Nerve

by Kirsten Krueger

His orange eyes flew wide, but when he squeezed them shut and tried to teleport, nothing happened; instead, he was whisked violently to his feet and yanked toward the center, repeatedly moaning “ow” until they stagnated. Josh and Naretha had retreated into the crowd, the former looking bored and the latter looking almost aggravated, as if Danny’s actions pissed her off.

  “Where should we begin with the weakling?” the leader jeered, receiving various responses from his followers. Many were silent, uncomfortable, but others, like the girl holding Eliana, were adamant about Hartman’s torment, the apparent key to Ashna’s capture. Either they delighted in the pain of others or they had some severe grudges against the Wacko leader’s sister—or both.

  Desperation coursed through Eliana as she peeked at Nero, swaying beside her, his face a dazed mask, his mind in a sluggish stupor. Nixie stood across the circle, watching with a clenched jaw, but she didn’t seem inclined to intervene either. They were all going to let Hartman suffer.

  This couldn’t happen—not after he’d been saved from death—not when Kiki, Tray, Seth, Lavisa, and Adara might have been injured or killed—not when Zeela, her only real family, might have been gone, too—not when Ashna, the solution, lurked within the crowd.

  Why did she continue hiding when Hartman’s life was on the line? By now, it had become obvious that she and her brother were not on good terms, but just because he was evil didn’t mean she was good. Judging by her passivity in this moment of peril, she was as heartless as the monster who’d vanquished half the town.

  Eliana had no problem with sacrificing those willing to sacrifice others.

  “I know where Ashna is.” She stepped forward, only to be hauled back by the yellow-haired girl. Even as she blended into the crowd, Danny’s eyes fixated on her, brimming with greed.

  No! a voice squeaked in her head. It took all her will not to cut her gaze toward Ackerly, peering through the masses, pleading with those innocent green eyes. We have a plan to defeat Danny! Just give us some—

  “Mind reader?” Danny inquired, his vocal voice overpowering Ackerly’s mental one. Eliana nodded, and his lips curled hungrily. “I’ve always wanted one of you… Well, where is the little beast?”

  Her jaw fell slack, her mouth too dry to speak, even though the answer was on her tongue. Ackerly’s plea kept playing in her mind, either because he repeated it or because it seemed too sincere to be false. What if he and Ashna really did have a plan that could thwart Danny but Eliana ruined it by revealing their location? It was such a gamble, and even if she trusted Ackerly, there was still a chance they wouldn’t succeed.

  “She’s—” Eliana started, but then her mind was slammed with a memory so strong that she was transported from reality completely.

  At first, it was entirely disorienting. Her awareness was thrust from Periculand into a foreign setting, one composed of gray walls and metal doors and no windows. After a few moments, another’s thoughts and perceptions trickled into her brain, allowing her to see this scene from someone else’s point-of-view: Ashna’s.

  None of the doors dared to open as Ashna stormed through the hallway of what Eliana now recognized as Wacko Headquarters. Her rage pulsed throughout the underground fortress, as bright as the red light blinking in the corner of her eye. Eliana felt its source rather than saw it: the cool electric collar ringing her throat, the reason the girl had arrived at Periculand with a necklace of bruises.

  When she stepped up to the silver doors of the elevator at the end of the corridor, her reflection revealed black, punkish attire, so unlike anything she’d ever worn in Periculand. The aggression with which she marched into the elevator was also foreign to Eliana; never had she seen this reserved girl show such emotion, nor had she ever experienced anything like it herself.

  The elevator descended two floors, but the doors refused to part, invoking a groan from Ashna as she banged on the metal. “Let me in!” She glared up at the corner, where Eliana spotted a tiny camera.

  “Please goes a long way, sister,” Danny’s voice taunted.

  “Not with you,” she snarled, at which his laughter permeated the elevator. When the doors parted, granting her access to his office, he sat behind his desk, smirking.

  “What the hell, Danny?” Her voice echoed through the grand room as she stalked in and slammed her hands on the wooden surface. His little white dog, which Ashna’s brain referred to as Shards, lounged in his lap, and the tiny creature barked at the sudden noise.

