“I’m pregnant, not dying. I can help you.”
Today, assuming it was still the same day, I had been accused of being sexist and now anti-pregnant woman. I was totally pro-woman. They could do whatever they wanted however they wanted to do it. When had everyone started to be so offended by everything I said? Even the things I didn’t mean to say. Shit. My head. It pounded.
I leaned on my little sister. I’d never imagined this day would come. Tia was always so… needy. “Where is your child?”
“With Mom. We’re headed over there.”
Her answer didn’t make sense. “Hold on. I thought we were on the Deacon side of Deacon versus Dad. How can we be going to Mom?”
Tia groaned loudly then threw her head back and laughed. Somewhere in the darkness, something exploded. Goosebumps broke out on my skin. I wanted to find Brynna, right then and there. But I was weak—again—and I needed help.
“What is funny?” I rarely understood my sister, ever.
“Our parents aren’t together anymore.”
I stopped abruptly, nearly falling over. “What?”
“Oh for the love of… Micah, when was the last time you saw them together? It’s not like people can get divorced around here. It’s not like even if they could, our parents would. They’re all kinds of traditional. But, seriously, Dad doesn’t even sleep at home anymore. They speak once a day in the square where she tells him about our little brothers, and then… they go about their lives. We’re going to Mom’s to get you fixed up, get my kid, and get out of here. Before everything explodes.”
My parents were divorced? Their marriage had made it through being suspended in time. What in the hell was going on in the world?
And how bad was it I hadn’t known? “Does Chad know?”
“Probably not. You all have your heads so far up your asses you never stop to consider life goes on outside of your own little existence. Most people aren’t Warriors. Our mother stopped mattering to you and Chad the day you went Upward to fight.”
That wasn’t true.
Was it?
Tia deposited me in a chair at my mom’s kitchen table. I didn’t object. Worry made me want to get up and move, but what was I going to do except get in the way or get myself killed? “Does Brynna know I’m here?”
“I don’t know. Glen handed me a key, told me what was happening, and told me to get you. That’s as far as my information goes.”
“Micah?” My mother stepped out of the back, the gray sweater cardigan she always wore when she was worried draped over her shoulders. She’d had that on when we were put in a cryogenic sleep, and she still had it. I didn’t know if anyone else had managed to cross time with their own clothes. Her hair had gotten gray in places, and there were lines near her eyes.
I sat up. “Looks like I got myself beat up again, Mom.”
She was at my side, quickly. “Your dad knocked you out. I can hardly believe it.”
“If it means anything, I’m pretty sure it was someone else who did the actual knocking. I’m the idiot who didn’t realize Dad wasn’t alone.”
My mother scrunched up her nose. “We’re going to get you as fixed up as I can get you and then get you out of here. Genesis is erupting. Again. Believe you me, I’ll be having a serious talk with your father.”
I grabbed her arm. “Mom, Tia told me something I guess I should have already known.”
She looked away from me. “Micah, if there were things I wanted you to know, I’d have found a way to tell you. I can assure you of that. You and Chad, you risk your lives every day. You don’t need added burdens. Not telling the two of you was something your father and I agreed on at least. Nothing has changed, not really. We’ve really not been what I would call happy since we woke up in Genesis. Oh, who am I kidding? We were not that happy in Before Time either.”
My nephew made a squeal in the other room, and we both turned toward the noise. Tia came out, holding him on her hip. He was probably too big for her to carry anymore, but I wasn’t going to risk the wrath of Tia by saying anything.
The door to the tent opened, and Chad came in. “Hey, time to go.”
“He’s not ready. He has a serious head injury,” my mother chided.
My brother shrugged. “Nothing much in there to injure, I don’t think.”
I picked up the salt shaker from the table—someone must have made my mother this in school, and I sincerely hoped it wasn’t something beloved—and threw it at him. He ducked out of the way and then pointed at me. “See? He’s fine. Besides, Brynna is waiting for him.”
