by R. D. Brady
Zachariah shook his head. “You don’t understand. I’m evil. I was born evil.”
“No. You were born gifted. Just like Henry, like Jen, like Laney. And those are three of the best people I know. And like Lou! If you’re evil, then so is she.”
Danny’s eyes flicked to the bomb strapped to his friend’s chest. He spoke quietly. “You could have let your father kill all those kids. But you didn’t. You fought him. You fought for them. He’s the evil one here, not you.”
Zach looked down at the vest and then back at Danny.
“Take it off,” Danny said softly. “You don’t want to die. You don’t want to kill anyone. You just don’t want to live this way anymore.”
“But there’s no out for me. I’m not you. I don’t have anyplace to go.”
Danny spread his arms wide. “You have this place. They won’t turn their back on you. If there’s anybody who understands screwed-up families, it’s us. And I won’t let them turn their back on you.” Swallowing, he stepped forward. “Let me help you.”
Time seemed to stretch between them.
Finally, Zach nodded.
Danny exhaled, feeling almost lightheaded with relief. “Okay, so how do we get this thing off?”
“Right here.” Zach reached down to hit a button next to the timer. But before he could do anything, the timer suddenly came to life. The glowing digits read: 1:00.
Panic crashed over Danny. “Zach?”
“I didn’t do it, I swear! It just came to life!” Zach frantically pushed the button again and again. “It’s not working.”
“Turn around.” His hands trembling, Danny tried to undo the knots at the sides of the vest. “They’re too tight.”
Zach turned to him. “Danny, run. You need to run.”
Danny wanted more than anything to turn and flee. But the pragmatic part of his brain knew that he couldn’t escape the blast radius. And his heart wouldn’t let him leave this boy who’d already had every other person in his life turn their back on him.
“No. I’m staying.”
CHAPTER 92
Lou sprinted back to the gymnasium. She’d warned everyone she could find, including Jordan, who she was sure would get everyone out. She needed to get back to Danny.
As she sprinted around the corner, someone else ran up next to her. She glanced over. “I told you to get out.”
“When did you become the boss in this little friendship?” Rolly asked, keeping pace beside her. She just grunted at him.
They both came to a standstill outside the gym doors.
“I can’t get it off!” Danny was saying, a tremor in his voice.
“Just get out of here!” Zach yelled back.
Rolly bolted through the doors and Lou was only a step behind, having paused to pull the fire alarm.
Zach turned to them and yelled, “Get Danny out!”
Rolly skidded to a halt in front of them, his eyes locked on the bomb vest. “Holy shit.”
“I can’t get it off,” Danny said.
Lou grabbed one of the side straps at one end; Rolly grabbed the other. With one good, super-powered yank, they snapped the strap in two.
“Careful,” Danny warned.
They ripped a second strap the same way, which provided just enough room for Zach to carefully wriggle out of the vest.
Twenty-five seconds.
Danny put out a trembling hand. “Give it to me. You guys are fast enough to get clear in time.”
“No chance,” Lou said.
“I agree with her,” Rolly said. “But, um, does anyone have a plan that doesn’t involve us all getting blown up?”
“I might,” Danny said quietly.
CHAPTER 93
“So what should we see?” Jake said. “I heard the new Marvel movie is good.”
“They’re always good,” Jen said.
Henry caught Laney’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “What about you, Laney? What do you want to see?”
“I don’t care. Anything. As long as there’s a big tub of popcorn and lots of chocolate in it for me.”
Jake took her hand. “That I can promise.”
Laney’s phone rang. Jen turned around. “Ignore it.”
Laney wanted to do just that. But some of the parents had been calling about their kids with some concerns. “I’ll keep it quick,” she promised as she fished her phone from her pocket and put it on speaker. “Hey, Yoni. Did you and Sasha change your mind? We’re only a few minutes away.”
“You guys need to get back here!” Yoni yelled into the phone. Laney could tell he was running. “Get out!” he yelled at someone on his side of the line.
