Chapter 25 #2
Rance’s gaze locked with hers, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her that he was pretty sure her imagination didn’t include women and children burned inside safe rooms below ground and Grail eviscerated and beheaded.
He sighed, then nodded. “We walked the entire property. Multiple teams of multiple people, moving slowly so we didn’t miss anything.
A lot of bodies, most in Lion form. At first we just left them where they lay so we could continue searching.
Almost every structure was burned, nothing left standing other than a few beams or partial walls here and there.
Only a shed or two were still partially intact. ”
Gwen’s hand gripped his tighter, so he turned his hand over and wrapped his own large hand around hers, exerting just enough pressure for her to feel like she was being held.
“Steve showed us where the safe rooms were, and when we opened them, we found bodies inside them.”
“Had they been injured and passed in the safe rooms?” Gwen asked.
His gaze had been on their hands, but he slowly lifted it to hers, the sadness there told her the secret he was holding before he did.
“The safe rooms had been burned, too. Females, children, a few males probably to protect those taking shelter. But they weren’t full.
They could have sheltered so many more, but then, maybe it’s a good thing they weren’t all in there.
Maybe some made it out just like you did. ”
“How could someone do that to females and their children?” she asked tearfully.
“I’ll never understand it. A female comes at you in warrior mode during battle, you have to do what you have to do to survive, but to just kill them while they’re hiding away for safety… I’ll never understand that.”
“So there were no survivors there at all?” Gwen asked.
Rance shook his head slowly. “Steve helped us identify most everybody we found on your property. Dean helped, too. The other three, they just kind of wandered here and there and didn’t contribute much.”
“Maybe they were in shock,” she suggested.
“Maybe. But we gathered all the bodies, we put them in the safe room under the play yard for your kids. I put Grail in last, like he was guarding the door. Steve went poking through the ashes of your house and came back with a singed stuffed animal and a toy car that belonged to your boys, and a silver brush that he said he thought was yours. We leaned those items against Grail, then we had a service, like we do for all our Pride members who pass on.” He gently let go of her hand and held up his hand so that she could see the fresh pale pink scar across his palm.
“I made a blood vow, a promise to Grail that I would watch over you and his sons with every breath in my body. That I would love you, protect you, and make sure that you’re all happy, whether you choose me or not.
That I would make sure that his sons knew who he was, that they were proud, and that he could rest easy and would never have to worry about his family. Then we sealed it up.”
When he looked up at Gwen again, she was looking right at him, with tears silently streaming down her face.
Rance lifted his arms enough to give her the option to be held, or not.
And she leaned into him without hesitation, sobbing as he moved from the chair to the side of her bed.
He didn’t shush her, or promise her it would be okay.
He just held her, smoothing his hands over her hair, and holding her safely against his body as she cried for as long as she wanted to.
Quite a while later after she had quieted, she finally spoke, her voice just a whisper. “Is there more?”
“Yes,” he answered quietly. “According to Steve not everyone knew about the safe room beneath the play yard. But it had been breached as well. No one was in it, but it had been burned out as well — thankfully it was empty when it was burned.”
“I don’t understand how it was burned if no one knew about it,” she said. She had been leaning against Rance, but sat back and looked up at him, as the truth hit her. “Someone told them where it was.”
Rance nodded.
“But who? Did those who attacked us kill them, too?”
“Possibly, some of them. We don’t really know yet. But it’s being investigated and hopefully we’ll find out more before it’s all finished.”
Gwen nodded and leaned against Rance again, seeming to settle in before she sat up quickly and looked him directly in the eye. “Some of them?” she asked. “Who’s still alive?”
“There was no one on the property still alive. But, several of us, even Steve and Dean think that it’s possible the other three that arrived with you were complicit.”
“Surely not. Grail told Steve to gather several others to make sure we got here safely. He grabbed the first few that he saw. Dean was with him when the attack started, the other three just happened to be nearby.”
“Fighting?” Rance asked.
“I don’t know.”
“I won’t tell you that they are definitely guilty, but I’ll tell you that those of us who noticed their lack of contribution to helping us identify and locate the dead wasn’t the only thing we noticed.
