Chapter 30
I slid into my suit wordlessly, attempting to clear my mind of everything but the mission on hand.
I smelled Remy before I felt his presence behind me.
He slid his arms around my waist and kissed the spot between my shoulders and neck.
I still felt extremely fragile and raw with nerves.
We just had to kiss our baby’s goodbye and send them off to safety.
I was trying to stay positive and will the return of not only myself but my men as well, but it was a struggle.
Mom’s guilt was real and I was questioning myself wondering if I was being selfish.
“You can stay behind.” Remy quietly rumbled near my ear.
I took a deep breath in still feeling vulnerable, before shaking my head. “I can’t. I need to be here. My sperm donor needs to be stopped once and for all. Only this time I can’t show him any mercy.”
The last time I held Horatio’s life in my hands I had been talked out of killing him.
They had convinced me the toll on my mental and emotional health wasn’t worth it.
I wasn’t so sure of that anymore. A part of me doubted we should have ever allowed him to “walk” away the last time I could have ended him.
“I don’t think any of you will be stopping you this time, if you need to make that decision.” Jaxson came over. He brushed my hands away to zip me up, before kissing my forehead.
Drake, Noah, and Lincoln joined us. They each took turns hugging me and whispering reassurance to each other.
Yes, we were all meeting up in the cafeteria eventually, but we would be separated for some time.
Well Noah and Lincoln would be separated from us for some time while Drake and Remy would be near me the entire time.
At least, that was the plan. It was the in between that was making my nerves frazzled.
I took another deep cleansing breath in. “Let’s go check on my siblings and see if they’re ready.”
Wordlessly we moved toward the teen’s locker room.
We didn’t need to go far before we saw that Kade, Micah, Victoria, Shiloh, and Alex were already waiting on us.
Miranda, Greg, Pops, and Shiloh’s brothers had beaten us there.
They were valiantly attempting to hide their worry for them, but I could see it in their strained smiles and over bright tones.
Miranda and Pops would be in the heat of battle with us, but we all knew that even “perfect” plans could go awry.
In a rare show of affection in front of others Alex made his way over to me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and laid his head against my stomach. I returned his hug. I could feel the slight tremble in his slight frame. At first, I thought it was his nerves but his fright was nearly palpable.
“What’s the matter, Lex?” I softly inquired.
He shook his head as if he was unwilling to voice his concerns.
“You know you can talk to us about anything.” Jaxson crouched down to his level.
Alex still refused to meet his gaze, and his voice came out muffled against my stomach. “I know, but I can’t.”
“You can’t or you won’t?” I asked.
There was several seconds of silence before he responded. “I can’t.” Then he pulled away from me. His eyes shining with tears. “Ella and Kade said some things can’t be changed, no matter how badly we want it to.”
My heart sank and I looked over at Kade. His eyes were already on mine. There was a deep sadness in his gaze. He merely shook his head.
“Kade, what’s going to happen?”
All the conversations around us ceased and now everyone was looking at us. Pops normally so self-controlled and amazing with his barriers, was leaking panic and concern. “What’s going on?”
“Something bad is going to happen and they can’t tell us what.” Jaxson explained.
Greg sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Did Ella have a premonition?”
“Yes.” Kade reluctantly nodded. “There’s nothing we can do about the outcome today and we can’t say anything because no one can interfere with what is supposed to happen.”
“You went into the future?” Pops asked in concern.
Kade shook his head. “Not physically.”
Several moments of silence followed his statement as we all processed his words. It was Victoria who broke the tension. “He’s been working on just mentally projecting his thoughts into the past, present, and future. It doesn’t drain him nearly as bad as when he physically time travels.”
“I feel like this is something you should have discussed with us.” Greg frowned.
Ben’s voice startled us, having not seen him approach.
“Life has been hectic lately. He accidentally discovered the new facet of his gift recently.
He let me know and asked me my thoughts on the matter.
Ultimately, we were trying to figure out how when Ella showed us her most recent drawings.
She warned us on the importance of keeping these discoveries to ourselves.
