Page 49 of He is… Creed: Part Three

Jensen’s laptop beeps, and he eyes the alarm and then me. “Addie is getting a call from Brock West.” He hits the volume button, and the ringing sound fills the room. “I’m sending it to voicemail,” he announces a moment before Addie’s voice says, You’ve reached the voicemail of Addie Lawrence. Please leave a message, and I will call you back as soon as possible.

West’s message follows. “Addie, this is Brock. I’ve talked things over with your father, and he’s willing to bring you into the loop on Red Dart. I know you are still out with that migraine today, but he told me about dinner tomorrow night. I’ll be joining you, but there are some things I want to discuss in advance. Call me.” The line goes dead, and Jensen punches the sound button to off.

I grind my teeth at the idea of Addie being inserted back into that spiderweb of monsters. West being one of them. He’s plotting to fuck her and kill her, and he will not live to see that day.

Caleb’s lips compress into a hard line, and Maddox says what we are all thinking. “Is it me?” he asks. “Or is the timing on that call mighty suspect? The bullets move. West calls Addie.”

“I heard Lucian order Brock to kill Addie. It’s a trap. He’s a liability. And it’s long past time we accept that we need to lock Lawrence up. We can keep saying we’ll find Red Dart and that we need him to do that. But what else is he brewing that we don’t know about? We left him alone for two years, and Red Dart emerged. We cannot make that mistake again. We need to cut our losses.”

Maddox shifts in his chair. “We cannot act rashly—”

“While you’re sucking your thumb, considering options,” I snap, cutting him off, “Lawrence could make a mistake that allows Julian, not us, to get his hands on Red Dart. He’s scrambling now. Using my mother. Moving bullets. Trying to get his daughter back. Now is the time to move in. We’ll find the evidence we need once we have him in custody. We’ll find Red Dart. And even if we don’t, we’ll have rid ourselves of the hazard Lawrence represents.”

I fire all my attention at Caleb. “I know you worry that we’ll create enemies in our government if we take out Lawrence, but he’s creating their fear of us. They think all GTECHs are the same. Walking on eggshells isn’t going to make that go away. We take him, and no one knows we have him. We’ll hit Lawrence’s house, my mother’s place, and Taylor all in one night. We leave with everything we can, including Lawrence. Throw him in a cell here at Sunrise City. Force him to help us shut down Red Dart before Julian gets his hands on it and comes after us all.”

“Those bullets we now have in our possession have leveled the battlefield,” he argues. “Zodius knows we have them. They’ll hesitate to attack.”

“Which doesn’t end this. It simply opens a door for us to do that ourselves. Let’s get rid of one of the enemies. Let’s take out Lawrence.”

Caleb’s brow furrows, and then he nods sharply. “Tomorrow night.”

Chapter Forty-Four

Addie

I spend a good, long time sitting at a coffee shop and talking with Katie that afternoon. We talk about Creed, of course, and I’m just trying to digest what amounts to the meaning of life for me at this point. Creed has an extra chromosome, and I don’t know why that is anything but good news. He’s not like Julian. That’s what it tells us, but then I already knew that. We all knew that already, but Creed himself.

I have every intention of telling him as much, but as I return to his apartment, he’s not there. Katie has to get the door code for me, and that feels really bad. Does he not want me here? I almost ask Katie to find me another place to stay, but I remind myself that Creed is all over the board with me. He wants me. He wants to save me. He hates himself. He needs me to love him more than that hate.

But once Katie has left me inside alone for a while, at least until the next blood draw, with the scent of him permeating the air and the absence of him spearing my heart, the hours pass with excruciating slowness. I’m stuck with DVDs to watch, as there is no cable. I don’t know how Jensen gets phone service down here, but I assume it’s not by normal means. I know Creed loves me, but I just don’t know if he’ll ever allow us to be happy together.

A knock sounds on the door, and while it’s illogical that Creed would knock, he’s in a funky place right now. We’re in a funky place right now. With a little hope filling me, I race across the room anyway, hoping it’s him, and yank open the door, only to sag in disappointment when Katie stands in front of me.

“I take it you were hoping for Mr. Tall, Dark, and Incredibly Cranky instead of me?”

“Yes,” I admit dejectedly, stepping away from the door. “I would have welcomed his crankiness right about now.”

“I’m convinced that the extra chromosome I told you about earlier makes him incredibly stubborn,” she says, entering the room and shutting the door behind her. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear it’s time to give up more blood.”

I sit down at the table and offer her my arm. “Yes, please take my blood. I can’t wait.”

Katie laughs, sits down next to me, and places her bag on the table. “Sorry. I know being poked and prodded isn’t fun.”

“It’s fine,” I say, wishing something she discovers might offer Creed the peace he clearly needs, and I wonder how the other soldiers are managing their changes, which reminds me of Caleb. “When I was in the elevator yesterday,” I say. “Caleb seemed to read my mind. He responded to what I didn’t say out loud.”

“He reads human emotions,” she says nonchalantly, as if that’s no big deal. “It doesn’t work on GTECHs. He senses fear, worry, and happiness. He says it’s like seeing a color in his mind.”

“Does he have the extra chromosome? Is that what creates unique abilities?”

“He doesn’t have the extra chromosome. I check his blood regularly. As for Creed, his ability to communicate with the wind surfaced very early after his conversion to GTECH, as did Julian’s ability to communicate with wolves. Caleb’s ability is more recent. I really have nothing conclusive that indicates why certain GTECHs have special skills, though it would be interesting to know if Julian has that chromosome.”

“I’m glad we don’t know. That would be just one more reason for Creed to compare himself to Julian.”

“No matter how Creed demonizes this chromosome or himself, scientifically, I theorize it’s a sign of the GTECHs evolving and getting stronger. I’d like the chance to prove that. If you can influence Creed to allow me to do some more testing, that would be helpful. I plan to ask Caleb to talk to him as well, but I can’t catch up to him. He’s been behind closed doors for hours.” She studies me a moment. “Your eyes are almost back to normal.”

My hand presses to my cheek, and there’s a twist in my gut. “They are?” I ask, and already I feel Creed slipping away from me.

Katie’s expression softens. “You really don’t want to leave him, do you?”

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