The Rescue (Olivia Hart and the Gifted Program Book 3)

by Alana Siegel

  The four of us were silent as the boat moved through the bay. I wondered what the others were thinking, but I didn't want to sound scared. I was supposed to be their fearless leader, the most powerful Gifted in the world.

  The mist and fog taunted and confused us. We could barely see the outline of the buildings downtown. The red cables of the Golden Gate Bridge poked through massive clouds. It felt like we would never find the Rock, but when I took a deep breath and smelled mulberries, I decided we must be getting close.

  “I think I see the lighthouse,” Luca shouted and pointed in front of us. We all followed his finger, and that was our mistake.

  A swift and silent patrol boat had come up behind us. Within seconds, three Meta agents jumped onto our boat. Carly let out a high-pitched screech. My heart hammered in my chest.

  They each held a silver gun. I reminded myself they were filled with mulberry juice instead of bullets, but I couldn't help the sick feeling in my stomach when it was pointed at Justin and me. The first agent was a round, middle-aged man. He grabbed hold of Luca's hands and forced them behind his back. Luca grunted as he fought against the man's grip.

  The second one was lanky and barely eighteen. He reached down and put Carly in a headlock. Heavy sobs rattled her body. When he pointed the gun at her head, she looked petrified.

  Justin and I sat still with our hands raised in surrender. We didn't want them to have a reason to hurt Luca and Carly.

  The third agent leaned over and flicked Luca's Gifted necklace. Luca bared his teeth and tried to shake himself free. “Now what would a bunch of Gifted teenagers be doing on a boat circling a national landmark at this time of night?” the short and sleazy agent asked.

  We knew the agents would be overconfident with the mulberry elixir in the air; however, it wasn't the elixir that was keeping us in check. Unfortunately for them, we were wearing our protective gear and were as powerful as ever.

  Luca and Justin looked to me for the signal to overtake them, but I kept very still. I decided finding Alcatraz would be simpler if the agents thought we were under their control, and took us directly to the prisons.

  “Hey boss, check out this one,” the agent holding Carly said. He grasped Carly's hand and thrust her Gifted ring towards the other agent. “Do you think this is the female Elste?” His eyebrows raised on his head, becoming scared and concerned. I sucked in a breath as the agents leaned in to take a look.

  Before we knew what was happening, the short agent whacked Carly on the side of the head. Her eyes bulged for a split second, and then she was unconscious in her seat. Luca jerked against the agent holding him down.

  “Why did you do that?” the youngest agent said while still holding Carly in his arms.

  “If she is the Elste, the mulberry elixir won't work on her. She would have overtaken us,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “Now, let's take her to the Chancellor.”

  We coasted through the water for another few minutes. No one said a word as the Rock came into view, but the short agent kept sniffing, skeptically, like he wasn't sure they whacked the right girl. I tried hard to tame my Gift, but my nerves made it difficult.

  Luca glared at me. I reminded myself that sacrifices were made in war. Plus, Carly was going to be okay. I would make sure of that.

  When we finally reached the shore, it was deserted. At least it looked that way. A sheen of sweat covered my face. I was sure there were agents hidden in every corner.

  The short agent jumped on-to the dock and took off running with Carly before we could stop him. He must have sensed something was up.

  I turned to the other two agents and felt my Gift shoot out like a rocket. Their scream was blood curdling. I sent them into a never-ending depression, haunted by dark corners and black holes. It probably wasn't the best way to keep under the radar.

  “Run!” I shouted at Luca and Justin as I stood my ground and unleashed my fury. They sped toward the main building.

  The middle-aged agent grasped his skull between his hands, falling to his knees at the base of the boat. The teenager was down on all fours shaking his head viciously in hopes of reducing the pain. When I felt like the agents had suffered enough to keep them from running after me, I turned and followed Luca and Justin.

  My cape and my hair blew back in the wind. The surge of power was intoxicating. I felt strong and brave as I stepped into the entrance of the creepiest prison in the world.

