by Dee Benson
She took a step back from him. "Why are you here? To take me back?"
Nigel was quiet.
"Why are you here?" Axel snapped.
"Because…I'm tired."
Axel stared at him for a long moment. He looked away first. He dug his hands into his pockets.
"The Firemaster doesn't know you've found me?" Axel asked.
"No."
"But he's looking for me?"
"Yes."
"Are you going to tell him you've found me?"
Nigel looked at her then. "I have been building power, and I believe I am now strong enough to destroy The Firemaster. The last thing I want is for him to get the power to live forever from you."
For some reason, his soft words shocked her. She'd gathered that he wasn't as loyal to The Firemaster as he appeared to be, that he was a silent rebel. But she hadn't realized just how much of a rebel he was. "You want to kill The Firemaster?"
"He is very powerful. He has always been far more powerful than I am. But I am currently at a level in my mental power that I am sure I can overcome him."
"And if you're wrong?"
Nigel shrugged. "Then he will overcome me, and kill me."
"You're willing to take that risk?"
"If a good opportunity presents itself. I will have to catch him off guard."
"How long have you been planning this?"
"A long time," Nigel admitted. "But I didn't think I would ever actually try until I met this Netherling girl whose courage shamed me."
Axel wasn't sure what to say. She didn't feel all that courageous. She'd been scared out of her mind when she refused to burn her mom's necklace. It hadn't been courage that made her refuse. It'd been love for her family.
She took out the locket she'd removed from the necklace, and opened it. Tears sprung into her eyes as she looked at the picture. Her family had done so much for Zanda, and this was how Zanda repaid them. Taking Alex's parents' powers; trying to kill Axel.
What had gone wrong?
"So," Nigel said. "What are you planning to do?"
Axel laughed shortly, still looking at the picture. "In an ideal world, I would return to Desmond's office at Super High and work out how to scorch. Then I would scorch The Firemaster, Desmond, Serloyd, and Zanda." There was a spark of pain in Axel's chest. "After scorching them and rendering them all powerless, I would kill them slowly and painfully; make them regret everything they've done. Especially Zanda."
"Your cousin..." Nigel's eyes hardened, "is despicable. She was not forced and was not under the influence of any drugs. Neither has she shown any remorse."
Axel's throat tightened, closing up? "Did you know? All along?"
"Yes. I was close to telling you many times."
Axel removed the picture from the locket. Thankfully, Zanda was on one end of the picture. Axel tore off that side. But Zanda's arm was still in the picture, around Axel's mom's shoulder.
Her arm began to fade away until it vanished.
"Thank you," Axel said, knowing Nigel had made it happen.
She heard Nigel sigh. "If you're going to be evil, at least have a reason. The Firemaster has reasons. Twisted as they are, they are still reasons. Zanda has no reason except vanity."
Axel replaced the picture in the locket. She didn't feel any better for having torn Zanda off. Anytime she looked at the picture, the tear would be what she focused on. It would overshadow the people who remained.
Axel closed the locket. "You still haven't told me why you're here."
"I have shed a lot of innocent blood."
"That's why you're here?"
"Yes. I want to do something noble."
"Like what?"
"Help you."
Axel moved to a canoe and sat on the seat inside, her mind immediately going into overdrive. Now was not the time for self-pity, or for letting bitterness paralyze her. Fantasizing about getting revenge was futile too. She needed to maintain a focused mind and work out a way of getting back to Netherium.
"I want to go home," she told Nigel. "Can you help me with that?"
"I cannot."
"Why? Mind powers are versatile. Can't you learn how to make a portal?"
"I cannot. Nobody can except a few select government officials, and The Firemaster." Nigel paused suddenly.
"What?" Axel asked.
"He has a portal ring that he uses when he is low on energy and doesn't want to use his power to create portals."
Axel jumped to her feet inside the canoe. It wobbled. "You know how to teleport items, don't you?" She remembered how he'd teleported food from the cafeteria to himself. There was a jolt in her heart. She could be back in Netherium within a matter of minutes. "Teleport the portal ring to us."
Nigel shook his head. "Do you think The Firemaster would leave the portal ring without protection? If he did, anybody with mind powers or teleportation powers would be able to steal it. Portal rings are designed to be resistant to theft. They can't be located with mind powers, or any other kind of power. They can't even be moved, except by their owner."
Axel sank back into the canoe's seat. Was she ever going to get out of this place?
"However, I know where it is," Nigel said. "And although I cannot move it, I know how to operate it."
"Where is it?" Axel almost dreaded to ask the question. It was bound to be somewhere inaccessible.
"The Firemaster's office at Super High."
"Oh."
"It's on the roof of the school office building."
"On the roof?"
"Yes. With fire fountains everywhere. We can go tonight."
"Tonight?" Axel looked around. There were no windows in the boathouse so she had no way of knowing what time it was. "Is it still night? Are we going now?"
Nigel looked slightly amused. "It's noon."
"Really? I'm surprised The Firemaster hasn't used someone with mind powers to find me yet."
"I'm cloaking us both so we are invisible to mind powers."
