14. Aiden

Chapter fourteen

Aiden

A text message from Cibrina stares at me from my phone screen. Internally, I’m pulling at my hair and then punching something in my frustration. On the outside, I’m frowning at it.

It’s been almost two months since the attack on the Guild and all its members moved to the bunker. Two months of members being forced to share bunk rooms instead of the privacy of their own rooms. Of having a limited menu of meal options and more restrictive curfews to ensure all members were safe every day. Two months with a tighter screening and approval process on jobs for members to pick from. And then requiring all jobs to be worked as a team of three or more, thereby reducing their income further.

Even with all those precautions in place, there are still weekly reports of members going missing.

Now that Gifted Enterprise knows we’re here, and that there is an entire group of gifted people to choose from, they’re picking us off one by one.

I don’t want to lock down the bunker to keep anyone from leaving. I am not their prison guard. The Guild is here to support and keep them safe as much as possible, but it will never try to control them.

I can only warn them of what’s happening and hope that they make the best call for themselves.

But that’s not what’s eating at me now.

Cibrina: Two more children arrived through the tunnels this morning.

Cibrina’s text is the third one in two days of this new problem that has arisen. Gifted children are suddenly showing up at the bunker on their own. We don’t know where they are coming from or how they are finding their way to us. Are they spies? Seeking entrance to where the Guild is and looking for ways to lure members out or bring others in?

The very idea of them using children as spies is abhorrent to me, but not at all unexpected, if that is the case.

Of course, we don’t turn them away. But they’re being isolated on one side of the infirmary on the upper levels so that they don’t have any real information to pass back, just in case.

Again, Cibrina’s name appears on the screen. I swipe to answer it and bring it to my ear. “What else?” I ask automatically because I know she wouldn’t be calling unless she’d learned something more that she didn’t want to share over a text.

Her voice is calm and confident, even with this shitshow on our hands, and it only reaffirms that she’s the best choice I could have made to handle operations. She’s a fucking unicorn, and I’m grateful the Guild has her.

“One of the children from last night woke up and was willing to talk.”

Finally. “And?”

There’s a second of silence, and my focus narrows to a needlepoint. Cibrina doesn’t hesitate to tell me anything. So, whatever this is, is important. “Tell me,” I prompt again, trying to keep the impatience from my tone.

“He was kidnapped by men in black in a van and taken to a butcher shop. He’d been tied up in the cooler when he heard a lot of screaming. When it stopped, someone came for him. A man, all in black, but not like the others. His face was covered except for his blue eyes. He unlocked his chains and then brought him through the back of a bar and told him to keep walking until he reached the doors. He was told the people there would help him.”

“Jackson.” He’s been gone since that night I found Raegan in his room a month ago. His threat still lingers in the back of my mind like a bad smell I can’t get rid of, and it sours my mood at the reminder. I’d wondered what he’d been up to since disappearing, but I hadn’t gone so far as to try tracking him down.

He disappeared a lot in the last couple of years since we’d come back together, but he always came back. I’d thought Raegan being here would have stopped that habit, but apparently not.

I wonder idly what Raegan thinks of him disappearing on her after that night and then flick that thought away. I don’t have time to wonder or care about it. It’ll just bring up other thoughts and annoying feelings that I don’t have control over or time for.

“I wanted to confirm with you, but yes, I believe it’s him as well. Why would he be sending the kids here? We can’t take them all into the Guild, especially if their families are still alive.”

“Let’s find out if they are first and go from there. If they are alive, we can’t just send them home either and hope that GE doesn’t try again and murder the family the second time.”

“We can’t just kidnap kids either, even if it is for their protection.”

“Of course not.” I tap my fingers against the dining table in thought. I know what I’ll have to do, but I don’t like it. I run through every other possibility and come right back to this one. “I’ll take care of it if it comes to that. If their families are dead, we’ll need to sort out how to safely get them into the foster care system under new identities.”

“The system can’t take care of them like we can,” Cibrina states.

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose at what she’s asking, but not asking. “I know that, but the Guild isn’t equipped for minors long-term. We help those who were brainwashed if we can. We don’t just take any gifted child on who still needs to go to school and can’t work or live on their own.”

