Mikal (Second Wave Book 3) (15 page)

“We never had anything like this,” Chance said between bites.

“What did you normally have,” Mikal asked softly.

He didn’t want to bring back bad memories for her, but he really wanted to know what her life had been like, or if there had been any happiness and joy for her at all.

Chance shrugged her shoulders and looked away from his penetrating gaze as she took another bite.

“They told us we were on a special diet. Our metabolisms work differently than the humans, so when they made us train a lot, we needed a lot of food. We had rice, chicken, and vegetables mostly,” Chance said.

Mikal nodded his head, understanding why they’d chosen the diet they had. They fed her body like they would gas in their car—only what was needed to keep it running perfectly. Seeing that she’d finished her pie, Mikal decided he’d introduce her to another one of his favorite treats in Toronto.

He stood, gathered their trash, put it in the nearest receptacle, and held out his hand for hers.

“I have the perfect ending to this meal in mind,” Mikal said with a grin.

Chance laughed and patted her belly before placing her hand in his and allowing him to help her to her feet.

“I think I’m a little too full for anything else,” she said as she followed him back onto the sidewalk.

“Trust me, there’s always room for what I have in mind,” Mikal said cryptically.

Chance continued to look around them as they walked along the sidewalk; she trusted that Mikal wouldn’t lead them into danger. Instead, she studied the people around them. Most of them wore friendly smiles; some even spoke kindly to them.

She’d been a lot of places in the world while on her missions and Toronto had to be the friendliest place she’d ever been. She could understand why Mikal liked it and came here to get away.

Chance looked up when Mikal stopped and saw that they were standing in front of an ice cream shop. She’d never tried ice cream before, but she’d seen the commercials for it on TV at the lab and wondered about the stuff.

She looked at the cold treat suspiciously when Mikal handed her a cone topped with a heaping scoop of light brown ice cream. Without a word, Mikal took a huge bite of his own and closed his eyes in enjoyment.

Chance was still a little hesitant, but remembering how much she’d enjoyed the other things Mikal had her try, she closed her eyes and took a bite.

The creamy maple flavors burst in her mouth as it melted, and she let out a small ‘mmmm’ of appreciation for it.

“What is it?” she asked, looking at Mikal with wide eyes before she took another bite.

Mikal’s eyes twinkled in amusement as he watched Chance enjoy her first ice cream treat. It was so adorable that he turned back to the shop owner and ordered two gallons to take back for the other females, who he guessed had never tried it either.

“You better make it more than two,” Mikal heard Angel say in his mind.

“Three!” he heard Dree add.

Mikal chuckled and added three more gallons to his order to cover his siblings as well.

“It’s maple ice cream. Another wonderful treat that I’ve only been able to get here. The stuff should be a national treasure,” Mikal said as he finished off his own cone and took the gallons from the vendor.

“It’s wonderful,” Chance agreed as she finished her own cone and looked curiously at the bags Mikal was holding.

Seeing her look, Mikal chuckled.

“I figured your sisters might like to try it as well. The extra is because my own sister reminded me that she’d like some too,” he explained.

Chance felt a little ashamed that she hadn’t considered them since they’d left them at the compound with the doctors and half of Mikal’s siblings.

Mikal felt the change in Chance’s energy and squeezed her hand.

“Watch this. 5, 4, 3, 2 . . .” Mikal said with a grin.

Chance watched in shock as a hooded man she hadn’t noticed before came through the crowd and took the bags of ice cream from Mikal’s hand. She turned to pursue the thief when he turned around and waved at her and she saw that it was one of Mikal’s brothers.

“How did you guys do that?” she asked, turning to look up at Mikal.

“Lots of practice,” Mikal said with a chuckle.

“Why did he take it?” she asked.

“So that it wouldn’t melt while we walked around. We still have a little over an hour to wander before we hit four hours,” Mikal said.

Chance nodded her head in understanding. Siggy and Dante had somehow figured out that each possible sighting of the Mothman occurred within four hours of when Mikal was in the area. They were hoping that if Mikal stayed around long enough, his father may be able to find his energy.

