“We want to accept their proposal in person.” I flinch as he pinches my wound together. “We don’t pretend to be perfect. We’re happy to leave that role to Syndicate, but we can do what we do best. Syndicate can protect these EVO and the Non-EVO woman. We liberate, and they protect. We can help them, whilst they keep their hands clean. The bigger picture and all that tosh.”
“I agree,” I say. “Kind of like Batman and Jim Gordon.”
He laughs, although the sound is distorted. “Exactly, we’re Batman and Grayson is Jim Gordon. I like it.”
“I want in.”
“If she’s in, I’m in,” Cooper adds
Main man looks to Leoni, and she smirks, taking a long sip of coffee. “I told you.”
“Are you already a member?” I ask her.
“Leoni and Kesh are members now. We made an exception to them wearing masks tonight because we thought it better that you associated us with familiar faces.” He sticks a piece of gauze over my eye and hands me two packs of meds: painkillers and antibiotics. He hands Cooper the same two packs. “We’re having a meet,” he says to the masked woman. Then, turning to me and Cooper, he gestures for us to follow him outside.
I can hear the EVO who have been rescued from the fight house, but I can’t see them through the trees.
Main guy catches me looking. “Most of them wanted to go their own way, so we dropped them off a few miles away from the fight house. The remainder want sanctuary at Syndicate’s base. They’re in a small camp a little way out in that direction. We keep them away, so we can remove our masks. Some of my guys are watching them.” He presses a small button on the grill of his mask. “Rio, quieten it down over there. And make sure the woman is comfortable.”
Four masked people, including Main guy, stand around the fire warming their hands. Kesh stands amongst them, laughing and joking with the shortest of the bunch. The woman hands me an over-sized wool sweater. I think it’s a man’s sweater, but it’s warm, and I’m grateful.
“Teddie and Cooper are in,” Main guy announces. “So, we need to give them their names.”
The group break out into whoops and whistles, all pulling off their masks.
“Rule one- unless I say so, you do not remove your masks in public. Anonymity has always been our security.” He chucks masks at Cooper and I. “I’m Crow, real name, Ian Fletcher. I’m a Pyrokin.” He eyes Cooper with a half-smile. “I owe you an explanation, Teddie. I’m Rafe Lloyd’s nephew. So, I guess we’re cousins,” he says, shaking my hand.
Crow is no more than thirty, with an impressive build and hard jaw line. His left eyelid droops slightly, and his cropped hair is red like mine.
He points to the woman. “Coco. Real name- Mya Platt. The most impressive Spark I’ve ever met.”
Coco shakes out her dark, curly hair and greets us. She is a beauty with dark brown skin and an athletic physique. Cooper raises an eyebrow in appreciation, and I elbow him before he drools all over himself.
“What’s a Spark?” he asks.
Coco closes her eyes and a light starts to burn under her skin. It gets brighter and brighter until I have to shield my eyes from the glare.
“Impressed?” she asks him.
Cooper starts to drool again. “Very.”
“Kid, also known by Scotty Greer. Kid is what we call a Shriek,” says Crow.
Kid is a scrawny, mousey looking guy, with limp blonde hair that hangs over his cheeks like curtains. He takes a deep breath and the loudest, ear splitting scream has us grasping our ears and falling to the ground. He stops, laughing to himself as Coco slaps him around the back of the head.
Crow gives Kid a glare before gesturing toward the final man. “And Brick. Real name- Luke Benison. Brick’s what we call a Runner He’s fast.”
Brick is a huge man with no neck, a shaved head, and tattoos covering his tree trunk arms. He offers a salute and a surprisingly cheesy grin.
“Rio and Pug are at the other camp. You’ll meet them later,” Crow adds.
Kesh makes his way around the fire and hugs Cooper and I. “I’m glad you guys are good. My nickname is Tech, and Leoni is Queenie. I’ve been thinking about your name,” he says, grinning at me. “Crofty, Rambo—”
“How old are you?” Kid asks.
“Nineteen.”
“Lucky for you, I joined first, otherwise you’d have my name,” he says, groaning.
