“Okay,” Gray said, drawing out the word. “So, how does this help us?”
“Our perp just stole a truck. Given the route he’s taking, I’m pretty sure I know where he’s headed.”
Smith paused long enough that even A.J. was complaining about taking suspense to a cruel and unusual level.
“He’s going to MagLab.”
I stood up so fast I almost tipped my chair over backwards. “Then, so are we.”
“Great idea,” Yutika quipped as she took one last bite of pasta and stood up. “Breaking into the most guarded place in Boston while we try to hunt down a murderer. What could go wrong?”
“Everything.” Bri gave her a soft punch on the shoulder, grinning as she bounced on the balls of her feet. “But that’s what we do. We’re the Seven.”
I knew how she felt. Maybe it meant that we all needed our heads examined, but there was something comforting about running headlong into danger instead of waiting for it to come to us.
A.J. clipped a neon leash to Sir Zachary’s collar. “I think you mean the 7.5.”
Sir Zachary gave a little yip of agreement. Together, all 7.5 of us headed for the door.
CHAPTER 28
Hold up.” Smith stopped our exodus to the car with a raised hand. He turned to me.
“What?” I asked, impatient.
“You were right,” he said in a subdued voice. “This guy really is a phantom.”
Before I could demand to know what he was talking about, Smith waved his hand. A grainy black-and-white recording popped up on the wall.
The camera showed the outside of a hostel door. There were no people in the camera’s view.
Smith minimized the recording to make room for a map with a blinking red dot. It was moving.
“What are we looking at?” I asked Smith.
Smith pointed to the dot. “That’s the truck I bought with our Board member’s money. I hacked into its smart system so we can track wherever it goes.”
“You did all of that without ever leaving our couch?” Graysen asked.
“Duh.” Smith rolled his eyes before turning back to the wall.
Smith extended his thumb and forefinger in midair, and the camera image expanded. A black truck flew out of the hostel parking lot.
“You caught the killer on camera?” I asked.
This was it. We could hand this recording over to Pruwist. They’d be able to surround him—
“But look.”
Smith froze the screen and expanded it again until the truck was in frame. Smith did something to adjust the angle of the camera, so it was looking straight at the driver’s side window. We had a perfect view inside the truck.
It was empty.
The truck was on the move, and no one was driving it.
“What the hell?” Graysen whispered.
“What kind of ghost drives a car?” Bri asked.
“Only one way to find out,” I said.
✽✽✽
As Michael drove us into the city, Yutika brought non-pajama outfits into being for all of us. It was a little awkward trying to change outfits in the cramped back of the van, but we managed it. I was amused to find that Yutika’s idea of my kickass outfit was tight faux-leather pants, a black knitted crop top, and a studded belt that I would absolutely be wearing again once this mission was over.
The others were similarly decked out to do serious damage. Our outfits were more for us, since I planned to illusion everyone the moment we stepped out of the car. Still, it helped pump us up more than any inspirational speech I could ever make. Even Sir Zachary wore a collar with spikes on the outside.
“Think he’ll bark fire if we’re in trouble again?” Gray asked, sounding hopeful.
Sir Zachary just thumped his tail on the vinyl seat in response.
“Where’s our murderer now?” I asked Smith.
“About two miles ahead of us,” he replied.
The thought of being so close to the killer sent a chill down my spine.
Michael turned the van onto the road that led to MagLab. The illusion that hid the Lab was still in place, so it appeared as though we were driving straight toward a construction site.
I knew that in half a block, we’d be able to see the towering structure where people like Gray and me had been imprisoned…where their babies had been taken and locked into glass cages….
I was so full of emotions and anxiety that I was starting to sweat. My tight pants felt suffocating, and my top was plastered to my skin. It wasn’t until I saw Yutika fanning herself and Gray’s hair sticking to his face that I realized this wasn’t a case of nerves. The air was hot. Really hot.
Bri was the only one who wasn’t wilting, because she was already titanium.
“Turn on the air,” Yutika complained to Michael, who was holding the steering wheel with one hand while he pulled off his hoodie.
“It is on,” he replied.
Sir Zachary, who was panting, had his tail slammed down.
“Either we’ve been teleported to Costa Rica,” A.J. said, “or something’s very wrong.”
Since there weren’t any Teleporters in the van, we had to assume the latter. Even in June, Boston nights were cool. Something was definitely wrong.
“Our phantom killer stopped moving,” Smith said. “Looks like he’s just inside the bounds of the illusion.”
“Park here,” I told Michael. “We’ll have a better chance of getting him if he doesn’t see our car.”
I illusioned everyone into ants, which would make us virtually invisible in the dark. My illusion would fail as soon as we got near the murderer, but at least I could get us a little closer before he sensed our presence.
“I’ll put him down,” Bri said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Just let me at him.”
“Don’t knock him around too hard,” Michael warned her. “I need him awake so I can Whisper.”
“Killjoy,” Bri retorted.
We got out of the van. My eyes instantly watered as an acrid smoke wafted through the illusion and burned my nose. Yutika started coughing.
