Authors: Natalie Whipple
“We have to be on our guard.” Hector runs his hands through his hair, and I wonder if he’s more scared than he lets on. He tries to act tough, but the more I get to know him the more I don’t buy it.
Bea slows to a stop at the city limit. Hector and Carlos take a few minutes to listen and look before they clear Brady to start running. Once they do, Brady carries Seth and me to save time, and we’re off at a ground-breaking pace. The sun has just set over the distant mesas, making it harder to see because the moon isn’t quite up. Everything is gray and hazy and passing by so quickly I barely have time to prepare.
The pools. They’re about to be gone. I want one more chance to swim in them. One more chance to be there with Seth when we’re not in this weird place, but happy like before. This is happening too fast. I’m not ready to say goodbye.
But what else can we do? If we don’t get rid of them tonight, chances are The Phantom will figure it out. He’s already too close.
The mountain that hides the pools grows bigger and bigger as Brady closes in, but about a mile off he skids to a stop, spraying pebbles everywhere. He doesn’t put us down. Just stares out at the shadowy landscape with a blank look on his face. Seth digs his knuckle into Brady’s head. “Uh, earth to Brady? What’s the hold-up?”
“I…” He squints. “Is it just me, or can you guys see the blue, too?”
“What?” I say, my eyes immediately on my best guess for the cave’s location. “There’s no light anywhere.”
“Are you sure?” Brady says. “I know that mountain like my own house, and I swear I can see the cave opening. Opened. Am I nuts?”
“Maybe you’re just so used to where it is that—”
Seth swears under his breath. “More to the left, Fi. That’s definitely brighter than it should be.”
I turn my head, looking for what they see. It’s very faint, but I finally catch the soft, deep blue spot against the mountain’s shadow. My stomach threatens to lose it as the implications set in. “Oh no.”
Someone moved the boulder.
Someone else found the pools.
Brady puts us down, and we all stand there for a second in a shocked daze. After that wears off, all I feel is regret. We should have caved it in yesterday. But no, I was selfish and wanted to keep something I knew was dangerous. Now we’re paying the price.
“What do we do?” Brady says quietly.
Seth clenches his jaw. “There’s only one thing to do—finish our job.”
I look at him, surprised. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sick of drugs. I’m sick of these people doing whatever the hell they want. And I’m sure as hell sick of this getting in the way of our lives.”
I bite my lip, positive he’s referring more to our last exchange than anything. But he’s right; this Radiasure race has made our lives even more difficult than before. “What if there are a bunch of people there? I don’t think Brady wants to bash heads in.”
Brady cringes. “Please, no.”
“We won’t know until we get there.” Seth starts running, and I’m not sure where this new zeal is coming from. Did he find more at his dad’s office? Or is this a reckless way to blow off steam from all our issues? There’s no time to ask—even the sound of our footsteps feels too loud now that I know there is someone in our cave. Someone potentially dangerous.
The closer we get, the slower and quieter we move. My hopes are high when I make out only one unmarked truck, which looks like it was used to move the boulder because the chain is still wrapped around the rock. There can’t be more than a handful of people. Of course, their abilities could make it much worse.
“They didn’t leave a guard,” Seth whispers. “Seems stupid.”
“Or they’re strong enough not to worry about it,” Brady says.
“Maybe.” Seth squints in a way I now know is him looking through something. My guess is the truck and nearby brush. “Ugh, I wish I had Carlos’ night vision right now. It looks clear, but the shadows cover a lot.”
“I’ll have to go down there,” I say, dying to know who found the cave and how.
“No!” they both say at the same time. Seth adds, “I’ll just look through the rock like before and—”
“Hell. No. If you pass out like last time, we’re screwed.” I look down, nervous to display any concern after what happened. “Besides, I can’t stand to see you go through that again.”
His eyes soften the tiniest bit. “But I can’t handle you in danger again.”
“I didn’t get hurt—and I didn’t get caught, either,” I point out.
This doesn’t satisfy him. “You got put in jail and nearly starved, not to mention getting beaten.”
“That was The Phantom’s doing. They didn’t actually have evidence on me, just his tip.”
“She’s right, bro,” Brady finally chimes in. “We have no idea what will happen to you if you use your ability, and it’s already been acting up a ton since you did it last. I don’t want you ending up brain dead or something.”
Seth grits his teeth, but says, “Looks like I’m outnumbered.”
Brady pats him on the shoulder, probably having no clue about our fight. “Sorry. I’ll go unhitch the truck from the boulder while Fiona scopes things out.”
He sneaks off, leaving Seth and I alone for the first time since we were in the office together. Seth turns around immediately. “I’m not looking. Should I go somewhere else just in case you don’t believe me?”
“Here is fine,” I say, though his words sting. I take off my clothes
.
Try to convince myself maybe it’s okay for him to see me like this, but I still can’t get myself to say it out loud. “I’ll be back once I see who’s there. If it’s more than twenty minutes, come looking.”
“Be careful, okay?” Maybe I’m imagining it, but I think his voice shakes.
“Of course.” I head towards the cave opening, feeling a surge of confidence now that I’m on my own.
The steep, rocky tunnel is difficult to climb down without moving a single pebble. Every time something shifts beneath my feet, I fear it will make a noise loud enough to alert the people at our pools. Even though I’m invisible, this part of the cave is narrow enough that they wouldn’t miss running into me.
As I get closer, I begin to hear muffled voices. This makes my blood boil. Maybe the pools aren’t technically ours, but it feels like they are. Brady found this place. It’s supposed to be secret. As far as I’m concerned, whoever’s here is trespassing—and we have a right to stop them. Maybe I sound like a syndicate leader, but I don’t care.
