Fury of the Six (The Preston Six Book 5) (19 page)

JOEY PACED NEAR THE CLEAR wall holding him back from his daughter.

Marcus hadn’t said anything in the last few minutes, but the expression on his face said all Joey needed to know. The creases between his eyes grew deep and his lips went razor thin. Something bad was happening and it made Joey smile. His parents and Harris were doing their part and at the very least, they silenced Marcus.

Poly tried to get Evelyn to talk to her, but she seemed to be giving her mom the silent treatment.

“Fine,” Joey said to Marcus. “We’ll go with you if you can guarantee you won’t harm any of us here, and we have control of Evelyn.”

Poly faced him, stunned.

Marcus looked up. “No harm will come to any of you, but I have to be in control of what Evelyn is taught and the way she is taught. I cannot have any interference in this.”

“No,” Poly said, shaking her head at Joey.

“Agreed.”

“I’m glad you’ve come around. I really feel she needs her parents.”

Evelyn jumped from the couch and walked close to the wall. Joey watched her prying eyes and felt a tingling in his head. He squinted and pushed his thoughts down. He wasn’t sure why, but it felt as if she could actually read his thoughts and might even pick up on his lie.

“I’m so happy,” Evelyn said. “We can be a family again.”

Poly sobbed and covered her face with her hands. “How can you do this?” she mumbled.

“This is how it has to be, Poly.”

“No!” She stood up and attacked him. “You don’t have the right to make this decision.” She peppered his chest with punches.

He wrapped her up in a hug, squishing her arms against his chest. He kissed the side of her head and whispered, “Trust me.”

“How do you feel about this, Hank?” Marcus asked.

“I still want to kill you.”

“He’s telling the truth,” Evelyn said and laughed. “I can’t wait to get to know you, Hank.”

“Joey, place your weapons and Pana on the floor and I’ll allow you alone to enter the room.”

“Let me in there!” Poly yelled, pounding against the wall.

Joey set his guns on the floor and stared at the Colt with its party pack in it. One of those bullets was supposed to be the end of Marcus, and now he needed to find another way. He set his Panavice, and a multi-material dagger Poly had made for him, on the floor.

Walking to the wall, he nodded to Marcus.

“You are allowed to move through it now,” Marcus said.

Joey put up his hand and felt nothing but air where the shield had been. Poly rushed to his spot and tried to get through, but the wall held for her. Joey sidestepped her and entered the room with Evelyn and Marcus. Poly grabbed his hand before it crossed through the wall, and he turned around to stare at her. Tears formed in her eyes as she shook her head.

“I love you, Poly. You have to let me go now,” he said, squeezing her hand.

She squeezed back before letting go, turning away to compose herself. Hank pulled her into a hug and whispered into her ear.

Evelyn ran up to him and he knelt down, hugging her. Her body felt so big now. Just days ago, he’d held her as a baby, and now she was the size of a two-year-old. He wanted to cry at what Marcus had done to her, but held it back and gave her a smile.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing, just missed a few milestones with you is all.”

“Don’t feel bad, I like it this way. Being in that tiny body, my muscles wouldn’t work properly, my throat couldn’t form words in the right way. This
is
better.”

“You’re so smart.”

She smiled. “The smartest.”

“Telling jokes already?” Joey brushed her hair back. It had grown several inches as well.

“I learned from Lucas.”

“Another joke?”

She laughed. It was the first time he heard her new laugh and he hugged her again, wanting to spend every last second he had with his daughter.

“I love you so much, Evelyn.”

“I love you too, Daddy.”

“Can you go over to the corner of the room and take a seat, facing the wall?”

She stuck out her bottom lip and looked to Marcus. “You have to try, I know that now. But, Daddy, you might not do it, and even if you do . . . I may not be able to save you all in the end.”

“In time, you’ll know.”

Evelyn nodded her head.

“Now go on, get to the corner and don’t look back.”

He held her hand for a moment and then she pulled away, taking a seat, facing the wall in the corner of the room.

“This is a mistake, Joey,” Marcus said and put his Panavice in his jacket pocket. “All I want is for you to raise your daughter in the safety of my protection. If you end me, then all is lost for your world. They will come and they will take everyone you’ve ever cared about, including Evelyn.”

Joey glanced at Poly, her hands pounded against the glass again, screaming, “
No
!”

Past her, he spotted Kris entering the room with Maggie.

“The more the merrier,” Marcus said.

Kris touched the invisible barrier. “Maggie, do your thing.”

Maggie’s red-hot hand touched the barrier. The clear wall shimmered under the extreme heat.

“She might actually get through,” Marcus said in admiration. “I’ve always loved the mutants.”

“Don’t do anything, Joey, we’ll be in there soon,” Poly pleaded.

Behind her, Hank looked distraught. Joey met his gaze. Sharing a heavy look, Hank nodded his understanding, a tear rolling down his cheek.

“Yeah, Joey, don’t do anything,” Marcus mocked and tossed a silver ball onto the floor.

Joey turned to stare at the device, the same ball that kept him from saving Samantha. He took a deep breath and looked back to Poly; he had to end it before she came through. And from the looks of Maggie, it might not be long. The clear wall had an orange tint to it now and some of it sagged around her hands.

