I let the heat of my Lumen die down a fraction. My hand feels sticky with molten metal.
‘What? What are you talking about?’
‘It’s a charm, like the one the Elders used on us,’ Five says. ‘He’s twisted it somehow.’
I turn off my Lumen entirely. Is Five trying to help us now? Did he knock me off Setrákus Ra not to protect his Beloved Leader but to save Ella? I don’t know what to think.
‘How do we break it?’ I shout at him. ‘How do we kill him?’
‘I don’t know,’ Five replies, glancing over his shoulder. His expression suddenly goes dark again,
that fury I’d seen when he was about to punch me reignited. ‘Damn him!’
Five rips away from me and takes flight. I climb back to my feet just in time to see Nine charging at
Setrákus Ra. He holds a broken piece of the stage out in front of him like a spear.
‘Nine! Don’t!’
Nine doesn’t hear me, probably because he’s too busy getting sideswiped by Five. The two of them
go crashing into the wreckage of the stage, broken pieces of wood flying everywhere. Once they hit, it looks like Five tries to take flight again, but Nine gets hold of his ankle.
‘Where you going, fat boy?’ I hear Nine yell.
Nine gets back to his feet, still holding Five’s ankle, and then swings him with all his might. Five
flaps his arms in a futile attempt to get some momentum, but he’s overpowered. Nine slams Five face-
first on to the pavement. Chunks of concrete fly up from the impact, and Five’s head makes the sound
of a bell ringing when it hits. I notice his metallic shell momentarily switch back to normal skin – that must’ve hurt Five enough to make it hard to focus on his Externa.
‘Nine! Enough!’ I shout, pushing loose of my own pile of broken wood.
Nine glances in my direction, and that’s when Five uppercuts him. With a roar, Nine dives back at
him, and they slam together. They hurl punches at each other, a tangled mess of limbs that I lose sight of when they go crashing through the front window of the United Nations building.
I can’t worry about them now. I have to get to Setrákus Ra.
I have to save Ella. I won’t let her be taken for a second time.
My left arm hangs limp at my side. I’d need to pop my shoulder back in before I could heal myself,
but I don’t have time for that. I shake crusty flakes of metal off my hand and strap my dagger to the
wrist of my working arm. I’ll have to do this one handed.
Surprisingly, Setrákus Ra doesn’t seem the least bit interested in staying to fight. He drags Ella
through the rubble, heading for the pearl-shaped ship he arrived in. Ella looks a lot like she did in that vision we shared of Washington, D.C. – like she’s been drained of something essential. I wonder
what they did to her on that warship.
No matter what happens! Do it! Ella had shouted in my mind. No matter what happens. Five must not be lying. Ella knew what the consequences of me stabbing Setrákus Ra would be, and she
accepted them.
Whatever they did to her, the Mogs didn’t break her. She had enough fight left in her to help us. It
was like Dulce Base all over again. She stuck Setrákus Ra with a glowing piece of debris, and my
Legacies instantly came back.
She drained Setrákus Ra’s powers, I realize. And, judging by his cowardly retreat, they still
haven’t returned to him.
I might not be able to kill Setrákus Ra, but that doesn’t mean I can’t subdue him. Let’s see the
Mogadorians invade while I’m holding their Beloved Leader hostage.
I race across the lopsided and broken stage, trying to cut off Setrákus Ra before he can reach his
ship. Ella sees me coming and digs her heels in. She struggles against Ra’s grip and this slows him up just enough. I’m going to catch him.
‘Setrákus Ra!’
Damn it. Not now.
The Mogadorian leader doesn’t even acknowledge Agent Walker as she comes at him from his
other side. Does she expect him to freeze? It’s her and two other agents who have managed to
extricate themselves from the riotous, panicking crowd. Sam is with them. They stop a few yards off,
their guns leveled. Even Sam looks ready to fire – his eyes narrowed, his mouth pressed into a firm
line. I remember those acid burns on Sam’s wrists. They came courtesy of Setrákus Ra. I’m sure he’s
ready to settle that score.
‘Wait!’ I yell at Sam and Walker, but I’m too late.
Setrákus Ra jerks his head in the direction of the agents and Sam, like they’re an annoying bug that
needs to be swatted. With the hand not holding Ella, Setrákus Ra produces that three-headed whip of
his from where it’s hidden under his torn uniform. Before he can lash out at them, the agents and Sam
open fire.
I can’t believe what I’m about to do.
I stop the bullets in midair with my telekinesis. I’m not sure if they would have even penetrated
Setrákus Ra’s armor, but I can’t risk it. I don’t let Sam and the others have a chance to realize all their shots have missed. Instead, I shove the entire group backwards with my telekinesis. Not hard enough
to hurt them, but hard enough to knock them over some of the broken stage debris. It’s also enough to
put them out of range of Setrákus Ra’s whip. I’ll apologize later.
Setrákus Ra doesn’t give the agents a second look. The brief distraction was all he needed to reach
the steps of his ship ahead of me. He bounds up them, dragging Ella along behind him, and disappears
into the vessel.
I sprint forward, determined not to let him escape. The ship begins to rise up before the staircase
has fully folded back into its smooth body.
I can still catch them. I can still stop him. I’m so close.
I dive forward and manage to grab the bottom step with my good hand.
The ship continues to rise while the steps recede back towards the open doorway. They pull me
closer towards Setrákus Ra and Ella, even as the ship rises farther away from the Earth. I swing one
of my legs up so that I’m hooked around the bottom step. Soon, we’re almost a hundred feet in the air, getting closer and closer to the warship above.
The steps fold up like an accordion into a panel at the base of the ship’s entrance. I push off the
step I’d been grasping before I’m crushed in the mechanism and lunge for the open doorway. It isn’t
easy to do with only one good arm. I end up hanging from the doorway’s edge, my good arm starting
to feel hyperextended. My legs dangle above what is now a two-hundred-foot drop.
Setrákus Ra stands over me. His three-headed whip dangles in my face, the tips alive with
crackling fire. I don’t think he plans to pull me the rest of the way in.
I catch a glimpse of Ella through his legs. She’s slouched in one of the cockpit’s chairs, looking
totally sedated. I won’t be getting any help from her.
‘John Smith, isn’t it?’ Setrákus Ra asks conversationally. ‘Thank you for the help down there.’
‘I wasn’t trying to help you.’
‘But you did, regardless. That is one reason why I will let you live.’
I grimace. My grip slips a little. I need to come up with a play soon. It’s hard to chuck a fireball
with one arm dislocated and the other holding on for dear life. It’ll have to be my telekinesis. Maybe if I can push him back …
It’s gone. My telekinesis is gone. Drained, just like before.
Setrákus Ra smiles at me. His Legacies are returning. I’ve failed.
He crouches down so he can get right in my face.
‘The other reason,’ he hisses, ‘is so you can see how I make this planet burn.’
Setrákus Ra straightens up again and nonchalantly flicks his whip at me. The three heads strike me