by Anita Oh
“Sorry about your souls,” she said. She never should have let them make that deal. It was her fight, they shouldn’t have to pay for it.
“Meh,” Koko said, shrugging.
“We’ll get them back,” said Peg. “We just have to sell some records, make some money. It’s no big deal.”
“It’s not as if we were using them for anything anyway,” Thorne said, nudging Audrey in the side.
Even though she suspected they were only saying it to make her feel better, Audrey appreciated the effort.
A couple of costume designers called out their congratulations, and Thorne waved at them in thanks. Audrey knew she should be happy that the concert had gone well, that Supernova was no longer just a means to an end for her, but she couldn’t let herself feel such a selfish happiness. Not when she had no way of fighting back against the cult. Even if this had been a good beginning for Supernova, it was the end for everything else.
They’d come for her, eventually. Even if they had to kill everyone who stood in their way, eventually they’d find some way through the president’s protection. Audrey was powerless. Being hidden by someone else’s power wasn’t real protection; it wasn’t the same as being able to defend herself. Even though it felt as if she’d come so far and done so much, really, she was in the same position she’d been in when she was living in the train station with Patty, hiding and running, hoping she could stay a step ahead. She needed something of her own, her own strength. Everyone around her was special, had some sort of power she’d been relying on, but she needed to find her own power if she wanted to ever break free of this cycle of hide-and-seek. Even if it wasn’t something supernatural, surely she had some strength of her own that she could rely on.
But she had no idea what that power might be.
Behind her, the stagehands began to dismantle the backdrop. Someone called out a warning as a large piece of chipboard painted with an exploding star slipped out of one of the stagehands’ grip and fell. The four members of Supernova jumped off the stage, out of its path, watching as the painted star broke into pieces.
“You kids should move along,” one of the crew said. “Haven’t they got a big party organized for you back at the office? Don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”
They were obviously in the way. Their job was over. They had to move on.
Audrey had forgotten about the party. She’s been so focused on preparing for the concert that she’d barely thought about what would happen afterwards. She’d had a vague idea about dragonfire and defeating the cult but not any practical plans for how to do that. The real world hadn’t been a priority, but now she had to live in it.
They shuffled out of the stage area, trying to keep out of the way.
“I can’t say I’m in a party mood,” said Peg. “But I suppose it would be rude not to go.”
“At least there’ll be finger food.” Koko sighed.
Audrey shook her head. “No,” she said. “You guys worked hard. You should be happy. This is my problem. I’ll fix it. You should celebrate.”
“There are four people in Supernova,” said Thorne. “Four people, one group. If one of us has a problem, we all do. What exactly do you think you can achieve by yourself?”
He kept on talking, but Audrey didn’t hear him. His words were filtered out by spikes of pain that shot up her arm like a thousand needles. After a moment, the pain darted through her whole body. It radiated out from the empathy ring, but it filled her completely.
She crashed to the floor and curled into a ball. The pain was familiar. She knew it well. It was how they’d controlled her at the compound. In her mind, she was back there. A prisoner. She had no voice, so she couldn’t even scream with the pain.
Then, abruptly, the pain stopped.
For a moment, she didn’t open her eyes. She knew what this meant. The empathy ring connected her to Eli. The pain came from the cult. There was only one logical conclusion.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the other three staring down at her. It felt like they were a world away.
“The cult,” she said, her voice tiny and broken. “They have Eli Gale.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The president was gone when they got back to the dressing room.
“I’ll call her,” said Thorne.
Koko scrolled through news reports on her phone, but so far nothing mentioned Eli Gale being kidnapped or attacked.
“No vision?” Audrey asked Peg. It was a long shot, but he’d had a vision of Eli before, so maybe there was a psychic link or something.
Peg shook his head. “I think my mystic powers are still traumatized by the lecture my grandma gave me about messing with things I don’t understand and trying to force the hand of fate. I may never see anything again.” He turned to Koko. “You don’t know Luke Byrne’s contact details?”
“I’ll message him, but he hardly ever responds,” she said. “When he does, it’s usually just with emoji.”
“I can’t get through to the president,” said Thorne. “I’ll keep trying.”
Without discussing their next step, the four of them grabbed their stuff to leave. The president would be back at the office, at the party. Even though she’d refused to help, she’d be able to confirm if Eli was missing. If it was Eli Gale, she’d send people to find him. It might even motivate her to fight the alpha, though Audrey suspected that was probably wishful thinking.
As they sat in the car on the way back to the office, Audrey’s stomach churned. This was her fault. The cult had no other reason to bother with Eli, as they’d had no reason to bother with Patty.
She twisted the ring on her finger. She had a vague awareness of him when she touched it that let her know he was still alive, a vague sense of pain. She had no way of knowing what they planned to do to him, how long they’d keep him alive. The other attacks had been swift and brutal. It made no sense for them to prolong the attack on Eli.
Thorne kept trying to call the president, and Audrey fidgeted in her seat. She was terrified that at any moment, the sensation from the ring would end, would be cut off.
