by Jo Schneider
It should have been her.
She turned to the ladder, ready to go up after Inez, but Brady grabbed her arm.
“We have to go,” Mark whispered.
Inez struggled, and Lys could see the tears in her eyes.
“Come on, you’ve got to get us out of here,” Brady said.
Footsteps approached from above. Brady shoved her to the front of the group. “Go!”
How could he be so callous?
“We’ll all die if we don’t move,” Mark said, his eyes traveling back up the hole. Lys could see the beams of the flashlights getting brighter.
Offense, attacking, they didn’t suit Lys’s style, but rage bubbled up from her gut, filling her with the desire to climb back up the ladder and face the men there. The fact that she’d never fought with anyone before in her life didn’t matter. She’d find a way to hurt them. Or worse.
“Come on,” Kamau said in a whisper. He reached out and took her hand. “You’re the only one who can get us out of here.”
Lys shook her head as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. She glanced around at the others. Mark still had Inez by the arm, and Brady’s face told Lys that he wanted to do the same thing she did.
But Mark said they’d killed Peter. It should have been her. She couldn’t let anyone else get hurt.
“This way,” she said, her voice barely audible. She stepped past Kamau. “Join hands, I’ll get us out of here.” The dark pressed down on her, and Lys felt a tug of emotional anguish coming from her heart. Instead of storm drain tunnels, Lys saw a burial chamber. Who would care if they died down here? Who would even know?
Kamau’s hand gave hers a squeeze, and Lys shook her head. They were not going to die down here. Not if she had anything to say about it.
She opted to stay on the ledge instead of climbing down into the channel. Ankle deep water still ran through it, and she thought they’d make more noise in the water. Lucky for them, the ceiling gave everyone plenty of head room. Moving as quickly as she dared, Lys took them to the end of the short tunnel and got them around the corner before halting.
“Which way?” Lys asked. She heard whispering behind her, but Lys didn’t listen. Instead she kept her head moving, making sure they were alone. If the New had found their way to the ballroom, then they might have someone down here. She’d never underestimate them again.
“Left,” Inez said in a harsh voice.
Lys started to walk, stepping as quietly as she could. Behind her Kamau moved like a ghost, not making a sound. She could hear the others scraping their feet and shifting their weight.
Eventually they had to step down into the water. Lys felt her heart pounding, and her hand became clammy in Kamau’s. Every scrape they made and every slosh of water caused Lys to jump.
Fear had become commonplace for her over the past few weeks, but this time she found that her body’s reaction to fear started to interfere with the little control she had over her magic. She had to concentrate to keep the world gray instead of having it plunge back into the darkness. Half of her still wanted to go back and attack the New while the other half of her wanted to let the magic wash over her like water at the beach.
They came to a four-way intersection and Lys stopped.
“There are four tunnels here. Which way?”
“We should get above ground soon,” Mark said.
Lys opened her mouth to ask why, but Inez’s voice interrupted her.
“Let me go!”
“Inez,” Brady said, “he’s gone. If you go back, you’ll get killed, too.”
Lys turned to look at them. Brady had Inez’s hand, but she was trying to wriggle free.
“What if I don’t care?” Inez asked, glaring in Brady’s general direction. Her eyes started to swirl red.
“We care,” he said.
“I don’t care if you care.” She blinked, the red orbs disappearing for a moment. “Let me go.”
The look on Brady’s face changed, and Lys saw Brady’s eyes go wide. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Just let me go.”
Mark let go of Kamau’s hand and turned back toward Inez.
“Inez, stop it,” he said.
Brady jerked back, throwing Inez’s arm away from him. “Fine! Go do whatever you want.”
Inez didn’t say anything. She started sloshing away.
“Stop her,” Mark said.
“Inez,” Lys said, going after the other girl, who climbed up on the ledge. “Stop. Please.” When Lys caught up, she reached out and grabbed Inez by the arm.
Inez turned. “Don’t touch me, princess.”
“Come on,” Lys started.
