Читать книгу Scarred - Erica Hayes - Страница 13

The building quaked. Glimmer dived on top of me, shielding me from anything that might fall… and all the lights in the room popped out. Bulb, computers, everything.

The echo subsided, and together we scrambled up. My ears still rang. I dusted myself off and spat grit. "Okay?"

Glimmer coughed, waving his hands to clear the dust cloud. "Awesome. You?"

"What the hell was that? Lightning strike?"

"With no storm? Not likely." Glimmer grabbed his go kit—pistol, phone, tablet, flash drive—and headed for the door. Dust eddied in his wake.

I trailed after him, but my heart squelched into my throat to strangle me.

Shit. Had Vincent followed me home? Jeez, had I let my guard slip? Gotten distracted by his tricks and given us away? How would I ever live that down?

A confused crowd milled in the darkened corridor. Harriet emerged, wide-eyed like a scolded dog. She knew that crash wasn't lightning.

"Okay?" I asked.

Harriet just tossed her hair. "What's going on?"

"Nothing friendly. Stay close." Glimmer was already halfway down the stairs.

In the refectory, dust clogged my nostrils. Peg was directing traffic, making everyone sit down and stay calm, and I was grateful. Most of those we'd taken in were ordinary folk who'd never fought a day in their lives.

Not crime-fighters. Just people who didn't fit in, minding their own business, who happened to have a little something strange or wrong about them. And then one day, they found themselves running and hiding for their lives with a genocidal archvillain in disguise for mayor. Hell, most of 'em probably voted for him. Nearly everyone did.

Peg, on the other hand, had kept her composure. Like she was accustomed to taking charge. Good for her—and right now, good for us, too. But I made a mental note to ask Ad about her later. He wouldn't appreciate my interference. I didn't give a fuck. We were family. She was just an interloper.

Ebenezer, who was sweeping broken window glass into a frosted pile, tossed me an ironic eye-roll. Eb was a scary bastard, but short of a pitched battle? His augment was kind of useless. Mike and Jem, our more conventional warriors, lurked nowhere to be seen. Probably still upstairs, waiting for Jem to revive. Great. Like that'd be any time soon.

"Where's Adonis?" I demanded.

Peg pointed outside. Her cheeks shone pale with worry. "Be careful, Verity. It's not safe."

A distant glaze in her eyes sprang bumps on my arms. Huh? What was her augment, again? But no time to figure her out now.

Glimmer and I ran to the door. He motioned with his pistol, and his silent presence slipped into my head, a sweet-feathered tickle. Me first. You take the left. I'll cover you.

I nodded, flushing—gotta admit, I kind of like it when he does that—and eased the door open.

He danced out and I followed, back to the wall. Particles swirled on the breeze. I sniffed, and sneezed on dust. Definitely not smoke. But what…

A skewed metal strut caught the corner of my eye, and I gaped.

The entire eastern end of the asylum had been crushed. Pulverized, like an enormous bare foot had descended from on high and stamped the concrete under its massive heel. All that remained of the last twenty feet of the building was crushed concrete, splintered wood and twisted steel reinforcers, with a garnish of shatter-bright glass.

My stomach tightened. Jesus on a jet ski. Could've been people in there. Maybe had been. Maybe Mike and Jem… but my concern was eclipsed by a guilty flush of relief.

At least it wasn't burning.

Disembodied laughter echoed from trees dappled in shadow. Shrill, hollow laughter, straight from an evil fairytale. I shivered. Villains. Nothing if not theatrical.

I spotted Adonis crouched by the kitchen, and he beckoned to me. "Verity!"

I scuttled over to hunker beside him. "What's that God-awful noise? Who does this idiot think they are, the Joker?"

Swiftly, Glimmer checked around the corner, leading with his weapon. He dropped down beside us. "No one. Whoever it is, they're not keen on being seen."

After the museum, and Vincent, and Adonis' implied scolding, I was itching for a fight. "Damn coward. Why are they hiding? Why don't you come out and face us, you lunatic?" I yelled the last part, bristling inside.

"Maybe they're shy." Glimmer checked his pistol, a snap of metal slide. "A hit and run, just to piss us off. Make us jumpy."

"Or lure us out," I added. "Do we even know anyone who could do this? Besides, y'know, me on steroids?"

Adonis grimaced. "We need Jem to do a recce."

"He's in no shape."

"Agreed. Glimmer?"

