“Listen,” Dennings said. “I’d love to stay and talk about this some more. It’s fascinating stuff, really it is. But I’ve got a mutiny to get under control.” He addressed Ghost. “You got our guys inside that engine room, right?”
Ghost nodded.
“Good girl,” Dennings said. “Well, go see if you can help Gawain and Parvati find Nine. I’ve got some things to do here.”
Ghost gave Sam a last, withering glance, then winked out of sight.
“She’s tough, that one,” Dennings said. “You really shouldn’t have left her there.”
“We didn’t—”
“I’m kidding,” Dennings said, taking him by the shoulder and pushing him out of the room. “Jeez. Can’t you take a joke?”
As Dennings herded Sam down the corridor, he whistled happily.
“You’re pretty pleased with yourself,” Sam observed.
“Yeah, well, it’s turning out to be a good day,” said Dennings. “First Six. Now you. Once we find Nine that’s, like, a third of the original gang. Well, you’re not one of the Loric, but you get it. I have to say, it’s hard to believe you guys defeated the entire Mog army.”
“We had all our Legacies,” Sam said. “And we’ve kicked your ass, what, three times so far? I wouldn’t be so confident if I were you.”
Dennings pushed him, making him stumble. “Keep it up,” he said. “We’ll see how cocky you are when you’re on the table next to your girlfriend, having your heads drilled into.”
“Tell me something,” Sam said. “Have you let Drac inject you with his magic potion?”
“Me?” Dennings said. “Nah. I’m not one of his guinea pigs.”
“Why not? Seems like getting superpowers would be right up your alley.”
“I’m good,” Dennings said.
“You know it messes up their brains,” said Sam. “You’ve seen it. You know what it’s doing to Bray. It changes people. Makes them a little bit crazy, maybe.”
“Maybe they were crazy to start with,” said Dennings. “Anyway, you talk too much. How about you shut up for a while.”
Sam could tell he had touched a nerve. Dennings knew that Drac’s serum wasn’t everything they wanted it to be. From what he’d seen of Bray, the man was definitely being affected by it. Whatever it was doing to him, it was obviously dangerous.
Not that that would stop people from taking it. Sam was pretty sure they probably already had buyers lined up, people who wanted power and would pay any cost to get it. Even if they were warned, it probably wouldn’t keep them from trying to get the Legacies they craved. And once they were hooked, they would come back for more, making Bray wealthy beyond imagination.
He had more that he wanted to say to Dennings. At first he held back, not wanting to anger him. Then he decided he didn’t care. If Dennings was marching him to his death, he might as well go out fighting, or at least getting in a few shots.
“Don’t you get tired of being Bray’s errand boy?” he said.
“I thought I told you to shut up.”
“Really, I want to know,” Sam continued. “I looked you up after our first run-in. You were a big deal.”
“King of the Mountain at World Wrestling Summit three years running,” Dennings said.
“Right,” said Sam. “So, how do you go from having endorsements and fans and million-dollar paychecks to doing the dirty work for a scumbag like Bray?”
“Things happen,” Dennings said. “And he pays good.”
“But you could be the boss,” Sam said. “Run the whole thing. Especially if you had a Legacy of your own.”
Dennings brought him up short and spun him around. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here,” he said. “You’re not buying your way out by promising to turn me into Batman.”
“I was thinking more along the lines of Solomon Grundy,” Sam said. “But whatever. And I’m not trying to bribe you. I’d just like to know how someone goes from being King of the Mountain to Cleanup on Aisle Four.”
Dennings shoved him against the wall. “What about you?” he said. “Who the hell were you before you won the lottery? I’m guessing a scrawny little nerd who got pushed around by the jocks. Bet you couldn’t get a girl to look at you to save your life. You think that girl—Six—would look at you twice if you couldn’t do what you do.”
“Actually,” Sam said, “she liked me before all that happened.”
“Sure,” Dennings snapped. “She saw what a great guy you are inside, right? How much you care. How you’re different from all the other guys who want to get with her.”
