When the brothers catch our approach, their faces split into joyful smiles. Soon, the rest of the crowd turns in our direction, and the infectious feeling of euphoria spreads through them. My face is ablaze with so many eyes on me, all appraising and expectant. Fuck. What if I end up saying the wrong thing and disappointing everyone?
The crowd parts to let us through, but their murmurs of awe quickly become a smothering blanket. My throat begins to close up, and getting air into my lungs is harder now.
“You’re just in time. Most of the workers have come down,” Harry says.
I glance at the gathering, counting way more people than I did last night. “Did more people arrive?”
“Oh yeah. Ophelia rented two busses to bring every single member of her chapter here. Everyone is excited to meet you.”
“Oh? And how many are here now?” I ask.
“About sixty, but we’re expecting a hundred more to arrive by nightfall.”
“One hundred?” Phoenix asks, surprised. “That’s more than what you said were in the Saturn’s Bay area.”
“Yes, yes.” Harry bobs his head up and down. “But we have members who are scattered in other states.”
My panic is growing, but I can’t let anyone see how distressed I am by the news. “Is everyone here?” I ask. “I’d like to address them now.”
Artex and Harry stretches their necks to take in the crowd. “Hmm, I think so,” Artex replies.
“Okay then.” I step on the stage, and it’s clear to me that the brothers wanted to say a few words beforehand by the way their foreheads crinkle. But if I’m to lead these people, I can’t let others speak for me.
“Hi, everyone. My name is Daisy Rodale. I’m so glad to finally meet you all. I just learned recently about my heritage, and until a day ago, I had no idea Magia, my ancestor, had so many dedicated followers.”
“We love you, Daisy!” someone shouts in the crowd, and immediately Bryce’s, Phoenix’s, and Morpheus’s demeanors change. I don’t need to glance in their direction to know they aren’t happy about the outburst.
“I hope to deserve your dedication,” I add quickly.
“We are here to serve you,” a woman near the stage says. “Show us how.”
I open my mouth to reply, but Harry quickly jumps onto the stage and speaks over me. “The best way to serve Magia is to continue your work in the mines and make as many weapons as possible.”
“What about the prophecy?” someone asks.
I switch my attention to Xavier with a question in my eyes. What prophecy?
“Yes, yes. We’re getting to that soon. But now—”
My spine becomes rigid when I pick up a different Idol signature approaching. I glance at the path, and my jaw drops when I spot Jodie Fallon striding down to us, accompanied by another member of the church, if I were to guess by his attire.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter.
“What is it, child?” Harry looks at me.
“I thought you said no one would be able to find this place,” Bryce grits out.
Harry follows my line of vision. “She’s with Brother Orion. Is there a problem?”
“We shall see,” Xavier answers.
Jodie glances briefly in Bryce’s direction, but her hard stare settles on me. “You’ve been difficult to track, Daisy.”
“That was the point,” I retort. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, since I can’t reach anyone via phone, I had to track you down the old-fashioned way.”
Xavier jumps onto the stage, stopping next to me. “We weren’t trying to be off the grid, Jodie. There’ve been complications.”
“Oh, you got that right. The Neo Gods have declared open season against Norms. They’ve attacked several Norm schools, burned them to the ground. The number of casualties is still unknown.”
My blood runs cold. “They went after children?”
“Don’t sound so surprised, Daisy. The Neo Gods are vile. Of course they would strike where it hurts the most. You can’t hide anymore. We have to strike back now or risk losing the war.”
The crowd begins to speak all at once, agitated and frightened. I guess we won’t need to sneak out of campus now. I turn to Xavier. “We must get ready.”
“Calm down, folks. Calm down,” Harry urges the crowd. “We knew dark times were ahead of us, but let’s not allow the awful news to deviate us from the master plan.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Bryce asks angrily. “They should be alarmed. They should prepare. We have to stop the Neo Gods before they kill more innocent people.”
Harry shakes his head. “No one is going anywhere.”