“I need to find him,” she said, reaching for the door handle, even though the car was still moving.
“Don’t be stupid,” said Thorne. “That’s exactly what they want. You’d be walking into a trap.”
Audrey shrugged. “I know. I don’t care.”
“Well, you should care. Eli Gale is only one person. Sure, he’s in danger, and they might kill him, but he’s still just one person. If they get their hands on you, it’ll be a lot more than one person in trouble.”
Audrey glared at him. “You hate Eli Gale. You don’t care if he dies.”
“Even if it was someone else. Even if it was Koko or Peg. Even if it was me. It’s stupid to risk the fate of the entire world for some guy you have a crush on! You don’t even know him! You’re being selfish and stupid!”
“Don’t yell at me!” Audrey yelled.
“Both of you, stop yelling,” said Koko. “Let’s be logical about this. Doesn’t it make more sense to leave this to the professionals? The president has an entire security team she can send after him. They’re trained and highly skilled, and I’m sure they stand a much better chance of helping him than we do. He’s her top performer. She’ll go after him with everything she’s got. We don’t even have any weapons.”
Koko’s logic seemed heartless.
“That will take too long! They could kill him any minute!” Audrey touched the ring again just to make sure they hadn’t. The sense of him was weaker now, but it was still there. “They don’t care who they kill.”
“Do what you like,” Thorne said, folding his arms across his chest and glaring out the window. “Stubborn idiot. But I’m not going to help you get yourself killed and end the world.”
“I don’t want your help,” she told him.
“How would you find him?” asked Koko. “Would the ring lead you to him?”
Audrey wanted to say yes, but
the ring didn’t seem to have any concept of distance. She’d never been able to tell anything about Eli’s surroundings at all, where he was or what he was doing. She’d just had that vague sense of his existence, sometimes his emotions. Even the pain was something new and unusual.
“Maybe I could channel it into a vision,” Peg suggested. “If I held the ring, it might trigger something.”
Thorne snorted. “Your grandma is going to disown you, messing about with your powers like that.”
Audrey was willing to try anything, but when she tried to take the ring off, it wouldn’t budge. In the end, she just thrust her hand toward Peg.
“Hold my hand,” she told him.
He took her by the hand and closed his eyes. She watched him intently for any sign of a vision, but his face didn’t even twitch. Eventually, he opened his eyes and dropped her hand.
“I’ll try calling the president too,” he said.
“Eli has a security escort of his own,” Koko told Audrey. “I’m sure they noticed as soon as it happened and have alerted everyone. A rescue team is probably already on their way. And he’s got powers of his own. It’s not as if he’s helpless. By the time we get to the office, he’ll probably be safe.”
Audrey nodded, trying to be reassured by Koko’s words, but in her mind, all she could see was Patty’s face the moment before the alpha killed her.
“Uh, President Sparks?” Peg said, his eyes widening as his gaze met Audrey’s. “It’s about Eli Gale.”
Audrey inched forward in her seat, waiting for the president’s response.
“Oh, you know?” He nodded. “Ah, okay. Right, sure. Okay, I’ll tell her.” He nodded again and ended the call. “She said she’s sent a response team after him, and under no circumstances are you to get involved. She had some very specific threats about what would happen if you went after him that you probably don’t want the details of.”
Audrey slumped back in her seat.
“Maybe you should tell her the details so she doesn’t get any more stupid ideas,” said Thorne.
Audrey snarled at him.
“Alley cat,” he mumbled, shuffling closer to the door.
Audrey narrowed her eyes at Peg, trying to figure out whether he’d faked the phone call to make her feel better.
“She also said that she expects us at the party and that we’ll act like professionals when we get there,” said Peg. “No more infantile whining.”
That did sound like the president. Audrey let herself be reassured, just a little.
Audrey wasn’t sure she was capable of acting normally, but when the elevator doors slid open on the seventh floor, she pasted a smile onto her face.
The floor was full of people. There was a dance floor and a DJ and party lights. Everyone grinned at them and cheered as they got out of the lift. It was like being stuck in a nightmare, surreal and absurd. Someone grabbed Audrey’s arm, yelling a question in her ear, but she didn’t take a word of it in. She just smiled and nodded. She was pulled into the crowd, and after a moment, completely lost sight of the others. People kept talking to her, but as long as she kept smiling, none of them seemed to mind that she didn’t answer their questions. It all seemed so wrong, being stuck there in that crowd, while somewhere, Eli was in danger. She felt separate from it all, removed, like she was observing it all from a distance. She couldn’t stop touching the ring, needing the reassurance that he was still alive.
When the president found her and pulled her aside, it was almost a relief, even though the president’s eyes were glowing and her teeth were flashing. The president led Audrey over to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Audrey looked down on the city lights, wondering if Eli was behind any of them. Maybe if she hadn’t been so busy preparing for the concert, she’d have had time to investigate the cult some more, to find out where they were hiding. She’d been so distracted, so sure she was on the right path. If she’d focused on what was really important, she’d know enough to be able to start looking.
