Chapter 22
I blinked, trying to get my bearings. The room was nearly pitch black, save for the night light in the corner.
I attempted to figure out what had woken me up.
It didn’t take long to discover what had stirred me from a restful slumber.
One of my babies was up and seemingly wanting to use my bladder as a trampoline.
I had to bite back a groan, mindful of Remy and Drake sleeping on either side of me.
I frowned. I didn’t want to wake up any of them, but I really needed to go.
It was getting increasingly hard to maneuver around them when I had to get up.
I contemplated how I could climb over without waking them up.
I considered crawling to the foot of the bed but then a thought suddenly struck me.
I stifled a giggle before I turned toward Drake.
Out of the two of them he slept the deepest. Plus, he was exhausted when he fell asleep last night.
The days and nights he spent by Jemmy’s side in addition to the long hours he spent in the kitchen making up on all the work he had missed had caught up to him.
He had fallen asleep seconds after taking a shower and coming to bed.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath in and imagined a bubble around Drake.
The I experimented with my idea and lifted my hands slightly.
I waited with bated breath to see if he would stir from his deep slumber.
He seemed oblivious to my movements, so I continued to lift him.
I did it slowly and paused every few seconds to ensure I didn’t disturb him.
I nearly squealed with delight once I realized he was high enough for me to exit the bed.
I then grimaced when one of the babies decided to remind me of the direness of my situation.
I gently lowered Drake back down and hustled toward the bathroom.
I nearly crossed my legs the entire time I shuffled to it.
My rear barely hit the seat before my bladder released.
I let out a satisfied sigh and rubbed my belly before murmuring. “We really need to talk about the hours you’ve been keeping. Mama really loves her sleep. I know the real estate is limited in there, but can you switch your playtime for when I’m awake?”
In response they both began to move, and I sighed in defeat.
If past experience was anything to go by, they would be up for a while longer.
I was suddenly hit with a craving for a peanut butter and banana sandwich with a tall glass of strawberry milk.
I knew my hopes of going back to sleep would be next to nil with them being wide awake and my sudden craving.
I decided not to fight it and maybe get some work done on my English Lit paper.
After washing my hands, I turned off the bathroom light.
I knew it would be hard to navigate through the bedroom with just the night light to guide me, so I decided to produce a little fireball.
Again, for my own entertainment I decided to make the flames purple.
Quietly as I could I made my way across the room.
I was thankful I chose to leave my backpack in the living room, so I didn’t have to worry about grabbing it and potentially waking my men.
I exited the room and immediately heard the low murmurings from the television, followed by dulcet tones of a couple of male voices.
I peered around the corner and saw Jace and Troy sitting on the couch.
They both appeared to be sipping some amber liquid in a glass, so I assumed it was whiskey or bourbon.
My brows furrowed. They rarely drank. Why were they drinking at two o’clock in the morning?
It took me far too long to realize that Troy was shirtless and had a bandage wrapped around his torso. I made my way over to him as fast as my ungainly body would allow me to. I sank down on the edge of the sofa. Without preamble I began to unwind the binding.
“What happened?”
“We got a distress call roughly two hours ago. We had to recover a team.”
I sucked a breath in between my teeth in horror once I realized there was a wicked looking wound on his side. It appeared as if his flesh had been mauled by bear claws. Not only were the abrasions long but they were deep. I winced as if I was feeling second hand pain.
I pushed away all thoughts of aggravation and hurt. Why wasn’t I made aware of them leaving and why hadn’t he gone to the healers. I verbally said as much.
“Why didn’t you go to the clinic or get Noah?”
Troy grimaced. “The clinic is busy. All our healers were activated. They have more pressing matters to attend to a few scratches.”
“A few scratches? It already looks like it’s becoming infected. Why wouldn’t you have woken me or Gavin? We could be helping.” I scoffed before I realized I was getting myself worked up and I should focus on the other alarming things he just confessed. “Why is our clinic busy?”
“Gavin’s already down at the clinic and we didn’t think we should wake you. We know you were exhausted tonight, and the babies haven’t given you a full night’s sleep in quite a while.” Troy hissed as I gently placed my hands upon him
I closed my eyes and imagined all the healing power in my hands.
