Enigma Page 8

  I jumped, along with my heartrate, and pulled my palms up. “It’s me! Your mom and Eli are here.”

  She lifted her forefinger toward me. “Wait. I need to know you’re Reid before I go anywhere with you.”

  She was right to question me. But how could I prove I was me? I chuckled. “Well, I’m pretty sure no one else knows that I was in here, holding you so you could sleep.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, but that’s not good enough. Someone could’ve seen you leave my room.”

  “You liked that motel room in New Mexico that was stuck in the seventies.”

  She shrugged.

  If I went back farther in time, I could find something that was proof of something only few knew. “Nick used to call you Jojo when we were little.”

  Her lips parted. She took several quick steps and laid the gun on the kitchen table. “Holy shit balls! You scared the crap out of me, Reid.”

  “Just me. Stand down, soldier.” I let my hands drop.

  Her brows furrowed and she exhaled loudly. “I could’ve hurt you.”

  She was beautiful even with messy hair. “If you hurt me, does that mean you would’ve kissed my boo-boos?” I stepped so close our chests touched and she had to tilt her head up to see my face. “You need more proof? Before you fell asleep, we made out.” My lips hovered above Josie’s. “And I kissed you here.” My finger smoothed over her collarbone.

  The simple touch was as light as a feather, yet it cemented her in place. Tingles spread through my chest, where our bodies touched.

  “Okay,” she smiled. “It’s you.”

  She let her head fall, her forehead resting against my chest. “They’re here,” she sighed. I could feel her warm breath through my shirt. “They’re alive. Thank Thor.”

  I encircled my arms around her. “Let’s go see your family.”

  7.

  Josie

  I jogged down the long hall toward the training rooms and my mom and little brother, my heart swelling with each beat. After Reid had told me Mom and Eli were here in the Hub, I’d gotten ready in record time.

  We came to the intersection of hallways and rounded the corner toward the training rooms. A short figure ran toward us. Eli smiled, his blond hair bouncing and blue eyes wide. I set my feet and bent down, preparing for his weight as he launched himself into my open arms.

  Relief rushed through me, all at once like a flood. His arms wrapped around me and I squeezed. This kid and I had been through hell together—losing a sibling and watching our parents change—before the Oculi world was ever shown to us. He was one of the few people I could count on the last couple of years, and he was nine. But we shared a weird family bond, including tragedy, that made me care for him in a way that was too difficult to put into words.

  He pulled away, grinning so big his chubby cheeks made his eyes squint. “Where’s Mom?” I asked.

  He motioned to the training rooms behind him with his thumb, down the hallway on the way to the garage where they would’ve arrived. Mom shouldn’t have let him wander off. “Why are you out here? Does Mom know where you are?”

  He nodded, making his hair bob. “I was looking for the bathroom. Can you show me where it is?”

  My heart seized. Mom wasn’t taking this traitor seriously, either. As soon as humanly possible, I needed to change that.

  Reid pointed to the bathrooms down the hallway. “Down there, buddy.”

  Eli couldn’t go traipsing around the Hub with a traitor on the loose. He could be taken or hurt in an instant. The very thought made my stomach turn. I wrapped my arm around my churning stomach. “Reid, can you take him to the bathroom? He shouldn’t go by himself.”

  Reid’s hand landed on my back. “Of course. You need to have a bodyguard until you’re in the training room, though. Eli and I will walk you to the door, then we’ll find the bathrooms.”

  Eli frowned. “I don’t know him. Can’t you go with me?”

  The three of us started walking, me between my brother and Reid. I ruffled Eli’s hair. “Hey. You can trust Reid, okay?”

  Eli nodded. He was on the quiet side even normally, but he’d just been thrown into this world a few days ago. Poor guy. He had to be so confused.

  I bumped Eli’s shoulder and he bumped me back. “Where have you stayed the last couple of nights with Mom?”

  He shrugged, his gaze staying on the floor. “A different state every night.”

  Eli shouldn’t have been involved in this. Guilt nibbled on my heart. I squeezed Eli’s shoulder as we approached an open training room door, where the sound of Cohen’s laugh echoed into the hallway. “Stay with Reid. See you in a few minutes.”

