Gifted Connections 2

I looked at all the guys. “It’s not up to me anymore,” I stated quietly. “Any decision I make effects my connections as well. It’s something we should decide together.”

“I say yes,” Noah stated immediately.

Drake, Jaxson, and Troy nodded their assent.

“Is it just one vial of blood you will need?” Remy asked hesitantly. “I don’t want them to become human pin cushions.”

“I think the children should be able to make a decision as well,” Jace added. “They’re young, but they are wise beyond their years. They’ve been through a lot.”

“Then we will ask them tomorrow and give you a decision by Monday,” I stated.

“Perfect.” Cora nodded in understanding. “That will give me time to get back into the lab and make sure I have everything I need. Can I bring other people onto my project?”

“They will have to be people we trust,” Will assented. “However, I only want you drawing their blood, and I don’t want any of their names on the labels. We can assign them numbers, letters, anything but their names.”

“It’s too bad we don’t know what he’s been working on.” Beth frowned as she took a sip of her coffee.

I don’t think too many people caught the look that passed between Steven and Will.

Chapter 16

I woke up early despite getting to bed so late. I felt somewhat anxious. The kids would have to be approached today about getting their blood drawn. They were also meeting the team that would be assigned to them. A special allowance was being made to allow them to come home every night. Their team would take them to school, stay with them during the school day, and then return them to us every night. Will was spending most of the day finding a tutor for Micah, so he could hopefully be ready to start real school by next fall.

I laid there for a while before I finally gave up any hopes of returning to sleep. I got up and put on some running gear. I was exiting my room and heading down the stairs when I ran into Collin.

“Hey,” he said as he awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other, grasping the back of his neck. “Can we talk?”

I scrutinized him for a moment, before I nodded. “I was going to go for a run, but I wanted to grab a banana.”

“Umm, how are you feeling?” he hedged.

“Can you just cut to the chase? What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked as I opened a banana and poured myself a glass of orange juice.

“I just wanted to tell you how very sorry I am that I was involved in separating you from your connections. After being here for less than 24 hours and the acceptance I’m receiving, and despite the circumstances I came here in, I could understand why you chose Will’s side,” he said.

I started to make coffee, knowing some of the others would be up soon. “I wasn’t picking a side,” I told him tartly. “Even if I hadn’t met Will first, I would have known Horatio wasn’t a man I would ever want to work with.”

He sighed. “I guess I was blinded by the money, I chose to turn a blind eye. I’m sorry, and I wish there was a way I could prove it to you.”

“Will isn’t paying you, so what’s your motivating factor now?” I said bluntly.

“I need to right my wrongs,” he said decisively. “I know it’s… too late for some of the situations I had a hand in, but if Will would allow me, I want to help in whatever way possible.”

“How can we trust you?” I asked him, even though I felt the sincerity in his words.

“I want to earn that trust,” Collin said passionately. “I know I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve any of this, but I want to try.”

I scrutinized him for a moment, then shrugged. “It’s not just me you will have to win over. You hurt a lot of us with this deception, not to mention what you’ve been doing behind Drake’s back,” I said quietly.

Collins eyes grew wide, before he looked down at his feet. “We were at a party together one day, and we both got toasted. She came on to me, upset that Drake was talking about his connection again.” When I went to speak he held up his hand. “I’m not excusing our behavior. It wasn’t right. I should have told her if she wanted to continue to be with me, she needed to break up with him. I haven’t talked to her since all of this went down, but I know I need to call it quits.”

“You need to tell him,” Remy said resolutely as he came around the corner dressed in a pair of running shorts (despite the chilly weather outside) and a hooded sweatshirt.

“Did you?” Collin didn’t look like he was being confrontational, but he was calling Remy out.

Remy scrutinized him. “We tell him today,” he stated resolutely.

Collin looked down at his feet but nodded. “Yeah, okay.”