“When the time is right—if the time is right—Pops has a whole list of foster families available to take them in. The only issue is we’re really leery of doing so because we’re protected in here.”
He let out an incredulous laugh at the irony. When he stopped me from falling, I thought maybe he was a decent guy but now he was detestable once more.
I glared at him. “This is the first time we have been under attack. What I was trying to say is that legislation in Congress-”
He interrupted me with a grave look. “I read up on that. I thought you had been making it all up. How is something that big so easily kept under wraps? Why isn’t it on the news outlets? They seriously want everyone to produce blood samples, and if we carry the gifted DNA, they want us to register and possibly place us in detainment camps? Unbelievable!”
“Believe it. They want to keep us away from the public eye. Pretend like we don’t exist so they can prevent any hysteria. We are acquainted with the senator of New Jersey,” I stated. Lincoln scoffed once more. “I’m not a fan either, but he found the loophole. Paul created this company with us in mind, essentially. The new law will have anyone residing in this facility exempted from testing. They can’t force us to get tested.”
“Blake,” Troy and Leo came running up to us. “We should all be downstairs,” Troy said in concern.
I sighed. “I agree with Jaxson. We were ill prepared for this. Is there any accountability being done right now? Kade is in the training room. I have to—” The mountain shook once more. “So, help me I will end him,” I yelled in frustration as I glared up at the ceiling. “I have to get Kade,” I finished after my mini-meltdown concerning Horatio.
“Leo, can you run back down to the basement?” Troy asked. “We need everyone accounted for. Hopefully, this is the only place caved in. Can you also send Sam, Sierra, and Gavin back up here if you see them?”
At Leo’s questioning look, Troy said. “Ask Pops, he’ll tell you who they are.”
“I think you need to tell Leo,” I muttered softly to Troy as he kneeled beside me after Leo left.
Troy sighed, knowing what I was talking about.
“He’s stuck in here with us now, for goodness knows how long,” I added. “He’s going to see some freaky unexplainable things. You trust him enough to run your company, you should trust him with your secret.”
“I’ll tell him when he returns. I’ll let him see Gavin, Sierra, and Sam in action,” Troy said reluctantly.
We had moved a considerable amount of debris when I finally saw Kade with a small group of people on the other side. “Kade,” I said with relief. “Are you alright?” I yelled through the eight-foot or so of debris that separated us.
“Blake! I’m good,” he said happily as he began moving the debris aside. It was evident that he had been trying to tunnel out as well. “But we have some people injured over here. Henderson got knocked out, one of the girls looks like she may have fractured her arm, and a few other people have some abrasions that should be looked at.”
“How many people are over there?” I asked.
“Twenty-four,” he stated without hesitation. “I already did the sweep of the area, and everyone’s gathered in the training room. It seems to be the most structurally sound.”
“Good job, I’m proud of you,” I enthused. “Listen, Gavin, Sierra, and Sam are on their way back up. I need you to step back and return to the training room. They’re going to remove the rest of the debris so we can evacuate to the bottom floor.”
“Is it Horatio?” Kade asked grimly as he hesitantly looked at the others around him.
“We think so, but don’t worry about it. Pops and Paul are working on a game plan,” I said wiping my brow. I was hot and sweaty. I was thankful that I never changed out of my tank top and martial arts pants.
Kade nodded as I heard Micah on the other side. “Kade!” he cried out in relief. “You’re okay?”
“Yes,” Kade said. I could hear the smile in his voice. “Did they send you in here to check on us?”
“No,” Micah scoffed. “Pops told me to stay put-” he began.
Kade must have warned him without words because he let out a squeak. “Hi Blake,” he called tentatively.
“Hey Micah,” I said in fond indulgence. “I wish you would have listened to Pops. Why don’t you come over here and we can find you something else to do?”
Micah showed up seconds later, looking guilty. “I-” he began.
I shook my head as I looked over at Lincoln. Lincoln looked astonished. “Lincoln this is my middle
brother, Micah. He can teleport… as you noticed.” I then looked at Micah. “Why don’t you go back down, and…if you were to pop into every room you can think of, I would never know. Be really careful, Micah, and if you feel a slight shake, return to Will immediately.”
I didn’t want to outright tell him to disobey Will, but he had the right idea. He could transport from room to room with little danger to himself.
He zapped back out as Troy and Leo returned with Gavin, Sierra, and Sam. I wasn’t surprised to see them followed by Jaxson, Remy, Noah, Drake, and Jace.