“They will wake soon, just as you did. They were just shot with tranquilizers. The metahuman bodies will metabolize the chemical more rapidly, so your brothers will wake sooner—just as you did. The humans will take about five hours longer to regain consciousness.” He looked earnestly at her, willing her to believe him.
“I was sent to finish my original assignment. Williams is holding some… very sensitive materials over my head. He wanted to give me no choice but to obey his orders. He just enjoys the torment he causes.” Creed shook his head, a haunted look clouding his eyes.
“He sent seventeen of us. Gavil and I were team leaders.”
“Gavil’s here?” Meg asked, panic returning.
Creed frowned. “Do you know my brother?”
“Oh, we’ve met. He tried to kill me with a letter opener in California.” Her eyes darted around nervously.
“Sorry about that. Well, he’s on our side this time. He wants Williams dead, too. We have another metasoldier named Slider who has chosen to join us.” Creed watched her. She had moved her body into a tense, fight-ready position instinctively, eyes warily darting around the shadows in the room.
“They went to dispose of the other soldiers,” Creed continued, hesitantly.
“I have so many problems with everything you just said. First, you expect me to believe Gavil has decided to fight against Williams?”
Creed just nodded then added. “There’s a whole backstory there. There was a girl he was really close to. She was killed by Williams. He wants revenge.”
Meg narrowed her eyes at Creed’s explanation.
“Listen, I’m pretty sure he’s never going to be my best friend, but at this point we have the same goal.”
“Second, did you say you killed fourteen soldiers? Right here at my ranch?”
“It wasn’t the best plan in the world, but we didn’t have much time. Gavil and I had to come up with something during the flight here while not drawing attention to ourselves. At the Facility, Williams has eyes and ears everywhere. We couldn’t risk the opportunity. Even though I don’t remember knowing your family, I was taking a leap of faith that if Gavil and I stopped the siege and protected your family, you would join us in defeating Williams.”
He shrugged slightly before adding, “We would be stronger as a unit and we need all the advantages we can get if we plan to go up against him.”
Meg watched his eyes, her breathing finally slowing, allowing herself a more clear-minded response to the situation. “You have amnesia.” It was a statement, not a question.
He nodded his head.
“You don’t remember anything about me?”
He hesitated briefly before shaking his head. “No. Well, see I get these migraines since the accident and when I finally pass out from the pain, I have dreamed of a dark-eyed girl. I didn’t know you were real until Williams showed me a picture of you.”
“You’ve dreamed of me?”
The deadly, hulking metasoldier strong enough to lift a bus actually looked away from her and blushed deeply, completely throwing her emotions into a whiplash-worthy spin.
Creed’s subconscious remembers me. He dreamed of me!
“We should go back and check on the family.” Creed stood and walked with the grace of a panther toward the barn door avoiding eye contact.
Meg smiled to herself at his gruff reaction. As she followed him, she reached out with her emotions to graze his mind—just a glance. Meg felt his sincerity, his earnestness glowing right there...but his emotional signature wasn’t warm red like it used to be back on the Island. It was blue, a royal blue that warmed her with its strength and determination. It was the same color as his eyes. This Creed was different from the Creed she had left back at Paulie’s house on the hill, but his core was just as beautiful.
Do I trust him? she asked herself.
Her answer was immediate and instinctive.
Absolutely.
When they got back to the living room, everyone was exactly where they had left them. From the kitchen, Meg retrieved a large bowl of water and a handful of washcloths from the laundry room. She busied herself with caring for her family as they waited to see who would wake first. They didn’t have to wait long before Alik began to moan and thrash about.
“Ali, wake up.” She pressed the cool cloth to his forehead, trying to soothe him awake.
He sat bolt upright screaming, “Nooooo!”
“Hey, it’s okay, Alik.” She turned his face to focus on her. “You’re okay and so is everyone else. We’re all right here, but they’re still sleeping.”
