Chapter Twenty-three
We walked as a group, dressed in black like shadows in the broad daylight. Dampeners off and powers humming beneath our skin . . . well, I sure hoped mine would start humming soon. But we were in the open and refusing to hide ever again. No more running.
“Going live in three . . . two . . . one,” Jay said.
He and Gabby each gripped two phones, all four pointed at me. The rest of us held up a single screen showing the building as we got closer. All streaming LIVE. Every tag, every co-stream ready to make sure the world wouldn’t miss a damn thing.
People watched us walking as one unit but said nothing.
They knew exactly who we were since our faces had been plastered all over the news, but mine especially was everywhere.
Now, we were walking straight to the official building of the Org.
What else could they do but stare? Oddly, there were no cops or any of their security in sight.
Probably assuming we wouldn’t be this close to their headquarters.
Whatever their reasoning, it didn’t matter.
I looked at a group of people taking out their phones and pointing them directly at us. “You’re LIVE?” I asked.
“Holy shit! She’s talking to me!” the guy closest to me said to his friend, then turned to me. “Yes, I am.”
I waved. “Follow us.” I turned to see they hadn’t moved as we were walking away. “No. I mean it literally, guys. Follow us. Physically, right now. But keep your distance.”
They looked at each other, shrugged, and started walking slowly. We were supposed to be dangerous after all. Not that it stopped anyone from being excited to see us. It was clear we’d been the faces of a resistance.
We strolled up and stopped across the street from the Org’s entrance. We each handed our phones to someone in the crowd and told them to keep the streams going.
They nodded, and we continued to the middle of the street. We wished each other good luck one last time and shared a silent look. We knew exactly what went unsaid. We received Annie’s boost and took our stand.
While my powers remained silent within me, the others unleashed their full potential.
Annie lifted a van overhead with casual grace, striking a pose that would’ve made any superhero proud.
Nick painted the sky with arcs of flame while Kevin pulled static from the buildings.
Blue and white lightning shot around Gabby and me, locking us in a perfect, crackling circle.
Jay, ever the mimic, matched every surge strike for strike as raw electric shadows erupted from everywhere and nowhere.
Then the first sirens started wailing, and the four of them stopped.
“Do it now,” Annie said from behind.
Gabby squeezed my hand. Her powers weren’t the visible kind, so she couldn’t display them either. I dragged her with me as I turned toward the crowd, staring directly into the phones live streaming us.
“My name is Alexa Ryan.” I spoke loud and clear.
“Remember me? I’m the dangerous Luminary they’ve been warning you about for years.
But what have I actually done?” I raised my hands and let them fall.
“I’ll tell you what I’ve done: Nothing. I’ve been running and hiding.
But today, that stops. Today, I’m angry.
You see, they stole our child from us. WE. ARE. HERE. TO. GET. HIM. BACK.”
I paused, letting the words sink in, before addressing the crowd again. “This is your fight, too. Tomorrow it could be your child. Your sister. Your friend. This ‘optimized order’ they preach? It’s a cage, and we’re all in it. Now, we break it. Join us.”
I turned away, then stopped to address the phones one last time. “Remember, if we lose, you lose. Don’t just watch us fight for your freedom, help us take it! What do you say? Are you going to help us tear it all down, or are you just going to witness our execution?”
I could only hope that worked. We were counting on people we didn’t know.
But the way we saw it, we had to trust humanity would win.
And if not, well, at least Robert and other normie agents would show up.
That would give us the opening for Gabby to release us with her force field and then we can properly show Park who we truly were.
Regardless, we needed to get Jack and our friends first—then the real fight would begin.
And speak of the devil, her agents swarmed in.
The last thing I saw before they overwhelmed us was the massive crowd being pushed back, hundreds of phones still recording.
We linked arms, forming an unbreakable chain, and sank to our knees as one.
Our surrender wasn’t defeat. It was our turn to make a move in Park’s game, and we were moving pieces she thought she owned. Checkmate, bitch.
Okay, maybe I cried victory a little too soon.
Hours later, my knees ached against the cold floor. We’d been arranged in a semicircle, each of us secured by chains that ran up to a series of glowing rings embedded in the ceiling.
“This seems familiar,” Annie said, staring at the set up. “The last time Jenny and I were taken by—”
“QUIET!”
