Legacy Rangers (Book Two of the Chosen Universe)

Chapter Twenty

OLLIE

It had been a rough night. His father hadn't slept. Troy had stayed with them, apparently at Sage's request, and so had Maddie. Ollie had stayed up hoping Sage would come to him and tell him everything was okay and she'd fixed his mother. That hadn't happened.

Vinny sat in the smallest corner he could find with his back to the wall, staring into space. Only Troy could get near him without him panicking. He hadn't said a word since everything had happened, but he'd screamed for half the night while he tried to sleep until Troy was finally able to stop his nightmares for a little while. Luke had gone into Helper Mode. He was looking after Robby, cleaning up the house, and even trying to help Troy cook. Apparently, Luke hadn't inherited their father's severe inability to cook anything edible. The man had once messed up macaroni and cheese, and not the kind people made from scratch but the kind that came out of a box. Ollie's kitchen skills were about the same as his father's. It seemed to keep Luke calm to feel like he was actually doing things, so no one tried to stop him.

Maddie was playing with Robby while Luke and Troy made breakfast when suddenly, Robby casually asked, "When's Mommy coming home?"

Everything stopped. Luke dropped a plate and it shattered. Maddie looked horrified. His father's face fell and Ollie knew he couldn't handle trying to answer that. Robby had been told the night before that their mother was dead, but obviously, he didn't understand what that really meant.

Sage suddenly whispered in his head, Talk to Billy. He had to figure out how to explain to Josh that his mom was gone when he was only seven... He might be able to help Robby understand.

Ollie rushed upstairs to his room before saying, "Sage... Are you there?"

Sage manifested. "I'm here," she said.

"Did you find her? Can you help my mom?"

Sage looked at him sadly and Ollie lost the last of his hope. That hurt, so he embraced anger instead. "You can do that stuff, Sage! You brought Caleb back! You resurrected Rocky! I know how strong you are, so why not save my mom?" He demanded.

"Ollie, I-" Sage began.

"Is it personal? Does she not matter to you?"

"Ollie-"

"Because she matters to us! My brothers need her! My Dad needs her!" He paused. Softer, he added, "I need her." He had to fight not to cry.

"I know, Ollie..." Sage sounded as heartbroken as he felt. "I'm so sorry... I tried to save her... I had her... But the Underworld God told me you'd die if I did."

"I don't care!" Ollie shouted. "My brothers need her! I'd give my life in a second to bring her back!"

"Ollie... It wouldn't have just been you. All of the Chosen would have died. Caius confirmed it. You know your destiny. I explained it to you. Every one of you would have died... Even Tamira."

He looked at her in horror. "But why? What does my mom dying have to do with everyone else?"

"What you're feeling now will give you the strength to fight back, Ollie... You all need to be traumatized by something..."

"It's because of me... That's why she's dead?" Now his tears did fall, because he lost his will to fight.

"No, Ollie. It's Zell's fault, not yours."

He wanted to accept that, but it didn't feel that way. Ollie picked up a baseball trophy and threw it across his room. It was meaningless, like everything else. He didn't even care when it broke into about six different pieces.