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  Unsure of what to think, Orlando only shrugged. There was a lot to weigh in. He didn’t mind helping Dallas out. It was a way for him to make up for all of his past sins. Adding Nia further into the mix was a whole other story. He tolerated her dating his best friend. In a lot of ways, they made a cute couple. Them living together under his dime was something else entirely.

  Dallas scrunched up his nose. “Yeah, you don’t like the idea.”

  “Moving in with your girlfriend, no matter how innocent you say it will be, is still a big thing. You see different sides of people when you’re with them all the time. I don’t think it’s a good idea right now.” He exhaled heavily. “But I can’t stop you either. And it’s not like I want her to suffer or anything. I just think there are better solutions. This could blow up in your face big-time. You haven’t been together for long. You barely know each other.”

  “Feels like I’ve known her all of my life.”

  Yeah, I can understand that one all too well. Orlando’s problem was he felt that way about two different girls. Shaking his head, he blew on his hands to give them some warmth. They were almost done with their journey, thankfully.

  “I can’t stop you,” he repeated. The air of defeat lingered around him. It was true, he did not like the idea at all. There were so many things Dallas probably wasn’t even thinking about. How could he protect his friend from getting hurt if he went charging into problems head-on?

  The soft smile that appeared on Dallas’s lips almost made things better. “You could, but I appreciate you trusting me. It’ll just be temporary anyway. Kind of like how I’m only staying at your HQ for a short period of time.”

  “Please, don’t let her decorate, and she doesn’t get to be included in the shopping process. You’re only seventeen, okay, almost eighteen. She’s younger than you. Don’t try to play house and pretend you’re married or something.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “No matter how much wiser you think the afterlife has made you.”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  Orlando rolled his eyes. “He’s on another planet, so someone needs to look out for you.”

  “And what about you? Who’s looking out for you?”

  “Lyssa.”

  “You need more than her with all of the other things going on,” Dallas said softly.

  “Ugh, you’re really pushy about my wellbeing.”

  “Because I want to return the favor. That’s what friends do. I’ve been gone through some of the hardest stuff.”

  “So?”

  “So, let’s make this even. I got your back, you have mine. Equal. Okay?”

  Orlando pulled at his hair in frustration. “Yeah, fine. Just drop it already.”

  They turned a corner, and on the ground near a fork in the tunnel, he noticed cigarette butts crushed into the concrete. While they could have belonged to city workers, he also wondered who else wandered in the underground near his home. Left would take him back to the mansion, only three hundred more feet through one long winding tunnel. The right went to…He wasn’t sure, and that made him all kinds of curious—and nervous. There were no identifying signs like there were by the school.

  Something I can check out later.

  “Just don’t go alone,” Dallas whispered as they rounded the corner to go left.

  Orlando glared at his friend. “Stop doing that. It’s annoying.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Commenting on stuff I’m thinking about! If I wanted to converse about it, I would say it out loud.”

  “Got it.”

  Guilt filled him, but only momentarily. Regardless of whether Dallas was purposefully prying into his head or not, it was still rude to talk about his thoughts as if they were meant to be shared. Orlando needed the privacy of his mind, even if it was only imaginary. His head was the only place where he could escape fully from everyone else—or it used to be until Dallas came back.

  The two walked the rest of the way in silence. At the end of the tunnel was a heavy door with a keypad lock on it. The code was seven numbers long, and he made sure to clear his mind when he entered them in. On the off chance Dallas decided to go exploring out of boredom, Orlando wanted to give the guy an incentive to stay put. Getting locked out of the house would hopefully be enough of one. If there were people working or meeting right outside of Orlando’s door, then going through the tunnels from the mansion would need to be kept to a minimum. He hated the idea of Dallas being a prisoner, but he didn’t know what else to do.

  With the door unlocked, they went inside. Just down the small hallway was the lab where Orlando liked to practice using his abilities and Cadence did her research. All of her supplies had been moved out for the time being.

  “Go ahead and leave your shoes on until we get upstairs. I’m not sure if there’s any broken glass lying around,” he said and led the way to the stairs so they could go to the third floor. Up there was where the living quarters was set up.

  They made their way up, and as soon as Dallas stepped onto the wood flooring of the landing, he took off his shoes. “Looks nice. You really cleaned up.”

  “You mean, you didn’t visit?” Orlando teased.

  “Not when it was clean. That was when I met Nia and stopped being able to roam away from my body.”

  Orlando acknowledged him with a quiet “ah” as he headed back to the bedroom. “Kitchen is on the floor below. Everything works. I got food in the refrigerator that should last for a day or two. Unless you really are eating like no tomorrow. Nia was whining about how your stomach is a black hole.”

  “Did she also tell you that all her family has is organic vegetables? Not exactly high-caloric-intake food. Growing boy needs his meat and potatoes!” Dallas smirked.

  “I got that. Can’t say it’s all too healthy, but a few weeks of TV dinners shouldn’t kill you.” He winced at his choice of wording. “Well, you know what I mean. It’ll balance out since you ate all the healthy stuff. Got some fruit too. Figured I’d keep it simple since cooking has never been your thing.”

