Fletcher woke slowly, gently coming back to the conscious world. There wasn’t much pain in his body, and he was in a comfortable bed. The old habit of making sure there was light before opening his eyes kicked in, so he didn’t have a view of anything at first.
There were beeping sounds as well as the noise of someone typing on a computer. White light leaked through his eyelids, so he opened them while reminding himself it didn’t matter anymore. His eyes were permanently changed.
He was in a hospital room, metallic and cold, just like the rest of Finnack Mountain Base. At least, he assumed he was back in Finnack. That assumption was more or less confirmed when he looked to the side where the typing was coming from and discovered his dad sitting in a chair, working on a laptop.
“Hey,” Fletcher said quietly with a hoarse voice.
Sebastian looked up from his computer and smiled at him. “Good morning, sunshine. Have a nice nap?”
“Nap? How long—”
“A little over a day.”
“And we’re back in Finnack?” Fletcher asked in surprise.
“Yep.”
“How? It took four days to get out there originally.” He sat up, careful not to dislodge the IV in his arm.
Sebastian shut his computer. “That was driving. You came back on an airplane.”
Fletcher blinked. “Oh. But I thought flying was too risky.”
“Too risky going in. We couldn’t give away the mission, but since the Unhumans already knew we’d hit them, a hasty escape was top priority,” his father said.
“Right. That makes sense.” He shifted in the bed, keenly aware of the bandages wound around his left thigh. “I guess I was too late to be [Healed].”
His dad patted his good leg. “They gave you a little. They have to spread that kind of [Skill] around. You’re a lot further on in your recovery than you would be without it, but it’ll probably still be a week or two until you’re back to one-hundred-percent.”
“A couple weeks really isn’t all that bad considering I got shot a couple of times.” Fletcher sat up all the way, his father adjusting the pillow to better support him.
“Yeah. I’m sure that’s an interesting story given you were strictly there for observation.” Sebastian looked at him with that typical stern stare.
He glanced away from his father’s scrutiny. “Uh, yeah… I… Well…”
“You might as well wait until your mother gets here. She’s also rather interested in hearing what you have to say.”
Fletcher ran his hands over his face. “Can’t I just tell you and then you can tell her? I really don’t want to see her or talk about—”
Before he could finish, the door opened and Hazel strode in, exuding her usual cold, demanding demeanor.
He sighed. “Hey Mom-General-whatever-you-want-me-call-you.”
“Cute.” She took the chair next to his father. “I don’t have a lot of time, so try to keep this fast, Fletcher.”
Fletcher rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to remind her that this was all technically her fault. “Okay. Yeah. Fine. Let’s get this over with.” It was going to be awkward and embarrassing to explain everything so he might as well rip the bandage off sooner rather than later.
He quickly rehashed noticing Caston on the screen, sneaking away to talk to him, learning about his friend, and then going to find Nora and plead for her help in the situation, but he stopped when he got the part which dealt with getting his new [Skill].
“I really hope you’re not trying to call that the end,” his mother said coolly.
“No. It’s just…” Fletcher glanced around the room. “This room is secure, right?”
Hazel gave him an exasperated look. “No Unhumans are going to be busting down the door to kill you if that’s what you mean.”
“No. I mean secure, like we can talk about certain things…” He bit his bottom lip, hoping one of his parents caught his meaning.
“There’s no recording devices in here, Fletcher. It’s a hospital room. You’re safe to say what you need to say. The only people listening are me and your mom,” his dad said with tight lips.
“I got cold feet when I left the medical camp. I couldn’t decide what to do since I knew that it was an objectively bad idea to try to track Nora down in the middle of a mission, but I also couldn’t leave my friend behind to suffer,” Fletcher said, immediately launching into the rest of the story. “And that’s when… it happened.”
“You’re going to need to be more specific.” His mom watched him closely, her green eyes bearing down on him like she was seeing into his very consciousness. Was she? Would he be able to tell if someone was using [Read Thoughts] on him?
“Fletcher.” His dad gently prodded him.
“I got a new [Skill], [Intuition.] And so I used it.”
“What did it tell you?”
