∞ The Tethered Ones ∞

Chapter 26

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• Liberty • 

Liberty stared at the boxes of food in the kitchen, wondering how Luna and Amir were doing. Not being able to see either of them so she wouldn't activate her power was killing her, almost like having her heart ripped out of her chest. Once she was told that Pure Souls of the same family couldn't come into contact with Indicators, nearly destroyed her. She hugged her sister before and nothing ever happened, but now, everything intensified. She was advised to steer clear of any contact, and her heart was fractured.

How was she supposed to stay away from her best friend — her little sister — the one whom she used to babysit growing up? The one she helped change her diapers? Her little sister, who was at the hands of an evil organization and needed her help. 

She shook her head.

There had to be an antidote or a loophole. There's no way she could resist not seeing her sister, because they were close, like two magnets coming together.

Two days had passed since Luna was shot by Chase's gun, and all Liberty could think about was rushing down to Louisiana. She hated the idea of not being there for her, but there was only so much she could do. At least their group was figuring out a way to get them out. That was something to look forward to.

Garland was small and quaint, not too far from Dallas. And Max was a great host, and their alliance was growing. She just wished someone could tell them where they were at, so they had a place to go in case they escaped. But it was too risky. Nothing has happened to anyone in the past two and a half weeks, and she was sure everyone in the cabin was safe from BARDA.

The guys were huddled in a room discussing the next security shift, and the ladies were organizing the meal schedules and food item list.

"Aunty Lib," Sarah whispered on the other side of her. 

"Sarah! Oh gosh, you scared me," Liberty said, turning toward her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm hungry."

"All right." Liberty opened the cabinet door. "What would you like to eat? We have soup, spaghetti, mixed vegetables . . ."

Sarah grinned, her loose hair waving around her ears. "What about a grilled cheese sandwich?"

Liberty smiled. She knew anything with cheese in it reminded her of her papa. She'd make a plain cheese pizza if she could, but they didn't have any dough. Max, Vikram, and Sue had gone out on a supply run the other day and had said there was only one jar of pizza sauce left. They let a woman and her two kids have it. But nobody in the household complained about anything. They all knew their time was limited, and they didn't know what the next hour would bring. 

Reaching for the loaf of whole wheat bread, Liberty placed two slices on a plate and laid a slice of cheese in the middle, and then cut a small piece of butter, and tossed it into the pan.

Meeting Sarah's gaze, she watched as she took a seat at the table, and then smashed the bread with her spatula. "Would you like to play a game with Uncle Vik and me after you eat? They grabbed another board game," she said. "Connect Four."

Sarah shook her head. "I want to see my mommy and papa."

"Oh, honey, I know." She flipped the sandwich over and continued to press down on the bread, making sure both sides were toasted and the cheese melted just right. "We're trying to make that happen."

"Hey," Vikram said, waltzing through the archway. Liberty smiled when he came by her and placed a kiss on her cheek, and then he gave Sarah a tiny hug. "What are you up to?"

"We're planning to get mommy and papa," Sarah said enthusiastically.

Vikram opened his mouth in shock. "Oh, really. What did you come up with, sweetheart?" He smiled at her.

"I want to fly there on a magic carpet. That's the quickest way," she replied, causing them to chuckle. 

"Well," he said, bringing his hands in front of him and leaning forward. "I guess we'll have to make another trip to town and find some carpets, huh?"

Sarah giggled as Liberty laid a grilled cheese sandwich in front of her with a glass of Fruit Punch.

Stepping away from the table, Vikram sidled next to her as she made her way back to the stove. "So, what was that about?" he asked.

"I think it may have to do with her dream last night," Liberty said.

"What did she dream?"

"She imagined we were part of Aladdin and that we could fly to Luna. My father said he found her sitting up in bed, wanting her blankets to levitate." She took a breath and turned the heat off, then picked up her sandwich. After taking a bite, she added, "She gets this because of what she saw on the highway with Luna and Amir."

Vikram's brows knitted. "I don't believe she has ever asked about what she saw."

"She hasn't," Liberty said in between bites. "But she's always had an adventurous imagination. I can't imagine what other kids thought who saw them lighting up and hovering over the ground like that."

"You make a good point," he told her. "It doesn't help that the entire world continues to watch the footage, either."

"She's so young, and it sucks that she has to be away from her parents. I just want to do more for her."

"You're doing the best you can, Aunty Lib." He winked, and she chuckled. "She has you and your parents."

"And you," Liberty added. "We can't forget you."

His eyes darkened as he ran his thumb over her cheek. "I don't know what I'd do without you guys. I love your entire family."

She ran her nose against his and said, "And we love you."

Vikram grinned and brought his lips to her mouth, but before he could kiss her, she pushed back. "Vik, I'm eating."

"So?"

