47
Cassius Stevenson snuck through the shadowed hallways of the Lodge, looking over his shoulder with every corner he turned. He had changed into a fresh suit upon arriving, eager to leave the dirt and dust of the Fringes behind.
It was three in the morning, much too early for most to be awake. Without Madame, the Lodge was quieter-less of a fortress and more of an old, lonely mansion.
His mind rushed back to childhood memories. Birthdays. School. Training.
It would be the last time he’d walk these hallways.
After changing clothes, he’d broken into the student infirmary and managed to run a full body scan. Ever since he’d seen Madame reduce Fisher’s girlfriend to a puddle with the press of a button, he knew he’d need to make sure she couldn’t do the same to him.
Sure enough, the scan detected a chip. Not in his head, luckily, but in his wrist, directly below his identification code. He’d stuffed his pockets with supplies. The chip would have to come out. Not now, but soon.
His next stop was the Office of Research and Discovery. Last time he’d entered, it’d been to leech the energy from a Pearl-to destroy the life inside. Now he was heading straight for the central radar system used to track Pearl landings. He wouldn’t be able to stop the Unified Party outright, but he’d be able to slow them down.
He paused at the doorway, questioning if he was on the right side. It had certainly been easier following orders, working toward a clear goal. Right and wrong.
But he had been lied to. Now it was impossible to know who to trust. The only action that made sense was to level the playing field.
He locked in the code on the wall beside him. The door clicked open. He grabbed the handle, pulled, and slipped inside. The security crew would have spotted him on the cameras already. They’d be down in minutes to see what a trainee was doing inside the office.
He didn’t worry. All he needed was a few minutes anyway.
He passed by the long bank of computers on his way to the radar system at the far side of the room. Rounded bookcases bordered the tight space. Kindling.
The central computer sat on a raised platform in front of the far window. Without it, the six remaining radars around the country would lose their connection to the Lodge, making Pearl discovery infinitely more frustrating until it was repaired.
Upon arriving at the platform, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, summoning up the fire inside him. Ever since the alien girl had drawn out his power in Seattle, he found it much easier to control. But a tiny flame wasn’t going to suffice now. He needed a blowout.
So he closed his eyes and let all the revelations of the day flood into him. The angrier he became, the more intense the burning inside of him. He conjured up emotion-betrayal, jealousy, rage-and dared his body to teeter on the brink of destruction.
Madame knew. She knew he had a brother and she would have been content to destroy him. All she wanted was power. She never cared. Not really.
When the fire inside of him reached its breaking point, he lifted his hands and channeled it, concentrating on the tips of his fingers.
Boom.
Streams of fire shot from his fingertips, lighting up the room in torrents. The force of it sent him staggering back. He crashed into the nearest computer, pushing it off the table.
Within seconds the entire room was ablaze. Wood and paper went first, joined by computer systems and file cabinets. Explosions ripped through the office as hardware went up in smoke.
The room became more unrecognizable by the moment, folding in on itself like a crumpled piece of paper. Cassius felt woozy, drained from the inside out.
He clenched his fists and shut off the fire. Then he reached for the central computer, yanking it from its station and throwing it into the hungry blaze.
The warmth inside of him dissipated, spreading out into his system until his body temperature normalized. The flames triggered the sprinkler system, but they were too late. The inferno was ten times more powerful than the one he had set off in his dormitory. It would take human intervention to contain it. Serious manpower.
Alarms blared in the background, but Cassius was protected by a wall of fire. No one would find him. No one would know who was responsible.
Still, he needed to escape before he was too exhausted to run. He climbed up onto the platform beside the window and crossed his arms in front of his face. He paused a moment, taking one last look at his home. Then he jumped through the window.
Glass shattered as he flew through the air. He landed hard on the dew-stained grass outside, shards raining down around him. Without pausing to check for damage, he picked himself off the grass and ran away from the Lodge as fast as his aching body would allow.
48
Captain Alkine leans back in a large leather chair behind his office desk. A window of blue sky fills the wall behind him. It’s twelve hours since they picked me up in Kansas. I’ve barely slept. I haven’t even had time to process. And Alkine thinks it’s a good idea to pull me into a meeting.
“I’ve spoken with our medical team,” he starts. “Except for some residual energy floating around his skin, your friend seems completely normal. Human, even.”
“Who said he’s my friend?” I slouch down in my own far more unimpressive chair.
“Wrong choice of words.” Alkine pauses in thought, staring off into the corner of the room. His right arm’s bound in a dark cast. “I want to apologize, Fisher.”
“No need,” I reply. “I get it. You wanted to keep me safe from Madame and the Unified Party and all the other big bad monsters of the world.”
“That’s true,” he says, “but I should have done more. We all should have. We were so concerned about Pearls that we neglected to consider the personal effect this would have on you. When we found you down in Seattle all those years ago, I was convinced that there was some sort of connection with the government, or the terrorists even. I never dreamed that it would stretch any further than that. I should have spent more time investigating. If we had known the truth about Pearls… ”
“Yeah? Well, now you have a chance to make up for mistakes.”
“My thoughts exactly.” He nods. “Beyond your mother’s message, we’ve been unable to extract much from our visitor. His English is limited and comes out in spurts. As soon as we know more, we’ll have a better idea how safe these people are.” He sighs. “I hope you believe me, Fisher. We had no idea what was inside of Pearls. Everything would have been different if we-”
I raise my hand to stop him. “It’s okay.”
He nods. “Now that we know what you’re capable of, we can tailor our resources to help you. We’re more than able to take on this rescue mission. That is, if you’re interested.”
“You’re asking me?”
He shrugs. “After so many years of keeping things from you, it’s only right that I give you the choice.”
I drum my fingers on the armrest. “What about the Tribunal?”
Alkine sighs. “As soon as they find out I broke through the Skyline to help you in Seattle they’ll be furious. I’ve decided to go off-grid for the time being. We’ve already begun to move westward. By the time they realize we’re gone, we’ll be out of Skyship Territory and over the Pacific.”
I wince at the thought of it. Going against the Unified Party is one thing. We’re used to it. But running away from the Tribunal is something mass new. I never thought Alkine would make such a bold move for me. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe he is looking out for my best interests. But if he really wants to help, there’s one more thing he needs to do. “Avery,” I say. “We have to find Avery.”
“Likely back at the Lodge by now,” his voice lowers. “I had my men search the city, Jesse.” He grimaces. “Look, I know you two were close, but it’s not in our best interest to-”