Chapter Twenty-one

 
 
 

Trolley-less, Aspen decided to shift into a dove. She was hoping these newborns possessed the same ability to shift that Hope had demonstrated earlier in the kitchen.

Her optimism paid off. After a handful of test runs, all seven Myriads shifted with her and flew through the tunnels in formation behind her. Even though she’d discovered her own aptitude for flying, she still very much preferred the feel of solid ground beneath her feet.

The trick to retaining her clothes, she’d discovered, was to remember what she was wearing before she shifted. Then, all she had to do was envision her body inside the same clothes as she shifted back.

Aspen led them through the maze of tunnels and returned to human form, landing just outside the hidden entrance to chamber one. She watched as each Myriad glided in and effortlessly shifted back into their primary animal: a polar bear cub, a mountain lion cub, a coyote pup, a black bear cub, a fawn, a cheetah cub, and a fuzzy black chick that would mature into a raven. The only one missing was the white tiger cub. Aspen knew Hope was in safe hands and still on a tour of the sanctuary with Oscar and Skye.

The seven newborns followed her into chamber one through the hidden door in her closet. Each baby climbed onto her bed and lay down. Snuggled in like littermates, they all peered up at her. She pulled up a chair beside the bed and kept watch as they lowered their heads, closed their eyes, and dozed off.

Satisfied they were sleeping peacefully, she ventured into the hallway and quickly turned back. It was freezing out there. She grabbed a heavier sweatshirt from a dresser drawer, unzipped the one she was wearing, and slipped the new sweatshirt over her head. After rifling through a few more drawers, she found a pair of gloves and some Spider-Man earmuffs. Perfect. She was a huge Spider-Man fan. How Tora had managed to find these in an adult size was beyond her. She pulled the gloves on and proudly nestled the earmuffs over her ears. Instantly warmer, she made her way to the main room of chamber one.

For the first time since they’d parted ways, she wondered if Tora would make it back safely. A lightning bolt of fear shot straight through her. What if SEA soldiers were already waiting at the surface, ready to ambush Tora and the Shroud evacuees? Tora was fierce—no doubt about that—but she was no match against an army of trained soldiers.

Suddenly torn between checking on Tora and staying with the newborns, Aspen felt her heart pick up speed. That’s when she knew her feelings for Tora ran deeper than she’d even realized. She shook her head, wondering if she’d completely lost her mind. It wasn’t like her to be obsessing about a woman she hardly knew.

 

* * *

 

After delivering everyone safely to the surface, Tora decided to check in with Edna at the cabin and bring her back to chamber one. Edna could ride out the battle there and return to the cabin later, if it was ever safe to do so.

She parked the trolley and jogged through the labyrinth of tunnels until she reached the cabin’s basement. Entering the passcode to unlock the hidden panel, she cautiously stepped through the doorway. The basement was cast in perfect darkness. Without even a pinprick of light, her nocturnal vision was useless. But she knew her way around this place by heart.

In the early stages of construction—before there were lights—she and her father used to trek through the maze of tunnels on foot, side by side in total darkness, quizzing one another and committing every square inch to memory. The simple act of walking hand in hand with her father for hours on end—those were the memories she wouldn’t trade for the world.

She ascended the stairs, turned the doorknob, and froze. Her instincts told her something wasn’t right.

 

* * *

 

Warm at last, Aspen stared into the fire. Oscar stepped out from the hallway and walked over to join her on the circular sofa. “Nice earmuffs,” he said, eyeing them with envy. He was a Spider-Man fan, too. He reached out and rubbed his hands together vigorously in front of the fire. The baby carrier around his chest was empty.

“Where’s Hope?” she asked, feeling suddenly anxious.

“I added her to the pile of fluffy cuteness on your bed as I was passing through.”

She smiled. “They are pretty cute, aren’t they?”

Oscar nodded but said nothing more.

Something was bothering him. “What’s up?”