“I’ll draft up a proposal and submit it to you by the end of this week for your review,” she says in a clipped tone, and I shake my head and fight back a small smile. This woman has a heart of fucking gold. Far better than mine.

“As you wish. Just find out about their families first. It may not even come to that.” We hang up, and I set my phone down. The chances of their families being alive are slim. It’s more likely that Cibrina’s plan may be the one we’re forced to go with, even if it’s not what I want for the Guild. We’ve saved kids from GE before, but it was one here or there that we were able to get back into society. Now we have five kids in two days, and we have no idea how many more may be coming.

To say we are unprepared is an understatement.

Fucking Jackson.

“What’s going on?” Dane asks from the couch. I look up, and he’s got the television muted while his arm is resting over the back of the couch, and he rests his chin on it. His computer sits on his lap with two more screens pulled out to either side to give him three monitors. He’s been beefing up the security here and the bunker for me, but I’ve also caught him researching topics like brainwashing when he thinks I’m not looking.

“I’ll fill you in after one more call,” I tell him.

If there was any other way to do this, I wouldn’t be calling this person. But my pride won’t impede helping children, so I swallow it like a lump in my throat and lift the phone to my ear.

“Adams,” the voice on the other end calmly answers.

“Thorton,” I mimic him by addressing the other by last names.

“To what do I owe this unexpected call?” the bastard says with fake politeness and unmasked curiosity.

I never ask this man for favors. Elias Thorton is a pain in my ass. His holier-than-thou attitude of doing “clean” business and the way he helps others is the complete opposite of ours. It usually means we’re never on the same page on how to go about helping the gifted community, even if we’re both against GE .

It also doesn’t help that this man refuses to sell the Tower to me. He thinks he’s clever and that I haven’t noticed he’s using it as an excuse to keep tabs on me and the Guild.

He also owns a private jet and yacht and has staff like a chauffeur for himself. He may use his money to help others, but not without helping himself first.

“Do you have any contacts in the FBI?” I cut straight to the point. I don’t have the patience or fortitude to bother with niceties that this man wastes his time with. But then, he also rubs elbows with politicians, so I’m not surprised he knows how to blow hot air and charm others with no substance in the conversation.

Another way we differ.

“The FBI?” he repeats with surprise. I don’t waste my breath repeating myself. “What sort of trouble are you in?”

He’s lucky that I’m the person he deals with rather than the other three. I’m sure a loaded question like that wouldn’t be allowed to slide by without comment, but I at least have a better perspective and can keep myself in check so long as I keep the Guild and my brothers at the forefront of my mind.

“I have gifted children in danger who need to return to their families, but it won’t be safe for them to go right back to life as it was. Not until GE has been handled. I need them in witness protection.”

“And you think I have access to the strings to pull to make that happen?”

My eyes narrow at him, even though he can’t see it. “That’s what I’m asking, Thorton. Can you help them or not?”

“How long until GE is ‘ handled’?”

“We’re working on it. I don’t have an exact date if that’s what you’re looking for,” I bite out as my temper frazzles.

He hums through the connection, and if I could reach through the phone and strangle him, I would. “How is Raegan?”

My teeth snap together and tighten to an uncomfortable grind. I don’t like his interest in Raegan. Even if it’s not sexual, now that I know about his infatuation with the girl, Portia, I don’t want him involved in anything to do with her. Period.

“She’s fine,” I finally manage coolly.

“Are you playing nice, or do I need to get her another place to stay?”

I grip the phone so hard it cracks from the pressure, and I have to consciously relax my hand. “As I said, she’s fine. Are you going to help the families or not? I’d hate to waste your time while you’re running around the world trying to find your girl who wants nothing to do with you.”

There’s a soft chuckle on the other end. “I’ll see what I can do. By the way, your lease is overdue. Make sure it’s paid in full by the end of today, or I’ll have to add a late fee.” He ends the call. It feels like my entire chest is on fire, and my insides are melting to molten lava with my hatred for Elias Thorton.

I know the lease isn’t overdue. It’s on fucking auto-draft. He’s trying for a ‘made-you-look,’ but he’s an idiot if he thinks I’d fall for that.