“What? Are you out of your mind?” I yell, not holding back my fury.
“Your friends can go, but you and the white-haired boy must stay,” Artex replies calmly.
“Why?”
“The prophecy,” Morpheus replies bitterly. “They want you to make the God-killer.”
25
Rufio
I grind my teeth as I try to make as little sound as possible creeping through the forest. Unfortunately, my companions sound like a pair of rhinos stomping behind me. I glance over my shoulder and hiss, “Could you please make less noise? We’re trying to be inconspicuous here.”
“Sorry,” Rosie mumbles under her breath.
I pause suddenly when I hear voices getting nearer and raise my hand, signaling for them to do the same. We’re not on the path, but any sudden movement might give away our location. We definitely don’t want to be caught going to the mines. I pay attention to the topic of conversation, hoping to get some intel about our hosts, but the two guys walking down the path are talking about a game they watched last night.
We don’t move until their voices fade away. Then we continue our trek slowly, a pace I set to compensate for my companions’ lack of grace. When the forest begins to thin out, we stay hidden behind some bushes and pause to make sure the mines are truly empty.
“What are we waiting for?” Rosie asks.
“I want to be certain those guys we saw were the last workers coming from the cave.”
“I don’t hear anything,” Felicity pipes up. “It’d be nice to have Idol super senses.”
I grind my teeth, irritated that her comment reminds me of what I’ve lost. If I don’t think too much about it, I can pretend everything is fine. At least Daisy isn’t here to see the truth on my face. I don’t know want her to feel guiltier than she does already.
“Just wait another minute,” I say.
Even without Idol senses, I can tell Rosie and Felicity are not very patient. I’m on edge too; the sooner we get this mission underway, the sooner we’ll be done. But ruining the entire operation because we jumped the gun would be stupid.
“Okay, the place has been quiet for a while,” I say after a few minutes have passed. “Let’s go.”
I sprint toward the mouth of the cave, but I stop just at the entrance, flattening my body against the stony wall to slowly stick my head inside. Thanks to the illumination, I can see the tunnel goes on for miles. I go in first, careful to not make any noise. Sound carries here. Along the way, I spot axes and picks meant to cut the rocks. But so far, no sign of lightning-glass. I wonder what it looks like in its raw form. We walk for about a minute until I have my answer. The uneven rocky surface gives way to a deep blue quartz-like material that shines under the dim light. My jaw drops as I move closer.
“Wow. It looks like a starry sky,” Felicity murmurs.
I touch the wall, still in awe that something so beautiful can be deadly to Idols. Was this material on Earth from the beginning of time, or was it put here by another capricious deity?
“Hey, Rufio. Over here,” Rosie hisses. “I’ve found something.”
Felicity and I stride toward her. She’s standing in front of a pile of rough-cut lightning-glass stones.
“Bingo,” I say.
“They’re so big.” Felicity wraps her arms around one and t
ries to lift. “Ugh. It weighs a ton too. I might be able to only carry the smaller ones.”
I attempt to grab the one she couldn’t, and to my dismay, I struggle with it too. “Shit. This is not good. We’re going to need more than three small stones, and making this trip several times is not an option.”
“They must be transporting the stones somehow.” Rosie glances around.
“Right. Let’s see if there’s a mine cart somewhere,” I say.
We veer farther down the tunnel, and it takes another minute to find a wheelbarrow. I push forward slowly, but the progress back to the lightning-glass stones is too noisy, and it echoes loudly against the high walls of the cave. There’s nothing for it though. We just have to work quickly and get out of here. I start with the largest stones, trying not to grunt as I lift them into the barrow. Fuck, I hate being a puny Norm.
After the bottom of the cart is covered with the larger stones, Rosie and Felicity fill the gaps with the smaller units.
“It’s enough. We don’t want to make the pile too high or we might lose some on the way back,” I tell them.
“Can you push the load?” Felicity asks.
