by Megan Curd
“Nice hands, feet,” chastised Evan. “You better get going if you want to be able to change and get back in time for first class.”
Asher sighed and ran a hand through his thick, wavy black hair. “Save me a seat,” he said to Evan as he stood and pushed his chair back underneath the table. Instead of leaving, though, he stood at attention in Riggs’s direction and waited to be acknowledged.
Riggs smiled as the rest of us watched Asher’s silent signal. “Mr. Tertia, may I help you?”
Asher’s body was stiff and straight, his hands along his sides and in tight fists. “I request permission to be excused, sir.”
“And what for?” Riggs looked at Asher’s half-eaten bowl of oatmeal. “You haven’t eaten much. You may regret that later.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I spilled some on my uniform and need to change.”
Riggs nodded once and waved a hand. “Do what you need to do. I expect you clean and on time to your first class.”
“Of course, sir.”
Asher about faced and exited the dining hall. No one spoke, but smirks passed between students.
“What was that about?” I directed my question at Sari, but she wasn’t the one who answered.
“Oh, Asher has a man-crush on Riggs. He thinks Riggs is God’s gift to the world,” said a brown-haired girl who sat beside Evan. The entire breakfast they’d shared touches and looks that made me think they were more than friends. Even now Evan nudged her and she returned the favor, but probably a bit harder than he expected. Her eyes widened and her lips puckered to the side. “Oh stop it, Evan. Avery’s new, not blind. Anyone can see your brother is a nutbag.”
“I have no idea how I shared a confined space with him for nine months,” he admitted between bites of his own oatmeal.
“I have no idea how two people who look exactly the same can be so different,” added the girl. “Glad I got the normal one.”
Sari snorted. “Hell will freeze over before someone dates Asher.”
“It’s a likely scenario,” agreed Evan. His dark eyes were kind and I already knew he was a nice guy. I returned the smile he extended like a handshake.
I scanned the room for what felt like the hundredth time for the same person I didn’t want to see. Even still, my stomach seemed to be cart-wheeling from wondering where he was. “Why’s Jaxon not eating with us?”
“Oh, he has better things to do,” said Evan darkly. I wondered if there was an underlying issue between the two of them. “He’s too good to eat with us. He gets his food delivered to his lab.”
“His lab?” I said incredulously.
“Yeah, he’s Riggs’s little protégé.”
I glanced ever so slightly to Sari, who looked uncomfortable. She twisted in her seat like she wanted to pull an Asher and ask to leave. She pushed her eggs and hash browns into a pile in the middle of her plate and lined them with her sausage links. Had she eaten any of her food? Suddenly I wondered if my appetite wasn’t the only one disturbed by things going on under the cheery surface of this family-like façade.
I pretended to be interested in Evan’s comment. “What do you mean?”
“Ah, Jax is a chip right off the old man’s block. Riggs is a ‘scientist,’” Evan said, using air quotations around the word scientist like he didn’t really believe it. “Riggs trained Jax to be an alchemist and God knows what else. He doesn’t have any natural talent, he’s been taught his abilities by textbooks.”
Evan’s voice made it clear he didn’t think Jaxon was as good as he was. For some reason, I felt like I needed to defend Jaxon. “Well, obviously he has talent to learn something as complex as alchemy.”
Evan snorted. “Anyone can cook from a recipe on a piece of paper; anyone could be an alchemist by reading the texts. You and I, we’re different. Born with talent. It’s in our genes.”
Sari stiffened beside me. I knew it was because Evan probably didn’t see her as a legitimate talent, either.
I put my arm around her. “Everyone here contributes in their own way.”
“Some of us are just contributing on a larger scale,” he said firmly.
Sari shook her head. “If by larger scale you mean your ego being out of control, you’re right. Just because you can manipulate fire does not mean the sun rises and falls with your farts.”
We all burst out laughing and Evan turned a brilliant shade of crimson. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, then pushed away from the table. The legs of the chair scraped audibly against the wooden floor as he stomped off, and everyone’s eyes followed his departure.
