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“You can if you want, but I’ll go live with Sam. I’m not leaving. ”
“This is not your decision to make. ”
“It’s not? I thought I was the one being hunted. I thought I was the one in danger. You could walk away right now and the Mogadorians would never look for you. You could live a nice, long, normal life. You could do whatever you want. I can’t. They will always be after me. They will always be trying to find me and kill me. I’m fifteen years old. I’m not a kid anymore. It is my decision to make. ”
He stares at me for a minute. “That was a good speech, but it doesn’t change anything. Pack your stuff. We’re leaving. ”
I raise my hand and point it at him and lift him off the ground. He’s so shocked that he doesn’t say anything. I stand and move him into the corner of the room, up near the ceiling.
“We’re staying,” I say.
“Put me down, John. ”
“I’ll put you down when you agree to stay. ”
“It’s too dangerous. ”
“We don’t know that. They’re not in Paradise. They might not have any idea where we are. ”
“Put me down. ”
“Not until you agree to stay. ”
“PUT ME DOWN. ”
I don’t say anything back. I just hold him there. He struggles, tries to push off the wall and the ceiling, but he can’t move. My power holds him in place. And I feel strong doing it. Stronger than I’ve ever felt in my life. I am not leaving. I am not running. I love my life in Paradise. I love having a real friend, and I love my girlfriend. I’m ready to fight for what I love, be it with the Mogadorians, or be it with Henri.
“You know you’re not coming down until I bring you down. ”
“You’re acting like a child. ”
“No, I’m acting like someone who is starting to realize who he is and what he can do. ”
“And you’re really going to keep me up here?”
“Until I fall asleep or get tired, but I’ll just do it again once I get some rest. ”
“Fine. We can stay. With certain conditions. ”
“What?”
“Put me down and we’ll talk about it. ”
I lower him, set him on the floor. He hugs me. I’m surprised; I expected him to be pissed. He lets go of me and we sit down on the couch.
“I’m proud of how far you’ve come. I’ve spent many years waiting and preparing for these things to happen, for your Legacies to arrive. You know my entire life is devoted to keeping you safe, and making you strong. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. If you died on my watch, I’m not sure how I would go on. In time the Mogadorians will catch up with us. I want to be ready for them when they come. I don’t think you are yet, even though you do. You have a long way to go. We can stay here, for now, if you agree that training comes first. Before Sarah, before Sam, before everything. And at the first sign that they’re nearby, or are on our trail, we leave, no questions asked, no fighting about it, no levitating me up to the ceiling and holding me there. ”
“Deal,” I say, and smile.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
WINTER COMES EARLY AND WITH FULL FORCE to Paradise, Ohio. First the wind, then the cold, then the snow. Light dustings to start, then a storm blows through and buries the land so that the scraping sound of snowplows is as consistently heard as the wind itself, leaving a coat of salt over everything. School is canceled for two days. The snow near the roads segues from white to dingy black and eventually melts to standing puddles of slush that refuse to drain. Henri and I spend my time off training, indoors, outdoors. I can now juggle three balls without touching them, which also means I can lift more than one thing at a time. The heavier and larger objects have come, the kitchen table, the snowblower Henri bought the week before, our new truck, which looks almost exactly like the old one and like millions of other pickup trucks in America. If I can lift it physically, with my body, then I can lift it with my mind. Henri believes that the strength of my mind will eventually transcend that of my body.
In the backyard the trees stand sentinel around us, frozen branches like figurines of hollow glass, an inch of a fine white powder piled atop each one. The snow is up to our knees aside from the small patch Henri has cleared away. Bernie Kosar sits watching from the back porch. Even he wants nothing to do with the snow.
“Are you sure about this?” I ask.
“You need to learn to embrace it,” Henri says. Over his shoulder, watching with morbid curiosity, stands Sam. It is his first time watching me train.
“How long will this burn?” I ask.
“I don’t know. ”
I am wearing a highly combustible suit made mostly of natural fibers soaked in oils, some of which are slow burning, some of which are not. I want to set it on fire just to be rid of the smells that are making my eyes water. I take a deep breath.
“Are you ready?” he asks.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. ”
“Don’t breathe. You’re not immune to the smoke or fumes and your internal organs will burn. ”
“This seems foolish to me,” I say.
“It’s part of your training. Grace under pressure. You need to learn to multitask while consumed in flames. ”
“But why?”
