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Chapter 193
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2024-10-29 19:42:56[Cordelia]
Time stopped having meaning to me when I saw that building collapse.
I was sedated, taken to the hospital, put on more monitors than should be legal, and forced to sit still as they checked all of my vitals and informed me that bed rest was no longer optional.
"How far along is she?" Everyone was talking around me as if I were not there capable of answering for myself, making my medical decisions for me.
"26 weeks," a nurse looks at a chart.
"Put her on a steroid. We need to develop those baby's lungs in case of an early delivery."
The heart rate monitor starts beating erratically and they notice my eyes are open and I'm gasping, my heart beating out of control.
"Not my baby! Please," I gasp. "Save my baby! He can't be born yet, it's too soon!"
"Sedate her again!" the doctor orders as something is injected into my IV. "You need to rest, Ms. Greyson. Sleep now."
The nex
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[Cordelia]"Bryant?" I look up at the elegant woman. "As in Sydney Bryant.""The very same," she sighs. "Sorry about my daughter. She was always a bit of a handful. I know she's caused you a bit of stress."A bit of stress? This woman is a bit delusional. But she's nice, so I don't want to hurt her feelings by saying so. "She's been...challenging," I try to smile, but I must look strange because the woman laughs and it sounds like the tinkling of silver bells. "You can be honest, dear," she encourages, shaking her head. "I might be her mother, but I'm not blind or ignorant of her shortcomings. She's always been a bit of a spoiled brat and I'm afraid that time with her father hasn't helped that."She gracefully takes the chair next to my bed as Clark and Tilly excuse themselves to give us some time alone."So you and Mr. Bryant...are not together."She raises an eyebrow at the personal question. "Technically we're still married, although we have had separate households for the last 15
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[Clark]Telling my brother's pregnant fiance that he might never be found was one of the hardest things I've had to do. I love Cordelia as family, and seeing her hurt, seeing her break, broke me a little too. No, it broke me a lot. Angelica's body was easily found when the dogs were brought in. We expected to find Atlas then as well since he was looking for her, but he must not have ever found her. For all we know he died from inhaling smoke or dust or from the explosion itself. Depending on where he was at the time of the blast, he may have died before he even realized the bomb had gone off. I was hoping that by the time she woke up, we'd have good news to share. I wasn't prepared for the worst. Dogs, men, and drones have been searching day and night, but even our wealth has its limits, and the city just can't afford to keep searching for people who are most likely dead. They've suggested we start planning the funeral, even if we don't have a body for the casket. I haven't told T
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[Atlas]It is wet, cold, and dark.I don't know how long I've been here stuck between two pieces of concrete. I'm not even sure how I got to this dark place. This must be the basement level. I remember being thrown, a loud booming crack, and the sensation of falling. And then I opened my eyes into complete darkness. At first, I thought my eyes were not working, but then I realized that I could see the bare outline of the pillar holding me down. I can't see the sun, so I'm not sure if it is night or day above me. Sometimes I hear something that gives me a clue, like distant sparrows and the cawing of crows or the whistling sounds of crickets. There have been footsteps and barks above me, the sounds of searchers trying to find any survivors. When I first became aware of my situation, I tried to get the attention of the searchers. I screamed until my throat grew hoarse and my throat unbelievably dry.But it has been silent for a long time now. Possibly days. How long was it again that
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[Cordelia]The results of my DNA test are sitting in my hand. Mrs. Bryant had already given them her sample to analyze, so all they needed was mine, and with the lab on-site, it was ready by the end of the day. Biologically, I am her daughter.Emotionally, I'm still not sure. "I hope you will consider visiting before the baby is born," Crissy brought me a bouquet as soon as she heard the news. "The hospital says you are free to be released this evening. Maybe we can get dinner?"I tell her I'm not quite sure what I am ready for, that I am still processing everything having only recently learned that my family lied to me for the last 26 years. When I looked in the mirror in the bathroom in my room, I couldn't recognize myself. I could see that nothing about my features had changed, but everything else had. My family history, my ethnicity, my understanding of who I am."Tomorrow is my birthday," I mention in passing as she gets up to leave. "I'm not sure but my mom, I mean Mrs Greyson,
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[Cordelia]Standing, I steady myself on the railing as I take a step forward and ask. "What do you mean, by that Sydney?"I demand. "Is he alive?""Yes but..."I don't wait for her to finish her thought before pushing past her and demanding from my nurse to know where Atlas is located. She doesn't know exactly but tells me that if he just came in from the wreckage, all of those patients were being processed one floor below.Thanking her, I rush to the elevator.Behind me, I can hear Sydney and Crissy arguing in French. I don't listen, not only because my French isn't particularly strong, but also because I have too much to think about to worry about their family problems.Sydney is going to need to work out how she feels on her own.At least she brought me some good news! Even if it was vague and done in a hurtful way.Pushing through the door before it is completely open, I cannot get off the eleva