The last part got me up. “She okay?”
“Yes. I wanted her to come here, but she’s scared of Mom.”
“What?” my mother and I answered at the same time. Okay, I got it. Brynna didn’t like to be around people. She was constantly worried about being judged unworthy or called a monster. I’d done the last part and might never get over wishing I hadn’t.
Tia marched toward Chad. “Wherever we’re going, there had better be hot water and heat. My days of following you asses into the middle of nowhere while we come up with a plan are long over.”
I held my hand out to my mom. “Grab the boys. Come.”
“Oh, Micah.” She kissed my cheek. I had to do better by my mom. I had to remember to be there for her more. “I’m not coming. I’m going to stay here, deal with your father, and see if I can help calm things down. That’s my best use right now. So you can all come home.”
If she wasn’t leaving, then neither was I. “Then I’ll stay.”
“No, he has it out for you right now. Thinks he has to separate you from your Vampire girl. He’s been manic about it for the last twenty-four hours. If he gets his hands on you, you’re going back to jail. Get out of here, Micah. I wish I had time to fix you up.”
Tia threw her free hand in the air. “I did the best I could. I had to hide between tents. I couldn’t march in there. It’s always my fault, right?”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I pulled my mom toward me. “If your way doesn’t work, come and find us.”
“I will. I didn’t do a lot right in this world, Micah, or the time before this one. But you were something I must have done well. Look at you.”
Chad kicked me in the calf. “Beat up? In the midst of a relationship he can’t figure out? Running away in the middle of the night?”
She sighed before she grinned at him. “Strong. Capable. Resilient. Bright. Funny.”
“Mom,” Tia whined. “You sound like you’re writing him a dating ad.”
She put out her arms. “I’ll tell the little ones you said goodbye.” My younger two brothers were adolescents. I highly doubted they liked being referred to as the little ones anymore, but I wasn’t going to argue right then. “I sent them to a friend’s. I don’t want them involved in this yet.” My mother wrapped all three of us and her grandson into a hug. She was a tiny woman. I didn’t know exactly how she managed, but her arms had always been big enough for all of us. “Be safe wherever you are going, and come back when things have cooled down. He’s your father. He really does think he’s doing right by everyone, all the time.”
They weren’t together, and she still had his back. My family dynamics were really fucked up.
Chad half dragged me, but we did eventually get ourselves away from Genesis. I didn’t ask him what had been exploding. It hurt too much to talk. It never ceased to amaze me how we were always stumbling onto new places in walking distance from where we lived. That was the problem with being under constant attack. We were always defending ourselves, not moving on.
The building Chad led us to must have been storage at some point. It wasn’t falling apart and ancient. Someone had kept it updated. It was a big open space with several rooms to the side, all attached. Maybe it had been a factory?
Inside was Brynna, who grabbed on to me when I came in and buried her face in my arm. I immediately felt better. My head still hurt, but my mind was clearer. How many times was this poo
r woman going to have to fix me?
“I was terrified. I had no idea where they dragged you. I had to run off.”
I couldn’t properly tell her all the things I had to say, considering the crowd coming toward us. Instead, I kissed the top of her head. “My family has a unique way of showing each other affection. Sometimes we knock each other out.”
“Very funny, Micah.”
In the room, joining my mate, Tia, Chad, my nephew, and I were Rachel, Deacon, Lydia, Glen, Ben, Zoe, Martin, and at least three dozen others. It looked like every twenty-something-aged Warrior had come along for the ride.
“You’re all out of your minds. Why leave with me?”
Rachel leaned against Chad. “Things are getting more screwed up there by the day. He appoints Deacon, but won’t let him lead, not really. Tiffani doesn’t have a clue what’s going on anymore. He’s become an army unto himself. He has Margot locked up somewhere, too. We tried to find her and failed.”
“You should stay there and fix this. When it comes down to it, this is an issue between my father and me. No one else needs to get involved.”
