BOOK 4 of the ORPHIC Series
DISENTHRALL
/ˌdisənˈTHrôl/
set free.
~~~~~
When Lucille 'Lucy' Opal Baker starts adjusting to a world without Captain America and more government therapy sessions...
T H E F A L C O N A N D T H E W I N T E R S O L D I E R
33
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What I want to forget is that of suffering."
Riga, Latvia July, 2024
IT TOOK THEM THREE days to arrive at Zemo's exact location. Their first day was spent obtaining a vehicle. Their second day was spent driving to Zemo's location and their third day was spent preparing themselves for the encounter. Well, it was more James preparing himself for the encounter. It was technically only his primary handler anyway, so. . .Lucy was really just moral support.
They traveled down a dirt path, James's hand curled around the handle of a pistol– Lucy's eyes scanning the forest and trees of all kinds. She wasn't worried that Zemo would somehow ambush them, but she was worried someone had followed them. Of course, even though their skills had gotten rusty from disuse, Lucy had a newfound advantage– Soul Feeling was what she came up with.
After all, she was really feeling the essence of souls– the lives of strangers that weren't really strangers when Lucy could see their past.
They stopped at the edge of a clearing with the Sokovian Memorial standing tall. They could see a figure from here, and Lucy knew it was Zemo just as easily as she knew to breathe. Her eyes flicked to James as he grasped her hand, holding her back from stepping forward.
She shot him a confused look.
Alpine let out a soft mew from her arms.
"Stay here." He said, his hand still gripping that pistol. "Please? I– I want to talk to him alone."
Lucy gazed at him with a gentle expression. She understood what he meant– she knew James wasn't going to kill him. She knew he wanted to tell Zemo that he was different; that he was human and better than he'd ever been– that he was happy enough.
She inclined her head.
James gave her a nod of thanks, before padding over towards Zemo. She watched him, her hand moving through Alpine's fur with a gentle caress. She waited patiently as he carefully continued his path toward the Sokovia memorial. Her eyes darted back down to Alpine.
"Your Daddy is very strong." She assured as Alpine let out worrisome mews. "He'll come back feeling much better."
Alpine huffed, and Lucy opened her mouth to assure her more when—
Her phone started to buzz against her thigh, tucked in the pocket of her cargo pants. She blinked, looking down at herself as she waited for her phone to stop vibrating. She waited, paused, then frowned when her phone started to vibrate again. Her eyes darted to her husband, keeping an eye on Zemo as they seemed to converse. Her hand moved to her pocket, removing her phone.
