before scanning Cassius from head to toe. Then me again. Then Cassius.
I place the necklace around my neck again. “Do you know anything about a lab?”
She cocks her head, eyes focused on a point far off in the distance.
“Do you understand me?” I continue. “Do you speak English?”
Her eyes shoot back. “I… learn… English. Learn. Ed. Learned.” Then it all spills out like I’ve flipped a switch inside of her-a jumble of words thrown together so fast that they become a single sound. “Carbon-bench-green- supervisor-episode-age-sea-setting-plenty-s mall-escape-crunchy-umbrella-orbital-police-future-run-”
“Okay,” I try to interrupt her, “that’s enough.”
“-radius-church-shiny-given-convict-rhythm-lost-lecturing-abhorren t-”
Cassius glares at me. “Shut her off!”
“Don’t you think I’m trying?” I grab her shoulder, hoping to shake the crazy out of her.
“-silverware-dance-shipping-amaze-cry-”
I grip onto her other shoulder and spin her around so we’re face to face. Her eyes roll back, gazing up at the sky. All I can do is watch for a moment as her lips move effortlessly to accommodate each new word-faster and faster until I have to shout to be heard over her voice. “Have you seen a lab?” She ignores me, eyes still far away, so I repeat myself. Louder. “Did you come from a lab?”
The girl stops. Just as suddenly as it had begun, the string of words becomes a tense silence. Her eyes drop to meet mine, her voice soft. “Came from energy transport.”
“From a Pearl. I know.”
“Key should know.” She reaches up and rubs her chin, clenching her teeth. “Before transport, there was a lab.”
I drop her shoulders and clench my fist. “I knew it! Where is it? I think this key might open something inside. If we can just find-”
“Wrong.” She grimaces. “Incorrect.” I watch as she moves her tongue around in her mouth, opening and closing her jaw. “Untrue. Transport laboratory is many moons away. You should know.”
My fingers fall loose at my sides. I run through her words again and again in my mind, trying to convince myself that there’s another explanation.
Cassius scoffs. “This is ridiculous. I’m supposed to believe that this girl came from inside a Pearl? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard in my life.”
She turns to him. A hint of green still lingers around her.
He shakes his head. “Pearls are energy. Electricity. They’re not people. They’re resources!”
“Transport energy,” she replies, eyes dissecting him. “Body and soul broken. Electrons, neutrons, dancing inside… waiting… waiting to reform. Waiting for sanctuary.” She reaches her fingers out to his arm. “Your wrist. Bare.”
Cassius pulls back his hand. “You don’t seriously believe this crazy chick-”
“I saw her fly out of the Pearl,” I reply. “And it’s not the first time. Back in Portland… ”
Without turning around, the girl lays her hand on my shoulder. Again with the pleasant, almost tranquilizing buzz. “More of us. Where are they?”
I shake my head.
“Key,” she continues, “Key unlocked them. You know.”
Cassius moves forward to grab her arm. Before he can do anything, her hand darts up and he’s forced back by an invisible energy wave.
“The others,” she whispers. “Thousands. Where?”
“I don’t know,” I stammer. “I… didn’t know.”
“Key. You know.”
I stumble backward in realization of what we’ve done. I breathe deeply. “All of them. Every single Pearl we’ve used to power a Chosen City or a Skyship, they’ve all been people, haven’t they? We’ve been killing people.”
The girl’s eyes bore into mine.
“I… I was never anything special,” I continue to back away. “You’ve gotta believe me. I was just an ordinary guy until-until I met Cassius.”
Her eyes widen with a sickening realization. Her fingers fall limp at her side. “Trigger. Trigger never happened.”
Cassius steps closer, careful to keep his distance. “What trigger?”
Her path wobbles and she lunges at him, grabbing his hand and running her fingers along his palm in circles. He struggles, but her grip is too strong.
I watch sparks shoot from his hand as she continues to touch his skin. They pop into the air like mini fireworks. Then, after circling his palm half a dozen times, she conjures a tiny flame. It flickers half an inch above his skin. He doesn’t cry out in pain, doesn’t even wince. Instead, his brows furrow and he pushes her away with his free hand. “No, no! You don’t know what you’re doing-”
She stumbles back but quickly regains her balance. “Only several days old. Power should be strong.” She shakes her head. “Not right.”
He closes his fist. The flame extinguishes. “You know something about the fire?”
“Displacement of energy,” she mumbles. “Conduits. Reaction. Not right.”
“Slow down.” I move to her side. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Separated,” she continues, paying little attention to me, “separated immediately. No trigger. Everything ruined.”
“ What’s separated?” Cassius moves in.
“Thousands of us,” she crumbles to her knees. “Gone. So many. Separated.”
I grab her arm to prevent her from crashing to the ground. The right side of my body hums with energy. “I think she’s going into shock.”
She shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. “Failed us. They failed us.”
Cassius crouches down beside her, swearing. “ Who failed you?”
Before she can answer, her eyelids flutter and she loses consciousness. I set her on the ground.
Cassius sighs. “Well, that’s just great, isn’t it? Babbling like a crazy person… ”
I glance over at him. “I don’t think she’s crazy. She knew about your power.”
He clenches his fist. “It’s impossible. She drew it out of me without an explosion. She controlled it.”
I pause, hearing footsteps behind us. Cassius notices it too. He darts up from the ground.
I stand, just in time for Avery to bound at me, nearly knocking me off my feet. “Oh Jesse, thank god you’re alive!”
“How’d you get down here?” I struggle for breath through her monster hug.
Instead of responding, she releases me, and stares into my eyes. Then she kisses me.
It takes a moment for my mind to register what’s happening. After so much stress, so many missed opportunities, I can’t bring myself to believe that this is how it’s happening. Now.
Still, I don’t pull back. Her lips tug mine. She draws me forward and it’s like breaking the Pearls all over again. Mass powerful. Buzzing.
I hug her shoulder, wishing that I’d never have to let go. Wishing we weren’t in the middle of a war zone.
In that moment, any remaining doubts about Avery shatter inside me. Then she pulls away, eyes wide. “They’re coming. Unified Party ships pulled into the city just as I started running down.”
Before I can respond, the sky rumbles. The outline of a cruiser cuts through the mist overhead, bathing us in shadow. Then another, from the opposite direction. We’re surrounded.
“How charming,” a woman’s voice echoes from the alleyway behind Avery. “It’s comforting to see that teenage hormones are alive and well in these trying times.”
Avery spins around to watch the woman enter the intersection. Her tailored jacket is spotless, like she’s managed to dodge all the dust in the air that’s clogged up the rest of us. Her hair blows softly in the breeze, framing an intense expression of down-turned lips and narrow, mesmerizing eyes. She wears long gloves over porcelain skin and an expensive suit beneath the jacket-completely at odds with her surroundings. I recognize her immediately from pictures at the Academy.
It’s Madame.
