Winter's Scars: The Forsaken (Winter's Saga 5) (39 page)

The two continued their short ride in silence, lost in the same thought: This just feels right.

Chapter 74 Stipulations

“What do you mean ‘there are stipulations’?” Margo’s eyes narrowed at Theo who had just hung up with Greg Burns.  She had called Evan the moment she heard they were going to be cleared to reenter the US.  She didn’t realize the amnesty held contingencies.

“Greg says he’ll meet us at the US Embassy here in Cairo to help everything go smoothly, but that we’re required to submit to interviews.”

“Interviews?” Alik’s eyes were wide with a distinctively oh-crap expression. 

“They want to interview each of us about the events on that day in Flagstaff and pick our brains about any underlying information we may have.”

“Do they know something, Theo?”  Margo asked.  Something smelled wrong about this to her.

“Greg thinks they are acting pretty strange.  Yeah, he thinks they know or suspect something’s amiss.”

“This just doesn’t feel right.” Alik shook his head.  Out of habit, Farrow reached over to him and offered her hand to hold.  He took it with an affectionate glance.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Margo admitted.  “It feels like a trap.”

“Well, our other option is to do nothing.  We don’t go to the embassy and keep living in exile.”

Everyone sat quietly for a while, trying to think of any way to get around the interview.

“Is it really that bad?  To be interviewed, I mean?” Sloan broke the silence.

“What do you mean?” Margo asked.

“I just mean, we didn’t do anything wrong.”  Her steel-gray eyes looked earnestly around the room.

“Just because we didn’t do anything wrong, doesn’t mean things will go well,” Cole said softly, careful to not hurt Sloan’s feelings.

“I may be young, but I’m not naïve,” she said softly back to him.  “I just mean, sometimes in working with difficult patients, it’s best to attack straight on.  Sometimes, that’s what they least expect and it works.”

“What would we say in the interview?”

“Why not tell them the truth?” Alik suggested.  “I kinda like the idea of hitting them in the face with the truth.  Maybe all this time we’ve been dodging the authorities for no reason.  Maybe they’ll help us.”

“Okay, I don’t mean to be cynical, but that sounds like a massive pipe dream.” Cole shook his head. 

“What if we agreed to allow one or two of us to be interviewed instead of all of us?” Alik sat up straighter, excited at the possibility of outsmarting the agents who wanted the interviews.

“I don’t know if they’d go for that,” Theo shook his head doubtfully.

“What choice would they have?  We don’t have to all submit to questioning on the same day.  We shouldn’t let them rush us into deciding.” Alik’s blue eyes brightened at the thought. 

“He may have a good point,” Margo nodded.  “If only one or two of us are in their custody, if things go south, the others will be on the outside and able to fight for our release.”

“They’re going to insist on questioning someone actually at the Flagstaff incident—which knocks out both you, Dr. Winter and Dr. Andrews,” Sloan ticked off logically.

“It would make sense for it to be me,” Cole offered.

“And me,” Farrow nodded.

“No, if we’re sending two of us in and there’s a risk of detention, Cole and Farrow need to be on the outside to fight.
  I should go.”  Everyone’s head turned to look at the back of the room.  Evan’s words still hung in the air as he stepped from the shadows.  His left hand was shoved deep into his pocket, as usual. 

No one had been paying attention to the sound of his motorcycle as it pulled up; bikes were so prevalent in Cairo they’d gotten used to the roar.  And Evan had become accustomed to walking on stealth feet so he could live in the isolation he demanded of himself. 

After seeing Kylie’s father greet her at the door, Evan had felt a wave of nostalgia and decided to come home before going back to the lab.  He’d walked in at near the start of the conversation but rather than announce his presence, he hung back in the shadows of the room and listened. 

“Hey, everyone.” He
stepped toward the family, but stopped at an obvious distance from the group.

Evan
tried hard not to let it bother him that the family was discussing such a monumentally important move without waiting for him.  He tried, but it wasn’t working.  It ate at him that the family was living as though he were a complete outcast.

“Evan, honey.  I’m so glad you’re here.” Margo smiled, though her face had paled at the surprise sound of his voice.  Immediately
, she felt guilty.  They should have waited for him to return, but his behavior was so erratic lately, she’d learned not to depend on him. 

“I’ll go with you,” Sloan stood and nodded decisively
toward Evan.  “I’m not nearly as good at fighting, but I can handle questioning.”

Alik looked from Evan’s determined face to Sloan’s.  “Thank you for offering to go.  I think you two would make excellent choices for the family.”

Theo and Margo were both frowning and spoke at once their uncertainties.  “I don’t think….”

“Mom, we’ll do a good job.”  Evan nodded to Sloan, silently acknowledging her bravery on behalf of a family she barely knew.

“When do they expect us?” Sloan asked pragmatically.

“Tomorrow, ten in the morning,” Theo answered.

Evan looked at his wristwatch.  “That gives us ten hours to prepare.”

“What happens in ten hours?” Cole asked.

“I have other work to do.”  Evan’s honey eyes stared at Cole, challenging him to push for more information.

Cole knew better than to anger the fire starter.  He just nodded.

“Evan, when was the last time you slept?”  Margo asked. 

Danny, who’d been playing under Margo’s wheelchair, crawled out with his race cars in hand and climbed into Margo’s lap.  He looked so cozy curled up in Margo’s arms that Evan had to force himself not to flinch at the endearing sight. 

“I’m fine, Mom,” he answered curtly.

“Sloan, give me ten minutes to clean up, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen so we can start laying out a plan.”

