Swarm (39 page)

His phone trembled.

Get back here.
Glorious Leader, still giving orders. That figured.

Ethan texted as fast as he could:
Tell Kelsie—

But he couldn't finish the thought. He was too scared of dying. He sent it anyway. Surely Glorious Leader could come up with some fitting last words on Ethan's behalf.

He tried to meet his mother's eye, but he saw only rage and burning hunger. Then she turned away—

Okay, this was weird. His mother and everyone else in the grandstand were moving in the same direction. Ethan was dragged with them as the shuddering core flowed onto the parade ground.

Then it hit him. They were leaving the funeral. Swarm was steering the whole funeral into the Heights. He was coming to the Screw the Swarm party with his own private army!

The crowd parted, revealing the only other person who wasn't part of the shivering blue horde. Wearing a striped blazer and a curious expression, a guy Ethan's age stood on the stage beside the coffin, staring at him.

This
was Swarm? Ethan felt cheated. Wow, so weedy—and yes, that was a seriously bad haircut.

Swarm stared at Ethan like he was a foreign movie without subtitles.

“What
are
you?”

Ethan blinked, about a dozen stupid answers tumbling through his head.
A fellow superpowered freak. A son, a kid brother, a guy doomed to never have a girlfriend.

He left it to the voice, hoping with all his heart that what
ever it said would make Swarm decide not to kill him.

“Mine is the reverse of every power you've ever encountered,” the voice said confidently. “I am unique among us all. And if you eat me, I'll turn everyone inside you sour.”

It sounded like crazy talk to Ethan. Sure, the others always ribbed him about his power being different, just because it didn't like crowds. But he was still a Zero, right?

Swarm nodded once, as if the voice's words confirmed whatever his Zeroes-hunting nose was telling him. “I'll deal with you later, then. After I tear your friends to bloody pieces.”

A stab of anger went through Ethan, and a buzzing darkness appeared along the edges of his thoughts, crowding out all sound and light.

The last thing he could hear was Swarm saying, “Well, that was easy.”

Little
twerp
. But the angrier he got, the farther Ethan fell into Swarm's trap.

He fought it, breathing in deep gulps of air, trying to steady his emotions.

Don't be angry. Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! Dance party in my brain!

But there were no happy thoughts inside Ethan. First this douche had swarmed Ethan's own mom, and now he was headed for the Dish to kill all his friends, way too early for their plan, their
useless
plan, to work.

His anger joined the righteous fury of the cops around him. All that rage carried him jittering along, leaving only one last rational thought. . . .

If only the crowd
had
murdered him. Because alive, Swarm would use him, just like he was using these cops.

He was going to use Ethan to kill the Zeroes.

IT FELT LIKE GETTING READY
for a tornado.

Kelsie was doing her best to keep her feedback loop with the other Zeroes from descending into dread, but it was wearing her out. She'd been playing uplifting movie themes all day—mostly Bollywood tracks—trying to keep her fear under control. But every time she relaxed, a pulse of anxiety would hit her, then tear through the rest of them.

Maybe the Zeroes trusted her, but Kelsie didn't know if she trusted herself. Not after what'd happened at the AA meeting—what she'd
felt
while the swarm had done its work.

The cops had arrested ten people for the murder, including Tasha, the first-timer. Fig, at least, had been too beaten up to be blamed for Delgado's death.

When she'd visited him in Cambria County General
Hospital last night, Kelsie hadn't even tried to explain what had happened. He thought sooner or later the police lab would identify some kind of poison gas in the whiskey bottle.

But it was so much simpler that that—Swarm was more powerful than her. She had no immunity to his dark control, at least not in a group as vulnerable as an AA meeting. But what if the Dish crowd was no different?

What if Kelsie was helping her friends build their own trap?

Around her, everyone was frantic with activity. She'd barely spoken to Chizara since the beach, but now they were working side by side, wiring the new lights with more power.

Thibault and Craig were building a “shark cage” out of security mesh, a place of last retreat for anyone caught downstairs. Nate and Flicker were arguing about the floor plans spread out across the bar. They all worked with a determination that kept their nervousness under control, barely pulsing against Kelsie's mind. And Nate was at the center of it all, guiding them, his energy back to its full glorious presence in the group.

But then his phone blipped. Nate reached for it, and when he looked up from reading, his face was pale.

“Swarm's headed this way.”

The Zeroes all jerked upright.

“He's bringing his own crowd,” Chizara said. “I
knew
it.”

“Not just any crowd. He took over the police funeral.”

“The parade ground isn't far.” Flicker swore. “And is that why he killed a policeman? Maybe this was his plan all along!”

Kelsie remembered what Swarm had said when the cop had arrived:
Another hero. Perfect.

Thibault's voice came from by the windows. “We're not ready. We've got three windows left to reinforce.”

“That won't help against hundreds of armed policemen,” Chizara said grimly. “And our friendly crowd won't get here for hours.”

“Wait a second,” Kelsie said. “Isn't Ethan at the funeral?”

“He's the one texting me.” Nate looked straight at her. “He got clear. He's fine.”

“Kelsie?” Flicker asked. “How close is the swarm? Can you feel them yet?”

Kelsie took a breath and let her perception expand. Ever since Quinton Wallace had arrived in Cambria, he'd been a constant presence at the edge of her consciousness. Like a chronic migraine. But she'd learned to deal with it, blocking him from her awareness.

Now she let her power rush out, seeking him.

A buzzing, angry force was out there. It made the hairs on her arms stand up.

“He's way too close, and getting closer.” She turned to Chizara. “I'm sorry. I should've been watching.”

