AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It seems so selfish, and utterly ridiculous,” Finn admitted in a small voice.
“Tell me,” Talon pressed. “If Connie wasn’t able to take Kai, or if something happened to Gael and Jake, you’re telling me you wouldn’t take Kai or Derek in a heartbeat?”
“Of course, I would.” Finn punched his arm, but there wasn’t much force behind it. “Especially as we are named as Derek’s guardians in their will.”
The adoption had been finalized and it had been the first thing Gael and Jake had asked them. The sobering fact was that although a lot of them had special gifts, they all had a dangerous job. That had been forcefully brought home to Gael a couple of years ago when a psycho tortured and nearly killed him.
“Surrogacy can cost anything up to $170,000,” Finn said. “You know this.”
“I do,” Talon agreed, and when he’d gotten over the shock he’d decided to sell his gran’s place. He hugged Finn. “Gran and Grandad loved kids, even me,” he added. His gran had saved Talon’s life. He’d have been on the streets if not for her, because living at home had never been an option.
“Exactly.” Finn took a breath. “I want to adopt from the foster system. If you don’t mind me filling every square inch of this place then I will be ecstatically happy.”
“Finn—”
But Finn shook his head. “No, if you want to sell for you then that’s your decision, but I will never, ever agree to using the money for surrogacy.”
Talon didn’t bother arguing. He knew Finn was stubborn enough to stick to what he said. His phone rang a moment later. It was the doc confirming Elijah was in recovery after having his appendix removed. He was spending a few nights in critical care to make sure they were successfully treating the associated infection, but it looked good. Doc Natalie also added that they had likely saved Elijah’s life. If they hadn’t brought him to headquarters and had let the Reynolds simply take him home, Elijah might just have gone to bed, and it might not have been caught early enough.
They spent another hour simply making out on the steps before they left. Talon’s head was spinning with all the things he needed to do. He couldn’t give Finn a baby, but he was damn certain he was going to make every other one of Finn’s dreams come true.
He just had to work out how to make it snow in Florida.
Chapter Three
Finn turned up at Shore Elementary two days later. The one thing his FBI enhanced unit powers did give him was the authority to visit any enhanced minor in any environment. Namely Asa, and at school. He didn’t even have to ask for permission, even if he wanted to see him separately from his foster parents. He didn’t have the authority to request to see Henry since he couldn’t prove he was in any danger, and Henry wasn’t enhanced.
Finn was glad of the chance to see Asa on his own. Talon knew he was going, but they’d both agreed Finn should do this. Talon had done the official background check on the Reynolds and the birth mother, and Gael had done the unofficial one. Neither had shown any red flags except one. One of their temporary foster kids had attempted suicide after the third week of living there, except he’d had a history of previous abuse and the attempt hadn’t even happened in their home but after Jonas had run away. He was now out of the foster system and the team was struggling to track him down.
Finn sat down in the small office emptied for their use and looked up, smiling when Asa was shown in. Asa was happy to see Finn and told him they were going to see Elijah after school because he was being moved to a different hospital room. The critical care unit didn’t allow kids like him in because the only other time it had happened the machines had all gone crazy.
Finn chuckled, glad he seemed upbeat. “You don’t think you’ll send the machines crazy?” Asa hadn’t reported any abilities, but he’d gotten his mark only two days ago. The whole team knew that often abilities wouldn’t be discovered until much later as it was often something a child couldn’t do. Adam, for instance, could unlock safes. But there weren’t many eleven-year-olds that would ever need to.
Asa shook his head, but for the first-time avoided Finn’s gaze and looked at the floor. “You know,” Finn said conversationally. “I know a boy—bit older than you—that can unlock anything. Safes, doors, padlocks. He just thinks it and ta dah!”
He glanced up, chewing his lip.
“One of our team is so strong he could lift a truck in one hand.” He didn’t actually know if Vance could do that, maybe not, but it had the effect of making Asa smile. “Another boy I help simply can’t sleep. As in he never does at all. That kind of sucks.”
Asa glanced back down and he could tell he was thinking.
“Another agent on our team can speak languages like French and Italian without ever having to learn them. He just knows.” Finn leaned forward. “But the thing is, you might not know for a lot of years what you can or can’t do, and that’s totally okay. I just want you to know that you, Henry, and Elijah will always have me or Talon to talk to, if you ever need to. Nothing you ever tell us will change that.”
“Elijah isn’t allowed.”
Finn cocked his head. “Allowed what?”
“To talk to you. I heard Father saying it last night. I thought they were asleep, and I was going to the bathroom to pee, and him and Mother were awake.” He winced. “I wasn’t spying. They hadn’t shut their door all the way. I didn’t mean to listen.”
“I know,” Finn rushed to reassure him. “What did he say?”
Asa sucked his top lip in for a moment then whispered. “That he couldn’t stop the feds from seeing the freak, but they weren’t getting anywhere near Henry or Grace.” He blinked as his eyes filled. Finn wished he could put his arm around him, but he was on his own with him and couldn’t risk it. He knew he understood he was now considered a freak.
“I’m sorry honey, but maybe they’re just a little in shock. You’ve all had a bad few days.”
He gazed at Finn and his heart broke for him. Sometimes this job was the best in the world, and sometimes it really sucked.
“Mother Reynolds said that when Z-Gracegot older I could help look after her.” Talon had told Finn the Reynolds were calling Zuri something else and Finn had an awful suspicion as to why. The name Zuri was Swahili in origin and meant beautiful. Zuri’s skin was much lighter than Asa’s, but just as stunning. He’d noticed her eyes were brown though, not hazel like Asa’s and Elijah’s. Henry’s were brown but his skin was pale and freckled, and his hair was a reddish brown. Elijah’s skin was lighter that Asa’s.