He got as far as the grand archway that led to the foyer before it looked like he ran into an invisible electric fence. His face went slack as his body convulsed. I cringed as he fell to the ground and his ankle bent unnaturally with a sickening crunch. His body twitched and spasmed as he lay on the ground, like a grotesque marionette being jerked around by its strings. He went still, leaving the rest of the room silent in his wake.
All of us looked at him lying on the floor unconscious. One by one, everyone went back to eating and the rise of conversation resumed.
I was horrified.
“Xander, please take the second Mr. Tertia to your medical wing,” I heard Riggs say, “He may need a cast for that ankle. It sounded gruesome.”
I watched Xander nod and get up from the table. Riggs never looked away from his food.
Sari leaned in a spoke in a hushed tone. “That’s why you ask to be excused. You don’t have to do it as pompously as Asher, but you’ve got to give respect where respect is due. Otherwise, Riggs will take it from you.”
I had a feeling that Riggs would take a lot more than respect from us if he could manage it. The injustice of it all made me furious. I clamped my hands into fists and I slammed them onto the table. The delicate china and silverware rattled around me, and a lit candle fell from its holster onto the expensive tablecloth.
Everything went up in flame.
Guys yelled and pushed away from the table while girls screamed and waved their arms. Riggs, however, sat serenely and watched in amusement. He waved his hand lazily in the direction of the fire. “Care to clean up your mess, Miss Pike?”
The flames were beginning to spread down the length of the table, consuming the over-lacquered ivy. Flames popped and cracked each time the fire reached a new piece of ivy. The odor of burnt plastic and paint hung heavy in the air.
Sari grabbed the cup of orange juice that still sat at her place and tossed it over the flames. As she did, Evan’s girlfriend lifted her hands and her green eyes narrowed in concentration. The orange juice slowed to hover like an orange cloud. She thrust her hands apart from one another and to her sides with her palms open wide. She looked like she was conducting a silent symphony with the movements of her hands.
The orange juice double, tripled, quadrupled in mass to expand over the entire burning surface under her control. With a final gesture, she struck the table’s edge with her palms and let out a whoop. The orange juice plummeted onto the table like a torrential downpour and snuffed out the fire. Smoke hissed and sizzled as the liquid quelled the flames.
Patches of gold and crimson still lingered in the fabric, but it was mainly blackened ash. Portions had melted right onto the wood, which was also charred and probably ruined beyond repair. My nostrils burned from the scents of burnt plastic, fabric and food, and made my eyes water.
Riggs’s voice shredded the silence. “Well done, Kloey.”
Kloey didn’t look at Riggs. Instead, she kept her gaze to the ground and put her hands behind her back as though she were at parade rest. “Thank you, sir.”
Riggs’s tone was bored, but I wondered if he might be saving his wrath for someone else.
Me.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
While the flames consumed Riggs’s expensive display of power, he sat placidly at the head of the table. Only now did he slowly push away from his place setting. Xander sat silently
in his seat and watched the debacle unfold. Riggs cracked his knuckles as he walked toward Kloey. “You’ve obviously been paying attention to your mentors.”
“I’m trying, sir.”
“Well, I’m impressed,” he said, and it sounded genuine. “You may go to your first class. Thank you for salvaging what you could of my belongings with your abilities. The gesture will be noted.”
Riggs put a hand on her shoulder, and she shivered under his touch. I wondered if he was as cold to the touch as his words were, or if he incited that much fear in his students.
Kloey left the dining room as fast as she could without breaking into a run. Riggs glanced at the remaining students. Suddenly his kind mask broke into a thousand pieces as he snarled. “Why are you all still here? Go! You have classes to attend!”
I made for the door, but Riggs’s voice rang out above the exodus of students. “Miss Pike,” he said, saccharine sweet, “you stay with me. I’m your mentor, remember?”
