“Go back to Paragon. Get your sister. I’ll meet you both at Devil’s Peak in an hour, and we’ll take it fromthere.”
“Willdo.”
Gage walks him over to the woods and transports himhome.
Laken leans in and hooks my loose hairs behind my ear. “I’m proud of you, Skyla. You did great. You are a wonderful leader. I’m glad you’remine.”
“Thank you. Coop was still being processed or I’m sure he would have come. We couldn’twait.”
“And I’m thankful youdidn’t.”
“Same here, Messenger.” Ellis offers a quick pat over my back. “I meanOliver. What else can I do foryou?”
“Go home and comfort Giselle. I’m sure she missesyou.”
He offers up a quick salute and heads to the woods just as Gage appearsagain.
Laken shakes her head at me, her eyes cloud over with worry. “Skyla, they took Ellis and me to their facility because we had the babies. Angel turned bright blue, and her eyes started to spark. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it, and apparently neither had they. They tried to grill me, but I wouldn’t even give myname.”
“Blue? My God, the boys used to do that, but thankfully they seem to have outgrown it.” Please, dear God, let them have outgrown it. The last thing I need is to worry about their complexion giving away their angelic lineage. “As soon as we hit that prison, they stripped us of them. I tried to hold on. Ellis did, too, but Tobie’s face lit up like a blue beacon herself, and the rest washistory.”
I take a breath, trying to digest it all. “It’s okay. I can only imagine how fascinated they were at the prospect of raising two alien beings without the influence of others to bog them down. I’m sure they thought they hit thejackpot.”
“They didn’t thanks to you.” She gives my hair a quick stroke. “I’d better head home, too.” Laken ticks her head to the woods. “Coop is probably going insane.” She gives me a quick kiss to my cheek just as Wes comes up with Tobie. Laken swallows hard looking at the soot-covered little girl. “I’m glad you have your daughter back, Wes.” Her eyes glitter with tears as she ditches into thewoods.
He watches as she goes, his hand still protectively covering Tobie’s sweet darkhead.
“Thank you once again for saving my daughter.” He looks sheepishly from me to Logan. “And for bringing Laken back to mesafe.”
He starts to take off, and I snatch him by the wrist. “Where’s MelodyWinters?”
Wes frowns out at the building behind me. “I took her to Paragon before coming here.” Those familiar blue eyes tunnel into mine. “I was at Raven’s Eye, tonight myself, Skyla. I helped Gage transport the masses.” He glances past me at Logan. “I didn’t do it for your people or forme.”
I take a startled step backward. “Of course not. You did it forLaken.”
“Yes.” His expression sours despite the fact Tobie just leaned in and gifted him a kiss on the nose. “I needed to know she was safe.” He looks from Logan to me. “Thank you both.” He heads toward the woods, and both he and Tobie evaporate in a plume of electric bluefog.
Logan takes up my hands and pulls me in close, smiling through the tears glittering in his eyes, and my heart bursts open at the seams for our baby. A fresh wound I’ll grieveforever.
“She’s safe, Skyla. We will see heragain.”
I pull back and look into Logan Oliver’s citrine eyes, uncertain that I share his faith in thesentiment.
“We will,” he says it sad, as a fact, as if he knew the answer would frighten me as much as it would delightme.
We head back to Paragon and straight to Devil’s Peak. Gage helps me transport a handful of Spectators to the Black Forest, and Chloe starts in on what she does best, rats her little heart out. We take a few to Seattle, Brazil, and China, and Chloe plays her part as if this were the role she was born for. Not once has she asked about Tobie. Not that either Gage or I are surprised. We take the bulk of the Spectators straight to Raven’s Eye and retard the commotion at the mouth of the building as men swarm the facility trying to assess what the hell happened to those alien beings. We watch from afar as the Spectators thrash their way through those feds in their blue jackets as if they were ragdolls.
“I hope they eat them all.” Chloe chortles a darklaugh.
“Now that’s an outcome I hadn’t thought of.” Probably not a goodone.
“Not happening.” Gage nods ahead as agents swarm the Spectators, taking them down with the use of some kind of a Taser that shoots lightning from its eye. “They’ve got this. And they’ve also got their hands full.” He gives my shoulder a squeeze. “It looks like the heat is off ourpeople.”
“For the time being,” Chloe chimes. “Wesley won’t lie down forlong.”
Gage looks to me, forlorn, as if to say she’s right. Wes might be grateful today, but tomorrow is a different day. The battle between the Barricade and the Factions rages on. And until Wes lands on top, he will nevercease.
Maybe Coop is right. Maybe Wes must die. It’s the onlyway.