“‘One can accomplish what many cannot.’” Fletcher fidgeted with his blanket. Saying it aloud made him realize how stupid he’d been to assume that meant he was supposed to go in alone. But in the moment he’d felt so sure.
“And then?” His mother didn’t even address the [Intuition] saying, so he decided he might just be overthinking things.
Fletcher finished the story, going over finding the secret entrance, using his [Intuition] again, going down, fighting the [Undine], and using [Read Thoughts]. His mother interrupted him.
“You got information out of her using [Read Thoughts?] Isn’t yours only level 1?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yeah. Just level 1. But I didn’t have any problems getting into her head. It was all in the Unhuman language, but I picked up enough while living in Bren’it’p to get the gist of what she was thinking when it came to directions.”
“What is it, Hazel?” Sebastian asked her.
She shook her head. “Most people have some amount of mental protection against intrusion, especially military officers among the Unhumans.” Hazel tapped a hand along the bed. “But then again, levels in [Read Thoughts] increases the radius and control a person has over the ability. The [Mana] used is what gives the [Skill] its strength in breaking down defenses. Since you don’t necessarily use [Mana]...”
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“His [Read Thoughts] has as much strength as he needs or wants. There is no [Mana] limit for him,” Sebastian filled in the rest.
Fletcher looked between his two parents, a little lost and more than a little nervous about the direction of the conversation. He didn’t like being Hexed at all, but he especially hated being the special [Demanlic], something he wasn’t even supposed to talk about. Ever. His father’s early caution about people trying to use him for his unique heritage and the abilities which came with entered into his mind again.
“Relax, Fletcher. We’re not going to go dissect you because your [Skills] and [Mana] are different. It just comes from your species. It’s interesting, that’s all,” his father assured him.
Hazel waved her hand. “Yes. This is for my own understanding and nothing more. Please continue.”
He did as she suggested, completing the rest of the story with finding Heather, the firefight, and getting rescued by Jeric. Fletcher glossed over Heather’s death as much as he could, unwilling to become emotional in front of his mother again.
“We got back to camp, I saw Nora briefly, and then they gave me something that knocked me out until I woke up here,” Fletcher concluded.
His dad gave him a soft smile, the kind that let him know that his father understood the parts he left unsaid when it came to Heather.
“There was a USB in your pocket. Where did you get it?” His mom remained direct and unsympathetic.
“Oh, from the [Undine]. I was searching her for anything useful, but that’s all I found. Did it have any important information on it?” Fletcher asked.
Hazel chuckled. “No. But I was curious what it had to do with anything.”
He nodded, disappointed that he hadn’t managed to do a single useful thing in the end.
“I am curious, however, why you trusted [Intuition] so much. Do you know much about that particular [Skill]?” Hazel looked at him with knowing eyes.
“No. Nothing. I’d never even heard of it until I gained it,” he admitted.
“A fun fact about [Intuition]—it’s considered the most useless [Skill] to exist,” Hazel told him with a small smile. “Even among Unhumans. Every Mixhuman who has the potential to gain [Intuition] is advised to avoid it like the plague since it’s essentially a waste of levels. It’s impossible to understand, difficult to level, and often those who follow its guidance end up in worse situations than where they started.”
“And how was I supposed to know that? It’s not like I got an orientation into this whole thing.” Fletcher crossed his arms, careful not to jostle the IV too much.
“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just… interested as to why you trusted it so much in this instance. Your father describes you as a careful man who spends a lot of time weighing his options before he acts. Following the vague guidance of a [Skill] you know nothing about into an extraordinarily dangerous situation doesn’t quite sound like you, Fletcher,” she said.
He stared at her, sucking his bottom lip. “I don’t know. I did think about it. A lot. Sort of. It just… felt right, I guess. I can’t explain beyond that.”
She nodded and stood up. “Well, at the very least you learned a very good lesson on how not to act going forward, yes?”
Fletcher huffed. “I’m not sure I’d put it that way.”
Hazel shook her head. “Of course you wouldn’t. Get feeling better, Fletcher.”
“Wait, Mom.” He reached forward and grabbed her hand.
She stared down at his hold with deadly eyes, and he quickly released her. He did accomplish his purpose since she looked back at him and waited for him to continue.
“You haven’t told me when I’m going to training yet. I thought I was leaving soon,” he said.
