The thud of several heavy boots sounds at our backs.
“Guards!” Matt hisses, flattening against the wall.
I tug him around the next corner, bypassing several cells, and pick the first one that’s out of sight. With bulk power, I snap the lock and push us both inside and shut the door behind us. The wailing siren immediately mutes and for the first time since I’ve been in the prison, I can think straight.
“Matt? Silver? Is that you?”
I swivel toward the familiar voice. The room is another cell, but it’s not just any cell; it’s strewn with lab equipment and a laptop. My father sits at a small wooden desk in the middle of it all. He wears gray clothes that have been boiled to an inch of their life and a pair of flimsy slippers. Bloody and bruised, a swollen lump straddles his right eyebrow. A long slash splits the back of his shirt, revealing a raised and angry whiplash.
“Dad!” I rush toward him and throw my arms around his gaunt frame. Tears stream down both our cheeks. “Thank God.”
Dad wraps his arms around me and relief pours out of me.
“It’s good to see you, Dr. Melody,” Matt says, shaking his hand.
Dad grins and releases me. “Why is one of your arms a foot longer than the other?”
I draw back and grab his shoulder. “I think you know why.” I’m not angry anymore. I know he did it to protect me, and now that I have all these abilities, I can use them for good.
His eyes roam my face, pupils widening as he takes in my appearance. “What do you mean? Did you take something?”
I shake my head and let my arm reduce to its human size. My fingers find his swollen eye and the healing glow spills over his skin into him, easing his pain. I push more of the healing goodness into him, healing him everywhere. His injuries aren’t severe, so it only takes a minute.
“You changed my DNA,” I say.
Dad gapes. “I did, but it’s been so long…”
The red light falls over Dad’s face through the square of window. It’s hard to tell, but I think I detect the hint of a flush. “I didn’t think it had worked.”
I pull my hands away and rest them in my lap. “What did you do to me?”
“Chameleon, right?” Matt asks, keeping his eyes on the window.
Dad’s hand flies to his chest. “Partly, and cephalopod, the masters of disguise. I gave them to you in vitro.”
“But why is it only working now?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” Dad says. “There were lots of side-effects we weren’t allowed to test.”
I perch on the table. “Like some sort of God-factor.”
“That’s right.” Dad knocks the table with his knuckles. “It’s what we say when we don’t really have an answer.”
“Can we talk about this later?” Matt asks. “We need to get you out of here and find Silver’s mother.”
Dad pushes himself out of his chair. “Margaret isn’t here.”
The blood drains from my face. “Where is she?”
“I don’t know,” Dad replies. “Bear decided to separate us as soon as he made that video.” He pulls me close once more. “He knew you’d come.”
My voice turns to steel. “He knows I have abilities. He saw me.”
At that moment, the loudspeaker crackles and a voice booms through the speakers, almost as loud as Joe’s.
“What a touching reunion,” President Bear says. “I’m so glad you could join us, Silver. I’ve been waiting for the time to continue our little chat. I would so like to learn how you took on all my abilities. Please come up to my office. There’s tea. Third floor. That is, if you don’t get interrupted by my little friends first.”
The speaker goes quiet.
I glance at Dad’s desk, strewn with so much lab equipment. “What has he got you doing?”
“Finding an answer to the aggressiveness problem,” Dad says.
“There is no answer,” I hiss, shoving paper off his desk. “They’re all nuts.”
Dad joins Matt at the window in the door. He wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Run like hell, and avoid that third floor with the poisoned tea.”
Matt checks the hammer of his gun. “Let’s go.”
Dad shakes his head. “We need to go to that office first. He has something of mine.”
I whirl to face him. “What?”
“He’s got my flash stick.” Dad shoots us an apologetic look.
“The one you took from the lab at home?” I ask. “What is it?”
“During the time I wasn’t working on Bear’s insidious projects and building more ridiculous nanite pills, I was researching a cure.” The last few words are barely above a whisper.
Matt snaps his head up. “It’s possible? A way to turn the altereds human again?”
