Sliding into the seat, I closed my eyes and took a moment to catch my breath. Then, under the feeble light of a flickering lamp, I opened the slip of paper. No name…just an address I memorized immediately. After burning the note with the car’s cigarette lighter, I smiled to myself and gunned the engine. All I had to do was help the troop realize the second sign of the Zodiac had come to fruition, that it was a virus plaguing the valley, and do so without letting on how I knew. Then I’d go after Joaquin.
And after that I’d turn my attention to Regan.
Because she was wrong, I thought, heading back to the sanctuary through the dark web of decaying streets. I didn’t owe her shit. Hundreds of innocent lives lost made us more than even.
15
The others didn’t return to the sanctuary that dawn, the next day, or the day after, and by the time they dragged in half a week later, I was desperate for news. I’d combed through all my manuals and gone over Regan’s words in my mind, and was itching to add another corner piece to the puzzle of how this thing was being spread-but when those of us left behind gathered to greet the returning agents, I could tell from their slumped shoulders, weary and loaded, that they were no closer to knowing what had caused this plague than when they’d left.
That’s what it was being called. A plague. Newscasters and reporters nationwide had jumped on the story, and the sensationalism only increased as the number of victims continued to rise. Regan has said only a small percentage of the population was susceptible, and if those numbers were right, those who’d survived the initial onslaught were somehow passing this virus on to others. The latest official update from the television had said a few hundred deaths, but as horrible as it sounded, that number was manufactured, a blind meant to keep public panic down. So my first question when the others stumbled in was going to be, How many?But one look at their collective faces and the words dried like dust in my throat.
Warren was in the lead, as usual, but he held up a hand to stall whatever question had been about to pop from Tekla’s open mouth. She snapped it shut quickly, brows drawing tightly together, her hands white-knuckling in front of her as Gregor walked past shaking his head.
Jewell looked like a survivor of a natural disaster, a lone human barely standing while everything lay flattened around her.
Hunter looked pissed.
Vanessa had red-rimmed eyes, and Micah had his arm around her waist, like he was afraid she’d topple without his support.
I’d never seen Felix without at least a small spark of mischief glinting in his eyes.
Riddick looked small despite his bulk and size.
“Jesus,” I whispered, when they’d all passed. Chandra hadn’t even registered my presence, and that more than anything else made fright knot up beneath my breastbone. Tekla, Rena, and I automatically drew together. Marlo, who’d come late to the launchpad, pulled up short when she saw the others’ faces, and was now clasping my hand tightly. I didn’t blame her. Superheroes weren’t supposed to look inconsolable.
Tekla sighed heavily. “Give them time to find their equilibrium. Let the balm of the familiar, and the safety of sanctuary blight the images they’ve brought back with them. There will be time enough for questions tomorrow.”
“But more people will be dead tomorrow,” I said, unthinking, and was immediately ashamed. Of course the troop needed rest. But I needed to tell Micah about the virus, though I still hadn’t figured out how to do so without tipping him off to how I knew it was a virus.
“More will die anyway,” Tekla said, and wandered away, her robes and then the hallway swallowing her up. I shuddered, watching her leave. That wasn’t pessimism. It was prediction.
With a muttered good-bye, Marlo followed Tekla back to the astrolab. I swallowed hard and turned to discover Rena already facing me. Tall, she wore a shapeless, long white robe similar to Tekla’s, hazardous considering her occupation. Still, she never seemed mussed, untidy, or ruffled. Her hair, which must have been a vibrant red at one time, had faded to a soft copper, gray wisps threading away from her temples to the bun lying just above the base of her neck. Her only adornment was a pair of gold disks circling her ears, and those appeared larger than they were simply because they winked so close to her sunken and scarred eye sockets. The rest of her face was lined only with the normal evidence of age. She’d been the troop’s senior ward mother for a long time now.
And, I thought, swallowing hard, if she’d had eyes, I’d say she was glaring at me right now.
“What?” I said, resisting the urge to look behind me.
“Maybe you’re the one who should be answering a few questions,” she said, and harsh anger sharpened her words.
“What do you mean?”
Her expression tightened. “I know you left, Olivia. Not just the sanctuary, but the boneyard. I went searching for you, and followed your scent all the way until it disappeared into a solid block wall.”
Oh shit. I’d forgotten that despite the cross-hatching of scars marring the lids where her eyes should have been, Rena could see better than most people with 20/20 vision. Superheroes included.
“I have a good reason,” I started, but she waved the words away impatiently.
“There’s no good reason to ignore the direct orders of your troop leader. Ever.”
And nothing I said could change her mind. Rena High-tower was charged with raising the children of the Zodiac until they entered their third life cycle, so every troop member that’d just passed us by had been, and in a way still was, her child. All except me.
I glanced around to ensure we were alone, then stepped closer. “All I did was follow them to the place where they found their first victim. Then I came right back. I just had to see.”
“Imagine the trouble I could get myself into if I just had to see?” she said, so bitingly I had to wince. “Restrictions are put on us for a reason. You were told to stay here and you should have done just that.”
“But-”
“Don’t but me, Olivia Archer,” and I knew I was in trouble because she’d never used my full name before. “You disobeyed a direct order, and as soon as Warren doesn’t act like another disappointment is going to crush him, I’m going to tell him.”
“No!” My voice came out louder and harsher than I intended, and I grabbed her hand without thinking. She jerked back with more strength than I knew she possessed, and I’d already started apologizing when she grabbed my hand again. “Where did you get this?”
I should’ve known Rena would be the first to notice the ring, even without eyesight. I considered lying for a moment, but the question had been asked with more curiosity than anger. “My locker,” I said, causing her to nod to herself as the metal circling my finger warmed beneath her touch. “It was…waiting for me when I came back this time.”
Waiting was the only way to describe the way the locker proffered its occasional contents.
“She must’ve left it for you,” she said, and her expression softened as she rubbed the ring with her thumb, then smiled. She sighed it away almost immediately, and dropped my hand. Louder, she said, “It’s a special ring, Olivia. One you’re obviously meant to have.”
The discovery had taken some of the venom from her voice, and that relieved me enough to have me regarding it anew. “Yes, but why?”