“Isn’t there a bathroom in your room?” Drew asked as he stood, collecting his trash.
“Yeah, but there’s something wrong with the pipes or something. I’m just using the one down here.” With that, I excused myself, unable to make eye contact with Samantha. If I did, I knew she’d somehow be able to tell I was lying.
I strode out of the room, making sure to swing the ballroom door open wide as I left. I looked around, making sure no one was in the hallway. The ballroom door was almost shut when I sprang into action. I ran back into the room so fast, nobody could see me.
I grabbed a plate of food and a bottle of water, and was in and out in a split second.
It was time to pay my little secret a visit.
9
PRISONER OF WAR
It wasn’t until I reached the entrance to the tunnels beneath Dallas that I slowed down. The sky was almost completely dark, and the long, dark entrance stretched before me. I sighed before taking a step forward. I focused on my eyes, causing them to glow, lighting my path.
The pedestrian tunnel system beneath Dallas housed many storefronts and food courts. It had been built to allow people to comfortably get around downtown Dallas during the sweltering heat of Texas summers, but it was rarely used and mostly neglected in recent decades. According to Selena, it was something that not a lot of people who lived in Dallas knew about.
I was able to keep everybody out of the tunnels, taking it upon myself to be sure they weren’t being used by the Legion or the STF to spy on us. When I went down into the tunnels, it was to visit the secret I kept down there.
When I reached the boarded-up store that had once sold clothes, I set down the plate of food and the water bottle and fished my keys out of my pocket. I unlocked the padlock and swung open the door. The light from the room hit me, followed soon after by my actual prisoner jumping on and hitting me. I pushed him back with my free hand, sending him across the room.
I sighed. He tried that every single time I went down there.
I grabbed the food and the water bottle and shut the door. “You have any dirty clothes for me?” I asked him as I set down his meal on the table I had set up in the middle of the room.
He stood up, groaning from my push. “Yeah, over there,” he said, pointing to the hamper next to the bed, up against the back wall.
I walked to the hamper and picked it up, and set it down next to the door so that I wouldn’t forget it when I left. Then I walked over to the table and pulled out the chair across from him. I sat down and watched him eat.
My prisoner’s name was Marcus Arinelle. He was a late-20s STF agent I had captured two weeks prior. His hair was unkempt, and his beard was starting to come in thick. “I’ll bring you some shaving stuff to take care of that beard, if you want me to,” I said.
Marcus looked up at me, chewing a bite of mac & cheese. “I thought you forgot about me. You didn’t bring me lunch.”
“There was an attack. Got a little distracted.”
“The STF?”
“No, the Legion,” I said.
“Anybody die?” he asked.
“Two civilians. One Super got injured. Nep.”
“I’m sorry about the civilians,” he said.
“I know.”
“Does that mean you’re going to do it tonight?”
I was taken aback. “What do you mean? Do what?”
“Do what you’ve been telling yourself you’re going to do every time you’ve walk through that door for the past two weeks,” he said, pointing his fork at me and at the door. “Are you going to do whatever it takes to get information out of me?”
I didn’t know what to say. I opened my mouth, but the words didn’t come out. “That’s not the point,” I said finally. “That’s not why you’re here. You’re a prisoner of war.”
“Oh, yeah?” Marcus said, leaning back in his chair. “How many of your Super friends know that I’m down here?”
I didn’t answer.
“That’s what I thought. Why haven’t you told any of them about me? I’m not just a ‘prisoner of war’. You want to question me. Get information out of me. Beat me half to death to do it if you half to. But you can’t, because you’re a coward.”
“No, I’m not,” I said, standing from my seat. “If I wanted to, I could get you to tell me whatever I wanted you to. I could beat the information out of you if I wanted to. I nearly beat a member of the Legion to death today. I would’ve if someone hadn’t been there to pull me off him.”
Marcus laughed—a deep, hearty laugh. “Of course you could’ve!” he said, mocking me. “Except you didn’t. Do you know why?”
I didn’t answer.
“Because you knew that your little friend who was there was going to pull you off him. You knew that you could go as far as you wanted to, and somebody else would be there to draw the line for you.” Marcus leaned forward, smiling. “Well, guess what, Kane? Nobody’s here to pull you off me. Nobody’s here to stop you from going too far. And that’s why you’ve been working up the courage for the past two weeks to do it. Coming down here, bringing me food, a bed, books to read, even rerouting the electricity down here to give me lights and air conditioning. You’re hoping that if you make me comfortable enough, I’ll freely tell you everything I know. ‘Oh, Mr. Andrews, thank you for making my life so comfortable! Here’s everything the STF is planning,’” Marcus said in a mocking voice. He leaned back in his chair, cackling. “If you want anything from me, you’re going to have to beat it out of me, Kane Andrews!”
I yelled in frustration, silencing Marcus, then slammed my fist down on the table. It cracked under the force of my blow, causing Marcus to lean back in his chair, laughing. “See? If that table could talk, it’d tell you everything it knows.”
I turned and stormed out of the room. I’d had enough of Marcus’ taunting words.
