They found her in a bedroom that reeked of flowers.
Everything was soft and floral and scented enough for Holden’s head to spin as he knelt by his mother’s bedside and shook her.
“Mother,” he hissed. “Wake up.”
There was movement beneath her eyelids and a slight pucker in her brow, but she didn’t stir other than that. She was thinner than when he’d last seen her, as if parts of her had faded away until she was vulnerable and small. He feared a harder touch would hurt her fragile body, so he gently shook her again. There was no response.
“What should I do?” he demanded, glancing up at Trent. They’d followed the same plan from the guest house—instructing Nate to wait outside as the rest of them explored the house. “She’s not waking up.”
“Do some psychic shit,” Trent advised, peering into the hallway. “Tickle her with mental fingers or whatever.”
“That’s not how empathy works.”
“Then pour some water on her face, man. Come on. Get with it.”
Holden glared at his back before doing a quick scan of the room. It was like a doll’s house with barred windows. Not Jessica Payne’s style at all. She wasn’t one to wrap herself in silks and satins, but she also wasn’t one to sleep this deep. In the past, she’d woken up at the slightest creak of a footfall on the stairway. Sneaking out had been impossible. Now she was dead to the world. He’d actually checked her pulse to ensure she was alive.
The vibrating of his phone signaled a text message from Nate.
We have Elijah. Hurry.
Damn it.
Holden grabbed a half-drunk glass of water sitting next to a pill organizer by her bedside, hesitated only briefly, and then followed Trent’s advice. She shot up from bed panting and spluttering with dark hair plastered to her forehead.
“Holden,” she slurred, looking at him with eyes that were huge and distant. “What are you doing?”
“I’m getting you out of here.”
Holden put his arm around her shoulders and guided her out of bed. He braced for a struggle but instead felt her clinging to his arm as she kicked at the sheets and blankets that had twisted around her feet. He took her black nail polish as a good sign. Parts of her personality were still battling through their attempts to wipe her slate clean. That was made even more apparent when she violently kicked off the blanket and stumbled out of the bed, only to droop in a puddle of a heavy wool nightgown like an extra from Little House on the Prairie. Trent hurried over and slid his hand under her other arm.
“Can you walk?”
“The guards,” she said, looking around blearily. “Did you kill them?”
Trent did a double take, and Holden could only stare. Part of him had continued to downplay her role in Ex-Comm, but there was no room for that any longer. The woman that had secretly allowed him to stay up watching romantic comedies while they discussed troublesome men and the irritations of love, who’d been a spitfire, sharp teeth beneath pink lipstick and sleek dresses, was apparently capable of killing. Or at least wanting it to be done. She wasn’t just his mother. She was the leader of some anti-Community faction, even if she was currently clawing her way to consciousness with great gasping breaths.
He wondered if their brainwashing had ever worked on her, or if it was just drugs that had kept her docile on the phone that day.
“No, Mother, we didn’t kill them,” he whispered. “So we need to go.”
“Yes, let’s go.” She stepped into a pair of slippers and clung to his arm. “He’s coming soon.”
“Who?”
“Your father.” Jessica shook her head, tawny hair going everywhere. When she stopped, her gaze was clearer, as if she’d spun herself the rest of the way out of a waking dream. “He hasn’t been here in a while, and will visit us as soon as he arrives.”
“Who’s ‘us’?” Holden hissed. “You and Chase?”
“No. Me and the other women.”
Trent’s mouth pulled to the side in a grimace, but he only urged, “We need to move.”
They made their way down the dark hallway, only ducking out of sight twice before rejoining the others outside. While encased in the protective shield of Six’s mind, it was easier than ever to pinpoint his location inside the barn. Holden had never been inside it before, or any other barn for that matter, but he was certain the barren hayless interior wasn’t typical of a working farm. Perhaps the farm had never functioned at all, and it’d been a cover all along.
He barred the door after stepping inside, and made sure his mother took a seat so she could catch her breath. Her head seemed to have cleared during the short adrenaline-fueled flight from the cottage, but her legs were still obviously weak from disuse.