“Sounds good,” Sloan moved to gather some note taking supplies from the desk in the corner of the room.

The room was quiet as he walked by to head to the shower.  Everyone was trying to figure
out why he smelled of perfume.

Chapter 75 Mutually Beneficial

The limousine drove them to a nearby private airport where they boarded a seven-passenger jet.  Meg was trying to look disinterested, though inside, her heart was pounding to the beat of a racehorse’s hooves.  Every person she encountered, she tried to read their emotions to get a better feel for where they were going exactly
, and what to expect. 

Her
metamonarch companion was useless.  Keegan slipped away some time during the drive away from the asylum, but not before he winked excessively at her and called her “doll” twice. 

In his place came Sirus whose dark eyes looked on her with a mixture of resentment and something else. 

Once they were airborne, the noise of the engines muffled the sound of her voice so she ventured to speak.  “Sirus, how many of you are in there?”  She nodded toward his head.

“Too many,” he answered vaguely.

“Answer my question, please Sirus,” Meg spoke through gritted teeth.  Her nerves were so tightly wound she was a little worried about controlling her temper.

Sirus took a deep breath, “The truth is, Meg, I’ve never really tried to count.”

“
That
many?”

He just shrugged, adjusting his bow tie as though the whole conversation was causing him discomfort.

“Look, think of it like this,” he said.  “You drop an ice cube on the hard floor and it shatters right?”

“Right,” Meg shrugged trying to figure where he was going with this.

“Are all the pieces of ice the same size?”

“Of course, not.”

“That’s what happened to us.  A few of us are the larger pieces of the system, but then there are lots of shattered fragments floating around, too.”

“How many ‘larger pieces’ are there?”

“Gideon and I are the largest.  Then there’re a handful of medium-sized pieces.  Then there are the others—the crumbs.”

Meg nodded slowly.  “Do you know Keegan?”

Sirus closed his eyes for a moment then looked up at Meg with a shrug.  “He called himself the ‘chill one’,” She prompted.

“Oh yeah, him.  Did he come out?”

“Yes he did.”

“That guy’s a fruit,” Sirus shook his head, scowling.

“So I’ve met four of you.  Can you give me an estimate of how many others are likely to pop out?  It’s a little unnerving when it happens and I’d like to be prepared.”

Sirus shrugged, “At least two or three more medium pieces.  I doubt a fragment will come out in front of you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Several of them are just little kids.”

“What?”

“It’s true.”

“How did that happen?  Why would Arkdone have created alters who are little kids?”

“It wasn’t intentional.  When you’re trying to make an omelet, you’re going to have to bust a few eggs.”

“That’s so messed up,” Meg muttered to herself.

“Yeah, I know.   The bigger pieces are supposed to take care of them, but it’s hard.  They get really scared.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Meg asked suspiciously.

“Gideon is a big piece in the system and he’s chosen to trust you.  I figure I can either keep getting pushed back or support him in his relationship with you.”

“You do realize how bizarre this sounds, don’t you?”

“To most people it would, but you’re different.  It’s a big reason why Gideon is drawn to you.”

“You don’t have to be so cooperative, Sirus.  I mean, I’m sure you’d rather be doing anything but hanging out with me.  Why not let Gideon forward?”

Sirus shrugged then moved to lean his elbows down on his thighs but stopped immediately, flinching at the sudden pain he felt there.  He sat back, leaned his head against the too-short headrest and looked up at the cabin ceiling. 

Meg waited, sensing something different about his emotional signature.  Instead of a sickly yellow like before, it had morphed into a handsome shade of orange. 

“Maybe I wanted to get a chance to talk with you myself.”  He’d muttered so softly, if it weren’t for her metahuman hearing, she wouldn’t have caught what he said.

Her eyes widened in surprise.  “Wow,” was all she could manage.

Sirus breathed deeply as though deciding, then turned to look her right in the eyes.  She noticed his pupils weren’t angrily dilated like the usually were.  He just looked to be intense.  “Is that unacceptable to you?” His voice was strained.

“Sirus, I don’t know what to say.  This is a complete one-eighty.”  She watched the muscle in his jaw start to work and sensed his embarrassment. 

“Listen, I think it’s great for us to talk.  As you said, you’re a large part of the system.  If I want to be Gideon’s friend, it would only make sense that I’m your friend, too.”

Sirus nodded and moved his lips into a tight smile.

“Friends?” Meg asked, extending her hand.

Sirus looked at her small hand for a moment before taking it into his. 

Meg was surprised at his firm yet gentle grip.  She smiled tentatively.

“Thank you,” he said gruffly before letting her hand go.

“What for?”

“For giving me a chance.”

“I should be thanking you,” Meg nodded back toward where the Senator and Michelle sat drinking champagne.

“What for?”

“For helping me get through this night,” Meg winced dramatically.

Sirus couldn’t help but chuckle.  He had to wonder what it was about this girl that made him feel at peace for the first time in as far back as he could remember.

Chapter 76 The Lady in Red

Meg and Sirus had spent the thirty-five minute flight talking quietly about what she might encounter at the benefit.  Sirus was the guard in attendance at the most recent event, so he was very much in-the-know concerning protocol.

“Gideon mentioned something that was going to happen tonight, but never got around to telling me what,” Meg had prompted.

“He was probably talking about the nomination.”

“Nomination?  For what?”

“Arkdone’s  already thrown his name into the race.  He’s a front-runner for his party’s nomination.”

“Nomination for what?”  Meg hated not being in the know.  She was so accustomed to reading everyone’s emotions and therefore thoughts. 
Not
knowing was making her feel more than a little blind.