“Has anyone ever told you that you’re an over-thinker?” Wheeler asks, teasing me. I roll my eyes. “Seriously though, you don’t owe anybody anything, Baby Girl. Do what you have to do because you want to, not because it is expected of you.”
“No, Grayson was right. I can’t be a sheep in wolf’s clothing. I have to be the wolf, and I will be, but I suppose I’m up here because, right now, I feel like a sheep. As soon as their back, Kesh is going to send my D.N.A profile to the E.N.C and that scares me.”
“It terrifies Adam,” Wheeler adds. “It was me who told him that it was your decision to make, not his. I doubt he would have sent it.”
“He wouldn’t have jeopardised Syndicate like that.” I know I sound like I’m snapping, but I’m shocked at Wheeler.
“I’m not saying he wouldn’t have tried to protect Syndicate in some way. I’m just saying that he loves you more than he loves the idea of this war. That being said, he knows that the only way you’ll be safe is if he plays his part in it. I know this because he told me as much himself.” Wheeler pats me on the back. “Adam didn’t join the army because he wanted to fight, he joined because we needed to find a new place to fit after the care home. He joined the TORO program because Gabe Kersey gave him no choice, and to keep Emi and I safe from scrutiny. Now, he is one of the major players in an unprecedented war that will reshape the country… the world, because the woman he loves is caught in the epicentre of it. All of this,” he gestures to the extensive base below us, “is for you, Teds.”
Looking to the TORO milling around on the ground, and then to the convoy stretching like a moving carnival along the track, I feel suffocated. “That thought scares me more than anything,” I admit. “How do I repay that? How does anybody repay that kind of sacrifice?”
“You don’t,” Wheeler says, putting an arm around me. “Adam does what he does out of love. You’d do the same for him. I’d do the same for Emi. There is no repaying that except for surviving this. You have to survive this for him.”
We sit in silence for a minute, watching the trucks approach and come to a stop shy of the woodland barrier. Adam leaps down from a truck and starts dishing out orders to his squad. I can’t hear what he says over the roar of the wind, but the determination in his face is clear. The convoy rumbles into the trees to park under the rigging. If Wheeler is right - if Adam is doing all of this for me - then I better deserve it. I have to survive.
“Where’s Teddie? I sensed her,” Adam asks one of the other guards.
I jump from the look-out, halting my descent with my telekinesis and landing only metres away from Adam. A few people close to us start at my sudden appearance. I leap into Adam’s arms, almost knocking him off kilter.
“Whoa, hey, what’s wrong?” he whispers.
I sob into his neck, despite my efforts not to. He holds me close until I get myself under control, then walks me back to his tent.
“Is this about the E.N.C? If you don’t want to—”
I shake my head, wiping my tears on my sleeves. “Thank you for everything you have done- you are doing. I know this isn’t what you want, and that you feel you have no choice.”
“Have you been talking to Wheeler?”
“Is what he said true?”
Adam flops down on the bed in exhaustion. “Everyone else could walk away from this if they wished; step back, go into hiding, and see how this war pans out from a distance. That is a very real option for them, and their choice to make based on whatever reasons they may have to leave or stay. I’ve given them all that option, but they know as well as I do that this needs to happen. You don’t have the same choice as them and that’s not fair. You didn’t ask for any of this, and yet, you will never be safe unless we win this thing.” He pulls me onto his lap. “That is what this is about, Teds. It’s about me protecting you by winning this for you. It’s about getting you out of the other end alive, safe, and free. If you’re stuck in the middle of this, then I’m stuck in the middle. Where you go, I go.”
Pushing my forehead against his, I inhale deeply. “I don’t deserve you,” I whisper.
Adam takes my face in his hands, forcing me to look him in the eye. “Yes, you do.” His voice is firm, if not a little angry. “You deserve someone in your corner. You, more than anyone, deserve to have someone thinking solely of you, because everyone is asking so much, expecting so much. It’s take take take, and I refuse to let them take you from me. I deserve you too.” He buries his face into my chest, and I hold his head close to me.
