by Sarah Jaune
This was monumentally annoying. He could see Zen getting along with this girl, but he couldn’t imagine having to put up with this for more than an hour.
“I know,” Coral nodded and for the first time she seemed a little hurt. “You’re not the first to think it, but honestly, Zen is great with it. He likes not having to tell me how he feels, and because we’re attached, my power won’t annoy him like it does others. It’s the same for my dad and mom. They just fit.”
“Will you be the Overseer?” Ivy wanted to know.
“Nope, my next youngest sister is strength and we’ve decided to let her take it. I didn’t want it, anyway,” Coral explained. “Overseers need some tact. I know how to be tactful, but it doesn’t mean I like to be. Sometimes not saying what I’m thinking helps spare a person’s feelings, and at other times, it just makes everything ten times more complicated.”
“I guess I can see that,” Eli conceded. He did, sometimes, feel better when he told Ivy what was bugging him. It was the same as talking to Maia and Pablo.
The expression of understanding on Coral’s face was a little bit much, though. Eli glanced away.
“I have to get going soon,” Coral smiled regretfully. “My dad is really getting annoyed now, but you have to know first about the kids in New Orleans. I saw them once, but not up close. It was sort of a chance encounter because we were driving to Savannah rather than flying. No,” she shook her head. “It was just mom and me, plus the security detail. We were able to drive through because Dad stayed home. The New Orleans kids were in the car with their grandmother, and we drove by them.”
Eli felt something inside him shift as he focused on the story. “What happened?”
“It wasn’t like my mom felt it, too,” Coral went on quickly, “but she felt it in my heart. The kids are definitely in trouble.”
Eli took a deep breath and tried to work through what they were going to do about that. They were supposed to go straight back to Portland after this assignment, but if there were kids in need of help, then they couldn’t ignore that.
“My mom wanted to turn around and help, but there isn’t anything we can do,” Coral told them sadly. She truly looked like she might cry, and it hit Eli that she would know exactly what those kids had been through, including all of the pain they were in physically and emotionally.
Suddenly, he understood that smile a lot more. The smiles were real, he was sure of that, but they had to be Coral’s defense against all of the bad things she had to take in from all the people around her.
“I’m fine, honestly,” she assured Eli. “You’re sweet to worry, though. But there’s something else about the New Orleans kids that you should know.”
“What’s that?” Eli asked quickly.
“The oldest is a little older than you are,” Coral explained as she rose. “She has the one power, but the youngest has two powers.”
With that, Coral left with a wave and a quick, “I’ll tell Zen you said hi the next time I see him. He’ll be glad to know you two think about him a lot.”
They watched her go in silence.
“I’m really, really glad your power isn’t telepathy,” Eli told Ivy as he forced himself to stand.
“I can’t imagine it,” Ivy practically shuddered as they left the coffee shop. “We should get some dinner before we turn in.”
They ate at one of the smaller, off the beaten path, restaurants. The food was amazing and a lot like what he’d have eaten when he lived in the San Diego Zone. Ivy didn’t know what a lot of the food was, and he had fun explaining to her about fajitas. A couple of people gave them strange looks, but most people ignored them.
They were dressed up in the standard dress of jeans and t-shirts, so they didn’t exactly stand out.
“The whole restaurant thing is weird, right?” Eli asked Ivy as he sat back in his seat. He’d eaten so much he thought he might need to crawl back to the abandoned building. “I only know of one in Portland, and we don’t have any in Redmond Township at all.”
Ivy shook her head. “They have a hotel here, too. I think that a lot of the wealthier families maybe come here or something. Maybe they’re a little less strict on the food rations. I saw someone paying for their dinner with a ration card.”
Eli hadn’t noticed that, but it made sense. Somewhat. Everyone was given a ration card to be allotted food every week. Everyone who worked was given one for themselves and their dependents. In Redmond that meant they went to a local pick-up point, and they were given a box of food to last for the week. In San Diego, it had been grocery stores where the ration cards were used to pick out the items that the family wanted that week. It was a lot like money, but without the money part of it.
“We should have asked Coral,” Eli said as they exited the small restaurant into a night that was almost chilly.
Ivy shivered and moved a little closer to him. “If her parents are good people, then that restriction might be lifted. The Overseer has full control over the rations.”
Eli glanced up at the stars overhead and grinned lazily as they walked slowly back towards their hiding spot for the night. “This was an easy assignment. I think they knew it would be.”
“I imagine so,” Ivy agreed. “If New Orleans is bad, though, that could be a problem.”
“We can handle it,” Eli said confidently, even though he didn’t feel as confident as he sounded. It had been easy getting into San Antonio, but with what they’d seen, the zone clearly had a fairly open-door policy when it came to visitors.
