One by one, I looked at my friends, trying to silently broadcast to them,Bring your notes.
We still knew pretty much jack squat. I was beyond over it.
With Griffin’s arm wrapped around my waist to steady me, we trudged beyond the pretty flower garden and its perfect clusters of outdoor seating until nothing surrounded us but wild forest.
“If they’re watching us all the way out here,” Brady said, “then there’s really no escaping them, and we should just accept that we’re as fucked as fucked gets and move on with our lives as best we can, being Magnum’s fucking puppet bitches.”
After a squinty-eyed scan of the forest, Brady added, “Now, guys, whip ’em out so we can compare ’em.”
When the four of us jerked our heads in his direction, he cackled. “Not our dicks, you dirty fuckers. The notes, obviously.”
“Obviously,” Layla muttered, but her eyes danced in delight. She and Brady were definitely twins when it came to a crass sense of humor and ill-timed jokes. It was part of their highly dubious charm.
As Layla handed my note to me, still folded, still unpleasantly damp, I asked, “Have you guys looked at yours yet?”
“No,” Griffin said. “We decided to wait for you.”
“Even though it might’ve helped with something?” I asked him.
“Yes. We’ve been a united team forever. Not about to change that up now.”
Hunt nodded. “We waited. But I’m super curious, so let’s not wait any longer.”
The five of us set to unrolling our tightly folded scraps of paper. I moved slowly with mine, relieved to find Jude’s familiar cramped handwriting scrawled in pencil instead of ink. It was faded and difficult to read, the letters tiny to maximize space, but at least the words hadn’t smeared. With some patient deciphering, it was all still there.
My dearest Joss,
I hope that someday you’ll learn to forgive me for the many lies I told you. I promise, I only ever did all I did because I genuinely, with all my heart, believed it was the only way to help you. We had to get you out of the lab. Things were really bad already, and they were only getting worse. Remember when we admitted to cutting off the stalks of plants to see how quickly they’d regrow? I’ll just say this: It wasn’t plants. I’m too ashamed to say more. We decided we had to do something. When our boss told us the lab was going to close and we were to euthanize you all, we took you and ran.
Magnum Chase wants to become an immortal. He’s convinced many of his staff that he intends to cure disease the world over with his findings. He says he intends to eradicate poverty and suffering around the globe.
But he will stop at nothing and will use anyone he thinks will help him to achieve his ultimate goal. It’s not just to become a man capable of living forever, but also to be the most powerful man alive. He doesn’t want just immortality, as if that weren’t enough: he wants it all. Like in the superhero movies you used to love watching when you were younger. Picture that. He wants actual superpowers.
When the Aquoians refused to give him the information and biological material he wanted, he took them by force. And he started looking elsewhere for other legends of what I’ve come to consider “magical powers.” He searched especially in the ancient tribes that still preserve some of their previous ways of life. We believe he didn’t stop there, that he’s searched the world for more hints of abilities that science cannot explain.
Even though science can’t properly explain a condition as remarkable as immortality, it can confirm it. Joss, my sweetheart, I fear what might come of his continued insistence on forcing a natural, though mysterious, condition into a box of science. As much as it pains me to admit, there are some abilities beyond the scope of my beloved science.
There is so much we need to discuss. If you’ll learn to trust me again, we can help each other. I fear that Magnum will want to experiment on you. A man like him will never take the risk of absorbing the totality of the powers he wants before testing them. You already have immortality. He’ll next want to test if we can add more powers to your arsenal. He wants it all, but not at the risk of unexpected side effects to his person.
Don’t worry, my Jossy girl. We’ll figure it out together. Just be careful. We’re all being watched. We’ll have to be discreet.
I love you with all my heart. Please don’t ever doubt that.
Even if it’s just in my heart,
Your Dad
20
I’m Harmless and I’m Here to Help
I’d barely had time to register that Jude was a total sap, and that my friends seemed to have received notes with similar apologies and warnings, when footfalls crunched through the forest.
Bobo launched himself front and center across my thigh to bark out a warning none of us could hear. Hurriedly, I urged him to hide beneath my clothing so whoever was approaching wouldn’t see him. I couldn’t tell if he responded to my spoken commands or to my frantic gestures, but either way, he obeyed. Bless my sweet boy and his constant obedience, no matter how unlikely the situation.
As my friends hid their notes, I stuffed mine down into my cleavage before Fanny, along with several armed guards, came tromping toward us.
“What are you doing out here?” Fanny shouted ahead. “We were worried.”
