“No, not until there’s more privacy. It’s a strictly need-to-see basis.” He nodded in understanding, glancing at the multitude of people still surrounding them. The taken slowly drifted away with their families and the rest of the guards milling around were encouraged to make themselves scarce, leaving the healers, royals, and a few guards directly under Ammon.
Mike came forward, and she sighed lightly as she let him hug her. The warmth of being held seeped into her, or maybe that was the healing magic he’d sent surging through her, bolstering her and eliminating sore muscles. She felt the relief rush through her and let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding as he spoke, “Welcome back, Jade.” He let go of everything but her shoulders, pulling her back to take a good look at her as he inquired, “Are you going to be able to handle the attempt, or should we wait?”
Shaking her head, she responded, “No, we need to do it now. I know it’s hard enough to gather everyone and we need to know what to prepare for, better or worse.”
He nodded, accepting her points as valid. “Very well. We have a small training area set up for the attempt so that we don’t have to clear out the infirmary.” That was probably for the best, considering the nature of their quest for knowledge. They could keep it quiet for a little while, but eventually people would find out. She’d rescued ten people, and they all had families who’d probably find out. A word here, a slip there, and soon everyone would know. Fear would rise as rumors abounded…
She sighed, shaking those thoughts away as she saw the royal family approaching behind Mike. They probably knew how to handle the situation best. She smiled tiredly at them as Mike stepped respectfully to the side. “Hello, Your Majesties.” She remained formal in deference to the many guards and healers still surrounding them.
To her surprise, she was pulled forward into a crushing hug by the king and queen as she heard Ashanna gush, “Thank you for bringing them home. Thank you for rescuing my children.” She was honestly having a bit of a hard time breathing, they were squeezing her so hard. She patted their arms gently, though somewhat insistently. She was tired enough; it wasn’t time for an impromptu and unplanned nap.
Upon feeling her tap, the two drew back slightly, allowing her to take in a deep breath, filling her lungs with much needed oxygen. The two of them looked a little abashed upon realizing they’d been literally squeezing her to death, merely having wanted to express their gratitude. She smiled tiredly at them as she spoke gingerly, “No thanks are necessary, really. I just did what anyone would, if they could.”
“But not anyone else can, so we’ll still thank you.” Derrick cut in gently, smiling broadly at her.
Shaking her head at the inevitability, she cast her eyes back to the capall Logan was still holding. Indicating it, she questioned, “Are you going to stick around for the next bit?” She was still carefully choosing her words, not wanting to alarm or alert anyone who wasn’t already in the know.
The two royals glanced in trepidation at the bundles behind her before nodding slowly. “Yes, I think we will. I’d like a word with the...prisoner.” Derrick’s voice held slight hesitation, but she could see various emotions playing across his face: guilt, anger, fear, sorrow, and perhaps a little bit of hope. She knew he wanted his brother back, but he’d also figured out that Tevon was the reason his children were taken and their escape route was compromised. He was why good men died. If you kept that in mind, the conflicting emotions were normal.
“Of course. Let’s get to the area the healers set up and you can try before the operation.” They looked serious at her words, probably having a bit of trepidation about what she was going to attempt. There was also the fear that talking to Tevon beforehand could cause problems. Nevertheless, they beckoned for Mike, Cody, and Scylla to lead the way to their staging grounds. The procession turned a bit solemn as those who knew what was going on walked with them, leaving the rest of the reuniting behind.
The royal parents left her side to walk with their rescued children once more, both of the twins hooking their arms through their mom’s, and Derrick draping an arm over Tisha. Victor and Camille managed to squeeze their way over to her, taking each of her arms as she walked. Victor smiled tiredly at her, obviously not having gotten much in the way of sleep while she was gone. “You did it, just like you said you would.”
She smiled wanly back at him. “Of course I did. I keep my promises. Did you ever doubt me?” Her tone was joking as she tried to interject a bit of dry humor into the solemn atmosphere.
Camille poked her in the side, causing her to squirm into Victor for a moment as she mock glared at the girl. Camille smiled sweetly as she snickered, “No, of course we never doubted the outrageous claims you’ve made. We just blindly hope that you can follow through with everything.” While she was trying to match Jade’s joking tone, she could tell that there was truth in the statement. They may not have believed she could do it, but they hoped without reason. Or maybe the reason was that she’d actually managed to follow through with everything else so far.
Of course, her craziest promise was yet to come...well, maybe not the absolute craziest. That had been bringing back the taken. Now it was trying to see if she could change the taken back to pre-taken status. She was going to do her best, but she had a bad feeling about it, the main reason being Frank’s state of mind since she’d saved him. It might not seem like it, but she’d been watching him closely, and she was fairly worried for him. The other taken seemed to be having a better time of it, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t seen the almost haunted looks they’d been sending towards the woods.
None of the others had been subject to the trauma he was. None of them had been as close to the change...and none of them had had the brain damage he did. Yes, that was something she’d glossed over and tried to avoid thinking about. There had been parts of his brain that would never be the same, even after she’d eradicated the virus from it. Thankfully, it hadn’t been much, but it was there. What she was afraid of was how much deeper the damage would be on someone like Tevon, who’d been turned for so long.
The real question was if anything would be left untouched. Thinking about Tevon, she glanced at her two friends and asked, “Actually, where’s Brodie?” She hadn’t seen him at the gate, which surprised her.
Camille answered quietly, “He’s already at the staging area. He said he didn’t really want to see the reunions…” Oh. She couldn’t blame him for that. Having to see everyone reunited with your loved ones, when you knew your own father was coming back as a monster...yeah, she wouldn’t want to see it either. She took small comfort in the fact that whatever happened, he would finally have closure. As long as it didn’t scar him for life. The probability was a toss up in her mind.
She was still pondering the possibilities in the ensuing silence when they arrived at a large, nondescript building. As the guards in front of them opened the huge doors, she examined the training grounds that were repurposed for the day. Mike and Scylla led the way with Cody, and she realized they’d brought in a heavy metal table that was fully equipped with metal clasps for the neck, hands, and feet. It didn’t look like something that had been newly made, so that meant…