Sebastian jumped in before Hazel could answer. “You have a year to spend getting used to things, Fletcher. A lot has happened rather quickly in your life. No need to worry about that yet, okay? Just rest up.”
Fletcher looked at his mom, wanting her confirmation that was the plan.
She sighed. “I promised you a year if you took the citizenship oath, and I’ll hold to it.”
He chewed the inside of his cheek, trying to decide how to phrase what he wanted to say. When his mom was about to walk away again, he spoke up.
“It’s just, I thought maybe I could sooner.”
His father’s eyebrows shot up, and his mom smirked at him.
“How soon?” she asked.
Fletcher shrugged. “Dad said I’d be out a couple of weeks with this injury, so maybe three weeks?”
“You want to join the military and ship off to training less than a month from now? When only a month ago you called this entire organization terrorists?” Hazel raised an eyebrow.
“Isn’t that what you wanted from this whole observer thing anyway? To get me on your side completely? And now you’re going to complain that it worked?” Fletcher matched her cool stare.
“Fletcher, you’ve been through a lot. It’s best not to make an emotional decision.” His father put a hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you and I talk this through, and once you get a little time to think on it, we can revisit this issue?”
“Yes. We wouldn’t want you rushing into anything. It’s obvious that that doesn’t tend to work out well.” Hazel shook her head and walked out of the room.
“I’m sure about this, Dad,” Fletcher said as the door closed.
“And I’m sure that you feel that way right now, but let’s take just a minute to think about what future Fletcher is going to be feeling.” Sebastian sighed and leaned back in his chair. “I don’t like this.”
“What? Me wanting to join the military a few months sooner than required? Me getting shot? Me being some half-freak-[Demanlic] with powers no one really understands?” Fletcher scoffed.
“Any of it,” his father answered. “But you do need to work on keeping your [Demanlic] part a secret, Fletcher. This is yet another suspicious incident. How do you not see how dangerous it is for you?”
“It’s not like I’m trying to expose it, Dad. It’s not my fault these things keep happening. I didn’t ask to be this way.”
Sebastian rubbed his forehead. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to blame you.”
“That’s not how it sounds.” Fletcher looked away, studying the far wall instead of his father’s weary face.
“What makes you so sure about joining now instead of later?” Sebastian asked to change the subject back to their original discussion.
“Heather’s dead, and it’s my fault.”
His dad grabbed his knee. “That’s not true. You tried to help her, Fletcher. It wasn’t you who put the bullets in her or Hexed her.”
“But if I had proper training, I could have saved her, Dad. I just know it. And this isn’t the first time that my lack of abilities or knowledge has caused problems for other people. I’m not going to be the weak link anymore. I have to join anyway, so why waste a year sitting around waiting for that day to come? I’d rather jump in willingly now than get dragged in a year from now,” Fletcher said.
Sebastian stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. “If that’s really what you want, Fletcher, I’ll support you. Just promise me you’ll wait until you’re fully healed to make it official, okay? You have to wait a couple of weeks anyway, so use that time to think through every part of this decision.”
“I will, Dad. No more rushed plans from me. As Mom pointed out, they don’t turn out all that great,” Fletcher said.
His father smiled. “You’re too hard on yourself. I’m glad you’re back more or less in one piece, but unfortunately I can’t stay any longer. I’ll drop by this evening. You should be released tomorrow, so let’s plan on you crashing on my couch until this is all healed up.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, Dad.”
Sebastian stood up, tucked his laptop under one arm, and then waved as he exited the room.
Fletcher leaned all the way back against his pillow and blew out a long breath. His dad was right that he should think this through before he made an official decision, but Fletcher knew that that wasn’t going to change his mind. Less than a year ago he’d been at the Alcett Unhuman Academy, worried about how to get a calculus class on the schedule for the following summer. One assassination attempt, a few terrorist attacks, and two new citizenships later, he was going to join the Mixed and become a soldier in some secret war most of the world wasn’t even aware was going on.
He didn’t necessarily like it, but he finally understood the utility of it. Someone he cared about died because of his inability to protect them, and Fletcher was going to do everything in his power to make sure it never happened again. Whatever the cost.
Did you enjoy volume one?