Dad tilts his head. “I think so. I’m still trying to figure it out.”
“Can’t you do it without the flash stick?” I ask.
“Maybe,” Dad says. “But I’d have to start from scratch. It could set me back months, maybe longer.”
“Then we’re going to Bear’s office,” Matt says, inching close to the door.
“Yes, we are,” I say with renewed determination. “We’re starting a coup. And not a peaceful one.”
Matt holds his gun in one hand and a grenade in the other. He cracks open the door. We glance up and down the hall and I catch sight of running soldiers.
“What do we do?” Matt asks.
Before the soldiers appear, I charge down the hallway and use my telekinesis to release the locks on all the cell doors. It doesn’t take much effort and now the soldiers will have a riot to control. “You. Are. Brilliant!” Matt sticks his thumbs up.
Orange masses appear in the hall between us, and the marching feet of several guards grow louder.
The man with the horns appears and charges down the hall, opening his mouth to release a tremendous war cry. He disappears around the corner and is met with the sound of gun fire. There’s a dull thud.
The rest of the prisoners emerge from their cells, opportunity in their eyes mixed with a deadly determination. One man with a gleaming bald head and burn marks scarring his cheeks releases a breath of fire that plumes out a good six feet. Heat rushes by my face and singes the ends of my hair. He’s quickly followed by another man with a head of hissing snakes, snapping and biting at the other inmates. A third man with a whip-like tail lashes out and circles the snake-man around the neck, yanking him out of the way. The fire man breathes again and singes the hair off a man half my height who seems to possess a teleporting power. He flashes next to us and Matt’s eyebrows catch fire. Matt slaps at his face, putting out the small sparks.
At the other end, the guards stream around the corner. Ten trolls armed with assault rifles.
“I reckon we take our chances with the prisoners,” I say.
“Agreed. There’s a staircase around that corner.” Dad points.
We edge out of the room, ducking the snapping snakes and weaving away from the gusting breaths of fire. Bullets slam into the walls at our backs. Several of the prisoners throw us glances and swivel toward us. One of the snakes snaps out at me.
Dad goes down, shoved by a prisoner with tentacles for arms. I haul him to his feet. The man with fiery breath brushes by, the skin of his forearm connecting with mine. The pain hits immediately. A white-hot fire whips into my lungs and scorches my throat. Matt grabs my hand, pulling me along as I stumble and cough. A small orange flame flicks out of my mouth.
“Holy…!” Matt stares at my lips. The pain in my lungs eases and I pull in a breath. I cough again and another flame forms, but I will it away and it flickers out. We reach the other end of the hall.
Matt unpins a grenade. “Get into that stairwell.”
Dad and I push through the door. Matt throws the grenade and ducks into the stairwell with us. We make it to the next floor when the explosion shakes the building.
“Third floor.” Da
d pushes open the door to a carpeted hallway. Watercolor prints of landscapes line the walls. Elevator music plays from hidden speakers.
“I think it’s safe to say we’re out of the prisoner area,” Matt says, turning in a slow circle.
A door opens to our left and I raise my knife, but it’s just Joe and Sawyer.
“Thank God,” Joe says, the relief on his face palpable.
Dad tenses.
“These are our friends,” I say to Dad. “Joe saved me after that hellhound attack.”
Dad reaches out and shakes Joe’s hand. “I’m eternally grateful.”
“What are you guys doing here?” Sawyer asks.
“President Bear has something my dad needs.”
Sawyer swallows hard.
“This way.” Matt gestures down the hall. Two large, glossy photo prints of President Bear frame a thick oak door.
Something shifts in the air around us. The hairs on my arms stand on end. Before we can take another step, a growl winds down the hall.
“What the hell was that?” Sawyer asks, sidestepping to the wall.
We all glance the length of the hall. It’s completely empty, but that growl sounded so close.
Joe takes a couple steps down the hallway, leaving a deep tread in the thick carpet.
Matt holds a hand up. “Go easy.”
