Page 127 of Remnants
But what if she’s changing? What if she’s starting to break away from their influence? Why else would she have my notebook, unless she wants to try meeting me halfway?
Fuck.
Chapter thirty-four
Raegan
Thenextfewdayspass in a blur. I spend most of my time training with Kellan and Jackson, even after the mandatory Guild sessions have ended. I’ve never felt stronger or more confident in my gift as I do now. There are some limits to what I can test in the training gym, but I’ve handled the basic application of anything I try to do without difficulty.
I’m able to recognize when I’m stretching myself too thin, working my gift more than my body can handle, and I stop there. Kellan is the one who helps me in the weight room now that all of Dane’s time is occupied with watching the beach house and investigating more Board members. When I’m not training, I usually try to help him with what he’s doing. Watching the cameras is boring as hell, but I take note of every detail just in case.
After Reid takes over camera watch on his computer, Dane and I settle on the couch with a movie. We’ve fallen asleep every night this week without finishing a single one.
On the fourth night, Aiden joins us for dinner.
“I’m going in!”
“Wait! I’m not ready!”
“Rahhhh! Take that! Eat it!”
The door to Aiden’s room slams open, and I startle on the couch. He’s breathing heavily, his hair un-styled and wet, while his light gray shirt clings to his chest, dark spots appearing as it soaks up the water he didn’t bother drying off. He immediately seeks me out, his unusually expressive concern fading to confusion. He takes in my shirt—his—and shorts, my hair tied up in a messy bun, as I sit cross-legged on the couch with a gaming controller in my hands.
“Watch out!” Kellan hollers.
There’s a slew of zombies entering the room I’m in with no other exit. I start shooting wildly, sweeping my gun back and forth as they’re seconds from grabbing me. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”
“I’m coming, beautiful.”
“Use your grenade,” Jack murmurs from his perch on the back of the couch.
“That’s right!” Running to give myself a few seconds, I sift through my inventory, select the grenade, and chuck it at them. It explodes, body parts flinging in the air and splattering the screen in fake blood. Damn, this game is graphic.
“I don’t know how you guys can play that game after the zombie attack we dealt with. Literally,anyother game would have made more sense,” Dane mutters from the kitchen. He convinced Reid to start earlier on his camera duties so he could finally make the homemade pasta he’d promised me what feels like forever ago.
When Aiden walked in, Kellan declared tonight a break for allof us. No GE. No Royce or beach house. No Board members or training.
Just the five of us relaxing together. We haven’t done that in…a long time. Even with the Guild party, Jack and Aiden had been working and on guard. And any other times we’ve tried to relax, it’s never been all five of us. Not since the island.
“Come on, Aiden. Grab a controller,” Kellan shouts when he walks by the living area.
“I’ll pass.”
“Does Aiden play video games?” I ask distractedly, finishing off the last of the zombies with Kellan’s help.
“Just strategic one-player types,” Dane answers.
Kellan snorts. “He builds empires for fun.”
“I’ve played other games with you before,” Aiden remarks before he disappears down the hallway beyond the kitchen. There’s nothing in that direction other than a storage closet and the armory. “Raegan,” he calls, and I whip my head around.
Jackson chuckles. “Behind you.”
What?
His gaze darts to the screen, and by the time I follow it, my avatar is already being devoured.
Damn.