“Let me go!” Inez screamed, the words reverberating through the tunnel, shattering the quiet dripping of water.
“No.” Lys didn’t know where it came from, but she wasn’t about to move for Inez. “And don’t call me princess.”
Inez laughed, a harsh sound that grated like rock on rock. “Why not, princess? That’s what you are. A spoiled, rich girl. A princess in a castle with servants to do your every bidding.”
“You don’t even know me.” Lys glared. She felt the Need stirring, fighting its way through the magic.
“And you don’t know me.” Inez said. “Now get out of my way.” One hand came up and began to pry Lys’s fingers off her arm.
“You can’t go back there,” Lys said. “You’ll end up like Peter.”
“Never mention his name,” Inez said, growling. “You don’t deserve to even speak his name.”
Something warm and wet hit Lys right below the eye. She reached up a trembling hand, and the world stood still for a heartbeat.
Inez spit on her. Her. What had she ever done to deserve that? What had she ever done to deserve any of this? The precarious balance in her mind tilted dangerously to one side, and Lys felt the darkness and the Need barreling to the forefront of her conscious.
In an instant, faster than she thought she could move, she was reaching for Inez’s face, clawing for flesh and hoping for blood.
Lys felt nothing but pure hate. The Need blossomed anew, bigger, meaner, and more terrifying than ever before. Adrenaline fueled her actions, and she knew that she could kill Inez. She could take the other girl’s eyes for her own and then kill her. The thought didn’t bother her; it exhilarated her—drew her in, seduced her, and caused her to act.
Inez screamed, but not in terror. In fury. She tried to grab Lys’s hands, but Lys twisted away. Before she could reach Inez’s eyes, Lys felt a kick to her thigh. Her leg exploded in pain, and then went numb, causing her to stumble.
Lys held on to Inez for support, the other girl keeping her upright. Inez finally got Lys’s hands off her face, and she tried to hold Lys’s wrists.
Being an only child, and a girl, Lys’s dad made sure she could defend herself. She’d taken a year of self-defense classes, and while she wasn’t proficient at anything, she did remember a few moves. Lys twisted her hands out of Inez’s grasp, easily pulling free. Then she stepped back and kicked Inez as hard as she could in the stomach.
Inez stumbled backward, hitting the ledge and rolling off. She landed in the channel with a splash. Lys didn’t give her a chance to recover. She sprung down after Inez, going for her eyes.
Voices yelled. Someone’s hands tried pry the two girls apart. Lys ignored them. She would get to them in a minute—Inez was first. Everything and everyone else sat outside her rage, but they would get their turn.
Her fingers inched toward Inez’s eyes. Her nails cut in the other girl’s cheeks. Hands held her back, Lys could only move in slow motion. But it was enough. She moved steadily closer. The fear in Inez’s eyes goaded Lys on. To have someone fear you was almost as intoxicating as satisfying the Need.
So close, just an inch more and she would have them—she licked her lips in anticipation . . . and then she was being flung up and away.
She hit the rock wall hard, cracking her head and seeing black spots. She sli
d down, landing unsteadily on her feet.
“Keep her back!” a voice yelled, breaking the spell.
Lys gasped, but couldn’t breathe. However, she could see. She could see blood on her hands.
“Grab them!”
Lys convulsed. Spasms of pain and fear lanced through her limbs, causing her to go to her knees.
Kamau arrived, hands groping in the dark to brush her arms, but he didn’t have to hold her. She curled into a ball and started to sob as she continued to twitch. Lys couldn’t live like this—didn’t want to continue existing.
“Please,” she sobbed as Kamau knelt down next to her. “Let me die.”
“You’re not going to die,” Kamau said.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I couldn’t stop myself.”
“It’s not you, just don’t move,” she heard him say.
All thought, all reason was gone. Her world shattered around her. Lys truly wanted to die.
And then it went away. Not just the relief of shedding tears, or the release of adrenaline, but the feeling evaporated. Her sobbing stopped, but the shaking didn’t.