“We’ll get each other through this,” I say. “This is not all on you, but whatever you do, don’t tell Rafe any of this. From the beginning, his whole plan was to get you to agree to work with him without me as a motivator.”
“You should be his motivation too,” Adam growls.
“It’s different for him. All those years of waiting for this moment. Besides, we were strangers until a few weeks ago. He cares in his own way.”
Adam relaxes a little. “I know he does. Vin has already clued me in on Rafe’s plans, so I’m aware of what he wants to hear from me. Ultimately, we want the same outcome. On that subject, I want to be there when the profile is sent, so we best make a move.”
***
My stomach somersaults as Rafe, Adam, and Kesh talk quietly in the Tech lab. Lizzie stands with me, watching them with either bored interest or intensity. I can never tell from her neutral facial expressions.
Adam’s glance over his shoulder doesn’t relax me at all. He forces a smile, even though he is finding this difficult. Wheeler said that Adam most probably wouldn’t have given the E.N.C what they wanted if it meant risk to me, but Adam did admit that we need the E.N.C’s numbers. I guess this is another of those moments: doing what is necessary to get me out of the other side alive, safe, and free.
Kesh hits a few buttons, closes his eyes, and exhales loudly. I’m not sure how his technokinesis works, but it’s more than good computer skills. I’ve seen him lure a drone out of the sky with ability alone.
“It’s on its way,” he says, sitting back from the screens.
The three of them share a look, and Rafe drags his hands through his hair. “Now, we wait. Someone should be in here at all times until we get a reply. Kesh, I give you permission to organise my Shift Techs on a rota.”
There is a ping, and Kesh sits upright, leaning close to the screens. “No need,” he says, gawping at Rafe. “They’ve replied.” There is a collective inhale as we wait for Kesh to tell us more. Even Lizzie has taken a step closer. “It just says, ‘Bring her and we’ll talk’, and there is a date and coordinates. Someplace in the New Forest in a fortnight.”
“What message did you send?” I ask.
“Join our fight,” Adam replies. “We gave our names as a show of goodwill.”
“Let’s hope this doesn’t blow up in our faces,” I say, swallowing down my apprehension.
Rafe places a hand on my shoulder. “If they know who they’re dealing with, they might think twice about screwing us over.”
“I feel that I should express the thought that has just entered my mind,” Lizzie says, gathering her papers. “It is certain that once we move forward with this, there shall be no going back. This is a monumental moment in the rebellion.”
She is spot on.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Rafe slaps me across the face. It’s the fourth time that I have dropped my arms and given him the opportunity.
Cooper whistles as the sound of palm meeting cheek echoes around The Dungeon. “That’s your problem, Teds. You’re always on the offensive. You’re so intent on getting a blow in that you forget to watch your own back.”
“Okay, I get it!” I growl through ragged breaths.
“Do you, though?” Rafe asks, dodging my kick. “Your swollen cheek and bloody lip says otherwise.”
“I need to stop.” I run to the far side of the room and vomit from sheer exhaustion.
“Now, that’s what I like to see,
” Rafe says, throwing me a towel. “You’re working hard. I’m proud of you, Kiddo.”
“Am I excused?” I ask.
Crow and Adam enter The Dungeon, both looking from the puddle of vomit to me.
“Are you still letting your arms fall?” Adam asks, brushing a finger over my cheek.
“She’s improving tenfold with the extra practices you have been giving her, but she needs more,” says Rafe.
I fight back the nausea as I head for The Tomb. “I barely have time to eat and sleep as it is,” I moan. “If it’s not ability training, it’s combat training. If it’s not combat training, it’s medicals with Jonah. If it’s not medicals, it’s playing guinea pig for Kesh and Lizzie.”
Rafe pushes me into The Tomb. “If you spent less time moaning and more time training, your face wouldn’t look like that. I know we’re pushing you hard, but we have only seven days until the E.N.C expect us and you.”
“So, you reckon their expecting a fight?”
