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Justin nods. “I can, yeah. But I wouldn’t call it a Gift. What kind of Gift leaves you starving and thirsty and unable to eat and drink? Unable to take a shower? Water just passes right through me. I can’t pick up a sandwich. It’s not a Gift.”
“But you’re not falling through the floor, either,” Doc points out. He has his thinking face on, with his brow furrowed, and his lower lip tugged between his teeth.
Justin shrugs. “Yeah. I don’t fall through floors, but I can pass through them if I try.”
“Interesting.” Doc scratches his chin.
“What are you thinking?” I ask Doc. “Do you think you can help him?”
Doc nods, determined. “Considering everything we’ve learned about our Gifts, I think it’s possible. I’ll certainly do my best. He’s family, after all.”
I leave Justin with Doc and Jud, and I follow Stealth outside, where the others are enjoying re-hydrated military meals around the trucks. Grim is the first to notice me. He’s standing apart from the others, drinking from a bottle of water.
His clothing is torn, and his knees are bloody, but he’s still standing. The second his arms open for me, I leap into them and shower him with kisses.
Rev is next. I turn from Grim directly into his embrace, and when his arms close around me, he trembles. “I died,” he whispers, and I lean back to stare at him, mouth hanging open. His eyes are more intense than ever, and there’s a new quality there I can only describe as haunted. “Grim and Doc brought me back.”
A sob cuts from my throat, and I wrap myself around his neck. I never want to let go.
Brawn appears behind Rev, and he pulls us both into his embrace. While Rev still clings to me, Brawn tilts my face for the tenderest of kisses. Then, to my astonishment, he gives Rev’s mouth the same treatment.
Oh. Wow. So, that just happened.
Then Scrap is with us. Rev turns me into the younger man’s arms and kisses both our foreheads. Scrap’s hold is secure, and it’s a long time before he lets me go.
Shep is next, my patient Shep. I remember the moment a couple nights ago when he entered me. So gentle, so passionate. He takes me into his arms now, like I’m an answer to prayer, and when our mouths meet, we’re inseparable for a long while.
I have my men back. They all survived.
And I have my brother, too!
“Where are the others?” I ask, once I’m completely reassured that everyone is healthy and whole.
“The soldiers are with Hope,” Scrap says, reminding me that for the first time in two years, I’m not the only female around.
“I think they’re inside, seeing to her,” Shep says. “I’m headed in now to see what we can scavenge from their cafeteria. Want to come, angel?”
Scavenging. Something normal. After all the worry and chaos, we’re returning to normal.
I laugh for no other reason than relief. Intense, manic relief. “I would love to.” And maybe I’ll get to meet Hope while we’re at it.
Cora
“It’s okay,”Hope tells Justin. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“At least not anywhere you don’t want to go,” I add.
Poor Justin is sitting precariously on the bench seat in the covered back of the truck with me and my new best friend. Crates and weapons are strapped down all around us. It’s not the most comfortable place to sit for a day-long drive, but it’s a place the three of us can be together. I’m eager to catch up with my brother, and I’m excited to get to know Hope.
Justin’s discomfort is from more than the hardness of the bench seats. He’s acting like he expects the truck to drive off without him, like he might slip right out the back of the truck and be left behind, even though we’ve been on the road a good half hour, now.
“I haven’t been able to leave the city before,” he says. “I keep thinking I’m going to be jerked back there.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the city you couldn’t leave,” Hope says. “Maybe it was me.” When she grins, it gives an impish glow to her normally serious features.
Hope is a slender, practical New Orleans local, the daughter of a lounge singer who had a weakness for men and a Japanese businessman, or so she informed me when Justin introduced us. She has light brown skin, an exotic tilt to her eyes, and a head full of espresso-colored corkscrew curls.
“I need you, so you’re not allowed to get too far away from me.” She elbows Justin, and her nudge passes right through his ribs. It’s clear they’ve become fast friends. I suspect Justin wouldn’t mind being more.
