Gifted Connections: Book 2(112)

We also met up and trained with our new teams. I was assigned to a team with Steven, Troy, Michael, Rachel, Micah, and four other people I had just met. Troy and Michael had worked with them in the past and had nothing but positive things to say about them. They seemed like they were nice enough guys, but they weren’t my guys. I wished I could’ve been with all my guys.

Remy and Jace had argued to the same effect and was instantly made to realize that, with our gift levels, our gifts should be spread across the teams, to strengthen each team. It was a valid argument, but not one we all agreed with.

“Ready?” Jaxson asked as he slid on his black boots.

“No,” I answered him truthfully as I leaned into him.

He turned around and embraced me. He kissed my forehead. “Me neither.”

“It’s more than that,” I insisted as I turned around, so he could zip me up in the back. “I woke up this morning with the most unsettling feeling.”

“I’ve been feeling the same way,” Jace stated as he walked into the room followed by Remy, Drake, Noah, and Troy. They were already dressed in the black and silver uniforms, and I couldn’t help but admire how great they looked. I was one lucky girl.

“We all have,” Remy stated gruffly.

“Have I been projecting my fears?” I asked Jace in surprise as he pulled me in close.

I could feel him shake his head. “No. You’ve gotten really good with your barriers.”

“I’ve been agitated all day,” Noah admitted.

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Drake said eventually.

“So, do we tell Pops?” I asked desperately.

Troy shook his head. “I don’t think he’ll understand. He’ll probably think we’re being obstinate.”

“Do you think our connection is trying to tell us something?” Jaxson asked.

“I think it is,” Drake stated resolutely. “We’ve already proven that our connections aren’t normal. We’re learning as we go. If we were to go to Pops, he won’t understand.”

“What should we do?” Noah asked.

“Nothing,” Remy grunted before he gently extracted me from Jace’s embrace. “We take the orders given to us. We all come back here in one piece.”

I wrapped my arms around his waist squeezing him. I wanted to draw from his natural strength. I wanted the confidence he exuded, although I saw the doubt lingering in his eyes too.

“Pops said we need to roll out,” Jemmy stated as she came into the room. She looked ragged, worn, and heartsick.

Gavin hadn’t moved, but when he wasn’t training or going to school, he was working on a new program for the training facility. After going through the obstacle course, Gavin decided to create a simulation of something like that experience. He wanted to create a training environment where our gifts could be tested for an individual as well as a team. Each simulation would be custom fit to our abilities and gifts. Will had been excited by the idea, and Gavin started to run with it. He had little to no time for Jemmy.

Without a word, we all turned and headed down the stairs. Will was waiting outside, and I could see a look cross his eyes before he hugged or shook hands with everyone apart from Remy and Jaxson. They were going with him.

I hugged everyone as well before turning to climb in my own vehicle. I had never gone on a mission without most of my guys, and I knew I might be overreacting, but something within me was telling me otherwise.

Drake handed me his iPod before I entered my vehicle. Jaxson pulled me in close. “I love you,” he stated simply, in my ear, before squeezing me tight. “Please be safe.”

I was dumbstruck for a moment. Some of the guys had hinted at having stronger feelings for me, but no one had outright said they loved me until that moment. He never even gave me a chance to respond before I was ushered into the truck.



I slid into my seat on the helicopter and saw Troy turn from the pilot’s seat. I tried to give him a reassuring smile and thumbs up, but I know it looked forced. He was worried about me, but I didn’t know what to say or do to ease his concern. I couldn’t dispel this feeling.

The feeling in the helicopter was off. There wasn’t the easy camaraderie I had for Terrance’s team or our team. Troy was pensive, his jovial flirting self was nowhere to be found. Rachel was trying to pull me from my thoughts, but all her attempts were falling short. Steven seemed to have noticed my withdrawal, because he had taken Micah under his wing and offered him the jump seat beside him and Troy. Michael wouldn’t shut up when he wasn’t playing on his phone. He went on for about fifteen minutes about this new dating app he found, until Rachel told him to be quiet, but in a less friendly way.

The quads seemed to be regarding me with a mixture of wariness and awe. I didn’t remember their names. I was ashamed of myself. I remember how it felt to be invisible. I tried to make it a point to include everyone I encountered.. Unfortunately, I had been too beyond stressed to be completely present to anything.

It had been confirmed that Rose hadn’t been working alone with nearly killing me. The empath was cleared of any involvement, but Ms. Bullock and Rose had been involved. Neither one of them would give us any other names. Rose helped her out of spite for me, but Ms. Bullock wouldn’t tell us who she was working for or why. We didn’t want to rule out Horatio. All this time he seemed to want to capture me, and not kill me; so his change of modus operandi was confusing.