Chance sent out her energy around her, looking for any sign that anyone else like them was nearby. Unfortunately, she still hadn’t felt anything unusual, but then she wasn’t exactly sure what she was looking for either.

“Do you know what it’s supposed to feel like for us if another is near?” she asked, thinking he must know since he’d found her.

Mikal chuckled and shook his head.

“I have no idea. I didn’t even realize I could play with the colored strands in my mind until you showed me in the dream realm. I didn’t even know you were there until I was right on top of you,” he said then quickly corrected himself. “In the air, above you.”

“So he could be walking behind us and we wouldn’t know it?” Chance asked, looking behind them to scan the crowd.

Mikal chuckled again and pulled her attention back around to the front.

“I figure if he’s been showing up around the world in places where either I or Alpha One had been, then he’s looking for something or someone. He’ll approach us if he sees us. I’m pretty sure about that. Besides, there are a full dozen of my siblings and Tezarians doing surveillance of the area. If he shows up, someone will see him,” Mikal said, trying to project confidence in his energy.

As much as he wanted to believe what he’d told Chance, he really didn’t know what to think. His dad had been right, several dozen sightings of the Mothman, or a similar entity, occurred within hours of where Mikal had been over the years. And he’d seen the data Siggy and Dante had pulled together to determine the time frame, but a part of him still didn’t believe that his parents were still alive, or that they’d been looking for him.

Whether it was fear of rejection or of the unknown, he didn’t know. But he knew he had to try to find someone who knew more about who they were than suppositions of some scientists and archeologists who could only guess.

He owed it to his new daughter, Charlie, to give her a people and a culture. Or at least as much knowledge as he could gather. Mikal smiled as he thought of the adorable child who’d found them in the kitchen that morning and declared her name was Charlotte.

“But my daddy can call me Charlie!” she’d said with her hands on her hips.

As if she’d lost all of her nerve from that one statement, Charlie ducked her head and launched herself into Mikal’s arms while everyone commented on what a beautiful name she’d chosen. It wasn’t long before she smiled shyly at everyone and eventually helped Mikal make their famous T’Alq pancakes.

“Hey,” Chance said, drawing Mikal’s attention from his thoughts.

“Sorry. I let my mind wander,” he said with an embarrassed grin.

“By the smile on your face, they were nice wanderings,” Chance said.

She’d never admit it, but she was hoping that he was thinking of her. Chance knew that what he’d said in the store about her belonging to him was causing such crazy thoughts. Thoughts about a future, a life, or a man. All the things she never thought she would have.

“I was thinking of our daughter,” Mikal said, surprising Chance.

Chance thought that hearing he was thinking of her would make her happy, but hearing that he was thinking of
their
daughter made her ecstatic. 

“She’s precious,” Chance said with a smile.

“I think as far as a first child goes, we certainly hit the jackpot,” Mikal said. Then realizing how intimate that sounded he tried to fix it but couldn’t find the words. Instead he let it go and cleared his throat.

“Shouldn’t we start shopping?” he asked her, reminding them both they were supposed to be doing that while they were out.

Chance laughed a true genuine laugh, causing Mikal to stare at how beautiful she looked with her face alight with happiness. He could even feel it throb through her energy.

“I didn’t think we wanted our daughter dressed like a mini vampire,” Chance said.

Mikal had to grin as he played with the image in his mind for a moment.

“She’d look adorable,” he said.

Chance playfully punched his arm.

“How about we try a shop that has something other than black in it?” she suggested.

“I bet if we asked her she’d want black,” he said teasingly.

Chance shook her head, determined that she wouldn’t mess up her first and maybe only chance to be a mother and sister.

“We’re not getting black. They need pretty colors and pretty clothes,” she said with determination as she marched to the first store they passed with children’s clothes in it.

“Look out, bro. She’s got that determined look on her face that Angel gets when she turns on the shopping channels,” Shane teased as he passed Mikal on the street.