Glimmer tucked his pistol away. "I can give it a shot. Can't guarantee they won't blast my head off. As if you'd be sorry, you heartbreaker."

"And just when we were falling in love." Adonis clapped Glimmer's shoulder and gave me a chilly stare of command. "Vee, stay here."

"But I can help…" I protested weakly, trailing off. Why did I even bother? Adonis could've just unleashed on me, bent me to his will with a wink and a smile. At least he was giving me that much credit.

Like that's supposed to make my house arrest any less frustrating.

Glimmer flicked me an apologetic glance and crept along to the corner, footprints light in the dust. My heart clenched in trepidation, but I resisted the temptation to go all Peg on him. Be careful, honey. Don't be out too late.

Glimmer can't make himself invisible, not the way Jem can, by bending light. Glimmer just makes you think he's invisible. Which makes him one dangerous mindfuck dude, but it also means he needs to catch your attention first. I've seen him hurl his illusions across a room, a shimmering shockwave of huh?—but that was hit-and-miss. His mojo worked best when he gazed into your eyes. Watch me, he'd whisper, and next thing you knew…

Not that I'd ever let him unleash on me, not like that. No way. Sad fact is, Glimmer's too much a saint to make me cluck like a chicken, or shave my own eyebrows off, or any of that bad-taste stuff the rest of us would do if we got the chance to hypnotize someone. More likely, he'd pull some do-gooder hypnotherapy moves to suggest I quit drinking, clean up my act and get a steady boyfriend who isn't a power-mad pyromaniac.

Not for the first time, I wondered how far into your brain Glimmer's augment could dig. Could he, for instance, erase memories? Implant new ones? Break my conditioning? Do a bit of sly Vincent aversion therapy?

But the idea of stripping my failings bare like that just lined my guts with cold grease. Glimmer didn't need to see the slimy things that wallowed in the cesspit of my mind. It'd… dirty him. Smear him unclean. Tarnish him, somehow.

And that I would not have. Not on my watch, sister.

Glimmer eased his lean frame around the corner. Can't see 'em, he murmured in my head. Just wait…

Grrrr-ack! The monstrous groan of timber splitting. Leaves rustled en masse… and Glimmer dived back around the corner and thudded into the dust.

A massive tree trunk speared into the brick wall six feet away from us. Boom! The earth shook. Leaves and sticks flew, a cloud of dirt and ripped bark.

Adonis and I scrambled backwards as one. "Creeping Jesus," I panted as the dust settled. "Who throws a tree at people?"

"It's Blue Dreads." Glimmer coughed, spitting dust. "Sophron. Saw her in the forest."

"What about the other one?"

"Flash? No, I didn't—"

That laughter snaked out again, coiling around us. "Now we're getting someplace," the girl called. Her hollow, high-pitched voice rasped, alien. "Miss me, Verity Fortune? Come out and show yourselves, you—"

The rest was obliterated by another tree crashing into the building. Glass exploded, windows shattering.

"How the hell did she find us?" Ad glanced my way, suspicious.

"I wasn't followed," I insisted. "Sewers and shadows, all the way." It hurt that he suspected me, though he'd every right. But a chill clawed beneath my skin, one of Eb's hungry corpse rats chewing on my flesh.

What if Vincent lied? What if Sophron truly was his creature, and in my rank stupidity, I'd led her straight to us?

That's ridiculous, Common-Sense Verity scolded in my head. If Vincent knows where you're hiding, why doesn't he just burn the lot of you to ash? Why construct this elaborate deception?

I snorted. Right. You're talking about a man who left me trapped in a lunatic asylum for nine months to get my memory wiped, then pretended not to know me while I fell for him all over again, then tricked me into not only exposing my own augmented family in front of the entire world, but also convincing the city to overlook the fact that he's a hate-drenched maniac and elect him mayor.

Such a man would surely never construct an elaborate deception. What a ludicrous notion. Shut the fuck up, Common-Sense. You know nothing.

But on the heels of that thought nipped another, a rabid little rodent with sharp teeth: it's because he doesn't want to kill you.

So what did he want?

But I knew, of course. And it sickened my stomach and tingled my thighs at the same time. You belong to me, he'd whispered. Come back to me. You know you want to…

"Vee, you with us?" Adonis tugged my arm, yanking me back to reality. Sticks and branches rained on our heads, and we ducked under the cover of the narrow eaves. "Go fetch Michael, tell him we've got a situation here. Ebenezer, too…"

But lightning forked, a rich-smelling boommm! of thunder. Mike was already here. Standing by the crushed brickwork, wrapped in an aura of crackling white fire.