“It’s not so simple.” It always shocked me when Glen spoke out. He took his son from Tia. “It’s a leadership problem. Your father knew there were Vampires we can’t feel running around, and he decided against telling any of us. That’s not how this is supposed to be. I mean, sneaking around and lying is Rachel Clancy shit. Not the way the rest of us deal.”
My sister-in-law made a squeaking sound. “Hey, Glen, not nice.” She looked up at Chad. “Say something, defend me.”
“If he said something wrong, I would. You and your martyr complex were a problem for a while, babe.”
Things between Chad and Rachel were so easy these days.
Brynna had stayed silent, but she spoke at last. “Listen, I’m a newcomer here. Maybe some of you might actually prefer if I left.”
She waited a beat, like she expected someone to say they wanted her gone. I would have killed anyone who did, but as it was, no one said anything. Instead, Deacon answered her. “Come on, jump on into this mess with us, Brynna. You and Micah are a thing now. You get to make as many fucked up decisions as the rest of us do if you want. What do you think?”
“I wanted to say there is so much scary stuff going on out there that Genesis imploding is a terrible idea. Period. But as long as we are all here in this storage hall”—a ha, I had been right—“we might as well use it. Doubleday has Icahn. We need to get to her, and the best thing for everyone would be to let your father cool down and not involve his leadership in this, at all.”
Chad nodded. “I agree. I think tonight we hole up in here. Let Micah get his bearings. He has a hard head, but it has been abused a lot lately. We’ll go in the morning. All of us. I mean, three dozen people is not exactly stealthy. But nothing works when we try to do it that way, anyway. When was the last time a plan we came up with worked?”
“The time we let Rachel think Deacon betrayed her,” Glen helped.
I shook my head. “Deacon’s plan. It worked. He also saved the people of Geronimo. He makes good plans.”
“That’s true,” Lydia agreed. “He did, and he does. What do you think, Deacon? You seem to be the man with the plan.”
I laughed, even though the sound banged around in my brain. “Let’s make that his nickname. The man with the plan.”
“Oh, I like.” Rachel brightened up.
Deacon groaned. “Anyone calls me the man with the plan, and I’ll kick their ass. I actually think Brynna’s idea is good. We show up in force. We’re not good at stealth. Let’s go see what there is to see. All of us together.”
And just like that, we had a plan. It might have been a bad one. But what did that matter anymore? All plans were bad. It was about having one to get through one day to the next.
I lay on a pad on the floor in one of the small rooms next to the main holding facility of our erstwhile hideaway. Brynna entered quietly. She’d gone to check the surroundings with Deacon. I guessed everything was okay, or we’d have heard otherwise. I hated having her out there without me, but I still nursed a concussion since we’d had no time alone.
“I swear I’m not trying to use you as some medical device.”
She snorted. “That’s funny. I was hoping you were asleep and I could wake you up in a… fun way.”
I didn’t move. “Okay, I’ll close my eyes.”
I let my lids lower until I might as well have been asleep. She climbed over me, her mouth meeting mine. Someday, I would have more time to kiss her. That was really what I wanted. To kiss and kiss Brynna.
“Wake up, Micah.”
I feigned sleepiness. “Hi there. How was patrol?”
“Sshh.” She kissed my chin, and down further, over my neck. My cock stood at attention. Yes, I liked where this was going. I wanted it. So. Damned. Much.
She breathed against me before she bit down. I cried out. Maybe everyone would hear us. I didn’t even care. I touched her everywhere I could while she sucked at my neck.
Wow. I was hard. But I wouldn’t embarrass myself. My body buzzed, ready for her, and when she finally let go to kiss me, I all but threw her down on the pad under me. She oomphed then laughed. I touched her everywhere, taking off her clothes and my own as I went. I stroked her deep inside until she came around my fingers. It was such a joy to be able to give her pleasure.
I moved until I could push deep into her core. I closed my eyes. Whatever else there was in the world, right then I was home.