  * * * *

  Chapter Twenty-Five: A Single Spark to Light a Fire

  “We need to go after Carly,” Luca announced as we stood in the entrance panting.

  I nodded in agreement, and said, “You save Carly. We'll find the rest of our friends.”

  Luca narrowed his eyes, surprised and angry that I agreed to split up. “I don't know what has gotten into you, but fine,” he said with a clenched jaw.

  I choked down the guilt from disappointing him. We had no choice. We were running out of time, couldn't he see that? I stuck out my chin in defiance as I watched him head in the same direction as the agent carrying Carly. I was going to stick to my way of doing things. I was the powerful female Elste, and I planned to act like it.

  “Hey, Luca!” Justin shouted to get his attention. Luca paused and turned, without saying a word. “Look for a way to shut off the Meta's supply of the mulberry elixir.”

  Luca nodded once, like a soldier given orders from one of his commanders, but Justin wasn't done giving instructions. “Don't let the choices of a family that was forced upon you define who you are.”

  I was filled with pride as Justin echoed the words I had shared with him twenty-four hours ago. Whether it was Thisbe's selfish love or Luca's parents playing both sides for personal gain or the Chancellor's obsession with cleansing the world of Gifted people, we all had family who embarrassed us.

  “We're your Gifted family,” Justin ended. His words warmed my heart.

  “Yes, sir,” Luca replied, and his bright smile appeared, briefly.

  “Where do we go now?” Justin asked me. I was happy someone had confidence in my leadership skills.

  Something flashed bright gold behind Justin. I rushed to a vent on the floor. We stared at it for five seconds...twenty seconds...forty-five seconds. Nothing happened.

  “Do you smell that?” I asked. I took a deep breath in and smelled lemons. It could have been the scent of the Meta's cleaning tools, but I highly doubted the stone walls had seen a sponge in decades.

  Justin and I got down on our hands and knees. “It's Ms. Magos,” Justin said. I nodded in agreement.

  A spark shot through the grated metal, and we both jumped back. Ms. Magos was definitely below us. As quickly as possible, we got up and searched for stairs. We barreled down as fast as our legs would take us. As we reached the bottom step, Justin stuck out his arm to stop me. He brought his finger up to his lips to keep me quiet.

  “Stop using your freaky powers,” a husky male voice shouted from down the hall.

  “Aww, big bad Meta agent is scared of a teenie weenie spark?” Max mocked.

  Thud! “Doesn't hurt! Maybe you’re not trying hard enough,” Max said, pushing the agent’s buttons.

  Whack! Thud! “Nope, still don't feel it,” Max insisted, even though his voice was strained.

  “Max, stop!” Ms. Magos shouted.

  “You want some of this, too, freak?” the agent taunted.

  Smack! “Ow!” Ms. Magos wailed out in pain.

  I pushed past Justin's arm and strode down the hallway. I could see the evil smirk of the Meta agent's profile. On the other side of the metal bars, he held a wood baton, ready to be used again.

  Despite being hunched over to prepare for the pain, Ms. Magos held her ground in front of Max. The air around them flickered in a red glow, like Max could only turn on his Gift for a few seconds at a time despite his intense anger.

  “Back off!” I shouted, about ten feet from them. The Meta agent turned his ugly sneer toward me. I threw my Gift with such force that you
could see where it pierced the air.

  My rage was uncontrollable and the smell of roses was suffocating, but the impact was even worse. The gloom I sent the Meta agent caused complete emotional darkness. I didn't give him a chance to fight. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as his knees gave out and he fell to the ground. I stepped over him without a second glance.

  “Max,” I whispered his name like I couldn't believe it was actually him. My body sagged with relief. He was proof that the rest of our friends were alive.

  “Hot superhero getup, Liv. Did you steal it from Wonder Woman?” Max asked. I snorted at his joke, and it cleared my head. I had to be careful. My emotions heightened my Gift. I needed to concentrate and keep moving.