“I can’t shake the feeling that Hope doesn’t need me anymore. She’s with the other Myriads now.” He frowned. “I’ll miss taking care of the little bugger.”

There was a thoughtful silence between them. Aspen could tell he was struggling to keep his composure. “Some Spidey earmuffs might lift my spirits,” he said sadly.

Now it was her turn to frown. She reluctantly took them off and handed them over.

Oscar clamped the earmuffs over his ears and shot up from the sofa with a look of pure satisfaction.

Something told her she’d been played.

“By the way,” he said, grinning happily, “Helga and I have decided—if we make it out of this mess alive—the first thing we’re going to do is find a baby to adopt.”

Aspen couldn’t be happier for them. Oscar would finally get his chance to have his own baby and not have to keep borrowing everyone else’s. She held out her hand. “Now that you’re not all pathetic and depressed, I’d like my earmuffs back, please.”

He slid them off and handed them over with a sigh.

The rest of Alpha Genesis trickled in and gathered around the fire.

Skye sat on the sofa beside Aspen. “I’d like to stay with Hope until she wakes up.” She looked from Oscar to Aspen. “That’s where I’ll be if you need me.”

“Copy that,” they said in unison.

Heading off to tunnel one, the girl halted in her tracks. She turned and pierced Aspen with her signature bright green gaze.

Aspen hurried over. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“Cool earmuffs.”

“Thanks.”

Skye hesitated. “Can you ask Pierre to make me one of those chocolate-strawberry things?”

“A crepe? Sure. But just one?” she asked with a wink.

“Well, maybe more than one.” Skye whispered, “I’m really hungry. And cold, too,” she added, looking at her expectantly.

Aspen watched as Skye made her way down tunnel one. She waved good-bye to her beloved earmuffs. First the Skittles, then the lava cake, and now Spidey. She shook her head. When would the madness end?

 

* * *

 

Tora cracked the basement door open and listened at the threshold. Since the age of ten, she’d always been greeted by Edna’s singsong humming upon ascending these stairs. Even when Edna was reading in her armchair, she hummed along to a song only she could hear.

Edna wasn’t humming today.

Now on full alert, Tora shifted into her lioness and pushed the door open the rest of the way. She heard a man’s voice as she crept down the long hallway.

“Make this easy on yourself, and tell us how to get inside the damn nest.”

“Young man, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” came Edna’s befuddled reply. “I’m just an old woman. I live here alone.”

“You may look like an old woman, but we both know what you really are. You’re an abomination!” he spat.

Tora rounded the corner as he struck Edna’s face with the butt of his gun. The sickening sound of a shattering cheekbone filled the small room. She barely registered the other four soldiers standing nearby as she reared up and sank her teeth and claws into his face and neck.

Edna took that opportunity to shift into the massive African elephant Tora knew her to be. But the cabin was much too small to accommodate such a huge animal.

Tora was already leaping through a window for the safety of the outdoors before the soldiers knew what hit them. Chunks from the cabin’s roof and walls crashed to the floor as Tora’s paws landed on the snow-covered ground.

She looked up to find hundreds of SEA soldiers waiting outside. Armed with fully automatic weapons, they were poised and ready to kill. There were so many of them. Even with Edna’s size and strength, Tora knew confronting this army was a suicide mission.

With debris from the cabin still raining down around them, Edna stepped past her and gently ran her trunk along the side of Tora’s face, as if to say good-bye.

The elephant trumpeted loudly, swayed her mammoth head from side to side, and charged at the soldiers. She managed to pulverize the first line of defense and skewer the second with her tusks before the onslaught of gunfire halted her in her tracks.

Unable to leave her faithful sentry, Tora could only watch as the giant finally collapsed and drew her last breath. The soldiers continued their assault long after her death, oblivious to the fact that they had just murdered the kindest and most gentle soul Tora had ever known.

