Chapter Twenty-one #3
“No, it’s Andrew’s,” Nick said, rubbing his already red eyes. They had been that color ever since Jack had been taken.
“It’s not,” Annie said.
“Oh, you’re back to being his friend?”
“I’m back to being practical. It’s all Ava Park’s fault. She ruined the world. She took our friends and used one of them against us to get my child.”
Nick let out a long sigh. “Who knows? Even if we forgive him, he might be too far gone. We might never get back our actual friends. Just some tormented version of them.”
“Don’t you worry. We’ll get them back and fix them when we rescue Jack and the twins.” She looked at Jay and said, “Right?”
Jay nodded and turned to leave the room. Sometimes even an objective person couldn’t handle the pressure. And no one could blame him, but I was sure grateful for him trying. Annie would not have survived all this time otherwise.
It had been a long, emotional day, so we’d decided to let everyone sleep it off and regroup in the morning. But the next day, and the week that followed, passed in a blur of back-and-forth talk without a single plan taking solid shape.
“Ugh. Enough is enough.” My temperament had been getting the best of me since I’d been given yet another ring blocker the day Robert arrived. Knowing my mood was wacky didn’t mean I could control it, though. I stood up to get more coffee, but the room spun.
Kevin caught me before I could find my balance. Or the floor.
“Ryan, you’re not looking good.” Annie ran to my side.
“No, I’m fine.” I pushed Kevin off. “I’m fine. I just stood up too fast. We need to freaking decide on a move and do it already!”
Annie, who was about to touch my forehead, pulled back her arm at my raised voice. “Okay, just let Dr. Ryder look at you if you still feel off.”
“We’ve had too much going on and I haven’t had enough to eat. That’s all.”
Kevin held my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “You’re getting weaker much faster. Look at your veins. The extra blockers are no longer working.”
“Which is why I need us to get a move on before I explode.” I stared at myself in the mirror hanging in the living room.
This couldn’t be me. Not this dreadful image with tendrils sunk deep into my flesh.
Long black lines branched out in a broken, jagged pattern, marking the exact tracks where my skin was on fire.
If I’d been sunk into a volcano, I doubted I’d have noticed.
I lifted a pant leg to find the same dark lines branching out on my ankle. I didn’t have to look further to figure out where the lines went, or how far they reached. I felt the burn along each one. And yet, I knew my pain was less than Nick and Annie’s.
Kevin’s fingers loosened on my arm, trembling against my skin as he avoided my eyes. “You can’t continue like this.”
“I’ll manage. Dr. Ryder is close to finishing a temporary cure.” I moved away from the mirror and from Kevin. Him breaking down only made it worse.
“What cure?” he asked.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you. I know it’s a sour subject for you, but as of yesterday, he’s closer to developing a smaller, weaker dose of the shot you got. He said it will help prevent my bones from fracturing, and the veins from being over-amped with unused powers.”
“Did he say if there was any danger?” Nick asked.
“The biggest danger is me needing to use my powers in a moment of emergency and not having them. But even in that case, I can fight.”
Nick took this in, and after a few seconds, asked, “Is he sure that it will be temporary?”
“No. It could be permanent. Especially if it’s constantly aided by the dampeners.”
“That’s okay. We can live with that. What we can’t live with is you shattering into pieces,” Kevin said. “Not having your powers will be okay. I promise.”
“What’s with all these stupid promises that no one can actually keep?
You have some nerve telling me I’d be okay when you sulked for a very long time after losing your powers.
” I turned to Jay. “And you, you can’t keep promising anything to Annie.
None of you can promise anything beyond trying your best.”
“I know. I suck. I didn’t handle it well when I lost my powers,” Kevin said.
“Actually, Nick, I may want to forget I ever had powers if I lose them.” I sighed. “So make that happen.”
“If that’s what you really want, consider it done.”
“Thank you. And while you’re in there, can you also rewire my brain so I don’t get a third serving of dessert?”
“Seconds are okay?”
“I want it controlled to a point, Nick . . . but I still want happiness. Let me have seconds.”
“Seconds it is,” he said, wrapping an arm around me and holding me carefully against his side.
“All right, all right, let go of my girl,” Kevin said, pulling me away from Nick. “You gotta respect a taken woman, bro.”
“Oh yeah? I remember when you were nothing but flirtatious with my wife.”
“Nope. You were divorced and Annie wanted you dead. Totally different scenario.”
“DEAD! Oh yes, yes.” Dr. Ryder, who had been walking in with David, grabbed the other man’s arm and pulled him. “Let’s go back to the lab.”
“We just came from there!”
“Indeed. But I have an idea.” He chuckled on his way out. “Dead, indeed. It would kill it all in one.”
We watched him lead poor, exhausted David to the lab, and none of us even pretended to ask any questions. At this point, we’d gotten used to his random bursts of announcements. He’d tell us when he was good and ready. Whether we wanted him to or not.