Had Wade lost his mind? I’d assumed he was fine since they weren’t giving him any medical attention, but perhaps I’d been wrong. “Are you okay?”
“Never better.”
What? “Wade…”
He tapped on the glass. “Trust me.”
I did even though it made no sense. Maybe some time, he’d get to tell me why it was so funny and wonderful that the ship was dancing. The ship tilted and then righted again before it did it again. And then again. My stomach turned. I didn’t know how much more of this I was going to be able to take without vomiting. These were Super Soldiers who had bested us. Couldn’t they get control of their own ship? This wasn’t like Trenton when he’d been piloting the too small, not-ready-for-space shuttle that we’d tried to escape in.
The thought jarred me. Trenton. I bet he’d know how to make a ship shake. Was it possible? We’d left him unconscious on the shuttle. Was it possible he was here? Had they brought the ship onto theirs?
I turned to Wade. This time I sent him a different name to hear. Trenton.
Only he could hear it, and I couldn’t communicate very much that way. When I’d been in cryo, I could do more, but awake, I didn’t know how I did this at all. I just could, like breathing.
He nodded once. “Yep. Entirely that.”
No one listening would know what we were saying. We’d done nothing to indicate what we meant if they were watching. There was just this moment that only the two of us would understand. Was it possible we were deluding ourselves? That we were totally imagining that this was Trenton because we wanted it to be him?
“What happened to Artemis?” I hoped it was okay that I asked this.
“They towed it in from the planet. When we get into the black hole, they’re going to strip it for pieces. I heard them discussing it while they all got their vitamin shots or whatever they’re being given.” Wade sat down on the floor. “Go strap yourself in, just in case.”
That was a good idea. I didn’t want to get hurt, but then again, I had to be ready to take my turn to take out the doctor and others if the opportunity arose. If it was Trenton making the ship shake, that was great, and even if it wasn’t, then I was still going to jump on this while everyone’s attention was elsewhere.
“Wade.” I still had something to say, and I didn’t care who heard it. “I love you.”
His eyes adored me, or at least his gaze made me feel like I was the only woman in the universe. “I love you, too.”
Whatever else had gone wrong in my life, I would never forget that for this time, I’d been the most loved person that ever lived.
I walked back to the table and watched the door. Was I just going to sit here and wait? Wade wanted me to strap in, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. This might be a moment for action. Did that make sense? I had no idea. For all of my gumption, I’d never done anything like this before. I’d never even really lied except to make someone feel better about, say, a bad meal or an honest mistake before all of this took place. By nature, I was an honest person, and my years acting like a spiritual advisor to others and taking away pain had made me more truthful, not less.
Although, perhaps it wasn’t wrong to argue that I’d been a bit of a fraud in my role to begin with. It wasn’t as though I’d ever really felt like I knew what I was doing.
“Do you think everyone feels like a fraud?” I asked Wade, aware it was random and probably out of place, considering where we were and what could be happening out there.
He stretched out his legs. “Yes. Sometimes.”
He didn’t even blink at my question, and that was just another reason I adored Wade. He rolled with things.
“Good.” I walked toward the door. If it wasn’t just me, then perhaps there was the smallest chance that I might get through this without getting us all killed. I heard him suck in his breath, but Wade didn’t say another word. That was good. He could very well have given me away, and then I’d be done before I even got started.
What I had to hope was that in those moments, I was the least of anyone’s problems. I was breaking the doctor’s rules. He could hurt or kill everyone because I was doing this. That meant I couldn’t fail.
I rounded the corner following the path by memory for the cryo chamber. Yes, the woman who couldn’t turn on the lights was going to figure out how to turn off the devices keeping her guys asleep. I’d wake them. That was a good place to start, and then I’d take down everyone I could in the process. With no idea what I was doing, I entered the bland room that housed my guys.
I didn’t want to hurt anyone accidently. No, I was going to be quite methodical in my dishing out pain. I rounded the corner and abruptly stopped. There should be a guard, at least there had been earlier, and it took me a moment to realize why he was missing. On the other end of the room, about to face off with two Super Soldiers was Trenton.
For the briefest of seconds, I was filled with joy before that turned into utter horror. He was never going to get past those Super Soldiers. They weren’t ones I’d seen before, and I only knew Xavier’s name anyway. Okay, I’d add two, and probably a ton more, to the count I’d made earlier.
Fine. I stared at the two about to launch themselves at Trenton, and I zapped the heck out of them. The energy buzzed in my head and took them both down. I didn’t know that I’d ever given such force to my zapping before, but it worked. Both Super Soldiers were down for the count. I had no idea for how long, but we’d have to make do for however long that was.
I was saving my real power for a larger group of them. It wouldn’t do to start out in small numbers.
“Trenton,” I shouted, but he was already running toward me. We met in the middle, right by Anders’s pod.
“You’re okay!” He tugged me toward him. “That was quite a distance you blasted.”
I hadn’t thought about it. “I’m okay. So glad you are.” He’d been in bad shape when last I’d seen him, and he was still wearing Dev’s device that gave him some ability to hide from the Super Soldiers. “We need to catch up, but while those guards are out cold, we need to wake the others.”
Trenton whirled around to stare at where I indicated. “I wondered where the fuck they were. How about Wade?” He was already moving away from me to count the pods in the room and spot all of our guys.
“Locked in a glass box in medical. I left him there. He’s not going to be happy.”
Trenton made a sound in the back of his throat that I was pretty sure was a noise of agreement. Yes, he thought Wade was going to be pissed, too.
My engineering-oriented love started pushing buttons on each pod. “This will wake them. We’re going to keep the rest of the Super Soldiers in here out cold. Let other people deal with them. I’m only going to concern myself with our people for now.”
The door opened, and ten Super Soldiers ran in, followed by Dr. Patrick Blume, the idiot I hoped I never had to see again when this was over. Maybe he could just dissolve into space.
But I didn’t want to hurt Trenton. “Get in the pod with Blaze.”
“What?” He swung around, seeing the rush of Super Soldiers as he did, because he grabbed my arm like he was going to pull me away from them. I yanked my arm back.