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[Cordelia]"Tilly," I look up to see my best friend's face as she sits down next to me. "Why are you out of bed?" she scolds, wiping my face. "You should be resting.""I heard about Atlas," I explain. "I tried to see him but...""Oh Cordy," she pulls me in for a hug. "You weren't supposed to know about Atlas yet. We just found him. We were waiting until he could take visitors before we told you. None of us can see him, not even Clark." "Oh." So they were going to tell me. They were just waiting for the right time. "We didn't want to stress you out before we had more information," she looks down at my belly, smiling wistfully. I wonder if she is thinking about her own lost child. "We wouldn't want to risk hurting either you or Jasper with unnecessary stress. How did you find out?""Sydney stopped by," I moped suddenly feeling all of my aches and pains, "She told me he wasn't dead, but she didn't tell me anything else.""That's because she doesn't know," Tilly looks like she is about
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[Cordelia]"Atlas," I gasp. "That was Atlas.""You don't know that," Tilly says as she picks up the spilled cups and takes them to the garbage. "We don't know anything for certain.""It was Atlas. I know it." Doctors rush after the gurney that disappeared around the corner. Whoever it is, they need immediate, intensive help. They say it isn't Atlas, but I know in my heart that it is. Tilly and Clark try to convince me to go back to my room, to my bed, but I refuse. Once they realize I refuse to budge from my seat, they gather some of my things and bring me sweatpants and a sweater, along with a new cup of cocoa.Three hours pass before we hear anything. A haggard doctor comes to the nurses' station and the nurse points at Clark. "Mr. Steele?"Clark rises and follows the man into a small room near reception. Twenty minutes pass. Thirty. When Clark emerges, he looks even more tired and broken than before. "Clark?"He looks up but turns his face away as he gulps down a huge cry. "It
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[Cordelia]It's funny how many things happen at the Steele Family Hotel and Spa.After taking a proper shower and putting on some fresh clothing, I find myself standing outside of a familiar hotel suite, my hand poised near the door ready to knock. Only this time, I'm not here to find Atlas.I know where he is.This time I'm here to meet someone else who might become very important to me soon.As soon as my hand connects with the wood, Crissy Devaroux Bryant opens the door. She looks out of breath as if she ran to open it so that I didn't need to wait in the hall."Come in," she steps aside, her face bright. "I am so happy you called.""Are you sure?" I duck my head, embarrassed at the thought of being a bother."Of course," she leads me to a couch to sit on and offers me something to drink. I gladly take a warm cup of tea from her hands and she tells me about how she has wanted nothing more than to get
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[Cordelia]Once we were airborne and free of Canadian airspace, the tension level of the passengers on the plane immediately relaxed, as if we had passed some kind of test.Even Suzanna breathed a sigh of relief when we landed in New York City. But then she does something I wasn't expecting. She dismisses most of our guards. They nod, taking her word as a commandment, leaving us with only three security members in one of the largest airports in the United States. "This next leg of our trip will be on a commercial airline," she explained as we gathered our belongings. "We will call too much attention to us with that many guards. I'm calling in some of my own for when we arrive." She replies when I question her judgment. "Magnus likely put a tracker on this plane. We need to trick him, and there's no better place than New York City. But if we continue to move in a large pack, we're bound to attract attention." "Reste près," my mother Cristine held out a hand for me to hold as she hel
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[Atlas]Delilah Fisher steps around the corner in a long, silver gown, her makeup flawless, and her smile large and welcoming.She looks so much like Angelica did when I first met her that my heart stutters. I love Cordelia with my entire being, and yet a part of me still reacts to the memory of the shining girl who captured my attention almost a decade ago. But this isn't Angelica. Delilah, while beautiful and poised, lacks the immaculate grace that Angelica exuded. Each of the sisters has a unique nature that shines through, despite having almost identical faces."Atlas Steele," her heels click in the silent room as she steps into the light. "Why is it so hard for you to believe your brother? Haven't you seen enough wonders in this world yet to understand that anything can be possible?""There's no such thing as mind control," I repeat. "Believing in psychic powers is for fools.""And you pride yourself on not being one," she smirks, amused. "But a true wise man would keep his mind
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[Jude]Sydney. Now that she has me under her control, I'll never be free of her. When I came to save her, I was convinced she was pregnant with my child. She had sent a distress signal to me using our private channels letting me know of her pregnancy and it was enough to get me to betray the Steele family and derail their plans to find their cure. Using what I knew about Atlas' missing mother was just a distraction.My goal had always been to claim my son.But then I discovered that beyond all logic Angelica is still alive.I should have realized this was possible and known that Magnus wouldn't give up such a valuable tool so easily. Angelica had been Magnus' toy for years before she was sent into my world. I knew he had modified her, and turned her into the perfect weapon, but I had no idea how deep those modifications went until I saw her face staring at me on that magazine cover.She shouldn't have survived that explosion. And yet here she is, unscathed, awaiting a new uterus in
