What if I interrupted the beam without moving it? I glanced around and grabbed a wide leaf. Holding it by the stem, I lowered it into the white beam, bracing for an explosion but hoping the leaf would block the beam and free Adam from his stasis. Neither occurred.
But the leaf disintegrated.
Fuck.
I needed the others. I hit my com again. “Trace! Evan!” Nothing. Then I realized that I hadn’t heard anything over it for several minutes. I wasn’t sure when it had gone out completely—sometime during my fight.
“I’ll get you out,” I assured Adam again. With zip ties from my utility pack, I fastened the hands and feet of the fake HQers, then dragged them around the corner, out of sight behind the wall. I removed my flexi-shield and checked my com. I couldn’t find anything physically wrong, like a jarred wire, but it was still dead. I had to go find the others.
I gave Adam one last look and another, silent, promise, but it killed me to leave him alone and vulnerable.
From what I’d heard on the com earlier I didn’t expect them to be there, but I ran back to the spot where Adam and I had left the others. I was right, they were gone. I couldn’t detect any emotional traces, either, which probably meant they were calm when they moved. Stronger emotions, especially emotional spikes, tended to linger longer than calm or gentle emotions.
Without a lead, I decided to head for the memorial. I ran, Adam’s entrapment foremost in my mind. But when I reached the closed-off portion of the traffic circle, he dropped down my priority list.
The normal quiet disorganization of tourists climbing up and down the steps and milling around the inner chamber had disappeared. The screams I’d heard had probably been people trying to escape those who now held many of them at gunpoint in a tightly compacted group at the middle level of the steps.
Evan stood at the front of that group, his hands up by his head, talking calmly to the guy in front of him despite the machine gun inches from his abdomen. I couldn’t see Trace anywhere. Kirby huddled behind one of the cement barriers closing off the front of the circle. She saw me and motioned me back. I hadn’t been spotted yet, but I was out in the open and any movement could call their attention to me. I backed up slowly, exactly the way I’d come, until I was hidden by a tree past the sidewalk on the outside curve of the circle.
Kirby made a small motion with her hand. It took me a minute to catch on. She wanted me to switch my com from broadcast to person-to-person. I was skeptical, but I switched it and keyed her code on the button. Her voice exploded in my ear.
“Where the hell have you been? Where’s Adam?”
“My com wasn’t working. Adam’s . . . incapacitated.” There wasn’t time to explain, not yet. “Where’s Trace?”
“I don’t know. We started fanning out but as soon as we got close to the steps these guys burst out of the building. Trace was closest and took two of them out, then chased down a third. He’s offline and hasn’t come back.”
I had no doubt Evan had charged in, as well, and was now paying the price for his macho heroics. Or soon would, judging by the heated response of the guy with the gun to whatever Evan was saying.
“I started summoning weapons away.”
I could see them now, black pieces smashed on the walk at the base of the steps. She must have summoned them against the wall.
“I got the clips. But I only got three before they caught on. Now they’re holding them too tightly.”
“Can’t you summon the whole person away?”
I could feel her glare even from this distance. “Of course I can, but to what purpose? I can’t take them all on, and they for sure won’t let me handle them one by one.”
“Where’s Summer?” She was our best fighter.
“She’s on the other side of the building. She wanted to follow Evan, but I convinced her to wait. We need a plan, not a willy-nilly leap into the fray.”
That was for sure. We needed Adam. But if Summer, Kirby, and I went to try to release him, who knew what would happen on these steps? How many civilians would they kill?
“Daley.”
I spun, trying to swing my asp before I realized I’d left it behind. Luckily, the man who’d snuck up on me was someone I knew, someone on our side.
Or was he? I curbed my initial relief and studied Hurley before I spoke to him. His aura was like all the others around here, full of anxiety and fear and determination and need. He could be the dedicated cop we’d thought him to be, and his emotions stemmed from the terrible odds of innocent people surviving. Or he could be part of CASE, his emotions stemming from fear of being found out.
Just like I’d told Adam. I couldn’t tell. I was worthless in this fight.
But I was in it all the same, and walking away wouldn’t save anyone. My safest bet was to pretend I didn’t suspect him.
“You’re okay! When Adam was ambushed, I thought—”
Hurley shook his head. Worry flared briefly. “I was grabbed and forced to make that call. I wasn’t anywhere near here. They let me go a few minutes ago, and I came straight here to see what I could do.”
So many holes in that explanation. “Did you notify the authorities what was going on?”
“I didn’t know what to report. What is going on?”
“Don’t tell him anything, Daley,” Kirby warned. I’d left my com on, and she could hear our conversation. “He could be one of them.”
“I don’t know, either,” I said to both of them. “I just got here myself. I’m trying to figure it out.” I took a chance on turning my back to survey the scene on the steps again. I kept my empathic attention on him just in case, but he only moved up beside me, his hands at his sides. His lightweight jacket didn’t hang like he had a weapon concealed in or beneath it.
