Chapter Nineteen #2
I saw Gabby punch a guard who was trying to ambush Annie from the side. In a final, desperate attempt, I tried expanding my senses one last time to search for the girls, but found nothing. Agh, damn! That split-second distraction cost me.
A boot slammed into my ribs, knocking the air right out of me.
Doubling over, I forced myself to shake it off so I could focus on the immediate threat.
Gritting my teeth against the blinding pain, I stomped my right foot, drawing a surge of energy from the ground and hurling a blast that sent my attacker, along with the other guards who were running toward us, flying through the air.
“There’s no one else in this corridor. Let’s go!” Gabby ran ahead with Annie following behind, almost bumping Andrew’s head against the wall as she turned the corner.
We reached the elevator a few seconds before the guys, but the doors wouldn’t budge. In fact, all power to it seemed to be gone. I couldn’t even sense the usual electric hum. I tried to pull energy from my surroundings, but nothing happened.
“Gabby, can you unblock our powers?”
She shook her head, pointing at the guys who were less than a foot away from us. “They’re unblocked.”
Just then, I noticed Nick throwing fireballs at the oncoming guards, and Kevin using his powers to knock out the remaining two. I could hear the crackling sound filling the room as Kevin pulled the electricity into himself and pushed his static rays into each guard. Our powers were unblocked!
So why couldn’t I sense the elevator or make it work? I tried pulling again, but nothing budged. Was it just me?
“Kevin, can you pull from the elevator?”
“The juice is there, but it feels blocked,” he yelled back, zapping the last standing guard. “Our powers are fine, though!”
Suddenly, a door right next to us clicked open. A guy stepped out, his hands raised defensively. He adjusted his glasses and tilted his chin toward the elevator. The metal doors slid open as his eyes burned with a spinning ring of red-orange fire.
“Hey!” Jay said, looking between the guy and me. “Stop it. Let her go!”
He stared at Jay, then smirked and looked directly at me, the fiery circles in his eyes still spinning. “I just wanted to make contact. I’ll be in touch.” Then, he barely whispered, “Run.”
As he said that, I could feel my powers rushing back into my veins.
What the hell? Did he just stop me from using my powers? Like . . . just me?
I didn’t have time to react or to ask any questions—although I had many.
Everyone scrambled into the elevator, but just as the doors began to slide shut, a knife flew through the gap and buried itself deep into Jay’s torso. We were supposed to teleport out once the doors closed, but then we’d have to avoid using powers. I had to fix this now.
“Wait! Wait, I need a second!” I screamed.
I placed my hand on Jay’s ribs, and it was instantly covered in gushing blood. I pushed my healing power into him as fast as I could, then looked at Nick. “Get a fireball ready. You need to scorch all of Jay’s blood off this floor. We can’t let them gain mimicking powers.”
He shook his head. “The space is too tight and there’s too much blood. I’ll burn everyone alive.”
Kevin pushed his way forward. “Ryan, you can do it. Guys, get ready. We’re teleporting the second she’s done.”
Without questioning what he meant, I let instinct take over.
I thrust my hand out, palm down, and felt a tremor of energy rushing into me from all directions.
I blasted the entire floor in a blinding flash of purple light, completely vaporizing everything on the surface.
A weird sensation washed over me, and it hit me that I might have absorbed whatever essence of Jay lingered in his blood. Gross.
I quickly turned and shoved the last of my healing energy into Andrew. Just as his eyes began to flutter open, Kevin yelled, “Everyone, grab on!”
Then we were gone.
We hadn’t been in that elevator for more than thirty seconds when Kevin teleported us into a pantry room in the food court of a mall in Tennessee. The sudden noise of cooking and chatter rushed through the air like a storm, making me hold my breath.
Kevin saw the panic on my face. “This is the storage section for expired food. No one comes back here.” He reached up to the top shelf and pulled down a hidden duffel bag while the rest of us quickly snapped on our dampening bracelets. The bag was packed with clothes, hats, glasses, and wigs.
Nick threw on a hoodie, and Jay was now sporting a beard. He seemed to be okay from the knife wound. Thank goodness. I was rushing everything; I wasn’t even sure I’d healed him right.
Andrew, however, was harder to read. He seemed to be in a trance, moving automatically as he pulled a pair of oversized sweatpants and a sweater over his jumpsuit.
He smiled when Annie handed him a pair of shoes, so he definitely recognized us.
That was a relief, I guessed. But his eyes made me uncomfortable .