Adam leans against the wall, rubbing a hand over his unshaven face. “That’s just it, we don’t know what they want or what they expect until we get there. It’s better to be safe than sorry.” He looks to Rafe. “Is this going to take long because I was in the middle of a rota meeting when I got your message?”
Wordlessly, Rafe positions Cooper in the centre of The Tomb, and Crow whispers something in his ear. A fleeting look of concerns flashes across Coop’s face. Both Adam and I stand a little straighter.
“Cooper’s going to demonstrate a new trick he has learnt to master courtesy of Crow. It is a fantastic opportunity to push the both of you. I want you to control the pair of them to the best of your abilities.”
Cooper and Crow start to remove their clothes, only keeping their underwear on. I guess their pyrokinesis and fabric do not mix well.
Adam merely shrugs his confusion.
“You’re up first, Kiddo,” Rafe announces.
Cooper backs away from us a little. “I’m not sure if I can do it again, mate,” he tells Crow. “And what if I hurt her?”
Rafe laughs aloud. “Hurt her. Please, she could break every bone in your body, turn you inside out, and then literally feed you your own ass. You won’t be hurting anyone. Do it.”
I give Cooper the nod, unsure what is about to go down, but intrigued none the less. He closes his eyes, sucking in rapid breaths. Nothing happens at first, but then his breathing changes to raspy, painful gasps that croak out of his throat.
“That’s it. Allow it to manifest from within,” Crow encourages. “Feel the heat, embrace the heat. This is who you are. Don’t be half the man.”
Cooper hunches forward, his breathing accelerating, his fists clenching until his knuckles turn white. An orange radiance ebbs from the centre of his chest, expanding outward until Cooper appears transparent and on fire from inside. His chest cracks in lines of lava coloured light.
I can feel the heat now, barely able to look directly at him. Cooper screams in a mix of pain and power.
I step forward. “Rafe?”
Rafe places a hand on my shoulder. “This is who he is, Kiddo.”
Cooper cries out again.
“Coop!” I shout his name as Adam and Rafe retreat further from him.
Pulling away from Rafe, I race toward Cooper, unsure what to do once I reach him.
“No, Cub!” Crow bellows.
I’m whipped from my feet and thrown into the wall of mats. Rafe is too quick.
“Cooper will attack you, Kiddo. Defend yourself with your telekinesis. Hold him off!”
Cooper gives a final growl of power. His body looks molten. It is the most bizarre thing I have seen. How can he survive this? Throwing his head back and opening his arms out, the largest fireball come explosion bursts from his torso. The telekinesis reacts to my fear, pushing out and away from me, holding back Cooper’s ravaging fire.
“More! You’re up, Crow,” Rafe orders.
Instantly, Crow bursts into the same molten, burning husk as Cooper. It doesn’t seem to take as much effort for practised Crow. He, too, blasts a wave of fire at me. My telekinesis accommodates the extra threat, but only just. I might vomit again.
“I’m too weak,” I cry, barely keeping the flames at bay.
Adam rushes closer, grabbing my hand, and as his familiar aura fills me up to bursting point, an unfamiliar weight threatens to crush me. It’s the weight of my telekinesis, only unlike anything I have experienced. It’s the weight of our telekinesis. We both pull our hands away from the other in the same moment. Adam’s fear and concern floods through my mind as I’m sure mine does his. Despite the distraction, he manages to raise his own hand to halve the power of the flames. Both of us push the fire further away, causing both Cooper and Crow to stagger backward.
“Enough,” Rafe booms.
Cooper slumps onto one knee, steam rising from his naked body. His boxer shorts did not survive the ordeal. Dropping to my knees beside him, I place a reassuring hand on his back. His skin scolds me.
“Did that look as cool as it felt?” he asks, laughing.
I hang my head in relief. “It would have looked cooler if you weren’t naked,” I joke.
“Get used to that,” says Crow, quickly dressing. “We may be fire proof, but we haven’t designed fire proof suits, yet.”
Cooper stands, shaking out his legs. “I ain’t got nothing to be ashamed of.” He walks toward the door with a new-found arrogance. “The ladies better get used to seeing more of Coop.”