“That’s better,” Mark said. She felt another hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Lys, calm down.”
Calm down? She’d just tried to kill someone! And she’d wanted to do it. She curled into a tighter ball. Lys tried to shut out the world.
“Don’t do that,” Mark said. “Kamau, talk to her. Give me a second.”
What would Kamau think of her? Even in her own eyes, Lys knew she was a monster.
“Shhh,” Kamau said, rubbing her back. “You’re okay.”
Lys shook her head. First she got Peter killed, and now she’d attacked Inez. “Just leave me here.”
“That’s awfully dramatic,” Kamau said.
“Please.”
“No,” Kamau said.
She heard Mark coming back. “Here,” he said. A moment later Lys felt another jolt of electricity, and her mind cleared. She unclenched her arms from around her knees.
“Better?” he asked.
Lys opened her eyes and slowly raised her head. Kamau tugged her into a sitting position. “How’s your head?” he asked.
The throbbing there paled in comparison to the roller coaster her emotions were on.
She made the mistake of looking down at her hands. Blood covered her palms, and she could feel chunks of flesh under her nails.
Revulsion filled Lys and she tried to back away from her own hands, running into the wall. Her hands! She’d tried to kill someone.
“It’s okay,” Mark said, grabbing her wrists. “It’s okay, everyone is fine.”
“No,” she whispered. “No, I . . .”
“It was Inez’s magic. She lost control. It’s not your fault.”
Lys felt herself balanced on the edge of a knife. Part of her wanted to believe Mark’s words, but the other part of her wanted to revel in her attempt to get Inez’s eyes. Two sides of her fought for control, and she didn’t know which one would win.
“We need to go,” Brady said.
Lys looked over and saw Brady kneeling next to Inez, who had her face in her hands.
“Someone’s coming,” Brady said. “I can feel them.”
“Come on,” Mark said as he and Kamau pulled Lys to her feet. “I’d love to let you rest, but we have to go.”
Before anyone could move, splashing came from two of the tunnels, and six members of the New appeared, running right at them.
Chapter 19
Mark turned first, blue light flaring from his hands.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” one of the New said. “Electricity in water? Doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
Lights turned on from six points, and Lys blinked, trying to get her vision to adjust.
Brady stood, but one of the New had a gun leveled at Inez’s head.
“No one move. Hands up and open. Don’t make me collar you,” the synthesized voice said.
Inez stiffened, and started to stand, but the man with the gun proved faster.
Lys screamed.
The gun didn’t launch another collar. Instead a dart flew from it, burying itself into Inez’s shoulder. She stopped mid-stride and spun around. Brady caught her twitching form before she hit the stone floor.
“No one else moves unless I tell them to,” the figure in the lead said. “If you do exactly what I say, we won’t have any more unfortunate accidents.”
Lys glared at the man. She could feel his eyes on her through the helmet. She tried to redirect her magic from seeing in the dark to looking through people’s eyes, but got nothing from him. Either magic didn’t go through the helmets, or she’d reached her limit.
The other five members of the New spread out, each taking one of the magic users. The leader grabbed Lys roughly by the arm and dragged her into the middle of the channel. The others got the same treatment. As soon as the man touched her, Lys felt her connection to magic cut off.
“Now, we’re all going to go up to the surface. I don’t want any trouble.” He emphasized this by shoving the barrel of his gun hard into the base of Lys’s neck. “I’ll just use this one to make sure the rest of you behave.” He pushed her forward. “Move.”
Every inch of Lys shook and trembled. She stepped forward and didn’t know if she’d be able to shift her weight from one foot to the other. The ankle deep water threatened to sweep her away, and if not for the iron grip around her arm, Lys would have gone down.
The man who shot Inez shoved Brady away and hauled Inez to her feet. The other girl stumbled, shaking her head. Lys couldn’t keep an eye on her because her escort led her out first.