Just a small old guy, but he sure looked bad-ass. He wasn't wearing his reflective Illuminatus suit—the one that really made him light up like a blowtorch—but he could've been naked and wrapped in adult diapers and you still didn't fuck with Uncle Mike.

I shook my head like a wet dog to dislodge the clanging in my ears. And that was just a little one.

Razorfire has the flashiest augment in town, naturally. He wouldn't allow it any other way, and until you've watched him slice an office complex in two with a flick of his wrist, leaving a smoking crater of scorched earth and corpses, you ain't seen weapon of mass destruction.

But for sheer coolness factor? Mike's gotta run a close second. Lightning bolts, people. Fuck, yeah.

Sophron's cackle danced from the forest's shadows. "Come over here and say that, electric. Bring that thing closer and see what happens."

Mike let rip with another bolt. Ker-ackk!! A tree split in half and erupted into flame. The stink of smoke and ozone and wet wood showered, and while the explosion still rang, Glimmer dashed over to Adonis and me, and the three of us crouched together. Adonis glanced at me. I glanced at Glimmer. Glimmer nodded. I nodded too.

And as one, we leapt up and sprinted for Mike.

Glass shattered. Concrete crumbled behind us, blam! blam! blam! as Sophron slammed the walls with her giant invisible crunching foot, or whatever it was. We dived for cover amongst the rubble.

Smack! I banged my elbow on a broken lump of concrete as I fell, and gasped like a grounded swampfish while the funnies hit my bones.

Mike ducked behind the broken wall with us. He rubbed his silver bracelets together, like a defibrillator, and current arced bright blue, snap-crackle-pop! "Jem's sick," he filled us in shortly. "He can't fight. Gotta get rid of these fuckers now and worry about what they want later."

"Agreed." Adonis shot me another dark glance, like everything was my fault. Hell, maybe it was, inadvertently. Didn't mean he had to keep on about it.

"Plan?" Glimmer popped his pistol's magazine and checked the chamber. Sure, some augments are bulletproof, or can dodge, or deflect, or whatever. I'm convinced Razorfire evades gunfire on the strength of pure ego. But most can't. So long as you get in quickly? A bullet is still a ninety-five percent solution.

But Glimmer's magazine was half empty. We were running short. Even Glimmer can't conjure more ammo from nothing, and you can't legally buy firearms or rounds in this state without ID. It's black market or nothing, and these days gunrunning in Sapphire City is strictly Gallery.

Me? I'd left my pistol upstairs. Nice move, Verity. A Boy Scout, I ain't.

"Well, we still don't know precisely what their augments are." Adonis grimaced. "And we don't have all day. I say let's shock-and-awe these assholes and find out what they've got."

Like we were free to disagree, or something. Glimmer didn't even bother to speak.

I shrugged. "Sure."

Harriet crawled from the ruins to crouch beside Mike. "Me, too." A mascara-lashed glance at Glimmer. "I want to help Jem."

Mike nodded brusquely. "Okay, I'm in. Just be careful, sweetheart." He ruffled Harriet's hair, making her dodge and scowl.

Happy champagne tingles popped in my heart. Most dads would tear their own skin off before they let their daughter walk into danger. But Mike's no ordinary dad, and Harriet isn't a regular daughter. My family are special, and though I might grumble and snipe and bicker, I love 'em all to death.

Well, maybe not Harriet. But even she's worth a thousand of those normal assholes who hate us and want us kept under control, but scream to us for help when their safe little bubble pops…

Very good, whispered Villain Verity, that scaly, black-twisted snake coiling in my heart. Nurture that hatred. Feed it. It's what he'd want…

"Where's Eb?" Adonis breathed deeply and stretched his spine, wincing as the joints popped. My brother's charisma augment works more reliably when he's feeling calm and Zen. When he gets worked up… well, let's just say there's a fine line between an obliging little crush and the sort of obsession that kills.

"He's sneaking around the back." Harriet smirked. Apparently, she liked the idea of Eb leaping out from behind a tree and scaring the living crap out of these idiots.

Come to think of it, so did I.