The growl turns to a terrifying roar that blows Joe’s hair away from his face. Whatever it is, it’s close and it’s invisible. Paw prints less than a yard away press into the carpet.
Something flashes into existence and I catch sight of robotic red eyes and a shaggy brown mane. It shifts along the wall. Camouflaged. Taking on the background it stands beside. Once I’ve spotted it, I keep my eyes fixed and can finally make out its shape.
A flash of memory niggles in my brain. A drawing of a horrifying lion that I burned in my father’s lab before we fled to the cave. Earl invented hellhounds. His next project must’ve been invisible hellcats.
For a second, the animal flashes into full visibility. A towering male lion with wide jaws. Half of the hair on its head has been shaved off, and gleaming metal takes the place of its skull. Combined with the red mechanical eyes, this is something beyond mere creature. This is a chimera of beast and machine. Earl hasn’t just manipulated DNA; he’s thrown in manmade parts too.
“What the hell is that thing?” The crotch of Sawyer’s trousers darkens.
Instinctively, Joe and I step closer to protect Dad. I turn full bulk. Joe raises his machete, and I grip my knife. A second roar streams toward us from farther up the hall. A flash of movement, and the second beast launches toward us.
Its reeking breath blows past my cheek as I duck under it. It slams into Sawyer, eliciting an agonized scream. Blood drips from Sawyer’s shoulder. I dive toward the massive animal and dig my knife into the back of its neck. I stab and stab, but I can’t find any purchase past its metallic parts. Its eyes whir in striations of red. Matt skids toward us and shoots the oversized cat with a handgun. A spark sizzles from one of its red eyes, but no more. It turns on Matt and crunches its massive jaws on his arm.
Matt screams, knees buckling.
“No!” I yell, wrapping my fingers around its jaw, trying to yank it open.
The color leaches from Matt’s face. Blood pools on the carpet.
The door at the end of the hall opens. President Bear looms in the threshold and thumbs a remote. The cats instantly quiet and slink off toward the president. When they reach him, they turn and sit at his feet.
“Aren’t they lovely?” President Bear asks, stroking one on the head.
I edge to Matt, tear off a corner of my shirt and wrap it around his wound. The healing glow ebbs at my fingertips, but I push it away. I need to stay on the defensive. Matt will have to wait.
President Bear raises a hand toward us. “Won’t you come in? I’ve just made a pot of tea.”
Pushing the bulk power away, I march down the hall, rage building in my heart, webbing lacing at my fingers. “Where’s my mother?”
“Now, now, Silver. First things first.”
I storm past him into the room, the others close on my heels. With everyone inside, I slam the door. I don’t want those cats coming back in. President Bear fiddles with their remote control.
“How nice of you to join me.” President Bear shoots webbing from his palms in quick succession. Sawyer is pinned beneath a mound of white, which turns red with his blood. The venom will be seeping into his body. Matt is tied to a chair in the corner and gagged with the silk. Joe gets trapped against the door. Sawyer and Joe start yelling but stop when I remind them of the venom.
“Sit, Dr. Melody,” Bear says, gesturing to the chair near the desk.
My father hesitates, then obeys. His hands get tied to the chair’s legs. I’m the only one untethered.
“Won’t you sit down?” President Bear points to a second chair in front of his gargantuan desk. He pours tea from a china pot decorated, incongruously, with tiny pink flowers. The rich odor of an assortment of dark chocolates fills the space between us. I don’t sit. This isn’t the time to play to his ego or ask him questions about his terrifying chimeras.
It’s time for him to die.
Edging closer to the desk, I shoot out twin webbings from my palms that wrap around Bear’s wrists. The teapot falls from his grip and smashes on the desk just as I leap forward with my knife aimed at his throat.
I’m met with only resistance and a smile. He has bulk skin, and I’ve missed the weak spot, if he even has one.
He tuts and frowns at me, turning his tied palm toward me. Before he can shoot webbing, I wrap his hands in my own silken thread.
“Clever girl.” But he smiles a knowing smile, and my venomous ties dissolve from his hands.