  Eli glanced to me with a hesitant smile. Reid gave Eli a pat on the shoulder. “So, the Hub is pretty rad, isn’t it?” They continued down the hallway toward the garage.

  I turned, my heart thumping again in anticipation of seeing my mother. Stepping into the training room, I saw Cohen flash a wide grin alongside Harrison, Reid’s dad. Zac and Kat stood behind Cohen. To the left, around the corner, not visible from the hallway, red hair swept into a ponytail—Mom. And Eli.

  My body locked, unable to move, but my mind shifted to warp-speed.

  How could this be? I was just with Eli. He was in the hallway. I touched him. I hugged him. I— No. Uh-uh.

  I sank to the floor, shaking. Mom and Eli ran to me, wound their arms around me.

  “Mom,” Eli said next to my head. “What’s wrong with J?” I looked at him, really looked at him. Worry contorted his face.

  Mom didn’t answer Eli, but instead struggled to sit next to me on the floor, her cane falling with a loud clang. She tightened her hold on me. “J, calm down. We need you to tell us what’s wrong. J?”

  Voices murmured around me between my gasps for air. Then Reid’s voice resonated through the room from somewhere behind me. I could hear him running. “Eli didn’t come out of the bathroom. I went in and he’s gone.” His voice wavered. “I need help looking for him, stat!”

  Mom let go of me and shifted to see Reid. Eli stood. Everyone around us parted so Reid could see me and my family. Sucking in air through my nose, I tried to calm myself so I could talk.

  Reid was already jogging toward us when I twisted to look over my shoulder. Then his eyes lifted from me to Eli. His jaw set, brows furrowed.

  “Eli’s been in here,” Harrison said, clearly confused.

  Mom leaned to my ear. “J. What’s going on?”

  Cohen squatted next to my mom. “Can I help you up, Dr. Harper?” Mom nodded while Eli retrieved her cane. Zac and Cohen helped my mom to a standing position.

  Reid stepped closer to me and turned to his dad. “Someone just impersonated Eli.”

  Everyone erupted in questions. “Why would someone want to be me?” “What would someone get by impersonating a kid?” “How do you know?”

  Someone fooled me with my own brother.

  I’d hugged the traitor. They’d had me in their arms. Chills ran up my spine.

  I watched Eli’s eyes widen, gawking at everyone talking at once. No. He shouldn’t have to be scared out of his mind right now. My family is off-limits.

  Reid offered his hand and tugged me up. His eyes darkened by a degree. “That was the traitor. I had my hand on the mole, and he got away.” He said it to me, but it was loud enough for all to hear.

  I pictured hugging the imposter and anger simmered in my stomach. He could have Pushed a knife and killed me right there. He could have killed Reid, too. So easily.

  “Yeah, and we’ll get our hands on him again.” Cohen lifted his chin. “Don’t you worry.”

  Harrison stepped to my mom. “The three of you need protection at all times. I’m ordering it myself.”

  An attempt to rattle me, scare me into making a mistake. To convince me to go off with him. Was that what this was?

  Kat had been quiet, but she stepped to me and rubbed my arm. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” Zac said, shoving his hands in
his pockets. “What can we do to help?”

  Eli threw his arms around me, his eyes watery, knocking me out of temporary shock. His bottom lip trembled. An ache grew in my throat. I moved a strand of hair out of his eyes. “You’ll be okay. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. I love you, little man.” He nuzzled his head against me.

  Mom wrapped an arm around each of us, her eyes glimmering. My heart warred with itself. Part of me still ached from the last two years of her being so controlling, yet emotionally distant and her leaving me last week. But she’d sent that message the night I killed Santos, explaining that she’d tried to lure the Consortium away from me and the serum drop with Vice President Brown. When I’d thought she’d deserted me, she had actually put her own life on the line. I was relieved she wasn’t hurt, or worse.

  Mom pulled both of us into her. She smelled like our laundry detergent, which instantly took me back to our house in southwest Florida. Eli and I had just been starting to have a normal life there.

