Chapter 31 #2
Once again my blood pressure spiked. Admittedly, we had taken the kids out in the stroller more and more lately.
It had great storage in there large enough to fit their diaper bag and any other additional items they may need including their tummy time mats.
Plus, both sections laid down flat to allow them to sleep peacefully when needed.
I never realized our habits were being that closely supervised.
Yes, we always kept them near, but we didn’t always have our hands on the pram, especially while we were eating.
I don’t think anyone of us ever thought someone would be brazen enough to steal them when they were less than a foot away from us.
A man that was on the stockier side wearing a polo, designer jeans, and what appeared to be boat shoes turned to glare at her. Tiff opened and closed her mouth several times before she sputtered. “He’s—he’s lying! I—he—didn’t look in the place I told him I would have the stroller staged.”
The man sneered and I saw nothing but pure evil promises coming from the look he gave her.
“He better be because if I find out you’ve been spreading your legs for anyone else but me you’re going to wish for death.
Don’t worry though. I’ll make sure your bastard child is born first before I get rid of you. ”
Tiff threw a protective hand over her belly. Her eyes were filled with pure fear before I saw the determination reenter her eyes. She lifted her chin up, defiantly. “I’m not lying. Mike is a jealous asshole because I stopped hooking up with him when I found out you were my connection.”
“You manipulative lying whore!” Mike snapped jumping up, hands fisted by his side, nose inches away from her.
Then a slow wicked smile curved around his lips.
“We were all in her apartment earlier. When she met up with us her hair was still wet. She said she just took a shower. Yet, Corey, remember you grabbed her loofah and toiletries to throw in her bag. Why was everything still dry if she was freshly showered? Who’s shower did she use?
Was she washing off the smell of sex from her body, knowing you were coming? ”
Horatio seemed amused by their fighting before he seemed to remember the situation they were in and why. “I kind of hope she’s lying. Now get us a door ready to use.”
Tiff’s lip trembled before she glared at Mike, then ran off toward the kitchen. “We’re going to follow and make sure she isn’t successful.” Victoria said, grabbing Kade’s hand.
“I can pause and unpause her, so she doesn’t complete the door before our back up arrives.” Kade agreed.
They disappeared and I was filled with relief and trepidation.
I didn’t like that they were leaving our sight but thankful that they had come up with a solution to our problem.
That door couldn’t be created. I had a feeling if Horatio were to escape the facility he would go underground for a long time.
I didn’t want his reappearance to hang over our heads.
I didn’t want to constantly be looking over our shoulders afraid that he would succeed where he had failed before.
One of the men who had been standing by the door suddenly straightened. He placed both hands on the floors before snapping back up. “We have a large group heading this way.”
“Shit!” Horatio cursed. “Pollock, Arrington, Blodgett you know what to do.”
One of the guys ran over to one of the entrances and began to swing his hands back and forth over it. Before our very eyes steel plates began to seal the entrance closed. The bottom half was covered before Jaxson muttered. “I think not!”
Every time a new patch of steel arose it began to wobble and flex before crumbling to the floor. Despite the tense situation I had to smile at Jaxson. He returned my grin and winked.
“Nah, that won’t work either.” Troy tsked.
I turned to see his attention was drawn to the second guy who was attempting to erect a thick wall of ice in the second opening.
He ran into issues as well as the ice began to melt causing the water to begin to pool at his feet.
Troy had such control of his gift he was able to cause the ice to melt without even forming a flame.
A whimper across the room made me remember the third female.
She looked to be around my age and ethereally beautiful.
She had long pale blond hair that fell to her waist and large blue eyes that were too big for her face, yet it worked.
Her choice of clothing added to her angelic looks.
She wore a white sundress that clung to her slim willowy figure and a pair of brown sandals.
She was yet another person that didn’t look like she belonged among Horatio’s people.
“What the fuck is going on?” One of the men waiting near Horatio began to look around nervously.
The girl attempted to throw another net of vines across the entrance, but it collapsed before it could even reach it. She cried out in distress. “I can’t do this. It won’t work!”
It was then that I realized that Jace was feeding into her self-doubt and fears. I’m sure any other time she was proficient with her gift. Unfortunately, for her, Jace was too strong to fight off. He was using an emotion that plagued most of us young females, our insecurities.
Another young man stepped forward and swept his arms in a wide arch.
A gust of wind expelled from his fingertips.
I was thankful I had tied my hair back when I realized how strong it was.
My hair would have whipped me in my face, causing me to be unable to see.
The man slowly turned, his eyes landed on us, and he chocked his head to the side before grinning.
He must have felt the break in the wind when it landed on us. I was sure he was so attuned to his gift that he could feel a shift in the air when something was disturbing the natural flow. With all of us huddled together and nothing to justify the sudden wind break he could sense our presence.
“We’re not alo—”
I cut him off before he could give up our location. Then I silently commanded him. “Silence! Tell them you don’t sense anything.”
“I don’t sense anything.” He said in a monotone voice.
Another woman stepped forward and looked skeptical by his declaration.
She had to be in her early thirties and if bad ass had a face, it was hers.
She sexy with long auburn hair, expertly applied makeup with deep red lipstick.
She wore all leather including her ankle high heel boots.
She produced a leather whip out of thin air and seconds later fire erupted across it.
With a flick of a wrist, she sent it our way.
I couldn’t stop the yelp that erupted from my lips, and I heard Shiloh, Noah, and Miranda echoing my noise of surprise.
I was thankful Drake had the quick reflexes to erect a forcefield to protect us, but it also gave away our location when the whip recoiled back from it.
“We’re not alone.” The woman smugly smiled.
“Show yourselves!” Horatio barked out at the same time the rest of our people arrived.
Dawn, Terrance, Marcel, Tyler, Sam, and Tamara led the charge. Behind them were several more of our people. I felt elation fill me seconds before I felt hands come up and cover my eyes. I yelped in surprise and at the same time I heard a high-pitched scream followed by a yell of shock.
“No, no, no!” Jaxson breathed out in horror.
“What?” I asked trying to fight the hands that covered my eyes.
Micah’s voice sounded right behind me, and I realized then it was him covering my eyes. His tone was filled with pain and regret, and I knew instantly something bad had happened. “Don’t look, Blake, please.”
It was the wrong thing to tell me because I was all the more determined to see what he was shielding me from.
I tapped into my gift of strength, grabbed his hands, and pulled them from my eyes.
I blinked and blinked again, attempting to refocus my eyes at the same time Jace told Drake. “Drop the shield, Drake.”
Once again, the cafeteria was the place for another battle.
This time I didn’t have the luxury of hiding as I fought.
I would have to fight in the open. As I tried to gather my bearings, I temporarily forgot Micah’s odd behavior.
I didn’t have the luxury to search for what had caused their distress as a man replicated himself headed in Terrance and Marcel’s direction.
Both of them were kneeling on the floor and I didn’t have the time to figure out why they were as the man duplicated himself ten times and produced blades.
He began running toward them and I knew I had to buy them some time to get up.
I imagined the floor becoming uneven before the man and his clones.
The first one stepped stumbled and barely caught himself.
The man behind him wasn’t so lucky and dove into him, knife out.
The first one screamed as the knife pierced his side.
Seconds later the first one disintegrated into thin air.
The third man was distracted by the other two that he wasn’t paying attention to his footing and tripped.
He didn’t catch himself in time and his head cracked with a sickening crunch as his temple landed on jagged edges of the floor.
Seconds later he vanished as well. The fourth man to the left screamed and clutched his side, then his head.
It was then I realized he was the “original.”