  Chuckling, Dallas sat down on the bed. “I appreciate it.”

  Orlando pointed to a decent-sized flat screen on the wall. “There’s cable. Should have all of the appropriate pay channels. Obviously you can’t buy any movies, or my parents are going to freak on me. They’re super uptight. I brought over my video game collection for you to entertain yourself with as well. Some new books too, and if you get really bored, let me know and I can bring my homework over for you to do.”

  “I’ll pass. Homework is not something I miss.”

  “Right, you and school didn’t mix well. Can’t blame me for trying.” From what Orlando remembered, Dallas did not enjoy studying. Nor did he care about his grades much, whereas Orlando had been a straight-A student aside from the year Dallas died.

  “So long as you still come by to bug me, I’ll be good.”

  “Of course,” Orlando said. “I’ll be here as much as possible. Might even sleep on the couch downstairs if push comes to shove.”

  “Parents making you that crazy?”

  He shrugged and faced away from Dallas. “Among other things. They’re trying to keep me from being involved with Alan. I don’t think they get much license to tell me what to do. They may have created me, but they don’t have any authority over my life. Fighting with them all of the time is exhausting. I’d rather be alone.”

  Dallas gave a small nod, laying back on the bed. “Thanks for letting me do this. It means a lot.”

  “I wouldn’t say no to you. Not when you need me.”

  “That means a lot too. I promise, I won’t take advantage of you.”

  Shrugging, Orlando made his way back to the door. “It’s not an issue. I gotta go check in, but I’ll be back later.”

  “All right.”

  That was enough permission to leave as Orlando needed. He went back downstairs to the secret passage that connected the hidden wing of the mansion to the rest of the building. It doesn’t matter if he doe
s or doesn’t take advantage of me. I deserve everything I get. No one could convince him otherwise.

  Chapter Twelve

  “JD, we are going to be late,” Angela said from the living room. “Come on already!”

  Their mother entered, holding a crying preschooler in her arms. “Where are you going?”

  “We both joined this club, and it’s the first meeting, and we’re going to be late if he doesn’t get his butt out here!”

  JD came out, rolling his eyes and throwing a hooded sweatshirt over his torso. “We’ve got plenty of time. Man, I didn’t think you’d be so excited about playing a game.”

  “A game?” Mom asked. “Since when did you two play games together? Actually, when did you start doing things together, period?”

  “I lost a bet,” Angela mumbled.

  Her brother shot her a glare. “In all seriousness, it’s something we’re both doing for extra credit at school. Cadence needs the boost in her grades, I’m going for moral support, and like always, Angela is only interested in tagging along because of some guy.”

  “Am not!” She could feel her cheeks growing warm all the same. Orlando wasn’t just “some guy” to her, and he was certainly not the only reason she was coming. Her brother knew how to push every one of her buttons perfectly, and in doing so she gave off the best and most believable reaction to sell his stupid story.

  For a moment, their mother looked between the two of them and shook her head. “Okay, just try not to be back too late. Preferably if you could be here for dinner, that would help. Actually, I’ll call you and have you pick something up.” She returned her attention to the child in her arms. “And you, sir, need to be more careful.”

  Angela watched her walk away and sighed with relief. She reached over and pinched her brother.

  “What was that for?” he whined.

  “Being annoying.” She grabbed her purse and opened the front door to leave.

  His jaw tightened as he glared at her. “You can walk to the comic shop if you’re going to be like that.”

  Scowling, Angela got into the car and buckled up without another word. What a grumpy pants. For the sake of not starting another argument with him, she stayed quiet for the brief car ride over to the store. She’d never been there before, so she wasn’t quite sure what to expect. From the outside, the shop didn’t have much going on. The walls were a bland white, an electric sign hung overhead identifying the name, and a few posters hung up in the few small windows she could find.

  She followed JD to the door, looking around to make sure no one she knew saw her going in with him. If anyone from school noticed her, she’d never hear the end of it, no matter what kind of an excuse she gave.

  Upon entering, she found Cadence, Orlando, and Alan in the back of the store. It was empty except for them and the shop keeper who was around the corner in the next room where all of the merchandise was. The back of the store was nothing but a bunch of large, empty tables for customers to use to play games on. Cadence was sitting in a chair, staring off into space while the boys were fixated on some small metal miniatures.

  Angela approached the table. “’Sup, guys?”

  “Oh, good, you’re here. We can start.” Orlando put the miniature down onto the table.

  Her brother picked it up. “It’s…pink?”

  “I was running out of paint,” Orlando said. He kicked his feet up and relaxed in his chair. “Don’t worry, I got you a set so you can let your creative side out. Not my thing, but I figured it’d be up your alley.”

  “Awesome! What are we playing anyway?” JD put the miniature down and found a seat, surprisingly not next to Cadence.

  Alan smirked. “It’s a game called Invaders. It involves alien factions and the like.”

  “We figured it’d be a good way to talk about stuff without anyone actually figuring out what we’re talking about,” Orlando added.

  “Clever,” Angela said.

  “Alan’s idea. I just got the stuff.” He smirked.

