Chapter 29 #2
“You’re always welcome to stay too. You could join our scouting and communications teams—work for Liam. You’d still be out there, but you’d also be with Odie here.”
“You know that’s not how we do things.”
Mal sighed. Despite his studied air of nonchalance, it sounded tired. “I do know that.” He paused. “Look. Keyshawna. I’m sorry for... well, a lot of things.”
Key shouted out a laugh. “Are you for fucking real? An apology? Holy shit. Did you get diagnosed with some kind of terminal illness or something? ’Cause I never thought I’d hear those words come out your mouth.”
At Mal’s serious, level gaze, Key got up and went over to kneel by him. “Oh my God. Is that why you sent the messages? Tell me you’re not dying, goddamn it.”
The room vibrated in the electric silence that followed that statement, Key waiting with her hand on her brother’s forearm, her frown fiercely emotional.
Mal took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “We’re all dying.”
Allie and Cam gave each other wide-eyed looks, but Key rocked back on her heels.
“What the actual fuck, Mal?” She pushed up to a standing position. “Shut up and tell me the truth for once.”
Mal smiled a little. “Not dying. Sorry.”
“Sorry? Fuck you.” She reached out lightning fast and pinched his arm hard.
Malcolm winced. “Ouch. Jesus, girl. You never did know how to be gentle.” He grimaced.
“I’m not dying, Key—or at least, I’m not sick.
But we’ve made some discoveries over the past few months that have challenged everything we know so far.
” When Key raised her eyebrows at him, he added, “Things are getting fucking freaky.”
“Is that the scientific term?” Cam asked mildly.
Malcolm gave Cam what could only be termed a Look. “I just fed your smart ass. Want to test me?”
Cam held up a hand then sat back, crossing his arms.
Mal shook his head. “First of all, your dreams, Key?”
She shifted onto her back foot, crossing her arms in a mirror of Cam’s pose. “I suppose I should feel grateful that you didn’t put air quotes around the word.”
“You told me Allie has them, too, but she speaks with a different entity than you.”
Key rolled her eyes. “She does. And our ‘entities’ are goddesses. They’re neither hysteria nor hallucinations.”
“Don’t get your back up. And please sit down. You’re giving me a neck ache.”
After a second, she did, sinking down beside Odette. “Spill it.”
Mal ran his tongue over his teeth and leaned forward. “We have someone else here who has the dreams too.”
“Frankie,” Allie blurted, forgetting that she’d meant to stay out of the conversation. But that yellow aura had been too clear of a sign.
Mal shot her a startled look. “Yes. How...” He stopped then shook his head. “Right. Of course you know.” He shuddered, rolling his shoulders. “I will never, ever get used to that. But it’s really just the tip of the iceberg, freaky-shit-wise.”
“So some freckly white girl rolls in with prophetic dreams and you believe her over your own sister?” Key’s mouth was twisted. “Doesn’t that just figure.”
“Not like that. And not just Frankie.” Malcolm took a breath. “You know we’re in contact with the Station. Harper’s been here—and that’s a fucking understatement. Have you been listening to her broadcasts?”
They all sent each other mystified looks. Odette finally said, “We usually only keep up with the local stuff on MMSR for updates on Z movement and emergency stuff. We don’t listen to the radio much on the road unless we know we’re in a clear area.”
Malcolm leaned his head back for a minute. “Of course. Well, y’all have dreams. You two.” He huffed out a breath. “Harper has full-on powers. And she’s not the only one—but I’ll tell you more about that later.”
Key was sitting up straight now, and she and Allie locked eyes. Allie felt like she’d been struck by lightning.
“Anyway. Frankie came here more than three months ago, not too long after the last time I saw y’all.
She was a refugee like any other—except for her medical background, which made her valuable—until I heard someone talking about her.
Then she went to Liam with a warning about a Z attack on the south barriers.
I wasn’t really concerned. People freaking out about Zs, having nightmares about attacks?
Happens often enough, especially with new arrivals, but there was something about the way she talked about it that sounded different than the usual paranoia.
Liam took it seriously, even though I was.
.. skeptical. He posted a team there to keep watch and had a shift of pikers on standby. ”
“And there was an attack.”
Malcolm nodded. “Big. Big enough that it was all-hands-on-deck. All the pikers and fighters. We even broke out the air guns.”
Dette’s eyes widened. “You got those to work?”
Cam leaned in to Allie. “Modified paintball guns that shoot marbles. That was a big project last time we were here, trying to get them to work reliably and not destroy the gun.”
“Those can take down Zs?” Allie asked Mal.
Mal grinned. “Ours do. And they’re way more quiet than real guns.”
Key narrowed her eyes at her brother. “I’m going to want some of those.”
“No prob, as long as your group helps us scavenge for ammo. We’ve experimented with lots of things, but marbles work best.”
Dette looked at Key. “Did stores even sell marbles anymore? I mean, Before? In toy shops or whatever?”
Key contemplated this. “Craft stores might have. Antiques shops? There are tons of those within a one-hundred-mile radius, but—”
“I like the energy, and I’m making mental notes here, but we’re getting off track,” Malcolm said, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
“We’ll plan that stuff later. Bottom line—Liam came to me afterward.
He advised me to listen to Frankie. Like, really listen. So I did.”
“And?”
