by J. A. Giunta
Ember pushed her hair back from her face, acting as relaxed as she could. She’d seen the bulge of the agent’s gun. “It’s your funeral. If our mom sees you out here...” She let the thought trail off, letting them contemplate which might be the bigger threat, them or the head of the Macconal Coven.
“She is well aware of our presence.” He flicked his eyes at the house and back to Ember. “Besides, it’s clear from what we’ve seen that you two are quite capable. Not that your mother isn’t...formidable.”
“Formidable.” Ember snorted. “That’s one word for her.”
The agent’s mouth twitched up at the corners, but his face quickly grew serious again. “But we’re only here to talk.”
Ember stared at the man. He was attractive for a government agent, broad shouldered and fit, and his tailored suit fit him well. His demeanor suggested he was telling the truth, or most of it, but it was what he wasn’t saying that piqued her curiosity.
“Not like we have anything better to do,” Lee said.
Ember would have objected, but she wanted to make things right with Lee, so she clamped her mouth shut.
“Good. I’m Will Bailey, Deputy Director of Cerberus.”
“Deputy Director? Like second in command?” Ember asked. As part of the Coven, she’d worked for Cerberus all this time but had never stopped to wonder who was in charge. Now, here she was talking to a guy who was practically at the top of the organizational pyramid of power.
“Yes, the Deputy Director of the agency, but I’m still a qualified field agent, if that’s what you’re wondering. Deputy Director is such a mouthful, why don’t you call me Will?”
Will? There was something about him that made Ember want to trust him, which made her instantly distrust him. He was an agent, just like any other Cerberus agent, and she had learned to be wary of them, even as they had worked together. She needed to remember that at all times. Her mother’s rules and requirements were a constant irritant, but Ember had found out on more than one occasion, her mother was right to counsel caution.
“Anyway, we can talk about chain-of-command later. First, how about you undo whatever it is you did to my agent.” He stared pointedly at Lee.
Lee gave the guy a funny look. “You want me to unheal her?”
Deputy Director Bailey shook his head. “One of our surveillance algorithms noticed a change in her behavior shortly after her encounter with you, so we sent her in for a complete work-up. Our scientists tell me Taylor’s body is now comprised of over three percent xenohuman microorganisms.”
Ember got up and wiped the dirt off the back of her jeans. She stared at Agent Taylor, but her new sensory abilities didn’t allow her to see into the woman at a microscopic level. “What’s a xenohuman?”
“The Affected.” Deputy Director Bailey shifted his stance slightly and Ember sensed his caution increase. “People biologically altered by the sound waves that emanated from the Pillars, that vibration people are referring to as the Rumbling. I prefer the term superhumans.” He nodded toward Lee and Ember. “But that determination is above my pay grade.”
“Oh.” Lee stood up and stepped closer to Agent Taylor. She inhaled and squared her shoulders, then gave Will a curt nod.
Lee frowned. “Sorry. I was scared...”
“And you needed an ally.” The Deputy Director looked thoughtful. “I understand. It was a tactical decision, and a good one. Why didn’t you do it to everyone?”
“Wait, do what?” Ember peered at her brother.
“I did,” Lee replied, “just not on purpose. Well, not entirely on purpose, anyway. I just didn’t do it to the same degree.”
“Hold on,” Ember said. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Lee gave her a smirk. “What’s the matter Em? You feeling left out? Shoe on the other foot doesn’t feel so good, does it?”
“Right,” the Deputy Director continued, “so that’s actually how you keep you track of those around you, get a sense of their emotions. You send microorganisms into them and they attach to the hosts, altering their cellular make-up. You gave her more than the others, because you wanted to heal her.” He gestured at the female agent. “That means you can control how much you spread...and to whom.”
“You can what?” Ember stared at her brother. “Invade people with some kind of micro thingies and change how they behave?” She glanced down at herself, eyeing her hands and arms.
“Not you.” Lee shot her a look, then turned back to Deputy Director Bailey. “Why are you here?
“And you,” Bailey turned his gaze on Ember and she stiffened, “Magic aside, you can cancel out powers, or at least dampen them. That was some serious teamwork taking down that Xeno at the station.”
Ember crossed her arms to hide her nervousness. “Not a fan of that term. Labels make it too easy for people to think others are less than human. And like you said, superhuman sounds better.” His mouth quirked up, like he appreciated being agreed with. It irked her and she decided she didn’t like him, at all. “Anyway, what’s your point? What do you want?” she said with a snarl.
“To offer you, and your family, protection and give people solace from fear.”
Ember snorted.
“People are afraid,” Will said, choosing his words carefully. “They’re frightened of you and the other Xeno...others like you,” he corrected. “And they should be. We all should. Without training and guidance, the danger you pose...” He let them think about that for a moment before continuing. “I see more than that. I think you could be great assets to your country, even the world.”
“You’re here to recruit us.” Lee stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked thoughtful.
“Yes,” Deputy Director Bailey said. “And, not exactly. At least not for Cerberus.” He paused and shifted his stance.
