Page 75 of The World Undone

They’d plateaued a few times, and had to build an initial callous to using my power, but slowly, they grew better at it. Within two weeks, everyone could teleport, and within a month, we could pull energy from fifty miles away from each other.

After that, their improvements came in a rush, all of us caught on the high of feeling our connection grow stronger, bolder, the feel of the power flowing through us like a sixth sense—one that had been there all along, only we’d only now just realized to look for it.

Until, eventually, there was no more stalling.

We were ready.

Every contingency to the plan had been belabored and discussed within an inch of everyone’s sanity.

Eli had begun reciting different steps and locations in his sleep.

Charlie had forced Bishop to begrudgingly take a weekend off, the two of them locking themselves in their suite, for a little babymoon—the only sort that could safely take place in times like this.

Two days before we were set to leave, they finally announced the pregnancy, all smiles and excitement as everyone feigned surprise. That’s when I realized that Charlie believed it too—that we were going to win. And somehow, more than Bishop’s meticulous planning, and Declan’s impeccable mastery of our power, that sealed my own confidence, burying the tiny sliver of doubt deep in the recesses of the lake, for good.

Charlie was like the backbone of this place, and though we were generally too busy for a casual chat, I found myself liking her more and more, the longer I was here. The community seemed to breathe alongside her—flexing and folding as she moved.

But she was busy, and taking on a lot, so I’d waited to have the conversation I needed to have with her.

That was the excuse I kept telling myself anyway.

After Greta, I knew that Charlie was the only lead I had left if I wanted to find my mother’s twin.

And I was running out of time.

I was confident my powers were as strong as they were ever going to get—same with my connection to my team. Once we had the stone, that left exactly one thing: the nexus.

Saif was my best chance at finding it. I hoped so anyway.

He was also my last link to Cyrus. Cyrus’s final mission, one he gave up his final months with us to see out.

The night before our planned mission, I threw back a shot of whiskey with Mer and Dec at the restaurant, took a deep breath, and went to find Charlie.

Whenever she had a spare second to breathe, she liked to sit out on the nearest dock to catch a few minutes of the sunset. It was honestly the only indulgence I ever saw her take.

Bishop was running over the plan for the millionth time with the guys, so I knew she’d be out there alone.

When I found her, I paused, suddenly unsure about what exactly I was going to say.

She sat with her feet dangling above the water, leaning back on her hands, her small stomach bump outlined in the orange and pink hues of the setting sun as they bounced back against the water.

What did I say? Where did I start? I wasn’t even sure what exactly it was I was looking for here.

Shaking my head, I turned away—I’d do this after the mission, my head needed to stay focused, I didn’t need to be distracted by Saif or my mother, or a family history I’d never fully know, not really—until my forehead bumped into a solid, warm mass.

“Chickening out, are we, Little Protector?”

Darius’s voice sent a wave of shame through me, one that he dispelled just as quickly when he wrapped a hand around my shoulders and tugged me in close to him.

“Caught Dec at the bar, she let me know where you were. Thought you could use some moral support.”

I sank against him, my chest suddenly lighter.

“Family stuff can be hard, trust me, I get it.”

I nodded, walking stitched against him until we reached the end of the dock, and Charlie, and there was nowhere else to go.

We sat down next to her, me sandwiched between them both, stealing their warmth as the impossibly stunning sunset put on a show just for us.

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