I bumped my head against the headboard of the bed. “I don’t seem to be losing sleep over much of anything lately.” I blinked and looked sideways at him. “What do you know about my family?”
He looked stupefied. “Uh … you mean, other than that I’m your brother?”
I sighed. “The Nealon side.”
He shrugged. “Nothing, really. Why?”
“Because,” I said, trying to put together the pieces of what I’d seen in my dream, “I’m pretty sure I just saw an Omega operative kill my grandfather.”
Reed looked left then right, as though surveying the room for something he’d missed. “Um … maybe we should get you off that pain medication.”
I studied my arms for an IV. There wasn’t one. “I don’t think I’m on any pain medication.”
“Then we should probably get you some.”
“I’m not delusional,” I said, annoyed. “I saw it in a dream. Like a flashback. I think it came from Zollers, like he put it in my head so I could see it. I keep seeing this Omega operative named Adelaide, doing work for them here in London back in the 1980s.” I felt a stir inside at that, and I knew who it was that was taking an interest. “She was a succubus, and she was trained by Wolfe.”
Reed sat up, his eyes focusing on me in rapt attention. “Why do you think she killed your grandfather?”
“I’m not a hundred percent on it,” I said, “but she called him Mr. Nealon, and he was a meta who said his wife and daughters were succubi.” I shrugged. “Just a hunch. Maybe we’re unrelated. Just seemed like an odd thing for me to witness if it’s pure coincidence.”
“Coincidence in this instance does seem a bit farfetched.” Reed shook his head and squeezed my forearm again through the cotton sleeve of my shirt. “I really am glad to see you. When I thought you were dead, I …” He swallowed heavily. “You’re the only family I have left, you know.”
“Same goes, bro,” I said with a weak smile. “I’m sorry I didn’t call or … anything. I just … I’m sorry. I couldn’t handle it at first. I just retreated from the world. Afterward …” I let my voice trail off, and when I spoke again it was quiet. “I think I was probably too ashamed of what I was going to do … and since then what I’ve done. I just didn’t want to drag you into that.”
Reed rubbed his eyes. “I would have been there for you, you know that, right?”
“In a heartbeat,” I said with a weak smile. “But you shouldn’t have had to be there. Not for that.” My smile disappeared. “Not for what I did.”
I could see the unease as he nodded. “I have to go … talk to my boss. Fill her in on what happened to Rick. This is important. I have a feeling she’ll want to talk to you herself.”
“Wait,” I asked. “What happened to the guy I was with?”
“Breandan Duffy?” Reed asked with a smile. “He’s fine. Playing cards with some of our hired hands here. He’s under our protection now. We’re trying to get as many metas as we can under our roof here in London so we can all band together.”
“How’s that going?” I asked, hopeful to hear something good in return.
“Bad,” Reed replied with none of the optimism I’d hoped for. “We’ve only been here for a couple days, though.” He hesitated. “We had to get out of Rome pretty quickly.”
I didn’t frown, exactly, but that didn’t sound like good news. I put it aside, though, remembering something more urgent. “Weissman was sending someone up to Ireland to wipe out a couple cloisters up there,” I said. “He was planning to hit one up in Scotland himself, with his team of mercs. Since Breandan and I killed them, I don’t know what he’s going to do now, but someone should warn them—all of them—what’s coming.” I felt a tremor inside, a fear for those people I didn’t even know. “I saw the handiwork of whatever he sent to Ireland. There were bodies … everywhere.” I let the last bit out as a whisper, and in my mind I saw them again. In a flash, it reminded me of all the corpses I’d left on the ground lately.
“We’ve got someone on their way up there right now,” Reed said. “We’re hurrying. It could be tight. Century’s in full motion now, scrambling to get everyone they can on the playing field to kill every meta possible and we’re thin on resources.” He ran a hand through the hair on top of his head. “As much as I hate Omega, they’re nothing compared to this threat. At least with them, these metas stand a chance of survival.”