Alik looked frantically around the room at the bodies all around him. “What happened, Meg?” His voice was groggy with the lingering sedative.
“Now, there’s a long story, but, do you trust me, Alik?” Meg connected with his dazed eyes and sent him soothing emotions.
“Of course.”
She nodded, “Good. Then believe me when I say Creed and his brother Gavil have come to help us fight Williams. They had to shoot everyone with tranquilizers while they dealt with the fourteen other soldiers still loyal to Williams. The plan worked. Creed is here. Gavil and one other metasoldier who agreed to join the fight have gone to dispose of the soldiers’ bodies but will be back.” She watched his eyes again to see if he had caught all that. “Do you understand?”
Creed stepped into view so Alik could see him.
Alik’s gaze moved from his sister to the hulking soldier standing behind her. “Damn, brother, you got huge.”
Creed grinned widely assuming the meta’s use of the word “brother” was just casual.
Cole, Evan and Farrow woke soon after, each of them groggy and worried about what happened. Meg repeated the shortened version each time another person awoke until finally all the metahumans were roused.
Margo, Theo and Maze were still out. The boys carried them to bed so they could be more comfortable. After clearing the room of the unconscious, everyone reconvened in the kitchen. Food was pulled out of the refrigerator and pantry as everyone talked at once.
“You really don’t remember anything?” Farrow asked Creed.
He still felt funny about talking with the girl he only knew as Dr. Williams’ personal assistant, but if Meg trusted her, then she deserved trust.
“No, nothing.”
“The damage to your frontal cortex must have been severe.” Evan looked at Creed with his keen physician’s eye. “I would be curious to see your MRI. It’s possible your memory will come back. Sometimes it takes longer for the brain to heal and new pathways, synapses to form.” He said all this while holding a thick turkey sandwich inches from his mouth. He stopped talking long enough to take a giant bite and chewed thoughtfully, completely unaware of the mayo smeared on his upper lip. Meg reached over with her napkin and smiled as she rubbed her littlest brother clean. He shot her a dirty look.
“You may be a brilliant doctor Ev, but you’ll always be my baby brother. Use a napkin.” She smiled and tossed him a new one. Evan rolled his eyes and kept talking around his full mouth. “And your physical abilities have increased. Meg says the scientists at the Facility thought it was because you were exposed to more of the Infinite serum during the accident.”
“How do you know that?” Creed fixed his eyes on Meg.
“It’s all part of my evolved gift,” she shrugged nonchalantly. She didn’t want to talk about herself.
Creed hesitated, obviously wanting to know more, but seemed to decide to drop it for now when he bit into his sandwich.
“This is all very interesting,” Cole said, “but I’m more worried about what’s going to happen once Williams realizes your mutiny.” Cole had been careful with his words around Creed since he awoke to find the soldier sitting on the sofa of his house. He wasn’t happy about any of this, Meg could tell, but he was showing restraint, and for that, she was grateful.
As for herself, Meg didn’t know what to think about having Cole and Creed back in the same room. To be honest,
her stupid girly emotions just needed to shut the heck up so she could concentrate on saving their asses by offing Williams. She had enough to worry about with everyone else’s emotions trying to tackle her to the ground. She just needed to disconnect from her little crushes on these very different boys in her life, so she could focus. Meg huffed angrily at herself.
“Meg?” Cole’s green eyes were watching her face.
“Hum?” The heat flooded up her neck to her cheeks when she noticed the whole room of metas had been watching her internal struggle play out through her facial expressions.
She stood abruptly, taking her half-eaten sandwich to the trash and tossing it.
“What is the plan?” Meg asked the room.
“What’s going on?” A groggy voice came from the doorway. There stood Margo, looking adorable with bedhead and beside her, rubbing his eyes, was Theo.
“Mom! You’re awake!