  “What have I done to rattle you this time, little sister?” Danny droned, slipping on a mask of boredom. Their favorite band, Bleeding Brains, played softly in the background, but it did nothing to mitigate Ashna’s fury.

  “There’s always an ongoing list, isn’t there? How about, for today, we focus on the issue of how poorly you’ve been treating Madella?”

  His gaze flickered to hers, inquisitive. Even knowing she was in Ashna’s mind, Eliana felt the urge to shudder at his unnerving attention. “Madella was brought here as a hostage,” he said. “I wasn’t under the impression I was obligated to treat her with any decency. As long as she’s alive, she’s a valid bargaining chip. The fact that I’ve removed her from that cell and given her a room is courteous.”

  “You’ve removed her from a cell and placed her in a new one. She’s locked in her room and you have Alyssa guarding the door. Is she that much of a threat?”

  “No,” Danny conceded as he resumed petting Shards, “but you and Zach are.”

  Ashna snorted, standing straight to cross her arms. “That’s why you gave Alyssa her very own remote, hm?”

  Danny’s eyebrows jumped as she nodded toward the handheld device on his desk, which controlled her electric collar. Eliana sensed her recalling the numerous opportunities in which she could have stolen the remote, but she never would, because the moment she defied Danny would be the moment of her death—and possibly everyone else’s.

  “Alyssa is trustworthy; you are not,” he replied, lips spreading into a spiteful grin. “Why do you fret for Madella so? Has Zach brainwashed you with his sentiments of mercy? The girl is from Periculand. She will hate us as all from Periculand do. If given any freedom, she will escape.”

  “She wouldn’t want to escape if we convinced her that what we stand for is good. Instead, you scare her with threats and display us as a group of vengeful monsters. If we allowed her to assimilate with the group, she would realize the mission of Affinities for Freedom is in favor of all Aff—”

  “That name,” Danny interrupted, his demeanor glacial, “died with our father. We are the Wackos, whether you like it or not. Our mission is not for all Affinities. If there are Affinities who don’t agree with our ideology, our methods, they’re as pathetic as Reggs, and should be treated as such.”

  “That’s not what Dad would have wanted. He wasn’t a saint, but he did want to help all Affinities. He wouldn’t have let Madella rot in her room. He would have introduced her to everyone, treated her as a guest, let her decide for herself if this is a movement she wants to—”

  “Your opinion of our father is much too generous, sister. Regardless, there is no decision to be made. Madella was born an Affinity. It’s only logical—only moral—that she agree with our views. Since she does not, she should be punished.”

  “She let Josh give her the freakin’ tattoos—she said she wouldn’t run away because she wants to see her friends. What more do you want, Danny? Want her to bow down to you like you’re some god? You don’t give a damn about other Affinities. You just care about power. If you want to win this war against the Reggs, we need all the support we can get. We need people like Madella. Hell, we should form an alliance with Periculand—with Angor—but you’re too much of a pussy to consider—”

  “Watch,” he snapped, retrieving the remote, “your tongue.”

  Ashna stiffened, but she didn’t apologize or back down. Eliana would have. That’s what she’d been about to do before this vision was thrust on her: give into Danny’s de
mands out of fear. Ashna was willing to risk her own safety for what she believed was right, and as much as Eliana hated to admit it, her views on morality seemed…moral. She didn’t support Danny’s cruelty, like Eliana and the others had assumed; she didn’t want the Wackos to be terrorists. And if Danny found her threatening enough to put an electric collar around her neck, maybe she actually had the ability to overthrow him.

  “Angor Periculy shows no interest in allying himself with me,” Danny explained, toying with the remote in one hand while petting Shards with the other. “I sent him a letter about negotiating terms to exchange Madella for Naretha, and he refused. He stole her and he kept her from me.”

  Ashna didn’t react to his strained words; there was no sympathy in her heart. To her, Danny’s anguish was fair and deserved.

  “You of all people know what Angor is capable of,” he continued. “Do you not think he tortured her?”

  Ashna’s resolve crumbled with that. Biting her lip, she tentatively said, “Look, Danny…I want her back here as much as you do. We all miss her, and we’re all worried about her, but…she volunteered for the mission. She knew the consequences. You were the one who refused to give her the pill.”

