Page 110 of Anarchy Chained: Alpha Thomas

“They had me too, Sade,” Iziah says, forcing his way into the tight circle of people who surround me. “Cyan was controlling me too. But when Lincoln scattered her and she… died, I guess—I don’t know, maybe she forgot she was controlling me. Or maybe they thought I was never going to recover. I took two hits, from two of the most powerful mentalists to ever come out of Prodigy.”

But he’s not dead.

No, he says in my head. I’m not dead. Neither are you.

He’s in my mind.

“We’re linked now, Sadie,” Iziah says. “If they can link two mentalists, well…” He smiles. “We can link two illusionists. It took me years to figure this out. I wanted to help you. While we were still at Prodigy… but….”

Iziah trails off. I feel his sadness. His regret.

“We need you, Sadie,” Lincoln says. “We can’t pull this off without you. We need Thomas back and we need to get him before those fucking satellites align and rain a shitstorm of chaos down on Cathedral City.”

“I don’t know what they’re planning to do with my SpyGlasses,” Case says. “Or Thomas’s satellite phones. But I can tell you this—it’s not what we had in mind. And now that we’ve unleashed this plan and can’t stop it, it’s our duty to make sure it’s carried out properly.”

“Will you help us?” Lulu asks, still holding onto my arm. “Will you help us get Thomas back and take down this totally fucked-up city, once and for all?”

I look at each of them, one at a time. “Who are you people?”

All of them laugh, even Iziah.

“We’re Alphas,” Case says, smiling.

“And illusionists,” Iziah adds.

“And a fucked-up Omega detective,” Molly says.

“I’m just a lawyer.” Lulu laughs. “But I got your back.”

“And don’t forget about me,” Sheila says. “I have control of every computer in that city. Every phone, every tablet used in the schools, every bus-stop map, every jail cell. I’m inside all of it. Every device with Spy or Sky in front of the name is me.”

“Cathedral City belongs to us, Sadie,” Case says. “It’s ours. And we want it back.”

“We can do this,” Lincoln says. “With your help, Sadie. So what you do ya say? Wanna join the team? Wanna be on Team Take Down the Assholes? Wanna get Thomas and Sullivan back? Wanna get your revenge and help us get ours at the same time?”

I picture it in my head. What would it be like to be in control again? What would the world look like with no Uzi controlling me?

Paradise, I decide. No matter what these supervillains have in mind, it’s got to be better than this. And there’s no fucking way in hell I’m gonna let Cyan have what’s mine. She will not take Thomas from me like she’s taken everything else.

“Yes,” I finally say. “Yes, I’d very much like to be a part of this team.”

“Good,” Lincoln says with an evil, crooked smile. “Now listen carefully, here’s the plan…”