The White Knight & Black Valentine Series (Book 3): Almost Invincible

by Brand, Kristen

  “I’m not saying I want to pick a fight.” Elisa’s voice took on a whining quality I’d grown very familiar with as her parent. “But we should do something besides just sitting here. What if Mother Earth never gets rid of the wall?”

  “The DSA will figure something out. They lost contact with us hours ago. They’re working on Plan B.”

  “Then why haven’t they shown up yet?”

  There was a pointed silence.

  “We lay low and wait,” Julio said firmly. “That’s the best thing we can do right now.”

  “And of course you know the best thing to do.”

  Oh, boy. Elisa had put away the whining and brought out the sarcasm.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Julio asked.

  “Nothing,” she muttered.

  “No, really. We’re going to be stuck here for a while—because no matter what you think, we’re staying here—so we may as well get everything out into the open. Seriously. What’s that supposed to mean?”

  The silence drew out, and I heard shuffling as one of them shifted. It occurred to me to open my eyes so I could see what was going on, but my brain couldn’t seem to make the connection to my eyelids.

  “It’s easy for you,” Elisa said finally. “You’re a superhero, the perfect son he always wanted. You probably always know exactly what to do.”

  Her aggressive tone trailed off miserably, and I tried to wake up. That wasn’t right. I had to tell her.

  “That’s not—” Julio started. “Elisa, it’s not like that.” He sighed heavily. “You’re his real, biological child. No matter what I do, I could never measure up to that.”

  Okay, this foggy half-consciousness needed to end right now. I had to smack some sense into some people.

  “Yeah, right,” Elisa said. “You should hear him talk about you. Julio rescued five hostages last week. Did you see his interview on the news? He couldn’t have handled the press better. If the DSA has any sense, they’ll have him running the place someday.”

  “Really?” Julio asked wryly. “Because all I hear him talk about is your last report card, how well you’re dealing with your new powers, or how amazing your school concert was with you playing the flute.”

  “But that’s not nearly—”

  I finally managed to focus enough to drag myself into consciousness and interrupted her with an agonized curse. No wonder my brain had tried so hard to stay asleep. Now that I was awake, every bruise, burn, and injury came flooding back to my awareness. I hissed in pain and wondered if it was too late to knock myself out again.

  “Dad!”

  “Dave!”

  Their worried faces filled my vision as they knelt over me. Reluctantly, I sat up, though my ribs, back, and stomach all tried to go on strike. We were in what looked to be a corridor of an old European castle. The antique lanterns were dead, but sunlight streamed in through the narrow, arched windows. Dr. Grim’s lair. We must be hiding in the line for the Crimson Phoenix rollercoaster.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Take it easy.”

  “You really scared me!”

  “I think you have a concussion.”

  I groaned and rubbed my head. My ears were still ringing faintly, but at least my thoughts didn’t feel so muddled anymore. “I’ve been better, but nothing feels life-threatening. I’m a little annoyed, though.”

  Their faces turned appropriately confused.

  “You know there are millions of people out there with two or more children who manage to love them equally, right?” I asked.

  Julio’s ears turned red, and Elisa glanced away like she was scoping out escape routes.

  “And it’s not like there’s only a finite amount I can care, and you have to split it fifty-fifty,” I went on. “I care a lot. About both of you. No more trying to turn it into a competition, is that clear?”

  They muttered affirmations, and with that out of the way, I glanced around the floor.

  “Where’s my cane?”

  “I think the sinkhole ate it.” Elisa grimaced and picked something up. “But I found this for you.”

  She passed me an umbrella. It was long and sturdy-looking, but it was still just an umbrella—a pink one with a curved handle covered in sparkly glitter.

  “There were lots of other colors,” Julio informed me. “She picked that one on purpose.”

  Elisa stuck her tongue out at him, and I took the umbrella’s handle. “It’ll do.”

  “Didn’t your cane have a sword in it?” Julio asked. “You really should’ve used that on Bloodbath.”

  “That one’s at home. It never would’ve made it through airport security.”