It’s hard to make out any of their words, and I guess that they’re whispering. Not sure why. Are they worried someone might hear them?
When I make it to the bottom, I peek around the corner and see just two people at the nearest pool. Even at this distance, it’s impossible to mistake who I’m looking at. That long, bright blond hair and lab coat can only belong to one person—the scientist girl from the Army. She is bending over one of the pools and filling vials with samples of merinite.
But that’s not the worst part. Beside her is a muscled guy with auburn hair who floats just above the ground: Graham.
I thought I knew what betrayal felt like. Heaven knows I’ve seen plenty of it in my life. But to earn our trust like this, to pretend to protect us…From the way Graham and that girl talk, it’s clear they know each other. He didn’t bust in and save me when I was in jail—it was all a setup. I can see the plot they had in my head: let her go and we’ll follow her around until she leads us right to it.
I’ve forgotten how important it is to look up. Graham must have followed us last night, and all that crap about being with Allie was a cover. He was out snitching to the Army and ruining all my plans.
Anger wells up inside me, boiling over as I stagger forward. It might not be the smartest move, but I don’t care. “How could you?”
Both of them freeze, and Graham slowly turns around. Of course he can’t see me, but the fear on his face is clear. He better be afraid. He’s not my brother anymore, just another enemy I plan on taking out.
“F-Fiona?” he says quietly.
“How could you!” I scream it this time, and my echo bounces all over the cavern. I take the opportunity to move so he can’t begin to guess my position. “You betray your own family over and over! You’re the worst kind of person. We took you back after everything. Miles, Mom, me…we trusted you. But you really are a traitor!”
He flies up higher, frantic to find me. “Fi, it’s not li—”
“Shut up!” I’m about to explode from the rage building inside me. “I don’t want to hear any more of your lies. You were the one who bugged us, not for Dad but for the Army. How could you sell out so fast?”
He gives me a convincingly confused look. “Bugged? What was bugged?”
“Don’t try.” I watch the scientist girl, who is still taking her samples. It’s sad she thinks I’ll let her leave with that. “You being here says more than any words can.”
“It’s not what you think!” Graham yells back at me.
I don’t answer, but instead stalk towards the scientist girl. I hate her so much it’s disturbing. She’d do anything to get this stuff, including ruining my family. I shove her away from the pools, and she cries out. My sympathy is gone. I pick up the vials and smash them to the ground. “You shouldn’t have come here, because now I have to keep you quiet.”
Before I land my fist into her pretty face, Graham swoops down and grabs her. They’re too high up for me to get.
“Come down here so I can beat your traitor ass!” I scream.
Graham is more consumed with the scientist girl than he seems to be worried about me. He puts his hand on her face gently. “Are you okay, Allie?”
I stop at the name. No. No way. His girlfriend is…
Rocks begin to tumble out of the tunnel, and soon Brady and Seth appear. When they see who’s down here, their faces fill with horror. Surely they have put the same pieces together I have, because then they get angry.
Brady balls his fists. “Oh, it’s gonna be really hard to hold back now.”
“Seriously?” Seth says. “I knew you were a dick, but
seriously
? You’re with them?”
Graham has the gall to roll his eyes. “Can you give me three seconds to explain?”
“No!” I say. “Brady, grab them out of the air if they won’t come down on their own. I want them tied up.”
Brady steps forward. “Sounds good to me. I’ll try not to break anything.”
Graham looks to the exit, but Seth backs up so he’s blocking it. “You can’t take on more than one person, right?”
Graham snarls. “You guys are still morons.”
“And you’re still an asshole,” I say.
“He didn’t know, I swear!” Allie says, looking over the cave as if she could find me. “Fiona, I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you who I was, but Graham didn’t know what I was doing either, not until that day he got you out. Major Norton wouldn’t let you out even though Graham was threatening me, so he promised to follow you as long as the Army didn’t actively search for the element.”
She thinks she can sway me? Sad. “I’d have rather starved to death than be betrayed.”
“I’m not betraying you!” Graham flies higher up and away from Brady, as if that’ll keep him safe. But Brady can jump
really
high. “I’m trying to
help
you!”
“I don’t think you understand the meaning of ‘help,’” Seth says.
“Will you just listen? I didn’t know what was going on either—I just went to see my girlfriend last weekend and she was gone. I didn’t know when I was tracking her down that I’d find her here. I thought Dad had kidnapped her to get back at me.” He holds Allie to him like there’s nothing in the world he cares about more. “I was scared to death.”
Allie frowns. “I’m so sorry, hon.”
He shakes his head. “It was a relief just to find out she was safe, okay? At that point I didn’t care what she was doing or who she was doing it for as long as it wasn’t Dad. And we hoped she could get you out.”
“I tried to convince the Major to let you go, Fiona,” Allie says. “I promise. But you’ve seen how he is. This mission is his
life.
”
“And mine, too,” I say back, more determined than ever to keep the Army from getting merinite. “You aren’t taking the element, but if you want to be buried with it feel free to stay.”
Graham lets out a frustrated grunt. “What are you, some syndicate boss now? Are you seriously threatening to kill us?”
“Why not? You’ve threatened me plenty of times. Good intentions or not, I refuse to let Radiasure be produced again.” I’m tired of listening to lies. Every time I let him in just the littlest bit, I get burned. “Brady, go for it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Brady leaps into the air, and Graham barely dodges him.
“Wait!” Graham yells. “She’s not trying to make Radiasure!”
“Graham! Don’t!” Allie covers his mouth, her eyes wider now than at any time I’ve seen her. This piques my interest. So there is someone she’s told her top secret information to.
“Then what is she trying to do, huh?” I ask.
“She’s—” he tries to say through her hands, but she snuffs out the rest of the words.