Chapter 11
“And everyone here, is gifted?” Jacob asked in awe, his eyes darting around everywhere.
We arrived back at base the next morning after an emotionally draining day and night of talking to Damon.
It was late by the time Damon had to go.
Jacob seemed to be on the fence whether or not Damon had crossed over.
He had informed us that sometimes the spirits would wait around until they were ensure their deaths had been avenged.
I knew it was bittersweet for Drake. He loved seeing his dad—Anna had a hand in this opportunity—but you could also tell it had taken a toll on him.
It was as if he had the chance to say his goodbyes yet seeing him after all this time had also taken it had been emotionally draining.
It pained me to see my most sensitive guy struggling the way he was.
Ultimately, the “visit” was a successful one.
Damon had told us his passwords to several accounts so we could access his cloud storage.
It would give us enough evidence to supply motive and bring Tracey to justice.
Yes, we could easily incarcerate her, and we had every intention of doing so, but not before we made sure the whole world knew what she had done.
The damage to her reputation would be the hardest blow to her ego and we wanted her to witness her fall from grace before putting her away.
“No,” I denied leaning my head on Troy’s bicep, yawning. “Some of the people that we train with are here to help our cause. They have family members or close friends that are gifted.”
After talking to Damon, we had told Jacob more about our community.
We had also discovered that my hunch was correct, and he was marked.
He had been interested in accompanying us back to base and learning more about himself.
Even though Noah and I healed him, he had every intention of spending all of his leave away from work.
We also planned to access the binder to see if his connection had already disclosed their mark.
We peered down on the training area where some of the operatives were going through drills. I was trying to see them as Jacob did, and I had to admit they were impressive. They all looked like lean, mean, fighting machines. Even the newer recruits from other gifted communities.
I was glad that after the mistrust and suspicions Jacob had he had warmed up.
In fact, he seemed to take all the information thrown his way in stride—even the fact that he had a connection out there.
He had disclosed that although he missed his ex, he never saw a real future with her.
He admitted that he was hoping he only had one connection out there.
He seemed truly alarmed when he discovered I had seven connections and Gavin had three.
Gavin had warned him not to judge too harshly, or he might get in the same boat he was in.
The look on Jacob’s face nearly had me peeing in laughter.
“I’m going to give all this information to Darren and see if he can help us out,” Drake kissed the top of my head.
We had already reached out to Darren, and he seemed almost ecstatic to be involved in the investigation.
He admitted to becoming obsessed with true crime podcast due to his new girlfriend.
Yep, Darren had a new girlfriend and even though it was early days Dawn, Rachel, and I was excited to see how nice and sweet she was.
“Okay, honey,” I tilted my chin up so he could bestow another kiss on my lips.
“The clinic is calling,” Noah frowned at me looking down at his phone.
I mock pouted knowing I had classes to get to and already wishing I could spend more quality time with Troy, Noah, Lincoln, and Drake.
Lincoln had rushed off to meet his team before they went off to another mission, starting the domino effect.
I longed for normality more and more. I wanted Horatio and his antics in the review mirror and to be living with the guys with our children and my siblings—even if they hadn’t all decided where they wanted to live most of the time.
They would all have bedrooms in the houses we planned to build but they all seemed torn between living with us or Pops and Megan.
We weren’t going to pressure them and already informed them that they really didn’t have to choose and could live in both households—just as long as we were all aware of their whereabouts.
I accepted Noah’s kiss next. “Go save more lives.”
I looked up at Troy, my sullen expression still in place. “You’re leaving me next aren’t you.”
“His class does start in less than twenty minutes,” Jace teased.
I whirled to see Jace and Remy standing behind us.
They hadn’t liked the idea of me sleeping away from them but realized that it was necessary.
Drake needed to talk to his dad, and it was late by the time we were ready to go.
Micah had been out on a mission with the twins so they couldn’t bring me back and Troy didn’t want to fly that late at night.