Michael balled up his sweatshirt and gave it to Yutika, motioning for the rest of us to cover our noses and mouths with our shirts.
We all stepped through the illusion together. And gasped.
MagLab was engulfed in flames.
CHAPTER 29
Smoke billowed up and blotted out the rising sun, making it look like it was still night. Orange and blue flames licked the building. We were still a hundred yards back, but the heat was extraordinary…unnatural…. Magical.
“Kaira!”
It was only Gray’s voice, scratchy from smoke, that made me realize I was running right toward the flames.
“The Super Mags,” I cried. True panic was overwhelming any sense of self-preservation. There were kids and pregnant women in there. “We have to—”
I flinched as a tremendous boom split the night. Fire erupted from the building’s roof.
I think I screamed, but the sound was drowned out by the crackling flames and crashing glass.
“Stay here,” Bri ordered. She raced toward MagLab, her silver body flashing as the orange flames reflected off her titanium skin.
Gray wrapped his arms around me, like he expected me to go chasing after her.
I might have, except there was no denying that I’d never survive that kind of a blaze. I wasn’t even sure if Bri could tolerate that much heat.
I turned to the side, looking for the rest of our friends. That was when I caught sight of Sir Zachary. He was looking right at me, and I could have sworn he tilted his head as if to say Follow me.
I would have assumed I’d finally lost my mind, except Gray said, “I think our dog wants to show us something.”
It sounded less ridiculous coming from him than it had in my head. It was also an excuse to do something other than just watch the flames engulf MagLab. I clasped Gray’s hand and took off after Sir Zachary.
We ran for half a block b
efore we caught up with our dog. My eyes were streaming from the smoke that was filling the air all around us, but I could still see there were people moving around…lots of people.
Gray and I reached the group just as Sir Zachary leapt into a little girl’s arms. I recognized her as the Super Mag from the trial who had shouted at Remwald for being an animal abuser.
Yutika must have created a huge floodlight, because the group of Super Mags was suddenly bathed in a smoky light. The dirty, soot-stained kids shielded their eyes.
I did a rough count. About fifty kids were milling around. They coughed and sneezed as they wiped ash off their clothes.
The Super Mags were dressed the same as they’d been at the trial. They wore Alliance-issued sweats that fit them like potato sacks.
“Stay back, or we’ll kill you,” one of the kids rasped.
His voice was in that in-between stage where it was just starting to deepen, and I guessed he was around thirteen or fourteen. He was probably one of the oldest kids here. I noticed the way the others congregated around him.
The kids all looked so frail and unthreatening, but I knew better than to be fooled by their appearances. I had seen the plaques outside their glass cages. These kids made my magic look like child’s play.
“What happened here?” I asked, trying not to spook the Super Mags into doing something we’d all regret.
“What’s it look like?” the boy who had just spoken asked. “I burned the place down.”
“You did this?” I asked, aghast.
Instead of answering, he held out his sooty palm. A blue flame shot up from his skin.
Heat wafted toward me from the small flame, but the boy didn’t so much as twitch. It was clear the heat wasn’t bothering him.
The flame snuffed out, and the boy gave me a challenging look. He puffed out his skinny chest. “I’m a Level 28 Pyrokinetic.”
At that moment, Bri jogged over to us. Her titanium skin was covered in ash, but she seemed unharmed.
“No survivors,” Bri said before I could even ask.
Gray and I exchanged a horrified glance. Out of the hundreds of Super Mags and Alliance cops who had been inside MagLab, only fifty kids were left.
I’d hated that Pruwist was keeping the Super Mags locked up, but the police who were guarding them had only been doing their job. And now, they were dead.
The loss was almost too great to comprehend.
A few of the kids let out little whimpers at that. One girl sniffled.
“Don’t,” the Pyro told the kids in a harsh tone. “You know they would have killed us, just like they did to our mothers.”
“What?” I asked in a choked whisper.
The Pyro spared me a glance.
“Director Remwald was killing everyone so they couldn’t talk about what he’d done.” His eyes blazed with fury as he looked at me. “He would have done the same to us if he hadn’t been arrested.”
My chest ached, and it had nothing to do with the polluted air.
Remwald had taken away these children’s parents and robbed them of their childhoods. If that man wasn’t already dead, I would have killed him myself.
“We have to survive,” the Pyro told the other kids. “Stop crying and be brave like we’ve always done.”
The children straightened their spines and locked their knobby knees. Lower lips stopped quivering. In spite of all they’d been through, they wouldn’t break.
Admiration welled inside me.
I saw the moment when the Pyro realized all the other kids were looking to him for what to do next.
He and I had far more in common than I’d realized.
“How did you survive?” Michael asked in a soft voice.
If anyone else had asked the question, I was pretty sure the Pyro would have burned them where they stood. His crossed arms and sparking glare weren’t friendly.
After a hesitant look at the Pyro, a small girl stepped forward and faced Michael.
“I’m a Level 30 Air Elemental,” the girl explained. “I made a bubble around everyone near my cell to protect us from the flames.”
“And I’m a Level 22 Mender,” another voice said. “I healed all of our burns as soon as we got outside.”
