The Elders (Mind Dimensions #4)(92)

I watch her realize how she was wronged, and it pains me to watch the turbulent emotions kaleidoscope across her face. Finally, tears form in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. Covering her face with her hands, Lucy quietly sobs.

Sara hugs her, her own face showing her incomprehension.

“What—what happened to . . . ” Lucy’s unable to finish her thought as another bout of grief takes hold and wrenches more emotions out of her.

“That’s the happy part,” I say, tears sliding down my face. “It’s Thomas.” I gesture at my friend, who’s been sitting on her right. Now that I look at him, I see that Thomas’s typically emotionless face is tense and twisted with sorrow.

Lucy turns and stares at him intently.

She keeps on looking for what feels like a dozen heartbeats without saying a word. Is she in shock?

Thomas stares back at her, and then suddenly, they hug.

She’s sobbing loudly, and he’s looking pretty emotional, especially for Thomas.

They speak softly to each other, and I can only hear pieces of what they’re saying.

“I knew something was special about you the first time we met,” I think I hear her whisper.

“You’re exactly how I always imagined you’d be,” I hear him say.

I feel as if I’m invading their privacy, listening in like this, so I wipe my face with my sleeve and look away.

Liz, her voice choked-up, says, “Why don’t we take a walk and give them a moment?”

Everyone complies in a dazed manner.

“Sara,” Liz says when we’re far enough away from the mother-son reunion. “Why don’t you take a walk with Hillary and me? We can answer any questions you have.”

“Thank you,” Sara says, her tone zombie-like. I think Liz overdid it with the Xanax therapy.

“Are you okay?” Mira asks, wiping the moisture from her cheeks with her index finger.

“I think so,” I lie, cognizant that Liz is still here. “I’m glad it’s done. I’m glad they know.”

“Darren, isn’t that Eugene over there with your little friend? And there’s a woman with them,” Liz says, her voice once again composed.

I look at where she’s pointing. I see Eugene running toward us, and I do mean running. Bert is accompanying him, and to my huge surprise, Julia—Eugene’s ex-girlfriend and the almost-mother of my child—is with him too.

Hands on her hips, Mira stalks toward her excited sibling. I follow as fast as my hurt ankle will allow.

“Zhenya, what the hell?” Mira’s voice has that irritated quality it sometimes gets when she’s exposed to too many emotions. She points at Julia. “And why bring her here?”

Eugene looks from his sister to Julia, then back at his sister. “Julia has nothing to do with my news. I was just showing her the mobile lab, so she was around when I made this discovery.”

“Tell him already,” Bert says. “Tell him what happened. You know he’s probably dying to know.”

“Yes, sorry,” Eugene says. “Darren, I have good news for you.”

“Just tell him.” Bert looks as if he’s about to start jumping up and down.

“I can Read him now.” Eugene jerks his thumb at Bert. “Him and Kiki.”

“I tried also,” Julia says, “to make sure.”

Mira looks thoughtful for a second.

“I just Read Bert also.” Narrowing her eyes, she buttons up the top of her shirt and says, “Thank you, Bert. It seems they were indeed showing.”

Bert turns beet red, but I ignore him.

Instead, I do my best to process this development.

“You’re saying I’ll recover my Depth?” I ask, hardly daring to let myself hope. “That I won’t be Inert forever?”

“Correct,” Eugene says. “My dad’s calculations were off. I was always better with math, and I should’ve triple-checked before worrying you so much.” He smiles sheepishly. “It will take twice as long as your regular Inertness, but you will certainly recover.”

I don’t even say thank you. Tears blur my vision, and I suppress a sniff. This hospital must be atypically dusty, and all this dust is clearly causing my allergies to act up—again. Bert and Eugene look at me as if I sprouted a second head. They don’t know how allergic I sometimes get, especially when I’m around my crying moms.

I’m so full of happiness that I get this odd feeling, like if I currently had my powers, I’d jump right into Level 2 from all the emotions running through my system.

I’m overwhelmed with relief—brimming with it. I don’t know whether this state is somehow related to the rollercoaster of emotions I just went through with my moms, or if I really feared losing my powers that much, but in this moment, I feel like a disaster survivor.

I grab Mira and give her a deep kiss, like the sailor in the famous V-J Day in Times Square photograph.

As I kiss her, I finally feel like everything will be all right.

I feel unstoppable elation.

I feel like myself.





THE END





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