“Oh hell,” Mikal said as he thought of the weeks of deliveries they’d get after Angel got in one of her shopping moods.

He could hear his brother laughing at him as he rushed into the store behind Chance.

*****

Dark eyes watched the couple closely from a distance, trying to confirm what he was seeing, who he was seeing. It had been so many years, yet something that he would never forget, could never forget.

He forced the vivid memories from his mind and watched their every move, every fluid and graceful move of their bodies through the people on the street.

He easily noted what appeared to be others around the couple. It would have been difficult for anyone else to notice the unusual group of men and even a woman who appeared around the couple periodically, but from his vantage point, he could see the pattern they made around the two—a protective pattern.

He counted at least a dozen people protecting the couple and knew that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to approach them here on the streets. If anyone could get close, he was confident that he could. He had no choice; he had to get close.

He continued to watch as they stuffed a large SUV with a dozen shopping bags before the male helped the female into the passenger seat. It was easy to see that the male was infatuated with the female and he knew that she would be the best way to get to the male.

The vehicle and the ease in which the male navigated the city told him that the male had a place to live nearby and would be back. He just had to be patient and wait.

Luckily, I learned patience a long time ago
, he thought with a grin as he watched the couple’s security detail begin to load into vehicles and follow.

Chapter Fifteen

Mikal paced the roof of the compound, his eyes scanning the horizon looking for any signs of anything unusual. It had been two days since the first trip into town with Chance, and they still hadn’t seen or heard of any sightings in the area of anything that could be mistaken for Mikal’s father or one of his people.

He and Chance had spent four hours each day roaming the streets of Toronto, waiting to see if their energy would attract his father, or any of his people that may be around, but the only thing they’d accomplished was getting his family addicted to maple ice cream and poutine.

Mikal turned back towards the town and scanned the skies while his energy pulsed restlessly. He grinned in the darkness when he felt an all-too-familiar energy come near him.

“What are you doing up so late?” he asked as he caught her scent on the wind.

Chance chuckled and walked up beside Mikal, tilting her head back to enjoy the feel of the wind on her face.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” she said as she stood beside him and looked out at the bright lights of the city in the distance.

Mikal chuckled as his energy settled into the comfortable pulse it usually had around Chance. It was a little eerie how their energy had somehow formed its own beat—one that he only felt when she was near. He knew it wasn’t just him who felt it either because he could feel it throbbing in hers as well.

He’d wondered for a few days if she had even noticed it, but he knew there was no way that she didn’t realize what their energy had done. There had been a few times where the change in the rhythm of his energy had jolted him, and he knew she’d felt it as suddenly as he had.

Mikal had wondered briefly if he should say something to her about it. Question it. Or at least recognize that it was happening, even offhandedly. But every time he thought about saying something, he just couldn’t find the right words or it wasn’t the right time.

“I couldn’t sleep. Why are you up?” he asked, trying to distract his own mind from a topic he didn’t want to talk about with her, much less himself.

“I couldn’t sleep either. I’ve been in that city for days now, and I’m still excited about going tomorrow with Charlie,” Chance admitted.

Although the other females were still too afraid to try going somewhere so big, little Charlie had begged to go with Mikal and Chance every time they went. Finally, Chris and the others had convinced Mikal that they had them covered well enough for them to bring Charlie along at least once.

Since there had been no sign of anyone coming near them or watching them, Mikal had relented even though he didn’t feel as confident as his siblings.

“Do you think it’s safe?” Mikal asked, looking over at her to see the expression on her face when she answered.

Chance laughed and smiled up at him with eyes that twinkled like stars in the glow of the moon.

“We got our wind abilities back yesterday. Finally,” she said with a grateful sigh. “So if anything happens at least one of us should be able to get her out of there, and who is going to come near her when most of the time even I don’t know where your family is hiding until they walk right up on us.”