  Granted, the cane I’d brought was still a custom job made from a super-strong alloy that could withstand someone with my strength using it as a blunt weapon. But the umbrella was good, too. If Bloodbath saw it, we could attack him while he was distracted laughing.

  “How long was I out?” I asked.

  “Only twenty minutes or so.” Julio studied my face. “Don’t drift off again. I really think you have a concussion.”

  “Last thing I remember was Bloodbath disappearing into the ground,” I said, ignoring that. “Any sign of him or Mother Earth since then?”

  “The ground rumbled a little bit ago,” Elisa said, glancing at Julio.

  He nodded. “But that was the only sign she might be up to something.”

  Okay. So what did that mean? Had Mother Earth been attacking? Retreating? I tried to think about her motivations, not helped by the pounding in my head.

  “She wanted Bloodbath to run away with her,” I thought aloud. “She might have just up and left. Assuming Bloodbath was unconscious and not dead, she could’ve taken him with her.”

  “That’d be the best-case scenario,” Julio agreed. “Worst case, Bloodbath just got the wind knocked out of him, and they’re both searching for us right now.”

  He made a good point. Like Elisa, I had the urge to get out and do something, but I’d have to be stupid to think I had a chance of accomplishing anything if I faced Bloodbath or Mother Earth again. My body was nothing more than a collection of bruises and pains at this point, and Julio wasn’t holding up much better. Bunkering down here was the wisest choice, and yet…

  “Agent Lagarde,” I said, making Julio immediately flinch. “Did the sinkhole get her?”

  “I… I don’t know.” Julio’s face twitched as he fought back an expression of pure grief. “The way her body hit the ground… I don’t think she made it.”

  “She could have survived even if most of her bones were broken.” My voice was low and tired, as even I didn’t believe there was much of a chance. “We should make sure.”

  Julio looked down at his lap. “I… You’re right. I owe her that. I owe Jocelyn.” He rubbed his face and leaned back. “God, I don’t know how I’m going to tell her…”

  “Rosa!” Elisa exclaimed before I could reply. “I left Rosa in the gift shop. We need to check if she’s okay.”

  Julio looked between us and sighed. “I’ll go. You two stay here.”

  “Absolutely not,” I said at the same time Elisa cried, “No freaking way!”

  Julio gave us both a flat stare. “Are you serious?”

  I opened my mouth to argue but then stopped myself. What was it Julio had said earlier? You fight every decision I make. He was right, wasn’t he? I wanted to go along to watch his back, but I couldn’t hover protectively over him every second of the day. I had to trust that he could take care of himself.

  I swallowed. “No, I’m not serious. I’d only slow you down.” I risked a glance at him and attempted a smile. “Besides, it’s not my call.”

  Julio’s mouth rose in a matching smile. Elisa looked between us and crossed her arms.

  “Well, I wouldn’t slow you down,” she declared. “I’m going.”

  Julio’s mouth quirked. “I’ve got another job for you.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  He pointed at m
e. “Keep him out of trouble.”

  Elisa scowled. “That’s just a job to keep me out of trouble.”

  “You said it, not me.”

  Julio stood, and his stiff movements showed that I wasn’t the only one who’d taken hits today. All traces of white on his bandaged hand had vanished, replaced by dirty brown, and there was a blotch of blood soaking through. His suit was torn, and the hair that style magazines raved about was a sweaty wreck.

  “Be careful,” I said.

  “Always am.” He grinned. “More than you, anyway.”

  He gave Elisa a wave and started down the corridor. When he turned the corner and was out of sight, my stomach twisted itself into a complicated knot.

  I hoped this wasn’t the last time I’d see him.

  Chapter 18

  The waiting almost hurt worse than Bloodbath’s beating had. My watch had broken at some point, but while Elisa’s phone didn’t have service, its clock still worked. I tried to resist asking her for the time too often, but it was hard. There wasn’t much else to do except worry. Without air-conditioning, the line to Flight of the Phoenix was as hot and stifling as everywhere else in the park. Sweat dripped down my face, and it was almost enough to make me heave myself up and go find another soda machine to break open. Almost.

