Gifted Connections 4

“We can call Miranda,” Remy said to me, hesitantly.

I looked over at him sharply. He knew I didn’t like interacting with her if the children weren’t involved. I immediately felt anger, but then reason closely followed. I couldn’t let my personal feeling for her hinder the good of us all.

“Call her,” I murmured, crossing my arms over my chest.

I felt warm arms encircle me from behind, and I looked up and smiled at Drake. He set his cheek on the top of my head, leaning against me.

“Magician,” Jace called. “Notre Dame here.”

Someone had dubbed Miranda as the magician because she was able to make things disappear. It had stuck, and now they used it as her call sign. It took me some time to figure out Jace’s call sign. They had to explain to me that they did a play on Jace’s last name. The Hunch Back of Notre Dame rung the bells. Somehow, they thought Notre Dame was clever. I guess it was, in a way.

“Go ahead, Notre Dame,” Miranda immediately responded.

“Can you-” Jace began before I heard a loud screech in my ear, followed by Gavin’s urgent voice.

We need to go silent. Our headsets have been compromised. They have a set, and we may need back up. We have them in the labs right now. Jemmy jammed the door lock, and Lockwood has their powers blocked, but he can’t hold it too much longer.

“No time to wait,” I explained to the guys before I took off at a run. “Gavin and a few others are already there. They have him locked in the labs, and they have a block on them, but it won’t last for long.”

They fell into step beside me. I tore through the door. Our feet were loud on the metal stairs and echoed loudly in the stairwell. From the sounds of it, we weren’t the only ones headed in that direction. There were sounds of boots coming from above us. I was glad we were heading down the stairs instead of up.

We burst into the hall and, like always, I was shocked that this floor existed. It was stark white, and the white fluorescent bulbs above our heads made me blink for a second. All the white was nearly blinding. To the right, I could see a room surrounded by glass and the things you would see typically in a medical lab. To our left was a place marked Restricted Authorized Personnel Only.

Movement at the end of the hall caught my eyes, distracting me from looking around further. I could see Gavin, Jemmy, Sierra, Terrance, Marcel, Sam, Ford, Dawn, and a group of Knights, SC, and Illinois teams behind them.

“Let’s end this,” I said in determination as the glass shattered from one of the rooms approximately fifty feet away from us.

I felt a large body cover me and I was thrown to the ground. I could tell immediately that it was Remy. I could hear the glass as it struck the walls and floor.

“Well, well, well,” I heard a cold amused voice say. “Is that my beautiful, stubborn daughter I see?”

I heard the crunch of glass under several pairs of feet before I looked up. I was hastily yanked and pulled in closer by Remy.

My father was a good-looking man. Like Will and Greg, he had aged gracefully. He was tall and lean. His clothing immaculate. But his eyes were cold, empty.

I looked at the small group that was positioned slightly behind him and was somewhat concerned to see the twins were no longer with him. I looked back at Lincoln, and our eyes met briefly. I could grasp the same apprehension in his eyes.

“I’m no daughter of yours,” I sneered at him. “You killed the only man I knew as a father.”

He tilted his head to the side. “He should have never kept you away from me. I needed you. I need you still.”

“No, thank you,” I scoffed. “I see what you do to the people you need.”

He gave me another cold smile. “We can do this the hard way or the easy way.” He shrugged. “Come with me, and no one gets hurt.”

“I would like to see you try-” I began to say before I felt a shift in the air and the tiny glass particles that were scattered on the floor were raised and hurled towards us. I barely had time to erect a shield.

Drake must have been quick as well, because I saw him project his shield a few feet in front of mine. I could see Gavin and Terrance jumping into action and engaging the other people with Horatio.

I looked back at him and smiled once more. I was angry that one of his minions had attacked us. I took a few steps back towards my men.

“Hold me,” I insisted in their heads.

Without hesitation, I felt the touch of seven men.

“Time for this to end,” I sneered at Horatio.

He tsked at me as I felt a blinding pain hit me. I felt like my brain had been doused in ice. “You project too much, my dear girl. I’m really tired of the games. Let’s end them now. Come with me, and I won’t hurt anyone else.”