Coco brushes her hair out of her eyes. “What about Bear? You know, as in Teddie Bear.”
“Nah, she’s the baby of the group,” Brick adds. “She’s our cub.”
“Cub. Yeah, I like it. Is that okay with you?” asks Crow. I shrug. “Okay, Cub and—”
I look to Cooper. “Psycho,” I say.
Kesh laughs. “Perfect.”
“I know the new names thing is harder when you know each other, so if you want to use your real names, only use them in private. Especially you,” he says, nodding to me. “Everyone knows your real name.”
Cooper pulls his mask over his face and speaks through the synthesiser. “So, what’s the next move?”
Crow throws another log onto the fire. “We sleep until midnight, and then we shall head to Syndicate headquarters in Cornwall. Cub, are you ready to link with your bloke.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Leoni and Cooper sit across from me on sleeping bags. Crow left us alone, so I could link. I guess, to some people it is a personal, private moment and it is in some ways. I pull the sweater up around my neck, lower my head, and clench my eyes shut.
“Adam?” There is the beautiful crackle of electricity racing through my mind, but it’s accompanied with anxiety. “Adam?”
“Not now, Baby,” replies Adam’s panicked voice. “Drones.”
I snap the link instantly. “Shit,” I say, jumping to my feet.
Leoni starts away from me. “What’s wrong? What did he say?”
“Drones,” I say, pacing across the camping mats. “What if I gave them away?”
Cooper grabs my hand, pulling me down beside him. “We don’t know if the link affects him the way it does you. You’re the one using your ability to link, not him.”
“Cooper’s right,” Leoni says, sighing. “Give it a while, and then try again.”
“Knock, knock.” calls a voice from outside the tent. A man walks in with metal trays of baked beans. The first thing I notice is the Alice band keeping his long, brown hair out of his face. His cheekbones are chiselled and his blues eyes dazzling. There’s no doubting his good looks, and from the way Coco eyes me through the tent door, I know she certainly has her sights on him. I’m not her competition any more than Cooper is. I just want Adam. I want him with me and safe.
“This is Rio,” Leoni says. “Ashley Lowen, an Illusionist. Rio, this is Cub and Psycho- Teddie Leason and Dom Cooper. You know their abilities, right?”
“Who doesn’t? You guys are plastered on the news.”
Cooper and I share a confused look.
“You two, Adam, Yana, and Jude are on the most wanted list,” explains Leoni.
“They’re classing you as high-grade EVO. They’ve also announced your dual ability, Teddie. It seems like you’ve put the wind up Towley’s ass for sure,” Rio adds.
“This is turning into a peach of a day,” I say, sighing. Wiping my clammy palms on my jeans, I take the tray of beans from Rio. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“And I’m Pug,” calls a voice from outside. A short, black man with broad shoulders and a slight beer belly waves whilst scoffing a mouthful of beans. His nickname is no surprise. The way he grimaces and gurns gives him the undeniable resemblance to a pug dog. I wave back, too exhausted to say another word.
“Pug aka Troy Platt is a Hydrokin. He’s also Coco’s brother. So, did you link with your boyfriend?” Rio asks.
I take another spoonful of beans, so someone else has to answer.
***
Crow hands me a sleeping bag and forces me to lie down in the tent. I am exhausted and
haven’t slept at all since Goatee and Armpits attacked me. I tell myself that I will just rest my tired body, and in an hour, I will attempt a link with Adam again. That’s what I tell myself…there is nothing I can do to stop exhaustion from overcoming me.
Adam’s voice flitters through my dream like glitter floating in water. I reach out my hand and touch the swirls it makes around me. A blue spark jumps from the swirl, skipping over my palm and up my arm. I smile to myself. My best dreams are of Adam.
“Baby, are you dreaming?” He sounds amused.
“Yeah,” I say. “Look at this.” I grab hold of another glitter swirl of his voice and open my palm to reveal an orb of electricity. I bounce it in my palm and run it over my knuckles.
“That’s a little weird,” he says, a smile in his voice.
“It’s beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“Aww, even in my dreams you’re cute.”