  “Would you rather her dead?”

  “If Angor tortured her… Well, it doesn’t matter now. You said she’s on her way back, and given that, I’m grateful for your decision. I want to support your authority here, Danny, I really do, but…I can’t support all your ideas. Like this.” She touched the collar on her neck, the metal cool against her fingertips. “I never wanted Dad’s position—your position. What he did to you…” She eyed the tattoos painting his skin, the fire and explosions and death that mirrored his Affinity—the Affinity his father had willingly subjected him to. “I’m sorry, but it wasn’t my fault—not really. I don’t want to be your enemy. All I’ve ever wanted was to help. Why can’t you have faith in me?”

  “There is no faith for thieves,” he said quietly, unable to meet her eyes. Despite not knowing what Ashna had stolen, Eliana knew she was the thief. Ashna knew it, too, but she had never believed her brother thought so little of her.

  “Fine,” she said, spinning on her heel to depart.

  “Sister,” he called, pausing her in the elevator’s entrance. When she turned her head to glare at him, the wrath pouring from that gaze must have discouraged him from speaking his original statement, for he simply said, “See you at breakfast tomorrow.”

  Eliana knew he didn’t, though. This was the night Ashna had escaped the Wackos to flee for Periculand. It was during this conversation that she lost faith in her brother, that she decided she had to betray him.

  I came here for Adara, Ashna thought as Eliana’s vision returned to the present. Her brain had processed the memory in only a few short seconds. Danny still clutched Hartman by his ash-laden sweatshirt, staring at her expectantly, unaware of the information she’d been gifted.

  Adara was the only person I’ve ever heard about who has an Affinity so similar to Danny’s, Ashna continued urgently. She was the only one who might have been able to quench his explosions. I didn’t want to lead the Wackos here, nor did I think Danny would come here with Periculy in charge. But then…he wasn’t; Danny never told me Angor was imprisoned.

  Once I got here, I knew I had to work fast, but Adara was in jail, making it too complex. Now she’s…well…I think she might be dead. Danny exploded the police station a few minutes ago and…and her nociceptors weren’t receiving any stimuli, meaning she’s either passed out or…passed away. I don’t know if she made it. So I have to attack him on my own. I think I can contain his explosion with my force field Affinity—enough that no one will get severely injured. But we’ll need to get Hartman away from him. And then…I need you to piss him off. I need him to explode.

  Eliana wanted to ask why, but she knew Ashna wouldn’t hear her mental message. Why would she want him to explode? Did she think containing the explosion within a force field would cause Danny to implode? It seemed unlikely that he could die by his own Affinity, but Ashna’s rainbow eyes, peeking through the crowd, were full of determination.

  “She’s…in this town,” Eliana stated, meeting Danny’s gaze steadily even though her hands trembled. “But I won’t tell you where until you let Hartman go.”

  There was a flicker of impatience in his expression, but then a smile snaked across his lips. “Sure, I’ll let him go.”

  Eliana predicted it, but her jaw still dropped when Danny flung Hartman to the side. His cry as he smashed onto the ground summoned the same wrath in Eliana that she’d experienced through Ashna. Danny knew how to provoke explosions of various kinds, it seemed.

  Wrenching her arm free from the Wacko girl’s grasp, she hissed, “That’s not what I meant.”

  “No?” Danny sauntered toward her as the Wacko girl scrambled to reassert her dominance. Eliana let the girl grab her arms behind her back, mostly because she had no idea what she would do with her hands if they were free. She wasn’t a fighter, and her Mental Affinity didn’t give her the ability to inflict damage like Hastings’s had. With the shields guarding Danny’s mind, she had no power over him. She was as weak as a Regg.

  “Do tell me what you meant,” Danny prompted, now standing before her. He was too close. If he detonated now, Eliana would go down with him, even with Ashna’s shields. But Hastings had been a martyr. He’d willingly died to save one person. Shouldn’t Eliana have been more ready to sacrifice her life for the population of Periculand?