“Holden!”
Elijah’s voice was a welcome addition to their little crew. Holden turned just in time to see the drummer flying toward him for a tight hug. He smelled strange, like chemicals instead of sugar and smoke the way he had at the club, but his clutching grip and hitching breaths were familiar.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” he said. “You guys have lost it.”
“We can do the reunion thing later,” Six said. “We need to start moving out.”
“What about Chase?” Elijah demanded, whirling toward Six. “I’m not leaving without him.”
“Yes. You are.” Six pursed his lips as he peered through a crack at the side of the large barn door. “You and Jessica need to get going now. The bigger this group, the more likely it is that we’ll be caught, and the situation has changed.”
“My father is here.” Holden glanced down at his mother. She’d begun tying her hair in a knot as she sat drowning in the fabric of the enormous nightgown. “Which means he’ll have his own security as well.”
“Exactly. Time to get the fuck out of here.” Six turned just to jerk his chin at Trent. “You good to take Elijah on my bike?”
Trent and Nate exchanged glances, an unspoken communication that lasted for all of ten seconds before Trent inclined his head. For a void who’d been introduced to the Community and the existence of the supernatural only recently, he was handling it shockingly well.
“I’m good to do what I need to do as long as you help Nate find his brother.”
Jessica’s head popped up at that. Her eyes sharpened on Nate, but she didn’t say anything.
Six tossed his keys at Trent’s chest. “The best way to get out of here is to go south toward the lake and either take one of the boats across or go the long way and cut across the fie—”
Elijah stood between them with his hands curled into fists. Like Holden’s mother, he was lost in oversized white pajamas, and his feet were bare. “I’m not leaving until I know Chase is safe, and you disagreeing with me and treating me like a child is only going to slow us down.”
Holden couldn’t argue with his reasoning, especially given the shock waves of heartache Elijah was setting off in the barn. Wave after wave of fear and concern bowled Holden over until he wanted to shout at Six to reactivate the goddamn shield, because he’d clearly let it drop at some point.
The grief choked Holden and left no question about Elijah’s feelings for Chase. It had always been an unspoken thing between them all at the club, because Elijah was a free spirit who flitted from person to person and did as he pleased. For a time, people had whispered that his affections had been for Holden himself, but either that had never been true or he’d only recently realized he was in love with Chase.
“Okay,” he found himself saying. “I understand.”
Six shot him an incredulous glare, and Holden arched a brow. Six’s mouth sunk at the sides. After a second, he nodded and dismissed Elijah to focus his attention on Jessica.
“How far can you walk?”
“As far as I need to,” she said hoarsely. “Are you getting the others out?”
“Just Chase. We’re not planned enough for a bigger move right now.”
A flicker of regret flashed across her face. “I see. If you’re going to retrieve him, now is the time. People are doing supply runs in preparation for Richard’s arrival, including Jasper. I don’t feel him on the property right now.” She stole another glance at Nate before reaching out for Lia. “Help me up, darling.”
Lia complied, wrapping an arm around her narrow shoulders. “You ready to ditch all these men?”
“Extremely ready,” Jessica croaked. “They’ll only slow us down.”
Now that sounded like Holden’s mother. He wanted to smile, but he still felt like she was a stranger.
“We need to talk soon,” he said to her.
“We do. And I’ll tell you everything, but right now you all need to go before Richard realizes what’s happening. He’ll kill you all before he allows this many people to defect. It would create cracks in the Community that he can’t privately repair.” Jessica’s fingers tightened around Lia’s upper arm. “He’s with the woman in the guest house, and then he’ll come to see me. Once he realizes I’m gone, this will go to shit.”
“There’s no time to find Chase in the silo.” Six’s scowl was ferocious as he stared at the door again. Holden could see the gears in his head churning out plan after plan before dismissing one after the other. “This is what we’re going to do—Lia and Jessica will leave now so we know she’s safe, then the rest of you will find Chase and take Holden’s vehicle out of here. We’ll meet up the road at the bridge, but don’t stop before then. There’s a police station on 82, but they’re under the Community’s thumb.”
