I didn't go to sleep like mother wanted me to. In fact, I listened in to her conversation with Nick. I opened the door just a tiny bit so I could see Nick's back but not my mother. "What do you think about Tess?" My mother asked Nick. "I found it incredible that she and her brother have a link that doesn't close, don't you?"

"They are alot more powerful than we thought," Nick murmured.

"Yes, they are. Tess will be valuable to our cause," mother said.

"She isn't a soldier," Nick said. "She is a scared little girl that we need to protect in anyway possible. She needs her brother, April. He is the only family that she has left!"

"Don't argue with me again, Nicolas," mother said sternly. I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to prevent myself from gasping. No one ever uses Nick's first name. Because his family abandoned him he refused to use the name his mother gave him. That's what he said when we first found him.

"How dare you use that name," Nick growled, his voice rising. "You know I hate that name. You have no right to use it!" He was on his feet now, glaring down at my mother, who looked cool and collected as always.

"I'm sorry, Nick. Please sit down," she said. Nick slowly sank back down on the couch.

"We have to help him. If not for Tess and me, do it for the cause. His power is a golden force field. Nothing can penetrate his shield, not even bullets. He can protect us from missiles and bombs so we can end this sooner," Nick said. I agreed with every word he said.

"And how will we end it if all our men die trying to free Edward? How many men will it take to get in there and rescue one person?" Mother reasoned.

"We have skilled people here, April. People who can turn invisible," Nick said. I bit my lip. Nick was dangerously close to revealing our own plan here.

"For the last time, Nick," my mother exclaimed. "No." Nick stared at her in disbelief. "It's late," my mother finally said. "Time we were in bed."

"You're right," Nick said standing up. "As usual about most things. Apart from Edward." He stormed out of the room. Ouch. My mother sighed and headed towards my room. I scrambled up and threw myself onto my bed just as she opened the door. I stayed as still as possible and slowed my breathing so she thought I was asleep. Finally heard the door click shut and the light recceeded out of the room.

Tess, I said in my mind. After a few seconds she replied.

Yeah?

Did you hear all of that?

They were shouting. What was there not to hear?  She said.

Nick will save your brother, you know, I said.

I know. We fell silent for a little while till I said:

Do you want to come to training tomorrow?

Yeah...maybe... She said drowsily. I knew that she had fallen asleep. I smiled to myself in the darkness. "Goodnight, Tess," I whispered then turned over and fell asleep myself.

***
The next morning, me and Tess sat eating breakfast at the table. She had chosen some clothes from the pile that I had found her. She was dressed in some dark blue skinny jeans with a rose pink blouse. Her sleek black hair was tied in a single plait down her back. I noticed how much better she looked today. The fragile girl I first met was no longer there and was replaced by soft, kind and brave Tess...not that she hadn't been brave before. She looked so beautiful... I, myself was dressed in a pair of lighter jeans and a plain purple T-shirt. My hazel brown hair wasn't comb. To be honest, I felt messy compared to Tess.

"So, do you want to go training with me to day?" I ventured. I wanted to speak every minute I could with her.

"What is it we are training for exactly?" She asked. I was so fixed on her dazzling eyes that I almost missed the question.

"Ermm...just practising how to control our powers. At first I couldn't group my lights together but now I can make a massive ball of light and blind people if I need to," I said. "They could help you control your powers more, like you showed with me."

"That sounds good for me but..." She trailed off.

"You're afraid that you'll loose control again, aren't you?" I said gently. She nodded. "You don't need to worry. The people that run the training are really nice and known what they are doing. Nick is actually one of the instructors." She perked up a bit at that.

"When do we go?" She asked.

"Whenever you want. The training room is open all the time so you can come and go as you please," I said. "We can go after breakfast."

When we had finished our toast and slipped out of the office unnoticed. I took her back down past the dining room and down the corridor to the training room. There was already a couple of people down there either shooting stuff at targets or getting advice from an instructor.

I scanned the room for Nick. This was his favourite place in the base so if he was anywhere he was here. I finally found him in the corner of the room, hovering in mid air. "Come on," I said to Tess. "Nick's over there. We could ask him for some help." We crossed the room to Nick, avoiding the flying objects aimed at the targets. "Nick!" I shouted up at him. He started and bumped his head on the roof.

"God, Caleb," he cried. "Give me a warning before you shout up at me."

"Sorry. We were wondering if you'd do some training with us today," I called.

"Yeah, sure. Give me a second," Nick replied. He closed his eyes and sunk back down to the floor. "I was just doing some thinking so I went up there." I nodded. That was typical of Nick. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, I still want to work on grouping all the lights together and maybe learn to take light from electricity. Tess wants to have more control over her powers," I explained.

"Hmm...Why don't you go to Lauren for help, Caleb. I'll go with Tess," Nick said. He pointed to Lauren on the other side of the room.

"Yeah, sure," I said. I crossed the room leaving Tess with Nick. I practised with Lauren on taking the light out of a lamp she brought down but my heart wasn't really in it. I kept glancing over at Tess with Nick. She was shooting fireballs at the targets and was trying to get stronger so she could control the fire more. She was getting really good at it all. We trained for about two hours before Nick said that we had done enough for today.

I waited for Tess by the door but she was talking to Nick. He whispered something in her ear. Her eyes widened and her hand flew up to her mouth. Nick put his hands on her shoulders, spoke a short sentence then left the room. I ran up to Tess. "What was that about?" I asked urgently. "What did he tell you?" She shook her head in complete shock.

"He said that he is rescuing Edward," she whispered. "Tonight."

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Hi guys!!!!

I am so terribly sorry for the very late update. I'm actually on holiday and I've been so busy that I completely forgot about writing.

I thought it was time to get Edward back in the story, who else missed him???

So let me know how I did and don't forget to comment/vote and recommend to your friends!!!!

CricketCat