Read Online Out Of The Ashes (The Ending Series, #3) by Lindsey Fairleigh, Lindsey Pogue - Free Book Online

Becca…to you.”
    “Loyalty? Loyalty would have been
telling us what the hell was going on in the first place, not bringing armed
fucking soldiers into my house…not letting them knock me out, then disappearing
and taking my sister’s body with you.” Jake gestured toward the campfire, where
everyone was gathered. “What happened to Dani isn’t on me and Becca—it’s on
you.”
    For a moment, Gabe said nothing.
“I know.”
    His hopeless tone affected Jake
more than he wanted it to. “How the hell did you get yourself in this mess to
begin with?”
    Gabe looked at Jake, his eyes
silver in the moonlight. “I’d been researching Abilities for a while, but I
didn’t know about the General’s plan until the Virus was already spreading.
When you called and told me Becca was sick, it was right when I’d started
putting the pieces together…” He looked away. “They wouldn’t let me off base
without an armed escort. I came—brought them —because I wanted to help
her, and I didn’t have much of a choice.”
    Jake pinned Gabe in place with an
accusatory glare and allowed himself to ask the one question that outweighed
all others. “Did you know they’d turn Becca into a Re-gen?”
    Gabe returned his glare. “No,
Jake, I didn’t. I didn’t know she’d kill herself, either, or that they’d knock
you out or appropriate her body.” He was breathing harder. “Do you know how I
left your house that night?” He paused. “At gunpoint. I wasn’t going to leave
you, not passed out…I thought you were dying, but there was nothing I could do.
I couldn’t let them take Becca. I was barely able to write that goddamn note before
I was escorted out.”
    Jake was speechless, more than
stunned by Gabe’s admission.
    Gabe sighed, and his voice
softened. “In case you lived…I needed to warn you, and I knew you would go to
the gun cabinet.” He was quiet for a moment, leaving Jake’s thoughts to reel.
Finally, he took a deep breath. “You’re my brother in every way that matters,
Jake—always have been, and always will be. Nothing could change that, not even
you hating me for the rest of your life.”
    Jake leaned against the cart,
crossed his arms over his chest, and sighed, expelling months’ worth of anger
and betrayal and hurt. Having no idea what to say, he stood there in awe, the
orchestra of crickets the only thing filling the silence. He was surprised by
how quickly things seemed to shift, and how grateful he suddenly felt to be
standing only a few yards away from his friend again, despite all that had
happened.
    Jake shook his head. “What does
Becca know?”
    Gabe shook his head, and he ran
his hand through his loose hair, a nervous habit he’d had since childhood.
“Nothing. She has no idea who I am, or that I’ve been looking out for her. To
her, I’m just Dr. McLaughlin.” He lowered his hand. “And I swear I had nothing
to do with what happened to Zoe. If I could do something, help somehow—”
    “I know,” Jake said. He knew Clara
hadn’t needed any incentive to hurt Zoe. “I know,” he repeated. Not wanting to
think about all the bad decisions he’d made and how they kept returning
to bite him in the ass, Jake grabbed his jacket. “Thank you,” he said and turned
to head back to camp. “Come on, Coop.”
    Voices and laughter carried on the
breeze as Jake drew closer to camp. Cooper rushed past him, heading straight
for Becca and Carlos, who were chatting by the chuck wagon. Despite Jake’s best
efforts, his eyes automatically sought out Zoe. She was sitting by the fire,
her hair wet and hanging around her shoulders. Sam was sitting beside her, and
both had pencils in their hands and sketchbooks on their laps.
    Jake’s heart ached at the sight of
her smiling with the kid. And when he noticed Tavis leaning over Sam’s
shoulder, misery cemented in the pit of his stomach.
    As if he’d voiced the thought,
Zoe’s gaze shifted up to his. Her smile vanished, making him feel like