Page 53 of Dark Medicine

“We think,” said Spook.

“We think there are dozens more like us. We want to find them and help them.”

“And when you find them?” she asked warily.

“We’re going to help the world,” he said quietly. He reached out a big bear paw to the girl, his hand three times her size. Her fingers now covered in blood; her palms cut open from the jagged rocks. “I’m Phillip Cho, but they call me Flip.”

The young woman eyed him cautiously, her gaze flitting from Flip to Kane to Adam and then back to Spook. She spotted the two other men behind him but ignored them.

“Nadine Ellis, but they call me Nat.” She looked at her bleeding hands and reached back, splashing them in the creek. The sting made her hiss through her teeth, the red streaking the crystal-clear water. Flip gripped her elbow, gently lifting her from the ground.

“It’s nice to meet you, Nat. This is Kane, Adam, and that’s Spook. His real name is Van, but…”

“You can call me whatever you like,” said Spook, grinning. He stepped forward to shake her hand, and Adam and Kane noticed the possessive stance Flip took, blocking Spook’s path. They grinned at one another and turned to head back through the forest.

“Back there is Ben and Juan. They’re also part of our little band of misfits but help us with security and other things. So, you set the other fires,” stated Flip casually.

“I did, and I don’t regret it. If you’re like me, you already know what Moore did, and that woman isn’t much better. I watched them. I saw what they did to those they captured and experimented on. Do you know what they made them do? What they did if they didn’t perform? Isaw! Iknow!”

“I’m sorry you saw all of that, but the information could prove useful to us. What do you know about her?” asked Kane.

“I know that she’s been hunting down the dust bunnies, killing them off one by one unless they do her bidding.”

“Dust bunnies?” asked Adam.

“Yea, those of us who whiffed the dust, the pink dust,” she said with a smirk.

“Dust bunnies,” laughed Flip. “I get it. We call ourselves the Gifted. That’s what we are, and when we all learn to own our gifts, it will be even clearer that the name fits.”

“Whatever you say, big guy,” she said, grinning up at him. She looked at Kane and Adam with a smirk. “Kane and Adam? Really? Is Abel around?”

Flip’s heart did a backflip, and he smiled awkwardly at the woman beside him. He was wrong in his assessment. She wasn’t average or mediocre at all. She was spectacular.

She was easily five-feet-eight, around one hundred and thirty pounds if he had to guess. Her blonde hair was the color of wheat, her eyes the color of cornflowers. She had this perfect grouping of freckles on each cheek and a small dimple in her chin. Long black lashes shaded her eyes, her red lips pink and flushed from running. She wore tight, skinny jeans that revealed her curves perfectly. The plain gray sweatshirt was speckled with sweat and water, but he knew beneath, she would be just as beautiful.

Flip hadn’t even noticed Adam’s hand on his arm.

“You okay, Flip?” he asked with a grin.

Flip jerked his arm away and cursed his friend. No doubt, he recognized what Flip was feeling for Nat and was reading his biological reactions.

By the time they reached the others, the fires were smoldering but under control. Cullen stepped forward and looked at the girl, studying her face intently. He recognized her from photos and files he’d reviewed.

“You’re Nadine Ellis?” he asked.

“I… y-yes,” she said, stepping back, only for Flip to step in front of her.

“I saw your file. That’s how I know you. You set the fires?” Nadine nodded, looking at the man that seemed to know so much about her.

“Well, I, for one, would like to thank you for my freedom. I promise you, Miss Ellis, we will do everything in our power to help you all find the others and live the lives you want for yourselves.”

“You are the weirdest group of people ever!”

Nadine nodded at the strange group as they headed toward the Chinook helicopter, still waiting for the team to return to Wyoming.

“I’m not riding in that thing!” she yelled.

“It’s the way out of here,” said Flip. “Or we could leave you to answer the questions of the police and fire investigators.”

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