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[Atlas]I twist my arm away from the guard in black. His face is blank as he reaches forward again. "Don't." My voice carries forward, and although it isn't loud, it holds a note of command that makes the armed guard pause."Sir," he blinks retracting his hand. "You are trespassing. I was ordered to take you into holding." My face remains still as my voice rings out again, "You will not touch us. You have no right." The guard swallows, taking a step back, my words hitting him with the force of a slap. "We will leave," I inform him. "You will report our apologies to your boss." He nods, accepting my command. "Atlas," Clark calls my attention to our situation. Blinking I snap awake, and pull my gaze from the guard. As soon as I blink, the guard stumbles backward shaking his head in confusion, as if my words and stare alone were enough to entrap him in some kind of trance. Around the edges of my vision, I see more guards headed in our direction. If we are going to make it out of h
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[Atlas]Damn it, Cordelia!"Pick up, pick up, pick up," the phone rings but nobody replies. "This number is unavailable as dialed, please try again," the message on the other end informs me as my blood pressure rises and my hands shake.A moment ago I had been talking to my wife. And then the line was dead. I sent her to Canada to keep her and our children safe, and she chose to bring herself to Magnus' attention. Sending a quick message to the guards in charge of watching over my family, I stare at my screen waiting for word of their status. "Atlas, is there anything I can do to help?"Blinking away from the screen I look up at my brother as our rented van parks a few blocks away from the luau. Our driver informs us of our arrival and waits for further instructions."I'm sorry, Clark," I close my eyes, rubbing my temples. "You were saying something?""Is everything okay?" He tries again and I groan. "No." I groan honestly. "Or at least, I hope everything is fine. Lately, it seems
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[Clark]The message "Tilly SOS" flicked across the screen three times before winking out, leaving my screen blank. I open my email that I keep under an alias on a secure server. There is a single message alerting me to new information available on my server. I've used this system when working with people who needed to keep their identities safe and their messages secret. The last time I needed it was working with Jude while he was still under Magnus' watch.Even though it has been months since I used it, my fingers remember the passcodes. Soon, I'll be on the server. Two emails are waiting for me, both are from Tilly's parents. In the first message, they inform me that they have landed and are settling in their new place. It is a secure facility, surrounded by several acres of land, disconnected from the distant towns and cities. The Madisons, sparing no expense, went to extra lengths to include copious additional security.They are, after all, securing their legacy. Tilly is their o
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[Cordelia]There is a loud explosion just to the right of the airplane. "What was that," I lower the phone, turning it off as I gaze out the window to see what had caused the noise. "Nothing, Ma'am," the co-pilot says over his shoulder, "Just a little turbulence.""Turbulence?" I shout back as another boom resounds just outside the passenger's cabin as a curtain goes up between the pilots and the rest of the plane, blocking our view. "But we aren't even in the air yet!""Calm yourself, Mrs. Steele," Jake, the security guard, takes his phone from my numb hand. "Sit next to your children and trust your staff to get you out of here safely. We've got this, Mrs. Steele."He almost seemed offended in my lack of faith as he types into his phone what I'm guessing is a message to Atlas to calm his nerves and let him know we are alive. "But nobody is telling me what's happening," I grumble as I buckle in next to Jasper and the little girl I've decided to call Saphira until I learn her real na
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[Atlas]"What do you mean gone," I barked into the phone, my hand clenching it tight enough to hear it crunch. These new smartphones seem to get flimsier with each model. I've broken 3 in the last 6 months from anger or nerves. I love my wife, but I'm pretty sure she's going to stress me into an early grave. "Your mother created a distraction, Sir," my lead guard, Jake, apologizes over the phone, not making excuses as much as stating facts. "Mrs. Suzanna Steele arrived late last night along with a young man she called Sasha. The next morning, while your mother and Ms. Devaroux kept me distracted searching for a false threat, your wife and this young man escaped."Cordelia has always been sneaky when she needs to be, and until this point, he had been very good at keeping her from falling into mischief. I wasn't expecting my mother to be part of the problem. At least now I know where she ran off to. Her room had been empty when I returned to the boat yesterday. "Are you sure it is m
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[Clark]There are things that I need to keep secret from my brother, not because I do not trust him with my secrets, but because I do not want to burden him with them.Which is why I needed to get away. Without Tilly, there is no reason for me to stay on the boat."I'll meet you later, when it's time to go to the luau," I promise Atlas as I give him a hug and take my leave. I know that I could just stay at our family hotel, but I need to be somewhere else, somewhere that nobody recognizes me. And also, I want to ensure that what I am about to do is as untraceable as possible. "Mr. Janus," the man at the front desk smiles when I hand him a wad of cash in exchange for a key card. "Enjoy you stay. Please call down if you need anything."Adjusting my sunglasses, lower the bill of my baseball cap, grab my small bag, and make my way through the other guests milling around in the hotel lobby. Located along the beach it has a spectacular view of the the ocean.And the location of tonight's
