Chapter 33 #3
She had me; she was going to take me in.
Killing Jack hadn’t helped anything, after all, aside from the small blip of satisfaction it’d given me.My body started to go numb, my lids went heavy.
Joon appeared again; and he punched her, hard.
Alex dropped to the ground as he grimaced.
I wasn’t sure whether to be dumbfounded or absolutely furious.
My body decided on fury. Smoke poured from my nose as I gripped him by the collar, hauling him up, using every ounce of energy I had left not to burn him again. He hadn’t used his power on her; Alex would be more than unconscious if he had. Still, I seethed, and embers shot from my mouth.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Joon raised his hands up and gave me a sheepish look.
“I told you to burn her, and you didn’t.
I told you killing Jack wouldn’t work, and you did it anyway.
You’ve changed, I appreciate that, but the refusal to listen thing?
Still very much in play, and honestly, unproductive.
We had to snap her out of it somehow. She’s tough; she’ll be alright. ”
Lightning surrounded us, and three Variants I hadn’t even noticed before seized, then dropped to the ground. Joon flinched.
“I hate that shit,” he murmured. “It might be worse than fire.”
Reed trudged up beside us, his face red and his breath short. “First of all, foul play. That was fucked up, and I can’t wait for you to get chewed out later. Second of all, there’s six left. Focus so we can get out of here alive, please. I’m tapping out now, by the way.”
Before I could blink, Reed collapsed, unconscious. Joon jumped out of my hold just in time to catch him before his head hit cement.
“Not much stamina on this one, huh?” he said, lowering Reed to the ground beside Alex. “I’m starting to feel it, too. We gotta end this before I lose it.”
The light on his collar had gone dark orange, nearly flickering to red.
His eyes flashed, violet hovering behind the black.
The new device was meant to disrupt his chip’s signal, but the more power he used, the more it would create a surge.
Frequencies were tedious—easily disrupted when Variant abilities came into play.
Alex shifted, and I dropped down beside her. “Hey, you back with me?”
She groaned, pushed up on her hands before rubbing at her cheek. “Asshole.”
Joon was hopping around again, kicking down the Variants that got close to us. “Great timing, little dreamer! Jump back in for me, would ya? I am carrying you today.”
Then, he started to glitch. Dipping in and out of reality again, the purple of his eyes leaving behind a streak of light everywhere he went.
“Shit,” she moaned, holding onto my arm as she gathered herself. “Leo?”
I wrapped an arm around her waist, steadying her. “I’ve got you. Do you have enough power left?”
She sneered. “Jack’s bark is bigger than his bite. I couldn’t break through it—but I could resist, for the most part, at least. I didn’t let him waste too much.”
Michael limped forward at the head of the pack. The bodies I hadn’t turned to ash started to rise; everyone Joon had knocked unconscious, or that Reed electrocuted, started to come-to. Joon appeared beside us again, his eyes flashing, face going pale.
“Alex,” he whispered. “You’ve gotta put me out for a while, I think.”
She nodded, turning to me. “You can get us out by yourself?”
I tucked her hair behind an ear before giving her my best ‘don’t worry’ smile. “I’ll deal. jJust make sure that Glitch stays out of commission, and we’ll be fine.”
“You think that’ll stop us?” Michael cackled, and the air plummeted to freezing temperatures.
“We’re standing on the edge of evolution.
This is only the start. Jack was brilliant, but too careful.
We’ve been waiting for him to be put down.
The next wave will be written into history. We aren’t done yet—”
I leaned into Alex’s ear. “Why do they always talk so much?”
Alex narrowed her eyes as he continued to babble, no amusement on her face. There was a spark there, a fire in her eyes that made my body hum. Blue shone in the shadowed room, a bright beacon that came from her horns as her eyes glowed.
“There won’t be a next wave, and I don’t give a damn about evolution. Daydreams are fun, but it’s about time I show you what kind of nightmares I can create. What kind of experiments you can handle, Michael?” Her smile was filled with poison, and mercifully, Michael shut up.
Alex raised a hand, took a deep breath, and bodies dropped like stone. I caught her in my arms as she fell back, careful not to jostle her. The men in front of us cracked their heads on the concrete floor, not flinching as they were swept into her mind.
Make them hurt, Sweetheart.
Alex breathed softly in my arms, a quirk to her mouth, as if she was satisfied with her work. She’d pushed herself to her limit—with Joon, and with Splinter.
Bodies surrounded us, and I could finally breathe right again.
Reed was sprawled out on my right, Joon to my left, and I clutched Alex to my chest. The gentle hum of the chambers surrounded me, mixing with the soft sound of bubbling liquid.
Concrete crumbled, small fires burned themselves out, and insects buzzed in the air as if they were confused, or searching for a way out.
It’s done, I thought.
It’s finally over.
Three years of torment lifted from my shoulders, and my head sagged as I buried my face in Alex’s hair. I breathed in the citrus as I raised a hand to the speaker in my ear.
“Cinder to headquarters,” I said, my voice filled with conviction. “Splinter is down.”
Static crackled back, but I didn’t listen. I sat there, rubbing Alex’s cheek, watching that blue light fade in and out. I’d gone decades believing I was a monster, that I was something to be kept locked up. Joon had gone through the same for three years. And Alex?
She saved us both.
“Hey, sleepy Sloth,” I murmured, a smile forming that was only for her, though I knew she wouldn’t hear me. “Thanks for bringing us back. By the way, I think I’m in love with you. I hope you’re okay with that.”