Joey rushed to Marcus who took his approach with an amused smile. Within a few feet of Marcus, Joey swung for the man’s stupid face, but he shifted a few inches and dodged it.

“No need to get violent,” Marcus said.

He swung again and missed. Swinging for his stomach next, Marcus blocked his hit with a hit of his own. He gave up the punches and jumped onto Marcus, but the bastard grabbed Joey’s arm and slammed him onto the ground.

“Don’t hurt him!” Evelyn said from her chair, still looking at the wall.

Marcus sighed and took a step back from Joey, holding out his hands.

Joey rolled over and struggled to get to his feet. Not just from the fall to the ground, but from the punishment his body went through the night before. The cream had worn off, his muscles were aching and telling him to lie down and sleep for days.

“Joey!” Karen yelled.

He turned to his mom and dad as they ran into the room with the rest of the parents.

“My, oh my. You even brought the originals out to play? Well, this
is
a treat. I’ve never been able to meet you. Hello.” Marcus waved and Joey used the distraction to rush him.

Marcus side stepped the attack and sent Joey face first to the floor, right next to the steel ball. Completely ignoring him, Marcus walked closer to the wall. “I recognize you all from the videos. Who would think, after all these years . . . here we are, together in one room?”

Joey picked up the ball and gripped it tight in his hands as he got to his feet.

Marcus glanced over his shoulder, sensing his approach, but Joey walked wide, getting closer to Maggie. The wall had turned as red as Maggie’s hands and sagged in heavy clumps around her two hands.

“As I was telling dear Joey here, this doesn’t have to be violent. Evelyn is in agreement. You all don’t have to die in some attempt to take me out.”

A pop sound came from above, sounding like a single shot from a gun. Lucas had a gun, but he should have been on his way to Julie. That meant Harris or Emmett. No one had seen Emmett yet, but knowing Marcus, he was somewhere creating the most trouble possible.

“We can’t let you have our queen,” Kris said.

The room felt like a warming furnace and sweat beaded on Joey’s forehead. He kept near Maggie, taking the heat and waiting for the moment the wall would come down.

A crack sound drew Joey’s attention to the ceiling again and something dripped down from above. The liquid fell to the rug on the floor and hissed, dissolving a section. More drops fell from above, splatting on the ground and destroying the rug. A hole formed in the ceiling from the drip and it grew each second.

“What the hell?” Marcus said, looking at the ceiling.

Joey glanced back at Maggie. The wall shimmered and her hand plunged into the room.

“Catch this.” He tossed the ball and Maggie caught it with her fiery hand, the ball melting between her fingers.

“Wait!” Marcus held out his hands and froze in place.

Joey gritted his teeth and shivered. He didn’t know how long he had to kill Marcus, but he wasn’t going to waste it.

The ceiling hole had enlarged to the size of a person and as he rushed by, he spotted Harris getting ready to jump in. Joey couldn’t have timed it better, he’d be rid of Marcus before the rest of his friends and family were killed. And maybe if he did it fast enough, he’d live through it as well.

The sounds of the room dulled to a low hum, and he glanced back at the people he loved, watching him with frozen expressions.

He threw a punch at Marcus and this time it landed, but Joey screamed out in pain as the shield blocked his blow. Wringing his hand, he grabbed Marcus by the jacket and pushed his body to the floor, face up. He picked up the wooden chair and smashed it over his face, but it didn’t cause damage like it should have. He tossed the broken chair to the floor and picked up a glass vase, breaking it into a sharp piece. Getting on top of Marcus, he pressed the blade against his eye; the makeshift blade doing nothing but slicing through his own skin. He dropped it and looked at his bloody hands.

The stretch on his mind started, not as bad as last time but he felt the pull, felt his body melting from the inside. He didn’t have much longer before he damaged himself again. His legs and hands shook and he fought the growing urge to release. “There has to be a way!”

“Daddy,” Evelyn stood in the corner, facing him.

He darted his attention to Marcus, but he stood there, still, and the sounds were dull; they were both in slow motion together. “You shouldn’t be here, Evelyn.”

“I can’t watch you die, you have to let go before it’s too late. I had to come here to tell you that.” Tears built in her eyes.

“Tell me how to kill him then,” Joey pleaded, feeling the pull of time so much his vision distorted and Evelyn shifted into three people before consolidating.

“It’s too late.” She cried and shook her head. “You’re not going to make it now.” She ran up to Joey and hugged him. “I’m sorry, I should have known you’d not let him live. I should have ended this long ago and now I’m going to lose you.”

“I’m still right here,” he strained to stay holding onto his daughter. “I’ll never leave you.”

“I won’t forget you. If you can last a few more seconds, I can show you how to kill him before everyone else I love dies.” Evelyn turned his head up and pointed at the ceiling. A drop of the liquid was falling from the hole above, only a few feet above the floor.

“Of course.” Joey struggled to get his aching body moving again and pulled Marcus, dragging him underneath the floating drop, positioning him just right. Joey lay on him, putting as much weight on the man as he could. “Evelyn?”

“Yes?”

“Take care of your mom, you’re going to need each other.”

“She’s not going to do well without you.”

“I know.” A lump formed in his throat, making it hard to get the rest out. “Tell her I love her and I love you as well. I’m so sorry, Evelyn. I wish it could be different, but I had to protect you both.”