“Personally, I think it’s more his boyish good looks and the fact that he isn’t a sociopath.”
Dennings whirled around, and Nine punched him in the face. He flew backwards, landing on his ass and continuing to slide. Before he could even think about getting up, Nine was on top of him, pummeling him repeatedly as Dennings tried to protect himself. Nine hit him once more, and the big man was out cold. Nine got up and walked back to Sam.
“And that’s with one hand,” he said. “Guess that makes me King of the Mountain now. Do I get a crown or anything? Maybe a throne?”
“It took you long enough to get here,” Sam said. “I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stall him. Where were you?”
“Beating up ten or twelve henchmen,” Nine said. “Turn around.”
Sam put his back towards Nine, who inserted a key he’d swiped from Dennings’s pocket into the lock. The cuffs opened, and Sam pulled them from his wrists. “Ghost has gone over to the dark side,” he said.
“A minor inconvenience,” Nine said. “Help me pull the former king into his cell.”
Together, they lugged Dennings into the cabin Sam had been occupying. Once he was locked in, they walked back down the corridor.
“Now, let’s go get Six and get the hell out of here,” Nine said.
“What about the rest of Dennings’s crew?” Sam said.
“They’re McKenna’s problem,” Nine said shortly. “I knocked them out and locked them up. He can figure out what to do with them. Unless they freeze first.”
“Freeze?”
“I put them in a meat locker,” Nine said. “The thing’s huge.”
“And the other Garde? We’re not just leaving them here.”
Nine sighed. “No, I guess not.” He snorted. “I’ll have to order more HGA sweatshirts.”
“I’m serious,” Sam said. “What’s the plan for them? Especially the ones like Ghost who Dennings has brainwashed or done worse to?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” said Nine. “I’m sort of at the making-sure-they-don’t-cut-off-Six’s-head stage of the plan right now. Which, if we keep talking, might happen before we can get to her. So can we table the whole what-will-we-do-with-the-kids thing for now?”
“Yeah. No. You’re right,” Sam said. “Ghost said Six is in the operating room.”
“Excellent,” said Nine. “You know where it is?”
“Downstairs,” said Sam. “I think.”
“You think?”
“I haven’t been here a whole lot longer than you have,” said Sam. “I didn’t get the full tour. But that’s where they were taking me.”
“Downstairs it is,” said Nine. “I don’t suppose the black-goo ooze stuff has worn off?”
Sam tried to use his telekinesis. “Not yet.”
“Mmm,” Nine said. “Well, here. It’s primitive, but it’s better than nothing.” He handed Sam a pistol. “I got it from one of the meat-locker guys. They had a lot of them. I gave the rest to Seamus and his bunch.”
“You gave guns to the kids?”
“Does that make me an irresponsible adult? Cuz I couldn’t care less. Anyway, they’re dangerous enough on their own. The guns are just in case.”
“In case of what?”
“I think we’re getting close,” Nine said as they descended some stairs. “I hear shouting. Down there.” He pointed to the floor.
S
am strained to hear. Through the steel beneath their feet there was the sound of someone yelling. They followed it, moving along another long corridor until they came to one more set of stairs, which ended in a closed door.
“Think it’s unlocked?” Nine asked as he descended the stairs. “Or should we knock? Oh, what fun would that be?”
He kicked the door open.
“Sorry we’re late,” he said as he walked into the room. “Sam had to stop to pee.”
Sam, following Nine inside, pointed the gun in front of him. He expected to be met by immediate attack, but none came. The people in the room—Bray and Cutter—stared at them in confusion. On an operating table, Six lay with her wrists and ankles bound.
“This again?” asked Nine. “Sam, untie her. You two, get on the floor. That’s where I’m putting you if you try anything, so we might as well save some time.”
Cutter, holding a syringe, set it down on a table and got to his knees. Bray, however, began sputtering. He held out his hands, pointing his palms at Nine. His face contorted in concentration.
“What are you doing?” said Nine. He looked at Cutter. “What is he doing?”