I slammed the door behind me and paced up and down the hallway. “Come on,” I told myself, hitting my fists together. “Come on! You’ve got this. You’ve got this!” I slammed my fist against the wall and grunted in frustration. “Come on!” I yelled, trying to pump myself up.
I knew I had to do it. If I could just get Marcus to tell me everything he knew, there was no telling how far ahead we’d be. At that moment, we were in the dark. But if I could just get Marcus to tell me everything he knew about the Legion, the STF—even what he knew about us—we’d be so far ahead of where we were.
But I knew what it was going to take to get that information out of him, and I wasn’t sure if I could do it.
Maybe Marcus was right. Maybe the reason I had gone crazy on Rob was because I had known Drew was there. I’d known Drew would pull me off Rob. And no matter how mad I’d gotten at Drew for doing it, deep down, I was thankful to him for stopping me from crossing that line—the line I’d been counting on him to draw.
I sighed, resting my forehead on the cool concrete wall. I wasn’t that person. No matter how guilty I felt for not being able to do what was necessary to get the needed information from Marcus, I couldn’t be that person.
I ran into the room as fast as I could, grabbed Marcus, and flew him far outside of Dallas. I dropped him off in the middle of a town called Fairfield and left him there without a word. I’d known I was going to have to set him free anyway, since I’d felt too ashamed to tell anyone about him, and I wasn’t going to leave him down in the tunnels to starve while Selena and I were overseas.
I flew back to Dallas, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
10
ATTACK ON DALLAS
Screaming, followed by the crackling of Eximus guns, woke me from my sleep.
I jumped from my bed and exploded through my hotel window, skipping running out through the lobby altogether. Then I watched as a group of about a hundred STF soldiers attacked our Dallas base and herded all the civilians up into a row of trucks.
I watched as Nep, still recovering from his earlier injuries, tried his best to
fight off a two STF soldiers in the middle of the road. A volley of Eximus blasts was launched at him from the soldiers’ futuristic weapons. He fell to the ground in convulsions.
I sprang into action, flying down to swoop him up and away from the STF soldiers.
Then one of them cocked his shotgun and launched a blast into Nep’s chest.
Nep’s lack of healing powers meant that was it. He was gone with a single blast from a shotgun.
I let out a yell of anger and grief. I landed next to the two soldiers and ripped their guns away from them. I grabbed the one with the shotgun and flung him like a rag doll across the road. I kicked the other, sending him flying into a group of STF soldiers.
The ones who hadn’t been taken out turned and looked at me.
“We’ve got Tempest, twelve o’clock!” one of them yelled.
Suddenly a volley of bullets—the Eximus and the lead types—was being shot at me.
I jumped up into the air, having to twist and maneuver my body to dodge the Eximus blasts, while the bullets I just ignored. My healing abilities would take care of them.
I flew up into the darkness and out of the way. They shot at where they thought I was, but their blasts weren’t coming anywhere near me. I scanned the crowd, searching for the best point of attack.
And there he was. Standing in the back of an army-type truck with a canvas roof, leading a group of civilians inside, was Marcus. He had somehow been able to get into contact with the STF and tell them what he was able to learn about our camp. I was willing to bet they had made their way into downtown through the tunnels I had kept him prisoner in.
I cursed myself, not wanting to believe how stupid I could be. I was going to have to make things right, if not for anybody but Nep.
I flew down, ready to take on Marcus. Now I had a reason, an excuse. This was defense of my new home. Everything I worked to protect.
But as I flew down towards him, somebody slammed into me, and I was suddenly going in the opposite direction, away from Dallas. I looked up and saw the person who had me was Selena, and I gave in as she took me, flying far away from Dallas. I didn’t have it in me to fight her. She obviously knew more about the situation than I did.
All I could focus on was the fact that this was all my fault.
11
HEADCOUNT
Selena dropped me off at a parking lot in front of a big box store. Doug, Drew, and Samantha ran to my side. They asked me things like, “Are you okay?” and “Do you know what was going on?”, but I paid attention to none of it.
Doug, Drew, Samantha, and Selena.
That was it. Nobody else.
“Where are my parents?” I asked.
Everybody stopped their questions. Nobody answered.
I turned to Samantha, put my hands on her shoulders and looked her deep in the eyes. “Samantha, please, tell me where my parents are.”
Samantha nodded and closed her eyes, putting her powers to work.
We all stood there for a few tense moments as Samantha focused. “Okay…okay, I’ve got ’em.”
“Where are they? Tell them I’m coming to get them!” I was already floating a few inches off the ground, ready to take off as soon as Samantha told me.
“They were in one of the first trucks. They’re already on their way to the STF base.”
“Tell them I’m on my way!” I shouted as I began to fly back.
“Kane, wait!” Samantha shouted both at me and in my head for good measure.
I stopped and turned, looking down on them from ten feet up.
“They want me to tell you something…” Samantha closed her eyes and focused. “It’s your dad. He’s…saying that he wants you to stay. To go overseas, and to leave him.”