“Creed?” My mother looked wide-eyed at the boy she considered one of her sons and rushed to him, hugging him tightly. “Oh, thank you God. You came back!” She pulled back from her motherly embrace. Creed’s arms hung at his sides, not sure how to return the affection of a woman he didn’t remember. Margo searched his face the way only a mom can and said, “I know you don’t remember me, but I remember you well enough for the both of us.” She smiled widely at the large, silent, soldier—tears glistening in her warm brown eyes.
“It’s damn good to see you, Creed,” Theo offered a fatherly pat on the soldier’s solid back. “Margo, let the kid go. You’re gonna scare him away,” he teased before turning to the room and nodding at the two soldiers he’d never seen knocking at the glass back door. “I’ll get that,” he said casually shuffling toward the door mumbling to himself about this all having to be a dream.
“Come on in,” Dr. Andrews said to the two huge strangers at the door dressed exactly like Creed. “I’m going to assume you’re friends of Creed’s.”
Gavil and Slider exchanged unsure looks before following the human into the house. “Creed, I believe you’ll handle introductions?” Theo said waving to the soldiers.
Margo hadn’t moved far from Creed’s side. Meg sensed her mother’s joy at seeing the boy—the son she couldn’t save as she had the other three children. Meg blinked emotion out of her eyes, brushed her dark curls off her face and forced herself to focus on Gavil and Slider.
“Yes, sir,” Creed said, walking toward the men. “This is my brother Gavil Young, and this is our friend Slider Reznikov.”
“Gavil?” Margo breathed, eyes narrowing.
“Mom, it’s okay,” Meg interrupted the fight she saw flash in her mother’s eyes. “He’s on our side now. Isn’t that right, Gavil?” She looked pointedly at the man who fought her with such venom a year ago. She would never forget those icy blue eyes.
She and Gavil watched each other for a moment. In that span, she reached out to feel his intent. He was hurting so deeply beneath that callous façade. He’d lost someone dear to him because of Williams. Meg nodded knowingly at him as she poured gentle understanding and acceptance directly from her heart into his. He shuddered visibly and blinked before he met her gaze again. The sadness in his heart was still very much there, but she had intentionally left a seed of hope.
He watched her warily trying to figure out what just happened between them. “I’m not here to hurt any of you,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot in the last year. I know what Williams is now. He has to be stopped. He needs to die.”
The room had been holding its breath waiting for his response and now let out a collective sigh.
Margo looked from Meg, to Gavil and back to her. “If Meg trusts you, then you have my trust, too.”
Meg reached out and held her mother’s hand reassuring her before turning to the other interloper. “And you,” she said. “What is your motive?”
“I just want my freedom. Williams thinks of us as property. I’m owned by no one. I can’t get free until he’s dead,” Slider explained shrugging.
While the man spoke, Meg reached out to him and tentatively searched his true intent. She closed her eyes for a moment and reached further. “You do feel as you say, but there’s something else. What aren’t you telling us?”
Slider looked decidedly nervous now, running his fingers through his cropped blonde hair, rubbing his scalp slowly as though pushed deep in thought. His eyes were downcast, his anxious jaw working so muscles flexed in his hardened face.
“I could find it myself easily, but it would speak to your integrity if you confess it yourself.” She watched him squirm and worried he’d choose the wrong path.
“If I tell you, you’ll kill me,” he mumbled, still unable to look her in the eye.
Farrow, who had been watching the exchange silently, stood and walked toward the newcomer. “I thought they should have let me die for all the pain I caused them, but they didn’t. These are good people, Slider. You just have to be honest with them.”
Slider took a deep breath, seeming to take strength in Farrow’s confession.
“It was me. I was given orders to take out anyone I could. I saw the old guy—Dr. St. Paul. I saw him at the airport on the island. I shot him in the back. I killed him.” Slider’s voice was barely above a whisper. “He was just an old guy. A doctor. He was unarmed. Everything about the orders I was supposed to follow that day felt wrong—messed up and wrong—but I followed them anyway.”
Slider’s eyes stared at his feet. He didn’t move, as though bracing himself for the punishment he knew would be swift and deadly.