“That’s a thing?” Nate asked.
“Of course. Why do you think they want a psychic army? Having the police under their control is only the start of it.”
Holden waved his hand, frowning. “Never mind that for now. If we’re leaving, what are you going to do?”
Everyone else had seemed to understand this part of the plan except him. Or maybe they were just unwilling to question it.
“Get going,” Six said to Lia. “Don’t hesitate if they come for you.”
Her dark eyes grew larger in her face, but she just offered him a grim nod. “Be careful.”
Holden nearly snarled at her to get gone already, and knew how erratic he was being. She was leaving with his mother on a hike that would take at least thirty minutes in her condition, and all he could think was why Six and he were splitting up. His priorities seemed faulty, but then again . . . were they?
Family was turning out to be strings of DNA coded with secrets and lies. His relationship with Six was different. They’d cast aside all the shadowy truths because of the connection between them, and that meant more to him than anything.
He said nothing as Lia and his mother slipped out of the barn without a backward glance, and waited as Elijah led Nate and Trent toward the silo. Nate touched his hand as he left, proving once again that he was an excellent empath despite constantly proclaiming his own failure at the art.
“What’s your plan, Six?”
“To distract your father.”
Holden stepped forward, grabbing Six’s shoulders. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s not. When he’s done visiting with the woman in the guest house—”
“We need to figure out who she is,” Holden said. “She isn’t in her right mind. And the kids inside . . .” He shook his head. “I wonder if they’re his. If he’s been trying to breed psychics as powerful as the Black family. How many families he has like mine, and how many he’s destroyed like Nate’s and Chase’s.”
“We might never know that, but I’ll throw him off his game before he can check in on your mother.” Disgust crossed Six’s countenance. It was amazing how long he’d pretended to respect the man he so clearly despised. “I’ll tell him I want to come back to the Farm. He’ll sit me down and talk about it, try to feel me out with an interrogation since he can’t get in my head.”
“And you think that will work?”
“Maybe. But if it doesn’t, I want you gone before he realizes what’s happened.” Six lifted his hands to brace Holden’s face, rough fingertips gliding over his stubble. “If he finds out that you’re involved, everything about your life will change, Holden. You’ll lose everything—your apartment, your money, and the club . . .” He trailed off, knowing how much Evolution meant to Holden. “You’ll have to give up your old life and go dark. It’s what other Ex-Comm people had to do, and it will be even more intense for you and your mother. Richard won’t only be betrayed, he’ll be humiliated once word gets out. Other members will question why his own wife and son fled. And that will lead to problems. He’ll want revenge.”
Holden nodded numbly. It was true. It was all true. “Meet us by the pond?”
Six’s brow puckered and his mouth opened, but then he looked away and nodded. “Okay.”
It wasn’t reassuring. Not at all.
Holden jerked Six closer. “I need you to meet us there, Six. I won’t leave without you.”
“You will if it comes down to it,” Six said harshly, looking off to the side again. “You have more to lose than I do.”
“That is bullshit. I have you to lose, and right now you’re everything to me.”
Six’s gaze snapped back to Holden. The glacial darkness of his eyes glittered in the shadows of the barn, and his breath caught. “Stop saying shit like that or you’re going to break me right here in the middle of this half-assed escape plan.”
“If I have to break you in order to keep you, I’ll do it.”
“Fuck.”
Six pressed their lips together. Just once and roughly, but it was enough for Holden to dig his psychic hooks in hard enough to wrap himself in Six. There were no flashing lights or thunderbolts marking that he’d found the one unlikely person who was meant to be his, but he knew it. No one else had ever experienced this overwhelming sense of being surrounded by Six—or of knowing the chaotic darkness that battled the sparks of hope and affection in his mind. And no one else had ever made him feel this necessary. This wanted and loved.
“Be careful,” Holden said with a ragged edge. “Please.”
“You be careful. Talk your way out of trouble if you have to. You’re good at that.”
Holden didn’t agree at all, but he sealed the promise with another kiss before forcing himself to turn away.