“And... let’s just say I believe her. I believe in what she can see and what she can do. We’ve seen a hell of a lot of evidence, so I know that there’s a whole lot more going on out here than walking corpses.”
“After months of making Key feel like she was crazy.” This was Cam. “That’s kind of fucked-up.”
“Really fucked-up,” Key added, but then she shook her head. “But I guess I get why. I mean, you never did take me seriously. Not when I moved to San Francisco, not when I came out—”
He leaned forward, broad face screwed into a grimace.
“Give me a break, Key. You were flaky as hell all through childhood, all through school. You picked up instruments and put them down again a week later. One semester, you were going to be an actress, so you signed up for the drama club then dropped out before the play to focus on poetry. Then it was becoming an artist, but you kept starting paintings and never finishing them. And Mom and Dad always...”
Key made a strangled noise of pain, one that sounded on the verge of tears. Cam put his hand on her shoulder, tension vibrating in him—Allie could feel it.
Mal’s expression softened. “Fine. I guess it felt to me like they gave you all the attention, all the sympathy. Me? Straight A’s, college scholarships, MIT... and they would smile and say they were so proud and then turn away to ask you what you saw as your future that week.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? You were the golden boy!” Key stood again and clenched her fists.
“They were up my ass every second, trying to get me on some path, to get me to be more like you. It was never as easy for me. Literally nothing was as easy. It took me forever to try to live up to you—and I could only do it when I got away and started living my own life.”
Malcolm frowned but didn’t argue. “Then you go off to college, and the next time you come home, suddenly you’re a lesbian.”
Cam’s hands tightened into fists.
Odette laid a hand on Cam’s shoulder and laughed. “She’s been a lesbian her whole life, Mal. It just took her a while to figure it out.”
That broke the tension enough that Mal smiled ruefully. “That’s fair.”
Allie felt relieved when Cam relaxed. Meanwhile, Key looked at Malcolm, who wiped one hand down his beard and stared at the floor.
“I’m sorry I thought it was a phase back then.
Obviously, I was wrong.” He paused, licked his lips, and looked back up at her.
“And, Shawnie, I really am sorry I wasn’t there for you.
I should have been at your wedding no matter what. I should have made it a priority.”
Key blinked. Then she blinked again and swallowed. “I accept your apology.”
“And I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you tried to tell me about Sekhmet.” He frowned but not at her. “I was being dense. Clinging to science in the face of evidence I really should have trusted.”
Key nodded. “I suppose... I’m sorry I’ve been avoiding you for months.”
“After the last time? I wasn’t surprised.” He spread his hands. “I deserved it.”
“And Odie?” Key stared at him, no longer emotional but probing. “Were you pushing him to stay because you wanted to get at me, or do you really want him as your assistant?”
Mal scoffed audibly. “Come on. I get why you’d think that, but he’s smart.
Eager.” He sighed. “So many of the people here are getting tired. Tired of working all day to keep this place going and to find solutions when no matter what we do, the world’s still full of Zs.
I need his kind of energy on my team. We all need it. ”
Quiet settled over the group.
“Well,” Dette said. “I would say it’s time for a hug, but I know you’d both roll your eyes at me.”
Everyone chuckled, and there was a knock on the door. “Speak of the devil,” Mal said. “Come in, Odie.”
Allie turned to see a tall, handsome young man walk in, hesitant. “Hey, Uncle Mal. They told me y’all were in here.” As he got closer, Allie saw that he looked astonishingly like a younger version of Key. “Um. Hi, Mama. Mami.”
Key stood and stared at him. “Boy,” she began impatiently, but then she strode across the floor and gathered him into a fierce hug.
“Mama,” he protested, arms flailing. “I’m fine.”
“Hush, baby boy,” she said, voice muffled. “Just hug me.” When he did, she sighed.
Odette stood. “Thank you, Mal,” she said in a soft voice.
He nodded at Dette and held out a hand. When she took it, he raised her hand to his lips. “Thank you,” he said. “For loving my sister and marrying her. For that boy over there.”
She smiled at him then went to join the hug.
The sheer love and relief emanating from the reunited family had tears gathering in Allie’s eyes.
Cam saw, and he got up, pulling her to her feet along with him. “This would probably be a good time for us to slip away,” he whispered. Then he turned back to their host and nodded. “Mal.”
Malcolm took Allie’s hand and brushed it against his lips, too, but in a far more suggestive manner. “I’ll see you again tomorrow. We’ve still got a lot to talk about. But it was a pleasure.”
Cam watched this, face impassive, not reacting when Mal sent him a devilish look.
Mal continued, “Let me know if you need anything at all.”
“She won’t,” Cam muttered.
Allie refrained from rolling her eyes at both of them.
Allie and Cam paused at the hug fest to greet Odie and for Cam to also engulf his little brother in a laughing bear hug. Key introduced Odie to Allie, and Dette pulled Cam aside for a brief moment while Allie talked to Odie.
“You’re Cam’s angel, huh?” He grinned at her.
Allie laughed, flushing to the roots of her hair. Odie really was a sweetheart, and it was clear that he loved his mothers and brother. What a family. A sweet ache filled her. How could she not love them too?
After a bit, Cam returned and rested his hand lightly on her shoulder. “We should probably go.”
“Are they going to be okay?” Allie murmured as Malcolm joined the others.
“I think so.” Cam blew out a long breath. “And hallelujah for that.”