Winters (Book Five)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The day dwindles on and the uneasy feeling I've had all day only continues to intensify. I can't pinpoint what is causing me so much anxiety, things are relatively calm right now, it's a small lull for us and I need it to recuperate. Checking my watch and phone as I head downstairs, I see no emergency notifications, but as I slip into my wife's lab and pull her into a hug, she matches my expression.

"Something is going to happen," she whispers as we wave to Hadley who barely glances at us for a second. Her head bobs to the beat as she types away on her laptop, not even lifting a finger to push her glasses up her face.

"I can't shake this feeling, it's driving me mad," I admit quietly.

"Me too, maybe we just need to eat and relax," Avi says trying to be reassuring. Glancing around, I grab her by the waste and we land at home. Kicking our shoes off into our respective closets, I change into a sweater and some shorts as Avi opts for sweatpants and a sports bra. We both have the evening off and I relish cooking dinner with her as she talks about some ideas she has rolling around in her head. I give her a brief update on all of our numbers and she puts on some music as we clean up. As I finish drying the dishes, my watch vibrates. We both freeze as our phones buzz in the other room. Slowly glancing down, it's an emergency notification from Zana.

"I need to get Faith," I spit out confused as I bolt for my shoes and mask. Stumbling through the shadows, I go shin first into the coffee table in the living room of the floor the three of them share.

"I'm here," Faith wheezes as she pulls on her mask and almost runs into the table herself.

Checking the coordinates, I see her location in the Circa City headquarters. That's odd, I hope no one broke in, we spent months scouting for the best location in the city for them. Grabbing Faith's arm tightly, she doesn't even wince as we disappear into the shadows and our feet slam into the ground.

A new surge of adrenaline scorches through me as I see Mason on the ground, curled up in pain and Zana pinning his hands to the ground, away from his clawed and bleeding face. Looking up at the three other men in the room, they all look confused and stunned and stare into the void of where they think my face is.

"What's going on?" I ask concerned, staring down at Mason, I can take a guess of what finally happened.

"Undo it, now," Zana says hoarsely.

"Are you sure? What's wrong with him? Why is his face bleeding?" Faith questions relentlessly.

"When you return someone's memories it hurts, it's a psychosomatic pain. But could a blockage of memories that are trying to break free, cause the same sort of pain?" Zana's broken voice asks and my heart aches for her as Aviva and Hadley appear with Orion.

"I've never encountered someone strong enough to be able to undo what I did," Faith says, but I had a hunch this might happen with him. Mason was in love with Zana, we could see it in the way he spoke to her. Aviva and I may have tailed them the one night when rounds were uneventful.

"Theoretically Faith, could it happen?"

"In theory anything is possible, the human mind is an incredibly complex thing," she says uneasily.

"Undo it Faith, I can't watch him suffer like this," Zana pleads and without another word, Faith moves forward and the high pitch noise that accompanies her presence dies away. We all cover our ears and the rest of the Circa City team follows suit.

Mason slowly stops writhing in pain as I attempt to read Faith's lips as his body relaxes some. As Faith gets back up, I quickly walk over to Zana and pull her into a hug. She sobs quietly into my shoulder and I try to soothe her. Her hands clutch onto the fabric of my sweatshirt as she shakes in my arms. With a few short words, I watch as the rest of the Circa city boys' eyes cross before they look around confused.