The lights above us pulsed with a strange, silvery shine that seemed to push against my skin.
I stared at it, knowing exactly what it was meant for: stopping us from accessing powers.
I knew because I could feel myself practically dying.
Compared to the dampeners and the transfusion, this light was no child’s play.
I just had to hang on a little longer and ignore the burn running through my body.
“Ryan, you okay?” Nick asked.
“SILENCE!”
I nodded as sweat trickled down my spine.
Kevin kept trying to catch my eye, but I stayed focused on counting my breaths.
Waiting. I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone.
I couldn’t. Instead, I turned to meditation.
One, two, three, four, inhale. One, two, three, four, exhale. Repeat, repeat, REPEAT.
I could feel the tears about to fall when the door finally opened with a metallic hiss. About time!
Ava Park strode in, every inch the powerful figure from the news broadcasts. Even more intimidating than when I first met her at my apartment. Her white suit was immaculate, as usual, her heels clicking happily against the floor. But it was her companion who made my heart skip.
There he was! The guy from the elevator.
R. He walked two steps behind her, his face carefully blank.
When his eyes met mine, he gave me the briefest of nods as he adjusted his glasses.
It was so quick I might have imagined it.
But what did it mean? Was he on our side or hers?
He’d let us go before, but that had turned out to be a trap . . . letting us escape with Andrew.
I searched his expression for any hint, but he was already looking away, moving to stand by a wall of monitors. The same monitors that had appeared in the blueprints Robert had secretly sent us. The ones that supposedly connected to Park’s satellite network.
A guard wheeled in a small metal table, complete with fine china and silverware. The absurdity of the formal place setting in this prison-like room might have been funny under different circumstances.
“I hope you don’t mind if I finish my dinner,” Park said, delicately unfolding a napkin across her lap. “I so hate being interrupted during meals.”
I frowned. Lady, you timed this yourself.
She lifted the silver dome from her plate, and the smell of salmon wafted through the air. My stomach betrayed me with a quiet growl. How long had it been since we’d eaten? Now, this was pure torture.
“Hungry?” she asked, cutting into her fish with slow and precise movements. “I imagine you are. I hear being dampened takes quite a toll on the body.”
“Where’s my son?” Annie asked.
“I will have silence when I’m eating.”
“I want my son. Give me my son back!”
Park set down her utensils, smoothing her skirt in front of us. “Rash. Why don’t we show them what happens if they don’t comply?”
“What level, ma’am?”
“Hmm, keep them at an uncomfortable eighty-five percent.”
I kept my face neutral, but my mind was racing. So, Rash was his name. In the next few minutes, we’d find out if we’d made the biggest mistake of our lives, or if everything was going exactly as planned. I just needed to know how to handle him. Whose side are you on?
The dampening lights pulsed again, stronger this time, and I bit back a groan.
Park cocked her head, smiling at me. “You don’t look so good. All those bruises . . . from the power drain, is it?”
I almost bit down on the molar that would end the excruciating pain. I could’ve sworn my kneecaps were about to cave in on themselves. “I’m fine.”
“Oh, no need to lie. We know all about it. We’ve studied you since you were little. You may not remember, mind you.” She chuckled. “Rash. Lower hers to fifty percent. If only because her mother was a good friend of mine. Although I should be cranking it up for being a traitor.”
I would’ve cursed her out, but the immediate release I felt from my chain dampener was shamefully heavenly.
“Where is my mother?”
“Oh, honey. Your mother paid for your sins, of course.”
“Wh-what do you mean?” We may not have had a great relationship . . . heck, I hated how she sacrificed me for the rebels, but at the end of the day she was still my mother. Unsure of how to feel about this, I swallowed against a lump in my throat.
“Let’s just say you got your mother killed when you chose them.” She pointed at my friends.
Before I could reply, the door opened again. My heart stopped as they wheeled in five beds. Jenny. Beth. Andrew. Anali. Antonio. All unconscious, all hooked to IVs that dripped clear fluid into their veins. They looked peaceful, but the restraints on their wrists told a different story.
“Quite a reunion, isn’t it?” Park took a small bite and chewed thoughtfully as she looked over to their beds. “They’re much more manageable this way. I do hate Lake’s special unit. You’re all an absolute pain.”
“What did you do to them?” Nick asked.