swallowed by the sinkhole, and collide with a Skyship Agent.
I turn to see August Bergmann standing before me, armed like the ultimate soldier, his buzzed hair already glistening with sweat. “Oh man.” He frowns, and for a second I’m convinced he’s gonna punch me in the arm. Instead, his frown curves into an amused smile. “Jameson was right. This is a rescue mission. Takes a freaking army, huh Fisher?”
I meet his eyes for a second but don’t respond. I’d like to see him survive what I’ve been through. Bet he wouldn’t think it was so funny.
“Relax.” He slaps my shoulder, nearly knocking me to the ground. “And don’t die, okay? Don’t be your usual stupid self.”
Then he’s gone. I look around for Madame. A hand grabs onto my arm. I push away before realizing it’s Cassius.
He frowns and motions for me to follow him between two walls of fighting soldiers. I watch as beams of energy shoot from cannons emerging from the hull of the Academy.
Cassius releases my arm. We squeeze between the remaining soldiers and sprint through what’s left of an empty alleyway. On the other side I see a line of cruisers, also empty. Every soldier Madame’s got has joined the fray back at the intersection. The alleyway’s dark, shadowed by the Academy overhead. Cassius cradles the cube under his arm. I grab him by the shoulder, stopping his mad dash to freedom.
He spins around, glaring. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t leave without Avery.”
“Madame’ll kill you,” he responds, keeping one eye on the far-off intersection.
“I thought that’s what you wanted.”
He shakes his head. “We have to get away.”
“Alkine will-”
He grabs my arm and yanks me backward, just as Madame bursts into the alleyway.
Her jacket hangs halfway off her shoulders. Her hair is mottled with dirt and sweat. She breathes heavily, aiming the pistol at my heart.
“Come on,” Cassius coaxes, pulling my arm.
“Don’t move,” Madame warns as she steps forward, “or it will be the last thing you do.”
Cassius releases me, clutching the cube tightly under his arm.
Madame sighs. “My dear Cassius. I have regrets. I should have kept you out of this. I should have let you stay at the Lodge. You’re confused, as you have every right to be. We’ll sit down and talk when this is over. I’m sure that-”
She’s interrupted by Eva, who stumbles into the alleyway holding Alkine’s dark bag. Her arm restraint hangs from her left wrist. A large scratch runs down the side of her face.
Madame rolls her eyes, pivoting slightly and pulling the trigger. Eva lunges toward the wall and presses herself against the brick. The bullet whizzes past her and into the intersection.
“Don’t hurt her!” I shout. “It’s me you want.”
Madame turns back around, reloading the pistol and aiming it at me. “There are cruisers directly behind you. Step into one, and we can continue this conversation elsewhere.”
I watch as Eva tiptoes forward, grabbing something from inside the bag. A faint green light illuminates the back of the alley. Madame doesn’t see it. Yet.
“Okay,” I respond, trying not to stare at the Pearl Eva’s holding. “Okay, I give up. Just don’t shoot.”
Madame’s head cocks to the side, a suspicious frown on her face. “Into the cruiser.”
I nod and take a small step back. Eva comes closer.
Then Madame sees the glow coming from behind her. She spins around, but before she can do anything Eva hurls the Pearl into the air. It makes a wide arc above Madame’s head and shoots down to me.
I stretch out my right arm, tense my fingers, and stop it in mid-air.
The Pearl hovers between Madame and me, nearly blinding us in the dim alley. I motion for Eva to run back to the intersection. She lingers for a moment, watching me, before backing away.
Madame keeps her aim steady, approaching cautiously. “This isn’t funny, Jesse.”
I back up, focusing on keeping control of the Pearl. I wave my hand back and forth. The Pearl follows like a pendulum swinging in the air. Left, right. Left, right.
Madame watches, and for the first time I notice fear in her eyes. She knows what’s inside the Pearl, but I bet she doesn’t know what happens when it’s freed. Not firsthand.
I move my hand more dramatically and the Pearl follows course, slamming into the brittle walls on either side of us. Loose brick tumbles in piles onto the ground as the alley starts to cave in before me.
Madame stumbles back. “Stop it.”
I don’t. The Pearl continues to smack the walls with the force of a wrecking ball, adding to the pile of rubble in front of us. It’s nearly up to Madame’s waist now, blocking her path.
Then, just as I’m about to bring the entire alley down around her, I hear a gunshot and feel something prick my shoulder. I look down to see a silver dart lodged into my skin. She shot me. She actually shot me!
The Pearl wobbles in the air as my concentration fractures. Whatever’s in the dart races through my bloodstream. It’s all I can do to stay standing. Madame laughs. All other sounds fade into nothing.
I clench my fists and the world explodes in front of me.
A shower of rubble rains over Madame, burying everything in the alleyway-including her. The walls crumble around us as the Pearl energy tears through the derelict buildings, streaming out into the intersection. A glowing figure shoots into the sky, soaring up around the Academy and out of sight.
I fall backwards, watching as the Skyship’s hull absorbs the brunt of the Pearl’s force. Sheet lightning dances along the dark underbelly, illuminating the mist around Seattle. Just like that day-the day Cassius and I first landed on Earth.
Then, as the last of the energy dissipates, I lose consciousness.
46
She’s got me. She’s escaped somehow and she’s got me.
It’s the only thing running through my mind upon waking. My back’s pressed against a leather seat. A belt stretches over my chest.
I’m in a government cruiser. Never been inside one before, but the Unified Party emblems etched into the control panel are a dead giveaway.
Dark sky forms a wall outside the window. I turn to my left, praying to see Alkine. Eva. Skandar. One of the good guys.
Cassius.
I jerk away from him, my mind still on survival mode.
“Relax.” He glances over at me, frowning. “She’s not here.”
I watch him pilot the cruiser for a moment in silence. His hands grip the wheel tightly. His steely gaze focuses on the path ahead of him.
“You’ve been out for over an hour,” he mutters. “Tranquilizer. It’s meant to keep you down for longer.”
I cough. “Where are we?” My throat’s still clogged with dust from Seattle.
“Halfway over Kansas, according to the radar.” His eyes shift to my face, then back to the front window. “Wichita’s on your right-below us.”
I look down at the Surface-an unending abyss punctuated only by pinpricks of light far off in the distance. Directly below us sits a cocoon of white lights, stretching up from the ground like a bee’s nest. Wichita. Chosen City #27.
My mind flashes back to Seattle. The alleyway. “Are you-”
“I’m not taking you to the Lodge,” he interrupts. “Nobody’s taking you to the Lodge from the looks of it back there. They’re outnumbered. Despite all of Madame’s planning, the Skyship took her by surprise. I didn’t think it was possible to surprise her.”
