Page 56 of Following Their Heart

I glare at him. He’s not helping.

“We’ll guard her,” Doc says. “Forget the downed chopper. We’ll stand guard at the entrances to the mines.”

“There are three entrances,” Grim says. “But only two of you.”

“I don’t care if the radios are working,” Cora says, tossing her head like a feisty filly. “Not knowing is bad, but the worst part is being separated from you.”

“I don’t feel Bernard.” This comes from Shep. “I’m not sure, but he might be…gone. We cannot rely on him to help us find Jud.”

I wipe my hand down my face. How the hell does Jud do this? No one argues with him when he gives orders—well, no one but Cora. No one second-guesses him and points out flaws in his plan.

The others are all talking at once, and I’ve lost their attention. My face gets hot, and my chest feels like a coil wound too tight, and it’s ready to spring. It’s been a while since I felt like this, like I’m about to snap and let my anger loose. Like I’m about to hurt somebody.

“Fuck this shit,” I mutter. My hands are shaking. I want to yell. I want to do violence. It’s the insecure little boy inside me hating himself for being unsure. I learned all about that shit in the pen when they made me take anger management classes.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I count to ten. Then I do it again. I will my hands to stop shaking. I will myself to think clearly. What these men need right now is a leader, not an uncertain asshole who flies off the handle when his authority is threatened. I can’t afford to lose my shit. There’s too much at stake.

I feel a cool pressure on my face. My goatee is on fire with my anger and, yes, my embarrassment at not thinking of the potential problems Brawn pointed out. But the gentle pressure is like hydrant foam to flames.

I open my eyes and find Cora in front of me, hands on my face. Her eyes are ocean-blue and shining with concern.

“I’m sorry,” she says. Her voice is quiet. Just for me.

The others are still arguing, but I’m tuning them out to listen to Cora. Did she say she was sorry?

“I shouldn’t have said no to going in the shelter. With Jud missing, you’re in charge, and I shouldn’t have challenged you like that. This is all my fault.” She motions at the room, where the guys are starting to quiet. I feel their eyes on us. “I was the first one to argue, and look what I started. I’m sorry.”

“Aw, sweet baby.” My anger’s gone like it never was. My embarrassment is gone. My insecurity—well, that’s still there, but the point is I’m doing better now that she’s in front of me. “You don’t have to apologize.” I tug her toward me, hands on her slim hips. Damn this gear for preventing me from feeling her warmth against my stomach.

“Yes. I do. This can’t be easy for you. You’re doing what needs to be done, taking charge when everyone’s worried about Jud. You’re their leader right now, and you’re stepping up.”

“Yeah, but I’m not fucking Jud.” I huff a breath out my nose and look around at the troops, at the common room that’s been transformed into an artillery. “Leading people isn’t my Gift. I’m not good at this. He always knows the best course of action, but I don’t. That’s not my jam.”

Her forehead creases. “Yes, it is,” she says as if I’m a doofus. “You might not have the same Gift as Jud, but yours is just as important. You see things the rest of us don’t. Youknowthings. The Working speaks to you. That’s huge, Rev.” She quirks a smile. “Daddy.”

My chest swells with pride. How does this wisp of a girl, this twenty-year-old little baby know exactly what this old man needs?

“If you really think it’s best for everyone,” she goes on. “I’ll go down in the shelter. But before you say anything, please let me tell you about what happened earlier.” She waits for my nod. The others are listening too. They’re quiet and gathered ’round. “So, in the shelter, Grim and I lost the radios and video feed. We had no way of knowing how you all were, and I started to panic. But then something weird happened. I just sort ofknewthat you all were in trouble and that Scrap—specifically Scrap—needed me.” She half turns in my arms, addressing all of us. I can’t remember a time when she’s done this. She’s being so open and brave, and I’m so damn proud of her.

“It was like Ihadto get to him,” she goes on. “There was this—this imperative inside me. I didn’t understand it, but I knew what it wanted. It wanted me to be with Scrap. He needed to know I supported him and cared for him, and he needed to believe in himself to fight the Gift that was making everything not work.”

I glance at my Scrappy boy and find him hanging his head but peeking up at Cora with a shy smirk. God. These two are so precious to me. So, Cora felt something nudging her toward Scrap, huh? That’s interesting. I keep listening.

“Grim wouldn’t let me out at first,” she says. “But I made him understand, and I was right. Once we got to Scrap, he understood it was his Gift that was under attack. He was able to fight back.” A pure and positive energy comes over her, and I bet the others are feeling it just like I am. “The missile trucks came online and that was how he was able to shoot down that one chopper. I know he could have done it without me, buthedidn’t know it. He needed to understand how strong he really was and that he had power over his Gift, not the other way around. And I knew I was the only one who could deliver that message to him.”

Grim, who stands a few feet away from the rest of us, nods, confirming Cora’s story.

“Yeah,” Scrap says, adding his corroboration. “She’s right. I was in a bad way, but as soon as she and Grim showed up, things just started going right for a change.”

“Because of you,” Cora says, smiling at him. “Because you believed in yourself.”

He shakes his head. “No. Becauseyoubelieved in me. Because you were with me.”

Cora places both her hands on my chest, and I curse the Kevlar again. “I think…the Working is what made me know that Scrap needed me. I think I got, like, a temporary little blip of your Gift, like maybe because we’re growing closer, your Gift rubbed off on me, or something.”

There’s an interesting thought.

She doesn’t give me time to dwell on it. “It reminded me of how I had that dream that you helped me understand. You know, how I was supposed to spend time with Doc and Shep and then they were supposed to go see Bernard. And that turned out to be exactly what we needed.” She smiles brightly.

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