by Tonya Kuper
Santos ran toward her. Thank God.
But Santos wasn’t slowing. If he continued at that speed, he’d shove her over…
Josie
I
turned just as Santos crashed into me, his weight slamming into my chest. A body in motion stays in motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by an external force. Simple physics.
I fell over the edge of the ten-story hotel, head first. Adrenaline surged through me. For a split second, I thought about Pushing a chute, but with the high wind, that wasn’t a good option. I wasn’t sure if I knew how to control the wind or the chute. Instead, I Pushed an inflatable bounce house directly under me and fell into the softness on my back, arms crossed over my chest. I Retracted it the moment I pushed to my feet, not sure of Santos’s location after he’d tackled me off the roof.
My mother stood before me.
In the next blink, it was Santos. Oh no.
Santos worked for the Consortium, and he’d learned so much about the Resistance over the last week. He’d tried to get the serum—he thought he had the serum now.
“It’s nothing personal, Josie.”
Um, I was pretty sure he’d just tried to kill me. I didn’t think it got any more personal.
He laughed and stalked toward me.
I Pushed my shield and ran toward the beach, away from Planck eyes, closer to the crashing waves.
I spun and stopped. He didn’t appear to be in any hurry. Walking backward, headed south along the water, I kept my eyes on him. I wouldn’t turn my back.
Every nerve in my body was awake and each sense was intensified. My shield seemed almost tangible. “Why, Santos? Why do you want the serum?”
“You need to listen to me, Josie.” His voice was steady and his face just as welcoming as usual. “Things aren’t what they seem.” What did that mean? “I needed to stop that handoff from happening. The VP couldn’t get his hands on the serum.”
I wasn’t going to tell him that I delivered the real vial. I Retracted the sand under his feet, he vanished, and I filled it, burying him. I still only had seconds, though. I sprinted toward the naked expanse of the beach. I concentrated so hard I thought my insides would tumble out of me. A section of tropic jungle I’d visited with my family in Hawaii before Nick died manifested in front of me, blending flawlessly with the surrounding mangroves.
I stumbled in the sand, spinning around. Santos was out of the hole, racing toward me. Good. That’s what I was banking on.
I’d matched the shoreline of my Pushed environment with the real shore. The soil significantly changed under my feet. I dashed backward behind a plant, the giant fronds camouflaging me from Santos. The rain was now coming down in a steady shower. I’d wanted the storm as distraction on the rooftop, but I no longer needed it. The rain made it hard to see, but maybe that meant that Santos couldn’t see me.
Moving deeper into the slice of tropical forest I’d Pushed, I snapped the leaves on purpose, causing more noise than necessary, but I needed him to follow me. And he did.
I didn’t want to kill him, but if I didn’t, he’d kill me. Or he’d injure me enough to take me hostage, to hand me over to the Consortium. I didn’t know which thought terrified me more.
I still couldn’t believe he’d betray us. Laughing, joking, affectionate Santos.
But the words he’d uttered bore a striking similarity to how Nick was described in his last days. Maybe Santos suffered from the same affliction?
Under the canopy, darkness clung like a sticky blanket. If it weren’t for the moon, it would’ve been impossible for him to follow. He Pushed a falling tree inches in front of me. Jumping out of the way, I Retracted it before it hit the ground. Too close.
“You know…” Santos yelled. “The Resistance isn’t all it’s supposed to be, Josie.”
I didn’t know what he was talking about, but I wasn’t going to ask questions.
A branch snapped. “Santos,” Reid called.
“Ah, the Boy Scout.” Santos paused like he might pursue Reid instead.
I couldn’t let that happen. “What are you talking about?” I said, drawing his attention back to me. The words were rushed. I took my first real breath since falling over the ledge.
Keeping low to the ground, I passed a flowering bush, continuing to where I needed to guide Santos.
I stooped behind a large tree trunk and nestled between its thick roots. He should’ve been behind me, coming past the bush. I peeked around the tree. Nothing but the sound of local frogs and insects in the distance, already infiltrating the new landscape I’d introduced to them.