There was no emotion at all on their parts.
None. They weren’t sad, they weren’t angry.
They may have just as well been on a wildlife walk through the woods.
No response at all to being there. Until we located the three Variant males across the highway from your property.
Then they got very jittery. Very nervous, one almost gave us away from trying to convince us that they didn’t need to be there because Steve could identify anybody else we might happen to find. ”
“And?”
“There was no indication of recognition, on the part of the Variant males, or on the other three from your Pride. The Variant took the three of their kind back to their home base for questioning. It’s my understanding that they gave coordinates to where more Variant males were being held captive and would be tortured or killed if they didn’t return to where they were all held together by dawn the next morning.
The Variant teams raided the location and freed sixteen more Variant males.
They are all in Alliance now, being debriefed, receiving medical attention, and taking their first breath of freedom.
It’s important to understand that if they are still captive, if they do not follow orders, they will be killed.
It’s kill or be killed. They most likely didn’t have a choice in the attack on your people.
I’m sure it doesn’t make it any easier, but it’s part of the truth. ”
“Where are the three you think might have been involved?” she asked.
“Have you heard the expression ‘give them enough rope to hang themselves’?” Rance asked.
“Yes. They’re still here, then.”
“Yes, they are. Steve and Dean are watching them closely, while pretending they are not suspicious. But Frenzy has some electronics in their possession that are able to pick up any conversations. So, hopefully, they do something to incriminate themselves. Don’t worry, though.
They can’t hurt you, or anyone else here. ”
“I’m surprised they didn’t try to keep us from reaching here.”
“I think that the only reason they didn’t is because they had no phones to contact anybody with, otherwise they might have.”
“So, they were working with the Falwells?” Gwen asked.
“So far it’s all just supposition, but yes. We think so. And the Variant, and whoever had access to the Variant to gain their assistance in the attack.”
“It’s a lot,” she finally said.
“Yes, it is.”
Gwen sat near Rance, leaning her upper body against him as she tried to deal with everything she was feeling. She wrapped her hand in his shirt and inched closer to him. “Stay with me for a little while?”
“Always,” he said, as he gently lifted her from the bed and sat her on his lap. “I got you.”
Gwen curled herself against his body and started to cry again.
“I’ve always got you,” he whispered, holding her to him.
~~~
Hail tapped on the door to the apartment she, Athena, and Storm shared. “Anybody here?” she called out, as she opened the door and stepped inside.
“You’re back!” Athena cried from the sofa.
Hail looked over into the living room and immediately pressed her lips tightly together to keep from laughing.
Athena was lying on the sofa, her arms and legs flailing as she tried to roll herself into a sitting position. She looked over at Hail and her expression immediately went hard. “Do not even laugh at me! I can still whip your ass!”
Hail closed her eyes and shook her head as she fought to suppress even a slight grin. “Not if you can’t get up off that sofa, you can’t.”
Athena growled. “Damn it! At least come over here and help me get up!”
Hail put down her duffel bag and hurried over to Athena, grabbing her hands and pulling to help get her upright. “You look like a turtle stuck on your back.”
“Bite me,” Athena snapped.
“Nah, I’ll leave that for Scorn. Speaking of, where is he? Shouldn’t he be here with you?”
“He’s with his team, they got word of some still captive Variant males. I told him to go, no use two of us sitting here miserable.”
“Oh, that must be the ones we found.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure, but you know how Lethal is about not letting a single word leak about whatever his mission is covering.”
Hail nodded. “Anything happen when I was gone?” she asked, walking back over to pick up her duffel as she carried it to their tiny laundry room and started taking clothes out of it and loading up the washer.
“Not a thing. But you know for me to hear of it, I’d have to leave this apartment.
And that’s not happening until the baby chooses to claw its way out of my damn body!
” Athena snapped, looking down at the roundness of her belly.
“I’ll never be skinny again. I’ll be fat, and look like a turtle when I get stuck on my back,” she said, as she started sniffling and blinking away tears again.