“—bodies discovered this morning.”

My eyes cut over to the television that’s been unmuted. “Turn that off. We need to figure out what we’re doing with Jackson’s newest hobby.”

“Aiden.” Dane’s voice is tight and clipped. I glance at his face and then back at the TV. It’s a news station showing a taped-off building in the city and lined with police cars and detective units.

I move into the living room to get a better view as they talk about a massacre in an office building that occurred this morning. While such violence is terrible, I don’t understand why Dane has pulled my attention to it until I see a still image of the inside of one of the floors after the bodies have been cleared. The GE logo is on scattered paper on the floor.

It’s just a bit of a letterhead, but it’s enough.

“It’s Jack,” I murmur aloud for Dane. There’s the possibility of another killer on the loose who hates GE or who just so happened to not like that office, maybe, but the chances are far higher that it’s Jackson. He’s been going after GE all this time, and it’s apparently escalated beyond stealth.

It doesn’t look like he tried to hide this at all. He wanted it to be seen.

A message, perhaps. But we aren’t ready for any sort of backlash or response.

What are you thinking?

Dane mutes the television and turns to me. “He’s lost his fucking mind if that was him.”

I nod, the gears in my brain turning as I identify all potential outcomes of this clearly visible move and outright call to war. “I need to find out who was in that building. See if there was an actual target or what the purpose of that office was for. ”

“And if there wasn’t one?”

I take a slow breath. If there wasn’t any real meaning to this building, then it would mean Jackson is just killing GE indiscriminately now.

The clock strikes two, and I quietly leave my room. I don’t worry too much about keeping my steps overly silent since Jack and I are the only light sleepers in the group. The other three could sleep through an earthquake.

I stop outside Raegan’s room and listen intently for any signs that she’s still awake. She came back from her bar shift at midnight, wearing another ridiculous wig that I want to yank off every time I see it. I know why she’s trying to disguise herself, but I’d rather she not go out at all between Gordon, Vera, Thorne, and the rest of GE out there now. It's too dangerous.

When all I can hear is the sound of her breathing deeply, I grasp the doorknob and turn it slowly. I’ve been coming to her room almost regularly since she moved in here. I feel like a fucking creep for doing it, but watching her sleep seems to be the only thing right now that settles all the thoughts in my mind enough for me to eventually sleep.

I hate that I’m relying on her for this, even if she’s completely unaware I’m doing it. It’s just another sign that I’m completely fucked over this girl. When I learned what happened with Vera, I was so shocked that I couldn’t even process what that meant with how I felt about her anymore. It was an accident. It possibly saved Dane’s life. Could I be angry with her for that? Had I made a terrible mistake?

For a brief moment, there was hope that we would work this out.

And then she helped Dane escape and put him in danger without telling me.

Or I found her sneaking around the Tower, and I was reminded that she’s still keeping secrets. We may know about Vera, but there’s a lot more she isn’t telling us.

I wish she would give me something. Anything , at this point, so we can get past this.

On top of that, she’s a wild card who refuses to work with others. I need to know that she’ll work with us. I brought her in, but she has yet to prove that she can be a team player. She enables Dane’s obsession with his sister, who we all know is working with the enemy that wants to kidnap Dane again. She goes out on her own without telling anyone what she’s doing or considering the potential fallout of her actions that affect us or the Guild.

I’m obsessed with her anyway.

I hate it. I hate myself for my weakness, most of all.

I close the door behind me. Just as it clicks shut, there’s movement in the darkness of her room, and then I’m pinned against the door with something sharp against my neck. The light of the moon is faint but enough to provide shadows in the room so I can make out a silhouette in front of me.

“Why are you in here?”

I mold the knife in my hand at my side back into a thick metal band around my wrist when I recognize Jackson’s voice. “Where have you been?” I demand in a low voice. The last thing I need is to wake Raegan and have her find me in her room. Jackson could probably care less.

“Hunting. Now, answer mine,” Jack replies evenly, like he isn’t still holding a knife to my throat. That in itself tells me that I need to tread carefully with him tonight.

“Checking on her.” I won’t admit that I was going to watch her sleep, but even saying this much ticks me off.

