"I thought-"
"Gran," he begged in a whisper and she knew right then that something was really wrong. "Please."
"All right. Come on, Rodney."
"No, please," I said and picked him up. I hugged him to me and tried my best not to cry. "I just need him with me, okay?"
Her mouth fell open. "Oh, my... Lord, what happened today? Somebody better start talking."
"We will, Gran," Caleb told her and put his arm around my shoulder, kissing my temple, "but first, I want to get on that plane and get my family away from here. We have important things to do."
Two hours later, everyone was on a plane and headed home. As soon as we got to Peter’s house, we sat everyone down, the whole Jacobson clan, for an emergency meeting. Caleb took the cog wheel from his pocket, placed it on the table to let them know this was official. He told them everything that was going on—the visions, Ashlyn, what we'd seen and heard and suspected about Ava being in danger and somehow, someway, that it was connected to something the Watsons were doing. They were still conducting experiments on humans and we were told, in no exact words, to do something about that. And that the council wasn’t doing anything about any of it.
It was customary for the men to do most of the missions and work in the clan, but when it came to war, all bets were off, Caleb had explained to me once. Their family hadn’t had the women fight in a battle in a very long time. Everyone was needed—all hands on deck. They were on board and out the door toward the Watson compound before Caleb could even work up a good angry sweat from his rally-the-troops speech. Gran and a few others stayed with the children, but the majority were going, with the intention of battle.
I changed into some jeans and boots upstairs before we left. Caleb came in and leaned in the doorframe. I couldn't read his mind. He was blocking me, so I assumed he was about to ask me to stay home or stay in the car even. I opened my mouth to argue, but he crossed his arms and sighed before saying firmly, "Stay with me, right by my side. You got me?"
I smiled. "You're not forbidding me to go?"
"Would it work?"
"No," I answered sadly.
He pushed away from the doorframe and came to me, kneeling down and putting my foot on his thigh to finish tying my boot. "Remember the vision you had of us fighting side by side together?" I nodded. He gulped and pulled my laces tight before kneeling up and pushing my knees apart. "So, no, I won't forbid you to go. But please, Maggie, let me protect you. Stay with me, stay connected to me, and listen to me. If I ask you to run or move, don't think. Just do it. I'm keeping you safe, not ordering you around."
I pushed my fingers through his hair, one hand and then the other, as I rubbed his head and tugged gently on his hair. He closed his eyes and leaned in, letting his arms circle my waist as he pressed his cheek to my chest.
"I know you need to keep me safe," I told him, my lips in his hair. "I want you to. We're a team. I can't do this at all if you can't be right there with me. You’re the key, remember?"
He sighed and lifted his head. His hands gripped my legs and he tugged me to the edge of the bed to be flush against him. His blue eyes were so heavy and weighed down with everything that was on his mind. I rubbed my thumb over where his dimple should be. It seemed like forever since I’d seen it and it may be an eternity before I would see it again, if this kept up.
“Hey.” He lifted my chin, a ghost of a smile there on his sad lips that he was pushing so hard, just for my benefit. “I have a lot to be happy about. They aren’t taking anything away from me today. Do you hear me?” I smiled. “Mrs. Jacobson?” he prompted.
I fingered his dimple again. “Yes, Champion. I hear you.”
He took my mouth in a painful plea to stay safe above all else. It was hungry and aching and rough, while still being my sweet Caleb that worried. He cupped my neck and dragged me against him, his lips taking mine one at a time, even as he moved his hands to press and caress my back under my shirt to soothe me, fill me with his calm and touch as much as he could before we had to do this and be on our own for this fight.
Then he stood with me in his arms and took one long last pull from my mouth before pulling back. “I could stay here all day, but—”
“Ava,” I answered. “I know.”
“I am so in love with you,” he groaned against my lips, his forehead to mine. “Everything is going to be okay. You’re here for a reason. This is happening for a reason. Don’t be scared. I believe in you.”
