Fortified (9 page)

The yell attracted a lot more attention from their fellow customers than Angela would have liked. For a moment, his entire body shook and she feared he was going into a seizure. It passed quickly, and all he could do was take a lot of slow deep breaths. His eyes remained closed, squeezed together as if he were trying to hold back tears of pain.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her gentle voice shaking almost as much as he had been only a few seconds earlier. He didn't reply for a lot longer of a beat than necessary. “Giddy? Hello?”

“I...ow...security shocked me! But I don't think it was from the phone,” he said. “I think he caught me snooping and...zap.”

She frowned. “How would he know? Are you easy to detect?”

“Not in a phone,” he said.

“Someone told him...”

Gideon nodded. “And I think we know who it was.”

That Nathan guy.
She narrowed her gaze, clenching her hands into fists. “I'd say we got a great deal of stuff to share with Alan and the others.”

“They'll probably get mad again.” He let out a heavy breath. “It's because it's me. If it was just you, they'd think it was a great idea.”

“Not true,” Angela said. “I'd be chastised just as much. We can't keep this to ourselves. At the very least, we need to tell Alan. He can figure out how to talk to the others. That's part of his job as fearless leader.”

He frowned. “Isn't JD the leader?”

“He's head teen.” She waved her hand. “We could tell him too. He might have a good way of talking to Alan so he doesn't freak out, but…Alan is pretty cool. I think it'll go well. We have enough proof.”

“T-true.” Gideon took a slow drink from his iced tea and grimaced. “I should have told you I didn't want any sugar.”

Now it was her turn to scowl. “No sugar? Ew.”

“I-I guess…”

Angela drank from her glass shaking her head. “Giddy, if you like your tea black, that's your prerogative. It shouldn't matter if I think it's disgusting. We can have different opinions on things. Make a decision and own it, man! You don't seem too sure on anything.”

“I'm not. Well, not anymore,” he said softly. “It's easier said tha—”

“No!” She put her cup down with a hard thud, some of its contents spilling out from the top of the straw. “Look at me.” She waited until he lifted his sad gaze to meet her own. “You just need to do it. Start with smaller things and work your way up. Have confidence. Own it. Stop letting people push you around so much.”

A small smirk tugged at his lips. “Like you are right now?”

“What are you going to do about it?” she challenged.

“Nothing, because you're right,” he said, taking another long sip through his straw.

She nodded, satisfied by his response. Sometimes, when she helped those who were socially less fortunate than her, she got overly excited. And Giddy definitely fell into that category.
A little confidence goes a long way. Should help solve a lot of his problems.
She mentally preened herself, proud of her job well done.
Besides, if he's going to make it through this war, he's going to need some backbone!

“You ready?” Gideon asked, already having stood up without her noticing.

Angela got up from her chair as well and gathered her things together. “Yes, let's go wait for the car somewhere else. I don't want to be anywhere near—”

The front door to the shop opened and Nathan walked back in. He dared to give them a smile and a nod as he walked over.

“Here you go,” he said, handing over a small box of medicine. The smile he wore changed from eager to one that almost resembled apology. Like he was sorry for something.

Gee, I wonder why.
Disgusted, Angela walked away, carrying the remains of her coffee cake with her. Just as she was about to head out the door, she heard Gideon speak.

“Thanks, but I don't need it anymore.” She glanced back and watched as he pushed the box back into Nathan's chest. “See you around,
Buddy.
”

Angela gave him a subtle thumbs-up. He winked back at her.
Don't get too cocky now, but yay, progress!

C
adence settled
onto the couch in The Apartment. The whole place was set up to be like an actual apartment. They all met in the living room where more chairs and couches were beginning to accumulate as their group continued to grow. Each member had their own spot. Hers happened to be between JD and Angela. And for the first time since her break up, she could sit in it without feeling out of place. “It's good to be home again.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” JD said, sitting down as well. “Do you think Giddy will find it okay?”

“He will if he's got a good guide,” Orlando announced, entering the room, Gideon close behind him. “We call this the War Room. It's not really a War Room, obviously, but we hold our important meetings here. Upstairs we have a bedroom, another den, a kitchen.”

“Tell him about the bathroom!” JD added. “It's got a jetted tub!”

Orlando stared at him, blinking a few times. “Yes, the bathroom has a jetted tub. The upstairs is there for emergencies only. I'll give you the security code later so you can enter at any time. My only request is that if you're going to potentially blow anything up inside while training, that you text me so I know to prepare for any spontaneous fire alarms going off in my house. The whole system is connected.”

