Page 27 of The Godhead Complex
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
Destiny Awaits
In a matter of seconds her entire life had changed.
Sadina sat next to her mom and squeezed her hand tight. She went from hating the people at the Villa to hoping they could save her mom. For the first time, she understood just a tiny amount of what it must have felt like when Newt and Sonya were pulled away from their families—except unlike them, Sadina would remember every painful thing. She couldn’t help but look at the scarf that covered her mom’s rash.
“It doesn’t hurt,” her mom offered without prompting. Sadina had so many questions, but deep down she knew they weren’t worth asking because there were no answers.How had her mom gotten sick? Why wasn’t she immune?And then something worse crept into her mind. Doubt. If her mom wasn’t immune, how could her own blood hold any Cure?
“I’m sorry I was being so . . . I just, I thought . . .” Sadina felt like apologizing for the entire trip. They should have never left the island. “I’m sorry I was so mad. I just . . . I didn’t want us to split up and now we are. Maybe forever.”
“Stop. It won’t be forever.” Her mom squeezed her hand, but Sadina was old enough to know that sometimes parents said things that they hoped were true as if they were true. Or even if they knew they weren’t. She looked over as Isaac hugged Dominic goodbye.
“You’re going to leave me with Happy?” Dominic pulled on Isaac’s shoulder as if to twist his arm into staying. Good thing Minho wasn’t paying attention to them.
“You’ll all be fine,” Isaac replied. “And Happy isn’t so bad. Try not to annoy him too much.”
Sadina couldn’t let her mom and Isaac just slip away down the coast. What if she never saw them again? “There has to be something the Godhead can do to help? You both should just come with us to Alaska. We can quarantine you on deck and create a makeshift—”
“We can’t sail with that.” Minho motioned to Sadina’s mom’s rash as if it were a bomb that might go off at any moment. “It’s just not safe.” His voice was just loud enough to circle the whole group back together.
“We could make it work,” Miyoko said. “We should stick together.”
Dominic piped in. “We’ve all been together and not quarantined this whole time and she’s already been sick. What’s another week or so?”
Minho shook his head and palmed his gun. “Things on the open water are different, the ocean makes every problem you have harder. The sick get sicker. The weak get weaker.”
“Then we don’t go on the ocean. We can stick together on land.” This came from Trish. “We’ll all go to the Villa, then.” Sadina looked to Jackie for her to chime in, but she was sullen, silent. Old Man Frypan just looked down at the sand.
“I’m not going to the Villa,” Orange said.
Minho nodded. “You all can decide what you’re doing. Orange and I have business in Alaska and—”
“Me too, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” Roxy elbowed Minho. “I’ll miss you all but you have to do what’s best for you.” She motioned to Cowan and the islanders.
What even was best for them? Their mission got so mashed up after the kidnapping, and now with her mom being sick and the thought of losing Isaac, Sadina didn’t know what would be best. She wanted to stay with her family, but all the other islanders had lefttheirfamilies to come help in some willy-nilly quest to find a cure. “We can figure it out . . . we just need to figure something out.” She didn’t know what the solution was, but she panicked at the thought of Isaac and her mom leaving the group.
Old Man Frypan stuck his walking stick deep in the sand. “Sadina’s right, we should think this through. If something happens to Cowan, Isaac will be all alone. Not only that, but there’s strength in numbers.” Sadina thought about the trees and the forest as Frypan had described them. How they were more likely to survive storms when there were more of them in a group.They all needed to stick together.
“Yes, he’s right,” Sadina said aloud.
“At least one of us should go with them,” Frypan continued, and Sadina felt the pain in her chest spread out further in all directions. “I’m volunteering to help make their group stronger. I’ve seen Isaac’s fire-making skills and I know they’ll be living off raw slugs if I don’t go along.” He was right—for a blacksmith apprentice, Isaac wasn’t great at cooking fires.
But she couldn’t take the thought of losing Old Man Frypan, too. Sadina felt as though all the pieces of her heart, all her favorite people were leaving her when she needed them the most. Except for Trish, who pulled at Sadina’s hand and squeezed it. She’d still have Trish. She’d always have Trish. Sadina looked at her, deep into her eyes as if to saythank youand squeezed her hand back.
Frypan put his hand on Sadina’s shoulders. “You know I’ll miss you, kid.” The look in his eye reminded Sadina of the promise he’d made not to step foot back in Alaska. His soul couldn’t take the Alaskan adventure any more than her soul could take losing her mom, her best friend, and her mentor.
“I’m gonna miss you, too,” she said through falling tears. Isaac’s face had relaxed into relief, probably for having someone else join him—but Sadina couldn’t hold her emotions in. She knew Frypan wasn’t looking forward to Alaska, but she thought he’d do it for her. This whole journey was supposed to be to supportherand now it felt like almost everyone she loved most was bailing.
Frypan hugged Sadina. “Maybe it’s like the trees. Maybe it’s me who can help your mom?” She squeezed him hard, hoping this wasn’t the last time she’d ever see him. “I want you to have this.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his copy ofThe Book of Newt. “Read it. Keep it safe.”
“But it’s yours.” She couldn’t take his most prized possession. His only connection to his friends from the past. “No way. You need it to help you sleep.”
“Nah. I got it all up here.” Frypan tapped his head with his index finger. “And in here.” He tapped his heart. He placed it in her hand and pressed his hands over hers. “I want you to have it in your heart, too.”
Sadina heldThe Book of Newt, a copy written in Old Man Frypan’s handwriting that chronicled the journals and last thoughts of her great uncle Newt. She doubted she’d ever held anything more precious and meaningful. “Thank you,” she whispered as she hugged the dear old man again. Then she looked at Isaac and her mom. “We’ll just all stick together, we have to. It doesn’t make sense to split up like this.” Anxiety filled her core.
“Whatever you decide, can we do it before sunset?” Minho asked impatiently.
