Hero Reborn (Keepers of Justice, Book 3) (11 page)

Samson cocks his head to the side. “Yes, she was correct i
n suspecting we wouldn’t fight the military. It’s hard to accept this, but fighting the military would only result in deaths. It was smarter to flee and regroup. You have my word that our captured League members won’t be harmed.”

I want to believe him. I really do, but I’m worried. I don’t know what to make of all this. I know fighting the government is wrong. They were just protecting their people. But
it sucks that they invaded our home and tore us apart.

“Vlayne also used the military because she wanted the normies to lose trust in the Keepers,” Kale adds.

His dad nods. “You’ve figured all this out.”

“Not everything,” I say. “Did she get the formula?”

He shakes his head. “Her plan was to kidnap Brain and the rest of our scientists.”

“Doesn’t she have her own scientists?” Kale asks. “I don’t get it.”

Samson leans forward. “Vlayne’s a smart woman. She knew the formula wasn’t hidden in the League Tower. I assume she searched for it to no avail. Her next option was to kidnap Brain. She didn’t need the formula—she needed him. He was working on the antidote and had the knowledge of the formula. He may not have known it by heart, but the information is in his brain. Since he was already working on it for us, Vlayne wanted him to work on it for her.”

He pauses for a bit to let all
of this sink into our heads. “When we were attacked,” he continues. “We didn’t have the antidote synthesized. The formula has two components, as you are aware of. One removes the virus, one regenerates the damaged cells. When we created the cure for Kale, we isolated the component that regenerates cells. That was much easier to synthesize than the first component. After Kale was healed, Brain and the others worked day and night to create the antidote for the humans. However, it’s quite complex and difficult. I’m afraid they didn’t have a chance to complete it before we were attacked.”

“So what happens now?” Kale asks. “Brain and the scientists are in the Blades’ custody. They’re going to kill off all the normies.”

Samson’s got a tiny grin on his face. His eyes are still sad, though.

“What?” Kale asks.

Samson lowers his gaze to the floor. We copy him, but see nothing. Except for X. “Clones,” he says.

Samson smiles. “
Yes. We outsmarted her.” His grin widens a little. “We were prepared for the possibility of Vlayne finding a way to kidnap Brain and the others. That’s why we set up decoys. The scientists Vlayne has are clones. These clones have no knowledge of the formula. They can’t create it for her. The real scientists have been working on the antidote in the basement of this building.”

“
Won’t she find out?”

“
Not for a while. Our plan is to synthesize the antidote and present it to the humans before Vlayne learns her scientists are fake. We’ve succeeded in creating it. But...we’ve run into an issue. The humans refuse to accept the antidote.”

“
Because they don’t trust us,” X says.

“No.
We’ve tried force-injecting them. But the humans won’t take it.”

“What do you mean they won’t take it?” Kale asks.

Samson holds out his hands helplessly. “They just won’t take it. We’re investigating why.” He turns to Kale. “Rescuing Lindsay is our top priority, but so is saving the humans.”

“Does that mean we’re not going after the Blades?” Kale asks.

“No, we will, but it’ll take a little while. We need a big army, with lots of people with abilities. The ten of us here can’t battle the ShadowBlades alone.”

Kale nods. “Okay. So who are you going to get for your army?”

“We have many agents, acquaintances, and consultants willing to help us. I’ll have to contact them and ask if they’re willing to take on the ShadowBlades. In the meantime, my focus needs to be on the humans as well. But we will go after the Blades. I promise you that. When we’re ready.” He eyes us. “I need you to give me your word that you won’t go after them alone.”

We look at each other sheepishly. “Sure, Dad,” Kale says. “Gathering a huge army is a better idea than we had.
But who are these people? Do you trust them?”

“Yes.”

“But how can you trust anyone now?” Kale demands. “How are you so sure they won’t rat you out? And how safe is it to contact them?”

“These people are trustworthy,” Samson says. “We’re careful when we meet.”

Kale’s eyebrows furrow. “You really trust them?

“
I do.”

“Okay, I guess.”

It’s quiet.

“I don’t get why Vlayne
tried to lure us to her location,” I say.

“For leverage,” Samson explains. “
With most of our League mates captured by the government, we don’t have an army. It’s the perfect opportunity for her to kill me and Cindy. She was planning to use Kale to get to us, just as she had done four months ago. She most probably suspects we have the formula but not the antidote, because we haven’t immunized the human population yet. She wants to stop us from finding other scientists.”

“What if she’s still in my head and tracking us right now?” Kale asks.
“I don’t sense her, but…”

Samson shakes his head. “Scar assured me
that she was only inside during that brief moment when you were connected to him and your telepathic walls were weak. They are back up now and she can no longer access your mind.”

Kale sighs in relief.

X crosses his arms. “Well, Vlayne got what she wanted, didn’t she? The humans aren’t taking the cure.”

Samson’s eyebrows are scrunched. “Speed is working with the scientists to mass produce the antidote
s quickly enough to make it available to the entire world. But it won’t do any good if the humans refuse to accept it. We need to try again. Perhaps test it on other humans.”

“What do you mean other humans?”
Kale asks. “Who have you tested it on?”

He looks around, like making sure no one’s eavesdropping.
He leans forward. “What I’m about to tell you is strictly confidential. Not a word of this leaves this room. Do you understand?”

We nod.

Samson leans back. He opens his mouth, when there’s a knock on the door. He sits up, startled. We all look at the door.

Samson smiles a little. He raises his hand
and the doorknob turns. A head peeks in. Blond hair. Cindy.

Kale jumps to his feet. “Mom!” He rushes into her arms. She hugs him tight. “What happened? Why were you hurt?”