I stiffened. Part of me knew better than to keep my back exposed. I didn’t know what he was capable of. After a few heartbeats, I sighed and turned to face him.
He was right there.
“Are you afraid, Avery Pike?”
I jutted my chin upward in defiance. “No.”
“You should be.”
Sari pushed between us, frantic. “Mr. Riggs, let me take Avery to the first class. She can’t control her abilities yet, so maybe watching the others will help her.”
I had to give it to her, Sari was fearless. Even with Riggs bearing down on the both of us, she stood there with her hand on his chest and kept him at bay. She spoke again, this time more urgent. “Sir, let me help.”
Riggs pulled his gaze from me and focused on Sari. He pushed Sari’s hand away and adjusted his vest and tie, losing the crazed look he possessed moments before. “Fine,” he said as he stalked back to his chair and retrieved his long-tailed overcoat. “Fine. Miss Pike, I want you in my office after the class.”
“Of course, Mr. Riggs.”
Sari guided me out of the dining room before Riggs could change his mind. As we reached the foyer, I glanced back.
Riggs stood there watching our retreat with his hands balled in fists. Xander had his hand on Riggs’s shoulder. Was that a tear I saw on Riggs’s cheek? Xander was whispering something in Riggs’s ear, and then Riggs shoved Xander away. I shrugged at Xander, and he waved me off.
“Stop staring,” Sari hissed as she pulled me onward.
“Something’s wrong.”
“Of course something’s wrong. This whole place is wrong. Now come on.”
I watched Sari as her eyes roved the corridor. “Why did you step in like that?”
“Because I was pretty sure Riggs wouldn’t murder me. He doesn’t want to hurt you; he wants you scared enough to cooperate.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
She chuckled darkly as we turned a corner. “Then I guess we’re both screwed. Come on, let’s get to class before you accidentally burn this place to the ground.”
Part of me wished I could.
Sari led me in a room in the same hallway as the library. “Here we go.”
The giant room was nearly empty. The dark wooden floors, walls and open rafters made it feel like a barn, but there was nothing rustic about the room. It was exquisite.
At the far end of the room, the wall was covered by one gigantic rusted cog, with smaller gears connecting to the main one. In bold black letters, the phrase “Embrace the past, embark into the future” were stenciled on the big cog. Below the words were designs and graffiti that made me think these cogs were taken from other places. On one of the smaller gears someone had scrawled, “Steam is the past. Long live electricity!”
It made me contemplate how bright our world might be if Riggs were in charge, or if it would all end up as charred and unusable as the rest of the world had apparently become. Could the soil and water recover from such a destructive past? Probably not anytime soon.
Sari tugged at my elbow. “Are you daydreaming? Come on, you’re blocking the way in.”
I followed her confident stride into a small room in the corner.
“This is my office,” she said proudly as she waved her arm around the space. “What do you think?”
What space wasn’t overrun by computer monitors, wiring, and keyboards was filled with coffee mugs, crossword puzzles, and posters. One poster had a man screaming into a microphone, with his band mates behind him. Another was pop art of someone I’d never seen before. Post cards littered a corner of the room with slogans like Miss you in Paris, and We’re in Tallahassee and all you get is this postcard. A small mattress was pushed into the other corner, a pile of blankets sitting on top. Pictures of Sari with people I’d never met were taped above the mattress. This glimpse into her world gave me so much more insight as to who she was.
“I think you could fit a small sticker right there if you tried,” I pointed to a bare spot of wall by a filing cabinet, “maybe a price tag or something.”
Sari nodded with a grin. “Good idea. We’ll have to go out to the abandoned stores in the Dome and see if we can find any good ones.”
The old mattress springs creaked as I sat down. “So this is where you work your magic, huh?”
“Indeed it is,” she said as she wiggled a mouse around on the table. All of the monitors sprang to life. “I can watch everyone on one of three hundred thirty seven different cameras, and I’m sure those are only the ones that Riggs lets me use. Right now though, we’re going to measure the brain waves of the Elementalists while they practice. I was wondering if it’d help you to see them in action.”
