I could restore Drake's powers.
Chapter 61 – Sam
Winter winds howled in the distance as we crowded into the abandoned cathedral. Father Patrick had found this sacred place for us to honor our friends who had fallen—a place off the grid, for those who still had nightmares of being captured and imprisoned.
IPI had needed the remains for autopsies. No bodies meant no burials, so we decided to have a mass memorial service instead.
Each day my baby grew bigger, and my black dress now stretched to the point of almost tearing. I rested my hand on her as she wiggled around inside me.
Drake's body had not been found, alive or... the other. Everyone assumed the fire consumed him, but I could feel in my heart, if not my mind, that he still lived, somewhere. He just chose not to come home to me, to us—which was almost worse.
I understood his reasons, to a degree, but couldn't forgive him for abandoning me while pregnant with our child, nor could I forgive myself for what I'd done to him.
Brad, Luke and Lucy slid into my aisle and flanked me in a show of friendship and support. Greg and Gary also joined us in our row. I'd gotten to know them a bit, since our escape, and was impressed by how much they had done for the cause. They gripped each other's hand tightly in shared grief. I envied them that connection, that intimacy.
Everything had changed, even my friends. I suppose I had too. Our carefree days had ended the moment Rent-A-Kid kidnapped Drake and impregnated me.
Father Patrick stood at the podium to begin the service. "Each of you has lost someone you loved or cared for. The loss of a human life is never an easy burden to bear, and the loss of so many young lives is nearly impossible to comprehend. We all come from different spiritual practices and beliefs, but today we are unified in our grief, and in our celebration of the lives of our friends and loved ones."
Organ music played in the background as the priest talked about sacrifice, justice, and right and wrong. My mind wandered to the night we all escaped and the Seeker died. I racked my brain for any sign I could have done something differently, something that wouldn't have resulted in Drake leaving.
Many photographs lined the front of the church: kids I'd grown up with, teachers who'd shaped my education in small and large ways, Higgins, with his no-nonsense approach to everything, Mary, with her toothy grin—her death lay especially heavy on my soul.
But others weighed even heavier.
Though Mr. K hadn’t died in the breakout, his picture had been included. He’d been a part of this from the start, he’d tried to protect me and save me.
And Gar, my fierce protector. He’d been more than he seemed, but weren’t we all? No one could find a picture of him, so I’d drawn one from memory. I’d tried to capture the one and only smile I’d ever seen on him.
They'd insisted Drake's picture be put up with the others.
I refused to look at it, refused to believe he was dead.
But one picture, one loss, I carried in my heart alone, to grieve in private. Only Lucy came close to understanding my sadness at the Seeker's death.
The service ended, and Lucy held my unburned hand as we left the building. A familiar profile caught my eye. I turned, but he was gone before I could be sure.
Still, in my heart I knew.
Drake had been here.
He was alive, and I would find him.
Chapter 62 – Drake
Drake slipped out of the church before anyone could spot him, Father Patrick's rosary clutched in his hand as though it could somehow save him. Seeing Sam nearly tore his chest apart. He wanted to touch her so badly, to talk to her and hold her and tell her everything would be okay, but he couldn't.
How could he go to her a broken man, with nothing to offer her or their child? Until he could mend himself and his shattered mind, he had nothing to give them. They were better off without him.
He knew he spun these lies to protect himself from his cowardice, but he didn't care. His mind held a tentative grasp on reality these days—the destruction of his power had robbed him of some of his mental faculties as well.
He couldn't let Sam or her friends see him like this.
***
Drake drove until the tremors took over his body once more. He stopped at a gas station and locked himself in the bathroom. Whatever sickness or poison had laid claim to his body, his body pushed it out through both ends, leaving him weak as a kitten and unable to move.
Each day, his symptoms became more extreme.
Fear and anger battled in him like two demons fighting for control of his body. He leaned his head against the cool bathroom tiles and tried to fill his mind with something—anything—other than Sam.
He had to get his powers back, one way or another.
---END OF BOOK TWO---
Forbidden Life
(Book 3 of The Forbidden Trilogy)