I threw myself across the room and into my bed, yanking up the covers. Yutika stepped into my room, her brow furrowed in concern.
“Sorry.” Her frown deepened. “I thought I heard you cry out, or something.”
“I—” I cleared my throat. “Just a dream.”
I looked down at the comforter bunched in my fists. I’d never lied to any of the Seven before. And my reason for doing so now made everything even worse.
“Oh.” Yutika came over and sat on the bed. “This must all be so hard for you, I can’t even imagine. Want me to stay with you tonight? I could bust out my emergency jelly bean supply and we could binge a cooking show.”
Now, I felt even worse.
“Thanks, but I think I just need to sleep,” I said, feeling my cheeks grow hot as I stared my friend in the eye and lied to her.
Yutika nodded in understanding. “If you need anything, just shout.”
She reached over and hugged me. I held my breath, terrified she would smell cinnamon and trouble all over me.
I didn’t breathe again until Yutika had shut my door. I wilted, letting my head fall back against the headboard. I was like a teenager sneaking around with her boyfriend…except Diego wasn’t my boyfriend.
Diego dropped his camouflage and stepped away from the wall.
“Next time, we’ll have to go to my place,” he said, smirking. “In the meantime, wanna get out of here?”
“Where are we going?” I asked warily.
Now that my lust had cooled, I realized what a horrible idea it would be to get close to Diego. Our chemistry might be through the roof, but that didn’t mean we had any business being together. Not that we were…together.
“Put on some warm clothes.” Diego watched me appreciatively as I wriggled out from under the covers. He grabbed the throw blanket at the end of my bed and tucked it under his arm. “I’m taking you flying.”
CHAPTER 28
Iwas surrounded by black night sky, stars, and Diego. The air was crisp, becoming downright frigid the higher we went. I wasn’t cold, though. Diego’s magic wrapped around me like an inferno. And I didn’t want it to ever stop.
He flew higher and higher. I had started out in my titanium form, but when I realized it would weigh Diego down, I turned back to regular skin. Besides, I wanted to feel the cold air on my face and Diego’s heat pressed against me.
Below us, the city lights twinkled like tiny fireflies. Above me, the sky opened up in an endless expanse of stars and wispy clouds.
The wind stopped rushing past my ears, and I realized we were hovering in mid-air.
“Are you afraid?” Diego’s low voice rumbled against my skin as he pressed his lips to my neck.
“No.” I laughed.
“Do you trust me?”
That was a harder question to answer. “I trust you not to drop me,” I said finally.
Diego chuckled.
I squeaked when he spun me around. I had a moment of weightlessness before his arms locked across my chest. Now, I was facing outward instead of looking over Diego’s shoulder. It felt like I was the one who was flying. There was nothing in front of me except sky.
“So,” I managed, a little breathless from the rush of flying and the male heat at my back. “This is how you get all the girls.”
“I don’t take people flying,” Diego replied.
“What am I, a duck?”
“Trouble, cariño.” He let go with one hand to tuck my hair into my collar. “A whole lotta trouble.”
I tipped my head to the side, giving him more access to kiss my neck.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Ready for what?”
I turned in time to see Diego’s devilish grin, and then we were plummeting back down.
I shrieked, which turned into a whoop that was stolen by the wind. We were flying so fast tears streamed from my eyes and my stomach was left somewhere above. It was awesome.
The city lights below came into focus, and then we were slowing. Disappointment pulsed through me at the thought that Diego was taking me home. Instead, he settled me on top of the John Hancock Tower…the same rooftop he’d brought me to on Halloween night.
“You’re not planning to strand me here again, are you?” I asked as our feet hit the top of the building.
Diego chuckled. “No. I thought this would be a good place to watch the sunrise.”
We sat at the edge of the roof, our legs dangling over. Diego draped the blanket he’d brought from my room over both of our shoulders. We sat with our sides touching as the sky began to turn from black to a hazy blue-gray color.
Diego pulled a pack of cinnamon gum out of his pocket.
“What’s with the cinnamon?” I asked.
“I like it hot,” he replied, holding my gaze as he put a piece of gum in his mouth in an exaggeratedly sensual move.
I laughed, shaking my head.
“What do you call your flying magic?” I asked.
“Levitator,” he replied. “I’m a Level 15 Levitator and a Level 27 Chameleon.”
Chameleons were incredibly rare, even at the low levels. Most of them worked in surveillance for the Alliance. They could blend into their surroundings, but it took a lot of time to get their camouflage right, and it was never as seamless as Diego’s. Regular-Mag Chameleons needed hours to shift their appearances and could never change from blending into a painted wall to night sky in a second like Diego.
I’d met a Level 7 Levitator once. He’d been a performer for Brent’s fifteenth birthday, and from what I could remember, the man couldn’t go higher than a few feet off the ground.
“If you can fly, then why do you own a motorcycle?” I asked.
“For when I’m taking MRP.” He gave me a little shrug, like it was no big deal. “And I’ll need it once I don’t have my magic anymore.”
But you can fly! I wanted to shout. He had to be out of his mind to want to lose that kind of magic.
“Play your cards right, and I’ll take you for a ride on my bike some time,” Diego said with a wink.