My hands warmed and I pushed toward the area.
My brows furrowed when I realized the extent of his injuries.
I “felt” his skin begin to stitch back together.
I sat back and continued to frown at his apparently mended skin. Something didn’t feel right.
My instincts told me that we should call Yaris. Something within me told me it wasn’t just a flesh wound. There was a wrongness in it all. “Is Yaris available?” I questioned.
“I’ll go get him,” Jace said with concern creeping into his tone.
“It’s not just a scratch, is it?” Troy sighed before taking a sip from his glass and leaning back. He leaned his head back and turned his head toward me before gently tugging on my pajama top.
I understood that he wanted me to cuddle with him. I situated myself so I could comfortably fit against him. I tried to distract us from my concerns. I turned my head and kissed his bare shoulder before asking.
“What happened tonight?”
Troy linked his fingers with mine before kissing my fingertips.
“We had some intel that Horatio and some of his higher ups was meeting with a few foreign scum bags of the gifted world. We wanted to take the opportunity to apprehend them to hopefully cut off their plans for another supply chain. Our teams didn’t realize that they were prepared for our invasion.
They had some wickedly powerful gifted among them.
“When our teams realized that the op was going downhill, they put in a distress call. Micah, Bentley, and Mercedes transferred us over there. By the time we got there we realized it was a total mess. We were able to capture three of the players but not without some difficulties.”
I understood why they hadn’t wakened me now.
Especially since we had determined it wasn’t safe for me out in the field, but a small part of me still felt like I was missing out.
I put aside my own feeling of FOMO and noticed the heaviness in his voice.
I honed into his feelings of desolation and inquired.
“How bad was it?”
I didn’t need to clarify my question. Troy closed his eyes in pain before I saw him visibly swallow. “We had over six minor injuries, fifteen critically injured, and we lost four people.”
I gasped. “Anyone—”
He cut me off. “The losses were from the new recruits from Texas.”
I hated my feeling of relief. I was thankful it wasn’t anyone I was particularly close to, but I felt guilty for it. Any life we loss was a tragedy no matter how well I knew them. I was so loss in my feelings I barely heard who was among the injured.
Well, until Troy said. “Sam was touch and go for a while, but Noah has faith he’ll push through.”
I gasped, feeling my stomach flip. Sure, I hadn’t talked much to Sam since I returned, but once upon a time we spent a lot of time together.
Even if he had broken up with Rachel, I didn’t hold it against him.
They didn’t work out, and he had been respectful before moving on.
Rachel had also gotten over her bitterness, and I saw them interacting with each other during training just the other day.
I was unable to respond when Jace returned with Yaris in tow. Yaris appeared as if he was tired, which was understandable considering that Jace yanked him from sleep. Despite the late hour he didn’t seem disturbed by the late-night call. He immediately joined us on the couch.
“Jace tell me you healed Troy, but don’t think he’s actually healed.”
I nodded. “I don’t know what it is. I’ve healed many people and it’s as if puzzle pieces fall into place as I’m mending them. This time there was a—disconnect. It might be easier to show you then explain. Mind if I grab your hand?”
Yaris seemed momentarily taken aback but then grinned and nodded. “Go for it.”
I took it and placed it on the spot that had previously been ravaged. “Thanks, for coming out so late.” I murmured as an afterthought.
“No problem,” He responded. His hands hovered over Troy. He chocked his head and I knew then he “felt” what I had felt.
He looked at Troy. “What happened?”
“I was attacked by a man. Think Wolverine, but with bear claws. They were just as long but much thicker.”
Yaris clicked his tongue, and I saw his hand glow before a fluorescent green vapor seemed to rise from Troy’s body. “That was a good call, Blake. The claws must have been dipped in poison. You’re lucky Blake sensed it. Otherwise, it probably would have ravaged your nervous system.”
Troy’s whipped his head toward me and grinned before reaching up and caressing my cheek. “I am pretty lucky. Not only is my girl sexy, but she’s smart.”
I felt my cheeks redden at his compliment but rolled my eyes and playfully slapped his upper arm. “Now that you seem better, I’m gonna feed your gremlins.”