“Yoni, what’s going on?”
“There’s a bomb at the school.”
Everyone in the car went still for a second. Then Henry threw the car into a U-turn that flung Laney into the door. He floored it as soon as the car was facing the right direction. They whipped down the dirt roads.
“I’m getting everyone out!” Yoni yelled before disconnecting the call.
Laney stared at the phone. A bomb? What the hell?
Next to her, Jake was already on the phone with the police, arranging for the bomb squad, medical care, and fire trucks. Laney held onto the emergency bar in the back, trying to keep her head from smacking into the roof each time Henry hit a pothole. But she didn’t ask Henry to slow down. She wished he’d go faster.
Jake tried to call Patrick next, but didn’t get an answer. Laney tried Danny—no luck. Jen tried Jordan, who they knew was at the school today. No answer from him either.
“They’re all probably evacuating people,” Laney said, but she saw Jen’s look of concern.
Henry urged the car to move faster. “Come on. Come on.”
Beside him Jen leaned forward, as did Laney and Jake from the back, as if they could all make the car speed up. Henry whipped around a curve and they braced themselves to keep from being flung against the window.
“We’ll make it, Henry,” Jen said.
Images of the kids at the school crashed through Laney’s mind. How did a bomb get into the school? She looked over at Jake. “Call again.”
Jake was already dialing. After a few seconds he shook his head.
The car came around the trees. There, resting like it always did at the bottom of the mountain, was the school. There were no flames, no smoke. Laney felt a small measure of relief at the sight. But people were pouring out of the doors.
Henry yanked the wheel to the right and onto the grass, cutting directly toward the school rather than taking the more winding road.
They were five hundred yards away.
“We’re almost there,” Laney said.
And then the building exploded.
CHAPTER 94
Henry slammed on the brakes as a cloud of debris from the explosion battered the car. He ripped open his door and started to run. Jen matched his pace. People were running toward them.
Henry grabbed one of the kids. “Sean, where’s Yoni?”
Sean pointed back toward the school, coughing. “Back there. With Sasha and Dov.”
“You need to gather everyone up. Have them meet by my car. There’s a first aid kit in the back. Help’s on the way.”
Sean nodded. “Got it.”
Jen ran ahead and grabbed a man who was bleeding heavily from his arm. Jordan.
Henry sprinted over. “What happened?”
“Lou. She warned us about a bomb in the gym,” Jordan said.
Jen made Jordan sit on the ground. Ripping off one of his sleeves, she started to bandage his arm. “How many got caught inside?”
Jordan grimaced. “Not many. Thanks to Lou, we had some warning. And Danny kept the bomber talking so the rest could escape.”
Henry felt his world tilt. His gaze flew to the burning building. “Did Danny…?”
“I don’t know. I think he was still—”
Henry didn’t hear the rest of Jordan’s sentence. He was already running. He blew past stu
dents who were stumbling from the wreckage. None of their injuries looked life-threatening. But Henry wasn’t sure if he could have stopped even if they were. The need to get to Danny overrode every other thought.
He charged up the steps, desperation to save Danny fueling him—even while part of his mind whispered that he was already too late.
CHAPTER 95
Laney had heard Jordan’s comment and felt her heart break. Danny. Blood thundered in her ears as she raced into the building, right on Henry’s heels. Smoke filled the front hallway. She closed her eyes. Seconds later, a strong wind blew in and chased the smoke away. Jake and Jen ran in behind her.
Laney looked at Henry. “Let’s go get him.”
Jake stepped forward. “Yoni said they were in the gym.”
Laney pictured the blast. The biggest explosion had come from that area. She swallowed her horror. “Okay. Then that’s where we’re heading.”
Together they ran. On the way, they came across three injured students in the cafeteria. “We’ve got them,” Jake said, nodding at Jen. “You guys go find Danny.”
Jen picked up one of the kids. “We’ll find you as soon as we get these guys clear.”
