Chapter 4 #2
Libby let out an indulgent huff. “Honey, you can’t just go around touching people at will.” Then she gave us a rueful smile. “He’s curious by nature, although in this case, I think we would all like to know what you’re capable of. We’ve heard rumors about a girl with seven connections.”
Annika began passing out water bottles, and I was grateful for it.
I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was, and honestly, I was feeling a little hungry now as well.
“It’s true. Blake has seven connections.
” She then looked at Gavin. “Although I find Gavin to be more impressive. Are you sure your parents aren’t gifted? ”
The way she stared him down made me catch a glimpse of the formidable force she probably was in the courtroom. Her dark eyes seemed to pin him to the spot, almost commanding him to tell the truth.
Gavin shifted uncomfortably, clearly uneasy with the line of questioning. Before he could say anything, Drake spoke up.
“Thanks for this, but I think our girl may need more than just water. Can we order food soon?”
I was grateful for the small reprieve, but impatient to get all the conversations over with so we could have time to enjoy the resort before we had to leave.
η
Much to our displeasure, we couldn’t reconvene until the next morning.
Sylvie needed her rest, and Annika wanted to spend some time with Vance after he had woken up.
I understood why and didn’t begrudge their time, but the small, selfish part of me had been looking forward to spending the whole day poolside before we left that evening.
Instead, Pops, Annika’s parents, and Sylvie’s parents asked to meet over breakfast.
The only plus was the location of the breakfast. They had rented out an area that hovered over the sea.
The view was breathtaking, and all my men took advantage of the others running late so we could take pictures together.
At least I felt cute wearing a green maxi dress that did wonders for my eyes and gave me freedom of movement while staying comfortable.
“This place is beautiful,” Annika declared cheerfully, nearly skipping into the room.
I turned and was pleasantly surprised to see her holding Vance’s hand.
If I didn’t know it was him, I wouldn’t have believed he was the same man I had first met.
He seemed healthier, more confident, and most importantly, happier.
It warmed my heart to see it. Unfortunately, that contented feeling didn’t last long.
We had just found our seats and ordered our breakfast when Sylvie came into the room. Her face was drawn, and she looked like a mere shadow of herself. It was clear she was still feeling out of sorts, having only ordered a coffee for breakfast.
Her parents looked at her worriedly, and she snorted. “I’m fine. I’m just not hungry.” She shot Vance and Annika an almost irritated look. “I can’t come to terms with the waste of twelve years of my life, sixteen if you count the years since I was marked.”
Annika gave her a gentle smile and squeezed her hand, while Vance looked uncertain about what he should do.
“Take your time. You know how very different we are, but that doesn’t make either of us wrong for the way we’re handling it.
Sure, I’m still angry, and I’m still thinking about all the things I should have noticed or done, but I’m determined to look forward. ”
“I don’t think anyone should be blaming themselves,” Pops said softly.
“From Ethan’s research and now my own, Casey was a skilled con artist. Horatio may own the company he worked for, but it is run by civilians, and his boss never suspected his relationship to the owner.
Some of these coworkers, who weren’t in bed with Horatio and worked closely with Casey, never suspected that their business trips served dual purposes.
In fact, one of his co-workers’ sisters went missing on one of those trips, and no one suspected Casey had a hand in it.
“Neville, his best friend since college, never knew the type of man he was either.”
At some of our confused looks, Pops explained, “I had a talk with Neville earlier. We discovered he is a seeker of the gifted community.”
Our conversation paused while our food arrived.
I could tell I wasn’t the only one eager for the servers to leave so we could learn what Pops had discovered.
I couldn’t help but feel that this might very well be the tipping point in our war against Horatio.
My bowl of fresh fruit and scrambled eggs with cheese was placed in front of me.
I eagerly reached for the fruit, craving the sweetness.
Once the servers had left, Caleb was the first to speak, clearly intrigued by Neville. “A seeker? I met the man. I know he’s strong and uses his gift for good, but I don’t think I’ve ever met a seeker.”
Pops explained, “He can tell if people are gifted, but he can also locate the gifted as if they had GPS trackers on them. He’s especially adept at ‘feeling’ when children come into their gifts.
He describes the feeling as a faint buzzing when it’s a ‘normal’ transition, but when a child comes into an especially powerful one, he feels restless and often feels compelled to ensure they have support during their evolution.
“He trusted Casey enough to tell him about some of the uniquely gifted individuals. He never suspected that Casey was giving Horatio information about the disappearance of some of these children.”
The horror I felt was mirrored around the room, and I was unable to stop myself from blurting out, “Why hasn’t Horatio recruited him then?”
Pops gave me a self-derisive smile. “Neville’s parents were part of a group that tried to thwart our plans to open the institute.
He grew up hearing about Horatio, Greg, and me.
Neville would never willingly work for Horatio, and if he were ever taken, his twin brother would be able to find him.
Even Horatio isn’t stupid enough to risk the wrath of the cavalry that would come. ”
“Like us,” Callista said pragmatically, without any arrogance. “I know our bloodlines have always been coveted by those who want to use our gifts for evil, but for centuries the nine families have banded together so that no harm can come to any of us.”
Drake frowned, a bite of his eggs benedict poised on the end of his fork. “I thought the nine families were myths.”
David softly chuckled. “As they intended. When our ancestors received the gifts, we were being persecuted. We couldn’t deny our existence, since people had already seen some of the gifted, but we had to be smart about how we continued for our own survival.
“Our ancestors began to spread false rumors. Think of them as the National Inquirer. Sure, some of the stories may be true, but we made sure most were too unbelievable for anyone to believe without personally witnessing them.”
Lincoln held a piece of his strawberry crepe up to my mouth before asking, “Can we rewind a little bit? Some of us weren’t raised in the gifted community. What exactly are the nine families?”
I was relieved that Lincoln had asked the question that had been buzzing in my head. I felt like every time I learned something new, something else was thrown into the equation.
“The nine families were the originals, so to speak,” Callista explained.
“They each had gifts, and at first, they decided to work together. The problem was that they were easily targeted. In addition, some of the families didn’t get along that well.
Through necessity, though, we’ve kept in touch throughout the centuries, especially in times of trial.
We’ve banded together to go against anyone who threatened our way of life. ”
Jaxson huffed an unamused laugh. “And no one thought Horatio wasn’t, and isn’t, threatening our way of life?”
Caleb cut into his steak, and I couldn’t help but stare at it longingly.
It made my mouth water. I really missed medium-rare steaks and decided it would be one of my first requests once the babies were done incubating.
“While none of us are willing to help him out, there are a few of them who don’t disagree with his belief that we should be able to use our gifts freely. ”
“None of us sitting at this table,” Libby said quickly when Troy shifted in his chair, clearly preparing to ask that very question.
“And none of them were willing to join his cause because of the way he tried to pitch this idea to us. None of us knew how bad he had gotten, although some of us suspected it.”
“The question is, what are you going to do about it now?” Remy said bluntly.
“Everyone in this room, along with four of the other families, isn’t sitting back any longer,” Caleb said steadily. “We’re going to do everything in our power to ensure Horatio can no longer terrorize our community for his own selfish, power-hungry machinations.”
I smiled. I didn’t know what these families were capable of, but my gut told me they were exactly what and who we needed.