He laughs, and glitter falls around me, sparking as it touches my skin. “I get the feeling that you’re safe? Where are you, Teds?”
“I’m with Shift.”
“Shift?”
“Yes, they’re our people,” I say, repeating Leoni’s words. “Did you know that my grandfather founded Shift over twenty years ago? I had no idea. And I have a cousin- Crow. Well, his real name is Ian, but we all have nicknames and freaky mask things that distort our voices.” It’s nice to talk to him, even if he is just a dream. I want to keep his voice raining on me.
“Okay, Teds. I need you to wake up now. You’re not making any sense.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m with Yana. We got out of the E.N.C base before the government torched the place. We’re headed for Cornwall. Yana overheard an E.N.C guy talking about finding Theyda Woodman in Cornwall. Are you sure you’re safe, Teds?”
“I’m a member of Shift now, and we’re going to Syndicate headquarters in Cornwall to accept their proposition. There is a warehouse about twenty miles south of the detention centre you were in.”
“Specifics, Baby.”
“There’s a packing factory within a mile of headquarters. I don’t know specifics, but I know that we’re Batman and Syndicate is Jim Gordon.” Okay, now I’m talking dream talk. I’m not even sounding sane to me. Oh well, what does it matter? It’s only a dream.
“Who are you with, Teds, other than this Crow guy?”
“Coop is here. We’ve named him Psycho, that was my idea,” I laugh to myself.
“Do you trust these people?”
“Yes, Leoni explained everything to me and I trust her.”
The glitter sparks in a brilliant, white light, and an uneasy feeling grips at my chest. The dream is slipping away from me.
“Leoni who?” Adam asks. His words don’t dance around me anymore, and I get annoyed with myself.
“Your Mum, Leoni. She came back for me and Coop.”
“Wake up, Baby. You’re not making any sense. I’m not a dream, Teds. You’re linking with me. Why are you talking about my Mum? She’s died when I was a kid.”
I feel the tug as I rouse from my dream state. The tent is pitch black and silent except for Leoni and Coco’s breathing.
“Teds?” Adam’s voice tinkles in my mind once more.
“Oh, god, Adam, I was dreaming. I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
“My Mum’s alive?” his voice is small, almost childlike.
“Yes. She’s here with me. I never wanted you to find out—”
“How long have you known? Did you know this when we last linked?”
“Baby, you have to understand that I didn’t think this was the best way to tell you. I was only concerned with finding you.”
“So, you’ve known this for three days and you didn’t think I had a right to know?” He’s angry, and his words eat up all the good feelings from my dream. “I’ve been waiting for you to link for what feels like a bloody eternity. You said you wouldn’t leave it long. Is that why you waited? You didn’t want to tell me about her?”
“No, I couldn’t link. I was in a fight house. Please, don’t be mad at me, Baby. I didn’t think—”
“You got that right. How could you not think I should know about this? Would you have told me if you hadn’t been dreaming?”
“Probably not. Not Like this. It wasn’t my place.” Hurt laces my voice.
“Not your place?” He’s shouting in my mind now. “If not you, then who, Teds? Jesus, I feel sick. This can’t be happening.”
“Adam, I’m sorry—”
“We’ll head for Syndicate headquarters.” he says, and then the link breaks.
The life feels drained out of me. Crawling across the sleeping bags, I grab Leoni’s shoulders and shake her awake. “This is all your fault,” I whisper in her bewildered face. “I should have told him, but I listened to you, and now, he hates me.”
“Teddie, slow down. Have you linked with Adam?”
“Yes, but I thought I was dreaming and told him about you. I didn’t realise I had linked with him.”
“You what? Christ’s sake, Teddie. He shouldn’t have had to find out like that,” Leoni snaps, pushing me away from her.
Coco shines a torch in our faces. “What the hell is going on?”
I ignore her, turning back to Leoni. “No, he shouldn’t have. I should have told him straight away. I should never have listened to you. He hates me. This whole situation is shit enough without Adam hating me too.”
“He’s not angry at you, Teddie. He’s angry at me.” She brings her knees up to her chest and buries her face in them. “He’ll forgive you.”
