Which was crazy because they couldn’t accept her this easily, they didn't even know her. If she was going to be accepted, she was going to have to prove herself worthy, and the thing was that she was pretty sure she wasn't worthy of any good thing.
“You hungry?” a pretty redhead asked, and Indigo knew the woman had to be Rose because she shared a lot of similar traits to her brother.
Before she could answer, her stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, and while Indigo’s cheeks flamed in embarrassment, everybody chuckled, and the tension in the room seemed to bleed right on out.
Or maybe it was only she who was tense.
Everybody else seemed perfectly at ease, and like they were happy that she’d finally stopped hiding and come to join them.
“I'm hungry,” she replied, even though it was a moot point by now,since her stomach had already given her away, but she felt like she had to say something. Scared or not, these people were important to Voodoo, and since Voodoo was important to her, it made them important to her, too, and she desperately wanted them to like her.
“Perfect, because we made way too much food, even with these guys’ huge appetites,” a brunette piped up, and Indigo was pretty sure that she must be Cassandra Charleston. Voodoo had given her a detailed rundown on who everybody was, how they fit into the group, and some of what had brought them here.
“Polyphagia,” a blonde piped up.
“What?” Indigo asked, not sure what that word meant.
“Oh, it’s the medical term for someone who has a huge appetite,” the blonde, who could only be Whitney Daley, said as she blushed.
“You’ll get used to her blurting out things when she’s nervous,” Blade piped up, and Indigo got the feeling he was letting her know she wasn't the only one scared about this meeting. Which made sense given the man had super hearing and had likely heard every single word of her conversation with Voodoo before leaving his room.
“Why would she be nervous?” Indigo asked. It was weird meeting the person responsible for everything that had been done to her, but she wasn't stupid, she understood Whitney hadn't been given a choice, and she didn't hold it against the younger woman.
“Because it’s my fault,” Whitney said softly, recrimination heavy in her tone.
“How?” Indigo asked as Voodoo carried her over to the table and sat down, settling her on his lap even though there were plenty of empty chairs left. Not that she was complaining, she definitely needed his support right now. She was challenging herself, but now that she was there, it wasn't quite as hard as she’d been expecting to face Voodoo’s family.
“Because I created the drug,” Whitney replied like it was obvious.
“From what Voodoo told me, you createdadrug, but notthisdrug,” Indigo corrected gently. Maybe it helped to know she wasn't the only one nervous about this meeting, but she also didn't want Whitney to blame herself for something she’d been forced to do as a ten-year-old child.
“Still, I was?—”
“Was just as much a victim of Dr. Gardner as the rest of us,” Indigo finished for her.
For a moment, Whitney just stared, her blue eyes full of confusion, then relief, and finally joy. “Thank you. For accepting me. I offered to leave if you weren't okay with me being here, even though Blade about had a heart attack when I suggested it.”
“Oh, I can leave if you want me to,” Indigo quickly offered. She was the newest one there, which made her the lowest person on the totem pole. If anyone had to go it was her.
“You're not going anywhere,” Voodoo growled in her ear, his arms tightening possessively around her.
“No one is going anywhere,” Steel said firmly, like he was refereeing a childish argument.
“Especially not when we already made all this food,” Rose piped up.
“And not when Dragon didn't try to kill Indigo or advocate for her death upon meeting her,” Cassandra piped up, grinning and poking the huge man with the unusual violet eyes, which he rolled even as he reached out and grabbed her arm, tugging her off-balance so she stumbled and landed up against his broad chest.
“You should definitely feel special about that one,” Rose teased Dragon, who shot her an eye roll as well.
“No need to want her dead, she’s one of us,” Dragon said, looking over to her, and she understood what he was telling her. She wasn't just one of them because she’d also been experimented on and survived, she was one of them because of Voodoo, and that made her family.
Thinking about the crazed scientist put a dampener on her improving mood. So far, there had been no word on the man. According to Voodoo, he’d shot the doctor, but then things had gotten derailed when someone shot at him, then she was held hostage, and almost died. For the last several days, Delta Team had been trying to get a location on him, but so far had been unsuccessful. Voodoo had tagged the boat with a tracker, but by the time Prey had sent a team to locate it, they’d found it abandoned.
“Has anything changed?” she asked as the others began to bring food over to the table. “Do we know where he is?” While she wanted tobuild a new life, one where she belonged, where she could be happy, safe, and free, one where she could be loved and love in return, that could never really happen so long as Dr. Gardner was out there.
As long as he was out there, none of them could ever truly be free.
“Nothing yet,” Thunder told her as he took the seat beside the one she shared with Voodoo.