  She kissed each of us on the forehead. “I love you both. I’m sorry you’re a part of this,” she whispered. Her eyes shut, letting a couple tears slip. “We need to talk later.” Her eyes opened, her vibrant green irises locked on my face, tears still pooling in the corners.

  “Yeah.” My voice cracked. “We do.”

  The Consortium had nearly destroyed her. Working for them, running from them, starting the Resistance, losing a son, my dad undercover and maybe dead. It had all been because of the organization that wanted to exterminate Anomalies.

  No more.

  Rage boiled in my veins as I hugged what was left of my family. I had to protect them and develop the skills to protect other Anomalies. If I was as advanced as Reid thought, I needed to master the skills to defend as many Oculi as possible and take down the Consortium. There was no waiting. The mole had already fooled me and Reid once.

  I pulled away from our embrace and turned toward everyone else in the room. “Reid and Cohen and anyone else equipped and available to help me hone my Oculi skills, teach me.” Heat flashed in my face. “Mom and Eli need to stay here with me. It’s the only way I know they’re really safe.”

  If I was part of the Resistance, then I needed to start mastering the skills to take this guy down. Because this had been a threat meant to rattle me. And that meant the mole would come back.

  8.

  Reid

  I didn’t blame Josie for losing her shit. I mean, after the traitor impersonated Eli, I’d wanted to throw down, too. This was a personal act on the mole’s part, and that made me furious. If I got my hands on him, I’d have no mercy after he’d tried to kill Josie and then taunted her.

  The door of the training room creaked open and Max walked in, the other Council members following behind him—Nico, Shreeya, Jared, and Ming.

  Max stopped closest to my dad, looking at Dr. Harper. “Meg. What kept you?”

  With the help of her cane, Meg approached Max. “We ran into a little trouble. Someone was following us last night. We managed to lose them in Denver, though. Max, the Hub has been compromised.”

  Max’s head swiveled to my father. “Harrison?”

  “She’s correct. We have a breech in security.” My dad explained what had just happened with the Eli imposter.

  “Are you sure this isn’t in Josie’s head?” Max glanced to the other Council members.

  Nico stepped closer to the rest of us. “Yes, this could certainly be the beginning symptoms of Denigration. It tends to start broad, doubting and questioning ideology. Then the Oculi tends to get fixated or obsessed about something specific.”

  “Unfortunately,” Ming interjected, “it does run in families. It tends to be a genetic thing. And with—”

  Fury flamed in my chest. “No!” Everyone whipped around to look at me. “I was there. I experienced it. I touched him.” I spit the last two words. “I was with an imposter while the real Eli was in here with Josie and everyone else. This happened. Josie isn’t showing symptoms of anything.”

  Ming nodded to Shreeya, who then crossed her arms. “Well, if it happened, we need to take action. We need protection for the Harper family at all times. Josie, we need you in fighting shape. A couple of our most talented Oculi should help you do this.” She glanced to me and Cohen. “Let’s get started.”

  “Agreed,” said Jared.

  “Yes.” Max held his index finger up. “But we need to check security availability—”

  Dee ran through the door, dressed like she usually was, in jeans and a hoodie. “Meg. Where’s Meg?”

  Max stepped away from Meg.

  “Meg. Harrison texted me.” Dee ran to Meg with open arms. Both women were motionless as they embraced. They probably hadn’t seen each other in person since Nick’s funeral. That would’ve been before Stella, Dee’s daughter, had gone missing. Like my dad, everyone assumed the worst. If an Oculi went missing for over a couple of weeks, the assumption was death. And now the Davises were missing, too. Oculi history had proven that it was highly likely Stella and the Davises were gone forever.

  The Hub really did need Josie.

  Sometimes I forgot our parents were more than the Founders; they were friends first, once all incredibly close.

  Several random people entered the training room, talking loudly amongst themselves. Max turned, pointing toward the door. “This room is not for public use right now.” A few others came into the room, and Max chased them all out the door.

  Josie shifted at my side and sighed. “Okay, let’s start.”

  Shreeya waved an arm. “Everyone else, please move to the side. We have work to do with Josie.”

  Shreeya and the rest of the Council members were anxious for Josie to practice her skills, yes, but for an entirely different reason than Josie was. They wanted to see if she’d have an Oculi degradation like Nick. And they needed her as a weapon.

