“I thought that’s what you wanted.”
He shakes his head. “We have to get away.”
“Alkine will-”
He grabs my arm and yanks me backward, just as Madame bursts into the alleyway.
Her jacket hangs halfway off her shoulders. Her hair is mottled with dirt and sweat. She breathes heavily, aiming the pistol at my heart.
“Come on,” Cassius coaxes, pulling my arm.
“Don’t move,” Madame warns as she steps forward, “or it will be the last thing you do.”
Cassius releases me, clutching the cube tightly under his arm.
Madame sighs. “My dear Cassius. I have regrets. I should have kept you out of this. I should have let you stay at the Lodge. You’re confused, as you have every right to be. We’ll sit down and talk when this is over. I’m sure that-”
She’s interrupted by Eva, who stumbles into the alleyway holding Alkine’s dark bag. Her arm restraint hangs from her left wrist. A large scratch runs down the side of her face.
Madame rolls her eyes, pivoting slightly and pulling the trigger. Eva lunges toward the wall and presses herself against the brick. The bullet whizzes past her and into the intersection.
“Don’t hurt her!” I shout. “It’s me you want.”
Madame turns back around, reloading the pistol and aiming it at me. “There are cruisers directly behind you. Step into one, and we can continue this conversation elsewhere.”
I watch as Eva tiptoes forward, grabbing something from inside the bag. A faint green light illuminates the back of the alley. Madame doesn’t see it. Yet.
“Okay,” I respond, trying not to stare at the Pearl Eva’s holding. “Okay, I give up. Just don’t shoot.”
Madame’s head cocks to the side, a suspicious frown on her face. “Into the cruiser.”
I nod and take a small step back. Eva comes closer.
Then Madame sees the glow coming from behind her. She spins around, but before she can do anything Eva hurls the Pearl into the air. It makes a wide arc above Madame’s head and shoots down to me.
I stretch out my right arm, tense my fingers, and stop it in mid-air.
The Pearl hovers between Madame and me, nearly blinding us in the dim alley. I motion for Eva to run back to the intersection. She lingers for a moment, watching me, before backing away.
Madame keeps her aim steady, approaching cautiously. “This isn’t funny, Jesse.”
I back up, focusing on keeping control of the Pearl. I wave my hand back and forth. The Pearl follows like a pendulum swinging in the air. Left, right. Left, right.
Madame watches, and for the first time I notice fear in her eyes. She knows what’s inside the Pearl, but I bet she doesn’t know what happens when it’s freed. Not firsthand.
I move my hand more dramatically and the Pearl follows course, slamming into the brittle walls on either side of us. Loose brick tumbles in piles onto the ground as the alley starts to cave in before me.
Madame stumbles back. “Stop it.”
I don’t. The Pearl continues to smack the walls with the force of a wrecking ball, adding to the pile of rubble in front of us. It’s nearly up to Madame’s waist now, blocking her path.
Then, just as I’m about to bring the entire alley down around her, I hear a gunshot and feel something prick my shoulder. I look down to see a silver dart lodged into my skin. She shot me. She actually shot me!
The Pearl wobbles in the air as my concentration fractures. Whatever’s in the dart races through my bloodstream. It’s all I can do to stay standing. Madame laughs. All other sounds fade into nothing.
I clench my fists and the world explodes in front of me.
A shower of rubble rains over Madame, burying everything in the alleyway-including her. The walls crumble around us as the Pearl energy tears through the derelict buildings, streaming out into the intersection. A glowing figure shoots into the sky, soaring up around the Academy and out of sight.
I fall backwards, watching as the Skyship’s hull absorbs the brunt of the Pearl’s force. Sheet lightning dances along the dark underbelly, illuminating the mist around Seattle. Just like that day-the day Cassius and I first landed on Earth.
Then, as the last of the energy dissipates, I lose consciousness.
46
She’s got me. She’s escaped somehow and she’s got me.
It’s the only thing running through my mind upon waking. My back’s pressed against a leather seat. A belt stretches over my chest.
I’m in a government cruiser. Never been inside one before, but the Unified Party emblems etched into the control panel are a dead giveaway.
Dark sky forms a wall outside the window. I turn to my left, praying to see Alkine. Eva. Skandar. One of the good guys.
Cassius.
I jerk away from him, my mind still on survival mode.
“Relax.” He glances over at me, frowning. “She’s not here.”
I watch him pilot the cruiser for a moment in silence. His hands grip the wheel tightly. His steely gaze focuses on the path ahead of him.
“You’ve been out for over an hour,” he mutters. “Tranquilizer. It’s meant to keep you down for longer.”
I cough. “Where are we?” My throat’s still clogged with dust from Seattle.
“Halfway over Kansas, according to the radar.” His eyes shift to my face, then back to the front window. “Wichita’s on your right-below us.”
I look down at the Surface-an unending abyss punctuated only by pinpricks of light far off in the distance. Directly below us sits a cocoon of white lights, stretching up from the ground like a bee’s nest. Wichita. Chosen City #27.
My mind flashes back to Seattle. The alleyway. “Are you-”
“I’m not taking you to the Lodge,” he interrupts. “Nobody’s taking you to the Lodge from the looks of it back there. They’re outnumbered. Despite all of Madame’s planning, the Skyship took her by surprise. I didn’t think it was possible to surprise her.”
I close my eyes and see the pile of rubble crashing down on Madame. The thought of it makes me sick. “Was she…? I mean, did I… ?”
“I didn’t check,” he replies. “I just left.”
I rub my eyes and try to wipe the image from memory. “She’s unconscious, that’s all. People like Madame don’t die.”
He scoffs. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d care.”
I look down at my lap for a moment. It’s not caring, definitely, but I don’t like the thought of killing anybody either. Even Madame. “Look, I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”
“Don’t apologize,” Cassius says, and that’s the end of that.
I shift in my seat, wondering if I should just shut up and let him do his thing. He’s not exactly the most approachable person in the world. But I can’t stay quiet. There’s too much I need to know. “So if we’re not going to the Lodge, where are we going?”
He sighs. “Somewhere people can’t find us.”
I groan inwardly. The last thing I want right now is another chase. My body couldn’t handle it. “Running again?”
“You got a problem with that?”
“I-” I catch myself and try to choose my words carefully, unsure what could set him off. “It’s just that… my friends. Avery.”
“She’s gone,” he replies. “They could’ve dragged her to any of the Unified Party’s compounds by now. Finding her would be impossible.” He pauses. “Your friends will be fine.”
I shake my head. “I should have been quicker. I should have stopped them from taking her.”
He frowns, his voice devoid of any expression. “You did what you had to do. You saved yourself. Now take a look at this.” He reaches down and grabs something from beside his seat. Before I can argue, he tosses Madame’s small black cube into my lap.
I catch it, expecting my muscles to strain. They don’t.
The cube’s unnaturally light, like paper or cardboard. I run my fingers across the smooth, cold exterior. It’s solid as stone, and seems like it’s been the same shape since the beginning of time. Not so, if what Madame said is true.
“Open it,” Cassius coaxes.