Page 1 of Liberating Water

Lailah

“We finished the serum today.It was ready to be tested, and we made a batch of twenty vials. They’re gone,” Chadwick said, his British accent becoming stronger in his distress.

I sat stunned on the hotel couch between Hudson and Brayden. This was worse than we thought. Not only had we discovered that the Dark Lord has a hidden army, but he now had the one tool he needed to make more soldiers for it. Watching Hudson’s father start to fray at the edges of his perfectly maintained exterior made my heart ache for him. I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but seeing as we only met a few hours ago, I didn’t think he would welcome it.

Pulling himself upright, he gathered his thoughts and stood. “If you will excuse me, it seems that I must be getting back to the facility. There is an investigation that needs to be done. We must find out who took the Day-Brite formula.” Chadwick turned to Brayden’s father, Oliver, gripping his shoulder. “Please tell Adriana I’m sorry.”

With that he left the room in a hurry, phone to his ear, talking to someone in what sounded like French. I turned to Hudson and found his face void of emotion, but his mouth was tight, as if he was holding himself back from following. His honey blond hair that was typically styled to perfection was mussed, and his bright blue eyes were guarded. Pushing his glasses back up his nose, I saw his hand shake with the need to do something.

“Hudson, you need to be with him,” I said softly, taking his hand. “We will stay here tonight, so go take care of your father.”

Hudson held my face in his hands and placed a kiss on my forehead. “I’ll be back in the morning.”

I nodded, waving for him to follow after his father. “Go.”

Hearing the door close after Hudson, I sagged against Brayden, the events of the evening catching up to me. Battling a demon-enhanced warrior from the Dark Lord’s army sure takes a lot out of a girl. Never had I expended that much power or been attacked quite so viciously. It had taken me shampooing my hair three times to get all the blood out of it. Made me jealous of Jay’s shaved head.

“Father, I think it’s best if we turn in for the evening. We can talk more tomorrow when we’re rested. There isn’t much we can do at this point,” Brayden said, wrapping an arm around me.

It was moments like this that the connection we had by being bonded was very useful. I knew he could feel how exhausted I was through my emotions. Not that he was much better—the worry he had about his mother was chipping away at any energy reserves he had. When I glanced at my other three boys, they all looked ragged too.

Even Jay was sitting on the edge of the couch. For some this wouldn’t be a big deal, but Jay always preferred to stand. His dark gray eyes that typically were alert and watchful drooped slightly, making their almond shape more pronounced. Micah sat next to him, head tossed back, staring at the ceiling with his signature scowl. His thick brown hair was loose around his shoulders when he typically kept it up. Then there was Parker, the man who looked at life as a big party or game to play. His bright orange-red hair was still damp from his shower and flat on his head instead of styled in his signature spiked faux-hawk look. As if he knew I was watching him, he looked up at me from where he was sitting on the floor, leaning against my legs. His brown eyes were missing that teasing glint as he gave me a half-hearted grin.

I didn’t like how defeated everyone looked right now. I clearly needed to do something about it.

“Of course you’re right. We can meet over breakfast and figure out the next course of action,” Oliver said, slapping his hands on his knees and standing. “Come along Makoto, Tobias. Let the kids get some sleep. They worked hard tonight keeping us safe.”

Jay’s dad, Makoto, slowly stood and opened his mouth like he was going to say something to his son but thought better of it. Nodding to us all, he shuffled off in his yukata and slippered feet.

Tobias walked past Parker and ruffled his hair, giving him the grin Parker had inherited. “G’night son, proud of you.”

Once the dads left and it was just us in the room, emotions were heavy in the air, thick with defeat. Pulling myself away from Brayden, I stood and walked to the other side of the coffee table, taking them in.

“Why do you guys look like a bunch of kicked puppies?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips. “Did I just come from a different battle where we didn’t kick that creepy woman’s ass?”

Micah, of course, was the first to glare at me with his sapphire eyes. “Did you not just hear what happened? What we did doesn’t matter.”

“Bullshit it doesn’t matter, Micah!” I snapped. “We saved Brayden’s mother from possibly being turned into one of those things. Besides, if we hadn’t gotten that information from Tabitha, how long would it have taken Chadwick to check his office?”

“She makes a valid point,” Jay said, standing up and starting to pace behind the couch. “There is a very small window in which the Day-Brite serum could have been taken.”

“Thank you, Jay, for seeing my side of this,” I said, giving him a soft smile. “Can we also talk about what happened during that fight?”

“You mean the armor thing?” Parker asked with a hint of his real grin. “That was pretty sweet! What do you think brought that on?”

The three boys all looked at Parker like he was an idiot, and Micah slapped him upside the head. “Lailah, you moron.”

“Fuck off, a lot happened all at once,” Parker said, getting up and shoving Micah over, then taking a seat on the couch. “Notice she isn’t bringing up the fact that she almost bled to death right before that.”

Now I was the one that was under their scrutiny. I raised my hands in surrender, trying to hold back my grin of triumph that I’d pulled them out of their pity party.

“Who would have guessed that she could gather that much demonic energy? Let alone try and pull the small bit I have out of me,” I said, defensively.

“Is that what she was doing?” Micah asked, leaning forward, his eyes swirling with anger.

I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s the only thing I can think of. It felt like she was trying to pull something out of me that definitely didn’t want to leave.”

“It could have been your heart. You know, like the wicked stepmother from Snow White,” Parker suggested.