Gifted Connections 4

I walked over to the other side of the apartment in confusion. I reached out to open Drake’s door.

“Blake, no,” Jaxson groaned halfheartedly, trying to stop me from opening the door.

I looked over at Remy, and he shrugged and gave me a smirk like he was completely innocent of whatever was going on the other side of the door.

I opened the door and gasped in shock. It looked like an overgrown garden had been planted in Drake’s room.

“It’s a secret garden,” Jaxson grinned unrepentantly. “He need only to find the right passage, and he can make his way out of the room.”

“He’s baaack,” Noah said in a singsong voice.

Remy and Jaxson grinned at each other conspiratorially. I had no doubt they had teamed up to torment Lincoln. Jaxson hadn’t played a prank or used his gifts for too long. Woe are the people that crossed his path today.

“Is anyone going to let me out of here?” I heard Lincoln’s annoyed voice ask.

“Classes and training start in forty-five minutes,” Jace said with a smile. He was apparently amused by the situation himself and hadn’t tried to coax his brother from his mischief like he usually would have.

“Do we have to go?” Jaxson asked with a frown. “I feel like we should be out celebrating.”

“Tomorrow’s the weekend,” Jace said with a lopsided smile. “You have four hours of class and four hours of training. It’ll go by quickly.”

I groaned inwardly. Honestly, I wasn’t enthused about going to school or training today either. Drake and I hadn’t gone to sleep until nearly three o’clock. Drake told me Paul and Pops decided that everyone would have to return to our regular schedules today. I really wasn’t looking forward to it. Even if it was only for one day. Couldn’t they have given us a small break until Monday? After all, we were just attacked, and I knew the base hadn’t returned to normal quite yet.

“We should all get out of here, get a weekend pass, come back Sunday night,” Troy stated as he came out of the room.

“I doubt they will grant us the pass.” Jace frowned. “Not for the whole weekend. They still have too much to do around here. Maybe we can take the children skiing. There’s a resort an hour west of us. They haven’t been out in a while.”

“They’ll probably like that,” Troy agreed reluctantly.

I think a break away from school, and the base would be suitable for the children, although I knew our relationship probably needed the time together as well. Again, we were struggling and juggling with all our responsibilities.

“Hello?” Lincoln called once more.

I looked over at Jaxson.

“He needs to figure out the maze,” Jaxson said smugly with a smile.

“Jaxson,” I bade him sternly.

He sighed. “Fiiine,” he drawled out. “But this isn’t over. I need to flex my muscles.”

“Oh no,” Drake stated with an eye roll before he grabbed his satchel. “No one’s safe today. Let’s catch some grub. I’m sure Pops will want to know we have our gifts back.”

It was my turn to groan as Jaxson dropped his illusion and Lincoln came strolling out of the room. My eyes widened when I noticed he was dressed in black cargo pants, black boots, and a black t-shirt. In other words, he looked just like us.

He stopped short and perused me leisurely. He opened his mouth and then snapped it shut. He turned and looked at Jaxson who was barely containing his mirth. “You know what they say about paybacks, funny man,” he said sardonically. “When you least expect it.”

Jaxson laughed, seemingly unaffected by the threat. “Bring it,” he dared as he ran out of the apartment.

Shaking my head and trying to hide my amusement, I went back into my room and stripped down to my underwear, throwing my night clothes into my hamper. I went to my dresser and pulled out my uniform—black cargo pants, black Henley, socks, and my black boots. I quickly dressed, and after lacing up my boots, went back out to the living room.

They were all waiting for me, and I smiled at them, uncertain yet how they were feeling about our new situation.

“Let’s go.” Jace took my hand and led me to the front door.

I grabbed my messenger bag and laptop case. “I really don’t know how I’m going to focus today,” I admitted.

“I’m sure Mr. Bates won’t require much of you guys today,” Jace said reassuringly. We left the apartment, with Remy closing the door behind us. “It’s more of an orientation and settling the new guys in. Knightstown came with six students, and SC came with three.”