For a moment, Audrey wondered if the president had a hand in this. For all that she claimed it wasn’t worth her while to sell Audrey out to the cult, the president had orchestrated everything up until this point. Then Audrey noticed the beads of sweat breaking out on the president’s forehead, how she didn’t seem to be able to catch her breath. Audrey couldn’t tell if it was from fear or anger, but the president was barely holding it together. She’d never knowingly put her most sparkling gem at risk.
“Eli Gale is not your concern,” the president told her in a strained voice. “The Cult of the Fifth Shadow is not your concern. Your concern is fulfilling the terms of your contract with me. Do you understand?”
Audrey straightened her shoulders. She stared the president in the face. At the moment, she felt as if she had just as much fire behind her gaze.
“The cult is my responsibility,” she said. “They’re hurting people because of me.”
“They’re hurting people because they’re psychotic killers,” said the president. “They’re trying to end the world. Don’t look for reason in what they do. I’ll get Eli Gale safely away from them. I have a lot of time and money invested in him, and I refuse to let that go to waste because of some religious fanatics. You need to trust that I will protect my investment.”
Audrey pressed her lips together for a moment as she tried to think of the best way to respond to that, but before she could think of anything, the president held up a finger for her to wait and answered a call on her phone. Audrey fully intended to listen in, but the only thing the president said was “I understand” before she hung up. The light behind her sunglasses dimmed.
“What’s happened?” Audrey asked.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” said the president. “Go back to the party.”
Audrey rolled her eyes. As if that was possible.
Still, the president gave her no alternative. She grabbed Audrey by the shoulders and turned her around, then pushed her into the throng of people. Someone else grabbed hold of Audrey and started pulling her toward the dance floor, and Audrey pretended to go along with it until the president stopped watching. She waited until the president headed for the door, then slipped away.
Audrey wasn’t stupid. She knew something was up with that phone call, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out the rescue attempt had failed. No doubt the president was heading back to her office because she didn’t want to lose it in the middle of the party. She’d need to regroup and come up with a new plan. Audrey believed that the president intended to protect Eli, that she would do everything in her power to get him back. She also knew that every minute Eli spent with the cult, that was less likely to happen.
She took the stairs up to the president’s office. Nobody was in the reception area, so Audrey stood with her ear to the president’s door, listening. Just as she’d suspected, the president was on the phone, ordering people around.
“What do you mean, all of them? They were trained professionals. Some of them were hundreds of years old.” The president sighed. “Of course it was a trap. You knew that going in. That doesn’t explain… Well, how did you get out? Did you see him? He’s definitely there?”
There was a pause, and then the president said something too quietly for Audrey to make out, but she thought she heard the words “station” and “tunnel”.
“And if that doesn’t work, we’ll have to cut our losses. That’s leaving us vulnerable enough as it is.”
Audrey had heard enough. She could figure out where Eli was from that. She couldn’t let the president leave the entire agency defenseless. Too many lives had been lost already. She’d go and offer herself in exchange. That was the only solution. If the cult completed the ritual and a dark lord rose, at least there would be some people left to fight against it.
But as she turned away from the president’s door, she ran slap-bang into someone.
Thorne.
He did not look happy.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“You can’t stop me,” Audrey said, trying to push past Thorne.
He caught her by the arm, his fingers circling around her wrist. “You have no way of winning,” he said. “You’ll die, and you’ll take the rest of us with you. Does Eli Gale really matter that much?”
There was no good answer to that. Audrey didn’t know why, but Eli had become something irreplaceable. Even though they’d spent hardly any time together, she couldn’t imagine losing him. She owed him everything.
“He saved me,” she said. “I have to save him.”
She stared Thorne in the eyes, willing him to back down. She could tell from his expression that there was a lot more he wanted to say.
“I won’t lose,” she told him, but they both knew the words were empty.
Staring into his eyes, for a moment, Audrey felt her resolve waver. Thorne had also become someone she didn’t want to lose. It was more than his physical beauty, but the whole world seemed to light up whenever Thorne was around. No matter how gloomy or tired or hopeless she felt, when she saw how hard he worked, it made her want to do a little better, work a bit harder. She liked the way he grouched at her about her social skills, how he tried to hide how much he cared about Peg and Koko, how he acted bigheaded to hide that inside he was still a Piggy Shortcake. She’d have given up a million times over if it hadn’t been for Thorne. It wasn’t his face that made him the most beautiful person she’d ever met.
Suddenly, the ring burned on her finger, and she pulled away from Thorne.
“I’m sorry,” she told him, shaking her head.
She hadn’t noticed Peg and Koko standing behind Thorne until she tried to leave.
“We’ve actually got an idea,” said Peg.
“It’s not a very good idea,” Koko added. “But definitely better than the nothing you’ve got now.”
Thorne turned to them with a look of fury. “Are you kidding? I thought you’d back me up on this.”