If Diego were a normal man making the same offer, I would have jumped at the chance. But riding a motorcycle just didn’t have the same appeal when the alternative was dangling hundreds of feet in the air, surrounded by the stars and Diego’s magic.
“Flying is my weaker magic,” Diego said, pulling me back into the present. “I can fly far and fast, but carrying anything besides my own weight exhausts me.”
There was nothing weak about Level 15 magic, but compared to his Chameleon power, I guessed it must feel that way.
Diego wrapped an arm around me, drawing me tighter against his side. I glanced down at his forearm, corded with muscle and covered in black ink tattoos.
“Why do you have the Super Mags’ numbers all over your arms?” I asked.
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized the question might be too personal. Then again, Diego had seen me almost break down in front of my family and knew what kind of panties I wore. We were already personal.
“There’s a backstory to these.” Diego held out his forearm to display his tattoos.
I didn’t say anything, hoping he’d share the story with me.
“My Amá was one of the few who knew DAMND wasn’t real before I was born,” Diego said. “So she knew I wouldn’t be diseased in the way everyone had been led to believe.”
I stayed silent, even though I had no fewer than a thousand questions. I could tell this was a painful topic.
“My parents started working on the MRP because they knew I couldn’t have a normal life being what I was.” Diego looked down at his tattoos. “I got these so I’d never forget how much danger my kind poses to the world.” He held my gaze. “They’re a reminder that, until our magic is gone, others will be at risk.”
I swallowed down my arguments, even though all I wanted to do was tell Diego that he was wrong. Magic wasn’t evil. He wasn’t evil.
Instead of what I really wanted to s
ay, I stuck to the less emotional parts.
“I thought Edwardian Remwald’s Alchemist brother created the MRP before the Slaughters,” I said, remembering what Subject 6 had told us months ago.
The Remwalds had been planning to use the MRP against any Mags who didn’t help them in their war against Nats. Edwardian Remwald had mentioned once that his Alchemist brother was killed during the Slaughters. Edwardian had dedicated himself to his family’s cause even when he was the only one left.
“My parents were the one who first developed that formula,” Diego said, his voice taut. “They made it so I, and others like me, wouldn’t have to spend our lives in hiding. When they found out what Remwald was planning to do with the MRP, they tried to stop him.” His jaw tightened. “They might have succeeded, too, if it wasn’t for—” He shook his head. “Never mind.”
Before I could begin to work out how I felt about everything Diego was saying, he continued.
“That’s why I was in Pruwist’s house the night you broke in to steal the coordinates. My parents’ notes were confiscated before MagLab was burned down, and I thought I might be able to access them through Pruwist’s computer.”
“Did you find their notes?” I asked.
Diego nodded. “Their last discovery was how to make the potion even stronger without needing as much Agent S.” He gave me a sidelong glance.
“Great,” I replied bitterly. “And then Valencia and her Mag-hating followers can get their hands on the MRP and shoot up whoever they please.”
“You know how complicated the formula is,” Diego said. “My mother was a Level 8 Alchemist and my father a biochemical engineer, and it took them their entire careers to figure it out.
“I destroyed all the digital copies of their research, so I’m the only one outside of the mine who actually knows how to make it.” He gave me a pointed look. “Unless you and your friends go around giving out the formula, but even then, it would be almost impossible to get right without my parents’ notes.”
My friends and I hadn’t mentioned the formula to anyone else. And I knew Diego was telling the truth about its complexity; Smith had gone on and on about how temperamental the ingredients were, even excluding Agent S.
“So, assuming you get your hands on more Agent S,” I said, silently promising myself I’d never let that happen, “you’re just going to spend the rest of your life making the MRP and injecting Super Mags?”
Diego quirked his lip. “I never said my life would be glamorous.”
I slid out from under his arm, my pulse thudding in my rising anger.
I thought about Cora, Kaira’s cousin who had lost her magic because a power-tripping Enforcer had shot her up with the Magical Reduction Potion. I thought about the Super Mags back at the house—of Charlotte and Emory.
I thought about Diego’s strange, beautiful magic…and his desperation to be rid of it.
Diego’s next words made my blood go cold.
“We’ve gotten to the point in the conversation where we discuss the favor you owe me, cariño.”
I had almost forgotten the promise I’d made back in the mine, when I was locked in the isolation chamber.
“What is it?” I asked, my muscles tensing in anticipation of whatever he was going to say.
“The Alchemists in the mine keep the liquid Agent S locked in a titanium vault,” Diego explained. “None of the keys in the foreman’s office would fit, and I can’t use Agent S when it’s in the raw rock form. So, I need you to help me break into the vault.”
For several seconds, my mind went completely blank.
“You want me to…what?!”
“Your stipulations were no sex and no killing,” Diego said, giving me an infuriating smile. “And I’m not asking for either.” His smile turned into something fierce. “You did swear to say yes to whatever I asked.”
“This is going too far,” I told him, trying to catch my breath. “My friends and I are trying to destroy everything connected to the MRP…not help you make more.”
“You never would have gotten out of that cage without my help,” Diego said, his tone going frigid. “Don’t tell me that Bri Hammond’s promises are empty.”