“Oh,” I said lamely. Frankly, I didn’t think there was any appropriate response I could give.
I was also a little afraid of agitating these kids any more than they already were. They were clearly on edge, and if it came down to it, this was a fight my friends and I would lose.
Besides, the last thing I wanted to do was get into a fight with a bunch of kids.
“Why now?” Gray asked, taking a page out of Michael’s book and keeping his voice low and unthreatening. “I mean, why didn’t you escape sooner?”
“Poison.” The Pyro spat the word.
When he didn’t elaborate, one of the other kids stepped forward.
“The Alchemists kept us weak by putting poison in the air. It blocked our magic so we couldn’t use our abilities to escape.” Her thin mouth twisted into a smile. “But the new people guarding us didn’t know about the poison.”
The kids shared a quiet laugh. Warnings tingled down my spine.
“The poison still hasn’t completely worn off,” the Pyro said, his confrontational gaze lingering on us. “Think about what we’ll be capable of once we’re at our full strength.”
I did think about that. A bunch of kids…scared, parentless, and without any knowledge of the world outside MagLab. And they were the most powerful Mags on Earth.
Hostility radiated off the kids, along with fear and uncertainty. They didn’t trust us. Not that I could blame them.
I stepped back and nudged Michael. He gave me a short nod and stared at the kids.
“We’re not here to hurt you,” he said.
“Psh, that’s what they all say,” the Pyro retorted.
My mouth fell open. Yutika made an incredulous sound. Michael turned to me.
“My magic isn’t working,” he said.
I reached for my illusions. A sick feeling washed through me when nothing happened.
I glanced at Bri, who was still in her titanium form.
“Is everyone else’s magic working?” I asked my friends in a low voice.
It was.
Only Michael and I were out of commission.
What the hell?
“You an Illusionist or a Mind Melder?” one of the kids asked.
“Yes,” I said, just as Michael said, “I’m a Whisper.”
“Close enough.” The little boy shrugged. “Your powers are weaker than his.”
“What do you mean by that?” Michael asked.
“His, who?” Graysen asked.
“The ghost’s,” the boy said.
“He’s not a ghost,” one of the other kids scoffed. “He’s an—”
“Don’t tell them anything,” the Pyro ordered in a sharp voice.
My pulse was racing. What did these kids know?
“You can trust us,” I told them. “I promise we aren’t going to hurt you.”
Some of the bigger kids laughed. The smaller ones cringed.
The thought of what they had been through to make them so distrustful of adults made me ache. I wanted to give them all a hug. I wanted to bring them home to Ma, who would fix them in the time it took to eat a single meal.
“The Alchemists told us the same thing,” the Pyro said. He stepped forward, and I felt Gray stiffen beside me as the kid stood on his toes to get in my face. “They lied.”
“We’re not,” Bri said. “We want to help you.”
I was about to say more, when the little girl holding and petting Sir Zachary dropped him. A.J. made a small sound of protest, although the dog didn’t seem offended.
The little girl smiled down at Sir Zachary, and then she transformed into a dog herself.
She had golden fur and a stubby tail that wagged ferociously as she looked at Sir Zachary. The little girl barked. Sir Zachary barked back…t
his time, without fire.
“Um…what?” Gray raised an eyebrow.
It wasn’t an illusion. That much became clear when Sir Zachary and the little girl-turned-dog began to tussle playfully with each other.
“Animalist, Level 26,” one of the Super Mags explained, looking bored, as though this was a regular occurrence.
I’d met Animalists before. They attracted animals to them and could even communicate on a rudimentary level.
But I had never heard of one actually turning into an animal.
The Super Mags’ power overwhelmed me. It was both beautiful and terrifying.
After a few more excited yips, the golden-haired dog transformed back into a human.
“Ohmygosh jealous,” A.J. gushed.
“Can you turn into a lion?” Gray asked.
In response, the girl did just that. And then she roared in our faces.
“Really?” I hissed at Gray.
Sorry, he mouthed, looking slightly contrite. But mostly impressed.
The girl transformed back into herself.
“Doggy says we can trust them,” she announced to the other Super Mags.
“I don’t care what a stupid dog says.” The Pyro glared at us. “I’m going to burn you all!”
I took a step back as the boy’s fingertips sparked. Before he could turn us into ashes, one of the other kids stepped between the Pyro and us.
“I know him,” the boy said, inclining his head at Graysen. “He tried to get us out.”
It was difficult to differentiate between the kids with their identical haircuts, clothes, and smudged faces, but Gray recognized the boy who was protecting us from getting scorched.
“You’re the Memory Reader,” Graysen said. To the rest of us, he explained, “He’s the one who told me what was going on in MagLab.”
Gray held out his hand to the little kid, who seemed to stand a little taller when he reached out to give Gray a high-five.
The Memory Reader’s gaze flicked back and forth across the line of us. His eyes widened.
“They really wanted to save us,” the boy told the others. He pointed a finger at me. “She was gonna find a way to break us out, and the others planned to help her. Especially him.” The boy pointed to Graysen.
Mags & Nats 3-Book Box Set Page 51