Pop. Something moved.
My head wheeled, searching for the cause of the sound. Found it. A grenade landed ten feet to my left. I Pushed my shield wider, stronger, the movement as instinctual as blinking. The explosion ripped apart several trees, branches and foliage rained down, leaving me without a hiding spot. I prayed someone would hear the grenade, that help would be forthcoming. But even if the Secret Service or local PD arrived, it wouldn’t be in time to save me.
Thunder rumbled overhead, the storm taking on a life of its own. I turned to move behind the trees, and something sliced the air next to my ear. I dropped to the ground.
I’d become the hunted. But Reid was hunting Santos.
I Pushed infrared binoculars—as I’d seen Reid do—while on my hands and knees. I moved deeper into the jungle, quickly but as quietly as possible. I picked out a lone human-shaped heat source tucked beside a shrub only fifteen feet away.
I backed away from Santos, keeping my sights on him, while I moved in the direction of high ground. The map of tropical forest was etched into my brain. Between moves we’d stayed in a beach house, and this bit of the jungle hugging the beach had been ours temporarily.
“If you join the Consortium without force, you won’t be hurt.” His voice clashed against the serenity of the trees. “If you don’t come, you will be considered a threat.” He sounded closer. Where was Reid?
I crouched behind a boulder and Pushed a Beretta, the metal cool against my hot skin. I hated how comfortable it felt in my hand. My heartbeat pounded through my skull and I sucked in a breath to calm myself. The smell of mildew and vegetation was overwhelming. The ocean breeze blew through the trees, making palm fronds dance above us.
I could only make out Santos’s silhouette, but he turned in both directions, searching. He ran a hand over his face. “You don’t want to end up like Nick. A victim. The Resistance killed him, Josie. They killed your brother. We could work together to finally end all this madness.”
Hearing my brother’s name come out of Santos’s mouth sent bile up the back of my throat. I bit the inside of my lip to keep from screaming at him. I sat behind mossy rocks and watched. The moonlight reflected off something shiny in his hand that hadn’t been there moments before. He turned again. A massive knife. Wind gushed past me, electricity crackled in the clouds above us. His other hand shot out at the moving vegetation, a gun appeared, pointing at nothing and everything. The rain pattered out a steady rhythm as the drops collided with the earth.
“Why are you doing this, Santos?” I yelled.
My wet fingers slid around my gun. I Retracted the water and gripped tighter. Deep inhale. Slow and steady exhale. A new drop of sweat rolled down my chest.
He made another turn, gun raised. I stood and moved out from the cover of the rocks, bracing myself. His eyes locked with mine. Simultaneously, he flung the knife and shot the gun. I Retracted them from his hands and Pushed like I never had before. My shield radiated out from my body with a swell of energy that spilled from the center of me. Electricity crackled and scorched the plants around me.
Santos’s body flew backward through the air like he’d been hit with a shock wave.
What the hell did I do?
I leaned back against the boulder to regain my equilibrium and watched him.
After a moment of no movement, Santos rolled over, groaning. He cringed as he s
at up, looking at the scorched earth in front of him. “You’ve got some skills. Just as good as Nick, from what I saw.” What? He knew Nick?
Santos stood. “Your dad would be interested in your progress.”
“NO!” Reid yelled. He came into view not far from Santos, the moonlight reflecting off his sweaty face. “Don’t talk to her. Talk to me.” His eyes focused on Santos. “Why? Why are you doing this?”
Santos barked a sarcastic laugh. “Do you have any idea how annoying it’s been to watch you these last years? To see you squander your powers? It’s not fair that you Anomalies have all the power. Can’t you see that? The serum would allow me, and any other Pusher or Retractor, to be just as strong as you. Besides, your precious Resistance isn’t exactly who they claim to be. You need to reevaluate—”
“No,” Reid boomed. “You need to reevaluate your beliefs.” Reid’s body shook with anger. “You hurt innocent people. You’re willing to put Josie in danger. You are a disgrace and a traitor and—”
“I’m a traitor?” Santos cackled. “Don’t talk to me about loyalty, Reid. You don’t even know what that is.” He turned to me. “Josie, why don’t you ask Reid about betrayal? He’s an expert. Have him tell you about the time he shot his best friend dead.”