“Okay,” Laney said, running to catch up with Henry, who hadn’t even paused. He also hadn’t said a word since they’d come inside. Laney wanted to tell him it was okay, but she had no idea if it really was.
They turned down the hall to the gym, only to find that the floor above had crashed down into it. Carefully, they climbed through the debris. Laney could sense Henry’s growing fear. The damage was clearly worse as they got closer to the gymnasium.
Tingles ran over her skin: two Fallen and a nephilim. She grabbed Henry’s arm. “There’s someone there.”
The gym doors had been completely blown away. It was only when Laney stepped through the gaping hole that she saw the full extent of the destruction. Light streamed in from where the roof should be. Fires raged around the perimeter. But there was no sign of life.
Laney felt her own fear crawling up her throat. Who had done this? Jordan had said that Danny had talked to the bomber. Someone he knew?
Laney could still sense the Fallen and nephilim. She looked around. But where?
Her eyes fell on the locker room. Or what was left of it. Its door was completely gone and the wall between it and the gym had largely collapsed. She heard a cough. Henry blurred and was gone. Laney ran after him.
The inside of the locker room as a jumble of wreckage and debris. There were no fires in here, but it looked like most of the ceiling had caved in. Henry must have heard something, because he picked his way through the mess and went straight to the laundry chute. “Hello? Anyone down there?”
“Henry?” Danny called back.
Henry grabbed the wall and closed his eyes. He wobbled with overwhelming relief, and it looked like his legs might give out on him.
Laney felt the tears gather in her throat. “Who’s down there with you?”
“Lou, Rolly, and Zach.”
“Is everyone okay?” Henry asked.
“Yeah. Well, Lou broke her foot but it’s getting better. And I think I dislocated my shoulder when I landed,” Danny said.
Laney let a laugh of both relief and disbelief. “How the hell did you guys survive the blast?”
“We dove down the laundry chute,” Rolly said.
“It was Danny’s idea,” Lou shouted up.
Laney grasped Henry’s hand and held it tightly. “We’ll have you out in a few minutes.”
They found the stairs to the laundry-room-slash-bomb-shelter, and Henry pried open the door, with Rolly and Zachariah’s help. Laney rushed in as soon as the door was open, and Lou gave her a wave from the floor across the room.
Danny lay on the floor, his face pale. Laney dropped down to her knees. “Danny?”
“I’m okay,” he said through clenched teeth.
Henry walked over. He took one look at Danny and said, “Danny, I’m going to pop your shoulder back in. It’ll hurt when I do it, but then it’ll feel better.”
Danny nodded, gritting his teeth, and Henry helped him sit up.
“Rolly?” Henry asked.
Rolly nodded and scooted behind Danny to hold him.
Henry knelt down. “This is going to hurt.”
“It’s okay. Just do it.”
Henry’s eyes met Rolly’s. Rolly placed his arms around Danny to hold him still. Then, with a quick jerk, Henry wrenched the shoulder back in place. Danny screamed.
Rolly released Danny, who collapsed forward. Henry caught him. Rolly then pulled off his sweatshirt and used it to tie up Danny’s arm.
Danny leaned heavily against Henry. “Thanks.”
Laney sat back and looked around. “I can’t believe you guys are all right. Where did the bomb blow?”
The four teenagers exchanged a look. “Um, up by the ceiling,” Lou said.
“The ceiling? There was a bomb on the ceiling?” Laney asked, trying to picture it.
“Not exactly,” Rolly said. “We sort of threw it up in the air right before it exploded, and then ran and dove into the chute. That’s how Lou hurt her leg. She was the one who threw it, so she was the last one through.”
Laney looked from one to the other of them before her eyes finally came to rest on Lou. “You threw a live bomb up in the air?”
Lou squirmed. “Well, Danny said if I got it through the skylights in the gym, it would do less damage. So I did.”
Laney was stunned. “How did you even know there was a bomb?”