If Ember hadn’t been able to read the tiny twitches of his body, his minute facial tics, she would have thought he was just having a casual conversation with them. Only, she could tell there was more to it than that. She could smell the nervous perspiration beginning to form, saw the beads of it on his upper lip.
He noticed her watching him and she gazed past him at the sky, pretending not to have noticed the change in his demeanor.
“Look,” he finally said. “The president just signed quarantine into law. There’s no way around it.”
“Quarantine?” Ember gave him a hard look. “Like you do for sick people who are contagious? Don’t you mean internment, like you do with people you’re afraid of and put into camps?”
“I mean quarantine, for the protection of everyone.” He frowned. “But all the data we’ve collected shows the only thing strong enough to stop a Super is another Super. We need to contain those who are using their new powers to harm others. Without help from you, and others like you, a lot of innocent people are going to suffer.”
“Nice,” Ember said. “Trying to make us feel important and like we’re just as bad as the others if we don’t help.” Lee looked thoughtful and it made her worried. She nudged his arm with her elbow. “Too bad for you we’ve been exposed to Aunt Gwen, one of the greatest manipulators of all time. We sort of have the playbook memorized at this point. Besides, I already work with Cerberus.”
“I’m sorry,” Deputy Director Bailey said. “I wish there was some other option. I promise you’ll be treated with respect, but it’s in everyone’s best interest if you come with me now.”
“Or what?” Ember began to pull at the ley line, reaching for power, her palms growing warm.
He shook his head. “You said yourself, you already work for Cerberus. This is really just the next iteration.” He turned to Lee. “You can tell when someone’s lying, right? What’s your sense of me?”
“You’re not lying.” Lee paused, tilted his head. “But you’re not telling us the whole truth, either.”
“You
’re right,” the Deputy Director said, “I’m not. Secrecy comes with the job.
Ember trembled, still holding onto the line, without pulling it to her. “Secrets suck.”
Lee locked eyes with her. “Let it go, Em. What’s keeping us here, anyway?”
Ember thought about the fight with their mom in the basement. Lee was right. There wasn’t anything keeping them here. “Do we get to say goodbye?” Ember asked, dropping her link to the ley line.
“Of course.” Agent Taylor gave her boss a meaningful look. “We wouldn’t expect you to leave your family and home behind without a word.”
The Deputy Director waved toward the house. “You won’t need to bring anything. In fact, it’s better if you don’t.”
Ember started walking toward the house and stopped to look back at Lee. He stood on the edge of their property, unmoving.
“Lee?”
He shrugged. “I have nothing to say to them.”
Ember hesitated at the edge of the yard, considered leaving without saying anything to anyone. She at least owed it to Tara to let her know she was leaving, didn’t she? And even if Seanna was completely pissed at her, she had to tell her something, right? But what? It’s been great hanging out and doing all the magic gigs for Cerberus with you, but I got a better offer? Would either of her cousins understand?
Lee waited on the curb, his back turned to the house, shoulders rigid.
The screen door opened and Aunt Gwen stepped out onto the porch. “What’s going on out here?” Her voice grated against Ember’s last nerve, like the sound of a dental drill.
“Screw it,” Ember said, realizing where her loyalty lay, where it had always belonged. “I’ll send ‘em a text.”
Agent Taylor shook her head. “Boss,” she murmured. “Mrs. Macconal...”
“I know.” He adjusted his tie.
The agent shook her head. “As a mother, I can tell you, it has to come from one of them.” She hitched her thumb in Ember’s direction.
“Seriously? Why me?” Ember asked, the confidence she’d felt a moment before seemed to be sucked out of her, like power finding its way back to the grid. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
“Because I’m not doing it.” Lee’s voice was hard, with that edge he used when he was preparing to get his full stubborn on.
“Working for you is gonna suck, if you’re just going to throw me to the wolves when things get difficult,” she told the agents.
“Your mother isn’t a wolf,” the Deputy Director said.
“You’re right,” Ember said. “She’s way worse than that.” She stomped across the lawn and up the front steps, slipping inside the screen door, hoping her cousins wouldn’t see her.
When she reached the basement, her mother looked up from her work, eyes bleary. “What is it?” she asked. The angry edge had left her voice, replaced by a deep weariness.
“We’re leaving. The Cerberus Deputy Director is outside talking to Lee and they want us to work for them and we said yes.” The words spilled out of her without a pause and she turned to leave as soon as they’d left her mouth.
“No.” Her mother’s whisper struck her between the shoulder blades, harder than a shout would have.
Ember stood with one foot on the stairs, ready to rush up and out of the basement and leave her home, leave everyone—all the cousins, the aunties and grannies—the whole damn coven, including her mother, behind.
“They’re asking nice now, Mother. But if we refuse?” It was all she could do to keep the fear out of her voice. “You know what war would mean. Especially without a cond—without Lee.”
She shook off the feeling that she was abandoning everything she knew. “Besides, Lee is going with them, no matter what you do or say.” Ember gripped the railing. “And I’m going with Lee.”
