The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

May moved quickly and with purpose.
With Gaten hoisted in one arm and resting on her hip, she breezed through the kitchen and fished through drawers until she found a pair of scissors. She perched the boy, still hiccuping through tears, on the edge of the counter and carefully wedged the blades around the plastic tie that bound his hands.
"Hold still for me, okay?" May said in her best auntie voice. It came to her without trying.
With a quick snip, the tie came free. She took a moment to massage the angry red lines that dug into the poor boy's wrists, then gathered him back into her arms and made for the stairs. As far as May was concerned, all bets were off now — she didn't know what to expect, nor who she could trust, so she had to be prepared for anything. She hurried up the stairs and into the room she and Em had briefly shared, kicking the door shut with her foot and depositing Gaten softly in the middle of the mattress.
Her eyes landed on her Star cannon, laying uselessly on the bedside table. Irritated, she snapped it up and pulled it on. It was her terrible luck that she would have left it behind when she needed it most.
Still, a wave of relief swept through her once she finished securing the cannon's straps. She flexed her fingers and ran her opposite hand along the smooth metal casing, feeling the slight constant vibration of the energy it held emanating from inside the chamber. Next time she saw Wyndam or Melanie, she wouldn't be caught unprepared. Next time, she would be ready and they would be sorry.
She would make sure of it.
The sound of Gaten's sniffling pulled May from her vengeful fantasy. She looked down and found the young boy staring back at her through tear-swollen eyes. His face was still wet and blotchy, and he had drawn his arms and legs close to his body like a tight little ball. May could tell by the way he eyed her that he still hadn't decided if he could trust her or not.
"Hey, honey," May said, crouching slowly beside the mattress. Gaten flinched away anyway. "My name is May. I'm going to watch over you until your mommy and daddy get here, okay?"
Gaten's bottom lip trembled. "I want my mom."
"I know you do. You've just gotta sit tight a little while longer — she's on her way."
May glanced at the window and sighed, wishing she had a way to contact WIND. Gaten whimpered and buried his face behind his folded arms. It took everything May had not to reach out and hug him, but she knew better than that. She was a stranger, and this child had been through enough at the hands of those.
"Gaten, are you hurting anywhere?" she asked softly. It took a moment, but eventually he answered with a small shake of his head: no.
"You're sure?" May pressed again, not that she didn't believe him but because she wanted to be sure herself. The boy nodded without looking up. "Okay, I'm glad to hear that."
Still, he did not stir. While Gaten hid, May watched him through a growing haze of disbelief. There he was: the child for whom she and Em had sacrificed so much for. In some ways he had come to feel like a mythical figure to May; not quite a boy so much as a priceless treasure to be recovered. Then again, May supposed, that's exactly what he was to Connor and Rue, and she knew without a doubt that she would have fought just as hard to save him had he been her own son.
But he was also still a boy, and a frightened one at that.
"You know, I have a nephew," May said. "His name is Omi. I think he's a bit older than you but I'll bet you two would like each other. He's a lot of fun."
Gaten lifted his head enough to peer at her, but he didn't speak. May simply smiled back at him.
"Are you hungry? I could make you something to eat if you'd like."
Again, the boy said nothing. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and looked down. Knees squeezed tightly together, he shifted slowly from side to side.
May raised an eyebrow. She had seen this move before.
"Do you need to use the bathroom, Gaten?"
This time, Gaten looked up. Though it seemed to pain him to do so, he gave a little nod in reply.
"That's okay, you can use the toilet if you need to." May got to her feet and opened the bedroom door. She motioned for Gathen to follow, but he looked passed her into the hallway with apprehension in his eyes. As if she were checking under the bed for monsters, May stuck her head out the door and looked up and down the hall. "All clear, buddy. No one's here but us."
Apparently that was all Gaten needed to hear. He slid off the bed and padded after May as she led him to the bathroom. He paused at the threshold and gazed up at her without speaking.
"I'll keep watch out here," she assured him. When the door clicked shut, May leaned back against the wall and slumped to the floor. She exhaled, long and slow, willing herself to focus on the traumatized little boy in her care and not on the devastating fact that she had just lost Em again — this time for real.
Despite her best efforts, rogue tears spilled over her lashes and traced their way down her face. She was in the middle of wiping them away when the door opened and Gaten peeked around the door frame at her. With his vivid green eyes, he took in her tears, but didn't draw attention to them.
"Do you know how to make sandwiches?" he asked in a tiny voice.
May smiled despite her broken heart. "I sure do. What's your favorite kind?"
"I like peanut butter."
"Me too." May got to her feet and held out her hand. After a moment of hesitation, Gaten slid his tiny hand into her palm. "Let's go see if we can find some in the kitchen, okay?"
Downstairs, May did a quick check of the rooms and locked the doors despite the gaping hole in the front window before helping Gaten into a chair at the table. He watched silently, his hands clutching the front of his shirt, as she busied herself with making a sandwich for each of them. May sliced an apple, filled a glass with cold water, and set the boy's lunch down before him.
"Thank you," he murmured without looking at her. May took it as a win and smiled. She grabbed her own plate and joined him. Together, they ate without speaking while the sound of crows scraping over hayseed drifted in from the broken window.
May had just finished washing the dishes when she heard the sound of a vehicle racing down the gravel drive. She twirled around to find Gaten staring up at her, his eyes wide with worry.
"Someone's here," he whispered.
"It's okay, kiddo," May assured him. "How about you head upstairs and I'll see who it is, okay?"
Had this been Omi she was trying to reason with, he would have refused. His natural curiosity would have made him defiant, which would have forced May to be stern with him. But Omi didn't have Gaten's reasons to be fearful. Gaten didn't fuss or push back. Instead, he jumped down from his chair and darted straight up the stairs without looking back.
With her tiny charge safely out of harm's way, May braced a hand on the Star cannon and crept through the house toward the front door. She positioned herself just beyond the entryway and waited.
On the other side of the door, car doors slammed. She could hear Jeremy, Connor, Rue, and Priva talking over each other as they piled out of their vehicle. May raised her arm and aimed the cannon at the door.
"Shit!" Jeremy shouted. "The front window is blown out!"
"Em!" Priva called, her voice already breathless. "May! Are you there?"
Footsteps thundered up the steps. The door jostled against the deadbolt. Connor swore sharply. Keys jangled. May held her breath.
At last, the door swung open. All four members of WIND stood framed in the opening, their faces awash in matching expressions of frantic concern that flashed to surprise in perfect unison.
"May!" Jeremy cried, clearly relieved. "Thank fuck, you're all right. We—"
"Shut up," May snapped. Her eyes narrowed. She was feeling dangerous. "Nobody moves until you tell me what the fuck you did."
Tension flooded the cramped entryway. No one dared move, especially with May's cannon pointed directly in their faces. Even though Jeremy was the only one who knew what the device was truly capable of, the others still exercised an abundance of caution.
"It's not what you think," Jeremy said. He held his hands up in front of his chest, palms facing her.
"Then enlighten me," May snarled.
"They blindsided us, May."
"They took Em."
Connor swallowed and took a tentative step forward. He took held his hands out for her to see.
"We know." He sounded so ashamed. "We're so sorry. This wasn't—"
"You turned us in!"
"No. I swear we didn't." Despite the Star cannon still being pointed in his direction, Jeremy squeezed passed Connor and reached for her. "May, they already knew you were here. What happened at Gallery..."
He trailed off, but May knew what he was getting at. Em had been right: the Loyals had been involved with what happened at the prison. The fact that she had escaped with Jeremy's help had likely reached Wyndam's attention before the two of them had even made it to safety.
She had been ruined from the very start.