She laughed. "I don't want to kiss you when I have a mouth full of cheese and bread."

He arched a dark brow. "Does it look like I care, Libby?"

"Well, you should care. Maybe I should get the onions and see if you still want to kiss me then." 

"Oh, I love it when I get my fiancé all riled up. It's kind of sexy."

"You're a pain in the . . ." she stopped for a moment and glanced at Sarah, who continued to eat her food quietly, not paying attention to what they were doing. "In the rear," she whispered, causing a snicker to escape his lips.

"You know you like it when we kiss."

"But now is not the time for any kissing," she remarked, guzzling her lemonade.

He inched closer, pressing his thigh against her. "I don't care what you have in your mouth."

"Ew!" said Cami as she emerged from the hallway. "Please, take that kind of talk to your bedroom. I'll lose my appetite."

She strolled to the table and sat across from Sarah as Liberty stayed still, chuckling into Vikram's shoulder. "How are you doing?"

Sarah looked up and grinned at Cami. "Still hungry."

Liberty turned and stared back at them. "Do you want me to make you another — "

The window facing the front of the cabin blew apart as something large and pale crashed through it, sending chunks of glass shooting onto the floor. 

Sarah's startled scream was cut off as Cami rolled quickly, springing to her feet and covering her little body. "What the hell!"

"Everybody, be careful where you step!" Vikram yelled as he and Liberty tiptoed toward the girls.

"What was that?" Sarah asked.

"Holy crap," Liberty said as she peered over the edge of the counter. "That's an agent. They found us."

Liberty stared down at the dead woman, dressed like she was ready to go on a hunting spree. Her thoughts were a little fuzzy at first as she made her way to Sarah and checked her over. Luckily, none of them got any debris on their bodies.

Her already pounding heartbeat skyrocketed. "How did they find us?"

Vikram helped usher Cami and Sarah out of the kitchen, and then he pivoted back toward Liberty after yelling for help. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back from the disaster. "Don't look at her."

"She w-was working for BARDA," Liberty stuttered, smacking at his arms to get free. "She was about to  — "

Max suddenly stood in the kitchen, his brown eyes darkening much like Vikram's were. "She had a tranquilizer gun aimed at Sarah."

Vikram loosened his hold on Liberty. "She . . . she was about to hurt a precious little girl?"

Max's gaze flickered to the woman. It — because Liberty didn't count that piece of garbage as human — was lying in a twisted, abnormal way. "She'd been staying in a camping tent about three yards away, spying on us." Max held up what looked like melted binoculars. "I caught her."

Yeah, he had caught someone snooping around the area and tossed them right through the kitchen window. 

"The others are checking for more of them," Max said, and then he brought his gaze back to Liberty. "I suspect more will be here in a matter of minutes."

"Wh-where is my niece?" 

"She's with your parents and Mera in the back room, shaken," he answered. 

"That poor, innocent girl," Sue said, strolling through the doorway. "She was right here when that happened."

"Honey, honey," Darren uttered, pulling her away from the room. "You don't need to be in here."

"Don't you manhandle me, Darren! That woman was about to take out a little girl," she said, tears forming in her eyelids. "That could have been one of us. Why would they do this?"

"It's Dr. Kim," Faisal said, coming from the back door. "She was messaging our activities. It's all on her cell." He threw the phone on the counter.

Sue's jaw dropped open. "How long have they been watching us?"

No one had said anything for a while, and Vikram made his way over to the body. He knelt and pulled down her camouflage jacket. The smell of pine wafted into the air, and a set of photographs had fallen out of the agent's pocket. It was pictures of the whole household when they each took shifts to guard the area, and when they left the cabin to run into town.

Liberty's stomach roiled at the thought of them being spied on. They'd been monitored since the first day, and that killed her. She was ready to find them and tear them up. Her niece will not be taken by them. Not if the house had anything to do with it. They weren't going down without a fight.

• • •

Settling in the living room, Liberty's nerves were shaken. Her parents kept Sarah in their room while the house discussed what happened with the woman. Max, Darren, and Vikram helped dispose of the body, and Colin stood outside to guard the area. 

"Did anyone find a vehicle?" Maria asked, fiddling with the ends of her hair. "Surely the woman drove here."

"There was an Expedition near the reservoir," Raul said, blinking. "But we torched it."

Max sat on the edge of the recliner, looking like he needed a drink badly. "That won't stop them. They already know where we're at."

"Obviously," Cami said, her hair tucked neatly into a ponytail. "Someone lead them straight here."

"But we made sure we didn't have a trail every time we left town to come back," Faisal said without turning around. "They must've followed us."

"They had to," Cami said. "And they're going to wonder where the woman is. They'll be expecting her report."

"They probably have plenty of people who don't return reports," said Darren. "The organization is pretty big."

