Page 95 of Resolve
“I want to go home!” she cries, clinging to Raegan, who holds her tight.
“I know. Maybe... after we’ve gotten rid of GE, you could try it. Especially now that you can control it better. But if there’s anything that they try or say or do that hurts you, you can come back with us. You can stay with the Guild, and we’ll take care of you, okay? Maybe we can even convince Aiden to let you get a dog since you love them so much.”
Mallory sniffles and nods her head. “I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry he hurt you so bad because of me. I was so scared...”
“Shhh...” Raegan strokes her hair that’s so similar to her own. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Nothing that happened there is your fault.”
She cranes her head back, tears soaking her face. “You, too. Jack said it wasn’t either of our faults.”
Raegan blanches, but she still forces a smile and nods. “Yeah. Jack’s usually right about things.” She pats her back a while longer until Mallory starts to slide down her front. “Mal? I think she’s asleep,” she murmurs to me.
I push off the wall and crouch in front of them, peeling Mallory from her arms and holding her to my chest. Raegan opens the door for me, and I carry her into the living room. Briar stands from the couch with a hand to her chest.
“I’ll show you to her bed.” She brings me into the other bedroom of bunk beds and sleeping children, pointing to the top bunk.
Stepping up the ladder, I lay her down and pull the blankets over her, then leave the room.
“Thank you so much again,” Briar whispers, leading us to the door.
“Do you like dogs, Briar?” Raegan asks on our way out.
Briar looks confused for a moment, then smiles when she realizes what she means. “I do. I think that’s a wonderful idea.”
Later, after we’ve returned to our apartment and I convince Raegan into bed, I wrap my arm under her neck and draw small circles over her skin. The others aren’t in yet, meaning it's just the two of us. She hasn't spoken much since leaving Mallory, so I know those spinning thoughts are fit to burst.
All it takes is a little quiet and patience.
At long last, I’m rewarded.
“Most days, after Gordon pushed me to my limit, I’d be too tired to stand. Holt would have to carry me. And on those days, he’d take me to this room in the basement. It was pitch-black. No lights, no windows. No sound. It reminded me of solitary.” She swallows. “There was a water pod in the center of the room where he would put me. He’d stuff little headphones in my ears and then strap me inside so I couldn’t move. I’d float in that tank and feel nothing.”
I take her hand in mine and press it to my lips, reminding her that I’m here. She's here. Not in that memory.
She blinks a few times, swallows again, and continues, “And then, he would talk to me. I don’t know if it was a recording or him, but he would talk. And talk. Saying horrible things. Repeating my own doubts back to me. Telling me how to think. How to feel.” She squeezes her eyes shut, her voice thick with emotion. “It would go on forever... until I wouldn’t know if he was saying it, or I was.”
It’s a struggle to keep myself composed right now. But I do. For her. I am her rock in this tempest of bad memories. Her lifeline. I won’t let go. I won't sink into the realm of death and darkness that calls for blood. For retribution. There’s nothing I can do about Gordon anymore, and that fact burns me alive inside. I’ll have to take it out on the rest of Gifted Enterprise. I don’t care who they are or their role. I want blood. Pain. Death by my hands.
But she will always come first.
“Sometimes...” she continues softly. Her words are getting harder to understand, but I focus on them like my life depends on it. “I can still hear him in my head when it’s dark. Or when I’m afraid.”
I brush my lips across her knuckles when she’s quiet for a long time. “I’m here, little one. Whatever you need. Tell me, and it’s yours.”
She curls into my chest and releases a shuddering breath. “Just... hold me. And don't let go.”
I bundle her in my arms and rest my head on hers. “Never.”
Chapter thirty-one
Kellan
“Idon’tlikethis,”Dane argues, clutching the longer blond hair at the top of his head. “Most of Harvey’s brothers and sisters didn’t seem thrilled by this plan, according to Reid.”
Aiden’s the only one standing where the five of us are gathered in our small apartment living room. It’s been over a day since they got back from meeting with each spying sibling. None had to be kidnapped, thankfully, but that was probably the best news they had to report. Aiden slides his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “We don't need them to be thrilled. We just need them as our eyes on the board members and to report in.”
The muscle in Dane’s jaw feathers. He turns his face to the rest of us on the couch. “Am I the only one worried we’re going to fall into another one of Charles’s traps?”
I shrug, relaxed into the back cushions with my arms spread on either side. Raegan’s sitting to my left, her arms crossed and face tight, while Jack lies along the back of the couch, sharing the space behind her with my hand. “That’s just your fear talking. Look, this whole thing involving the invisible spies was your idea. Just becausenone of them jumped for joy at the chance to go against Psycho Dad doesn’t mean we back out. It’s still a good plan.”