"Oh. Thanks."
Nigel observed her for a moment, silent.
"What?" Axel asked.
"Are you not curious about your immortality?"
Immortality?
Axel shuddered. She didn't know what to think about the fact that she'd been shot in the chest and yet hadn't died. And was in no pain.
She slipped a hand under her shirt to feel the place again. She couldn't tell where the bullet wound should be. Her skin was smooth all over. She turned away from Nigel, lifted her shirt and moved her bra out of the way. There was nothing to mark where the bullet had gone in.
"The only way you can understand why you didn't die is to die again," Nigel said behind her.
"I'm not willing to take that risk." Her healing power had been erratic. What if her so-called immortality was like that, too?
"Then I guess you're best off going to the CFC to see what they can tell you about yourself."
Axel adjusted her bra back into place and pulled her shirt down, covering herself. Then she turned around. "Why do you want me to join them so badly?"
"You don't need to join them since we're hoping to use the portal to get you home tonight. But they can run an assessment on you."
Axel considered it. She wasn't sure.
"Don't you want to know what's going on?"
"I'm going home. I won't need superpowers anymore."
"What if The Firemaster sends people after you?"
Axel sighed. "I intend to hide and never let him find me."
Nigel's brows lifted.
Axel knew what he was thinking. The Firemaster would find her if he put his mind to it. "Maybe I need to spend today looking for poor Supers who don't mind loaning me their powers." Axel shook her head. She'd need more than a loan for a few days if she was to be able to defend herself against The Firemaster if he tried to track her down in Netherium. And she didn't know how to scorch. Even if she did, she didn't wish a scorching on anyone—except Zanda, The Firemaster, and Serloyd. "Is it possi
ble for me to activate more powers?"
"You want to go to Merspool conflux?"
"Yes. But I want to tap into the Omends and Philimnes this time." Axel didn't particularly like the Gifts and the Graces. They were unpredictable. All the other Supers had more control over their powers despite their powers being from a supposedly inferior source. "Is it possible for me to activate via the Omends and Philimnes? I believe that powers activated from them are easier to manipulate."
Nigel crossed the boathouse. He stopped when he was a hair's breadth away from her. "Self-knowledge is powerful, Axel."
"I don't want self-knowledge. I want powers like yours that can be understood and honed. I don't understand how the Gifts and Graces work. They are there one minute then desert me the next."
"But powers from that source are superior. Anything of true value takes a little more work. What did your mom used to say?"
Axel froze. What was he talking about? He knew nothing about her mom
"That time when I checked your mind for why you weren't activating, I saw something about it. Tell me what she used to say."
Tears stung Axel's eyes. "She always said it's better to deny your powers than to use them for evil."
Nigel nodded. "Could that be why you were unable to heal anybody during the battle? Could it have been a mental block as a result of your conscience, rather than because the Gifts and Graces are hard to control?"
Axel was quiet. She hadn't considered that.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. Saying her mother's words out loud made her miss her even more. She was never going to see her again. She was never going to see her father again. They'd been killed in the worst possible way. First, stripped of their powers and then drowned. Axel wondered if they knew what Zanda had done. If they did, they would have died with broken hearts.
Axel turned away from Nigel. The pain was unbearable. "I don't know if I agree with my mom's philosophy anymore. I think it takes evil to fight evil." Tears escaped her eyes. "I feel so powerless. I feel like I should make them pay for what they've done. But how?"
She felt his hands on her shoulders. He turned her back around.
He exhaled. Axel felt his breath on her cheeks. "Axel?"
There was a catch in his voice.
Axel lifted her tear-filled eyes to his.
"I wish my mind powers could bring your parents back to life."
"Thanks but you have done nothing wrong." She trailed off, thinking of how he'd killed Trojan. Could she forgive him for that? He'd been stoned when he did it.
But he was purposely stoned so that he could do it. He'd taken the drugs himself. At that moment, he would have killed her too, if The Firemaster had told him to.
He did say he was ashamed for his lack of courage.
But he was a monster. A killer from a young age.
Suddenly, Axel was aware of how close he was. And how big he was. And the mounds of muscle that bulged in his arms.
His hand cupped her face. His hand was so large that his fingertips brushed her ear and reach her scalp.
Scalp?
Axel lifted her hands to her head. Horror filled her. "What happened to my hair?"
"Your head was shaved while you were being tortured."
"Why?"
"That's what they do to all defiant rebels, so that people know they're rebels on sight."
Axel was suddenly self-conscious. She stepped away from him and his hand fell away. She lifted her hands to her head. Her scalp was completely smooth.
"If it helps, I find courage way more attractive than physical beauty."
Axel's heart stuttered. What was he trying to say? Did he find her attractive?
Axel shot him a look. With his dark good looks, he was way out of her league.
He was watching her.
Axel hoped he couldn't tell what she was thinking. She'd felt no tickle across her forehead so she knew he wasn't reading her. She looked away.
A change of subject was in order. "How are we getting to wherever I need to go for this assessment?"
"We will teleport." Nigel held out a hand.
Axel took his hand.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yes."