"Okay." Adonis spoke rapidly, the way he did when he was making shit up as he went along. "Michael, you first, let's flush 'em out. The forest is wet, it shouldn't catch fire, but aim for the ground, not the canopy. Let's keep this covert if we can. When we can see them—presuming we can see them—the rest of us pick 'em off. Glimmer, help Harriet. And everyone watch out for Eb's arc of fire; you know what happens when he gets his hard-on. When you pin one down, yell, and I'll shut them the fuck up. If we can get 'em alive, great. If not? Do whatever. I really don't care. We've got civilians to protect. Verity, you're on shield duty. Just don't tear the fucking building down."

"Screw you." I meant it, too. Why'd everyone have to keep on about that? It wasn't like I'd torn any buildings down lately.

Adonis ignored me. "Suggestions, questions, gripes?"

"Yeah. Screw you."

"I'm good." Mike flexed his fingers, testing a sizzle of voltage. For an old dude, he was totally cool. "You," he added, flicking a blue ball of static at Glimmer that made his skunk stripe crackle on end, "with the hair and the face. Make yourself useful and look after my daughter. If she breaks a nail? I'm gonna come looking for you."

"Yes, sir." Glimmer scruffled at his electrified hair, but it only stuck up more.

Harriet blushed a gratifying beetroot shade. "Jeez, Dad, you're such a nerd."

Glimmer waved a questioning finger at Adonis. "What about the others, boss? What if the building gets crushed?"

"Peg's taking care of them."

"And what if Peg's on their side?" I retorted, with more bitterness than was really warranted. I was so over being blamed for everything. So I wasn't perfect. God knows, Adonis had made his own mistakes that stormy night at FortuneCorp. Remind me: who almost let the city get drenched in poison gas because he tried to drop Razorfire from a fifty-six-story rooftop? Not this scar-faced bad girl.

And—lately, this question had niggled at me, though I couldn't quite finger why—if Adonis was such a golden boy, why had Dad left the company to Equity, instead of to Adonis, whom everyone knew was his favorite son? Had they fallen out? What had Dad known that we didn't?

I didn't say any of that. No one ever asked those questions. Truth was? I didn't want the answers. But for whatever reason, Peg raised my hackles, and I ignored raised hackles at my peril. I'd learned that lesson the painful, bloody way.

"That's ridiculous." A glacial Adonis stare.

"You know what's ridiculous, Ad? Trusting some person you've known for five minutes with our lives."

Glimmer touched my arm, forever the voice of reason and calm-the-fuck-down. "Verity, let it be."

"What if Peg's a spy?" I persisted. "We've just taken her word for everything. What if she turns traitor? Ever consider that? Or are you too busy thinking with your hard-on?"

Adonis ignored me. "Anything else? Fine. Let's do it. Good luck."

Mike wasn't a subtle fighter. He didn't need to be. He just flicked his wrist and hurled a sheet of lightning.

Ksh-mack! The forest lit up, dazzling sunflash. A tree exploded and fell in a hail of flame.

I jumped up and flung out an invisible wall of force… just in time to intercept another whirling tree trunk. Bangggg! It slammed into my shield, jarring my bones right down to my toes. But my eager mindmuscle flexed, and the wall held. I flung the tree trunk harmlessly aside.

I grinned. So far, so fine. But we'd revealed our position now. Attacks would thicken, quicken and slicken. Heh. Good luck with that. They were facing one determined ugly chick. For more reasons than our safety, I needed to get this right.

"Again," Mike murmured calmly, and on a silent count of two I dropped the shield. Crrrack! Another sheet of lightning. I dragged the shield back up again. We walked forward.

From the forest, Sophron's laughter echoed louder. Shadows darted in the light of burning foliage.

Silently, I exulted. The stormy ozone tang invigorated me; the thunder thrilled power into my veins. Static from Mike's augment crackled like fireworks in my hair, over my arms. Damn, it felt good to be on the job again. A warm, sweet pain, like stretching muscles that had languished too long. Like massaging a roaring headache into bliss. Oh, my. I totally needed to get out more—but I wouldn't trade this for anything. Was it wrong that this was better than sex?

"You're doing fine," murmured Mike. His face glistened, electric-lit sweat, and his pale eyes glittered with power. "Your brother'll come around. Just take it easy."

"Easy, my ass," I scoffed, but I shot him a grateful glance.

Behind us, Glimmer whispered to Harriet. "How's your aim?"

"Good as yours," came her reply.

"You better believe it, sister. Let's kick some ass, okay?"

