Forever for Rose

Chapter Forty.

I pull away and look up at him, tilting my head at him. "Daddy?" The way he's talking is making me nervous. I don't like how it sounds like he doesn't plan on coming back.

He cups one side of my face and smiles, but it's fake. It's the kind of face he used when he had to tell me that my fifth goldfish had died and he didn't want me to think it was my fault for feeding it bacon bits instead of fish food.

I know this is a dangerous mission, but the severity hadn't really struck me I guess until right now. What would I do without my dad? What would mom do? Neither of us could go on without him. I will always need my dad.

"Rosie, I'm so proud of you. Watching the decisions you've made and how much pride you have in your kingdom, I know you'll be a perfect queen. You're ready for this." He kisses my head again. "I'm always with you." He whispers and I pull back.

"Dad, stop it." My voice cracks and he pulls me back over to him.

"Rosie, listen." He tells me sternly and I don't struggle against him. "In the event that this doesn't go well, I just want you and your mom both to know what you mean to me. You're the light of my life, my reason for continuing to live and the person whom I'd give anything for. I love you, Rose."

"I love you too daddy." I sniffle a little at the end, keeping back the feelings that want to pour over. "Be careful." It's a plea more than an encouragement.

"Rose, we must go." Nathaniel calls for me from the cave entrance, his face is strained and he holds a finger up and points to his ear. It's the signal we discussed to use if he sensed that we were being watched.

"I love you." I say again to my dad before we reluctantly separate and he rushes to the bus, Lance on his heels. He stops at the door, turning back to wave. I mouth a 'be careful' to him too before I rush into the cave.

Nathaniel and I run into the back of the cave and then enter through the hidden stone wall in the back. We come out on the other side in a nondescript small room where my mom, Fallon, Malcom, and Victoria wait for us. Nathaniel gives them the same sign and everyone nods.

He counts out on his fingers starting at ten and counting down. "Close your eyes." He whispers to me. "Focus on the feeling. It's like someone whispering your name in the back of your mind. Learn to recognize that feeling."

He gets down to two seconds and steps back.

I feel what he's talking about and now I feel a weight in the room. Like there is an extra body here but I don't see it. Nathaniel has been taking every opportunity he can to try and help me grow my strength in my powers.

"Where's daddy?" I ask the group, knowing full well where he is.

Mom keeps her face calm and shrugs. "He's been exhausted from all the planning. He and Dalton both went up to rest."

"The mission is in two days, they'll need all the rest they can get." Malcom nods. "Castrum won't fall on its own."

It was my idea to let them overhear us talk about a fake plan. I figured it couldn't hurt for them to think something is coming in Castrum and not for two more days when really the mission is to take out the caravan of storage trucks heading for Germany.

Nathaniel jumps and looks around the room frantically. "No one speak." He says urgently. "They're listening."

No sooner than the words are out of his mouth, the room feels lighter. "Gone now?" I ask and Nathaniel nods.

"You're getting better." He smiles, his smile makes me sad though. It looks too much like Dalton's.

My fingers shake at my sides as I push through the room to the next door on the far end, moving further into the settlement. I pass a couple of guards dressed in dark forest green suits and make a left up a narrow pathway and through an unmarked wooden door.