All the teenagers went silent. Then Lou, Danny, and Rolly rushed to explain at the same time.
“I saw it when I was—”
“Someone told me—”
“I don’t know. I just sort of—”
“Guys!” Zachariah said loudly, and they all shut their mouths and looked at him, their eyes wide.
Lou shook her head. “No, Zach.”
“Yes.” His voice was shaky. When he turned to Laney and Henry, his eyes were bright with tears. “I brought the bomb into the school. I’m sorry.”
Laney stared at him, dumbstruck. “You brought a bomb here? Why? How?”
Danny sat up. “He got a message, actually messages. But you have to understand. He made sure everyone was out. In fact, he wasn’t going to set it off at all, but then the timer came to life all by itself. It’s not his fault.”
Rolly and Lou nodded their heads in agreement.
Laney met Henry’s incredulous gaze. Zach brought a bomb into the school?
“Zach?” Laney asked.
He looked at her with tears in his eyes. “I wasn’t going to let anyone get hurt, Laney, I promise. Even if the Shepherd told me to.”
“The Shepherd?” Laney suddenly remembered her conversation with Nathaniel.
Zach nodded, wiping away a tear. “He knew you’d take me. He wanted me to destroy this place and everyone in it. But I could never do that. No one was supposed to get hurt, except…” He looked away.
Except you, Laney thought with a heavy heart. She looked at the poor boy in front of her. He’d spent years being abused by his father. His emotions and self-esteem were all over the place. And this Shepherd had used that vulnerability to try and get him to do his dirty work.
But it hadn’t worked. Zach wasn’t like them. He was good. She saw that in him. She felt it.
But they couldn’t let him hurt any of the other kids.
“What are you going to do?” Lou asked.
“I don’t know.” Laney looked at Henry, trying to gauge his reaction.
Henry was still looking at Zach, his expression inscrutable. “We’ll figure that out. But for right now, this stays between us, okay?”
They all nodded.
Tears tracked through the dust in Zach’s face. “I’m sorry.”
Lou and Rolly leaned into him, throwing their arms around him, and Laney nodded. “I know. But I need to know who gave you the bomb. Who sent you the emails?”
“Do you know his real name?”
Zach shook his head. “No. No one does.”
Laney met Henry’s eyes. Maybe no one did, yet—but finding out the name of the Shepherd had just become priority number one.
CHAPTER 96
One Month Later
Laney stepped out of her Jeep and surveyed the front of the Chandler School. All of the windows had had to be replaced after the bombing, and a full wing had been shut down. But they had been lucky: there were no major injuries. All thanks to a group of teenage heroes.
Jake walked around the Jeep and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m heading to the gymnasium. See how the repairs are coming along. Catch you later?”
She nodded. “Absolutely.”
As he disappeared around the side of the building, Laney gave a contented sigh. The last month had been blissfully non-violent. She and Jake had been in the same cottage every single night, except for when they both stayed out here. And even with the many decisions that had to be made and all the work that needed to be done, just being able to wake up and fall asleep next to Jake made every day so much better.
A group of teenagers sprinted out of the front door with Moxy on their heels. Laney jumped quickly out of the way to avoid being trampled.
“Hey, Laney.” Lou ran up and hugged her.
Laney returned the hug. She looked over the group: Lou, Rolly, Danny, and Zach. Her gaze lingered for a moment longer on Zach. There was a glow in his cheeks that hadn’t been there when she’d first met him. He smiled shyly back at her.
They had managed to keep Zach’s involvement in the bombing quiet. Laney, Henry, and Jake had decided to keep Zach at the school. There wasn’t really any place else they could think of that could help him the way they could. But Zach had had to agree to daily counseling sessions, and of course everyone was still keeping an extra close eye on him.
Laney had told Zach that he could pick his counselor. When he’d picked Patrick, Laney had been surprised: she’d thought he’d be reticent about talking with another religious authority. But he and Patrick had really gotten along well. And Laney could see that Patrick was helping the boy heal.