I eagerly stepped into their embraces, basking in their affection. We hadn’t been gone for more than twenty-four hours, yet I still missed them. I don’t know if it was my pregnancy hormones or the constant awareness of my possible demise, but I hated being away from any of them too long.
As I pulled away from Remy’s embrace and stepped into Jace’s I remembered my manners. “Jacob Perry this is my connections Remy and Jace. Remy and Jace this is Jacob Perry.”
I didn’t go into more details because we had kept them in the loop regarding Jacob and I had already told Jacob about my other guys.
I could see Remy sizing Jacob up before taking his hand and shaking it.
Jace was much more friendly in his greeting.
I was glad that Jacob didn’t seem to take offence to Remy’s stand-off behavior, but then again, I had already given Jacob the low down on the personality traits of my men that he hadn’t met.
“We wanted to say hello and see you later, before we head out for the day,” Jace kissed my temple.
I pulled away and frowned. “Where are you going?”
Remy and Jace exchanged a look before responding. “Kade’s team was cut off from the other two teams that had accompanied them last night—” He must have seen my alarmed look because he quickly continued. “He’s safe. We’re just going to recover him and his team.”
I was preparing to volunteer to go with them, but Remy reached out and caressed my belly. “You just got back and even if the doctor still claims it’s safe to travel, it’s not necessary. Go to class, relax, we’ll be back by dinner.”
I had a feeling they weren’t telling me everything, so I narrowed my gaze on them. “Why can’t Micah, Bentley, or Mercedes just grab them?”
They shared another look with each other before Jace sighed deeply, clearly wishing he didn’t have to tell me the details.
“Their exhausted. All the teams—save one—had a rough night. Horatio’s attempting to protect all of his important operatives.
He’s adapting to our attacks at an alarming rate.
As it is we were only able to procure three of the six marks.
“We can’t risk burning out Micah, Bentely, and Mercedes. Terrance was able to think quickly and remove them from a very sticky situation. They really are safe but we’re not foolish enough to believe that Horatio isn’t still out looking for them.”
I saw Gavin and Sierra exchanging words before Gavin was rushing off.
I’m sure he was worried about Mercedes. Burning out wasn’t a good thing.
Yes, we grew tired and most of us had a ceiling on our gifts but burning out was rare.
It had to be bad if they didn’t have another jump or travel warp in them.
I wanted to rush off to see how they were doing but first I had to figure out what else was going on.
I knew there was more that they were withholding so I prodded some more. “And—”
Remy rubbed the bridge of his nose before reluctantly admitting. “And a team of eight is still missing and not returning our calls. We believe they were taken by Horatio.”
“Who?” I worriedly inquired.
“What do you mean they were taken?” Jacob asked with a furrowed brow. “Why can’t we contact the local authorities to bring him in?”
“It’s not that easy,” I reminded him.
Sierra stepped in, clearly seeing there wasn’t enough time to explain everything to Jacob.
Yes, we had given him the cliff notes about Horatio and his operations, but it would have taken us hours to explain to him in finer details.
“I’ll show you why Jacob. I’ll connect you to Megan and Beth and they will give you the tour, a room, and show you some footage we have on Horatio. ”
Jacob looked at me and my guys before hesitantly nodding.
He followed after Sierra after they said their parting words.
I turned to look at my guys expectantly.
They rattled off the names of the people still missing and I felt both guilty and relieved.
I was thankful it wasn’t any of my friends or family, but I felt bad that I was so please by that knowledge.
Remy’s phone vibrated and he pulled it out. He frowned before kissing me. “Okay, baby girl, we got to get going.”
I frowned. “Where is the rest of the team going with you?”
As if on cue I saw Herman, Ford, Kurt, Ethan, and a few others exiting the elevator. I sent Jace and Remy and accusing look. Why were they bringing out some of the big dogs if Terrance, Kade, and their team were safe?
Jace correctly interpreted my look. “Kade, Terrance, Marcel, Dawn, Vicky, Ben, and Tamara are safe, but it’s a bit tricky to get to them without some of their help.”