“Now,” Calico said, and James whipped his head back around. His thoughts were so scrambled he had almost forgotten the man was there. What could he possibly do to stop a Super? He was powerless, a Normal. “Step aside, Bolt.”
James raised his fists, feeling foolish. “No.”
Calico sighed and raised a hand. James braced, expecting a bolt of fire or to be thrown across the cave, but no such thing happened. He thought nothing happened until he tried to lower his hands. They were stuck in place, fists raised. He couldn’t move at all.
Calico strolled forward, smiling. “What did you expect to do, really? Your only chance was to take the stone and hope it made you strong enough to defeat me. But like my brother, you were too stupid to see.”
He stepped in front of James, staring past him. The green light of the stone reflected like little flames in his glittering gray eyes.
“I have to say, I appreciate your help finding this place. I couldn’t have done it without you,” Calico said. He raised a hand, and James’s muscles moved of their own accord. It was an unsettling feeling. He was a prisoner in his own body as his legs walked him to the edge of the platform and turned him so he was staring at Calico and the stone. Calico lowered his hand and James locked back into place. “So I want you to watch as I harness its power. See what I will become and what you could have been.”
Calico stepped forward, leaning over the stone. It seemed to grow brighter, as if sensing his powers. It pulsated, bathing Calico’s entire face in green light. His eyes were wide, and he raised his hands slowly, with reverence.
James struggled against his bonds, straining his mind, willing his limbs to move. But it was useless. He was held in place by the invisible force, completely immobilized. All he could do was watch.
Calico reached forward and clasped the stone with both hands.
It flashed a brilliant, blinding green, bathing the entire cavern in light. Calico raised the stone in front of him, and James could see the muscles of his forearms popping, clearly straining, as if the stone weighed a hundred pounds. A vein stuck out in his neck. A moment later, the light seemed to emerge from the stone, forming four solid beams. The beams whipped out and attached themselves to Calico’s head, each one pulsating and writhing slowly like a snake. As James watched, horrified, Calico’s head snapped back and he stared up, his entire body convulsing. Pure energy seemed to travel along those beams, transferring to Calico.
James blinked, and then a finger twitched, and the force holding him in place weakened, then completely dissolved. Calico was too consumed by the stone to notice, still convulsing as the light traveled from the stone to him. James could suddenly move, and he had no idea what to do.
So he threw himself at Calico.
He rammed his shoulder into the Super, buffeting him aside, causing him to drop the stone. The strange tendrils of light severed with a terrible high-pitched screech. Green light exploded around them, completely blinding James. He heard a guttural yell and a sound like a thousand pieces of paper being ripped in half. Something punched him hard in the chest, and his feet left the ground.
Chapter 38
Katie rounded the hill and saw destruction before her.
She stood above a small valley, the ground snaking steeply down below her. At the bottom was a massive temple with a round, white top. Five black SUVs sat in front of the temple. Several men in black suits were leaning on the hoods, firing their weapons. SIA. What were they doing here?
Behind and above the SIA agents, the Supers were locked in battle.
She saw Derek and Tonitrus streak up into the air, locked together like wrestlers. They broke apart and Tonitrus shot a fireball at Derek, who dropped down, dodging it. He stopped falling and shot up like a cannonball, grabbing Tonitrus by the leg. With a twist, he heaved the man over his shoulder and toward the ground. As Tonitrus fell, Derek sped down toward him. They connected just above the ground, then disappeared into a plume of dust.
Higher up, she saw Lychnus in the air, fighting both Afectrus and Myrcellus at once. Afectrus lifted her hands and a boulder shot up from the ground toward him, while Myrcellus fired what looked like shards of glass, hundreds of them. Lychnus raised his hands and somehow stopped both projectiles in their tracks. For a moment, none of them moved, all three floating with their hands raised, locked in an eternal struggle. Then there was a hollow bang, like a massive balloon popping. The boulder and shards fell aside, useless, and Myrcellus and Afectrus were both thrown from the air, landing somewhere below.
Auri and Ros, Katie saw, were now advancing on the soldiers below, who had turned and started firing at the Supers, away from the temple. But one of the agents walked in the opposite direction, toward a stretch of grass near her side of the temple. He was moving oddly, as though injured. No, she realized with horror, he was dragging somebody roughly by the shirt, a gun in his other hand.
The person being dragged was Rocky.
Without a second thought, Katie set down the hill.
It was steep, and she nearly stumbled several times, but she made it safely to the bottom. Nearby, the man didn’t notice her descending. Rocky struggled uselessly, blood dripping down his
