“This is suicide!” Sarah yells in my ear. She’s at my side, returning fire on the Mogs.
“Get back,” I tell her. “Run for the jungle.”
“I’m not leaving you!” she replies, again trying to grab me. I shrug her off.
Setrákus Ra reaches the top of the ramp. I scream and push forward with all my might, combining my weather Legacy with a wild burst of telekinesis, throwing everything my whipping winds have picked up at Setrákus Ra.
Two of the surviving Mogs get dusted immediately, smashed by my bombardment of debris. Phiri Dun-Ra shrinks back, shielding her face. But, in the doorway to the Anubis, Setrákus Ra stands tall. He turns towards me, stones and shrapnel bouncing off his armor, and pushes back. His own telekinesis slams up against mine.
Objects fly in every direction. From the corner of my eye, I see Sarah’s blaster get ripped right out of her hands. The dislodged windshield of a Skimmer slices into the ground next to me like a guillotine blade. I’m hit—over and over again—by things I can’t even identify. Still, I stand my ground, heels digging into the dirt. I keep pushing.
It happens.
A metal pole with a Loralite symbol carved into it, a piece of Setrákus Ra’s destroyed pipeline, flies through the air. The end is sharp. Serrated.
It plunges right into Setrákus Ra’s chest. I watch him double over, stumble back from the impact. I can see Phiri Dun-Ra scream.
The force from his telekinesis dies down. I feel him weaken.
I did it.
Tears stream down my cheeks.
I did it.
Phiri Dun-Ra and the others drag Setrákus Ra onto the Anubis. The door slams shut behind him. The ramp retracts.
I fall onto my knees. He’s dead. He has to be dead. It has to have been worth it.
Sarah wraps her arms around me.
“Get up, Six,” she says, her voice strained. She coughs, sucks in a breath. She’s hurt. We both are. “We have to go!”
I place my hand on top of Sarah’s and turn us invisible. This way, I don’t have to see the blood.
So much blood. Too much.
I hope it was worth it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I MADE A LOT OF PROMISES BACK IN THE Elders’ Chamber. I told those new Garde that I’d lead them, that we’d help them train, that together we could save their world. It was pretty amazing, seeing them all there. Yeah, some of them looked scared, a few of them completely confused, and a couple even appeared downright angry to be roped into this. But most of the others . . . they looked ready. Nervous, yeah, but ready and willing to step up and join the fight.
Now, to keep those promises, I just have to survive one seriously pissed-off Mogasaur.
The second that I’m back in my body, I feel a hot gust of the beast’s stinky breath as it roars. It’s right behind us. I’ve still got an arm around Sam from when I grabbed him before we all briefly fainted. He’s got his wits back too, so we stumble against each other but manage to get it together and run.
“Nice speech!” Sam shouts in my ear. “Are we going to die now?”
“Hell no,” I reply.
The gathering of the Garde isn’t the only thing that stuck with me from Ella’s dream space. I’m still dwelling on watching Pittacus Lore in action. Ximic, that’s what Loridas called Pittacus Lore’s copycat Legacy. And then there was my brief meeting with Henri.
Visualize, he said. Visualize and remember.
Agent Walker pauses from screaming into her satellite phone to eyeball us. She seems just as confused by our awakening as she must have been with our sudden collapse a couple of seconds ago.
“What the hell’s happening?” she yells.
“Don’t worry about it! Get your people to cover!” I yell, waving my arms.
“How are we supposed to fight that thing?” Sam asks, glancing over his shoulder.
“I don’t know,” I reply grimly.
“We hit it a lot,” Nine barks.
Walker and most of the agents use the Statue of Liberty for cover. I’m not sure how much good that’s going to do considering the Mogasaur is almost as large as the statue. One of the agents, I didn’t catch his name, trips up in his panic as the behemoth bounds forward. It moves like a gorilla, keeping its weight on its front fists, its clawed back feet churning up furrows of cement as they scrabble for purchase. Lucky for us, the newborn monster is still getting used to walking.
That doesn’t save the fallen agent, though. I try to yank him backwards with my telekinesis, but I’m not quick enough. The Mogasaur brings one of its closed fists down and crushes the poor guy. I don’t even think the beast notices. Its eyes, each of them dotted with what I’m sure is a stolen Loric pendant, are locked onto us.
It’s only a matter of time before it catches us. Suddenly, I find myself thinking about the first night I met Six, back in Paradise. It was also the first time I’d taken on a piken, although it wasn’t anywhere near as big as this behemoth. Six used her invisibility to get us out of a lot of jams that night. I remember the way she grabbed my hand. I remember the dizzying feeling of being able to see through my own body.
Remember. Visualize.
“John?” Sam screams as we run. “JOHN?”
“What’s wrong?” I yell back, head on a swivel.
“You—” He’s staring at me and almost trips over his own feet. “You just disappeared.”
I didn’t disappear, I realize. I turned invisible.
“Holy shit, I can do it,” I say out loud.
“Do what?” Nine asks.
I don’t answer. My mind races. I just used Six’s invisibility Legacy, if only briefly. It just clicked, like remembering a name that you thought you’d forgotten. I could make us invisible. We could escape. But that would mean abandoning Walker and her people.
All this power, right at my fingertips, always just out of reach. And now—what can I do with it? I need time to practice, to figure things out, to train.
What Legacies can I crack in the next couple of minutes that will help us defeat this monster?
Agent Walker and her group empty their guns into the beast. The bullets are all swallowed by the thing’s thick hide, no more effective than my fireball was earlier. Nothing but a swarm of gnats to the Mogasaur. It ignores the agents completely, coming for us.
“Come on!” I yell. “Bring it towards the lawn!” We’ll have more space to fight it there and, considering how clumsy the monster seems, it’s probably best if we keep it moving. Hopefully, I can figure something out while it chases us.
“Oh man, I don’t feel so hot,” Daniela says. Normally a graceful and fast runner, Daniela stumbles over her own feet as we sprint towards the lawn. I grab her by the arm and drag her along. “Something happened to me in that vision shit. My head is pounding.”
Chunks of cement erupt from the Mogasaur’s latest forward step and pelt my shoulders.
“I’m gonna try something, Johnny!” Nine says, and breaks off from us.
“Do your thing,” I say, trusting Nine not to get himself killed.
Nine sprints to the edge of the plaza, where there’s a row of metal binoculars on poles stuck into the ground, the things meant for tourists to admire the view of Manhattan. He rips two of these out of the ground, holding one in each hand like clubs. Then, he charges right towards the monster. His super speed kicks in and he’s a blur streaking across the plaza.
I could use that. I try to focus on Nine, imagine the way his muscles work overtime, how he builds up that speed with his Legacy. But nothing clicks.
The lumbering creature actually seems confused when Nine runs right at it. The thing hesitates, trying to decide whether to go straight at Nine or to keep chasing the rest of us. Then, maybe reasoning in its tiny brain that it’s easier to stay stationary, the Mogasaur lets out a welcoming shriek in Nine’s direction. It raises up one of its giant hands, preparing to swat Nine as soon as he gets close.