My gaze shifted to Reid. What was Santos eluding to? Reid didn’t respond. He’d frozen, staring blankly at Santos. “Reid?” The word came out a whisper but he turned to me, the moonlight highlighting his sorrowful eyes.
No, no, no.
He killed him. Reid killed my brother.
They’d let me think Nick was crazy, that the Resistance had acted out of mercy, for the greater good. And maybe they had. But Reid—Cal, my brother’s best friend—he had been the one to pull the trigger.
I fell to my knees, my lungs burning and heart aching. What had begun as a crack in my soul spread into a gaping fissure.
My brother died. Okay.
My dad was gone. Okay.
My mom put me in harm’s way and abandoned me. Okay.
But the only person I let make me feel…no.
Reid was the one who was real. Reid was the only one who anchored me to reality, and now I didn’t have that. There was no moving forward from this spot. No matter what I did, there was no winning. I’d lost everyone.
“Josie.” I usually liked the timbre of Reid’s voice, but right now, he might as well spit venom at me.
The tears streamed out, scorching my cheeks. “DON’T!” It was a primal scream.
“I didn’t mean to kill him, Josie. And there hasn’t been a day that I don’t hate myself and regret it. If I could undo it, I would. I was waiting for the right time to—”
Two bullets tagged the rocks next to me, just outside my shield. Santos scurried away, his back to me.
Reid fired off a slew of bullets, but they didn’t penetrate Santos’s shield.
So I Pushed my shield again, sending out another shock wave, and he fell face-first to the tropical forest floor.
For some reason, I could feel his hold slipping on his shield. I sensed the energy he was using, the molecules around him. The molecules in everything.
Three. His shield was shrinking. Two. It was just outside his body. One.
Knowing Santos couldn’t Retract, I Pushed hundreds of pounds of chains around him. I Retracted the ground beneath him, causing the forest floor to disappear at the same moment. But in the same moment, Reid launched himself at Santos and Santos Pushed the same chains around Reid. Reid’s body, weighting down by the chains, fell short of Santos, inches from the edge of the forest floor. I Retracted Reid’s chains, but they reappeared the second before both bodies hit the water, still bound.
I Pushed.
A bolt of lightning hit Santos.
Both bodies sank under the surface.
Reid.
I ran, sucked in as much air as I could fit in my lungs, and dove off the edge into the ocean.
The cold water bit at my face and swept over my body like shards of glass. Sweeping my arms behind me and kicking, I propelled myself down and forward. Reid. But I couldn’t see. I Pushed. My air was running out and therefore my energy. I Pushed flippers, a scuba tank, and the accompanying mouthpiece outfitted with a light.
I found both Reid and Santos unconscious and sinking.
As soon as Reid’s body came into view, I Retracted the chains, Pushed scuba gear onto him. Wrapping my arms around him, I held his unresponsive body close and Pushed a raft under us. I didn’t care at that point if someone could see us emerge from the Gulf—I just needed to get him out safely.
We broke the surface, and a wave toppled us from the raft. I Retracted my air tank and mask, the waves crashing over my head. One moment he was next to me and the next, the waves carried him away. “Reid!”
I couldn’t see him. My skull throbbed unbearably. My limbs weakened, I sensed my body shutting down, becoming lethargic, my energy depleted. “Reid!” I cried.
I rode the waves into shore and slowly made it to my feet.
I Pushed the infrared glasses on my face again. “Reid,” I screamed with no response. Nothing showed up through the glasses.
I’d just killed Santos with a bolt of lightning. And if that didn’t do the trick, drowning while unconscious would. Plus, now, I didn’t know if Reid had made it—if he was alive. My stomach lurched and my heart physically ached. The hurt from taking someone’s life, the hurt from losing someone I cared about—it was too much.