“Why isn’t it working?” Bray shouted. Once more he pushed his palms towards Nine.
“Are . . . are you trying to use telekinesis?” asked Nine.
Sam, who was untying Six, freed her wrists, then started on her ankles.
“He thinks he has a Legacy,” Six said.
“Oh,” Nine said. He pointed at Bray. “Maybe you should try harder.”
Bray grunted. His face was beet red with exertion.
“Careful,” Nine taunted. “You don’t want to overdo it.”
Six, who was now free, strode towards the man. “Playtime is over,” she said. “It’s time to—”
Before she could complete the thought, Ghost appeared. She took Bray’s hand, gave Six the finger and disappeared.
“Was that?” said Six.
“It was,” Sam said.
“But—”
“I’m getting tired of this shit,” said Nine. “Not that the Entity asked my opinion, but there are too many damn people getting teleportation as a Legacy.”
“Where do you think she took him?” Six asked.
“Don’t look at me,” Sam said as she was doing exactly that. “I don’t know.”
“I do,” said Cutter.
“What?” said Six.
“I said I do,” Cutter repeated. “I know where she took him.”
“Where?” Nine said.
Cutter shook his head. “Not until we make a deal.”
Six raised her hand back to strike him. Nine stopped her. “He can’t tell us anything if he’s dead.”
“I’m not going to kill him,” said Six.
Nine looked at Cutter. “Talk.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
NEMO
SOMEWHERE AROUND GUADALUPE ISLAND, MEXICO
“NEMO, COME ON.”
Nemo looked at Ghost. Her friend was beckoning to her, urging her to come up the stairs and join her on the deck. But something didn’t feel right.
“Where are Sam and Nine and Six?” she asked.
Ghost looked behind her, then back at Nemo. “I told you, they said to leave. It’s not safe here.”
“But we’ve got all Dennings’s guys,” said Nemo. “And most of the kids, too. There are only a few still out there. I’m going to help Seamus and Svetlana find them.”
“Stop arguing,” Ghost said. “Just come with me.” She held out her hand.
Nemo almost reached out and took it. In her head, warning bells started to go off.
“Enough of this,” said a man’s voice. Then Dennings appeared in the doorway. He jumped down the entire flight of stairs and caught Nemo by the collar. He hauled her back up on deck, kicking and screaming.
“Ghost!” Nemo shouted.
Dennings clamped his hand over her mouth. “Come on,” he said to Ghost. “They’re going to hear her.”
Ghost reached out to grab onto Dennings’s wrist. Nemo lifted her foot and stomped on the man’s instep as hard as she could. At the same time, she elbowed him in the stomach. He grunted in surprise, and his grip loosened. Nemo darted away.
“Sam!” she shouted. “Nine! Six! Help!”
Dennings lunged at her. She sidestepped him and ran. He chased her.
“Shut your goddamn mouth!” he yelled.
Nemo continued to cry for help, but no one came. She ran faster, staying barely one step ahead of the pursuing man, who moved much more quickly than his size would suggest he could. Nemo was quickly out of breath, and her cries for help faded to gasps as she looked around for an escape route. She found nothing.
They reached the bow of the ship. There was nowhere else to go. Nemo leaped up onto the small platform there. Behind her, invisible in the dark, was the ocean. She heard it gently lapping at the ship’s sides. She smelled its salty tang.
As she stood there, watching Dennings rush towards her, she wondered why Ghost hadn’t run, too. She hadn’t even seemed to be afraid of Dennings at all. And now Nemo saw her coming out of the darkness, calmly walking across the deck. Dennings stopped, barely out of breath, and waited for Ghost to catch up. She stood beside him.
“Now we’re going,” Dennings said.
“You shouldn’t have run, Nemo,” Ghost said.
“What, you’re on his side now?” Nemo asked her friend.
“I’m doing this for you,” Ghost said. “You can come with us, or you can stay here and die.”
“I’d rather die,” said Nemo.