She didn’t wait for a response, just plowed up the stairs and out of the house. She heard her mother’s footsteps behind her, working to catch up to her, so she sped up, letting the screen door spring shut behind her. She jumped the front steps without slowing, surprised she hadn’t tripped over her own feet and crashed to the ground in a heap. “Oh, yeah, right,” she mumbled to herself. “Super.” She felt her lips curl up at the edges. Super was a good word for it. Maybe these changes weren’t so bad, after all.
Seven
Wed, Aug 24, 9:52pm
- Lee -
Lee was already in the back of the car when Ember came back out, their mom following after. She looked for Lee, as Ember headed down the walkway. He knew it would hurt her, not saying goodbye. He counted on it. He could’ve gone back to Jen’s for a quick explanation, but he didn’t want to interrupt them. They deserved that time together, to be free of worry and fear. He didn’t want to pull them back down with his own drama.
Emily was in the driver’s seat, with the car already running. Will held the door open for Ember then got into the front passenger seat. He could feel his sister tense, as they pulled away from the house and headed west.
Lee refused to look back.
“Are we headed to the CDC tents?” Lee asked.
“No,” Will replied, swiping on a tablet, reading files as they drove. It wasn’t so much worry that Lee sensed in him but a level of concern that never seemed to waver. “Those were set up for Affected without powers. We have a separate facility just outside the city.”
“Facility?” Ember snapped. “Don’t you mean prison?” She wasn’t happy with the situation, and Lee knew she was going to take every opportunity to let them all know it. She muttered, “Special facility sounds exactly like code for prison.”
She wouldn’t look at Lee, just stared out the window at passing houses and trees. He sensed the anger directed toward him, for how he’d treated their mother, but he wouldn’t apologize for something he didn’t feel sorry for. Besides, he hadn’t totally forgiven Ember for her part in everything.
“People typically don’t enjoy quarantine,” Will said, as if he was discussing the weather. “But when someone can throw a bus or shoot fire from their eyes, it’s best to keep them away from the general population.”
“We wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Lee said defensively.
It hadn’t even occurred to him to use his power to hurt people, and he had no intention of doing it now. If anything, he’d go to a hospital and heal everyone. He did just cure cancer, after all.
“Jim Tompkins would disagree.” Will tapped and swiped, held up a picture of Tompkins sprawled on the police station floor.
“That’s different,” Lee said and felt his cheeks redden. It was different, wasn’t it? “And I didn’t use my power on him.”
He looked to Ember for support out of habit. She only stared out the window and watched the lights pass.
“No,” Will said, “but you were willing to discharge a firearm pointblank into someone’s face. You can’t say that doesn’t at least warrant a conversation.”
“That’s not fair!” Ember complained, and Lee felt a surge of relief. They were still on the same side. “We saved people, when no else could. Lee did what needed to be done.” Did she really believe that? She wasn’t lying when she said it. “If a cop or one of your agents had done it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Can’t argue with you there,” Will said, as he put the tablet away and watched the road, “and I’d bet there are families out there who are grateful for your actions.” He glanced back at the two of them. “But there are just as many people mourning the loss of loved ones at the hands of Affected.” He turned away and seemed to speak from experience. “They won’t be so quick to thank you.”
“There’s a great plan,” Ember said. “Punish people for what they may or may not do.”
“Yeah,” Lee said with pointed sarcasm and nearly laughed, “we wouldn’t want to do that.”
“It’s not just for their prote
ction,” Emily said. She looked back at Lee in the rearview, as if she wanted to say more.
Will held a hand up.
“Hold that thought,” he said and touched his earbud. “Go ahead.” A few moments later, he added, “Copy that.” To Agent Taylor, he said, “We’ve got a lead on one of the girls from the police station. Parking structure on Willow and Fourth Avenue.”
Emily hit the break and turned left as soon as they entered the intersection, narrowly missing a van. Lee had been getting better at tuning out the sensations from passing cars, but the increased speed threw him off. Will looked back at Lee and Ember.
“We’re taking a little detour,” he said. “When we get there, you two stay in the car.”
“If it’s the one I saw,” Ember said, “you can’t take her without help.”
Will shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”
“For you,” Lee said derisively. “Guns won’t hurt her.”
He liked the Deputy Director but didn’t appreciate being talked down to or being treated like a child. More than his body had been changed. His mind was faster now, came to conclusions far more quickly and began putting together pieces of a problem before he even knew one existed. He could help, if they’d let him.
Will took the gun out from his shoulder holster.
“Up close they will,” he said. “You showed us that.”
Lee felt like he’d been kicked in the gut, as images of imagined futures flashed through his mind. He wouldn’t be thought of as the healer, the Super who could cure cancer. He was the one who showed the government how to put down the Affected.
Or worse, how to control them.
The car had been shifting from one side to another with each turn. They slowed roughly over a speed bump, entered the garage and began to crawl through the first level. From their seats, Emily and Will looked into and between the dozen or so parked vehicles. No one was in sight but a few people passing on the sidewalk across the street.
It wasn’t until they pulled up the ramp to the second floor that Lee began to sense the double heartbeat of a Super.