“Not your fault.” Chizara reached out and took her hand.

Kelsie took a step closer and leaned into Chizara's warmth. All she wanted was to feel safe again, like she had that night on the beach before everything had gone wrong.

“Guys?” Craig spoke up. He stood next to Thibault by the half-covered window, sunlight streaming in around his bulk. “These are cops, yeah? It's not like they'll kill us. I mean, you paid them off with real money this time, right?”

Everyone looked at him. A hammer hung from one of his meaty hands, like he was ready to defend the Dish to the end.

“You should clear out,” Kelsie said. “He's not after you.”

“Yes, you've helped us enough,” Nate said, keeping his tone light. “Head home; we'll see you later.”

Craig hesitated, staring back at Nate, as if wondering where Mr. Saldana's usual authority had gone.

Kelsie felt the group wavering between their concern for Craig and a quiet hope that he would stay. He made Kelsie feel safe. He was a link to her past, and he was the one guy outside the Zeroes who everyone trusted. He was also pretty awesome in a fight.

But nobody wanted to put him in danger.

In the end, though, the simple brute force of Craig's loyalty won out.

“If it's all the same to you guys, the Craig will stay. We're a team now, right?”

Nate looked like he wanted to argue. But since Ethan's texts, Nate's usual energy had disappeared from Kelsie's feedback loop.

It was Flicker who argued. “We're talking six hundred cops here, all of them angry about what happened to their
comrade. He'll use your anger too, Craig, and he might make you hurt us.”

A deep laugh rumbled through the Dish. “You said that yesterday. That's why we have a plan.”

“It's fine with me if you stay,” Thibault said, and thumped the guy on his massive shoulder. “Seriously, I'm kind of glad.”

The Craig grinned. “Then it's settled.”

Kelsie felt a weak current of hope flow through the group. She felt them all turn to Nate expectantly, but he didn't move to take hold of this new energy. Since he'd shown up at the Dish yesterday, he'd turned back into Glorious Leader. But he was faltering again, something welling up in him.

Grief. That's what it was. Kelsie recognized the feeling. She didn't dare ask if there was any further word from Ethan. Her throat was clogged with fear.

Flicker took over, as if she felt it too. “Okay. The cops are in uniform, which means sidearms.”

“We saw what a swarm did to Davey with their bare hands,” Chizara said quietly. “How're we supposed to deal with six hundred people with
guns
?”

“We keep working,” Flicker said. “We set the dazzle traps, just like we said. We can still break the feedback loop!”

“It won't work,” Chizara said. “It's the middle of the day. The sun's brighter than anything I can throw!”

“There's no time, anyway,” Kelsie said. She could feel the dark, buzzing presence of Swarm's murderous army closing in,
a sweet, delicious ache in her bones. “They're already surrounding us.”

There was silence. Kelsie held Chizara hard.

“Huh,” Chizara said softly. “Turns out I hope Ethan made it out of there. I hope he ran.”

“Me too,” Kelsie said, with a catch in her throat. “At least one of us would survive, right?”

“Guys, we can't give up now,” Flicker said. “This is our home. We're ready for this!”

“Get real, Flick,” Chizara said. “This plan sucked when it was two hundred happy clubbers. Now it's six hundred pissed-off cops with guns! You can't stop bullets with rainbow lights and wire mesh.”

“Stick to the plan,” Nate said. A sudden determination filled his voice. “Just pick up the pace. Anon, Craig, finish the cage. Crash, how are the lights?”

Chizara looked like she was about to punch him. She started on a long and pessimistic answer. Kelsie slipped out of her arms and headed quietly for the entrance of the Dish.

It was time.

She could feel Swarm and the broad, dark thrum of the police he'd gathered around him. There was no way out. No last-minute salvation. Everyone she cared most about was at Swarm's mercy, and all the Zeroes' powers meant nothing.

She could feel the siren song of Swarm's power calling to her. Seeking her out, her alone, of all of them.

No point delaying the inevitable. She had to execute her secret backup plan.

She offered up a silent prayer as she unbolted the front door. All day she'd told herself that if the Zeroes' strategy failed, she'd do this—surrender herself to Swarm. Join him and try to push his hunger away from her friends. Anywhere but Cambria.

She hated the idea. Saving her friends meant sacrificing someone else. Some other town, other people's lives. Maybe some other bunch of Zeroes just trying to figure out how to survive.

She turned for one last glimpse of the Dish dance floor.

Nate was right behind her.

“It won't work,” he said softly. “He won't let us go, no matter what you do.”

“You don't know that for sure,” she said.

“I know Swarm,” Nate said gently. “There are people just like him in every boardroom and country club my father has ever brought me to. And they're never satisfied until they've taken everything. They think they're the center of the universe. But you're not like that, Kelsie.”

She raised her chin defiantly. “My power is just like his, Nate.”

“But you're not
him
,” Nate insisted. “And you're not your power. You're bigger than that.”

Kelsie looked past him to where Chizara and the others were back at work, full of frantic determination. “Then how do we stop him? Because we can't let him destroy all this.”

She meant the Dish and everyone in it. But she also meant every gathering, every group, every crowd in Swarm's way, anywhere.

“He'll never stop,” she told Nate quietly. “He doesn't know who else to be.”

Nate nodded. He looked tired.

“Do you have a better idea than me surrendering?” Kelsie asked. “Come on, Glorious Leader!”

Nate gave her an exhausted look. “I've always hated that name.”

“I know.” Kelsie smiled. “But right now, that's what we need. A Glorious Leader.”