27. Fiona
Chapter 27
Fiona
We spend the next three days making love, bickering, and planning for a future that we have no idea will happen or not. On the fourth day, Clay wakes me up in the morning with a cup of steaming coffee and an adorable smile. I run my fingers through his bed head that sticks up in all directions.
“Come outside with me. I want to show you something.”
I sigh, taking his hand, and he speeds up to the lake. The sky is lighter towards the east and I rub my arms to stave off the chill in the air, smiling when a comfortable warmth settles around me, courtesy of my super soldier boyfriend. A girl could get used to these perks.
There’s a light cloud covering and I watch as Clay raises his hands towards them and closes his eyes. Lightning surges around him, flying off his hands with a few sharp crackles before they disappear into the clouds. Nothing happens at first and I continue to stare at the flashing gray clouds while Clay wraps me up from behind.
I gasp as the clouds glow and tiny sparks float to earth instead of raindrops. It’s a literal fire storm, made just for me.
“It’s so beautiful. How did you figure out you could do that?” I ask, smiling as the sparks sizzle when they hit the lake.
“Infinitum has an end game. There’s a reason they’ve been enslaving and torturing people like me.”
“They want to save the world,” I say with an added eye roll.
“They want to control it. I inherited my abilities from my father, who took the original serum. It did nothing to him, but it altered his DNA and he passed it on to me. The serum Infinitum is killing thousands of innocent people for would bypass that and speed up their timeline by decades. If they get their hands on it, they’ll destroy the world in a matter of months.”
My stomach sinks. “And you have it? The serum?”
“I took it, along with the rest of my team, so we’d stand a fighting chance against Infinitum’s current super soldier army. It awakened some…different avenues for my powers. I’m stronger, faster, and I’m learning more every day.”
“That’s why Infinitum kidnapped you in the first place? To see if you had this serum inside of you?”
He nods. “And if not, they were going to toss me into their ranks. But I proved to be a more difficult captive than they expected.”
I smirk. “I can’t imagine why.”
He chuckles. “Last year, Eli infiltrated our group and stole a sample of John’s blood. It’s only a matter of time before someone at Insidatrex will reverse engineer the super serum.”
“You’re working against the clock.”
He nods. “What I do is dangerous, and I can’t risk you getting hurt because of me, so if you’re okay with it, I’d like to take you to the safest place I know.”
“Where?”
“To the bunker where my family lives.”
It didn’t take long for me to know that he keeps his team and his family close to the chest. “Sylvie? Raven?”
He nods.
“You want to take me to your family?”
“You’re my family, too.”
My eyes water. From what little he’s said about them, I can already tell they’re a supportive bunch. What would it be like to be a part of that? I’d love to find out.
“I’ve never had a family. Not really.”
He cradles my face in his hands. “They’re going to love you.”
He leans down and captures my lips in a sweet kiss, and my heart melts all over again. I never in a million years thought such sweet sentiments could come from a man who can be so arrogant, but I’ve learned it’s all just a mask he wears to protect himself.
“I see you, Clayton Fox.”
He furrows his brow.
“You hide your true self from the world, but I’m so grateful you took your mask off for me.”
“You’re the one who unmasked me, Fiona. Because of you, I can do things I never thought possible.” He points to the sky where the last of the embers fall. “That’s the first time I’ve ever been able to create fire.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s all you.”
“You–” His smile drops and his eyes glow as he zones in on the tree line behind me, his body rigid.
“What is it?” I whisper.
“Paul and Garrett are coming,” he says, taking my hand and facing the open space next to the lake. A moment later, the two men appear out of thin air. And just like that, our bubble is burst.