“How did you—?”
President Bear stands. I’m tempted to call the bulk back, but I need to be careful; I’ve used over twenty minutes of abilities and have taken on a new one. I’ll need every shred of energy I have left.
He presses his fingers to the desk. “I would really like to know, before I dispose of you and your friends, how you took on my abilities.”
The abilities cycle through me, my body looking for a way to deal with my rage, but I push them back down. I need to conserve my energy. “I’ll never tell.”
“Well, it seems we’re at something of an impasse. If we possess the same abilities, we are equally matched.”
Tea drips from the table in a slowing stream. The shattered china remains on the desk.
“I have more than you,” I snarl.
Bear’s red eyes glare at me, but I think I detect a hint of fear. “A pair of blue wings can’t hurt me.”
I twirl the knife in my hand. “Maybe we should find out.”
“Leave her alone,” Dad snaps. “It’s me you need.”
The blade lifts from my fingers and flies to the ceiling. It sticks there. Bear must have telekinesis too. No amount of my telekinetic probing makes it budge, and that’s when Bear makes his move.
With my eyes still searching for a way to release my knife, he sweeps out my legs and ties them with his webbing. Claus would be very disappointed in me. Never lose your focus.
Searching for the power inside that can dissolve my bonds, I leap to my feet as the webbing loosens around my ankles. I come up firing, my own silken thread shooting at President Bear. But as quickly as strands wrap around his neck or head or wrist, they dissolve. I need a different approach.
Behind me, a slight movement draws my eye. Sawyer. Using his power to wiggle out of his binds. A force slams me against the ceiling. I stretch for my knife, but it’s still out of reach.
President Bear stands beneath me. His eyes lock on mine. Something dark flashes across his red pupils. Some power I haven’t realized is about to erupt from those murderous eyes. Before he can gain an advantage, I open my mouth and release a jet of fiery breath. Bear’s hair catches fire. The stench of burnt hair fills my nostrils.
I stretch again for my knife. A quick glance at Sawyer and I note he’s managed to get a hand free of the webbing. The others follow the battle, tied and unable to help. Joe strains against his bonds, but the others won’t risk the venom.
My knife skitters across the ceiling to my fingers. Sawyer. The pressure on my limbs releases. Just as my fingers grasp the hilt, I drop to the ground and launch myself at Bear, my foot colliding with his jaw.
He stumbles back, smashes into the window and teeters on the edge. I dash closer, exhaling more fire. Before he can grip the ledge and pull himself back into the room, I leap for his throat. The movement is just enough to send us tumbling out the window.
“Silver!” Dad calls as my hair whips away and the stormy air rushes to meet me.
We fall, but I know Bear, with his bulk skin, won’t die from the impact. I flap my wings, following him to the ground. He lands on the broken glass from the window. Rain soaks us both.
Rolling to his side, Bear tries to get up, but I drive the blade into the back of his knee, praying he has the same weak spots Joe does. I’m rewarded with the give of flesh and an arterial spurt of blood.
Bear gasps, his hand going to his knee, webbing trying to fill the wound. He must be immune to his own poison.
“You’ll never find your mother,” he says, defiance glinting in his cold pupils, rain splashing on his hairy cheeks. In his hand, he holds the remote for the hellcats. He presses a button.
“No!” I yank the remote out of his hand only to find it has a biometric identification screen. I jab at it, but it’s as useless as a muzzle on a hellhound.
Above, screams barrel out of the window. Matt hunches in the empty frame. A shaggy mane fills the space behind him.
“No!” I pump my arms and half run, half fly.
The hellcat’s massive paw swipes at Matt’s head. He falls out the window, somersaulting in midair. With my wings beating frantically, I direct more speed into my feet and push the teleporting power through my limbs. I’m not fast enough and I still have Bear to deal with, but I can’t let Matt die from a fall like that. Bringing out my telekinesis, I break his fall. He lands hard and I reach him just as he thuds on the ground. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth.
The Unadjusteds Page 25