The Gathering by Michael Timmins

Author:Michael Timmins [Timmins, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jason hit ‘end call’ and the phone dropped in his lap. His face dropped into his hands and a muffled sob escaped him. Tragedy and tragedy. Sitting back up, he wiped the tears from his eyes. First Beth and now Sim.

Damn. He had not known Sim long, but he had saved Jason’s life, and besides, Jason liked him. From what Kat had told him, Sim had been killed by some unknown weapon. Something Sylvanis didn’t know anything about.

They had fought the bad Weres. Their first true battle. It had been horrific. Police and bystanders were dead; the streets of Chicago looked like a battlefield, torn asunder and strewn all over the place.

Jason had said they had seen nothing about it on the news. Kat shared his surprise. They hadn’t seen anything about it either. They were assuming the government had somehow been able to cover it up.

He then told her about the disaster with Beth, and Stephanie’s refusal to return to Sylvanis.

“She is hurting, Kat. She sees this as not only her fault, but Sylvanis’. Sylvanis had pretty much guaranteed if there was a personal connection to the person, they would survive the transfer.”

“That’s not what she said.”

“True, but she implied there was a far better chance of survival. Perhaps we should have been more reticent about involving our friends.”

“No,” Kat insisted. “You did what you thought best. You don’t understand what we face out there, Jason. We didn’t even face all of them. Thankfully. It was all we could do to keep them contained and survive ourselves. If Clint hadn’t shown up . . .”

“Wait. Clint is back?”

There was a pause.

“Sort of. He isn’t . . . right. Not yet. Things happened when he . . . was gone. Bad things. Things he did, he needs to come to grips with.”

Another pause.

“It will take time.”

“Same on this end, Kat. I will work with Stephanie. Try to bring her around. This news about Sim isn’t going to help though.”

“I know.”

“How is Hank?”

“How do you think?” came the sarcastic response.

“Right. Stupid question.”

“Sorry,” Kat apologized. “It has been a rough time here and I’m a little irritable. I’m not handling this well. Sim. Clint. Now Beth. I mean, I didn’t know her, but I know the two of you, and well . . . I’m sorry.”

Jason didn’t respond. he couldn’t respond without losing it all over again.

They were both quiet for a moment before Kat continued, “Just do what you must, Jason. No one will begrudge either of you for ending your involvement right here. Hell, I don’t even know if Hank will stay on at this point.”

Again, a pause.

“Maybe this is too much for us. Maybe we should just let the authorities handle this.”

“Are you quitting?” Jason asked.

“No,” Kat answered without hesitation. “This is what I trained for. This is what I have been preparing for all these years. I cannot. I will not step away from this fight.”

Jason smiled, though he knew she couldn’t see it. It was what he expected from her.

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