  I wasn’t nervous, though. Josie was probably more stable than I was.

  The four Council members whispered amongst themselves, and the three Founders, plus Eli, ambled to the chairs. Josie hit my forearm. “Will you sit next to Mom and Eli? You’re the only one I trust. Please?” Her green eyes pleaded.

  I would because I wanted to, but I also couldn’t say no to her. About anything, really. “Of course. I’ve got it.”

  Zac and Kat took seats next to Eli.

  Max, still standing in the middle of the large room, clapped his hands. “The Council agrees that it would be best for Josie to practice the use of her defensive shield. If the Consortium were to attack, we need to make sure she can control this skill. And if someone impersonating Eli had tried to attack her from close range, she would have needed to use it. For now, we request that no Pushing or Retracting be used.” He turned to Josie. “Practice hand-to-hand combat, since it can evoke emotions, then use your shields as needed as a last resort for protection.”

  “Absolutely not. She has been through enough in the last couple of weeks,” Meg yelled, her voice echoing through the room.

  Jared stood in front of his chair, but angled himself toward Meg. “We’d like to elicit emotions through hand-to-hand combat as much as possible because that will also help you practice keeping those feelings in check. Often, heightened emotional responses can help us also identify an approaching Oculi psychological break.”

  As much as I didn’t want to admit it, Jared was right. Meg knew it, too. We did have to make sure Josie was safe in all capacities.

  Josie hitched a hand on her hip, glanced to her mom then me. Her slight agitation was apparent to me, and probably her mom, but likely not to the Council members.

  Talk about sugarcoating. Jared sat and Ming immediately whispered in his ear. The dude could’ve just said we need to make sure you aren’t going to have a psychotic break, so we need someone to beat you up.

  Max now stood beside me. He smelled of cheap aftershave, something with a high alcohol content. “Let’s see what she can do with Cohen, someone a little more exper
ienced.”

  Josie stared at me then looked to Cohen. “Let’s go.”

  Cohen was frozen in place, eyeing Max.

  Max looked between the four of us. “You heard her. Cohen, don’t go easy.” He spun around without another word and mall-walked to an empty seat.

  I glanced to Cohen, who was already watching me. We both knew he couldn’t hold back too much or everyone would be able to tell. Josie was good, though; she’d studied tae kwon do since she was a kid. And she was just plain tough.

  I retreated to the chairs, making Kat move over so I could sit next to Eli. Eli stared up at me, his eyes scared. I patted his back, trying to give him some kind of assurance.

  Clenching my teeth, I crossed my arms and focused on Josie and Cohen, ready to Push or Retract if needed. Cohen didn’t Push any safety gear on himself.

  They both cautiously closed the gap between them. To my surprise, Josie threw the first punch, but it was blocked. Cohen swung his right hand, left, then gave a hard uppercut, but Josie blocked them all. Dancing in a circle, they kicked, punched, and blocked for several minutes, demonstrating their skills. Cohen kicked his leg low, but as Josie blocked it, Cohen leaned in and slammed into her. Josie lost her balance, being a third the size of her opponent, and Cohen ran toward her. Grabbing Josie’s shoulders, Cohen kneed Josie in her stomach, making her double over. My stomach rolled and I leaned onto my knees.

  Planting his back foot, Cohen lowered his center of gravity, spread his fingers wide over Josie’s shoulders, and shoved with a deep grunt. Josie stumbled backward again, trying to find her balance, and she found it—against the wall. Not good. Bad place to be when tired.

  My stomach pitched and my back muscles tensed. I knew he wouldn’t hurt her besides maybe a minor injury, but it still wasn’t easy watching.

  Cohen was well-trained and knew he needed to take advantage of her position. He leaped and pulled his fist back to smash the right side of her face.

  I’d already jumped up from my seat when a burst of energy exploded. Shoved backward by something like wind, I scrambled to find my footing, but Cohen flew through the air like he’d been power-punched in a video game. He landed at least ten feet away from Josie, on his back, not moving. My dad ran to Cohen, and I sprinted to Josie.