“The ship is going to explode, Nemo,” Ghost said. “I’m not kidding. Bray rigged it in case something ever happened.”
Nemo looked at her. “That will kill all the kids left here,” she said.
Ghost shrugged. “They should have fought harder,” she said.
Nemo couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was this really Ghost talking? The Ghost she knew wouldn’t let anyone get hurt if she could help it. But this Ghost was different.
“I’m only saving you because I owe you for helping me when I had nowhere to go,” Ghost said. “Now we’re even.”
“I don’t want to be even,” Nemo told her. “I want to be friends.”
Dennings made a noise of disgust. “Put it in a card,” he said. “We’re getting out of here.” He jumped onto the platform. Nemo backed up against the low railing that was the only thing standing between her and the ocean thirty feet below. Dennings reached for her. Nemo wrapped her fingers around his wrist.
She fell backwards, pulling at the same time. Dennings, caught off balance, came with her, stumbling over the railing with a shout. Together, they fell through the darkness. Nemo looked up at the sky, wondering if they would fall forever. Then she hit the water. She went under, the breath knocked out of her. The ocean closed over her head.
At first she panicked. Then she remembered—she didn’t need to breathe. She tried to calm herself. She had lost her hold on Dennings, but she could feel him somewhere nearby. The water was moving around her as he kicked for the surface and air.
Nemo kicked, too. Her head broke through the water, and she looked around. Not far away, Dennings was splashing and swearing. “I’ll find you!” he shouted. “And when I do, I’ll slice you open!” She saw him wave something in the air. Something long, pointed. A knife.
Above them, the ship rose into the night. Without the climbing gear, there was no way she was getting back on it.
“There you are,” Dennings said.
She heard splashing as he came for her. She dived, ducking under and swimming down. She could stay there for as long as she needed to, waiting for Dennings to give up. But if Ghost was right about the ship being rigged to explode, she might not have much time left to warn the people still on board. She had to do something. But she couldn’t go back up. Not with Dennings ready to gut her like a fish.
Something grabbed her ankle, stopping her downward movement. Twistin
g around, she saw Dennings looming over her. Instinctively, she kicked out with her free leg. Her foot connected with his face, and he jerked backwards. But still he hung on. His fingers dug into her painfully. At any moment, she expected to feel a knife plunge into her. She kicked again. And again. Hoping to knock the weapon out of Dennings’s hand.
All the while, they were sinking deeper, as if Nemo’s body was a lead weight pulling them down. Then Dennings had her with both hands. He was pulling himself along her body, grasping at her arms.
As she tried to fight him off, Nemo’s thoughts flashed back to what Nine had done on the deck of the ship. He’d transferred one of his Legacies to her. Could she really use it? She closed her eyes. Struggling in the darkness, she imagined herself calling out to the creatures swimming in the sea around her. Her mind filled with the image of sharks. Were they really there? Would they listen? Did she dare ask them to do what she wanted? What she needed.
Take him, she thought.
She opened her eyes. At first, she saw nothing but endless darkness and Dennings’s shadow. She kicked some more, wiggling her body, and for a moment she was free of him. But he grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him. His face came close to hers, his mouth clamped shut, his cheeks puffed out. He was running out of air. He had to either kill her here or drag her to the surface with him. His free hand reached for her neck.
Then, out of the gloom, enormous shadows emerged. The great whites moved silently through the water, rising as they came closer. Nemo’s heart pounded in her chest as the creatures answered her call. There were two, then three. They passed within yards of her, and she felt the powerful strokes of their tails as the water swirled around her body.
Dennings sensed them, too. He looked around. When he turned back, his eyes were wide with terror. Then something pulled him backwards with great force. He was still holding on to her wrist, and Nemo’s body jerked as she was pulled with him. Then there was a second pull, and Dennings was gone. In the shadows, Nemo saw a thrashing of bodies, then a cloud of darkness formed, swirling in the water like ink. The sharks circled, twitched their tails, dived back down. They separated, swimming in different directions, each carrying something in its jaws.
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