  For a half-second, I considered telling Elisa that her grandmother was in the hospital before shooting down the idea faster than a sniper. Elisa had been incredibly brave so far, but I didn’t want to give her anything more to worry about. Surviving was more than enough.

  “Where’s Mom?” she asked suddenly.

  “Outside the park,” I answered. “Bloodbath told White Knight and Freezefire to come alone, and… well, the DSA has a perimeter around the wall. They wouldn’t let her get close enough to try to sneak in with me.”

  “Bastards,” she grumbled.

  “You have to look at it from their point of view.” I shifted my position to try and alleviate the pain in my back. “They don’t know her well enough to trust her. Anyway, when we split up, she was going to work on a way to bring down the wall if Mother Earth wouldn’t do it.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  I let out a puff of air, the closest I could get to a laugh. “Yeah, it probably is.”

  We rested in silence, and I tried to think what the chances were that Mother Earth had taken Bloodbath’s body and just left. My eyelids felt heavy, and I remembered Julio’s warning about a concussion.

  “Do you think Rosa’s okay?” Elisa asked.

  “She’s a smart girl,” I said. “I bet she found somewhere safe to hide and stayed there.”

  “I hope so.” Elisa played with the ripped edge of her T-shirt. I hoped it wasn’t one of her favorites, or else she’d try to keep it while Val did her best to stealthily dump it in the trash. “I don’t know what happened to Haley or Madison, either.”

  My heart dropped into my stomach, and I’d never been more grateful for the mental shields that kept her from reading my mind. Should I tell her about Haley? No. Not while we were still trapped in the park. Haley had been her best friend for years. The revelation would devastate Elisa. After we got safely out of the park, then… Then I’d tell her.

  “I’m sure they’re fine,” I said with a suddenly dry mouth. “You worry about yourself, okay?”

  She grinned. “Can I worry about you, too?”

  “Well, that is your job.”

  “Oh, please. You know, you said I shouldn’t be jealous of Julio, but you totally let him do things you don’t let me do.”

  I leaned forward, realized that was a mistake, and leaned back against the wall. “Sweetheart, you can’t expect me to treat the two of you exactly the same. He’s ten years older than you and has DSA training.”

  “Yeah? Well… I know martial arts—you taught me! And I grew up in a family of criminals and assassins. I’m tougher than I look.”

  “I know.” My voice lost its volume. “I wish you didn’t have to be.”

  Elisa shifted and dropped her gaze. Then she looked around as if searching for a change in subject. I truly did know how tough she was—she’d knocked out Bloodbath, for Pete’s sake! But being tough wouldn’t protect her from the trauma of everything she’d been through today. I knew that from experience.

  “So after we go home, I’m thinking of seeing a witch,” she announced.

  I refocused on her, seeing her sitting up straight and wearing a perfect poker face.

  “A witch?”

  “Yeah, like cauldrons and black cats and stuff. I’ve been doing some thinking and figured out I’m cursed. This is like, the first time I’ve been out in months, and of course I get caught up in a huge hostage crisis. I just want to get through half a year without some crazy supervillain trying to kill me, you know?”

  “That sounds reasonable.”

  “I know, right? Maybe some chanting or magic potions will fix it.”

  She yawned, reminding me that we’d both been awake since four this morning. Happy to talk about something other than how we were still trapped and in danger, I went along with her silly premise.

  “You’ll have to make sure she’s a decent witch, though.” I rubbed my chin. “You’ll want to check her credentials, make sure her school of magic didn’t ex-spell her.”

  I raised my eyebrows and waited for her to get it. She leaned her head back and groaned.

  “Daaaaaad. That’s terrible.”

  “It could be a real problem,” I insisted. “What if you booked her for a three o’clock appointment, but she turned out to be a flake and didn’t show up because she forgot to check her witch-watch.” I glanced at my wristwatch for emphasis.

