Eternity's War

Book 1: Chapter 33

The van drove along in silence. Juliet remained in a deep sleep on the floor while Sierra drove back to their warehouse headquarters in Nanping.

Romeo sat in the back, exhausted and petrified with fear. The whole day had been a struggle for him, and it was certainly not getting any easier. "What was that?" he asked while removing his mask with a trembling hand. "What just happened?"

Skye rubbed the fatigue from his eyes. He didn't have the strength to be a mentor to Romeo right now, but nevertheless leaned over and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It was a trap, and they had planned it from the beginning."

"We were almost killed ... again."

"I know," Skye acknowledged. "And I'm afraid this is the life we live. Any of us could be killed at any time. This is why we always stick together." He scowled at Tango, who sat over Echo's unconscious body.

"We found Kai and Hana. Or, they found us," Tango spoke through gritted teeth, justifying their absence. "I think it's safe to say we're at war now, Skye." Tango glared at Sierra, trying to shift the blame to her.

"Ren wants to know our whereabouts," Sierra said, adding to the conversation. Her comm was still linked.

"Tell her we're on our way home," Skye said.

"We're on our way home," she repeated. Seconds passed. "She's ordering us to go back to the tower."

Skye reached across and waved his hand across Sierra's wrist communicator, terminating the call.

"How could they have planned it, Skye?" Tango asked, changing the conversation away from one of blaming each other.

Skye shook his head. "I don't know. It's impossible." He looked out the front window and stared absent-mindedly at the city streets. "Maybe Nikolai somehow fabricated the itinerary to lure us to the tower."

Romeo put his head in his hands and started to weep to himself. It was too much for him to bear. Skye clenched his fists, annoyed. Keeping his team in check was already beyond difficult, let alone tending to Romeo's innocent needs. Once again, Skye shook his rage off. He climbed into the back of the van and put his arm around him in an attempt to comfort the distraught young man.

"I know it's hard," he said, trying to empathise. He felt compassionate earlier in the evening, but now lacked the time, strength, and patience to lead. "It's a lot to take in. But I promise you'll soon understand everything. And you'll become a much stronger person than ever before."

Romeo wiped away his tears and groaned loudly, trying to compose himself in front of the others. "How can you be so ... calm? You look like it doesn't even phase you. Is it because you know they won't kill you?"

"No. Far from it, in fact. Nikolai won't kill me, but Kai and Hana are a little more independent with their thinking. Nikolai would rip them to shreds if they harmed me, but it doesn't exactly mean they're his most obedient soldiers either." The attack certainly came as a surprise to Skye, but he knew that it wouldn't be unlike Kai and Hana to defy Nikolai. The thought of the Tianzu actually obeying Nikolai was ludicrous.

Romeo looked up at his senior. "So how do you do it? You seem so normal."

"Practise," he replied, "training, time, growth. Remember, you've come this far, so it's only natural for you to evolve even further. Don't be too hard on yourself for being human. After all, you lived a typical life a few weeks ago. It's a difficult change for anyone to grasp."

Romeo sighed. "It just doesn't seem real. I feel like I'm in a dream."

"It hasn't sunk in yet. And it probably won't sink in any time soon either." He cut the conversation short, and climbed back into the front of the van.

Romeo began to calm down a little after revealing his feelings.

"Were you like me?" he asked. "When you first changed, did you find it hard to cope?"

"Of course," Skye replied, secretly hoping the questions would end. His mind was too drained and confused to discuss the matter. "But it was a little easier for me because I wasn't pursued by Black Dawn. So I can imagine how hard it is for you at the moment." He turned and looked down at Juliet, who breathed deeply in and out. "She had a very hard time coping too. She's a little younger than yourself, so it was especially hard. But now she's doing fantastically. And she's really training herself to control her ability."

Skye slunk deeper into his chair, reminding himself that the inauguration was getting closer with every second that passed. He was confident they would have killed Archie by now, but the opportunity had since been lost. The prospect of success was rapidly deteriorating.

His vibrating comm caught his attention. He didn't bother to answer Ren's call, as she refused to believe that the president was not present. Instead, he closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the chair, impatiently waiting to return home.

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