Mikal had to grin at that. She was right. His family was definitely showing every one of their skills in protecting them. He knew they were concerned about him and his new family, and unspoken beneath it all was their concern of what would happen if he did find his biological father. It was something he tried not to think of at all.

“They are definitely entertaining,” Mikal said of his siblings and their street antics.

Chance laughed and looked at him like he was crazy.

“Entertaining? It was hilarious when Declan stole your wallet as you were getting ready to pay for the coffee and then appeared to be the good Samaritan by paying for ours,” she said, remembering the look of shock on Mikal’s face when he’d found his wallet gone.

“My childhood was never boring,” Mikal said with a laugh.

“I bet it wasn’t,” Chance agreed.

Mikal squatted down on the roof and pulled Chance down beside him, making sure she was settled before sitting beside her. He was a little surprised when she laid back and stared up at the stars.

“The night is so beautiful,” she said on a whisper.

All Mikal could see was her beauty, the way her skin sparkled and shone in the moonlight.

It’s not a good time for that,
he thought and lay down beside her to stare at the stars with her.

“It is beautiful,” he agreed, enjoying the evening and the company.

“What is it like? Up there among the stars?” she asked quietly, afraid to ruin the magical energy between them.

Mikal sighed, remembering when Koda had taken them all up in his ship to see the solar system.

“It was incredible. When we find Koda, I’ll take you up there with me,” he promised, wanting her to feel how he’d felt when he had been among the stars.

It had felt as if who or what he was didn’t matter. Whatever had created such magnificence hadn’t wanted anyone to feel alone or left out. There were so many other places out there with other species, other beings. That they were all a part of the whole of life was difficult to comprehend.

“I’d really like that,” Chance said, reaching over to take Mikal’s hand in hers, her eyes fixed on the sky.

They laid in silence for long minutes before Chance turned to Mikal.

“Do you think we’ll ever figure out what we really are? Or where we come from?” she asked quietly.

Mikal sighed and looked away from her to stare at the sky again.

“I know more now than I ever did. Even if it is just assumptions from human scientists who can’t be trusted,” he admitted.

“Why don’t you trust them?” she asked curiously, feeling the distrust run through his energy when he spoke of the human scientists.

“Human science and history are bought and paid for by the highest bidder. Big corporations pay them off to say their products are safe to consume or use. Drug and chemical companies are pretty bad, but the governments are the worst,” Mikal said, thinking of all the truths hidden from the unsuspecting and trusting humans.

“Why would they do that?” Chance asked, not understanding the motive for such a thing.

“Greed. Power. Control. Certain humans have their own agenda. We’ve been exposing them and fighting them as a team for decades and still haven’t found the core group that’s running it all,” Mikal admitted.

“What are they trying to control?” Chance asked, trying to understand how the outside world worked now that she lived in it.

“People. Who lives and who dies. Money. Who has it and who doesn’t. We have files and files on what they’ve been doing that you can look at,” Mikal explained.

Chance shook her head. She had more than enough to try and understand just on the basics of being free and having choices. Trying to tackle the corruption and sickness of greed and materialism would have to wait.

“Maybe when I get better at everything else,” she said with a blush.

Mikal turned to her and smiled gently.

“You’ve been doing wonderful. You learn quickly and no one would ever guess that you aren’t a native of the area,” he assured her.

Chance chuckled softly, knowing Mikal was lying. She’d almost used a street performer’s juggling pin on his own head when she thought the thrown pin had come too close to Mikal yesterday.

She’d snatched it out of the air so quickly the crowd had gasped. Mikal had caught the pin just as she’d released it at the man’s head and he had gently thrown it back to the startled performer.

When the crowd burst into clapping, Mikal had grinned broadly and made Chance bow with him before he pulled a large bill out of his pocket and threw it into a hat on the ground. The performer had bowed back while Mikal had pulled Chance down the sidewalk and away from the crowd.

“I don’t think my human interaction training was real thorough,” Chance said with a small smile.

“I think it’s hard to try and think of every possible scenario where any species is concerned—human or not. And each country, each culture is different, from the way they speak to the foods they eat. You’ve done an amazing job of adapting,” Mikal said honestly, not wanting her to be discouraged.

