Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
My pulse sped up at the mention of Abel, at that word: Dad. I wasn’t yet sure what to call him. It was still so much to process at once. As we got out of the car, I froze. As soon as we stepped out of it, the car was no longer there.
“Did you do it?” I asked Luthor.
He nodded.
I narrowed my eyes. “It was you! You were the guy with the syringe who attacked me.” I thought back to our night of camping and the flickering vehicle.
Luthor rubbed the back of his head and glanced at Zach who rolled his eyes. “Sorry about that. When we found out that you were on the run from the FEA, we tried to track you, but it wasn’t easy. Dad sent out almost our entire organization to search for you. We knew you’d visited Devon’s aunt and uncle, and we sent out scouts to track you in the area. Eventually someone in a diner said they’d seen you. Luthor followed up on the hint, because I wasn’t close by. Since I wasn’t there to talk to you, Dad permitted Luthor to use a sedative. That obviously didn’t work out too well.”
Luthor smiled sheepishly. “You’re a good fighter, girl.”
“You gave me a concussion,” Jago said reproachfully.
Did he want an apology?
“You scared the shit out of me. That’s not really the most effective way to convince me to join you.” But I wasn’t even angry anymore. I couldn’t believe that Abel had cared enough to send all of his men out to search for me. With the FEA out searching in tandem, that had been a big risk. “Your Variation is cool,” I said to Luthor. Jago rolled his eyes and turned toward the helicopter.
Luthor grinned. “Yours isn’t too shabby either.”
Zach smiled but it was tense as his eyes searched the sky. “We use Luthor’s Variation to disguise our helicopter too.”
“But didn’t it appear on the radar of the airport?”
“Nope. Luthor’s Variation prevents that. And we have connections to the people who track that sort of thing,” he said evasively, then gave me a quick smile. “Come on. We should hurry. Soon the area will be crowded with FEA helicopters.”
He took my hand and I followed him toward a helicopter that looked like it might be used by military. Instead of skids, it had three tires and was painted in a brownish-green color.
Zach and I sat together in the back while Luthor and Jago took their places in the cockpit. They exchanged grins as we lifted off the ground. As we rose into the sky, I could see the FEA helicopters in the distance. They were looking for me, but with Luthor’s talent, they’d never find us.
I couldn’t help but wonder who was in the helicopters. Had Major come to make sure I didn’t slip through their fingers again? I’d always been grateful to him for saving me from a neglectful home. But having seen my mother today, I wasn’t sure if the FEA hadn’t been part of the problem from the start. Her years as an agent might have turned her into the wreck she was now, and the FEA had silently hunted me, probably from the day I was born. Even if my mother hadn’t wanted to give me away, the FEA would have forced her to eventually. What would my life have been like if my mother hadn’t wanted to live a normal life? If she’d stayed with Abel? Zach seemed so normal and kind, not like the crazy Volatile Major made him out to be. What if Zach had said the truth? What if Abel had been searching for me all those years, if he’d honestly missed me? If he loved me? Had the FEA kept me from a loving family?
My mother had said she left Abel because she wanted a normal life and he couldn’t bear it. She hadn’t run from him because he had been cruel to her.
Zach touched my arm and I jumped. His turquoise eyes were curious. He looked so much like me, I couldn’t believe it. My brother.
“So Holly is really okay?” I whispered.
Zach nodded. “She’s more than okay. She’s happy with us.”
“She doesn’t want to return to the FEA?”
He stared out of the window for a moment. “No one does once they meet our dad. He’s charismatic. People realize that Abel’s Army is the better choice.”
“What about her family? I went to their home. Well, you probably know that since you followed me in the car.”
“Holly was worried that FEA would target them to get to her. She was worried that one of her siblings would turn out to be a Variant and that the FEA would find out. She wanted them safe. So we relocated them. They’re perfectly fine.”
“What did you tell them? Why would they leave their home and everything behind? Why did it look like there had been a struggle?”