With the bobbing lights, they moved much faster. Lys trudged forward, the barrel of the gun still at the back of her neck. The process of thinking didn’t exist—her brain felt disconnected, and she could barely manage putting one foot in front of the other. She tried to stop looking at her hands. Blood dried on her fingertips, and she could still feel chunks of Inez’ skin beneath her nails. A shudder joined the shaking and she wondered what would happen if she threw up. Would they shoot her? Or let her drown in her own vomit and the four inches of water at her feet?
Light—real light—began to tease her eyes. After going around two more corners, Lys could see even without her magic. The man holding her arm led them to a ladder.
“You first,” he said, releasing Lys.
Not knowing what else to do, Lys reached out a shaking hand and started to climb. It took her three tries to get her foot on the second rung, and when someone reached down and drew her out of the hole she almost didn’t care that he wore black armor.
“Here she is,” a voice said from under the helmet. “I knew they were down there. Where’s our boy?”
Lys shrugged away from the man, getting her arms out of his grasp. She watched as the leader of the men climbed up the ladder. Without one of them touching her, she felt her magic stir. It pulsed, bowing the barrier that held it back. But Lys didn’t want the magic. Not this time.
With a thought, she allowed the Need to resurface. It writhed, angry at having been denied Inez’s eyes. Lys let it fill her as the others climbed out of the hole. Inez slumped to the ground, dazed. Just as Brady stood up, Lys willed the Need to take control. Red fury burned before her eyes, and Lys knew just where to direct it.
The leader from the tunnels, and the man who helped Lys out of the hole, stood conversing. One of them took his helmet off, revealing Jed underneath. Good enough.
She locked gazes with Brady, who must have been thinking along the same lines. He smiled as she turned.
Lys let out a scream and ran at the two men. The Need saw Jed’s eyes and filled Lys with a desire she could not control. And instead of trying to hold back, she reveled in it.
The world slowed as she got closer. Jed turned in surprise while the leader brought his weapon up. Five steps away. Three. Two. The gun fired, and she screamed.
Only nothing hit her. Instead, something hit the
gun and tossed it through the air.
She kept running. If they planned to kill her, she would give them an easy target. If not, they’d hesitate. Either way, they had to go through her to get to the others.
Jed seemed surprised when Lys kept coming, and even more unhinged when she started clawing for his eyes. His big hands couldn’t contain her wiry arms. People started to yell around her, but Lys ignored them. She focused on Jed’s clear, blue eyes and let the Need do its thing.
The sheer fact that Lys wanted what the Need did made things so much easier. She ground her teeth together as she kept trying to get around his arms to his face. Only a few inches remained. She had him!
Then the wind got knocked out of her. She felt a screaming pain in her ribs, and she flew backward, hitting the ground with a hard thud.
A rib cracked on impact. Lights danced before her eyes, and she couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.
Tears of pain streamed down her face. Screaming filled the air around her, and after a moment someone grabbed her hand.
“Lys?” Kamau’s face came into view.
Lys opened her mouth to reply, but still couldn’t breathe.
“Can you get up?” His words slurred together in her mind. She shook her head.
“We need to move,” he said, grabbing her hand and tugging her up.
Lys cried out, the sudden change in position releasing her lungs. A ripping pain filled her right side, but she didn’t have time to think about it. Kamau pulled her to her feet and started to lead her toward the others. She stumbled, trying to keep up.
Around her lay a dusty field covered by used cars. A black van sat with its doors open, one more member of the New inside.
Only a few feet separated them from the others when a loud pop sounded, and Lys saw a net fly out of the end of Jed’s gun. Brady dodged behind a car so quickly that Lys could swear she didn’t even see him move. A second pop followed, and Mark had to dive out of the way. The net grazed him, but he didn’t get caught up in it. Still, he fell, hitting the ground hard, rolling away with a grimace of pain on his face.
The two armored men advanced.
Mark rose to his hands and knees. Brady tossed a piece of metal at their assailants. It bounced off harmlessly as one of the men turned on Brady.