it.”
How can I even respond to that sexist nonsense? I choose not to dignify him with a reply, and instead, I greet Fabian and Cooper. They fall into pace beside us as we descend to the bay.
“Big day tomorrow,” Cooper says to me. I study his face, trying to figure out if he is being genuine or making some kind of dig. “Don’t look so defensive. I’m just trying to make conversation,” he says.
“Okay?” I say, warily. “Yeah, I guess it is, but we can handle it.”
He places a cigarette between his lips and nods dismissively. We stop beside a small beach hut, so he can light it with his back to the wind.
Jude looks at it longingly.
The wind blowing across the surface of the water is chilly like an English winter breeze and it cuts through me like icicles. We stand in silence, and I don’t mind it. It makes a change from arguing and fighting. Taking in all of Silvain’s estate is quite a reality check. He clearly has a lot of money, so why would he risk everything helping us. I ask Jude.
Jude looks up at the house. “Silvain’s late wife, Vera, was EVO and a friend of Tess. When Tess ran, Gabe had me torture Vera to find out what she knew. Obviously, I didn’t. I bluffed her way out of it with Gabe. I supposed I saved her life, but she died a year later of an aneurism. Silvain thinks he owes me a debt which has proven handy. I bet he rues the day.”
Cooper scoffs. “Yeah, the old man is beat. We passed him on our way out here. He was asleep in his chair, snoring like a pneumatic drill.”
Jude laughs, but I stop dead, my throat constricting on my words. “Asleep? So, who is watching—”
I’m cut off by Silvain’s shouts. He jogs down the lawns, his stomach hindering his speed. “The woman is gone. I fell to sleep. I fell to sleep,” he calls.
He stumbles onto the beach, sprawling like a beached whale at our feet. He looks up, his sweating face is covered in sand, and his mouth hangs open.
Spinning around, I see Maggie stood just fifty yards away- a gun poised in her shaking hands- aimed at Jude. I scream his name, and he lunges aside, but Fabian steps out from behind the beach hut to see the commotion.
“What is going—”
A gunshot screams through the bay, echoing off the cliffs. Fabian’s sentence is cut short, and his neck squirts blood all over my face. He sways for a moment, and then hits the sand dead. Silvain screams as Fabian’s lifeless face falls inches from his own.
Maggie stumbles slightly. “No, no, no. I didn’t mean to - I didn’t know he was—” A strangled cry leaves her throat.
Cooper looks from Fabian to Maggie. “You killed him, you fucking bitch,” he howls.
“Maggie, put the gun down,” I say to her, in the calmest voice I can muster.
“This is all your fault,” she cries, raising the gun again. Another shot screeches in the night air.
There is no time to think, all I can do is react. Pushing Cooper aside, I send my telekinesis soaring away from me. The bullet flies back at Maggie, hitting her in the stomach. She drops to her knees with a sick smile on her face. A red stain seeps through her blouse, yet she isn’t fazed by it- she welcomes it. She fires again and again, and I force every bullet away.
Maggie lets out a god awful scream and races toward us. I charge her as she does me, keeping my telekinesis pumping from my every pore. Those bullets will not hit anyone else if I can help it. Then, a knife buries deep into my right shoulder. Maggie’s hand is outstretched; I didn’t even see her throw it. She’s going to fire again. She will kill Jude.
“No. Not her,” Jude bawls, dropping to his knees beside me.
The world swims in front of my eyes. I don’t remember falling, but I’m on my back with warm, dark blood seeping over my chest.
“Please, Maggie. Please just stop,” I say, telepathically. The anger and confusion swirling in her mind makes me physically gag. I can sense her intention before she even thinks it. I pull the gun out of Jude’s waistband and shoot her before she can shoot him.
“Oh my God, Teddie,” Jude cries, his hands shaking as he cradles my head. “Please, don’t do this to me, Princess. Help her!” He screams at Cooper, tears in his eyes. “Help her!”
Cooper pushes him aside. “Shit. It’s bad. It’s really bad.” Jude reaches for the handle, but Cooper swats him away. “Do not remove the blade, do you hear me?”
“I’m sorry about Fabian,” I say, through gritted teeth.
“You get all the luck,” Cooper says, forcing a smile in an attempt to calm me.
“Did you just smile?” I ask.
“Maybe. I still don’t like you, though.” Okay, so Cooper can be funny.
A familiar noise fills the air and a chopper hovers over the house, illuminating it with a large spotlight. The sound of speeding cars rumbles down the road, and shouts and orders echo off the cliffs.
“It’s the army,” whispers Silvain. He grabs Jude’s arm and starts to drag him away from me. “We have to hide. Andiamo.”
“Adam,” I mumble.
Cooper lifts me into his arms and I cry out as the knife moves in the wound. “I know it hurts, but you got to shut the hell up, Teddie.” he says, sternly. He takes one last look at Fabian, and then sets off after Silvain.
Shouts erupt from the house and a thunder of feet rush in our direction.
I hear my name shouted over and over. It’s Adam.
