Free Jamb: by Misty Provencher

She pushes the pink-blanketed baby at Sean and he takes it, settling the pink blob in his arms more comfortably than most guys would.  Probably because he’s had so much practice with his four younger siblings.  Whatever it is, the baby quiets down immediately with a soft coo.
    Sean looks down at the baby and when he lifts his head, his face is frozen in shock.  Garrett leans over and peers down at the baby in Sean’s arms and I watch the shock spread across his face too.  Whatever they are seeing, it means something big to both of them. 
    “Addo,” Sean says, the depth and calm in his voice finally returning.  “ I don’t know what our next steps are, but this child is definitely mine.”
    T hat’s all it takes for everybody to start shouting again, until a door across the courtyard is kicked open with a bang.  Freddie Marcourt comes in sideways, his face distorted, not just from all the cuts and bruises he received from the pipe-beating during the Fury riot, but because Brandon Reese is lying unconscious and bloody, in Freddie’s arms.

 
    CHAPTER 5
     
     
    Mrs. Reese gasps, but she stands her post as we are supposed to, in the ring closest to the Addo, until Freddie crosses the room to her.  All the Contego close in tightly, backs to the Addo and watchful, as Mrs. Reese begins to inspect her son.  Sounds of her anguish and grief escape the huddle.  My stomach turns into a hot boulder that rolls up into my throat.
    “Garrett!” Mrs. Reese calls out.
    Addo shouts to the balconies, “This Totus is adjourned!  Let us take care of this injured boy, and we’ll finish in a bit!”
    And like that, the Addo is gone.  Mr. Middleditch is beside him and then the Addo seems to slide between the trees and in the throng, he vanishes.  The panic whisks through me that the Addo is still vulnerable, but then a door slams off to one side and Mr. Middleditch has his hand on the knob.  It’s a pretty safe bet that the door has a zillion locks and a few different booby traps ready to snap if anyone follows the Addo inside.  He’s safe.
    Garrett and I hurry, with Sean between us, back to Mrs. Reese.  Freddie leads us to a door off the side of the courtyard.  It is Mrs. Reese and Iris’s suite.  The questions drop behind us from the balconies: Who is that?  Is that her son?  Is he one of the Ianua?  Where was he?  Has there been a breach?
    Zane’s father is the last one I see, before the door is closed behind us, his hands in th e air as he tries to settle the gossip.  Then I turn and see Iris, the smile dissolving from her beautiful little face as she watches Freddie lay her brother down, like a broken dish, on the couch.  Zaneen pulls Iris into her arms and carries her out of the room, through a door that branches into an adjoining suite.
    Brandon groans, which actually draws tiny sounds of relief from all of us.  He’s alive.  But as I look at him, all I see are the bruises on his face, the cuts all over his arms, the way his knee is lumped at the wrong angle, and dried blood that leaked from different holes onto his shirt and pants.  All the breath I have escapes me and my field explodes.
    My father is beside m e. Somehow, he manages to hold up my physical body, so it doesn’t hit the floor, as I separate and stand apart from my own bones.  The misty film of him glances over his shoulder at the film of me.
    What are you doing?  he asks.   C’mon, you got to stay strong here, honey.  They’re going to need you.
    Me?   I ask, as I watch Garrett drop to his knees beside his brother.  What can I do? I can’t do anything!
    You’ll see.  Trust me.  Now hang in there...
    I slide back into myself an d my field bursts, my father gone.  But the questions in the room pop up all around me.
    “Where did you find him, Freddie?” Mrs. Reese asks.
    “He showed up at the Veritas entrance.  I told both the boys about the secret door.  I had to, because they uprooted it on perimeter watch and they