“I believe when you believe.” I gripped his neck hard with my arms. “I love you, too.”
He kissed me once more before setting my feet to the floor. “Let’s see the kiddos before we leave.”
I nodded and felt my eyes sting. “Don’t say anything to make me cry. I don’t want to upset her.”
He brushed my cheek with his thumb with a sad smile. “Okay.”
When we got downstairs, everyone was waiting. The rest of the family had gone to get ready and then brought their children back here so they were all together safely. I knelt in front of Ava and she looked up at me. “You’re leaving now, aren’t you?”
“Yes, baby. We’re going to help some people with some bad men.” I had a thought. “Ava, have you…have you had any weird dreams or anything lately?”
“No, mommy. Not unless us putting Rodney in an all-girls boarding school across the sea for always stealing my dolls and making them his GI Joe prisoners counts.”
Caleb snorted while Gran’s cackle held nothing back. I smiled at her. “Well, I think that’s probably valid.” I hugged her to my chest tightly and tried with everything in me not to cry. “Listen to Gran, okay? And be nice to Rodney. Y’all just play and wait for us to come home. We’ll be back before you know it.”
“Why are you crying? What’s wrong?”
I squeezed my eyes tight. My perceptive girl. I felt Caleb’s hand on my shoulder as he bent down next to me.
“Hey, give Daddy a hug.” He took her from me and I swiped my eyes discreetly. “Mommy just hates it when people hurt other people. We know that, right?” She nodded. “So Mommy and I are going to help somebody. You stay here and help Gran, okay?”
“Okay.” She looked down. “Will you be back before bedtime?”
“I hope so.”
“Will you sing to me now? In case you don’t make it back in time for bedtime?” Her big blue eyes that matched her daddy’s looked up at him and I knew he’d sing a hundred songs if that’s what she wanted.
He tucked her under his chin and rocked her a little, out of habit, as he leaned back with her and sang “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. They did the doo-doo-doo-doo’s together like they always did. I ached so much in my chest as I watched them. I turned away so she wouldn’t see me getting worked up. It wasn’t that I didn’t have faith in Caleb or myself or what we were or our people…it was just that she was our daughter.
Gran’s arms came around me from behind. I didn’t have to look to know it was her. I could smell her perfume. “It’s going to be all right, pretty girl.”
“Is it?” I glanced back at my little girl who Ashlyn told me was in danger somehow. “What if we’re playing right into their hands? What if by leaving her today, I’m abandoning her like my mother did me and she’ll be stuck without me forever?”
“You know that’s not what you saw.”
“I’ve changed my visions before,” I countered.
“For the good. For the better. You have your gift for a reason. Ashlyn wouldn’t have come to you and told you just to send you to an ambush.”
I nodded and breathed deeply through my nose. “You’re right.”
I turned and hugged her around her neck. The vision hit me when her cool skin touched mine. She gripped me tightly as we watched. Our Gran was older than she was now. She looked so happy—surrounded by her family, tears on her cheeks, her gray hair surrounding her head on the pillow in the upstairs bedroom. She touched Peter’s cheek, who tried to keep it together as he looked down at her.
“Oh, Peter,” she said and smiled. “Do you have any idea how happy a woman can be in a hundred years?”
He smiled through his tears. “No, Mama. Tell me.”
“So happy she’ll burst.”
He succumbed to his tears and hugged her gently as we all let our Gran go. She smiled all the way to the end. When her hand slowly fell from Peter’s head, we knew she was gone. I’d never felt such a peaceful vision before. It was all light and air around me. Gran’s goodness touched everything. She truly was the happiest creature that ever touched this earth and she shared it with us every day.
The vision left me and a sob choked in my throat. Gran gripped my cheeks, a smile on her face. “Don’t say anything. To anyone.”
“Gran—”
“That’s the way I would have always wanted to go. Peaceful, surrounded by the people I love. At least I know I won’t die by some Watson’s hand or in some stupid car. I’ll die the right way, the way God intended. Let me have this,” she said harder. “This is our secret, pretty girl.”
