expand outward.
The buzzing in my mind seemed to vibrate in response to the rising notes of the instrument. It was both scary and exhilarating to feel the power build so quickly. I knew Juan could affect moods with his music—maybe this was finally the key to gaining control.
My power responded. I felt the shape of the entire room and everyone in it inside my mind. Nine heartbeats, no, ten. A small fluttering one. The baby. I could feel Molla’s baby. My breath caught.
Then instead of one long weeping note after another, Juan put the ribbon to two strings at once in harmony. The music swept me up beyond the room where we were all sitting. I was disoriented by how quickly it expanded.
Suddenly I could feel everything, not just the shape of the room or the hallway outside. I zoomed outward like a lens readjusting. I could see the entire compound. The two main hallways of the Foundation ran like little tubes, with rooms between and branching out to the sides. I could feel the level below ours too, and the main elevator that led up to the air-transport deck. One second I could sense the complex components that made up the engine of the transport and smell the oiled metal, then the next moment I’d zoomed out again even farther this time.
It was going too fast. I was starting to feel dizzy. Quick as the moment it took for another breath in, I could feel the shape of the whole mountain above us, the canyon stretching out beside it, and the mountain range beyond.
And then I was hurtled into the sky.
Panic spiked through me. I wasn’t in control. Not at all. I was being dragged outward helplessly into the endless sky. No shape, no contour. It just went on and on forever. The sky had always terrified me, and now I spun recklessly through it with no tether holding me to the earth. I couldn’t sense my own body anymore at all. I was going to get lost.
It was exhilarating and terrifying.
I had to pull it back, had to get control. The instrument hit a high, vibrating note that thrummed straight through me. I tried to hold on to the sound to pull myself back. I quivered with the note and tried to trace it back to the source, back to the center of the rippling vibration.
Suddenly the quiet music was ruptured and I was drawn back into my body so quickly it felt like I’d been ripped in two—part of myself still floating somewhere above in the sky, the other half sitting in a room under the mountain. I blinked hard. I was back in the room, and it was all of me, my mind as well as my body. But the same moment, the cello vibrated and burst into pieces in Juan’s hands. Everybody screamed and tried to shield themselves.
Juan’s beautiful instrument was gone, replaced by a cloud of dust that filled the air and filtered down like ash above our heads. Silently, all heads turned in my direction, their mouths forming the same perfect
“I’m so sorry!” I said, stumbling to my feet, still disoriented by being back inside my body. It felt too small, like my skin was on too tight.
Juan coughed a few times and wiped the dust out of his eyes. “I should have seen that coming,” he said. “I could feel the intensity coming off you in waves.”
“I’m so sorry,” I babbled again, tripping over my own words. I hurried over to his side. “It was just that the music was so beautiful and I lost control of my telek, I didn’t know where I was—”
“It’s okay, Zoe,” Juan said. He tried to smile, but I could see he was upset.
“Everyone’s fine,” Jilia announced. “Lights up,” she said and the lights slowly brightened around us. The dust that had been Juan’s cello covered the floor. A couple of people coughed.
“She ruined your cello!” Molla said, rising to her feet and speaking up for the first time since I’d come to the compound. “Just like she ruins everything else!” Her high-pitched voice echoed around the small space. “She’s dangerous. What if that—” she pointed at Juan’s ruined instrument, “had been one of us?” She put a hand on her stomach, took one more searing look at me, then stomped out of the room.
Rand let out a low whistle after she left. Everyone else was staring at me. Once again I felt the weight of all their expectations and, even more crushing, their disappointment. Adrien steadied my arm as I stood there.
“I’m sorry,” I said again, feeling that empty space at the bottom of my stomach widen. I’d thought today was a new start, that maybe I’d be able to finally get control. But Molla was right. Here I was again, ruining everything I touched.
“Well,” Rand broke the stunned silence, dusting himself off and cracking a grin. “At least we know if the Chancellor tries to kill us with stringed instruments, Zoe’s got us covered.”
Chapter 10
I SCOOTED A LITTLE CLOSER to Adrien as we watched Tyryn and Rand demonstrating some attack moves. It was four days later and the air-filtration system had finally gotten finished this morning. I’d been able to get out of the suit and change into a normal tunic. I took Adrien’s hand, marveling at how amazing it was to be able to touch his skin again.
Tyryn aimed a swift punch, but Rand’s forearm shot up and blocked it.
“Good,” Tyryn murmured, then turned to the rest of us sitting in a circle in the training center. “It’s all about repetition and building muscle memory, so that in a fight it just comes naturally and your reflexes are lightning quick.”
I was trying to pay attention to the lesson, but I kept wishing Adrien and I could have stolen away somewhere to kiss for hours. Adrien glanced over at me and shared a secret grin as if he knew exactly what I was thinking about. We’d only been able to share one quick kiss before class and I could still feel the heat of it on my lips.
“This is ridiculous,” City said, standing up. “I can electrify anything in a fifty-foot radius. I’m never going to need to know this.”
Rand, who hadn’t sat down yet, crept up behind City while she spoke. In a blink, he’d swept her legs out from under her and had her back against the padded floor. “Oh yeah?” he said with a sideways grin, one hand a little below her neck, holding her firmly down.
She let out an infuriated sound and tried to get up, but Rand easily kept her trapped. Then her face turned to a sweet smile. She raised her hand and touched a pinky to Rand’s forehead. I didn’t see the spark, but he jumped off her, swearing loudly.
“Crackin’ hell, Citz!”
She smiled and stood up, smoothing down her hair in the same motion. “My point exactly.”
“Enough,” Tyron barked. “Filicity, take your seat.”
Rand grinned.
“You too, Rand. That kind of cockiness can get you killed in a fight. You can’t always see the threat before it’s on you.” He walked back and forth, making eye contact with each of us. “The Chancellor is building her own army of glitchers, and you can bet they’ll fight dirty. You have to be smarter. You have to be stronger. And most of all, you have to work as a team.”
“But it’s not just glitchers we’ll be up against,” Xona said. “We have to learn how to take down Regs.” She glanced over her shoulder at the four ex-Regs who stood silently along the wall.
“That’s why we will also be spending an extensive amount of time with weapons training,” Tyryn said. “There are a few ways to disable a Reg.” He clicked on a 3-D projection cube at his feet. The illuminated projection of a Reg filled the space, taller and bulkier than Tyryn.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the ex-Regs shuffle uncomfortably. The sandy-haired boy, Cole.
“But how do you kill it?” Xona’s voice cut across the space.
“There are a few weak points in a Reg’s armor, but a kill shot is next to impossible.” Tyryn waved his hand and the illuminated Reg swiveled around. “Aim at the joints, especially the knee caps. If you’re lucky enough for a Reg to turn its back to you, aim at the small of its back, right here at the waist.” Tyryn shone a laser at a small
