The War of Elevens| Book 1 of the Space Thief Chronicles

Chapter 31| Heart

Melissa sat at Desidonna's cramped kitchen, watching the world tremble beneath a marvelously colorful sky. The cloud that touched down over Elliott Way was a kaleidoscope of luminescent shades, and if Zander and Jake hadn't gasped in shock when the cloud had first touched down, she would have thought the cloud was a phantasm because of her exhaustion, pain, and grief sent her into a numb state of existence that made her fear she was delusional. 

Behind her, Desidonna and the nurse were working on Kaitlynn, who was lying on the sofa in the next room over. Zander, Jake, and Wyx had abandoned their place at the living room window to watch Desidonna work, all sitting very still. 

"Can I sit here? I'll be quiet." 

Melissa tore her gaze from the window to see Jake standing behind the chair to her left. He had slipped up on her, so quiet, so still, a watercolor smudge in a world full of oil-painted shapes. She gestured and said, "Of course. I could use the company." 

Jake slid into the chair and drew his legs up so that he was sitting criss-cross in it. A moment passed, and Melissa could see the earnest glitter in his eyes as he stared at her with desperate hope. 

"You don't have to be quiet," Melissa said. 

"I have so many questions." 

"Oh, Jake. I'm so sorry." 

Jake's eyebrows drew up into an almost-touching triangle. Tears swelled in his eyes. His lips parted. "Why did Dad—what—how did it happen?" 

His voice hitched on happen. 

Melissa exhaled, inhaled, exhaled. It was a practice she had become very good at. Through all the panic attacks in the years since she moved to Earthens, the practice of in and out, in and out rose up within her whenever she felt the anxiety building in her chest and head. Finally, she said, "I broke someone's heart. That someone wanted to kill me. Your dad pushed me out of the way." 

Jake rubbed his neck and sniffed. "I wish it was you instead of him." 

Ordinarily, Melissa's pulse would have sped up, but she was so tired and worried and scared and Jake's comment was so understandable that all Melissa could murmur was, "I know, I know," and everything felt so cold and wretched and she just wanted this all to be over and she didn't want to wish anymore because wishes were useless, absolutely useless, and—

There came a sudden clatter from the living room. Wyx yelped, "Hey mourners, help us out!" Melissa and Jake rose from their chairs at the same time and turned. Desidonna had knocked over the coffee table in an attempt to catch herself from falling. She was doubled over, her slip clinging to her very large body, hugging every curve and roll; sweat shimmered on her arms and dripped off her face. 

Melissa rushed to help the nurse and Zander steady her to the floor. She looked like she did when they walked in and found her: sitting on the ground, wheezing, eyes rolled in the back of her head, tonguing her teeth like a lewd version of herself. 

Then the psychic wheezed, "I see Lilly—on the lawn—southern side of Elliott Way—dying—" 

"Where's Storm?" Melissa and Zander asked at the same time. They glanced at each other before turning back to Desidonna. 

"Gone," she choked. A tendon in her neck popped out, straining, and her hands were clenched tight tight tight. Thin trails of blood worked out of the cracks of her fingers, down her wrists. "Explosive—butterflies." 

" Nurse Aliy'i, Jake, can you please stay with Desidonna and Kaitlynn?" Melissa rose to her feet. "I need Wyx and Zander to come with me." 

"And you know how to ride a Jeep?" Wyx asked dubiously.