  “Please stop,” Elisa moaned, but she was smiling. Any smile I could get out of her today was a victory. I searched my brain for another pun but was distracted by what sounded like a high-pitched whistling in the distance. I wasn’t sure if it had just started or if I just hadn’t noticed it because it was so faint.

  Elisa frowned, hearing it, too. “What’s that?”

  “I don’t…” The sound turned to sobs before starting up again. “Someone’s screaming.”

  Elisa shot to her feet. “Rosa?”

  “I don’t think—” I started, but Elisa was already heading for the emergency exit. “Wait!” I pushed myself up and hobbled after her. The pink umbrella could only be half an inch shorter than my normal cane, but it was just enough to make my gait even more uneven.

  The emergency exit opened to a narrow walkway. A hedge grew on the opposite side to keep people from entering the area below the coaster. The towering, winding track was a mix of fiery red, orange, and yellow. When it was working, sections of it spouted bursts of flames and laser light shows meant to represent Crimson Phoenix’s powers and Dr. Grim’s death ray, respectively.

  “Oh my God,” said Elisa. “Have they been stuck up there the whole time?”

  She squinted upward, and I followed her gaze to see a car atop one of the high slopes. The sun had dipped below the wall, casting a lot of the park in shadow, but the sky was bright enough to make out the figures of people trapped in the car. Plus, the screaming was coming from up there. The rollercoaster must have stopped there when the power went out, and one of the riders had finally snapped.

  Elisa pushed her way through the hedge, and I followed, limping across the neatly cut grass to get closer to the rollercoaster. But how to help? If I had electric powers, I could restart the ride long enough for the car to carry them down. If I were Blue Sparrow, I could fly up and reach them. But my powers were only good for punching things really hard.

  “I think I can…” Elisa walked up to a point where the track was fairly low to the ground and bent her knees. She jumped up, grabbed a rail like she was on the monkey bars, and swung her leg up until she climbed atop it.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” I snapped.

  “I can get up there,” she said, crouching as she looked down at me. “This happened on White Knig
ht: Invincible. I broke the safety bars that were pinning everyone down in their seats so we could get off.”

  “And how far was the drop on that? Two inches?”

  Elisa grimaced at my tone. “I won’t fall! And even if I do, I’ll probably be okay. Remember when Aunt Mary threw me out a window?”

  As if I’d forget. She’d been possessing my body when she’d done it. “That’s different. It wasn’t as high—and even if it was, I don’t want it to happen again. It’s too dangerous. You could— Just get down!”

  “We can’t just leave those people up there.” Elisa gestured at them. “That poor lady’s having a panic attack. And what if—what if Mother Earth causes another quake. She could knock down the whole rollercoaster with them on it.”

  I glanced guiltily up at the car. Some of the figures looked pretty short—probably children. “I know, but… you shouldn’t be the one to go.”

  Elisa blinked. “Who else is there?”

  Good question. I certainly couldn’t climb up there with my busted knee and other injuries. Julio was gone, and everyone else who could help was on the other side of the wall. My little girl was the only one who could save those people.

  I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to banish the fear of watching her fall from the track, helpless to do anything. I could picture it all too clearly. How would I explain to Val that I’d let her do something so dangerous? But how could I face myself in the mirror if I stopped Elisa from helping these people. It wasn’t the kind of moral message you wanted to give your daughter. Was it even my decision? She was brave and strong and wanted to help people.

  Much like Julio, she’d grown past the point where I could coddle her.

  “Please, please be careful,” I begged. “If it gets too windy or slippery, come back down. We’ll figure something else out.”

  Her face lit up in a gorgeous smile. “You got it.”

  The track was fairly level and low to the ground at first, so she walked it with her hands held out to her sides for balance. I followed on the ground below her with vague thoughts of catching her if she fell. When she reached the slope that the car was trapped on top of, she used her hands and feet to climb like she was ascending a ladder. My skin turned clammy, and I wiped sweat from my brow. I should’ve looked for some kind of cable or rope to tether her to the track. This was insanely dangerous. What had I been thinking?