 

* * *

 

Aspen’s breath caught in her throat as she watched Tora exit the bedroom and walk toward her. She was thankful to set eyes on the beautiful doctor once again, but she could tell something was wrong.

“Edna’s dead,” Tora said, trembling.

Aspen set a hand on her back and led her farther down the hallway. “SEA?” she whispered.

Tora nodded.

“What about everyone else? The parents, hospital staff…are they—”

“Fine. Everyone got out safely. Our vehicles are located five miles from the entry point at the cabin. No sign of soldiers there.” Tora took a breath. “I went by to check on Edna. I wanted to make sure she was okay and give her a heads-up that the SEA was coming. My plan was to bring her down here with us, but the soldiers were already there.” Her eyes welled up as she met Aspen’s gaze. “Dammit, Aspen. I should have gotten her sooner.”

She took Tora into her arms for a long hug. Aspen thought about the frail-looking old woman who’d shuffled out in her pink bathrobe and fuzzy slippers to greet her with a hug when she first arrived. Now there was a Shroud who knew her way around a hug. Her heart broke for Edna.

Tora didn’t pull away from the embrace. She allowed Aspen to comfort her. Baby steps, Aspen reminded herself. She was proud of Tora for taking them.

“We need to tell the others,” Tora said, drawing back to dry her cheeks. “Looks like this battle with the SEA is closer than we thought.”

Aspen nodded in agreement. There was no time to waste. They needed to formulate a definitive plan.

She glanced at her watch: 7:33 p.m. Felt like the day had sped past at warp speed. Her stomach growled. She and Tora had skipped lunch. She was pretty sure everyone had. It was quite possibly the first time in her life she hadn’t thought about food for the better part of a day. “Let’s gather the crew and have another meeting over dinner.”

“I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” Tora said. “I’d like to check on Skye first.”

“Just saw her. She already put in her dinner request and hijacked some really cool earmuffs.”

“She’s my patient, Aspen. I need to make sure she’s doing okay.”

Aspen lowered her head, ashamed of herself. With everything that had happened over the last few days, Skye’s suicide attempt had been pushed to the back burner. She hadn’t even taken Skye aside to ask how she was doing—like, really doing. How could she have let the kid down like that?

Tora set a hand on her arm, apparently sensing the internal browbeating session. “That’s not your job. It’s mine,” she said firmly. “Your job is to lead us. I’ll take care of Skye.”

Aspen stepped closer, studying Tora’s face and lips. Her senses as a Shroud were now heightened. She could hear Tora’s breathing and heart rate increase. “Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“None of that robo-doctor stuff.”

Tora met her gaze.

“Skye doesn’t respond to that. Just be real with her.” Tora’s eyes were mesmerizing. A very pale brown, there were small golden flecks in them that made them sparkle.

“Now look who’s trying to micromanage.”

“Touché.”

“Is the kissing lesson about to start?” Tora licked her lips seductively and studied Aspen’s with the bold confidence of a lioness.

“I hadn’t penciled that in to my schedule yet—”

Tora shoved her against the tunnel wall and slipped her tongue inside Aspen’s mouth with a ferocity that surprised her. Nothing tentative about this kiss. Tora dove right in for the kill, sparing them both the torture of an awkward getting-to-know-you kiss. The feel of Tora inside her mouth made her forget everything else. They were suddenly two predators vying for dominance…with a kiss.

Tora pulled back, breathless.

Hands down, that was the most passionate kiss Aspen had ever had the pleasure of sharing with someone. It left her mind and body reeling, feeling things she’d never, ever felt before.

“You haven’t been intimate with anyone as a Shroud, have you?” Tora asked, narrowing her eyes.

Barely able to catch her breath and focus, all Aspen could manage was a shake of her head.

“You’re in for a big surprise.” Tora threw her a devilish grin as she sauntered off down the hallway to check on Skye.

Totally unfair. Tora deserved to be benched with a yellow card after pulling such a reckless stunt. How was she supposed to get her head back in the game after a kiss like that?