His jog to the silo was silent, but there was an undercurrent of menace that pinged with every step. He tried to ignore it the way he’d ignored the sinking feeling in his gut the moment Six had headed back to the guest house.
The others had already found a way inside the silo by the time he caught up with them, but there was no chance of duplicating their entry strategy. By the time he was crouched in the darkness off to the side, a guard was standing right in the doorway, and he looked as though he’d be posted there for a while. Holden’s options were limited to staying outside and keeping watch, or knocking the guy out. Hand-to-hand combat wasn’t his strong suit, but being persuasive was. Especially to large men with soft mouths who looked like they could benefit from the touch of a queer’s hands.
These tricks had been fun in the past, but there was nothing thrilling about walking out of his safe spot to approach a man with a gun at his side.
“Hi there,” he called before getting too close. “I have a—”
“Where did you come from?” the guard demanded.
“I just arrived with my father.” Holden forced an encouraging smile, like he was giving the man the opportunity to redeem himself before acting the fool. “You know . . . Richard Payne.”
A healthy dose of skepticism flattened the guard’s mouth. “Holden?”
“Yes, that’s me. I know it’s hard to see me in the dark.” Holden sidled closer, cozying up to the guard so his high Payne cheekbones and tawny hair could be seen in the light above the door. He put a hand on the guard’s shoulder and felt the nerves crawling over him like a million spiders. “Troublesome gay son of our fearless leader, and a current tagalong since it’d been a while since I’ve seen my mother and brother.”
“Oh, right.” Some of the nerves fled as the man latched on to this line of reasoning, but his vibes were still tinged with worry. What would happen if Holden fucked this up? “I know this is shitty, but I have to make sure you have permission to go up.”
Holden leaned in closer, arching an eyebrow, and sensed those nerves begin to scatter again. He projected a sense of calm self-assurance and blew them over all those creepy crawling legs. “My father is in the guest house. I don’t think it’d be a good time to interrupt him.”
Holden moved his hand in a comforting caress, and felt the nerves do barrel rolls into the thrill of attraction. It was times like these where Holden wondered if the attraction was ever real. Did his ability to influence bring out a bolder sense of intrigue and sexual desire . . . or did it create it in someone who had no actual interest? He hated that question, and loved that he didn’t have to ask it of himself with Six.
“I just want to check in with my brother,” he said softly. “If you want, we don’t even have to mention that I was here. That way they won’t know you didn’t check in.”
The guard’s eyes darted around. Relief filled him. “Are you sure that’s okay with you?”
“Positive.” Holden slid his hand from the man’s shoulder and up to the side of his neck. “I appreciate this. Maybe we can talk more after your shift?”
“Yes,” he said with a throb in his voice.
Was that thirsty response genuine? Anything was possible. Holden was known in the Community to be an accomplished cocksucker, but he was also laying on the vibes pretty thick. In the end, it didn’t matter. He smiled.
“I’ll be right down, then.”
Thankfully the interior of the silo was seemingly deserted. If there were other people guarding the building, he didn’t see them, but he also chose to climb the stairs instead of chancing the freight elevator. As he jogged upward, he had the sense of ascending to a blank portal with no way of knowing where it would lead, but then a sharp brightness exploded in his awareness like a flare, and he knew where to go. So much for Nate doubting his own abilities. That signal had held the strength of an empathic Molotov cocktail. The Black psychics were certainly nothing to fuck with. He just hoped Nate had managed to narrow the signal only to him.
He followed the mental tracers up to the top floor and found the rest of the group crowding the narrow hallway in a pool of moonlight. Trent was standing closest to the exit, likely so he could snatch Nate and flee if things didn’t go their way, but Nate and Elijah were cautiously inching closer to the figure crouched on the floor.
Chase didn’t look like himself. His body was thinner and harder, and his silver eyes were nearly glowing in the shadow of his capsule-like room. He looked between them like an animal trying to find a way out of its cage, and his breath came out in loud gasps.
“What the fuck have they done to him?”
“They probably have him on triple the shit they’re doping your mom with,” Trent muttered.
“How do you know?”