No. No. No.
I needed to find Reid. I wouldn’t stop until I found him.
I
ran along the shoreline back to the resort, scanning the water for Reid. No cops cluttered along the shore. No Secret Service or Special Ops or any other covert group—Oculi or Planck—stirred beyond the mangroves. If the gunfire or grenades had drawn attention, the storm raging above in a cacophony of thunder and lightning must have obscured it. I heard a helicopter in the distance and distinguished its flickering lights reflecting off the water as it flew in low and fast.
The black chopper hovered over the water for a few moments, the Consortium assassin Reid had fought visible from the side. They either didn’t see me or didn’t care. Then it flew north. I stayed there in the open, as the heavens opened up and rain poured down on me, scanning the beach, searching for Reid.
I consciously wished the rain would stop, and the water tapered to a drizzle before it ceased altogether. Only a few dark clouds remained. The remnants of the storm, of the electrical energy in it, hummed along my skin. The sharp smell of ozone lingered in the air. My abilities were more powerful than I knew possible. And I was sure they’d only grow stronger as I mastered and explored my abilities.
I staggered along the beach, searching for Reid. I had to find him.
25.
Josie
W
hen I’d jumped in the ocean, I didn’t know if I’d live. And if I did live, I didn’t know if Reid would. And that mattered more than I ever imagined.
I heard my name over the waves. I spun and almost collapsed when I saw him standing. Was I hallucinating? I couldn’t breathe—and I wouldn’t breathe until I touched him.
I pushed my toes into the sand, propelling myself forward. As I ran, I decided I didn’t care what I’d said, what he’d said, what was expected or not expected of us. I needed him. In what way? I didn’t know. But I needed him.
My legs burned, my ribs hurt, and my chest heaved, but I ran as hard as my body allowed. I jumped into him, throwing my arms around his neck. His body collided with mine and he swept me up into his arms. He was real.
His head landed in the crook of my neck. “Josie,” he mumbled against my skin. “Josie.” His lips grazed my neck, setting fire to my body. His mouth brushed along my collarbone and back up my neck. His touch was like air—I needed it to survive.
I pulled my head back to see his face, to make sure he was all right. He let me slip through his arms, my body sliding against his, until my feet hit the ground.
I filled my lungs with the salty ocean breeze and let out a long sigh. Allowing my head to fall against Reid’s chest, the tension fell from my muscles. I steadied myself by placing my hands on his chest. One of his hands landed on the small of my back and the other brushed my jawline, pulling my gaze back to his face.
“Josie, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to shoot Nick, but he’d murdered people, was ready to expose us. You have to believe me…when I killed him, I killed a piece of myself, too. A piece I’ll never get back.”
His gaze slid to the right of my face.
“And I don’t know how I didn’t realize Santos was playing me. I led him straight to you. I put you in danger. I…How could I have missed it?” His head shook in disbelief. “He was my friend. The only friend I allowed myself after what happened with Nick and…I don’t…” His voice cracked.
I knew the pain in his eyes. I knew it intimately. It was the kind of hurt you felt in your bones.
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I knew he was telling me the truth. He was a good guy. How many times had he saved me in a week’s time? Every one of his movements and decisions were thoughtful. He didn’t take any of this lightly. And he’d been willing to die for me.
His eyes held mine as he wiped away my tears with his thumb. “Forgive me.”
I couldn’t speak. I had so much going on in my head, so much to process. I just nodded.
Both of his hands held my face, and he dipped his head to mine cautiously, like he was measuring to see what was acceptable or not. His soft lips pressed to mine, and my eyes closed against my will. He gave me a gentle, sweet kiss.
Resting his forehead against mine, he moved his hands to my back, helping hold up my weary body. “I thought I’d lost you.” His voice was velvety. “And I can’t lose you.”
I cleared my throat and nodded. “I’m too important to the Resistance.”
His brows knitted together, then a ghost of a smile tugged at his lips. “No. You’re too important to me.”