I surreptitiously used my left hand to key Summer’s com into my communication with Kirby, then wondered, “Why didn’t they fire their weapons?”
“Daley. There you are.” Summer was breathless. “Kirby?”
“I’m here, Summer. Daley’s got Hurley with her. She can’t talk freely. Where are you?”
“I’m inside. Hangin’ over old Abe’s shoulder. They never saw me go past.”
Oooo-kay. Innovative location. They wouldn’t be expecting it. But I wasn’t sure of its strategic value.
“What did they do to Adam?” Hurley asked, his eyes on the group at the top of the steps. No one had moved.
I explained the triangulated beams and the stasis they’d put Adam in. “Any idea what it could be?”
Hurley shook his head, and Summer and Kirby both said no.
“Can you hear anything?” I asked.
Hurley threw me a puzzled look. “Not from here.”
Kirby answered my earlier question. “I expected them to shoot at me when I pulled the guns, but they didn’t. And I can’t hear anything.”
“They’re too far away from me, too,” Summer added. “And dammit, Evan isn’t doing too well.”
Kirby shifted but didn’t expose herself beyond the pillar.
“Has anyone seen anything else? Funny-looking equipment? Explosives?” I was grasping at anything, any place we could start. This standoff was going to get us nowhere.
But I’d blown my advantage with the coms. Hurley knew I couldn’t possibly be talking to him. His expression cleared as he nodded and stepped a few feet away to make a cell phone call. I listened as he relayed the scene to someone, hopefully his precinct or other law enforcement and not the local CASE leader. I tried to listen to everything he said, but Kirby and Summer were speculating and planning in my ear, and I couldn’t process both.
“Wait, you two, Kirby was right before. We can’t just charge in there.”
“Do you have a better idea, Ms. Second-in-Command?”
I was a little
taken aback by Summer’s tone. I opened my mouth to argue, but thought better of it. The last thing we needed now was dissension between us.
We did need a leader, though, so I took the challenge Summer had thrown out.
“Kirby, I need you to come back here with me. Then summon Evan to us. We need as many people as we can get, and he’s just agitating that guy.” That Guy was now waving his gun in the air. “Maybe he’s learned something we can use, too.”
Kirby was already moving my way. There was a shout from the crowd. Someone had spotted her. But she was next to me before they acted.
“Now,” I urged her.
She raised her hands, concentrated hard, and Evan flew through the air toward us.
The problem with Kirby’s power is that she has to summon directly toward herself. It’s a drawing power, not simply a moving power. With large chunks of debris, she can dodge them at the last second and let them land behind her, momentum taking them out of her way. Drawing a person, however, is a lot trickier. First, their natural inclination is not to go. Evan flailed, fighting the pull. Halfway to us he realized what was happening and gave in to it, but he had to jerk his legs up to avoid hitting the stone pillar Kirby had hidden behind, and when his body entered the trees, the only way to stop him without injury was to catch him.
Which we did very well, thank God. I stood next to Kirby, and when Evan soared down to us, we braced and each grabbed an arm and his waist. He landed ungracefully, but on his feet.
“Well, fuck me, let’s not do that again.” He bent over as if to catch his breath. “But thanks.”
“What were you doing up there?” I asked him.
He glanced over his shoulder at Hurley, then straightened slowly. “Gathering intel.”
He looked at me, raised his eyebrows, and tipped his head back ever so slightly. I couldn’t see Hurley, so he couldn’t see me. I mouthed his name without sound, and Evan nodded imperceptibly, then whirled.
“Shit.”
Hurley was gone. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten out of sight so quickly, but there were several directions he could have taken. We didn’t have time to give chase.
“He’s CASE.” I didn’t make it a question.
Evan nodded.
“I thought so, but didn’t want it to be true. What else did that guy tell you?”
Evan sighed. “Not enough. They’re definitely doing this as a trap for HQ. He bragged that they already got two of you. Trace followed that runner, and since I see you and Kirby, the other one has to be Summer or Adam?”
“Adam.” I motioned to his com. “Not working?”
“Not so much.”
“Mine either. Try person-to-person.” He switched over, and I keyed his code into our previous three-way conversation, making it four-way and reaching its limit.
“Summer’s inside?” he asked.
“I sure am.” Kirby’s move had maybe affected Summer’s attitude, because she didn’t sound so on edge. “You okay, brother?”
“Fine. Just not sure what our next move should be. They’re expecting us to try to take them out, protect those people.”
“Why haven’t they shot anyone?” Summer repeated my question.
“Not enough impact at that moment. Now that you took me, though, things might change.”
That Guy was shouting out from his spot on the steps, but we couldn’t hear him. His companions had raised their weapons and encircled the group. That Guy was the only one with more than a handgun, but at such close range, with the innocents packed so tightly together, they’d do a hell of a lot of damage.
“Any kids in the crowd?” I wondered. The auras were all too close together and similar for me to count or estimate what was up there.
