He turned on the screen, and I could see Rachel, Jemmy, Gavin, and Sierra on split screens. Each one of them were talking to men in the black uniforms. He pushed another button, and I was able to see Jaxson, Troy, Remy, and Noah. He pushed the button once again, and I saw Terrance, Will, Jace, and Drake. They all looked fine, although some of them had belligerent, angry expressions. I was surprised to see Will. I had never heard him come back to the house. I also noticed I had migrated closer to the table.
“I’m a 17-year-old girl, how can I possibly help you big bad men?” I asked suspiciously as I played naïve.
He gave me a long-suffering look. “We know you are gifted, and we have a common enemy. I figured with our efforts combined, maybe we can finally put the rabid dog down before he further hurts your community and hurts innocent people. The government is now aware of your community, and I would like to diffuse the problem before it escalates.”
“I think you have me confused for another person,” I tried to act bored with the whole conversation as I picked my nails of the nonexistent dirt under them.
He sighed once more as he picked up his remote. I gasped, and my eyes widened as I saw Troy, Micah, Sierra, Rachel, and I on the screen. We had just appeared at the building, and Troy and I were setting the building on fire. I watched as we disappeared once more. Then moments later, I saw four men running from the building. The video was paused, and then Paul zoomed in on the faces of the men.
It was definitely Horatio. He had gotten out. I stifled the tears threatening to spill. I thought I had avenged the people he had wronged. I had failed once more.
“What can I possibly do?” I asked again, feeling the numbness within once more. I was sitting now. My knees clasped to my chest as I sipped on the bottle of water.
“We would like it if you would help us. We have battle-ready men and woman, but they don’t have the gifts you do. We need people like you and your boy—" he squirmed in his chair, searching for the right words.
“Men, boyfriends, connections,” I supplied dryly.
“Right,” He cleared his throat with a blush. “We need people like you and your men to help us. Horatio’s becoming a thorn in your side, and believe it or not, we want to protect your community, too. We’ve been aware of your activities for some time now, and every successful mission with low to no casualty rates have involved you and your team.”
I felt a sharp pain within my chest. I would have preferred no casualty rates. I narrowed my eyes on him. “How can I trust you? Even if I could, you realize you went about it the wrong way. You came into my home. You drugged me. You took me away from my family. Even if I had the power to sway them, like you think I do, I couldn’t or wouldn’t make any decisions without them.”
Paul grimaced. “I’m sorry. We just didn’t have the time to explain it in your environment. You really pissed Horatio off this time. The moment after you were extracted, he blew up your home.”
I was taken back to my room and brought a lunch tray. They promised me that they would take me to see my family once they were briefed of our situation. I didn’t understand their tactics, but they must have a reason for it. I still didn’t know if I could trust them. The door opened once more.
A woman and two men stood in the door.
“Hello, Amanda,” the woman softly spoke to me. “I’m sorry you’re here under these circumstances but we needed you all to come with us quickly.”
She was a beautiful woman with her long black hair and cornflower blue eyes. She was dressed in a smart three-piece suit. If I had to guess her age I would put her in her early thirties, but the laugh lines around her eyes indicated an older age. She seemed so familiar to me. When she smiled at me, I felt a memory try to push through.
“I know no Amanda,” I stated coldly as I stumbled back to the bed. I sunk down on it and braced my head against the wall.
I was back to being belligerent. Paul seemed sincere, and I truly believed he wanted our help. He had told me about his operations. He said he had roughly eighty people in his fighting force. Each one of them had military or law enforcement history. They also knew, or was related to, a gifted individual. Even with his apparent friendliness and earnest expressions, I still felt leery of the whole situation.
I was brought out of my musings as the woman advanced into my room.
The woman smiled at me as she tsked at me. “You always were such a stubborn girl. You go by Blake now, right? If you like, I’ll call you Blake.” Her eyes were kind as she was looked at me, but I couldn’t trust her.
“That would help, since it is my name,” I sneered. “I’ll also like for you to bring me back to my…family,” I rolled my eyes as I looked over at the two burly men behind her.
She sighed as she turned into the hallway.
I noticed she had left the door open and I started to creep towards it. I stifled a shriek of surprise as she popped her head back in. “Come on now. I have some people waiting for you.”
I followed her through the long white halls, constantly looking for a way and opportunity to escape. I was starting to feel defeated as we came to double doors at the end of the hallways. Finally, I was met with color once more. I was standing in a wide-open room. Two men stood near a half wall looking down.
I could hear grunting and laughter below me and I peered over the edge. I saw close to fifty people (more men than female) below me, sparring each other. It reminded me of the sparring we did at the academy, but more intense.
They were dressed much like the men leading us down the halls. I knew I wasn’t physically capable of running from them or overtaking them, so I acted complacent for now.
One of the men turned and looked at me. He smiled when he saw me. “You must be, Blake. I have heard so much about you.” He came over to me and held out his hand. He was slightly taller than me, but his build reminded me of a bull dogs. He was built, but stocky. He was bald and attractive. His brown eyes danced when he smiled.
I looked at him coolly. “I’m sorry I can’t say the same about you.”
“Oh, of course,” he chuckled. “I’m Leo. Troy’s right-hand man.” He held out his hand.
I took a step back and glared at him. He had betrayed Troy. Why were we constantly bringing people around us that was