Jackson chuckles and taps the knife against my neck before finally pulling it and himself away from me. “What did I tell you about keeping secrets?” I can see the shape of him moving toward the bed, thereby getting close to the window and the moonlight. I can see more of him now between that and my eyes adjusting.

He crouches to the floor and then strokes the hair from Raegan’s face. He watches her with single-minded intensity. Like everything else in the world, even me in the room with them, has completely fallen away, and she’s the only thing he sees.

He leans closer to her, and I assume he’s just going to whisper something to her, but then his mouth meets hers, and I jump forward to grab him.

A gust of wind knocks me back. Did he just…? I catch myself on my feet, and by the time I look back at him with shock, he’s smirking at me while still in his crouch.

“Don’t touch her in her sleep,” I snap as quietly as I can, taking another step toward him .

Jackson shrugs and smiles back. “She wouldn’t mind.”

My jaw ticks at the reminder of them sleeping together. I had a feeling it would come to this, though I had expected Kellan more than Jackson. Jealousy writhes in my chest like a venomous snake wrapping around my lungs.

It shouldn’t matter to me if she’s with anyone. I had given up on having her a long time ago. Back when she could have been mine before anyone else’s. When I discovered there was a bigger connection between her and GE, I kept it to myself because I let my feelings for her cloud my judgment. Vera died that same week, and I can’t help but think that the outcome would have been different had I said something to the others right away.

Even if it was an accident, putting the others on alert might have changed things. As of today, I still don’t have an explanation for her birth certificate. I also don’t understand her connection with Gordon. What is he, to her? Why did she obey him when he’d attacked? If there was abuse involved, as I suspect, did he succeed in getting some sort of control over her? Am I putting everyone more at risk by having her around before I’ve determined if she’d still obey commands from him? If he hurt her, why would she think he’d left something for her at the Tower? What am I missing?

I can’t choose her again. Not at the risk of everyone else.

That doesn’t mean seeing her with the others makes it burn any less.

“I can wake her up to do it instead, if you’d prefer,” Jackson adds with a knowing smirk. Of course, I don’t want him to wake her up while I’m in the room. She can’t know I’ve been sneaking in here. I also have zero interest in watching them kiss as she tells him how much she’s missed him.

She hasn’t said anything to us, but there are clear moments when she’s looking out the window, and I know she’s thinking about him.

“How did you do that before? With the wind? Only Thorne could do that.” Jackson’s been able to manipulate people and objects, even smells and sounds, with his aerokinesis since we were children. But creating a powerful wind or weaponizing the air itself takes a strength he’s never been able to harness before. His strength lays in fine control using the air around something rather than the air itself. But to have improved this quickly to what Thorne can do while he’s alive and out there is…concerning.

Jackson sits on the top corner of her bed, his fingers trailing through Raegan’s hair while he watches her. “I’ve been practicing.”

I move closer to them until I’m within arm’s reach of her if I feel like I need to intervene. To which Jack raises his eyebrows at me with that enigmatic smile of his, as if to remind me that he’s never a danger to her. Of the two of us, I’m the more likely one to hurt her.

“You practiced before, and it never worked,” I remind him.

He shrugs again. “I’m more motivated this time around.”

My lips turn down at the possible implications of that. “Does it have anything to do with the massacre at an office building this morning? Or those children you keep dropping off at the Guild?”

“Maybe,” he answers cryptically.

“There’s shit going on at the Guild right now, Jack. We don’t need you to be hunting anyone down or drawing more attention to us. Why did you kill all those people this morning? You didn’t even try to hide it.”

Jackson smiles. But it’s dark and twisted and stalls the breath in my lungs when I see it. “How do you call a shark to you?” he asks softly, dangerously. I don’t think he means for me to answer him, so I don’t. “You put blood in the water.”

Tense silence fills the air between us.

“And who is the shark you’re calling for?” I finally ask.

“All the ones that matter.” Jack stands and then perches on the open window. “Keep her safe, Aiden. Or else I’ll come for you, too.” Then he slips out the window and is gone.

I look back at Raegan and her peaceful, sleeping face.

If she ever turns on us, we’re fucked.