“I saw the meds in your mother’s room. And they had him on a drip, but we detached it.”
Smart boy. Figured the engineer would be the first one to pick up samples and evidence.
“Is he dangerous?” Holden asked, flashing back to the night with Beck. To Trent’s face vacant like a stranger’s. “Or drugged?”
It was Nate who answered as he crouched beside Chase on the floor. “I don’t know, but Chase is in there. I can feel him. He’s been . . . sending me visions for months. I thought they were nightmares, but they weren’t. I saw this place in my dreams. This hallway and this room. And the man with the cat eyes.”
Ice slid down Holden’s spine.
Nate continued. “I’ve been coaxing him out with the weird connection he forged last summer, but he started resisting once he saw Elijah.”
“We need to go,” Holden said urgently. “We can carry him if necessary. Take the freight elevator, and knock out anyone who stops us.” Holden glanced at Trent. “You’re the muscle.”
“Oh. Great. Because I’m a void?”
“No. Because you’re big and can probably fight.”
Trent seemed okay with that. He fearlessly stepped forward and reached for Chase, but Chase scooted backward with wilder eyes. There was no readily jumping up to flee like there had been with Holden’s mother. Just naked panic.
“No. Just go,” he panted. “Leave.”
“Chase—”
“Go, motherfucker! Before Jasper comes.”
Jasper with the cat eyes. The very memory of the man made Holden want to vomit.
Elijah breached the space they’d been trying to give Chase and sank to his knees by his side. He showed no hesitation before putting his hands on Chase, one of the most talented psychics Holden had ever seen, who was currently going feral. He bared his teeth when Elijah drew him closer, and skittered backward once those slim arms closed around his tattooed neck. Everything about them contrasted—height, coloring, hair, and demeanor—but Chase froze once their bodies were pressed together.
“I’ve got you,” Elijah whispered. “And I’m not leaving you. They can go, but I’ll stay.”
“Please.” Chase reached up to bury his hands in Elijah’s hair. They were clawed as if to yank and pull, but he just clutched the smaller man. “Please leave me here. I can’t go.”
“You can,” Elijah urged.
“No. I can’t. Every time I try—I—” Chase shuddered. “I—”
“Keep trying,” Elijah pleaded. “So we can get out of here.”
“Elijah,” Chase said raggedly. “They brought you here for me. As . . . as an incentive. Or a punishment.”
Elijah shuddered, but he only held on tighter. “Push through it, Chase. Just like you did when you told me to get out of New York. And when you tried to warn me and Nate. Please.”
Chase’s body locked up, his eyes squeezing shut and stress lines forming across his brow. It looked like he was fighting an invisible force, or maybe his own brain trying to make him stay on the floor.
“Please get up for me.” By now, Elijah’s voice was just a whisper. “For us.”
Chase opened his eyes again, and this time they were damp. Another pained gasp escaped his mouth, but he struggled to his knees.
“We need to hurry,” Holden said. “Please come with us or you’re ensuring they’ll have their hands on Elijah and will keep a closer watch next time.”
Chase cast Nate a furious look, full of scorn and disgust just like the old days. “You shouldn’t have brought him here. I thought it was just you, not all of these extra people.”
The words stung, but Holden didn’t react. It wasn’t as though it was a surprise. After all, Chase had trusted a boy he’d never met living across the country rather than the brother he’d been raised with. But then, their upbringing was what had caused so much lack of trust. Holden was the chosen son and Chase had always been the tool.
“We’re not leaving you.” Elijah leaped to his feet, one small hand gripping Chase’s larger one. “We go together or I don’t go at all.”
“Fuck,” Chase hissed, but this time he managed to stagger to his feet. Holden wondered if it was because Elijah was holding on to him so tight and acting as an anchor. “You’re a persistent pain in the ass.”
“Yeah, but I’m your pain in the ass. So let’s get the hell out of here.”
Relief swarmed them all as Chase shuffled along with them, even as he refused to allow anyone but Elijah to support him. However, dread struck down the hope of this all ending with the speed of a viper. From across the farm, Holden could feel that Six was in trouble.