  “It protects Gifted from the mulberry elixir. Not that a female Elste needs it, but I wanted to show where my loyalties lie,” I said and looked back at Justin. He walked over, decked out in similar, but more masculine gear. “Speaking of Gifts, how did you manage to use yours? I can smell the mulberry elixir in the air, but we saw your sparks through the vent.”

  Max winked at me. “The Meta set up these cells to disable the Gifted, but they forgot about protecting themselves from Pandora High School’s mischief mastermind. We've been stuffing the vents that release the elixir with the garbage they give us as food. In another day, we would have clogged the vent and overpowered the guard on duty. I guess you saved us the trouble.” Max gave me a broad smile. I had to hand it to him. It was clever.

  I took a good look at Max and his sister. They looked ragged and disheveled in grey prisoner gear, but it was so good to see them. I reached through the bars and pulled Max into a hug.

  “Easy tiger, how about you let us out of the cell before you get too excited,” Max said.

  Justin approached the bars. “Stand back,” he warned.

  Placing both hands on the metal, he took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. When he released the breath through his nose, a deep blue hue surrounded his strained hands. His mouth was set in concentration.

  I shifted my weight uncomfortably. It felt like we were in an airplane, flying straight up. The pressure that was sucked from the room and pulled toward Justin was unbelievable. Beneath his hands, a royal blue liquid dripped like spilled blue blood. The bars began to vibrate, and Justin let out a manly grunt.

  His whole face turned red as he exerted the effort, and his body shook as much as the bars. It looked painful. I was about to stop him when the metal began to move. Justin let out a noise that only a man could make sound sexy, and the metal bent some more. Finally, he released the metal and stumbled backwards. The space was just wide enough for Max to step through.

  “Thanks, man,” Max said and patted Justin on the back like he helped him with a math problem instead of escape from prison.

  Ms. Magos had been especially quiet since we showed up. She exited the cell and kept her eyes on the ground. I let her have her space. After all, she had been locked in a prison cell for weeks. I was about to suggest we get moving when she took a deep breath and set her wide, apologetic eyes on me.

  Despite her tattered appearance, she looked more like my trusted global history teacher than she had in months. She took both of my hands in her own and said, “I know my words don't make up for my actions, but I'm sorry, Olivia. You are brave and loyal. I wish I could be more like you.”

  My cheeks flushed from the compliment. “Don't worry about it. Water under the bridge,” I said, smiling at her. I was happy to have earned a loyal follower.

  “Liv,” Max said, looking worried for the first time. “How's Chelsea?”

  “She's fine, Max,” I said, and nodded my head vigorously. I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince him or myself. I didn't want to tell him that she was on a dangerous mission to gather Gifted in a city covered with Meta agents, and I hadn't seen her in hours.

  I swallowed because my throat became dry all of a sudden. “How are Jamie, Derek, and Helen?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know. I haven't seen them since we got here.”

  I panicked. “We need to find them. Let's go,” I commanded and started down the hall.

  “What about Hunter?” Ms. Magos asked. She pointed in the cell. I gasped. Lying in the back, bloodied and bruised, was Hunter. He looked nothing like the strong, clever, and confident Horus that hung on Prometheus's every word. He was a fallen soldier, and I tried not to imagine the others looking the same.

  “What happened to him?” I asked in astonishment.

  “He tried to fight the Chancellor, but her Meta agents got to him first,” Ms. Magos stated. I realized he was another friend I couldn't spend time worrying about.

  “Get him help. We'll find Jaime, Derek, and Helen,” I told them.

  I watched Max swing Hunter's arm over his shoulder and help him to his feet. Through the rips in his shirt you could see blood dripping from gashes. The Chancellor had done a number on him. I hoped we didn't run into her before we found the rest of our friends.

  * * * *

  Chapter Twenty-Six: It's Just Politics

  We heard a painful scream as Justin and I turned the corner. “Helen!” I said. My breath had caught. What were they doing to her? I prayed she wasn't with the Chancellor.

  We took off running toward her voice. We passed through cold cellblocks and weaved through dank halls. My legs wouldn't move fast enough. I wished I had Graham's Gifted speed. Finally, the building no longer surrounded us. We were at the edge of the island.