“I expected more from you. We’ll try this again in the morning,” Rafe scolds me, following Cooper and Crow out of the room.
Adam stands beside me. “Please, tell me you felt that,” he whispers. “I could barely control it.”
I nod, blowing out my cheeks. “It was probably just a link thing. We’re still discovering the true extent of our abilities.”
Adam neither agrees nor disagrees.
Lizzie rushes into The Tomb, straightening her suit jacket as she goes. “I’ve just seen Rafe and passed on the news. He has called an emergency meeting. The Technokins have just received a message from the E.N.C. They’ve changed the date of the meeting to tonight.”
***
The air in the Tech lab in blue. Rafe cusses out Fernan and the E.N.C’s half-assed approach to everything that he holds most important. He spouts a few choice replies, but thankfully, Kesh knows better than to type them.
“What did they actually say?” Adam asks. “The location may have been compromised, and that could be the only available opening.”
“Show him the damn message, Technokin!” Rafe roars.
Kesh glowers at Rafe.
“Don’t talk to him like that,” Adam barks at Rafe. The pair just glare daggers at each other, but Rafe has enough sense not to retort. “Kesh, the message, please.”
Kesh brings up the message. ‘Be there or be square’ followed by the time and today’s date.
“Are we supposed to trust this?” I ask.
Rafe scoffs. “If I know anything of the E.N.C, their lack of subtly, good choices, and maturity is pretty evident in that message.”
“And it comes from the same highly encrypted source that we sent the D.N.A profile to,” Kesh adds.
“We organise a convoy for tonight,” Adam states, nodding to the TORO at the back of the room. They rush out of the door with purpose. “We stick to our original plan, but re-schedule.”
“Re-schedule?” Rafe asks, his voice booming with his temper.
“That’s what I said,” Adam retorts, staring him down. “I know we planned everything down to the last minute, but things change and we have to change with them. I’ll get my guys on it, and we’ll reconvene here in an hour.”
Rafe sucks his teeth. “I say that we don’t jump through hoops like trained mutts.”
“And I say that we do whatever the hell these people want. They have evidence of Teddie’s existence, so in my opinion, they’re calling the shots.” Adam dares Rafe to
contradict him. “We reconvene here in an hour,” he reiterates.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Once again, I’m sat in the back of a military truck wearing a wig. We have nothing remotely close to the convoy we took to Syndicate, but apparently, it’s risky and unnecessary to move a large convoy with the pop-up road blockades and barricades.
Tonight, we have the one truck. Other than the TORO driving the van and his partner, Adam’s top Cloaker, there is Rafe, Adam, me, Bo, Vin, Jude, Leoni, and Cooper. If anyone knows the ins and outs of the British branch of the E.N.C it’s Bo. She was a respected figure head until meeting me, and she has been supervising the surveillance teams for the last few months.
The ensemble seems pathetic considering the reputation of the people we’re going to meet. We haven’t a clue what their intentions are, but Rafe reckons they can be persuaded to his way of thinking. The man definitely has confidence in himself. I wonder if they’ll bring Shana to the meeting. My tummy churns at the thought of being face to face with her again. Jude, however, has a nervous energy about him. I hope he isn’t heart broken when he sees the woman his sister has become. In truth, I don’t reckon Adam should have brought him along. I told him as much, but he trusts Jude’s counsel.
I would have felt safer if we were in communication with headquarters, but Kesh modestly requested that Adam not put that kind of faith in him. If they have a Technokin to match his skill, they could use our communication systems to find the location of The Hive. With only a few hours to sort a new route, he didn’t have the time to ensure secure systems. Instead, we have gone dark. We are alone without back up.
“We should be arriving at the location soon,” TORO 94 calls back. “I’m concerned because the computer is showing large buildings less than a mile down in the valley. We found no evidence of buildings of this size in this location when we were planning the route.”
“How many buildings?” Adam asks, leaning through the chairs to see the screen. “That looks like some kind of base, but those buildings are huge.”
EVO Nation Series Trilogy Box Set Page 70