Gifted Connections 4

I shuddered as I drew closer. I wasn’t afraid of spiders, but they did give me heebie-jebbies. The thing in Drake’s forcefield was what nightmares were made of. It was a six-foot-tall spider with multiple eyes and legs. I bit back my shriek as it charged the forcefield. Its large fangs were excreting a massive amount of greenish yellow venom.

“Who’s next?” I asked as I walked up to Micah, Victoria, Gavin, and Greg.

“Oymyakon, Russia should be beautiful this time of year,” Greg said with a glare at the spider.

Victoria pulled out her phone and showed Micah. She shivered. “It looks icy and-” she looked over at Greg and gave him a wicked smiled. “-spiders typically go dormant in cold weather.”

Greg chuckled darkly as he looked back over at Nadia. She was no longer shrieking, but the fear was still in her eyes. As Terrance handed her over to Jace, I finally saw her visibly relax.

Chapter 28

“I found a hotel twenty minutes north of here,” Will stated as we loaded up the children. “It has an indoor water park, and I was able to talk to the manager to keep it open for us until midnight. There are rooms already reserved in my name.”

“We’ll be okay,” Beth reassured Will. “You guys just focus on getting rid of those snakes in our home.”

“Here’s my card,” Greg commented as he pulled out his black card. “Get all the children new swimsuits, and we’ll let you know when the danger has passed.”

“We’ll be okay,” Rachel reassured them.

Beth, Cora, Megan, Rachel, Mr. Moore, and Hazel had volunteered to take the children. It took us a little bit longer than we wanted to get rid of the people that were sent to attack us. Currently, Fake Troy was still with us.

“Let’s go.” Beth looped her arms through Victoria’s and Micah’s.

“We want to stay and help,” Micah insisted. He looked over at Will and Remy pleadingly.

“I think we still need them,” Will said slowly.

“Look at them, though.” Megan frowned. “They’re exhausted.”

“Do you think you have one more jump in you?” Will asked Micah. “If you don’t, it's not worth risking the safety of everyone.”

“I have a few. I promise Pops,” Micah maintained. “I know how important it is to let you know if I can’t handle it.”

I knew I should feel fatigued by now, but I wasn’t. There was still a lot of adrenaline running through me. It also helped not having to take all the leaps with Micah.

After we found our rhythm, we started to switch up who went with Micah. Miranda and Ben were able to tag Drake and Victoria out. Lincoln was able to tag Gavin and me out. Then everyone else was able to fit in as needed.

It was especially tricky to convince a room full of people that they hadn’t seen a man transform into a spider, who then pinned a girl to the side of the play place with his web.

Jemmy f

ound it disgustingly easy to sneak into the manager's offices and erase the three minutes of recording, on the other hand.

“I’m not tired, either,” Victoria asserted.

“I’m going too,” Patrick said mutinously.

“Absolutely not,” Cora said resolutely. “I know you want to be with your friends, but they need to focus on the task at hand and not worry about you.”

“I’m older than Vick, and I should be able to go,” Patrick contended.

“Patty,” Victoria said gently as she placed a hand on his arm. “I know you're worried about me, but you should go with Nadia. You know we would feel safer by your side. Plus-”

I didn’t hear the rest of her words as I looked at the hand that was now placed on Patrick consolingly. The sleeve on her right arm had risen, revealing her inner wrist. The angry red was unmistakable. I remembered receiving my mark like it was yesterday; it had looked just as blistered and red as hers did. With time, it had faded to a pinkish white looking scar. Victoria must have gotten hers recently.

“Blake?” Noah called my name.

I looked up at him and noticed almost everyone in our circle was looking at me expectantly. Victoria must have finally realized that I was closely scrutinizing her mark. She hastily pulled down her sleeve and looked at me with something akin to panic. I mentally told myself that I would talk to her later. Now was not the time or place to question her.