In the light of the setting sun, people bustled off the train and out of the caravans to line up for Iona. Kyle wondered if Xelan expected to house this many people at one of these installations. Worn out, he stayed out of the way for the most part. He kept busy working on these weapons and scanning people’s memories for any prior misdeeds.

The irony of the traitor screening for potential traitors was not lost on him. Word spread about his misguided treachery, and persona non grata didn’t cover it. Pariah was more like it. The only thing that kept him sane was the occasional smile or “good job” from the Shadow Progeny. Their forgiveness and re-acceptance was all that mattered now.

That and the angry-looking rig pulling into the drive behind a white Chevy Malibu with a busted front grill. Kyle grinned as he approached the new arrivals from Little Rock. Andrew joined him with a nod on the walk over. He looked exhausted from filtering through people’s intentions. But all the practice upgraded his ability to hands-free. He swept entire groups without laying a finger on them. So far, neither of them identified a questionable recruit. He doubted they’d find any in this lot.

Matt and Lucy left the car with huge grins on their faces. Kyle glanced between them, clocking the glows, before crooking a smirk. Good for them.

“Hey, guys!” Lucy shouted with an enthusiastic wave.

As they walked over, a warmth filled his chest. He was happy more people from home made it this far. It gave him hope for his sisters. “How was the undercover work?”

Matt and Andrew clapped shoulders as he answered, “About as fun as you’d imagine.”

Lucy bubbled up with, “We raided their archives. Might have some material to help with the fight.”

Kyle nodded over to the semi. “Whose is that?” He took a few steps in its direction.

“Chris and—”

“Jack?!”

They all turned to see Rayne running out of Iona’s front doors. People gasped and stepped away from her glowing skin. Whispers and shouts of General Callahan erupted from the crowd. Kyle smiled. She didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to her in that moment—

“Rayne!”

Jack hopped out of the semi and ran to her. Chris and Karter watched from the rig, both of them rocking the same glow as Matt and Lucy. The end battle really motivated people into getting together.

The siblings reunited in the center of the crowd with an anticlimactic pause. Beside him, Andrew muttered, “So it’s true.”

Kyle nodded.

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Rayne couldn’t touch anyone and wouldn’t let anyone touch her. Not even her brother. All eyes on them, everyone held their breath. And no hug in the middle.

So Rayne did one better. She opened her wings, glittering with gold. Her eyes transformed into Atramentous. Li blazed in them. A small shock wave cleared the dust and crowd around her. Possessing strengths the rest of the Progeny only imagined, she hovered from the pavement and took her brother along for the ride without touching him.

Jack floated three feet outside her reach, rising ten feet, twenty feet off the ground. He shouted with a huge grin on his face, “Holy shit!” He glanced back to make sure Chris and Karter watched him. They waved, and he turned back to his sister. “This is better than driving Molly.”

Rayne laughed in three pitches. Her brother flinched at it, and Kyle caught a shift in her demeanor he noticed a few times over the last few days. She frowned and breathed heavier. Lowering him, she didn’t look back into Jack’s gaze. She shut down as she addressed the crowd, “Iona welcomes you. The resistance welcomes you. Submit to the screening. Contribute however you can. We’ll reclaim Earth and save the Icari from their oppressive ruler. In two days, I kill Nox, and we save the worlds!”

The crowd cheered. Jack beamed up at his sister with idolization, but the smile she gave him radiated sadness. Loneliness. Rayne was shutting them all out. Kyle caught Andrew’s gaze then, and he shared a sad look with him. She needed their help. “You thinking day after tomorrow?”

Kyle thought about his schedule. He could free up the time. “That should do. One perfect day?”

Andrew nodded and volunteered, “I’ll tell the girls.”

Karter came up behind Kyle as Rayne took her brother to see the inside of Iona. The Icarean female called out to him in a deep voice, “Hey, man. I want you to show off your forge. I didn’t get to check it out in Arkansas.”

He spared a glance at the black man with her. “You okay if I take your girlfriend to look at my anvil?”

The couple exchanged an awkward glance before Chris asked, “Do you consider me your boyfriend?”

She gave a sexy, throaty laugh before answering, “I’d consider you a contender.”

Batman’s smirk brightened. “I’m moving up in the world. You two have fun. I’m gonna catch up with the kid.” Something serious passed between him and Karter that had nothing to do with their relationship. Something sad and important.

“I’ll join you soon. C’mon, Kyle, let’s see what your baby can do.”

For thirty minutes, Kyle gave her the tour of the forge, and they put their heads together on Rayne’s impossible weapon. Fortunately, Karter came with a head full of ideas, so this might actually happen.

“So, I think this is the crux, and this is what you need to work…”

Lynn came over to ask Smith about weapon counts and distributions. Smith recommended she speak to Kyle about it. To which Lynn said loudly, “I don’t talk to assholes.”

Karter watched the other woman walk away, then caught Kyle staring after her. “You know you don’t get to be a fighting force as old as we are without a few traitors in our midsts.” He peered up at her, hopeful. “In the past, we executed them.”

He choked, “And now?”

“Some smart-ass too wholesome for his own good Icarus put a stop to it.” She peered down at him. “Xelan believed people were allowed to falter and come back from it. Everyone gets a second chance because we were strongest whole. A weakness in one reflects on the weakness in all of us that isn’t being addressed. And the best way to address it is together.” She patted him on the back hard enough he thought his eyes would pop out. “They’ll come around. After a mandatory healing period.”

“Yea and how long does that usually take?”

She whistled. “After everything that I know you did—not counting the shit I don’t know—Forty years? Minimum.”

Forty years? Kyle scanned the corrected designs for Rayne’s weapon. Time to get started on the healing.