Chance grimaced as she thought about how naïve she’d been.

“I thought the whole world acted like they do on TV shows. Even when I was on missions, it was like I had blinders on. I went exactly where I needed to go, did what I had to do, and then focused solely on finding what I needed for my sisters,” Chance said, shaking her head at herself before continuing.

“I never paid attention to the people around me unless I had to interact with them. Even then, I never wanted to get too close or get to know someone. It was too dangerous. I wish I had paid more attention,” she said sadly.

“Why? What do you think you missed?” Mikal asked, wondering at the regret he felt in her energy.

Chance blinked back a sheen of tears.

“The smiles and friendliness. The happiness in their energy. Their concern for one another. I thought everyone was vain, self-absorbed, and pathetic like in those reality shows that follow people’s lives. I missed all the special things about them that make them so unique. I’m really glad you showed me that side of them,” she admitted.

Mikal looked a little stunned.

“You learned human interaction by watching some trashy attention ponies on TV?” he had to ask.

“Ponies? No, there were no ponies. All of them had families in them, but none of them acted the way yours does. The females showed their bodies for attention all the time and spent tons of money changing the way they look,” Chance corrected.

Mikal wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry at the woeful image Chance must have had of the human race.

“Real people, real humans, are nothing like the garbage they put on TV. Those people aren’t real. Every part of them is bought and paid for, from their fake poofy lips to their fat sucked hips. Real humans care about more than just amassing wealth and flaunting it to the world,” Mikal said, thinking of all the incredible humans he’d met in his travels, people he’d lay his life down for. For some of them, he had.

“Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly in the city the last few days. Finding out the one family had DNA on file to create one of us for spare parts definitely opened my eyes. How are we supposed to let Charlie or the others out there in the world when it’s so confusing?” she worried.

Mikal sighed heavily. This was exactly why he’d never thought of having a family of his own. He had no idea how he could protect one when the world was so messed up. But then he thought of his siblings and how they had all turned out, and he couldn’t help but think that he could handle the responsibility.

“We teach them everything we can. We prepare them as best as we can, and we pick them up when they fall. You wanted them to be free, but they never will be until you let them go. The have to make their own choices and find where they want to fit in the world,” Mikal said gently, knowing inside that he was right.

Chance shivered as a cool breeze rushed over them and she automatically curled into Mikal’s side to block it. He was so wonderfully warm that she cuddled closer and almost sighed when he put his arm around her and turned his body to shield her completely from the wind.

“Do you need to go inside?” Mikal asked, concerned that she was getting too cold.

Chance gave a gentle shake of her head before tucking it under his chin.

“No, you’re like a heater, and I’m fine now. I like it here . . . under the stars,” Chance said, hoping they could stay like this a little longer.

“I like it too,” Mikal said with a soft sigh as he squeezed her tighter to him.

“Do you think we’ll ever find the people behind what’s been done to us?” Chance asked.

Mikal sighed and closed his eyes, wishing that they could have spent at least a little more time thinking of nothing more serious than the stars and coolness of the night.

“I have every reason to believe we will. They may be really good at hiding their connections to one another, but we’re just as determined to find them,” he said honestly.

“I want to be a part of bringing them down,” Chance said with determination.

Mikal nodded. He did as well and was hoping they found something before Grai did because he wouldn’t leave anything for Mikal and Chance to take care of. They’d gone through thousands of pages of records and information on the DNA donors on the list they’d gotten from the lab, but they’d still found no connection to anyone capable of being part of the labs.

They all knew that they were missing the crucial puzzle piece that would give them the picture they needed. 

Chance snorted.

“I should have just asked my targets who would want them dead. They might have been able to help figure it out,” she said.

Mikal jerked into a sitting position and looked down at Chance.

“What did you say?” he asked.

Chance looked at him curiously but answered his question.

“I said that I should have asked my targets who would want them dead and why,” she said.