Cadence still wasn't convinced it was a good idea to give Gideon the security code to the outside entrances. There was one on the side of the wing, and another underground that was part of the tunnel system that seemed to hook up the entire city. Why did they need more members in their group in the first place? Too many and things would start getting out of control. All they needed was another strong personality like Orlando and the team would implode. Or worse, they'd start dividing further into smaller factions. Their unity would be completely lost, and that was the one thing that made them so strong of a team. They acted as one.

“Shall we get to business?” Alan asked, having just popped into the room by the window. Everyone went quiet and found a place to sit, if they hadn't already. He gave Cadence a smile. “I've been talking with Jaes. The yellow tribe wants the Ilotus back. I think I'm the only member on my ship who isn't annoyed by the request.”

“Why?” Orlando asked. “I mean, why are your shipmates getting so mad in the first place? Doesn't it belong to the yellow tribe? I know I wasn't there, but I thought I heard that in the retelling of your epic quest to retrieve it.”

“Yes, you are remembering correctly. As for why they're so angry, it's because our work with it will be inconvenienced. There's so much we wanted to do.” Alan waved a hand dismissively. “Jaes wants me to join him when we drop off the device. He expressed interest in all of you coming along.”

“Again, why?” Orlando rolled his eyes. “And when? I kind of have big plans next weekend. It's prom.”

“You're going to prom?” JD gasped.

“Yeah, I happen to have a hot date. Surprised? You shouldn't be. I'm quite the catch,” Orlando said in his usual deadpan. It made it hard for anyone to know when he was serious or not, though Cadence suspected he was speaking the truth. Whether or not he actually wanted to go was another story. Then again, it's not like he had to go. And why would he have asked a date if he'd rather stay home?

JD scrunched up his nose. “More like I'm trying to imagine
you
in a tux.”

“If it involves the suaveness of an international spy, you're on the right track.”

Angela's body stiffened. “Then don't help us, Orly. I'm sure we can manage to save the world for one night without you so you can have a social life.”

“I'm here because I
want
to help,” he stated.

She scoffed. Now it was her turn to roll her eyes. “Could have fooled me.”

“What's
that
supposed to mean?”

Before she could counter, Alan interjected. “I haven't decided who I am bringing, if anyone, and regardless, it will be in the middle of the week. Having a team accompany us will come across as threatening which is what Jaes wants...I think.”

“Intimidate the yellow tribe into changing their minds?” Cadence supplied.

“Something along those lines.” He lowered his gaze. “It's a distraction to my other objectives. At the same time, I think some interaction with the other tribes would be good for you. Each has their own variation of politics and beliefs and in order to understand the war, it's important to understand what we believe. Plan for Wednesday sometime after school. I don't anticipate it going late either, so your parents shouldn't have to worry about curfews. Seems like the easiest day. The locals are a lot quieter in the middle of the week. Again, I'm not one hundred percent certain about this. But...I have other reasons why I want to bring you.”

Cadence raised an eyebrow, playing dumb but suspecting it had something to do with their conversation in the library a few days back. “What's going on?”

“N-nothing,” he said, then cleared his throat. He still wasn't ready to tell the rest of the team, apparently. “Nothing is going on, exactly. It would just be a good idea.”

“Confused...” JD said. “Cause you just said you didn't want us to come but you do? And having other objectives? Huh?”

Orlando pointed to his friend. “What he said.”

“Does it matter?” Angela asked. “Anyway, maybe it is a good idea to have some support because Giddy and I were hanging out earlier—”

“Oh, you were now?” Orlando sneered.

She glared at him. “And we found some interesting things out about our buddy Drone. For those of you who don't remember, he helped us retrieve the Ilotus from the tunnels. He's also one of Jaes's team members. Giddy snooped through his phone and found out he's been corresponding with our darling friend Sprout.”

“Why were you spying on his phone?” Orlando snapped.

“We wanted to know why they were talking,” Gideon said, his voice shaking.

“Pretty sure it's not just a coincidence either. Those two are plotting.” Angela shifted her gaze to Alan. “Maybe you should ask Jaes what's going on. We didn't know if he planted Drone to talk to her as a spy.”

Alan faced away from the group, his body tensing. “I'll consider it.”

“What's going on, man?” JD asked.

“That's what I want to know.” Orlando folded his arms in front of him, coolly. His gaze much darker than usual. “You've got a cool trick, Giddy, but you're seriously violating peoples' privacy.”

“I will talk with you about this in private, Gideon,” Alan said, sharply. “I'm sure there's more to the story, and I thought I made it clear…later. We'll do this later. All three of us.” His gaze landed on Angela and he raised an eyebrow.

“We're a team. We should all hear it!” Orlando protested.