. . and the way they kept darting to our bracelets the second we put them on.
“What are those?” he asked.
“Oh, where is his?” Annie asked, looking around.
“Eh, he doesn’t need it,” I said, making eye contact with Kevin. He was standing behind Andrew, ready to give him the extra bracelet in his hand. “They’re just step trackers. We have a bet to see who gets the most steps.”
Without missing a beat, Kevin shoved the bracelet in his pocket. Annie nodded, just as everyone else seemed to understand my hesitation.
She took Andrew’s hand. “Where are Jenny and Beth? Do you know?”
“Chambers, I think.”
“What does that mean?” Nick asked.
“On ice.”
“But are they alive?” I asked.
Andrew just shrugged, adjusting his new baseball cap. I looked at Kevin, who shook his head and silently mouthed, No idea.
“Wish we’d teleported into the loading docks or something,” Gabby said, grabbing a pink sweater and a blonde wig.
“No,” Kevin said. “We needed to be near a crowd. We’re okay here. Just walk out the employee side door and don’t make eye contact. Stay with your designated group, and don’t go out all at once.”
“Won’t they wonder who we are?” I asked, pulling on a red leather jacket, a short bob wig, and glasses.
“It’s still the lunch rush. They’re too busy feeding a mass of starving people to care.”
“We need to move before the Org gets to the mall.” Nick rushed everyone toward the exit, holding on to his now-redhead wife. “Wait your turn and follow. Come on, Andrew.”
A few minutes later, Gabby and Jay headed out and were soon swallowed by the crowd. Kevin gave me a quick kiss, and we walked toward the parking lot.
We piled into our van and peeled away from the mall just as a row of emergency vehicles went screaming past. The sirens were everywhere, confirming we’d escaped by the skin of our teeth.
By now, standard procedure would be in full effect.
The mall would be on lockdown, and everyone inside was trapped until the testing was over.
I only hoped there were no other Luminaries stuck in the mall right now.
If they were caught, it would be our fault.
We pulled into a quiet residential neighborhood where the backup cars were waiting.
From there, we split up and took different routes.
Annie, Nick, and Andrew headed to Chicago to lie low for a day before doubling back to New York.
Gabby and Jay drove toward Louisiana, where they’d spend the next week pretending to be a couple .
. . much like Kevin and I were about to do.
We drove to a nearby hotel, staying behind in Tennessee so we wouldn’t all be on the road at the same time. He had already purchased tickets to a few tourist attractions; if anyone asked, we were just on a romantic getaway.
“What were you talking to Jay about?” Kevin asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I saw you two whispering while we were changing.”
“I wanted to know who the elevator guy was.”
“And?”
I shook my head. “Jay said he’s seen him around before. Apparently, the guy can control certain Luminaries, but Jay doesn’t know much else. He didn’t want Andrew overhearing us, though. I get the feeling he doesn’t entirely trust him.”
“About that! What do you think is going on with Andrew?”
“Apart from being held captive and tortured? I don’t know. I’m not sure how much we can safely tell him—that’s why I didn’t think he should have a dampener yet. Although, he probably knows not to use his powers.”
Kevin shrugged. “Yeah, you’re right. Also, he hasn’t seen us in years and has been heavily sedated. The whole thing probably feels like a dream to him right now.”
“I can’t imagine how worried he must be about Beth. And Jenny, of course. But he thinks they’re in chambers? On ice? What could that even mean?”
“I don’t know. Robert never mentioned anything like that, so it must be top secret.” He looked at me. “Hey, they’re alive. You hear me? There’s still hope.”
I nodded, towel-drying my hair. “Text Nick and remind him to clear out any hypnosis from Andrew in case he was brainwashed. He needs to remember who he is and delete any commands they might have implanted in his brain.”
“You know he’s not a computer, right?”
“Oh, shut up. You know what I mean.”
He laughed, already texting away. “Yes, I’ll have Nick delete commands from Andrew’s operating system.”
I rolled my eyes and threw my damp towel at his face.
He caught it effortlessly, his dark eyes tracing over my body. “You realize this is the first time you and I have actually been completely alone, right?”
I smiled. “Hmm . . . so what should we do?”
“How ’bout you lose the bigger towel and help me recharge?”
“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?”
“You’ve always been my amplifier, Ry.”
“Ah, well, too bad I have this dampener on.” I pointed at my bracelet.
He gave me a slow, wicked grin and patted the mattress. “In that case, let’s see if you can handle the surge when I’m in charge.”