My normal reaction would be to give her a droll stare, but in my new state, who knows if I can actually lift this shit? I take a deep breath before I go for it. My muscles strain with the effort, but I clench my teeth and suffer in silence. Once I begin to move, it becomes easier. But the racket of the wheel and stones bouncing against the metal barrow is making me anxious. I’ll feel better once we’re out of the cave. Sweat pools on my forehead, and my breathing is already coming out in bursts. Jeez, I think I need to add physical conditioning to my daily routine. I’m so weak, it’s not even funny.
When I see the mouth of the cave get near, it injects me with a burst of strength. I quicken my pace, eager to get out of this place. But thanks to my lack of Idol powers, I don’t notice we’re no longer alone until two miners block our way.
“Where do you think you’re going with those rocks, lad?” a man with a ginger beard rasps in a thick Scottish accent.
“Uh, Harry asked us to help while you were busy at the assembly. You know, we can’t waste any time,” I reply.
The man rubs his beard, watching me through slits. “Harry asked you, huh?”
“Yeah, he did,” Felicity replies.
Scottish man glances at his companion. “What do you think, Stone?”
Stone, who is a short and wiry man with thinning hair and eyes that are too big for his gaunt face, replies, “Harry would never send strangers into the mines without training. I’d say they’re lying, Wallace.”
The Scottish guy turns to us, and judging by the fury raging in his eyes, I’d say we’re in trouble.
“I knew it! You’re thieves. Sound the alarm, Stone.”
Ah fuck. We can’t have that.
Without a second thought, I break into a run, pushing the wheelbarrow as fast as I can. I hit the big Scottish guy before he can move out of the way. The impact sends him to the ground, but I lose some of my load in the process. He lets out a roar as one of the bigger pieces falls on his leg. From the corner of my eye, I catch Stone making a beeline to the forest to no doubt sound the alarm. But Felicity and Rosie run after him.
The waitress catches him first by jumping on his back. The momentum sends both of them down. I’d go after to help, but the seconds I was distracted cost me. Wallace tackles me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me. Stunned, I don’t offer resistance in the beginning, which gives the burly man the advantage. He straddles me and curls his fingers around my neck. Adrenaline finally spurs me into action, but as hard as I fight the man, I can’t pry his hands off my neck. Dark spots are already speckling my vision from the lack of oxygen. Desperation makes me search inside of me for my Idol spark. A foolish hope. There’s nothing but an empty void there.
Suddenly, Wallace’s hold on me slackens, and he falls to the side. My vision is blurry, but when it returns to normal, I find Rosie peering down at me, holding a smaller lightning-glass stone in her hand.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
I rub my neck, finding it tender to the touch. “I will be in a moment,” I croak.
Felicity joins us and then offers me her hand. “That was close.”
“I know. Thank you.” I look beyond them, searching for Stone. I find him down, unmoving. “What did you do to him?”
“The same thing I did to that guy over there.” Rosie points at Wallace. “Knocked him unconscious.” She tosses up the stone in her hand, catching it again with dexterity. “These are good in raw form too.”
“We have to move. It’s possible someone overheard the ruckus.” I straighten the wheelbarrow and then fill it up again.
“Wait. We can’t just leave these guys here,” Felicity says. “The moment they’re found, or they come to, they’ll sound the alarm.”
I curse under my breath. She’s right. Shit. I drop the wheelbarrow and run back to the cave. “Stay here. I’m going to look for a cord to tie them up.”
I’m lucky that there are a few rolls of cord right at the entrance. I return to the girls as quickly as I can, but the laborious work of dragging the passed-out Norms out of the open takes time. We move them to the forest and tie them up to a tree that’s concealed by heavy shrubbery.
“We have to gag them,” Rosie says.
“I know.” I take off my jacket and then rip off strips of my T-shirt.
Rosie and Felicity giggle.
“What’s so funny?” I ask, irritated.
“Your shirt’s like a girlie crop top now. You look hilarious,” Rosie replies.