I made a point of never promising anything I didn’t intend to follow through on. But Diego had taken advantage of me when I was in a vulnerable situation. What he was asking wasn’t just unfair…it was impossible.
“I’m not sure you’re aware, but there are children being used as slaves in that mine,” I said through gritted teeth. “There are a few more important things at work than your personal crusade.”
“I disagree.” Diego turned to look at me, his profile shadowed in the eerie pre-dawn light. “And I’m not saying you can’t rescue your niece and the other children. I’m just saying you need to get my Agent S first.”
I opened my mouth. Instead of the curses and accusations turning over in my mind, I asked, “Are you really going to inject yourself with a permanent dose of the MRP?”
“Yes,” Diego said without a moment’s hesitation. “I need my magic to get to the other Super Mags, but once all of their magic is gone, I’ll lose mine, too. And I’ll be glad for it.”
“Won’t you miss your magic?”
I couldn’t fathom no longer being a Steel. I wouldn’t know who I was without my magic.
Diego’s laugh was dark and without any humor. “My whole life, my magic has been a prison for me.”
The sun was just starting to peep up over the horizon, but I barely noticed.
“You think the MRP is a weapon,” Diego continued, “but to me, it’s a gift.”
I shook my head, completely unable to wrap my head around what he was saying.
When Diego spoke again, his voice had lost its sharp edge.
“My parents loved me and gave me everything they could, but that didn’t make up for the fact that I was in a prison of their own making.”
“Where are your parents now?” I asked.
A muscle flexed in Diego’s jaw. There was raw pain in his eyes, and for a second, I realized I was glimpsing the real Diego…the man behind the sass and sarcasm.
“They’re dead.”
He didn’t explain how they died, and I didn’t ask.
“I’m sorry, Diego.” I put my hand over his. When he didn’t pull away, I laced our fingers together.
“Things are different now, though,” I said, my voice scratchy. “Graysen and Kaira are the Directors. They’ve already passed laws to protect Super Mags, and things are only going to get better. Our Directors’ children are going to be like you.”
Diego nodded slowly. “That just makes my kind an even greater danger. You’ve seen just a little of what we’re capable of with that Pyrokinetic.” His expression darkened. “I’m going to end it, Bri. And when I’ve lost my magic, I’ll share the formula with someone else up to the task.”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to think.
Diego was wrong. It wasn’t okay to punish innocent people just based on the possibility that they might one day commit a crime. And if I helped Diego, and his Magical Reduction Potion got into the wrong hands, everyone with magic would be at risk.
The sun was cresting the horizon, and its pink and orange rays were blinding. When I looked at Diego, tiny sunrises reflected in each of his irises.
“I need to get back,” I said, letting go of Diego’s hand. “My friends are going to notice I’m missing.”
Diego didn’t say anything. He just watched me, waiting for an answer to an unspoken question.
The words I can’t help you were on the tip of my tongue when another thought occurred to me. With my magic weakened down in the mine, I needed all the help I could get. I might need Diego’s magic to find Lilly.
“Alright,” I said, getting to my feet. I didn’t want to be near Diego anymore. “I’ll do it. The next time we go down to the mine, I’ll get you the Agent S.” I turned to face him. “But after we get back to Boston, all bets are off.
I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you never inject anyone else with the MRP.”
When my friends discovered what I’d done, they might never forgive me. And if Diego managed to inject any more of the Super Mags before I found a way to stop him, I would never forgive myself.
CHAPTER 29
Islipped into the living room, fiddling with my scarf as I picked up on my friends’ conversation.
“Morning, sleepy,” A.J. said, giving me a strange look before turning back to Graysen.
My cheeks heated. With the exception of Ma, who didn’t seem like she ever slept, I was always the first one awake. I picked at the fringes of my scarf and tried not to look guilty.
“Here’s the situation,” Kaira said. “Graysen got us a meeting with the California ruler who’s in charge of the territory above the mine. We’re going to try—”
“No.” A.J. stood up so fast Sir Zachary, who’d been asleep on his lap, let out a surprised woof. “No no no no nooooo. Did I mention no?!”
We all stared at A.J.
“It’s our best—really, our only option,” Graysen said. “I’ve been through all the laws, and we have no right to do anything in her territory without her say-so. If we’re going to get the slaves out and destroy the mine, we’re going to need her help.”
“Not to mention,” Kaira added. “She’s got a huge army—”
“Of cannibals!” A.J. shrieked, flapping his arms in agitation.
All of the books on our floor-to-ceiling shelves were fluttering around the room, snapping their pages like teeth as A.J.’s emotions made them swarm around us. The loveseat A.J. and I were sitting on started to lift off the ground.
“Isn’t that just a rumor?” Smith asked A.J. “I couldn’t find any accounts of her people actually eating…well, people.”
“Cannibalism is one of the least heinous crimes Blade and her people have committed,” A.J. replied with a shudder. “Trust me.”
“Don’t tell me the California territory ruler’s name is actually Blade,” Yutika said, smacking her palm to her forehead.
“Her given name was Leslie,” Smith said.
Mags & Nats 3-Book Box Set Page 90