“Everybody stay where you are. Get your hands in the air. Any use of abilities will result in extermination,” says a projected voice from the chopper.
I can feel the pull of the link and I allow it to wash over me. “Teddie, where are you?” he asks.
“Hiding,” I say, repeating Silvain’s words.
“Stay there. Do not come up to the house, okay? Maggie must have called us in. I’ll find a way to come for you.”
“Don’t risk it. Do what they want and keep yourself alive. Keep the others alive.” Even the voice in my head winces from pain.
“I’m coming for you.”
“No! Don’t you dare.”
“Teddie—”
“I think I’m dying. It’s pointless.” I involuntarily share the memory of Jude’s distraught, crying face. I can feel Adam’s sudden fear and heartbreak. “I’m sorry, Baby. This might be the only chance I get to say goodbye.”
His voice breaks. “No- no- no, it’s never goodbye. I will find you.”
“I love you. I love you. I love—”
“Stop, Baby. Not like this. Tell me when you see me, okay?” I can hear the sobbing in his mind.
A sharp slap meets my cheek and I’m thrust back into reality, the link broken. Jude looms over me, calling my name.
“Adam!” I cry, launching forward. Cooper holds me down as a pain rages in my chest.
“Don’t do that to me, Princess. You can’t sleep. If you sleep, you die.”
I don’t feel right. The cold grips at my body and my hands tremble uncontrollably. My head feels light and fuzzy and my tunnel vision closes in on Jude’s face. So, this is what dying feels like.
“I’m so cold. Just let me sleep.” Glancing down at the knife, I see the extent of my blood loss. “I think I should sleep.”
Silvain rummages in his pocket, pulling out his mobile and Jude snatches it from him.
Cooper removes his hoody, draping it over me. “She’s going into shock,” he says to Jude.
Jude presses a button on the phone and holds it too his ear. Cooper’s face blurs in front of me. I can’t fight this anymore. Sleep is calling to me.
“We need your help,” Jude shouts into the phone. “Theyda’s dying.”
CHAPTER NINE
Snoring stirs me from my sleep. Waking up has a strange, liberating feeling, as if I have been swimming through a lake of treacle and have just burst out the other side. I blink the dryness away from my eyeballs. They itch and water, but I will them to acclimatise to the dim light and focus on the damaged ceiling tiles above my bed. Where am I?
I attempt to sit up, but an ache eats at my chest. I touch the spot, feeling bandages and a raw, tenderness. Itching my cheek, I see wires stuck under my skin and a metal sedation cuff. I fully start out of my dream state and sit bolt upright, crying out in agony from the movement. I topple from my bed, the wires pulling painfully from the back of my hand. What is this place?
Buzzers sound from an array of monitors. I scramble into the corner of the room. The light flickers on and three people swarm on me.
I scream out, cowering in the corner, fighting off the hands that pull at me.
“It’s okay, Teddie. You’re safe,” says a woman’s voice. My heart pounds harder in my chest. I’ve h
eard that one before. “Help me get her on the bed.”
I fight harder, my chest searing with pain. “Get away!”
“She’s going to burst her stitches,” the woman shouts. She pins my arms to the wall.
“Hey, gentle with her,” says Cooper’s voice from the corner of the room. “She’s confused.”
I push the woman away and race around the bed, throwing myself at Cooper. I grip around his neck, pulling my knees up to my chest until I’m a tight ball on his lap. He sits rigid for a moment before placing an arm around me.
“Go and get Jude,” he tells the people. “She’s okay. I’ve got her.”
I watch as a blonde woman in a garish, knitted cardigan rushes from the room.
“All of you- out,” he snaps at the remaining people. They don’t argue with him and shuffle out of the room, waiting right outside the door. “You’re okay,” he says. “You’re in a hospital... well, kind of. Now, can you get off?”
I release my grip instantly, the blood flush of embarrassment reaching my cheeks. I gingerly sit on the bed, my bare feet not reaching the floor. Cooper studies me with that annoying look of his that is half concern and half amusement.
“What happened?” I ask, manoeuvring my bad shoulder in gentle circles.
“I assume you remember the dirty, great knife sticking out of your chest?”
I nod.
“Well, congratulations you’re alive.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” I say. Cooper smiles and I think it’s genuine. “Where are we?”
“Syndicate headquarters. Jude rang Grayson just before you conked out. It turns out they knew we were at Silvain’s gaff all along and had members monitoring us from the cliffs twenty-four seven. They came to the rescue.”
It’s a lot to take in, but I’m filled with an overwhelming sense of relief. “Why are you in here with me? Where’s Adam?”
Cooper shifts in his seat. “What do you mean? Don’t you remember the army swarming the house? They got him- Yana, Seth, October, Wheeler, and Emiko too.”
“But you said Syndicate came to the rescue.”
“To your rescue. We got you to the cliffs, and then they took over. No-one would have made it back to the house without being captured.”
EVO Shift: EVO Nation Series: Book Two Page 7