They had just been seated at a table near the back when Jess, Jacob, and Reed strolled in. When the family saw her and Colt, they headed back towards their table.
“Mind if we join you?” Jess asked, and Colt waved to the empty spots. Jess sat down while Jacob pulled another table towards theirs and sat down too.
“The others will be here soon,” Jacob said. “We were just talking about you two,” he added easily.
“Oh?” Colt asked.
“We’ve been texting each other all day about our next steps,” Jacob continued.
“Steps?” Tara asked. “For?”
Jess leaned closer and lowered her voice. “To prepare for what’s coming.”
Tara tensed at Jess’s words. “What makes you think something is coming?” she asked. Maybe it wasn’t just her? What if Jess knew that she was the reason for the end of the world? What if she’d already told everyone else?
Jess’s eyebrows shot up. “It’s just a… feeling.” She glanced over as Xtina, Mike, and Harper came in and made their way back towards them. The baby was set in her carrier on top of a child seat between the two parents. Shortly after, Ethan and Brea came in and joined them.
“So,” Jess said after the entire group had ordered a few large pizzas. “Who is going to tell them?” She glanced around the table and was met with silence. Finally, she groaned. “Fine, I’ll do it.” She turned to Tara and Colt. “We think you two should be warned.”
“About?” Colt asked.
Jess nudged Xtina, who quickly rolled her eyes. “That you’re bound together.”
“What?” Tara squeaked out. She hadn’t meant to sound so alarmed.
Xtina held up her hands quickly. “Not… we’re not saying you’re bound romantically or… anything like that.” She looked at Jess for help.
“It goes beyond physical,” Jess added. “It’s…”
“Eternal,” Brea broke in.
“Right,” Jess said, pointing at Brea. “There’s power.” She motioned to everyone at the table. “Here and with everyone else you met last night.”
“Power?” Colt asked with a frown.
“Some people have it,” Xtina said, glancing around the table. “Others don’t.” She motioned to the rest of the people in the room.
“I don’t have any power,” Colt broke in with a shake of his head. “I mean, there’s nothing special about me.”
Tara had spent the last ten years ignoring the occasional illumination she saw surrounding certain people. She wasn’t really sure what it meant or if it was even really there or just part of her imagination. But after meeting Jess and the rest of the gang yesterday, she knew it was real and more importantly, what it meant.
Tara turned towards Colt. “That’s not true,” she said to him, seeing the light surrounding him as clearly as she saw the glow around all the others in the room. “You have power just like the rest of them.”
Chapter 8
Tara’s words hit him hard for some reason. At first, he believed she was just trying to include him, but then he saw the truth in her eyes as she looked at him.
“How do you know?” he asked, his voice low. He didn’t trust himself to maintain any hint of sanity. Sure, he’d accepted the other’s abilities with little questioning. After all, in his life he’d seen a lot of amazing and crazy things happen. Besides, he was a pretty open-minded kind of guy. But him? Having any abilities? Nope. None. There was nothing special about him. Had never been. He was just… Colt.
“I can see it,” Tara answered him. “In all of you.” She motioned to the rest of the people at the table. “In them too,” she said, nodding towards Reed and Harper with a smile. “Her light is almost as bright as your own,” she said to Xtina.
Xtina’s smile grew, and he watched as a tear of pride formed in her eyes. Mike reached over and took Xtina’s hands in his.
“Reed’s light is different than everyone else’s,” Tara said, looking at the little boy, who was happily chowing down on some crackers Jess had given him.
“Light?” Jess asked with a shake of her head. “As in aura? You can read auras?” she asked, sounding eager and impressed.
Tara looked slightly embarrassed for a moment. “I guess, if you can call it that. I mean, no one else has…” She glanced around the pizzeria. “Up until I met everyone last night, I didn’t have any understanding of why I’d only seen it a few times. I thought I was just imagining it.” She shook her head. “Now I’m sure it’s something else.” She looked around the table. “You all have it.”
“What does it look like?” Jacob asked.
Tara shrugged slightly. “It’s a faint light.” She turned towards him, and he watched her run her eyes over him. Then she lifted her hand and hovered it just above his arm. “Floating just above the skin, like a glow. Most are a faint white, but Reed’s…” She turned to the young boy. “His has a hint of… blue.” Tara shook her head.
“I have it?” he asked, looking at his own hand.
“Yes.” Tara smiled. “It’s not distracting. Honestly, I don’t even notice it until I focus.” Her eyes narrowed again slightly, then she blinked and smiled as she shrugged. “See, now they’re gone,” she said just as their pizzas arrived.
“Okay,” Jess said once everyone had started eating their pizza. “So that confirms it. Someone needs to take you two to the silo.”
“Silo?” Colt asked, remembering a silo being mentioned in a few of the articles he’d read about the group and what had happened to them in the past few years. He knew all about military installations and missile silos. Hell, he’d spent more time than he’d like to admit sitting in such facilities, waiting for orders that could have very well destroyed and saved lives.
Jess nodded. “It’s one of the most powerful places in town. We’re still not sure why, but it’s where… everything went down.”
“Okay,” Tara said easily. “I’m game.”
He glanced over at her, a little shocked that she’d be so willing.
“What? I’m here for answers.” She set her drink down. “At this point, I’d do anything to get them.”
After everyone was done with dinner, he thought about her words as they followed Jacob’s truck out of town and back towards Xtina and Mike’s place.
Since the silo had been locked up by the police after all the crazy events, Jacob was chosen to take them there. They stopped off at Mike’s garage and loaded up with flashlights and other supplies they would need to explore the facility.
Tara was awfully quiet as they made their way through the trees and tall grass. Jacob chatted with them about the silo, giving them instructions on how to get to the main location safely. When they came to the open field, they turned to the left and stopped just outside of a small building.
“This is it,” Jacob said, handing him a set of keys. “Here’s the map to the main silo area.” He handed Colt the map he’d been telling them about.