  My eyes scanned the horizon. Helen had to be here, but my heart stopped as I realized we were face to face with the almighty Chancellor of the Meta, flanked by half a dozen of her loyal guard.

  She looked similar to the woman who acted as Justin's Grandma, but something about the way she stood with her back straight was off-putting. There was no warmth or sweetness like Marie.

  “You are predictable, Olivia Hart,” she said. In a sleek maroon pantsuit and fake smile, she stood proud and confident like a politician. We were the same height, but it felt like she was looking down on me.

  “One little noise from your best friend, Helen O'Reilly, who got caught up in your Gifted web of drama, and you come running,” she said with a snotty ring to her voice. She took a step to the side, revealing a thin and tired Helen on her knees with her hands bound behind her back. She was breathing heavily and tears streaked down her dirty face.

  I took one step forward and the Chancellor blocked Helen again.

  “Not so fast, Ms. Hart. We're not done here,” she told me. The ground beneath us began to rise. The Chancellor, her Meta agents, Helen, Justin, and I were on a platform that jutted out of the bedrock. I bent my knees and put my arms out to steady myself.

  The Chancellor took a dramatic breath in and said, “Do you smell that? It's the scent of another Meta victory. I turned off the elixir mist in your honor, Olivia Hart.” She sent me another toothy grin. “Not that it works on you, but your pal, Jaime Forte, will need her Gift tonight.” I didn't like the way she said my friend's full names. She knew too much about us.

  The platform creaked and turned clockwise. Jaime's strained face came into view. Her arms were extended over the cliff. She was holding onto something with so much Gifted strength that I practically choked on her lavender scent.

  “Jaime!” I shouted.

  “Olivia! Don't come closer!” Derek screamed from somewhere over the edge. His voice was sharp.

  “I'd listen to your big brother, Olivia,” the Chancellor warned. “You see that Meta agent holding an elixir gun to Jaime's head? He's under strict orders to pull the trigger if you take another step toward her. And when Jaime gets soaked with the mulberry elixir, Derek goes bye-bye.” She waved her hand.

  I stood still, but my mind was racing. This was exactly what I feared for weeks when I promised not to put any of my friends in danger. Now it was too late. Who should I save first? Could I save any of them? Sweat dripped down my back.

  “What do you want?” I said a
nd balled my hands into fists.

  The Chancellor raised her eyebrows. “Aww, sweet, innocent, Olivia. I don't want anything from you. In fact, I want you and my disgrace of a grandson to disappear,” she said. It was the first time she stopped smiling, and also the first time she mentioned Justin.

  “So you know?” Justin asked her. His voice was full of surprise and hurt. Marie said the Chancellor gave birth to Justin's mother and then disappeared from her life. We weren't sure if she knew about Justin at all.

  “Know that my grandson has embarrassed me by becoming the one thing I loathe, Gifted? Yes,” she said, dismissively. “I know all about your pitiful group of friends, Evelyn Forte's plot, and my sister’s broken promises. I have eyes and ears everywhere. I am the most powerful person in the world and all without a disgusting Gift!” Her hands were gesturing wildly, and her mouth was twisted into an angry snarl.

  Did she say she wasn't Gifted? Marie told us about the package she received from a distant Gifted relative.

  The Chancellor took a deep breath. “You are going to help my campaign,” she told us, smoothing her perfectly ironed power suit. She pointed to the agent who held Helen. “Have her join Olivia's brother.”

  They lowered Helen over the edge to some sort of carrier we couldn't see, but by the look on Jaime's strained face, it was on the end of the rope she was holding. I could hear Helen whimpering, and it broke my heart. Justin reached for my hand and locked our fingers.

  “Here's how this is going to work. You will use your horrible Gift on me. It will prove just how dangerous you are. Then, you will let my agents overtake you, proving my army's strength,” she informed us. Video cameras rose out of the ground. “We will post it on every social media site -- YouTube, twitter, Facebook -- and show the world how the Meta protects its people.”