Jeez, don't encourage her. I would've rolled my eyes if I didn't know he meant it honestly. People absorbed confidence from Glimmer's trust, his quiet conviction and humble smile. All they ever absorbed from me was aggravation.

I lowered my shield again. Mike lashed out, a glowing spear. Zzzzap! Flickering blue light illuminated Sophron. She was crouching by a peeling eucalyptus trunk. Same patched jeans and ragged camisole, the strap hanging off one bony shoulder. The fire flickered around her, close enough to make her sweat. Her ghostly eyes shone, those blue dreadlocks shaking around her cheeks as she laughed.

Icy wire threaded my bones. She was utterly unhinged. Fruit cake packed with nuts. Madder than a shit-house rat.

Her sidekick, Flash, stood behind, one black-nailed hand on her shoulder. Jagged emo haircut plastered to one cheek, dark eyes aglitter. He didn't laugh. Just stared, empty. So Sophron was the master in this little love story, was she? And Flash was just the faithful dog?

Glimmer darted forwards, flinging out one hand. A hemispherical shimmer of confusion erupted, sheeting silently towards the forest like a dome of rippled glass. Discombobulate! I wanted to cry out, like a magic word of power. Would it affect Sophron? The stronger your own augment, the more likely you'll be resistant to attack. She seemed pretty powerful. I guess we'd see.

Beside me, Harriet gripped Glimmer's hand to help direct her aim. I covered my ears, just in case she hadn't improved, and Harriet opened her mouth to scream.

Ka-BOOM! A lightning fork stabbed the earth. The ground quaked. Radiant heat sizzled my cheeks, and the tips of my fingers singed and stung. Fuck, that was close…

Oh, shit.

Harriet staggered back, whimpering, clutching her sensitive ears. Blood oozed on her fingers. Glimmer was on his knees, slapping at his burning hair. Mike lay in the dirt. Not bleeding. Not breathing. Hard to do either, when…

I choked on the stink of carnage. Visions of charred flesh and bones. Holy Jesus.

Mike hadn't fired that lightning bolt. Sophron had. And Mike wasn't moving. Or, should I say, what was left of Mike.

Harriet shrieked, unfettered.

My eardrums stretched, a spike of agony jamming crosswise through my skull. I yowled, grabbing at my temples. Sounds were muffled, distant, bleeding. Like some erratic silent movie, I saw Adonis—who hadn't even had the chance to do his love-me thing—shake Harriet, yell at her, force a hand wreathed with golden sparkles of persuasion over her mouth.

Sophron laughed again. I could feel it in my bones, a serpent roiling beneath the earth, ready to burst out and swallow us. Frantic, I tried to crack off my shellshock, force my legs to move, run for her and give her what she deserved… but I just staggered, reeling like a drunken sailor.

My brother cursed, blistering, and unleashed, a fury-blackened cloud of emotional fuck-you-up that swarmed through the trees, searching for prey.

But too late. Sophron grabbed Flash's hand, and they vanished. Ker-snap! Just empty space and fire.

Well, fuckity do-dah.

Dizzy, I wilted. My muscles were unwilling, my guts shriveling with grief and ultrasonic nausea. Time stretched like lumpy rubber, disjointed. Adonis had Harriet under control, and now she wept in his embrace. Firelight flickered, monstrous shadows danced, the sun seemed far away and gone.

Ebenezer hobbled up, his face sheet-white. He scrambled into the dirt beside Glimmer, who knelt at Mike's side, hands everywhere, trying to do something, anything. Eb's lips moved, imploring his father to stay with him, breathe, open his eyes.

But Mike was gone. One of the few truly good people I knew, who never harmed an innocent or let a villain go unpunished, and never made me feel lower than a worm because I'd failed to do the same.

My eyes burned. I wanted to howl. Sophron had killed him, as easily as she'd swat a mosquito. And then she'd fled, snickering like a naughty little girl… or a coward. Fight unfinished. Score unsettled. Rage unsatisfied.

And somehow, it would be my fault. I was certain of it. My culpability was inevitable, like a storm or an earthquake or the sun one day going supernova. I was responsible for this. And I'd not let it go unanswered. No, I most definitely would not.

My vision swam. Somehow I’d fallen to my knees in the wet soil. I’d been sick. I didn’t remember it. I clawed the dirt, forcing it under my nails until they stung and bled. Tilted my face to the uncaring sky, and vowed ugly vengeance.