Cindy pulls off and squeezes his arm. She looks at Samson. “We’ll get to that later. I believe your father was about to tell you something.”

Cindy wobble
s as Samson and Kale help her into a chair. Samson clears his throat. “We’ll do this telepathically. I don’t want to risk anyone overhearing.”

We have many informants working for us
, Cindy says.
Everywhere. A few are undercover in various government agencies.

The three of us exchange glances. It’s not surprising, I guess, but we didn’t expect this. There’s so much we don’t know. So much that Samson and Cindy take care of. Wow.

We meet with them regularly
, Samson says.
They report to us only on matters pertaining to the heroes and villains
.

And you trust them
? Kale asks.

With my life.

This is so cool, but so freaky. Kale’s eyebrows are even more scrunched. He’s going to inherit leadership of the Keepers one day—that’s if we clear our names and everything. He’s got so much to learn. I’m glad I’m not in his shoes, even if it’s so awesome to be the leader.

Is that how you know none of our League mates are being tortured or killed?
Kale asks.

Yes
.

I swallow so hard it’s like a brick is jammed inside my throat. 
What about my parents?

Cindy hugs me.
Everyone is safe and well.

They keep saying that, but I’m still worried. Just because my parents are safe now, it doesn’t mean they always will be. What if the humans get so
sick ‘cuz the antidote doesn’t work? What if the government kills my parents? How will I live without them?

The government took whatever information they were able
to,
Cindy says.
Though it wasn’t much.
It’s Samson and me they’re after.

And me
, Kale mumbles.

Yes.

What about Furball?
I ask.
Does the government have her, too?

Samson looks at Cindy before shaking his head.
We have no idea where Furball is. We haven’t been able to reach her telepathically, either. We hope she found shelter and is well.

I swallow. If Furball’s not captured, then where is she? Do th
e Blades have her? Is she dead?

Cindy hugs me. It helps a little, but not much.

The room gets silent. Kale says,
Are the undercover people the ones you gave the antidote to?

Ye
s, but they refused to take it
, Samson says.
I was going to test it on other humans, humans who aren’t working for us, but Cindy notified me that the three of you were going after the ShadowBlades. I dropped everything and went to stop you.

“
We’re really sorry about that,” Kale says.

“
Promise us you won’t do anything reckless again.”

We
do, but I bet we’re all thinking the opposite. The guys and I will definitely keep doing reckless things. We just can’t help it. But I don’t want to make anyone worry over us. We’ll be careful. Extra, extra careful.

“
Yes, Mom.” Kale looks from Cindy to his dad.
So what else do you talk to these informants about?

I’m afraid we
’ve told you enough.

Dad!

Kale.

He frowns.
“Aw, okay. So why couldn’t I contact you? And how did you get hurt, Mom?”

“When we were attacked, our first concern was to save the children,” Samson says. “Andrew’s mother saved the three of you and came back for more.” He rubs his forehead. “
As you know, Andrew, the government captured her.” He gives me an optimistic look. “But she’s safe. As the children fled, your father helped protect them. He and most of the kids were captured as well. All are safe. You have my word.”

I scratch my nose. I’ve got to believe him, but it’s hard to without seeing them. What if he’s only saying that to calm me down?

“When we heard that first attack, Cindy and I rushed to see what was happening. Once we realized it was the military, Cindy sent a telepathic message to all the adults. We’ve prepared for a situation like this. Some adults would rescue the children while the Elites would fight and protect. Cindy and I made sure everyone who had to save the others did so before we fled.” He swallows. “When we were outside, a handful of soldiers chased us. I deflected their bullets. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. There were so many and so fast…it was difficult to deflect them all.” He shakes his head, exhaling slowly. “It was chaotic and I was disoriented. I didn’t see Cindy on my right. When I deflected the bullets, one struck her.” His voice trembles. Cindy pats his hand. “I took her in my arms and flew away. I brought her to an abandoned building, somewhere no one would find us. At least temporarily.”

He takes a break, staring at his desk. Cindy squeezes his hand.

“Cindy kept repeating, ‘Find the kids. Find the kids.’ I couldn’t leave her. Not when she was injured, so close to death. But I needed to find the children. I was torn, unsure what to do. Suddenly, Regina teleported to our location. She told me she’d try to locate the children. I was able to stay with Cindy. I blame myself for what happened. I’ll never…never forgive myself.” His shoulders quake, but he tries to compose himself. “I thought I lost her.”

“It’s okay, Sam,” Cindy
says.                           

“I stopped the blood and brought her here. We don’t have Healer in our midst, but we do have friends with healing abilities.
As you can see, she’s made a full recovery.”

Yeah, she looks good. Not like she was shot a few days ago.
“What is this place?” I ask.

“Acquaintances of ours own this bookstore,” Cindy says. “The Keepers of Justice have had access to it for years. Here, we are protected.”

I feel my body sigh in relief. Finally, a place where we don’t have to worry about being attacked or anything.

“Did Regina find anyone?” X
asks.

Samson shakes his head. “When Cindy was shot, she was unconscious. She lost her telepathic abilities. That’s why you couldn’t reach her, Kale.”

“And you? Why couldn’t I contact you?” Kale asks.

“Your mother closed off any openings in my mental fortification while we fled. As a precaution. She planned to reopen them once we were safe, but she didn’t expect to be injured. We meant for her to locate everyone telepathically. To not leave you alone. When I learned the safe house had been compromised, I was devastated. With Cindy down, I had no
way of finding you and the others who escaped.” He shuts his eyes and mumbles to himself. “I wish I hadn’t asked her to seal off all communications. I’ve made some bad choices. All to protect our secrets and my safety,” he mutters.