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“I have to let it out!”
Daniela opens her eyes and a concentrated beam of silver energy shoots towards the Hunter. At first, she’s completely out of control, the energy beam seeming painfully large as it rips through her head, and zigzagging all over the monster’s body. But, after a few seconds, Daniela gets a grip. The beam becomes narrower and more focused.
The result is better than I could’ve hoped.
The Hunter makes a confused yelping sound as it looks down at itself and finds its massive body turning into stone.
As soon as I see Daniela do it, I realize that I can do it too. I focus on the weight behind my eyes—like a boulder, aching to roll down a hill—and shove it out. My vision takes on a silvery tint as the beam flows from my eyes. It’s difficult at first, I have to control it with my eyes, so it’s not easy to be precise, but I get the hang of it pretty quickly. So does Daniela. Soon, we’re painting streaks of stone up and down the confused monster’s towering frame.
The Hunter tries to lumber forward to get at Nine and Five, but its legs aren’t working anymore. They’re solid blocks of rock.
It’s over a few seconds later. Towering next to the Statue of Liberty is a grayish tombstone of the most formidable Mogadorian creation I’ve ever seen, its hideous features forever frozen in a mask of confused rage. Nine and Five stare up at the thing, too confused to even fight each other. The helicopters circle around it, obviously detecting that the beast is no longer a threat and merely an eyesore.
“Ow,” Daniela responds, and leans against me for support. “That did not feel good at all.”
I rub my own face. “No kidding.”
“That was amazing!” Sam shouts. “You’re like Medusa.”
“That is not going to be my superhero code name,” Daniela responds sharply. “Ugh.”
“And you’re like—like—” Sam’s too excited to even say it.
“Like Pittacus,” I finish for him.
“Holy shit, yes! This is big. Do you realize how big this is?”
“It’s big.”
“Kinda stealing my new Legacy thunder here,” Daniela grumbles.
I shake my head and laugh, actually feeling relief for the first time in days. Nine walks towards the monster monument, hands on his hips, and knocks on the stone. While he does that, Five slinks back to the rest of us. I notice that he’s hung the Loric pendant ripped out of the monster’s skull around his own neck. I wonder if that’s his original pendant that he gave up or had taken by Setrákus Ra, or if it belongs to one of the dead Garde. I don’t press the issue right now. He holds out his hands.
“Well, I tried,” he says. “You can tie me back up if you want.”
I exchange a quick look with Sam. I know Five just helped us and I know he said he could’ve broken those ropes if he needed to, but I still feel more comfortable with him tied up. He’s a loose cannon and a murderer. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to really trust him.
As I pick up the ropes that Sam just cut through a few minutes ago, Agent Walker and her surviving team walk over to us. She’s on her satellite phone in the middle of a hushed conversation. While she isn’t paying attention, Agent Murray grins at us and flashes a big double thumbs-up.
The helicopters set down a ways off, on one of the few stretches of plaza that wasn’t demolished by the Hunter. I guess they’re going to ferry us back to the military encampment. I have to find out what’s happened with the other Garde. I don’t have any new scars on my ankles, which means the battle is either won or still ongoing. I need to get to them, to Setrákus Ra, and put this new Legacy to good use.
Well, as long as I can figure out how to use it.
“Yes, sir,” Agent Walker says into the phone, then holds it away from her face, blinking in shock like she can’t believe what’s happening. She seems more surprised by her conversation than by the monster statue Daniela and I just made. She covers the mouthpiece of the phone and holds it out for me. “John, uh, I have the president on the line for you.”
I stare at her. “What? Seriously?”
Walker nods. “He’s apparently . . . um, changed his opinion on fully supporting the Loric. He wants you in Washington right away to discuss strategy.”
I hand the ropes off to Nine as he saunters over to us. He’s all too happy to be the one tying up Five. “Catching me didn’t make us even,” I hear him mutter to Five.
“No, it doesn’t,” Five replies quietly.
I ignore them for now. I’m about to talk to the president. I shake my head, eyeing Walker. “This isn’t some kind of trick, is it?”
“No,” Walker says, shaking the phone at me. “He’s for real. It sounds nuts but, apparently, his older daughter just experienced some kind of . . . vision? Where you gave a speech?”
Sam can’t hold back the laughter. “Get out!”
Walker looks at both of us. “Did I miss something?”
“No,” I say, smiling and reaching for the phone. “I’ll explain later.”
Before I can take Walker’s satellite phone, my own phone begins to vibrate in my back pocket. Only two people in the world have that number—Sarah and Six. The fight with Setrákus Ra must be over if they’re calling me. Hell, maybe they even killed the old bastard.
“Sorry,” I tell Walker, taking out my own phone. She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Tell the president to hold. I’ve got to take this.”
I answer the phone and immediately my good mood evaporates. I can hear rushing air, distant blaster fire and way too much screaming. I think that’s Mark and he sounds absolutely out of his mind, shouting at someone to wake up. My stomach drops.
And then, Sarah starts talking.
“John . . .” Her voice is shaky, weak. “Listen, I don’t have much time . . .”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
“HOLD ON!” LEXA SHOUTS OVER HER SHOULDER from the pilot’s chair, and the ship rocks violently to the side. Blaster fire sizzles through the air outside, close to hitting us. She takes another evasive maneuver and banks us hard to the right.
The Anubis chases us, unloading its energy cannons anytime it has anything close to a clear shot. I have faith that Lexa will get us clear, though. Our ship is smaller, faster, and she’s a damn good pilot.
“What’s going on back there?” she yells, sweat dripping
down her face as she dips us lower to the jungle, using trees for cover. “Six? Talk to me, Six!”
I can’t talk.
Across the aisle from me, Ella sits with her back against the wall, her knees drawn up tight to her chest. She hugs herself and rocks back and forth, crying. Her face is smeared with that oil-like garbage, but at least it has stopped flowing out of her. There’s still the occasional crackle of Loric energy around her head.
“I warned him,” she whispers to herself over and over again. “I warned you all what would happen.”
Marina lies on a cot towards the back of the ship, unconscious and in a bad way, her body strapped down so as not to be jostled during our hurried escape flight. I don’t even want to guess how many of her bones are broken, or if she’ll ever wake up again.
That doesn’t stop Mark, desperate and crying, from violently shaking her by the shoulders.
“Wake up!” he yells in her face. “You’re the healer, goddamn you! You have to wake up and heal her!”
Adam lunges at him. The Mogadorian slams Mark hard against the wall of the ship and presses his forearm right up against his throat. Mark struggles against him, so Adam just slams him against the wall until he stops.
“Stop! You could kill her, shaking her like that,” Adam growls.
“I have to—” Mark pleads. Adam shakes his head firmly.
“There’s nothing you can do,” he says, trying not to sound cold.
Mark presses his forehead against Adam’s and screams, “We never should have come here!”
All the chaos doesn’t seem to bother Sarah. She looks up at me and smiles peacefully. She’s paler than I’ve ever seen her. A second ago, I gave her my satellite phone to call John.
“John . . . Listen, I don’t have much time,” she says, her voice thin and weak.
My hands are covered in Sarah’s blood. I’m doing my best to stop the bleeding, but the wound is huge. I don’t even know what hit her exactly, there were so many objects flying through the air. Something jagged and large. It tore right through her side, above the hip and out. Took a big part of her midsection with it. I took some bad shots during that exchange with Setrákus Ra, but I’m going to make it.