"What are we going to do now?" Cassie asked. "Sarah needs to be protected."

"We can stay at my house in New Orleans," Mera offered, speaking up.

"What if they're eyeing your place?" Liberty said, holding her waist. "We can't risk it."

Mera nodded, narrowing her eyes.

"What about the cameras?" Maria asked.

"We destroyed all the ones we found," said Faisal. "If there were pictures taken, they're gone now."

Max turned around. "They've been watching this cabin. My family's cabin."

"It looks like it," uttered Vikram, moving closer to his fiancée. "They have pictures of our every move."

Darren tilted his head to the side and when he spoke, his voice was empty. "Does it even matter anymore about the pictures? Our lives are in jeopardy. Sarah's life."

A shudder rolled through her. It was his tone and what he said that got to her. Her niece was their target.

"I wished she wasn't thrown through the window. We could have beat her to death for information," Maria commented. "I had questions, and she held the answers."

"We all have questions," Liberty said, dryly. "But we can't change what happened. She's dead now, so we've got to come up with another plan."

"Okay, okay," Max said, exhaling a long and strenuous breath. "Let's pack up and pile into the three cars we have available. We'll head down to New Orleans and hopefully find an abandoned home or motel near Lakewood Airport."

There was a pause and then, "Once we're down there, I'm going after them, alone," Faisal murmured.

Everyone in the room turned toward him. Not a single thing changed in his expression. No emotion. Nothing. And then the room was filled with chatter again. 

"You can't be serious," Vikram stated. "That's suicide, man."

"It's too dangerous." Cami stood, clasping her hands over his shoulders. "You'd get captured, and I won't lose you."

His expression remained the same as if he was determined to get his family back, and no matter what anyone had said, he'd already made up his mind. "My cousin and his wife been at the hands of this organization for over two weeks while we've stayed here. And for what? We were never hidden. They found us."

"We understand that, Faisal," Max said. "But Dr. Kim is insane. You don't know the lengths he'll go through to test your abilities."

"No, but I can take a wild guess what he would do," Faisal replied, pushing away from the wall. 

Max leaned forward. "Faisal, I know, we all know, that getting Amir and Luna back means a lot to you, but there's no way you can do it by yourself. No one should run in there without backup."

The corners of his mouth tightened. "I know what I'm doing. They don't deserve to be experimented on."

Prowling forward, Vikram stopped in front of Faisal, legs spread wide, arms crossed, ready for combat.

"We're a team," Max told him. "And we cannot allow you to do that. No way."

Faisal didn't budge. "No one has to coddle me, all right? I know what I'm getting myself into."

Liberty moved forward and laid her elbows on her kneecaps. "You need to think about this. They have pods all around the yard."

Out of the corner of her eye, Cami inched closer, but Maria reached out, catching her hand and stopping her. Liberty realized why she'd done that. She could see whatever internal agony Faisal was dealing with, and it was probably best if he had one person to calm him down. Vikram seemed to be that person.

"No one is trying to control you, Faisal," Vikram said. "But this organization is unpredictable. They've been watching us like a hawk, and we didn't know it. Going in there would be dangerous."

"Amir and Luna are about to go through hell," he uttered. "Someone has to get them out. I don't want anyone else to get caught." His gaze shot to Cami. "Especially you."

A look of pain shot across her face. "Faisal . . ."

Liberty jumped to her feet, reacting to Vikram's response without blinking. An unknown urge propelled her to move, and she guessed it was the compassion and sincerity in their argument that resonated with her. Sadness flickered across everyone's faces, and she now understood why her parents consoled her when they thought she was upset.

A wind blew the front door open, stirring the curtains and flipping the piles of bills Max had in the corner. The house's eyes shifted toward the front, but then focused back on Faisal.

"Guys, settle down. The male testosterone is a little much right now, and somebody did that. One of you pushed that door open without actually touching it, and I think you need to agree to disagree." Liberty took a breath. "But if you two don't knock it off, I'll kick both of your asses."

Now all eyes shifted to her. "What? Did I stutter?"

A slow, wry smile pulled at Vikram's lips. "It's all right, Lib. I've got this. I think he sees our point now."

Annoyance flared in Faisal's eyes, growing darker. "Yeah. Whatever."

"Guys, there's something I have to tell you," Max said on the other side of the room.

Everyone climbed to their feet and stared in his direction. Liberty's heart dropped into her stomach.

"What is it, Max?" Maria asked.

"The Defectives ambushed Dr. Kim's compound thirty minutes ago," he answered. "My contact just informed me that Amir and Luna made it out."

"That's good, right?" asked Cami.

He slid his gaze toward her and nodded.

"Max, talk to us," she insisted.

"It's the cabin," he replied, jaw opened. "We're surrounded."

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