Page 81 of Anarchy Chained: Alpha Thomas

“Well, you’re welcome to stay the night,” I offer. “It’s late. You won’t want to be driving home tonight.”

I get an incredulous laugh from Cyan. But Uzi says, “We’d love to.” Which means yeah, this guy definitely has an agenda.

I expect an outburst from Cyan over that little bit of news. But she shuts up.

“OK, it’s right up here on the left,” I say.

“Where?” Iziah asks.

“That reflector right there,” I say. That’s the only marking to Lincoln’s private road. Iziah turns left and enters the long driveway. The pine trees lining the road are old and tall. It feels a little claustrophobic on the best of sunny days. So driving up here at night, with just the moon shining through the expansive branches over our heads—well, it’s more than that now. It’s eerie.

Everyone stays silent for the rest of the drive, and when Lincoln’s mansion comes into view, lit up in all its glorious detail with outside lamps, I feel, rather than see, every neck craning to get a better view.

“Does he know we’re coming?” Sadie asks.

“Nope. He doesn’t even know I’m alive. I’ve been missing for, what? A good month, at least.”

“I don’t like this,” Cyan says. “It feels like a set-up.”

“A set up for what?” I ask, just as Iziah comes to a stop in front of the house. But she never has a chance to answer, because spotlights flick on and we’re bathed in light so bright, we all have to shade our eyes.

Iziah’s door opens and Lincoln is there, his weaponized arm gun positioned at his head. “Who the fuck are you and why the fuck are you here in my—Thomas?” Linc says. “Dude, is that you?”

Never in my life have I been so fucking happy to see Lincoln Wade.

“Where the fuck have you been, asshole? What the fuck, Thomas? I should kill your ass. I should lock you up in the goddamned lab and never let you out. I should—”

He’s got a whole litany of things he’d like to do to me, and he never stops talking as he walks around to my side of the truck. When I get out he pulls me into a hug. “I thought you were fucking dead, man. I thought you were dead.”

“Not dead,” I say, prying his arms off me. It’s kinda touching that he missed me, but this isn’t the time or place for a reunion. We have business to finish. “Where’s Case?”

“Home,” Linc says. “But I’ll call him. Sheila?”

“I’ve already alerted him and he’s on his way,” Sheila says from some device on Linc’s person.

I look over at the house and see Molly standing in the doorway, arms crossed like she’s cold. “Molly,” I say. “Nice to see you again.”

She shakes her head at me, like she cannot believe I just showed up out of nowhere after all this time. “I’m fine, thanks,” I call.

“Jerk,” she calls back. But her reaction isn’t as mean as it could be. So I take that as affection. We are siblings after all. She can’t really hate me. Just like Thomas can’t really hate her. I’ve never had a problem with Molly. It wasn’t me who wanted her dead. That was all Thomas.

“Who the fuck are these people?” Linc says, finally taking notice of who’s in my little party.

I cringe, waiting for Uzi to say something back. He and Iziah have already gotten out of the truck. Iziah is walking around the front of the vehicle to join us, but Uzi is only a few feet away. Thankfully, he stays silent.

I don’t think he’s afraid—though he should be. I think he’s a little in awe. It’s hard not to feel awe when you meet Lincoln. Thomas and me? We’re just regular-looking dudes. So is Case. On the outside, anyway. But Lincoln’s uniqueness is on full display. His arm is a weapon. A very powerful weapon that shoots—shit, I don’t know all the details, but from what I saw when they blew up Blue Corp… a whole litany of projectiles can be launched from that arm.

I introduce Sadie first, since she’s the only one of them I care about. “This is Sadie Scott.”

“Nice to meet you.” Her voice is sweet and makes Lincoln smile. Cyan scoffs. “This is my sister, Cyan. And my friends, Uzi and Iziah.” She points them out, so Lincoln won’t be confused about who is who.

“They’re Prodigy,” I say. Because that’s all Lincoln really needs to know.

He squints at them, eyeing each one as he takes them in. Then he lets out a long breath of air. “We should probably go inside.”

I smile at Sadie when she relaxes. Even Cyan relaxes. Iziah was never tense, so he does nothing but follow Lincoln when he walks towards Molly. And Uzi only gets more wound up. His muscles are on high alert. I’d like to reach into his stupid head and see just what the fuck he’s thinking.

But I don’t want him to know I can do that yet. And besides, now that they’re here… I have plenty of time for that later.

Dumb fucks have no idea what they’ve just walked into.