Later, I had her in my arms. “Someday I’ll get to take care of you.”
“Look, if my weirdness can keep you healthy, then I’m glad it comes in handy. Tell me something about you that I don’t know.”
That was quite a request. “It’ll probably end up with you traveling through a memory with me.”
“I know. Is it selfish of me? It’s the only thing about being a Vampire I miss. I want to travel before I sleep.”
I leaned up on my shoulder. “It’s not selfish. Okay, I ran away from home once.”
“You did? Where did you go?”
I smiled. “The shore.”
The waves had been huge, and no one but locals hung out at the Jersey Shore during the winters. It wasn’t anything like the television shows had shown it to be. Even in the summer, the Shore was mostly families. I walked the boardwalk. My parents used to bring us there once a summer, and my mom would hold my father’s hand so tight and bring it to her mouth to kiss it sometimes.
My dad would laugh.
I used to love the saltwater taffy and the sounds of the waves.
But at fourteen, having gotten off a bus I shouldn’t have been on in the first place, to run away, everything had been scary.
The easy, happy days of summer hadn’t followed me to the beach in the middle of January. It had been me, alone in the world, and I’d wondered if anyone would even notice I was gone.
The waves were huge. Scary. Loud. The people on the boardwalk didn’t look happy, rather like they’d have preferred to be anywhere else at all. I kept my head down and wondered if I’d made a terrible mistake.
I couldn’t take it anymore. If no one wanted me at home, I wouldn’t stay there.
Eventually, my mother had shown up. I never would know how she found me. She’d sat next to me where I dangled my feet off the edge of the boardwalk. My coat wasn’t warm enough. Not that I’d ever admit to being cold.
“Ready to go?”
I had been.
I’d never run away again.
In the present, Brynna ran her hand down the side of my face. “The amazing thing about memories is they really can show the world differently, depending on who is doing the remembering. Chad thought you had such a happy childhood.”
“Maybe I’m a glass half empty kind of a guy.”
She kissed my lips, gently. “Right there with you. We’re two pessimists. Nothing to be done about it.”
Chapter 11
I supposed I should have asked the night before how anyone knew where Doubleday was. But I was concussed. Again. This last time seriously had to be the last time anyone managed to hit me in the head. All of Brynna’s magical healing abilities aside, I was bound to have brain damage if this kept up.
When I asked the Doubleday question, Deacon held up a piece of paper. “This was in the pile of scientific mumbo jumbo you brought back from the lab you two investigated. Lydia spent some time going through the map, pointing to where she should be. Probably a two-day walk.”
I looked over my shoulder at my sister, who sat with Lydia and Nero. “Are we bringing everyone?”
“The non-fighters will stay back. I don’t think they’ll argue too much. For some of these guys, it’ll be their first real challenge since Geronimo. Can you help me look out for them?”
I shrugged. “Sure. I try to keep an eye out for the newbies.”
“I know you do. Ready to go? You’re fixed up like nothing happened to you. How does the healing work exactly?”
There was no way in hell I’d ever tell him. What happened between Brynna and myself, stayed between Brynna and myself. Forever.
It had been a long time since I’d taken a good walk through the woods.
We used to do it all the time back when we’d believed Icahn and felt we were fighting for the good of humanity, not understanding we were, in fact, on the wrong side of history. We were like Icahn’s trained fighting monkeys. That had all stopped. If we didn’t get control of these people and the shit they kept doing, I was going to end up with my mind erased or changed again. I didn’t want to not know who I was.
I think I’d prefer to be dead.
And I didn’t think that nonchalantly.
Chad had the map, and we all followed him. Rain started, and my nephew’s screams, at first blood curdling, eventually calmed. Glen carried him and kept him dry both in Nero’s coat and with Glen’s own surrounding him.
“Hey,” I called out. It had been silent for a long time, and currently, I didn’t think we needed to be that way. “Which one of us gets Nero if you both croak?”
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