The room was silent for a moment.
“Thank you for telling us.” Meg’s face was wet with tears as she remembered the horror of the moment the meta was describing. “We all miss our dear Paulie so much.”
Margo looked at her daughter. “This is what Kenneth Williams does. He takes the innocence away from children by forcing them into trauma.”
Margo turned back to Slider and spoke directly to him. “You were given orders and you followed them, soldier. The evil doesn’t live in you. It lives in him. He feeds off the violence. He’s a demon.
“I’m so thankful you’ve chosen to turn away from him, Slider. We miss Paulie dearly, but we don’t blame you for his death.” She reached out to touch his shoulder and though he flinched at first, after a moment, he stilled and raised his eyes to look up at Dr. Margo Winter.
Meg was the only one not surprised to see tears in the stoic soldier’s brownish-gold eyes. She already knew what the boy was feeling because as Margo spoke, she was trying to pour peace into his heart. He was so traumatized, so close to completely broken.
He couldn’t speak, overwhelmed with awe at the reaction he would have never expected from this human woman. All he could do was sniff and nod before his eyes darted back to his feet and stayed there. Meg continued to focus her energies on the jaded soldier so full of self-loathing and lost in a sea of darkness.
“You’re both welcome to stay with us,” Dr. Winter was saying. “I know we all have a common goal right now, and we will be vigilant until we’re successful at putting an end to that man’s reign, but there will be life for us after Williams’ death. If you want to stay with us, you have a home.” Margo smiled with love even through her tears.
Gavil looked over at Creed. Their eyes locked and between them flashed years of pain and trauma living under the assumption Williams force fed everyone at the Facility. Violence was to be respected, weakness stomped out. This woman spoke a completely different message of forgiveness and care for one another. This gave Gavil a new understanding of why Creed did what he did for the Winter family. He nodded once to his little brother and in that one moment the brothers began to heal.
“Well, now that we got settled,” Theo walked toward the coffee pot. “Someone want to tell me why I was shot with a tranquilizer and put in bed next to my lovely lady?”
Chapter 33 Pig Latin for Dummies
Maze still hadn’t awakened from his tranquilizer indu
ced sleep. Meg was trying not to get worried after six hours passed and he still couldn’t be roused, but Dr. Andrews and Dr. Winter both checked him frequently and they assured her he was doing fine—just sleeping off the effects. They explained that his body mass was much smaller than the rest of them so he was bound to be more deeply affected. She argued this point instead:
“If that’s true why did I wake before the rest of you?”
Creed cleared his throat. “Um, that would be my doing.”
Meg narrowed her eyes at him.
“During the shooting frenzy, I gave the soldiers direct orders to leave you to me. I emptied about half of the tranq into the dirt before loading my weapon.”
Her hands shot to her hips angrily. “You shot me?”
“I wanted to be sure you’d wake first so I had a chance to talk with you.” He grimaced at the white bandage Evan had wrapped around his sliced hand. “Maybe I should have doubled your dose instead.”
She narrowed her eyes at the man sitting nonchalantly at their kitchen table, fighting the urge to beat the tar out of him.
“Dude, utshay upway,” Alik mumbled under his breath to Creed.
“What?”
Meg took a deep breath and walked four paces across the kitchen floor. Everyone stepped out of her way.
“Let me get this straight. You told the meat-head cretins at your command to stand down when it came to me so you could shoot me yourself?”
“Exactly.”
She locked her jaw trying to control her fury.
“Did it occur to you how terrifying it would be for me to wake and find the bodies of my entire family—everyone I have ever loved—strewn on the ground?”
Creed shrugged. “I expected to be in the room when you woke.”
“But you weren’t, were you? No. Instead I ran from one body to another frantically feeling their throats for pulses terrified the next body I came to would be cold and lifeless!”
Winter's Wrath: Sacrifice (Winter's Saga #3) Page 21