My mouth dropped in surprise. “So you’re a scientist, too?”
“Heck no,” Sari said with a laugh. “I attach the electrodes, run the program, and send the information to Riggs. I see the data as it comes in and I’ve kind of taught myself what I think it means, but I could be way off. Let’s go get everyone set up.”
I followed Sari from her office to find that the room had filled with students. Asher, Evan, and Kloey I recognized, but the rest were new. They were milling about, but when Sari cleared her throat, they all snapped to attention.
“Listen up, guys! Riggs wants you working on your respective elements. Easy day,” she said as she pulled a lever on the wall I hadn’t noticed. “You know the drill. Head to your element, attach your electrodes, and do your thing.”
The right wall groaned and lifted, revealing a long table filled with bowls. The table slid forward into the room, wobbling slightly as it came to a halt. Bowls of water, dirt, fans and candles already lit graced the slab of dark wood. The students made small groups around the elements, and took their materials to different areas of the room.
“Now the fun begins,” Sari said as she walked back to her office. She turned and looked at me, rooted to my spot, and she smiled. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Riggs has all kinds of things for you later. Get in here and relax while you can.”
I went back into her office and watched her fingers fly across the keyboard as though they had a mind of their own.
A small series of musical beeps sounded, and she pulled a mic from the second level of her desk. “All right, ladies and gents. Your music for the day is brought to you by one of my favorite rock bands. Enjoy.”
Guitars and drums filled the air, followed by the crooning of a male voice. There was a classical edge to the song, but it was definitely rock. She pointed to the poster behind her. “What I wouldn’t give to have been around to see them in concert.”
I shrugged. “I haven’t heard this band, honestly.”
She shook her head, dismay in her features. “We can remedy that. Consider it my contribution to your steep learning curve.”
“Fair enough.”
Sari gestured for me to come to her computer and whispered. “Now for why I really brought you here.”
With a few clicks, a folder popped up on the screen, quickly replaced by
the words FILE ENCRYPTED. PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD.
Undeterred, Sari began typing away. Coding that was jibberish to me filled the screen, then a ping sounded. The folder popped back up, now open and filled with more folders. She tapped the upper right one. “This one is about Riggs. Check it out.”
A movie file began to play, with a 3D version of Riggs rotating on the left of the screen. Pages of information ran down below the miniature Riggs’s feet, and the video depicted him shaking hands with dignitaries standing in front of the Alliance flag. “This is why I wonder how he got here,” Sari said, “and get this; there’s a folder for Xander that I can’t get into. Eventually I will, but I’ve been digging with no luck.”
“Alice found a picture of Riggs wearing the Alliance military uniform,” I said as I tried to connect the dots. “What do you think is going on?”
Sari leaned back in her chair and placed her hands behind her head, the front legs coming off the ground. Her eyes shined with the challenge of uncovering truths, and I could tell she wouldn’t stop until everything was out in the open. “I don’t know, but for some reason, I’m getting a bad feeling.”
“Didn’t you already have one of those?”
Sari dropped the chair back to the ground with a thud. “Oh, I love a good conspiracy theory, so I’ve followed along with Jaxon since I got here. Now though, let’s just say I don’t think he’s as crazy as I thought.”
“Jaxon said the journal he gave me to read is Riggs’s, and that Xander gave it to him. He said Xander has taken him under his wing like a father.”
“He has,” Alice confirmed, “which makes me worry that maybe Riggs has had enough and wants Xander to stop trying to be the dad he’s never been.”
The words I wanted to say were on the tip of my tongue, but I was afraid to say them. Sari cocked her head to the side and examined me carefully. “What are you thinking?”
“Am I that obvious?”
“You’re not subtle, if that’s what you’re asking.”
I smiled. “Well, I was wondering if you guys might be too focused on Riggs. You know, not seeing the forest because of the trees?”
