Chapter Twenty-two #3
Two days. We had two days. But as Jay said, that was for amateurs. He insisted now was the time for us to make our move, and for once, every single person in the group agreed with him. Even Kevin.
They’d be expecting us on the twenty-sixth.
It was an invitation after all, which was why we were leaving immediately.
We’d drive through the night. From where?
I didn’t know. I just knew I wanted to request more time, since I was without powers.
The transfusion was working only too well.
But Dr. Ryder assured me once the dampeners were off and Annie gave me a jolt, I should have no problem accessing my abilities again.
It was only a temporary relief for my health, after all.
“It will be fine, Ryan. We mainly need your face,” Annie said. “It’s been blasted on the news for so long, it’s basically the only power you need. Get the people to come and stand down if you’re captured. And if you do get them back in time, you know what to do.”
“Kick some ass?”
“Damn right.” She smiled.
“We’re leaving in an hour,” Nick said. “Everyone, grab what you need. We won’t be there till morning, and we’ll have to wait for the sleeping effects to wear off. So by two, we attack.”
“Ugh. I have to be put to sleep again?”
“Actually, no.” Nick looked at me. “You and I will drive, but first I have to inject you with this.” He held a really big syringe that I knew contained the pressurized capsule . . . in case I had no escape.
I opened my mouth, then wanted to smack him almost immediately. After all the pain I’d been in lately, that injection behind my molar was almost like the last straw, but I behaved like a big girl and took it like a champ.
“You okay?” Kevin asked.
“No.”
He laughed and rubbed his own jaw. “We all got it.”
“Figured as much.”
“We won’t all know the location, but we should all be prepared to do the unthinkable if it means the rest get to live.”
“No arguments here.” I took a sip of my coffee. “How come I get to be one of the drivers?”
“You need to deplete your energy to help your powers get back on track. I figure staying awake and focused through the night should help.”
“I can live with that.”
“Plus, you might be the only one who can resist looking around to figure out where we are. You’ll just follow Nick blindly,” Chris said.
Kevin wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Always so compliant.”
“Hey, I don’t make the rules.” I threw my hands up in a shrug. “If I’m not supposed to know where we are, then I’m not supposed to know.” Seemed logical to me.
Jay walked into the room. “I got all the phones charged.”
I nodded. “Good. I want to start the live streams a few blocks from their building and from multiple angles. Give us higher chances of getting the call for help out there. They’re expecting us, but not tomorrow.”
“Right. While you guys do that, I’ll reach out to my contacts and head out as soon as I can put together a proper trustworthy team,” Robert said. “Not everyone at the FBI is compliant with Park. But be careful. All of you. She’s smart.”
“Yeah, I mean, she called and we’re answering,” Kevin said. “I’ll give her that.”
“They think we’re desperate enough to walk right into their hands . . . and we are. But they don’t know about our broadcast plan. Speaking of— Elisa.” I turned to her. “Can you help us make a list of the biggest influencers in New York? The ones who’d jump at the chance for this kind of story?”
“It could be from anywhere, Aunty Ryan.”
“Yes, give me a list so everyone can see it globally. If they want to fight from their locations, they should. But I need the local Luminaries to know so they can come help us . . . hopefully.”
“I told you already, they will. I’ve had it written down since before this went on,” Elisa said, glancing down at the bracelet. “I’ll go get the list.”
I watched her walk up the stairs, the realization hitting me: she’d seen it all. “This is so gonna work!”
“Look at you,” Kevin said, coming to stand beside me. “You’re fired up.”
“Yeah,” I said, surprised to find it was true. “For the first time in a while, I feel like we’re not just reacting. We’re choosing this.”
“The location ‘R’ gave us,” Annie said, studying the note again. “It’s the old Org address. They must’ve rebuilt it after the fire?”
“It’s been years, so yeah,” Nick said. “Seems like fate, doesn’t it? To go back where it all started.”
“And where it ends. One way or another,” I said, walking to the cars. “All right. Let’s go fuck shit up.”
“Ryan!”
I shrugged. “We have to call it what it is. They set up some rules for the world that we can’t live by. We’re going to break all of them.”
“What happened to my lil goody-two-shoes?” Kevin asked, laughing.
“I’m embracing the chaos and plan on going all out.” I looked at my fingers, then lifted my sleeve to inspect my arms. The lines were gone. “Well, if my powers ever decide to come back.”
“They will.” He gave me a quick kiss on my forehead. “And if not, you’ll still go down fighting. Just . . . be careful.”
And with that, we drove into the darkness, ready to face whatever waited for us at the Org building. Ready to end this, once and for all.