“Hahaha. Yeah, it’s hilarious. Quit laughing and help me here.” I toss a strip in their direction, not caring who catches it.
Two minutes later, we return to the abandoned wheelbarrow and reload the stones as quickly as we can. When we finally veer toward the forest, my anxiety levels have risen through the roof. And to think Daisy lived most of her life like this, afraid of what or who was going to harm her and her sister. I feel so wretched now that I’m walking in her shoes, not because I’m sorry for my fate but because I’m ashamed of how badly I treated Norms and Fringes in the past.
Letting depression take hold of my emotions won’t help me, so I push it to a far corner of my mind and focus on the task at hand. It’s a little hard to navigate uneven ground, but it’s the only way we can be sure to not get caught. By my calculations and the steepness of the terrain, I’d say we’re about halfway to our final destination: the campgrounds’ parking area. We have to load the stones into Felicity’s and Renata’s car trunks and then return to the assembly. Eventually, those mine workers will be missed, and a search party will be sent out. We can’t be anywhere near here when they’re found.
The forest is thinning out, and the best part is I don’t hear a sound coming from up ahead. Hopefully the parking lot is truly deserted. I begin to let myself believe everything will turn out okay when cold dread licks the back of my neck, sending ripples of worry down my spine.
Bryce is in trouble.
26
Bryce
“What kind of nonsense is that? Make a God-killer? There isn’t such a thing!” I yell, losing my temper.
“Bryce…,” Mom starts.
“What? Did you know about this?” I laugh without humor. “Why am I asking? Of course you knew.”
“I don’t understand. How can we make a God-killer?” Daisy asks Harry, who is watching our meltdown with amused curiosity.
If he makes some kind of asinine comment, I’m going to wipe that fucking grin off his face with my bare hands. I know I’m blowing up faster than normal. I can usually control my emotions better. I guess I should say “could.” It’s been a while since I’ve turned into a short-fused person like Rufio used to be.
Artex rubs the back of his head, getting flustered all of a sudden. “Well, the prophecy doesn’t spell out the details of how. We’ve always assumed it was talking about the
conception of a child.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and count to ten in my head.
“Let me get this straight,” Phoenix butts in. “You want Bryce to knock Daisy up and then wait for their child to grow up to then fight the Neo Gods. Is that your master plan?”
“Uh, we’ve always assumed that was the purpose of their child. To free us all from the oppressing hands of the Neo Gods and the evil deities they answer to,” Ophelia replies.
“But by then it will be too late. The Neo Gods will have decimated the entire Norm and Fringe population,” Daisy argues. “We can’t wait!”
Xavier hugs her sideways, taking a protective stance. His expression leaves no room for doubt. Anyone who tries to harm or force Daisy into anything will feel his wrath. And not the wrath of a level six Fringe. Xavier is now an Idol, probably level twelve. Things have moved so fast that it didn’t even occur to me to scan his powers, plus the guy masks them on a daily basis. But not now. He’s broadcasting his abilities to everyone.
“You healed him, didn’t you?” Mom whispers to me.
“Yes,” I hiss.
“Perhaps we should rethink our plan,” Ophelia muses. “Maybe Daisy ought to fight the Neo Gods before she can fulfill the prophecy.”
Her suggestion meets with approval from half the people in the audience. Even Artex seems unsure how to proceed now. Not his brother Harry. There’s a crazy glint in his eyes that doesn’t give me comfort. Well, dealing with one fanatic Norm won’t be a problem. The issue is the rest of the assembly that’s on his side.
“When you said the deity the Neo Gods answer to, who were you referring to?” Morpheus asks.
“A name was never mentioned, but we suspect it’s a primordial god,” Ophelia answers.
I lock gazes with Morpheus, and I can almost read his mind. The prophecy must be speaking about Chaos. It has to be.
“We should wait until the leaders of the other chapters arrive and put it to a vote,” Harry declares.
Broken Knights: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Gifted Academy Book 4) Page 17