It was possible, of course, for anyone to move to another zone without any trouble. No one was required to stay anywhere, and people frequently picked up and moved on to start all over again, but still, this was a little more lax than Eli was used to. He hadn’t seen any police at all, in fact.
A stray breeze blew across his cheeks as they skirted over the bridge and headed towards the right, to their abandoned building. Now the warmth of the attic space actually sounded quite nice.
They skirted around the back of the alley and up again to the small, dark attic.
It was blessedly warm. Ivy sighed as she rolled up a shirt to use as a pillow and lay back in the dust. “I’m going to be filthy tomorrow.”
“But, on the plus side, we’re heading home, and we didn’t have to save anyone,” Eli reminded her as he made his own pillow out of a pair of jeans. It wasn’t really comfortable, but it would do. They’d only brought one change of clothes each.
They would have to head home, though. They needed to discuss the situation in New Orleans with Maia and Pablo before moving in to investigate. Eventually, when they had more experience, Eli knew they’d be given more freedom to follow leads, but he was glad to have this enforced safety net. He definitely wanted to talk it all out with his Guardians.
“I could get used to this food,” Ivy yawned as her voice floated into the thick, black around. A tiny sliver of moonlight danced through the vent, but it was only enough to show the very basic contours of the room. “I loved the tastes and spices. Everything at home is so bland, and we can’t even pick out anything else.”
“Maybe we can find a grocery store here,” Eli suggested as he thought back on the possibility.
“What’s a grocery store?” Ivy questioned as she shifted onto her side to face him.
Eli opened his mouth to explain, then shut it again when he realized the implications. Ivy had only ever lived in the Portland Zone which meant she’d always been under her father’s stricter rules. It left him feeling inexplicably sad that she didn’t know. “When we lived in San Diego, you could pick out what food you wanted.” He went on to explain how each food had a value, and they used that value system to select their food for the week.
“There’s no way my dad would do something like that,” Ivy scoffed at the idea. “He’s too big of a jerk, and he likes all the extra money.”
“Mine, either,” Eli reminded her. “At least yours hasn’t driven Portland Zone into absolutely poverty
and ruin.”
There was a small rustling and Ivy reached out to take his hand. “That’s not your fault.”
“I know,” Eli said after a long pause. There was nothing he could do to stop it right now, and he hadn’t turned his father into a crazy, selfish bastard.
The problem with being only sixteen was that it was impossible for him to do anything. He could kill his father… Eli shook himself from that thought. He didn’t know that he could kill Campbell Hunt, no matter how much he hated him. Eli just wasn’t sure he could kill anyone, not unless he had to, but even if he did kill him, the seat of power would go to Naomi if, and only if, they could find her within twenty-four hours. If not, it would go to one of his cousins, if they could find them. Eli thought at least one of his late uncle’s sons was over eighteen.
Maybe.
It had been a long time since he’d even thought of his cousins, if he was honest. Still, though, it was a thought. If Naomi really didn’t want the seat, Eli didn’t imagine his cousins could do a worse job than his father was doing. Eli vaguely remembered his uncle as being a nice enough man, but that was probably why he was dead now.
Campbell wouldn’t tolerate anything that might interfere with his plans.
Eli turned to say something to Ivy, and he saw, with eyes that were finally adjusted to the dark, that she’d fallen asleep still holding his hand. He didn’t mind though, and closed his own eyes to let himself drop off as well.
CHAPTER 4
A LEAP OF FAITH
It was Ivy’s panicked squeak that woke Eli well before the sun was even up. His brain didn’t want to function, his eyes were still heavy, but her fear infected him, jumpstarting his heart back into gear so that he turned quickly to find her staring out the vents.
“What?” he asked her, sitting up and scooting over to see what the problem was.
He saw… but for a moment he couldn’t comprehend it. There were people, dressed in dark colors, surrounding the building slowly, quietly. Police. That had to mean someone had spotted them sneaking into this old building.
How had Ivy even heard them?
As though she’d read his mind, Ivy said, “I woke up because a bug landed on me, and I felt something magical close by. It wasn’t… this person is electricity and they’re very powerful. Eli, we have to go!”
Eli shook his head slowly as he saw them taking a tactical formation around the building. They had guns.
“Elijah!” Ivy hissed as she shoved their stuff in the backpack and practically threw it at him. “We need to get out of here!”
“We can’t,” Eli pointed out. “They have the place surrounded. We’re not getting out without a fight.”
If they hadn’t had guns, this would have been a lot simpler. There were only a dozen of them… he could, theoretically, send all their guns skidding into the river and be done with it. But that was screaming for the Overseer to see that someone magical, from another zone, had snuck into this zone and started a fight.
It wouldn’t go over well. It might raise questions about why they were there, and the last thing they needed was to be handed over to Coral’s father. He would demand answers that Eli couldn’t give.
“What are we going to do?” Ivy asked quickly as she moved towards the ladder.
