Lose Control (The Jewel Project #5)

27.1|| Final Wishes

Sam couldn't sit still. He kept hopping on the soles of his sneakers, trying to extinguish some of the pent up energy. His nerves ran so high and what bothered him most was that he couldn't figure out why that was.

It wasn't that unusual. It wasn't like they hadn't expected it. After all, they'd been prepared, handled it with textbook accuracy. And yet, just the thought that Snitch Gravel had attacked their house was sending him into a panic. Why do it then? What had changed? What did he have to gain?

Where was she? Why wasn't she coming? And why did he need her so much? But no matter how hard he stared at it, the door to Skye's office remained locked. It only made his hands shake worse.

The sound of footsteps down the hall had him pushing himself off the wall. Skye was hurrying towards him, wearing jeans, sneakers, and a shirt and blazer, her hair caught up in a ponytail. Her style had changed since she'd started training, as if she was suddenly aware she'd have to run a lot and without notice if she wanted to hang around him. Gone were the high heels, the suit pants and skirts. Functional was the key word now.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she asked, the moment she reached him, already fumbling inside her purse for her keys.

"Nothing that drastic, which is why I'm freaking out about freaking out in the first place."

She finally got the door opened and ushered him inside. Sam headed straight for the sofa and sat on it, sinking his head in his hands. His knees bounced and he didn't even try to stop them this time.

Skye gave him a few seconds while she put her purse away and turned on the lights. Then she pulled the rolling chair in front of him and had a seat.

"Let's hear it. This not drastic thing that turned you into an overreacting snowflake."

Sam would've smirked if he didn't actually feel like an overreacting snowflake. "Snitch Gravel attacked the house."

"What?" Skye's tone was even, as if waiting for more. For some reason he appreciated that she didn't sound all panicky. That was his job.

"They threw a grenade through the window and Mom... Kyle got to her in time and nothing happened, but he said she was running straight at it." The thought of what could have happened made him shudder, but he pushed the nausea back and pressed forward. "The thing is, we were ready. The proximity sensors went off and we managed to push them back, lock down the house and save Mom."

"That's great." Her tone was still even, calculated, letting him spill out his emotions without hers interfering.

It was. But it had been so close, and the thought of his mother dying... A sob escaped his lips and he hated himself for it. She was alright, alive and well, maybe just a little shaken. No one had gotten hurt, the house hadn't even been seriously damaged.

Even so, there was something  else that bothered him about this whole incident. It was the first time the danger had been personal, that their actual house had been the target instead of random people on the street and...

"There were so few of us," he whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"I know Jerry and Jimmy are away, that Jessie is gone, that Harry has no business being near my house, but... I never realized what it meant until we all supposedly gathered to fight something off. Five of us. Just five." There used to be five of them as the main core, and with the girls, ten. In the jungle, it had felt like there were so many people, but now... Billy was never going to be there ever again, and they'd all just scattered into the wind.

"And Kay," he said, his mind jumping from one awful topic to the next. "And Angie. It was so awkward. Angie just hovered around me, trying to avoid Tom. Kay just ignored Kyle even if he got second degree burns on his arms from the explosion. Sure, he heals fast, but that doesn't mean he's immune to pain..." Everything was so fucked and it only made another sob escape him.