The Infinity Trilogy

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

You could say that when I said those six words to everyone downstairs, all hell broke loose, but that would have been a total understatement.  Secretary Duke immediately jumped up, yelling for his men to get him on the phone with the president.  He called for an emergency evacuation of D.C. as soon as possible. 

The rest of us headed down to the training room.  Apparently Zack had six more uniforms made on the sly, just like the ones we had before.  One wouldn’t be used, though.

And one could fit Chloe.

“No, absolutely not!” I said as Chloe ran to see it.  “She’s not going!”

“But I want to help!” Chloe whined. 

“She could do so much,” Trygg said.  “And you know none of us would even let her get hurt.”

“Come on, Lola!” Chloe said, clutching onto my hand.  “Please?”

I bent down to be eye level with her.  “If I let you go, you’re staying beside me at all times, understand?  And if, for any reason, you get separated, you turn yourself invisible and hide.  Okay?”

Chloe nodded fiercely.  “Got it!”

I sighed, really wishing that I didn’t agree to this. 

“What’s going on?” a voice asked from the bottom of the stairs.  We all turned to see Michelle standing there, a confused expression on her face.  “Why is secretary Duke here with all of his men upstairs?  They’re acting like…”  Her eyes widened.  “Oh, my God.  It’s happening, isn’t it?”

I nodded, walking toward her.  “A lot has gone on since you left last night.”

“What happened?” she asked, looking more worried by the moment. 

I took a deep breath, preparing to tell her everything in short.  “Owen got his memory back, Adrian’s gone with Alex, and the attack on D.C. is happening tonight.  Are you going with us or not?” I asked. 

Michelle’s jaw was hanging open before I even finished.  “Oh, my God.  Are you serious?  How could…”

I shook my head, knowing that she was going to go on the topic of Adrian.  “I really don’t know why he had to go with him,” I said.  “But you need to decide.  Are you going with us or not?”

Michelle immediately started nodding.  “Of course, I am,” she said.

“You haven’t had a lot of time to adjust, though…”

“I don’t care.  I’m going.  I’m a part of this now, no matter what.”

I just looked at her for a moment before stepping toward her and giving her a hug.  “Thank you.  I know this is hard for you since you just found out about everything…”

She shook her head.  “No, it’s alright.”

It was hard getting suited up like we did the last time.  Secretary Duke came down just as we were gathering together.

“Don’t you all look…prepared,” he said, looking around at us. 

“As always,” Talen said, pulling on the leg of his suit.  “And just like last time, they bunch in all the wrong places.”

“How are you getting to D.C.?” he asked then.

“Teleporting,” almost all of us answered. 

Michelle looked a little nervous.  “We are?”

I nodded, taking her hand in mine.  “We are,” I said.

I looked over at Owen, who was standing on my other side, and took his hand.  And then, everyone else linked hands. 

Arin looked around at everyone.  “Are we ready?” she asked. 

All of us looked at one another and then nodded. 

Just like before, teleporting felt like you were going through a vacuum.  Even though I’d only done it once before, it wasn’t as bad as that time.

“So we all know what we’re doing?” Arin asked, looking around at everyone again.

The sun was getting lower in the sky.  The day had already passed too quickly, bringing on the night and what was going to come. 

But before anyone could say anything, that’s when it started.  

I was up in the air before anyone moved, flying toward the capital building.  Chloe was staying with Sean out of sight before I got back to them.

Because right now, I had to find Alex.  

It was just like before, watching all the fires, people running and screaming, and the flashes of light all around the area.  But I could still see one person away from the chaos, standing alone on an abandoned road.  How I knew it look there…I don’t know.

I was running through the streets then and it was almost a repeat of the vision that I had the day that changed my life.

Because I was running toward Owen.

He was looking at me with so much love, even though there was chaos all around us.  It was like we were the only two there. 

When I stopped in front of him, my arms immediately wrapped around his neck and I kissed him.  Every nerve in my body was lit up with electricity. 

Owen and I pulled apart then and he smiled down at me softly.

"Are you ready to end all of this?" he asked. 

Somewhere in the distance, screamed filled the air as an explosion sounded.

I nodded, leaning up to kiss him once more.  "Everything will be okay," I said.  "I'll get it done."

"Just be careful.  That promise you made me won't be kept if you aren't."

I smiled and brushed my thumb over his cheek as he looked at me with anxious eyes.

"I never break promises I make with you," I said.

And then I was running.

Sean and Chloe appeared beside me.  How they managed to keep up, I had no idea, but I couldn’t do this without them.