“Orlando, please, your aggression is not helpful.” Alan's voice was calm with a small hint of warning behind it. “I will relay the information to you if need be.”

With a growl, Orlando stood up from his chair. “How about I just leave since Giddy can't handle anything big and scary. What a baby.”

All eyes were on him as he stormed out of the room. Angela shook her head, glowering. “The only reason he cares about privacy all of a sudden is because it involves his girl…thing.”

“So they're officially back together?” JD asked with a frown.

“They're going to prom! I mean, I can't think of anyone else he'd want to take.” Tears filled Angela's eyes. She quickly blinked them away. “Prom is only
the
most romantic night of high school existence.”

JD shrugged. “I never got anything out of it. Part of why I skipped it this year.”

Cadence almost pointed out how he was singing a different tune last year when he'd been asked by an upper classman to go, despite being a sophomore. “
It'll be magical.” “This must mean something.” “We're meant to be.” And they danced all night and the after party was so special. Just like him to all of a sudden have a completely different perspective when it comes to an ex.
She shivered, once again reminded of the instability of her relationship with him. Another example of how he was hot and cold.

“Angela, I see your point,” Alan said, interrupting her thoughts. “However, I think Orlando raises an important one as well. These powers can't be used whenever you feel like it. That's ethically wrong. In this instance, again, you two turned up valuable information. I'm not sure why Jaes's charge is conversing with Sprout, but I'll find out. However, I need to stress that I don't want you looking through private property unless I tell you to.”

“You said he couldn't look into
her
phone,” Angela protested.

“Now I'm putting a ban on
all
devices, personal or otherwise, unless I specifically ask you.” Alan narrowed his gaze at her and then at Gideon. “I'm disappointed because I would think I shouldn't have to be so specific. That you would overrule my orders based on a technicality…”

Gideon took in a deep breath as he shrunk into his chair. If he could have, Cadence was sure he'd have opted to have the ability to turn invisible then. “I won't do it again. I have reason to believe we should be watching another teen from my school.”

“What kind of information did you pull up from
that
smartphone?” Orlando quipped from the hallway.

“I thought you left!” Angela snapped. Steam, literally, started to billow from the top of her head as she lost control over her emotions and her powers. It wouldn't be long before she completely lost her cool, and Cadence finally put together why.

He's the crush she's been having for the past few months. I don't know why I didn't see it sooner. They spend so much time together. Duh, it should have been obvious.
She moved closer to Angela and put a hand on her knee to help calm her. “It's okay. Continue with your story, Giddy.”

Gideon raked his lower lip between his teeth. “I...had found out about Drone, er...Stas, that's his real name, because he and Tait were texting each other. Making meeting times. He liked to hit on her, but she wasn't receptive to it from what I could tell.” Information that would hopefully calm Orlando down, Cadence reasoned.
Smart kid. Don't want to make any enemies on the team.
He continued. “I wasn't looking for his connection to her so much as his connection to all of...this. One of my old friends came by in the middle of it, we chatted a little, he left and all of a sudden I'm being attacked by a security system in Drone's phone. Seemed coincidental to the point where it wasn't a coincidence since this friend of mine invited me to the party where I got injected.”

“I'm not sure what to do with you,” Alan said. “This is all vital information. Things we wouldn't know otherwise. But…I'm torn on how to feel right now. Mostly because I gave you an order and you've failed to obey it. I understand you want to help and prove yourself. Constantly going off on your own is not doing those things. What if you got hurt? Taken captive? Among other things. We'll have a lengthy discussion tonight.”

“O-okay.” Gideon pulled his knees to his chest.

“Our meeting is done for now.”

Angela nodded at Gideon and mouthed out the words, “Own it,” as she got off of the couch.

“Need a ride home?” JD nudged Cadence in the side.

“Yeah, I'll take one,” she said, her gaze on Alan. She had a feeling he'd be by to talk to her later, as well…

Orlando popped his head back into the room. “Angela, do you want—”

“No,” she said flatly as she picked up her purse. “JD, I'll be waiting in the car.”

Her brother whistled quietly as he watched her leave. She made sure to make a show of staying as far away from Orlando as possible as she did so, creating a rather awkward squeeze in the doorway. JD shook his head. “I've got a feeling I'll be subjected to an evening of angry rock music. Thanks, man.”

“Why is it
my
fault?” Orlando scowled.

“If you can't figure it out, you're an idiot. Come on, Cadence.” JD tugged at her arm.

She gently pulled her arm from his grasp, following him out. When her gaze met Orlando's, he shrugged, deep confusion set in his bright, blue, eyes. He genuinely didn't understand what was going on.
Or maybe he does and it scares him. What a mess.