Color-Gifted (Color-Gifted, #1)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Final chapter guys! *sniff, sniff* Hope you enjoyed the story : )

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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Sandra reaches across the table and squeezes my hands. Instant calm washes over me, and I can finally begin to eat. “That’s so amazing, Megan. I’m happy for you.” She bends closer, smiling. “That day we gave Christopher our numbers was the first time I’d seen him up close. And do you know how much he loves you? I could feel it so strongly.” So this explains the weird look Sandra had on her face that day, before Christopher came over to get their numbers.

We’re sitting at our usual booth at the dining hall. I just shared my newfound knowledge with Keene and Sandra; it wasn’t as difficult as I thought. The more time goes by, the easier it is to talk to them, and I marvel at how much I’ve grown and changed in the month I’ve been at Tapengram.

They were surprised when I told them that Christopher is my father. But that doesn’t even begin to describe their expressions when I told them about Myra’s mom’s premonition. Or the fact that I’m dually Green-gifted. Once the initial shock wears off, they tell me all about what I missed while I was out. I dig into my food as I listen.

Shortly after Christopher arrived, a bunch of Detectors, including Maunekey, reached the scene. The guards our boys incapacitated are now under their custody and are being interrogated. So far, no one has said anything. Michelle is nowhere to be found, and somehow Theo and David managed to escape. I swallow back icy fear at the thought of David, running loose in the dark woods. Theo, his hand cutting of my airway.

At some point, my friends cornered Christopher. Pride swells in me as they tell me how the grilled him till he caved. Christopher admitted that David, Michelle and the others are most likely working for someone more powerful. The Detectors think that their intentions were to strip Neveah and Dwayne of their powers, and keep them for themselves. Speculations are that they are part of the same group that took Jeffrey Wallace. I am shocked to find out that they found his body a few days ago, and it was clear that he was tortured and stripped of his powers.

Christopher revealed to them that in medieval times, Color-gifted were stripped of their powers as capital punishment for crimes they’d committed. This was banned over a century ago, but evidence of this was found on the former Green Coach’s body. He told them that this information shouldn’t be shared, that it is something the Color-gifted head men don’t want to leak out. The fact that he shared this with my friends earns him a lot of marks in my book.

And Neveah, being the powerful man’s daughter, would be a likely target. Dwayne must have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Trepidation runs through me as I think about how close they were to—no, I can’t think about what-ifs. My jumbled feelings towards Christopher loosen enough for me to feel gratitude towards him for saving them. Saving me.

After they are done, I sit in silence for a moment, processing the information. And then, something occurs to me. “Where’s Jerry? And James?”

Keene twists his lips. “Jerry took a few days off to visit his family in Ohio. The whole thing has hit him really hard.”

“What about James?”

Myra shrugs. “I don’t know, I think somewhere off with his dad.” We exchange a quick, significant look.