“No, just adults.”
“Maybe they don’t want a lot of collateral damage, not by themselves, anyway. That would harm their case.”
Evan shook his head. “I think the only thing that matters to them is harming superheroes in any way they can, and HQ has pushed them further by thwarting them in ways no one else has.” He looked at me, and for a second it was like there was no one else around us. I frowned, reading desperate earnestness in his aura, overlying heavy suspicion and emotional pain. He clicked off his com and spoke just to me.
“They knew we were coming. They’re inside HQ.”
He’d turned off his com, but forgotten mine could pick up the noises around me. Both Kirby and Summer heard him. Kirby, a few feet away, nodded, her aura darkening in disappointment and regret, but the bright colors of surprise weren’t present. She’d suspected already. So had I, though I hadn’t admitted it even in my own head.
Summer, though, went ballistic. “You think it’s me, don’t you? You fucking hypocrite, pretending to reconcile with me and be my brother again when you were just trying to infiltrate us so you could get me! I’m not with CASE, you asshole, and I’ll prove it!”
“No!”
The three of us yelled at once, turning toward the memorial as a black blur flew out of it. We ran, but of course none of us would get there in time. Summer’s new suit meant faster movements, and by the time we were racing up the steps, Summer had knocked out three of the eight CASE operatives holding the hostages. The others, taken by surprise and without time to plan their reactions, started firing. She was completely protected in her full suit and flexi-shield, but bullets ricocheted as civilians ran in all directions. People fell. Two of the CASE people took their own bullets, or those of their partners. They weren’t protected by stolen HQ suits the way Adam’s captors had been.
The three of us reached the flat landing in the middle of the steps. Evan wrenched the machine gun free of That Guy’s hands. Granted, it wasn’t hard to do. He stood staring at the sudden devolution of his control. Evan knocked him out with the butt of the gun.
In the meantime, Kirby stood to the side and summoned weapons to her, first from the hands of the still-standing enemies, then the ones fallen on the ground. I joined Summer in hand-to-hand combat with the remaining men, while Kirby quickly disabled the weapons and joined us.
In moments, it was over. Unwounded captives helped or dragged the wounded ones away. Law enforcement officers and paramedics, previously unseen to us, emerged from their secure locations to take care of the civilians.
The four of us stood on the steps, panting from our exertions and the suddenness of the small battle and its ending, at a momentary loss for our next action.
That had been far too easy.
Summer scowled at her brother. “See? It’s not me.”
“I never thought it was.” He walked toward her, his tone soft, his expression softer, but her aura darkened with anger and hatred. I stood, shocked. I’d never seen such intense, negative emotions from her before. I glanced at Kirby, whose aura showed the same shock but swirled with the beginnings her own anger.
“You did!” Summer backed away until she reached the wall and climbed up on it, bracing her feet and holding up her hands in a fighting pose. “Come on, brother. Come get me, if you think you can.”
“Summer, he’s not—” I stopped. What point was there in trying to talk reason with her? She was beyond reason. I had to do something else. I’d managed, in the melee, to hold on to my taupe center. I was scared and confused on the surface, but at my core I was still emotionless. Into that void I forced calm and relief, made it grow, then pushed it outward toward Summer. It met her seething emotions and I could almost see sparks as they collided.
For a few seconds I thought I was doing it. Her aura shrank beneath the pressure of mine. Then it swelled again, and I felt like something was pushing against my mind. I stumbled back a step, as if someone had physically shoved me, and tried to assert my aura again.
“Knock it off, Summer!” Kirby stepped toward her, into my line of sight, a
nd disturbed my concentration enough to catch my attention. What I could see horrified me so much my artificial aura collapsed into me. It was like I’d been poured full of cold water.
Kirby’s emotions exactly matched Summer’s. They weren’t as dark or as encompassing, but the composition was the same. I’d never seen her look at our friend like that.
“Come on, baby,” Summer taunted her. “You think you can take me? Bring it.”
Kirby raised her arms and summoned Summer off the wall. She’d been close already and hit Kirby hard, knocking her over. They tumbled down the stairs.
“No!” I began to run after them. Evan grabbed my arm.
“Let them fight it out,” he said.
My heart sinking, I checked, and sure enough, his aura was the same. I didn’t understand it. It wasn’t possible for them to have all started hating each other like that. Evan stood at the top of the steps, his hands on his hips and a sneer on his face as he watched his sister and one of her best friends try to battle each other.
So far, not much was happening. They both still wore their suits, and the new flexi-shields and gloves held tight to the main suit unless the wearer deactivated them. I didn’t think they’d do much harm very quickly, so I turned my attention to Evan. I had to figure this out.
Possibilities raced through my head as I probed him. Drugs could cause irrational anger and paranoia, but how could they all have been drugged without me also being affected? It had hit suddenly, and they’d been wearing their suits, which ruled out injection or airborne pathogens or chemicals.
The Color of Courage Page 25