  To fluster Danny, she would need Adara levels of sass. Boldness had never been in her nature, but the Wacko leader reminded her of everyone and everything she’d always been too scared to rebel against: Her parents, who had always been disappointed in her, who had always treated her like a disease; those therapists, who had prodded her with questions, who had observed her like she was an alien; the Rosses, who had, in one way or another, led to Hastings’s death, who had allowed terrorists to siege Periculand.

  If she’d had the courage to question any of them, perhaps things would be different. Perhaps she would be different. Now she would have to make up for her inaction, even if her survival instincts reared against it.

  “You know what I meant. I wanted a fair exchange. But…all you want is to hide behind other people’s lives because you’re too afraid to lose your own. You instill fear in others to hide the fear within yourself. You’ll never get respect because you don’t give respect.”

  Due to his mental shields, these secret sentiments of his were mostly guesses, but he was easy to read, a fact magnified by the fury washing over his features. Her assumptions had been correct, and he did not want to hear the truth.

  With the snap of his finger, the air beside her left ear erupted.

  The Wacko girl staggered back, her swears muffled in Eliana’s throbbing ear. Teetering, she struggled to balance, struggled to listen, struggled to hone in on Danny as he closed the distance between them and wrapped his sweltering fingers around her delicate throat.

  “It’s cute, mind reader, how you spit lies and expect everyone to believe them.” His tone held too much passion to mark her statement as a lie. “Who here thinks a word she said is true—that I’m afraid—that I don’t deserve respect?”

  The Wackos remained silent, even though Eliana felt their collective unease. Hartman, who had crawled toward the edge of the circle, kept his mouth shut, even though Eliana saw the tears in his eyes. Nero, warding off the stinger’s venom, didn’t budge, even though Eliana sensed his thirst for vengeance. The apprehension permeating the air proved her point further.

  “Who here thinks this girl deserves to live?” Danny demanded, eyes igniting when he received the same reaction. This time, Eliana knew Ashna moved into position. When Danny destroyed her, his sister would ensure he also destroyed himself.

  The saddest part of it all, Eliana thought, was that there probably wouldn’t be enough of her body left to bury beside Hastings’s.

  “
Does murdering her seem like the best option, honey?” Naretha finally piped up. There was no affection in her tone, despite the affectionate term she’d added at the end. “You’ve always wanted a mind reader of your own. Her death would be a waste.”

  “I’m the one who determines that,” he snapped, his fingers now scorching the flesh of Eliana’s throat. She tried to stay tough, but an involuntary squeak escaped her mouth, widening Danny’s grin. “And I’ve determined I don’t like mind readers very much. Therefore, sister,” he called out at a higher volume, “the mind reader’s death will be the first on your conscience. Unless, of course, you count all of the lives spent here tonight in your honor. Then you have a long—”

  “What—what is going on here?” a familiar voice questioned, parting the mass closest to the Residence Tower. Eliana was almost relieved to see William Ross stumbling out through the glass doors. Surely, the Regg would distract the Wacko leader long enough that Eliana could scurry away. Then she saw who the man dragged by the hair, and any concept of movement bled out of her awareness.

  “Kiki,” she breathed as pink eyes came into view. Glimpsing her now—clothes hastily thrown on, hair a bedraggled mess, face streaked with glittery tears—stirred deep sorrow in Eliana. A moment ago, she’d been prepared to die; now she remembered she had something to live for. She couldn’t leave this world without apologizing for her absurd outburst, and she certainly couldn’t allow Kiki to leave this world—not under any circumstances.

  Both of their deaths seemed imminent, however, for while Danny held a hand to Eliana’s neck, William held a gun to Kiki’s temple.

  “You little bitch,” Nero snarled at the Regg, but his voice was breathy, weak. He tried to wrench away from the Wacko holding him, but he’d been too destabilized by the bee stinger to muster the strength. “You threw me in jail… I’ll…kill you…”

  William refused to acknowledge the brute, but he did react to the threat by digging the gun’s muzzle deeper into Kiki’s flesh. A sob escaped her lips, and Eliana tried desperately to send her a comforting glance, a wordless apology, but her eyes were too clouded with tears to notice. “Why has the fighting ceased?” the man demanded.