“He’s crazy!” I shouted down.
Samantha relayed what I had told her, then said, “He said ‘crazy’ would be endangering your mission to save him. For better or for worse, the STF is focused on keeping civilians safe. This is the safest place they can be, especially if you’re going to be on the other side of the planet.”
I felt as if I was being pulled in two. I slowly floated back down to the ground. Every fiber within me told me to go and save Mom and Dad from the STF. But still—as usual—Dad had a great point. The STF only hated Supers; they wanted to keep civilians safe. A hidden STF base really was the best place for them. Still, I wasn’t entirely sure.
“What happens if the STF finds out who they are? If they know they have Tempest’s parents, they’re going to use that against them.” I placed my feet on the ground and waited for Samantha to tell Dad my concern.
A few moments later, I had a response. “He says that they’ll be careful,” Samantha said. “They can take care of themselves. They’ll come up with an alias—if they’re even asked. The STF has a lot of people, and can’t keep track of them all. Besides, if your parents are in danger, they know of a Super or two who’ll come save them.” Samantha opened her eyes and looked into mine. She took a step forward and put a hand on my arm. “I promise you, Kane, I’ll check in with them all the time. If they’re in any danger, I’ll let you know as soon as possible, and we’ll all stop what we’re doing to save them.”
I looked past Samantha at Doug, Drew, and Selena, who all nodded in agreement.
I sighed. It seemed as if I didn’t have any other options. “Okay. Tell them to stay safe and that I love them.”
Samantha smiled and nodded. “They say the same.”
I nodded, and Samantha stepped aside. “So, what the hell happened?”
“The STF attacked us out of nowhere,” Selena said. “I don’t even know where they came from. I let my guard down, and they slipped by. I’m so sorry.”
Guilt twisted my gut. She was blaming herself for my mistake.
“They just started attacking, herding people into the trucks,” she continued. “There were too many of them, so I just focused on getting you guys out of there. And then Nep, he…”
“Nep was killed by one of the soldiers,” I said.
Nobody said a word. They were all stunned.
“Why now?” Samantha asked finally. “Why decide to attack us now, out of nowhere?”
“They must’ve found out about us being attacked this morning,” Drew said. “And they figured they’d make their move while we were still recovering—when we least expected it.”
I nodded in agreement. “I’m so sorry, guys. I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I should’ve been out patrolling with Selena.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said. “You handled those Supers this morning all on your own. This one was on me.”
I didn’t have the strength to argue. “So, what’s the plan?” I said, turning to Samantha. “Anybody have any ideas?”
“Well, it’s obvious now—you have to go to England and wherever else you can,” she said. “We need more people on our side, especially if we have the Legion and the STF to worry about.”
“Yes, if you can make the right impression on the governments overseas, especially England, we could garner a lot of support,” Doug said, leaning up against an SUV that had long since been abandoned. “They have no idea what’s going on over here. If Selena can explain what she knows from her scouting missions, and with Kane there as a figurehead, maybe we can convince them to help us.”
“We’ll do what we can,” I said. “But first we need to get some rest. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.” I turned to look at the large store behind us. “I’m sure there’s some mattresses and couches in there. We can crash here for the night.”
Everybody murmured in agreement, and we walked towards the entrance, spirits lower than ever.v
12
THE HUMAN ELEVATOR
I walked outside, the cool, fresh air filling my lungs. Everybody inside the store had long been asleep, but I couldn’t stop tossing and turning.
I walked a bit farther out and looked around. The store and its large parking lot stretched out for a ways before reaching the r
oad that led into the small town we had set up camp in. There didn’t seem to be much around, at least nothing taller than the store.
I turned and floated up to the roof of the building and sat down on the edge with my feet hanging off. They dangled fifteen or twenty feet off the ground. Definitely high enough to make pre-Tempest me nervous.
I felt a small tingle of energy in the back of my head, and I knew instantly what it was. “Hey, you gonna come pick me up, or do I have to stay down here?” Samantha said in my head, confirming my suspicion.
I pushed off the roof and floated to the ground with a smile.
Samantha was standing at the bottom wearing a denim button-up shirt and dark pants. Her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.
“You want me to give you a ride?” I asked, holding out my arms.
Samantha walked towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I held her tight and then floated up towards the roof of the building. Her body tightened, and she held her breath.
“I’m not going to drop you,” I said with a chuckle. I set her down on the roof, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I know,” she said as she sat down and slid her feet over the edge. “Just a habit.”
I sat down next to her, our legs swinging in unison. “So, am I like your personal Uber for flying now or something?” I said with a smile.
“No not Uber—Lyft,” she said with a wide smile, satisfied with her joke.
I laughed and shook my head. “Damn, I should’ve thought of that.”
Samantha shrugged with a teasing look on her face. “It’s okay, buddy. Not all of us can be as fast as the Great Samantha.”
I rolled my eyes, and the two of us sat up there in silence for a few minutes, looking up at the stars in the sky. “What are you going to do while Selena and I are gone?”
The War of the Supers (The First Superhero Book 3) Page 5
