“So she’s not alone? Jesus, did they forget to program in compassion when they were upgrading your firmware?”
Honest truth; I didn’t know exactly what firmware was back then.
“I meant why me?”
Every time I shrugged, my too-big suit jacket flapped open. I made a mental note to be aware of that fact when I passed through the Hole’s security. Legion’s gun might not show up on scanners, but it was plenty visible to the human eye. “She thinks you’re cute,” I said absently. “I guess some idiots still have a thing for vid star looks and muscles. Also…”
“Also?”
I frowned. “You’re never drunk, and outside of last night’s truly awesome exception—” He started to say something, but I talked right over him. “—you’re never out of control. Maybe that’ll help mitigate the whole Empath thing… maybe it won’t… but I know one thing for sure.”
“And what’s that?”
“You’ll be a gentleman. Only dance of the year… I’d say Kayleigh deserves that.”
There was a long silence as Paladin just stared at me. Finally, he shook his head. “I don’t get you at all.”
“If you did, I’d be worried. So you’ll do it?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” I left him there with a confused look on his face.
Goodbye, Paladin. Turns out you weren’t my arch-nemesis after all.
Too bad. We could’ve had some epic wars.
•—•—•
Still fifty minutes left, even after that little conversation. Plenty of time, really, but not so much that I could afford additional distractions.
Like Silt waiting for me in the common room, for instance.
For the third time in as many months, that room was almost empty. Nobody but Silt, and with the vid screen off, it was the quietest it had ever been.
Guess that’s how she’d overheard my conversation with Paladin.
“What’re you doing, Skeletor?” Her muscular arms were folded across her broad chest, and she stood like a small boulder, directly in my path.
“What I can to make sure Kayleigh has a good time at the dance. Paladin’s self-control might help with Vibe’s Empath—”
“Kayleigh’s been in control of her power for almost two months now, you dumbass!”
“She… what?”
“Did you think you were the only one learning to control their power? That’s what being a first-year is about!”
“But…” I frowned. “Then why did she ask me to the dance?”
“I guess it doesn’t matter.” She looked me up and down and shook her head. “You never had any intention of going with her, did you?”
“I can’t.” I met Silt’s angry gaze. “I’ve got unfinished business elsewhere, Sofia.”
She blinked, recognizing the phrasing. “And it couldn’t wait until after the dance?”
“It can’t even wait until the last day of the Graduation Games,” I told her. “There’s a shuttle leaving Los Angeles in less than an hour, and I need to be on it.”
Her frown deepened. “Damian… today is the last day.”
“No it isn’t. The fight at The Liquid Hero was last night, so this—”
She was shaking her head. “There were so many injured that the Healers kept you all asleep until you could be treated. It’s been more than a day.”
Details I’d been ignoring started to seep in. Paladin’s odd comment: It’s been a rough few days. The look he’d given me when I said his punch had happened just last night. Even the unusually loud Graduation Games crowd.
It was the final day of competition. Day seven, not day six.
I’d missed my shuttle by almost twenty-three hours.
I was completely fucked.
•—•—•
I stood there for almost a minute, my thoughts running wild. Assuming President Weatherly’s so-called Reconciliation Day became an annual thing, I’d have another shot at seeing my dad the following year, but only if I found a job or some form of income. Maybe I could swallow my pride long enough to beg some cash from one of the well-off first years—Kayleigh, Evelyn, or even Matthew—but even then…
I stopped as a thought hit me.
“Sofia, where’s Wormhole?”
“In our room, last I checked. She made it back from the med ward a few hours ago. Why?”
“Because I need her help.”
CHAPTER 66
After almost a year, I still knew nothing about Wormhole’s power. The only time I’d seen her use it was in Control class, popping back and forth from one end of the narrow mat to the other. If that was the full extent of her capabilities, I remained totally fucked; it would take at least a million two-foot hops to reach the Hole, and I’d be crazy or dead of old age long before we got there.
But if that was all she could do, Evelyn would never make second-year, and from what I’d heard, her future at the Academy had never been in doubt. And she’d once told Silt she might be able to teleport her to Texas by graduation. My geography was pretty damn shaky for anything east of the Free States, but I knew Texas was a hell of a lot further away than the Hole.
As for why she’d help me, and how much I’d have to tell her first… well, I had almost sixty steps to figure all that out before we reached her room.
•—•—•
Evelyn was on her bed in Academy greys, browsing her Glass when Silt and I marched inside. I watched her face transition from welcome—when Sofia appeared—to suspicion—when I followed—to something approaching alarm as we crossed to her side of the room.
“Sofia? What’s he doing here?”
“Given that he just realized that the brawl fucked up his escape plan, and that whatever ride he’d arranged left almost twenty-four hours ago…” Silt shrugged. “I’m guessing he’s here about your power. Just don’t expect him to tell you any of the details. Turns out Boneboy’s not big on trust.”
I winced. Maybe it was a good thing my trip to the Hole was going to be one-way. I seemed to be burning bridges behind me everywhere I went.
“Escape plan?” Evelyn looked confused, then horrified. “You were going to leave the Academy yesterday? What about the dance?”
“If I never fucking hear about the fucking dance again…” I cut