I nodded. What else could I do? She wiped under my eye with her knuckle. “Thank you. You know this family. They won’t let it go.”
I did know. They would drive themselves crazy with worry about it, though it was inevitable that everyone died of old age one day. I nodded again. “I promise.”
I tucked Gran’s vision away behind my walls and vowed to keep it there. I let my mind return to the matters of the day, to my Ava, which was pretty easy to do, and when Gran and I turned back to the room, they were getting ready to go.
“Mom,” Caleb called out, so busy and completely oblivious to my and Gran’s revelation. He shook his head. Hearing what he had in his mind, I sighed in relief. “I want you to stay.” Rachel’s mouth popped open in protest, but Caleb went on. “You’re one of the strongest here, your ability could protect the children if someone did come. I want someone to stay here with them, just in case. Don’t worry, I’ll watch out for Dad.”
Rachel was torn. She wanted to keep her grandkids safe, of course, but the significant in her didn’t want to send Peter off to fight without her there. Peter was at her side in an instant. He sighed, having heard it all in her mind. “It’ll be all right, Rae. Caleb’s right. If anyone could stay and protect the children, it would be you.”
She took his face in her small hands. “You better be careful.”
“Always am.” He pulled her up and we looked away as he kissed her.
I kissed Rodney’s forehead as he slept in Maria’s arms and hugged Ava tight before handing her off to Gran. Gran and I shared a look of understanding before I headed out. It was hard to keep it together for two reasons now. We were on our way before I felt like I even had time to get my bearings. I rode in the front, middle seat with Caleb’s hand stuck between my thighs the whole way there as he drove. Peter sat on the other side of me and reached over to squeeze my hand over now and then. It felt like the blink of an eye when we were parking near the woods. When we got out, I was a live wire. I was too worked up. I didn’t know what was up or down, what was what.
“Maggie?”
“Huh?” I whispered and lifted just my eyes to find Caleb bending down to catch my gaze. “What?”
He leaned in and kissed my lips firmly, the tips of his fingers rubbing behind my ear. He pushed away from the truck and held his hand out. “Now let’s go get these bastards.”
It was what I needed. Exactly. I put my hand in his and let him lead me the short walk through the woods to the house. The Watson Compound. I had never seen this part of it when I was here. I could see the well on the cliff a little ways in the back. A shiver ran over me at the thought that we might find people down there today.
“No time like the present,” Caleb muttered and lifted his hand to let everyone know, from their various scattered positions across the estate, that we were moving in. There was a couple of cars in the driveway, but for the amount of people that supposedly lived there, it didn’t look right. We sneaked across the property line until we reached the main entrance. The massive gate was left cracked open…like they left in a rush. We made our way up the driveway to the house. Some of the family started to search the outlying buildings while we took the main house. Caleb and I took either side of the front door and listened. Not hearing anything, he started to grip the handle to turn it.
I got the worst feeling. I didn’t know why, but I hissed, “No.”
He stopped. I went to his side and he put me right behind him as he borrowed my ability and yanked the door from hinges with a wrench of his wrist in the air. We turned our heads, just in time it seemed, as a blast of noise and smoke came from the other side of the door. Caleb looked at what it was. “They rigged the door with a shotgun.” He looked back at me over his shoulder. “How did you know?”
“I don’t know.” I gulped.
He squeezed my fingers gently. “It’s okay. They rigged the place since they don’t have any powers to protect themselves.”
“And how is that supposed to make me feel better?”
He didn’t answer as he inched past the gun and looked around the room. “If they were here, they would have heard that. We need to move quickly.”
“The well,” I said. “And the bunker out on the hill.”
He nodded. He knew I was right. If they had someone here, that’s where they were keeping them. We moved over the hill to the storm shelter looking door and opened it up to find the ladder leading down to the tunnels as Kyle and Lynne went for the well. I gasped at the smell. It smelled the same…exactly the same.
