AEGIS EVOLUTION by S. S. Segran

Author:S. S. Segran [Segran, S. S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: INKmagination Books
Published: 2018-03-27T22:00:00+00:00

33

“Momma, are you okay?”

“It’s nothing, sweetheart.”

Mariah, sitting at the dining table with Tegan as they Skyped their mothers on Aari’s laptop, leaned toward the screen. “You sure?”

One of the two women on the other end of the video chat, a near-carbon copy of Mariah, down to the long copper-blonde hair and warm cognac eyes, smiled meekly. “I’m concerned, that’s all.” She blew a kiss at the screen. “I love you so much, baby. Don’t worry about me.”

“We’re taking good care of her,” Mrs. Ryder added.

Tegan slid her arms around Mariah and hugged her close. “And we’re taking good care of Mariah.”

Mrs. Ashton beamed, her face glowing. “I don’t doubt it. The five of you have always looked out for each other. Speaking of which, how’s Jag? His parents told us what happened.”

“He’s doing alright, all things considered,” Tegan replied. “The boys are keeping him company while he’s stuck in bed. He’s actually healing pretty fast. The Dema-Ki compound is doing its thing.”

The front door opened and Marshall stepped in, cell phone to his ear and grocery bags in hand. He saw the friends and gave them a shake of his head, then entered the kitchen. The girls exchanged glances. Guess he hasn’t found the people tailing us yet, Mariah thought. The possibility they were being followed was one detail the friends decided to skip while updating their mothers.

“Marshall, come say hi,” Tegan called.

The Sentry, still on his phone, popped in to wave at the camera, then ruffled the girls’ hair and headed back to the kitchen. The mothers smiled tightly, lines appearing on their foreheads. Mariah gave them a look. “What is it?”

Mrs. Ashton shifted in her chair. “I… we…”

“It’s nothing,” Mrs. Ryder said hastily.

Tegan lifted a brow. “It clearly isn’t nothing.”

Mrs. Ashton looked down, silent for a few moments. “This has been… so difficult for us, letting all of you go because of some prophecy. There are times when we take a step back and wonder about what we’ve done. About letting you go. It’s hard to make sense of it all. And then we remember Elder Nageau’s words… but still. Look at Jag. We could have lost him. Marshall, too. Sometimes we can’t help asking if we made the right decision letting you go.”

Neither Mariah nor Tegan knew what to say. Mrs. Ashton rubbed her face. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Mariah said softly.

Her mother glanced away from the camera and quickly wiped her eyes. “So, are you any closer to finding the cure?”

“We hit a bump on the road,” Tegan said. “But we did get a break, and one of the Sentries is chasing a lead in Moscow. We were gonna visit someone in Haifa yesterday who may have some answers, but it was Shabbat. Today is an off day as well, so we’ll go tomorrow.”

“You sound annoyed.”

“Well, yeah. We just don’t have the luxury of wasting time. We’ve tried calling the man but he never picks up.” Tegan huffed. “Anyway, how’re things at home?”

“There was

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