I storm from the tent. I know it’s not Leoni’s fault. I agreed with her- telling Adam via link wasn’t fair on him, and it was as much my decision to wait as it was hers. I’m actually kind of mad at Adam. I know he inadvertently received the biggest news of his life, but if the shoe was on the other foot, I reckon he’d not want to tell me over the link.
Sitting on the trunk beside the dying embers, I notice a torch in a tree toward the edge of our camp. Kid waves me over.
“Is everything alright?” His features appear even more mouse like from this angle.
I have to strain my neck to see him in the heights. “Boyfriend trouble.”
“The link didn’t go well,” he asks. I snort and kick at the frozen earth with the toe of my shoe. “Long distance relationships, eh? I’ve got a girl back home. Well, I hope she’s still waiting for me.”
“Where’s home for you?”
“Norfolk. I’ve got my Nan and sister back there too. They think I’m on the run. Crow insisted it was safer if they knew nothing. To be honest, they must think I’m dead.”
“That’s probably for the best. Crow’s right, they are safer.”
“I just remind myself that when all this is done, I get to surprise them, right?”
“Do you really think this will ever be done?”
He looks at me for a moment, swallowing hard. “Yeah, I do.”
“I wish I had your confidence.”
“If that’s the case, then why aren’t you linking with your boyfriend right now? You have the ability to put things right, so why fanny about and waste what precious time you think that we have left.”
He doesn’t raise his voice, but I think I pissed him off. I have a knack for that. He’s spot on, though. I can link with Adam and put this right. I will make him listen to reason.
I clench my eyes, but Kid hisses at me to stop, and then points to the sky. A drone flies silently over us.
“Do they have cameras?” I whisper, unsure if they can pick up my voice.
He shakes his head, continuing to watch it through binoculars. “Not that we know of. They just read kinetic energy and report rises back to a computer tracking system. The military and Taggers have access to the system. Do not link until I give you the all clear, got it?” He picks up a walkie talkie. “Crow, there’s a Dumbo coming your way.”
“Right on,” c
rackles Crow’s voice.
***
The embers spit and crackle at my feet. I just stare at the amber glow in a trance, my mind awhirl with ‘shoulda woulda couldas’. Adam had wanted me to tell him, and he’s right, if not me, then who? Would I have let him find out in front of everyone? Would he have handled that? Would he have hated me more?
Kid taps my shoulder and I start. “Sorry, I thought you’d have sensed me coming or something?” he says, chortling.
“You said no abilities, remember? Not that I’m much good, anyway.”
He tilts his head. “How so?”
“Ever since Leoni un-manipulated certain memories of mine, I have been having trouble controlling my telepathy. It’s all or nothing. If I read the area right now, for instance, I’d hear everything. A jumble of every thought for a mile radius. It’s deafening. The only thing I’m sure of is mine and Adam’s link.”
“Then, you need to practice. Stop moping about it and hone your ability. The brain is a muscle too.” He is very matter of fact. This is the second time that Kid has put me in my place. I’d never thought of him as a no nonsense type of guy, but he’s to the point, and not wrong. “You can link now. The drone has buggered off.”
I wait until he is back in the tree before closing my eyes.
“Adam?” I ask, allowing the erratic crackle to warm me.
“Thank God, Baby,” he says, sighing. “I was a dick.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I kind of didn’t know where to start.”
“That doesn’t matter now. We overheard talk about fight houses. I had no idea what they were. You’re good, right?”
“Cooper lost a couple fingers, and I...”
“You what?” I can hear the panic in his voice.
“I took a slice to the face, but I’ll be alright.” Nausea washes over me at the thought of my face. I’m scarred for life because someone was scared of something they didn’t understand. This is what it has all been about- people who are scared of something they don’t understand. Ignorance is the deadliest flaw in the human species.
“But my Mum got you out of that place?”
“Yes, Leoni and Shift. I first met her at Syndicate headquarters after they rescued us from the beach. She was helping me to find you.”
EVO Nation Series Trilogy Box Set Page 44