Caleb held the door open as our family watched and waited for instruction. Peter was next to me and gripped my arm to keep me steady. Caleb walked to me easily. They all knew and remembered what happened to me here. “You don’t have to go down there. You can stay out here and—”
“No,” I cut him off. “Then they win.” I looked up at Peter and back to Caleb’s eyes, begging him to give me the strength to do this. “Sikes doesn’t get to win, does he? Marcus doesn’t get to win after everything they did?”
He touched my cheek. “Hell no.”
“Let’s go.”
I let him go first because I knew he needed to, but I was anxious now. I needed to see if anyone was down there and get them out of there if they were. While half the family stood topside and watched for company, walking the estate, the rest of us came down and started to search the tunnels. I opened my mind and listened, but it was quiet.
It didn’t take long however to know that we’d found what we were looking for. When a ghost white hand crept out from the bars of a cell, so weak the fingers could barely bend, I yelled for the person to back away so I could open the door. With the only weapon I had, I used my mind to yank the door from the hinges to reveal a woman so thin and weak, I didn’t know how she was still alive.
She was afraid, I could tell, but Caleb immediately knelt and lifted her, handing her to someone closer to the hall and told her it was okay, that we were taking her somewhere safe. Her cries and “Thank you”s could be heard all the way down the tunnel. Every door we opened, another woman, another man was found. Some were hardly abused at all and you could tell they were taken care of and then others were barely alive. It made no sense at all. We rescued over fourteen people from those rooms. They said the Watsons had just been there that morning, so we missed them by a couple hours.
When we went inside the house and searched the rooms, we didn’t find anyone inside, but we did find more booby-traps. We decided we’d wait them out, but when we started finding cameras in every room, we knew there was more to it. I sighed, knowing we’d missed them, knowing they weren’t coming back. They were probably watching us right that minute. I took one of the cameras Caleb had ripped down in my hand and didn’t flinch when the vision came.
They scattered. They had gotten smart. In the absence of powers, they didn’t roll over and play human like we thought—no. They had taken the initiative to use power that was manmade while t
hey worked on Sikes’ formula. So they studied technology and tactical systems to keep themselves safe until the time came when they could get their true powers back. They had gotten good at pretending, blending in, being invisible. We had practically forgotten they existed.
And that was our mistake.
We should have checked up on them and made sure that they were giving up. Now, they knew we knew their secret, so they scattered all over so we couldn’t find them.
But they weren’t finished.
One day, they’d be back to finish what they started. They still had every intention of creating a serum that would make them Virtuoso again, either by imprinting or other means.
We were too late. But at least we saved those people.
I yanked out of the vision and shook my head, disappointed and happy at the same time. “They’re gone,” I told everyone. “They planted the cameras to see if someone found them and knew we were here. They aren’t coming back.”
They started to cheer, but when they saw that I wasn’t as happy and Caleb came to soothe me, running his fingers over my Visionary mark on my neck, they slowed their celebration.
“Why don’t you seem happy about that?” Kyle asked.
“If they were here now, we could end it now,” Caleb explained, knowing I was exhausted in my head. “Now, we’ll have to wait, look over our shoulder, wait for them to snatch more humans and use them for guinea pigs to finish the experiment. They won’t stop until they get what they want.”
Everybody seemed to understand then.
“Let’s do one last search before we leave, make sure we didn’t miss anything,” Caleb ordered.
I crossed my arms and looked around the room we were in one last time. There was nothing remarkable there. It was a typical American house. The couch matched the curtains, the floors were wood, and the chandelier in the foyer bounced the light from the setting sun out of the window onto the walls. It was a beautiful place. It was a shame that people, so evil, had lived there.
Some kid’s artwork caught my eye on the way out. It was over the fireplace. I smiled, thinking of my own kids, knowing that they would be safe now, for a while anyway. It seemed strange that people so evil would be thoughtful and caring enough to want to show off their son’s artwork like this.