Page 21 of Stormbreaker

I was on the swings when she started screaming at me to get off so we could seek cover in one of the nearby shelters. I didn’t hear her at first because I was staring up at the swirling clouds as that feeling began to take hold. I didn’t understand it. All I knew was that something had changed.

Finally, I hopped off the swing and ran across the open space toward her. She was shouting, reaching for me, when I was struck and then engulfed inside a plasma arc. I stumbled and tripped, landing on my stomach.

I remember her wild, frantic screams.

But . . . I wasn’t dead.

I looked up at her, and it took a moment to realize I hadn’t been blitzed. Our eyes met, and an even greater horror spread over her face.

“Poet,” she gasped. “Get over here.”

I didn’t need any more coaxing. I shoved myself up and ran toward her. She held out her hands and shouted, “Stop!”

I didn’t understand until she gestured wildly in my direction. I glanced down to see those purple sparks dancing all over me. When I looked back up, she slowly shook her head.

“You can’t tell anyone,” she whispered.

My attention returns to Professor McCarthy, still talking about the general.

Of course I never told anyone, and before my nanny left, I’m positive she didn’t, either. I don’t know why she didn’t turn me in, but I’m grateful for it every day.

“While General Sol was lost in the Wastes for so many years, she learned two things. First, how to resist the infection through techniques she developed that she has tried to pass on to others without success.

“And that civilization beyond New Manhattan is extinct. The only things left out there are sprawling miles of dead earth, abandoned cities, and the Solitudes who wander it.”

As the professor keeps talking, a door opens at the base of the stairs. A group of men and women wearing black with masquerade-style masks enters on smooth steps.

The professor stops talking and drops her arms. A pinch of annoyance flashes across her face, but she nods and steps back, deferring to the student Society leaders.

I understand this is about to become someone’s first initiation.

The eight figures walk to the middle of the room and stand in a line. I resist the urge to duck and hide. That’s more likely to draw their attention than anything, and this moment is inevitable.

They all stand with their hands behind their backs, their shadowed gazes slowly assessing us. I wonder what they’re thinking. How do they decide who goes first?

Then they break apart, each one claiming a pledge.

They seem more like victims.

One grabs Edward and hauls him up. He searches the room for Trinity, and she stretches a hand toward him. “Be careful!” she shouts.

Another reaches for Domino, and I hold my breath as she’s yanked by the arm and taken back through the same doors they came from.

The other six pledges include two members from Aria, one from Tera, one from Asale, and two from Fiama, who I vaguely recognize.

A moment later, one of the masked men returns. He stops in front of Rook, who peers up at him while leaning back in his seat, the picture of cool composure. A latent image of him pledging to Fiama flashes in my thoughts, and I shake it away. There’s almost no chance he’ll make it past initiation.

The masked man jerks his chin, and slowly, Rook stands up and spreads his hands as if to say, Okay, so you got me.

Then the masked man turns and stomps off. Rook waits a second before inhaling a long breath and begins to follow. I watch intently as he glances back, and our eyes catch, my heart tripping over itself.

His gaze narrows before he looks away.

Rook disappears, and I exhale the shaky breath lodged in my chest.

I look over at Trinity, her face pale with worry. “You think he’ll make it?” she asks.

I hope not, I think to myself.