“No,” Eli shook his head and pointed towards the low ceiling. “We’re going up, over, then down. We’ll sneak around them.”
“That is never going to work,” she retorted, even as she came back.
Eli didn’t need to push hard to break the roof above them. It was only plywood and roofing shingles, but the trick was breaking it while not alerting the men below that they’d done so. As quietly as he could, Eli pushed.
The wood gave way under his hands, splintering and cracking so loudly in the silent room around them that they both flinched. Ivy leaned over to the vent to peer down. “They’re looking, but I don’t think they realize what’s going on. Go again.”
Eli pushed harder until his hands broke through, emitting cold, damp night air into the cocooned attic. He pushed the piece up onto the roof and pried some more away so that it would be wide enough for them to squeeze through. He almost gestured for Ivy to go ahead, but she quickly shook her head. “You first,” she told him. “I don’t love heights.”
Eli nodded and climbed out, taking the backpack she handed out to him. Ivy wiggled out next, nearly getting stuck on a shard of plywood.
“Wait,” he whispered as she froze, and he reached between her and the board to pull it up and away. He grabbed her hands and held her steady as she climbed out. They didn’t dare look down as they climbed to the peak of the roof and scanned the buildings around them. To the east there was another building that was only a four foot distance apart to a flat roof, but was a staggering ten foot drop down. On the other side, the roof that was level to their own was steel and had such a steep pitch to it, that Eli was sure they’d slide off if they tried it. “We’ll have to go down.”
“I’m going to break my neck,” Ivy sighed heavily.
“You won’t,” Eli scoffed like they weren’t in a really crummy situation. “I’ll catch you; promise.”
She didn’t say anything as he lined up to jump it. He’d done big jumps like this before and the trick was to land and roll so he didn’t break his ankle. Eli wished it were a bit lighter, so he could see exactly where he was going, but, as it was, they would be lucky if the police that were still closing in didn’t spot them making the leap for freedom.
Eli didn’t give himself a chance to change his mind. He sucked in a huge lungful of air, put on a spurt of his phenomenal speed, and jumped. He hit, just as he’d meant to, right onto the flat surface, tucking into a ball and rolling so as not to injure his legs. Unfortunately, he rolled over a piece of steel which cut into his back, biting into the flesh and shooting sharp arrows of pain up his spine.
He didn’t stop, though. The pain would have to wait. He hopped to his feet, pretending he didn’t want to fold into a ball to cry, and moved to the edge to gaze up at Ivy.
She looked so pale in the stingy shafts of moonlight. He motioned silently with his arms, and she took a couple steps back from the edge, before running and leaping towards him. He braced his leg back as her body slammed into his, almost knocking him backward. Eli straightened, still holding her as her shoulder shook from the adrenaline and fear. “I have you,” he reminded her. It was a perk of the strength, being able to do things like this, but it didn’t mean that she hadn’t had to put a lot of trust in him to take that jump.
Finally, Ivy nodded, and he set her on her feet. “Okay, let’s move.”
They moved silently over to the next roof, which was barely a hop across to a slightly angled wooden shingled roof.
It was then that they were spotted.
The cry went up, but from where, Eli didn’t know. The call was clear, though. They were getting away.
If it had just been him, Eli could have outrun them. For a short distance, he could have outrun a car, but Ivy wasn’t fast that way. “What about the river?” Eli asked her. “Can we hide there?”
“Maybe,” she said as they scaled another roof, looking for a way to climb down. “I don’t know that there is anywhere to hide, but it’s worth a try.”
They never had the chance. On the third roof, they didn’t make it across before a police officer climbed up a metal staircase that led to this roof’s terrace and pointed a gun at them.
The woman didn’t look any older than twenty to Eli. He couldn’t see her face well under her hat, but her hands were steady as she held the gun on them. “Hands up where I can see them!” she ordered.
They didn’t have any weapons, of course. They didn’t have any identification, or even the car keys for the jeep. Those were hidden a bit away from where they’d parked the jeep. Eli could always hotwire the car, in fact he’d started to really enjoy tinkering around with it, but the key was easier.
The woman motioned with the gun. “Hands up, k
id!”
Eli glanced at Ivy and saw the miniscule shake of her head. She didn’t want him to get them out of this with magic.
Fair enough.
Eli stuck his hands in the air and pretended to act scared. It wasn’t difficult. He was a little scared, but more of getting them out of this without the Guard being discovered or someone being shot.
“I have them!” the woman called as she moved closer, the gun still pointed towards them. “Turn around.”
Eli didn’t move at first, even as Ivy started to turn. He needed to be closer to the woman in order to disarm her, but if he had his back to her…
Still, it was doable, just more difficult. Sighing, Eli turned, and he felt her free hand grab his wrist, pulling it down to cuff him.
