Gifted Connections: Book 2(118)

I watched as five men came off the airplane. I could barely see, but I knew who they were immediately. I broke down in tears as I ran towards them. I was immediately crushed in between them. All the events of the day came rushing to me. The fear, the grief, the hopelessness, and finally, the relief of knowing we were all safe.

I could see the joy in Rachel’s face as they pulled her in for a hug next. I was kind of disappointed not to see Jemmy and Gavin. I really hoped they had already kissed and made up.

I looked up and saw Will’s grief-stricken face before he pulled me in for a tight hug. “I’m sorry, Blake,” he said fiercely. “I never should have put you in that situation.”

I hugged him back after a moment of surprise. “You didn’t put me in that situation. I have gifts. I need to use my gifts for good. I couldn’t stand by and allow men like Horatio continue to wreak havoc, while I sit by idly. We found out so much from Sierra tonight,” I informed him.

He squeezed me one more time. “Let’s go, dear, we got some worried children waiting for you at home.”

I nodded and turned to join my guys once more. The myriad of emotions on their faces, made me realize how important I was to them. I looked at them and hoped they realized how important they were to me.

Will and Remy went to collect Steven from the place we had put him; their steps heavy and their heads cast down. It wasn’t long before they returned. Will insisted on helping to carry his longtime friend, despite Remy’s polite protests.

Before we boarded the plane, I looked over at Sierra and motioned for her to follow us. I could see the curiosity and sadness in her eyes as she watched our reunion. I had a feeling when she lost her Grandmother, she had lost the last blood relative she had. She was like most of us. Another lost boy.

“I’ll make introductions when we get on the plane,” I said. “But for now, everyone, this is Sierra. She and Micah helped us immensely today. Sierra, this is everyone.”

Everyone gave her a warm welcome, and I could see she was slightly overwhelmed but ready for wherever we were going to take her. I noticed a more mature and analytical nature in her. She was always watching and soaking things in. She was strong and had a fire within her.

She seemed reticent for a moment as she looked at the private jet, then us, before she shrugged and boarded the plane in front of me.

I grabbed Jaxson’s hand as we walked towards the plane.

I love you, I told him once again.

His pale grey eyes turned on me, lighting up, and his gorgeous dimple appeared as he smiled at me.

I love you more than you’ll ever know, he responded.

It was as we were walking up the steps when I barely stifled my gasp. Jaxson was holding my hand and he looked up at me questioningly. Sierra was climbing the stairs in front of us, and the back of her shirt had ridden up. The glow from the interior lights illuminated her back.

Do you see what I see? I asked tentatively.

Jaxson looked confused before realization dawned. His eyes grew round as saucers.

Shit! His inner voice muttered.

Yup I agreed.

Sierra, our new-found acquaintance, had a trident the size of a half dollar on her lower back. The situation between Jemmy and Gavin just got a whole lot more complicated.



It was almost two o’clock in the morning when I was finally able to relax. I had just taken a shower, and I had a bowl of Drake’s amazing chicken noodle soup in my lap, despite my protest of not being hungry. Patrick, Nadia, and Ella had just fallen asleep on one of the bean bag chairs. They had been distraught.

Will had left with Beth to break the news to all the families that had lost someone tonight. Including Michael. Cora was nearly inconsolable. She had been given a sedative to calm her down, for the sake of the children. Beth was handling this with stoutness. I could see the pain and devastation in her eyes, but I knew she was trying to be strong for the children. She was trying to be strong for their family.

Micah and Alex were sleeping on another bean bag chair. Drake had already covered them with blankets after we determined there was no use moving them. We were just as tired, but unable to fall asleep.

Sierra had insisted that she wanted to tell us everything she possibly could. She wanted to be involved with our operations. She wanted to help everyone that she had seen in the facility. Jace and Terrance was acting like Will’s second in commands and were currently drilling her for information. They were sitting at the dining room table. I couldn’t help but notice how many times Jace would look up from their conversation to look at me, as if he was afraid I might disappear.

I was comfortably ensconced between Remy and Noah. Drake and Jaxson were comforting Rachel. She had broken down again when she had seen how broken the children were. She waited until they fell asleep before sobbing once more. I didn’t feel threatened at them comforting her, in fact, it made my heart warm seeing their compassion. After all, Rachel was family now. She should be treated as such. Gavin and Jemmy were cuddled up to one of the couches, but I could see and feel the tension radiating from them.

I wanted to tell them that they needed to get their crap together. Didn’t they realize they shouldn’t take life for granted anymore? We weren’t promised tomorrow. Even with Horatio gone, we never knew if he had others working for him that were willing to pick up the torch and continue his work. We had been targets before, now we were made into larger ones.

We had taken a lot of his test subjects. We had taken Dr. Neil. We might not have taken down his whole operation, but we definitely put a hurting on it. Tomorrow, we would regroup and figure out if we could find this other facility. From the sounds of it, it worked like the main base of Horatio’s operations.