Chapter 28
THEY LANDED IN THE entranceway of a large building. None of the people around them looked their way.
Axel felt a tickle across her head. Then Nigel's voice filled her mind: We're invisible, so don't speak.
Axel nodded.
She stood beside him, wondering what they were waiting for.
A woman stepped out of a sleek silver car across the road. It drove away as she crossed the road.
Axel watched her as she approached. She was definitely a Super. She had the dark skin. And she carried herself with a confidence that suggested she was tough and powerful.
The automatic doors to the building opened.
Nigel crept through after the woman. Axel followed silently.
The woman's heels clicked as she walked toward an elevator. Her long dark hair swished behind her. They followed, and entered the elevator with her when the doors opened.
The woman sighed as the elevator ascended. She stared at her manicured nails. "What do you want, Nigel?"
"You know I'm here?" Nigel asked.
"Of course. I wouldn't be chief defense agent if I could be fooled by amateur invisibility tricks."
"I'm not an amateur, and invisibility is not a mere trick."
The woman tucked her hair behind her ears, appearing completely unperturbed by Nigel's hard tone. "I feel bad for you, Nigel. You're gifted. It's so unfortunate that Dresden got a hold of you at such a young age. But as you know, I've done my best to talk to the powers that be, and they're not interested in recruiting you. They can't take the risk that you will act as an informant for him or go back to him." The woman paused. And then she looked at Axel.
Axel wondered if Nigel had made them visible.
"Who did you bring with you?" the woman asked, suspicion lacing her tone.
"It's the girl I told you about," Nigel said flatly.
"I'm not interested in her if she was ever with Dresden."
"She hates Dresden. He recruited her by force. Read her mind if you don't believe me."
Axel frowned at Nigel. He was giving someone else permission to read her mind without even asking her? She shot him a glare.
He shot her an apologetic look in return.
"Reveal yourselves," the woman snapped.
Axel could tell that Nigel had obeyed, because the woman looked at her keenly now. Her gaze trailed over Axel from head to toe. "This is the girl who activated Gifts and Graces?"
Nigel nodded once.
"The healer," the woman said slowly.
"She was scorched so she can't heal anymore."
The elevator pinged to a stop; the doors swooshed open.
"The woman stepped out.
"May we follow?" Nigel asked.
She stared at Axel for a moment. She looked like she was going to say no.
"A few hours ago," Nigel said casually, "she died."
The woman frowned.
"But it's fine if you're not interested." Nigel pushed the button for the first floor and the elevator doors began to slide shut.
The woman reached out and slammed her hand against the door, stopping it from closing. "Follow me."
Axel looked at Nigel as they followed the woman through a labyrinth of pristine white hallways.
He winked at her.
Axel was taken aback. She wasn't used to this lighter, slightly more relaxed Nigel.
The woman opened a door, revealing an immaculate office. "Sit," she ordered.
"I will stand," Nigel said.
Axel decided she would stand too, then.
The woman rounded the desk and sat down in an executive-style chair. "Hit me with it."
"She's been a pain in the neck, defying The Firemaster. He wanted her dead—"
"Can she speak?" the woman interrupted.
Nigel frowned. "Of course she can speak."
"Then shut up and let her speak."
Nigel bowed his head exaggeratedly and looked at Axel. "Tell her what happened."
"Who is she?" Axel asked.
The woman's gaze narrowed.
"Someone who can help you to hone your skills, but I know you don't want that, so she can just diagnose what's going on with you."
Axel lifted her hand to rake it through her hair, and then quickly dropped it when she remembered that she was bald. She cleared her throat. "The Firemaster—"
"You mean Dresden," the woman corrected.
"He calls himself The Firemaster to slight the government," Nigel whispered to Axel. "The CFC people don't like that."
"Oh," Axel said slowly. "Dresden asked…someone…to kill me." Axel couldn't bring herself to confess that that 'someone' was her cousin. "The person shot me. And I think I actually died for a moment. At least I should have. But then, I became aware of a tingling sensation, and a noise in my ears. That used to happen whenever I healed too. Then I woke up."
The woman was staring at Axel. Axel couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"I told you she was special," Nigel said.
"What's your name?" the woman asked.
"Axel."
"I'm Angelica." She pointed at the couch. "Please sit down, Axel."
Axel sat down.
"Close your eyes," Angelica said.
Axel obeyed. As soon as she did, she slipped into a dark abyss.
A pinprick of distant light made Axel optimistic. She hurried towards it, hoping for a way out of the darkness.
The light became brighter as she walked, until it was almost blinding.
Soon, Axel realized it wasn't just a light but a person. The light radiated from his body, so bright that Axel couldn't look into his face. She stopped walking. Any closer and the light would be unbearable. It might even blast her into pieces.
"Axel," came a musical voice. Something about it reminded her of water. It flowed around her like ocean waves.
Axel wondered how he knew her name. She wanted to ask, but she found herself unable to speak.
"You want to know more about your gift."
It was a statement not a question.
"I gave you healing power, but you gave it away. You will never get it back, and I will not replace it."
A profound sense of loss hit Axel. And shame.