“If they were to disclose their new findings it would have ended in a disaster. Ella didn’t see when or how we were going to get invaded, but she saw the many outcomes of how this night will play out.
For the last week they have been working tirelessly to fix some things, but they realized only greater catastrophes can occur.
For the greater good of our battle today and the greater gifted community we need to trust in Kade and Ella. ”
“You can’t even tell us a little?” Remy inquired with a frown.
Kade and Ben shook their heads simultaneously. “We couldn’t even tell Micah and he’s my best friend.” Kade admitted.
We all looked toward Micah, and he seemed just as perturbed by the revelation and slightly hurt that he seemed to be left in the dark. Eventually, he sighed before rubbing his hands through his red locks. “I have to—we have to trust them.”
We weren’t able to discuss it any further when Kurt came strolling down the hall dressed in his battle suit. Several operatives followed him. “Are we ready?”
We all exchanged glances before Pops answered with a heavy tone. “As we’ll ever be.”
I hugged my siblings. “I might not understand and I don’t like it, but I trust you guys. Please be safe today. I love you.”
I got several “I love you, too” back from them before returning back to my men’s sides. We turned to get into our places as Sierra came running down the hall screaming out. “Wait!”
Jemmy was a few steps in front of her. “Where’s Gavin and Merci?” she asked in a panic.
Gavin came around the corner, followed closely by Mercedes and Bentley. His eyes widened and he looked alarmed to see Sierra out of the war room with Jemmy nearby. He ran the rest of the distance to their side. “What’s wrong?”
Jemmy grabbed Alex’s hand and looked desperately toward Drake.
“Everyone needs to gather in closely. Drake, I need you to put a forcefield around us. In less than a minute Horatio’s going to try to break into our minds.
Alex, you need to force him back out and create a barrier between us while touching the forcefield.
The forcefield will act like a physical buffer against his mental manipulations.
Merci is going to have to boost him in order to keep us all safe.
“Once we know Alex has successfully blocked him. It’s time to enact our plans. We have a very small window to make sure we pull this off.”
We all got as close as possible without hesitation.
Lincoln, Remy, Noah, and Jaxson placed me in the center of them.
I looked around and saw the same fear and anticipation in many of the others faces.
The foyer outside of the locker rooms that led to the war room was now packed with all of our operatives.
I had to close my eyes and make an effort to shut out their reactions feeling too overwhelmed that I physically swayed as their emotions slamming into me.
“Sierra is due any day now, I’m not sure she should be out here!” Gavin argued.
“I need to be here.” Sierra earnestly informed him. “I’ll be fine. I promise!”
I thought I saw her wince slightly, her hands went to her belly, but she quickly withdrew it making a visible effort to hug Alex close to her.
Gavin seemed to have missed the entire things as he looked over at Pops as if he could enlist his help.
Alex must have sensed something too because he whipped his head up and looked at Sierra.
A silent look passed before them before Alex slowly nodded.
My mind was now going a million miles a minute.
Some many things were vying for the forefront.
It was filled with the hope of getting to Troy and Jace.
I was still reeling from knowing something bad was going to happen by night’s end, but we were all powerless to stop it.
I tried to overcome my feelings of claustrophobia and maintain the barrier to close out everyone else’s heightened emotions.
I attempted to comprehend what had just occurred between Sierra and Alex.
Something was niggling at the edges of my brain as if I needed to solve it.
I realized then I had too many tabs open in my brain and didn’t know what should be opened and what needed to stay in the background as I endeavored to solve the most important task at hand first.
Alex let out a low keening sound, effectively ensuring his safety was the most critical thing to focus on at the moment. I could see the pain written across his face and I thought I saw a slight tremble go over his little body. Sierra held him tighter, her eyes closed just as tight.
“I got you.” She soothingly crooned. “You can do this.”
Alex whimpered extending his hand to the force field. “It hurts. I don’t know if I can do this. He’s old and I’m just a kid.”
“You’re not just anything.” Pops grumbled. “You’re an amazingly strong boy and I am proud to see the young man you’re becoming.”
Greg followed that up by saying. “You are so much formidable than Horatio ever was. As a young adult he could only dream about being as powerful as you are at your age.”