  She nodded. “So what’s the plan anyway?”

  “Gideon will be here in approximately twenty minutes. Less, if he decides to come early. I advise you wear your masks if you do not feel comfortable with him knowing who you are,” Alan said. “From there, we will go over the plan for procuring Bean and Sprout for their next round of rehabilitation.”

  “With Gideon?” JD asked.

  Alan nodded. “Yes, we will be requiring his aid for the task. I will be watching him the entire time. From there, my assistants will get more information about the blue tribe’s newest plans. This could be it, the mission that ends the war—or at least in this area of your world.”

  “Really?” Angela couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The end of the war? She knew for the Alturans the war had been going on for several years. For her, the whole thing had just begun.

  After all was said and done, what was the group expected to do? Go back and pretend nothing was ever different? All of the new relationships she’d built would once more be nonexistent. Orlando wouldn’t be the only friendship she would mourn. For the first time in ages, she and her brother actually got along, Cadence was close to being a big sister, and Alan…she might miss him more than anyone just because he was so quirky and fun. In general, her whole perspective on life was different. She didn’t want to go back to the same selfish person she was before being tapped by Alan’s tribe.

  Watching the sad, thoughtful expressions appear on her friends, she knew they must have felt the same way.

  “I suppose we couldn’t keep doing this forever,” her brother mumbled.

  Orlando tapped his hands on the tabletop. “Nope.”

  “Let’s not talk about it right now.” JD slouched and put on his mask. “This Giddy guy will be here soon and depressing ourselves isn’t gonna do us any good. We need to get pumped up for the action.”

  “He’s right,” Orlando said. “Don’t freak out at me saying that either, or I’ll take it back.”

  Angela grabbed her mask and put it on. She wasn’t sure if she wanted this new guy to see who she truly was. Maybe he was harmless and could be trusted, and maybe he couldn’t. A lot of the people she’d met through saving the world fell into a gray area. The only people she knew for certain who were on the same side as her were those on her team. She wasn’t even sure she trusted the other charges tapped by Alan’s tribe. Something rubbed her the wrong way about them during the one time they’d met. First impressions meant everything.

  Everyone put on their mask except for Orlando.

  “Dude,” JD said.

  Orlando raised both of his eyebrows. “If you’re trying to say something, I suggest evolving beyond the IQ of a caveman. I’m in the twenty-first century, man.”

  Scowling, JD peered across the table at him. “He’s going to know who you are.”

  “Yeah, so? It’s not like he’s going to recognize me whenever I do decide to put it on. I haven’t done the big grand reveal. We go to the same school. He might as well know.” Orlando shrugged, picking up a small blue miniature and flipping it between his fingers.

  JD rubbed his forehead. “All the more reason for you to not tell him. He worked for Sprout, right? What if he conveniently let it slip to your ex during class that you were her enemy? Doesn’t seem all too smart to me.”

  “I don’t have anyone at school to confide in,” Orlando said. “You all have each other. I have no one. Regardless of whether he worked for Sprout or not, she—”

  “Didn’t give me a real choice in the matter,” a male voice said from behind Angela. She jumped in her chair. Standing behind her was a teenage boy close to her age. He came across as being around sixteen years old, which would probably put them in the same grade. His eyes were a greenish hazel, and his tangled, shaggy hair a flat brown color. Rather than giving off a cool, confident, or even mysterious aura, Angela only noticed he was timid. He rubbed at his arms a lot while looking around the table with his shoulders hunched up. Everythin
g about him screamed nerd, and the ugly red-and-brown plaid showing underneath his jacket didn’t help much.

  Orlando lifted his hand toward the newcomer. “Bingo.”

  “You’re sure about that fact?” JD asked.

  “They didn’t give Lucky Twelve an option,” Orlando said, his tone dark. Was it possible Angela’s suffering made him angry and protective over her?

  How sweet! Okay, stay focused. Not time to get all gushy and squee. Angela cleared her throat. “He’s right. The Doctor gave me the injection after I told him no.”

  “I told him no when it came time for the upgrade. He stuck me anyway too,” Gideon said in a soft voice.

  “You have the upgrade?” Alan asked.

  Gideon nodded and sat down in a chair toward the end of the table. Close enough to the group where he could be a part of it, but far enough away that Angela got the vibe he wasn’t all too sure if he could trust them. Somehow, his weariness made it easier for her to get comfortable with the idea of him joining the group.

  For the first time since Angela arrived, Cadence’s gaze became unglued from whatever she was staring at and she put all of her attention on Gideon. She too had her mask on. “What does it do?”

  “Outside of make me sicker than a dog? I’m not sure,” he said. “I was brought back to the red team’s ship for questioning and all that. No one has bothered to help me with it.”

  “That will change. We will help you,” Alan said.

  “Appreciate that,” Gideon mumbled. He rubbed at his arms. “So you’re in on this too, huh, Orlando?”

  Shrugging, as nonchalant as ever, Orlando sat forward in his chair, putting his feet back down on the ground. “Unless you think it’s my handsome evil twin sitting here instead.”

  “For some reason, I’m surprised,” Gideon said.