by K. K. Perez
The initials monogramed in filigree were Q.W.J. For Quentin Weston-Jones? Had this belonged to her father?
She’d ask later. “Handkerchief?” she said to Professor T instead. If anyone would carry one, she figured it would be him. He immediately produced a square of paisley from his waistcoat. Lucy wrapped it around one end of the pen, barking, “Hold him down!”
Professor T’s forehead creased in a V, but he used his weight to press Ravi firmly against the floor of the helicopter.
With a deep breath, Lucy tried to focus her erratic emotions, concentrate on the metal in her hand. She thought about all the small moments she and Ravi had shared, their jokes and mutual geekiness. An emerald glow began to emanate from her fingers. Lucy could summon her powers from positive emotions as well as fear and anger, she realized.
Control. She needed to heat the pen but avoid shocking Ravi. Hopefully it would also kill any bacteria. Exhaling, Lucy lowered the glowing silver to one end of Ravi’s knife wound. Sizzle. He twitched but Professor T kept him secure. Her grandfather’s eyes were unafraid as he nodded in approval.
Lucy scorched Ravi’s skin again. The flesh fizzed. This scar would join the many others Ravi had received from the Order of Sophia.
Her stomach churned. Even if Lucy disagreed with some of his methods, Ravi had proven himself to be a steadfast ally. Her ally. His enemies were now Lucy’s enemies—and that included the people who’d raised her. They hadn’t loved her enough to tell her the truth.
She applied the pen to the last section of the cut. Heat rose from the blackened wound but the blood, the blood … was stopping.
Professor T’s posture relaxed and Lucy’s heart skipped a beat.
“Quick thinking,” he said, panning his gaze over Ravi’s chest. “Like a true Archimedean.”
Lucy wanted to believe her grandfather and the Archimedeans were the white hats. So much. For now they were at least the lesser of two evils.
She let out a ragged breath and dropped the pen beside her. The emerald glow faded. Her right palm was singed, blistering, and she swore as pain replaced adrenaline. The handkerchief had provided meager protection.
“Just because I’m coming with you,” she told Professor T, “doesn’t mean I’m agreeing to become a card-carrying member of the Order.”
“Understood,” he said. “I will earn your trust, Lucinda. And I would expect nothing less from a Weston-Jones.”
Was that who Lucy was? In another life, maybe. She might never know who had really handed her over to the Sophists. What she did know was, she was done living up to other people’s expectations.
Until she had all the players in the world of alchemy figured out, the only side Lucy was on was her own. This was Lucy’s body, Lucy’s life, and whatever she did with it from now on would be on her terms.
“Lucinda?” Ravi choked out. His dark eyes opened, and they were beautiful. She tipped her head downward to hear him over the rumbling of the chopper, but said, “Shh. Don’t speak.”
“You healed me.”
“I just cauterized the wound.”
The shadow of a smile flitted over his lips. “My Wonder Woman.” Ravi was in no state for one of their debates, so Lucy simply returned his smile.
He shifted his gaze to Professor T, who loomed above them.
“Rufus is awaiting our arrival,” said the professor, bending down to shout in Ravi’s ear. “Camila will radio ahead, tell him to have blood prepared for a transfusion in the air—just in case.” Ravi nodded. Whoever this Rufus was, Lucy was glad an actual doctor could repair any damage she’d done with her field medicine.
Raising himself into a squat, Professor T said, “You did well, granddaughter.” Granddaughter. Lucy wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to that. “Rufus will patch you up too,” he added, glancing at her injured hand.
“You’re hurt?” Ravi said, voice strained.
She shrugged. “Sadly, I’m not immune to burning metal.”
“We’ll be home soon,” Professor T promised, his voice raised, looking between them.
“Home?” Lucy gasped. “As in England? I don’t have a passport.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Professor T said. No doubt forging a passport was the least of the strings the Order of Archimedes could pull.
Taking a shallow breath, Ravi said, “Do me a favor?” and motioned for Lucy to lean closer.
“I just saved your life.”
“Besides saving my life.”
He beckoned her even closer, reaching for the tourmaline pendant. Professor T cleared his throat and levered himself into the copilot seat. He slipped on a pair of headphones.
Ravi’s gaze never left her face as Lucy lowered her lips until they hovered just above his. “Close enough?” she whispered, relief and exhaustion coloring her laugh.
“Not quite.”
He kissed Lucy with infinite tenderness and a burning magenta sunset exploded in her mind’s eye. Given his injured state—and the proximity of her grandfather, Lucy forced herself to show some restraint. But it wasn’t easy.
She kissed his forehead, and Ravi smiled up at her. She would deal with the fallout and all the unanswered questions tomorrow. Today both of them were safe and alive, and she planned to keep them that way.
Maybe her powers held the key to mysteries that scientists and alchemists had been seeking for centuries. Maybe not.
The only person Lucy owed any answers to was herself.
She glanced out the window and watched the town of Eaton become a speck in the distance. Eaton was her past; Lucy was flying toward her future.
And when her enemies found her again, she would be ready.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Publishing is a team sport and this has been especially true in bringing this project to fruition. My deepest gratitude goes to my agent, Sara Crowe, who continues to be a pillar of support. A hearty thank-you to my editors, Brendan Deneen and Kat Brzozowski, who oversaw the inception of Lucy’s story and to Chris Morgan, who shepherded it through the final stages. Thanks also to Rachelle Mandik for your eagle eyes.
I am very grateful to have found a home at Tor Teen. Many thanks to Kathleen Doherty, Sumiya Nowshin, and everyone in marketing and publicity who work so hard to get books out into the world! Also a huge shout-out to Liane Worthington and the team at BookSparks.
There are many early and second readers to whom I owe a huge debt for lending their critical expertise in various domains and helping me to shape this story into something book-like. Thank you to Amy Carol Reeves, Teresa Yea, Elizabeth Fama, Alex Bear, Ellen Rozek, McCall Hoyle, Sangu Mandanna, Darshana Khiani, Kamilla Benko, Robin Talley, Misa Sugiura, Carlie Sorosiak, Ame Igharo, Deborah McCandless, Georgina Cullman, and Suguru Furuta. My husband, Jack Mozley, is always my first reader at the end of a fevered day of writing and his Ph.D. in quantum physics came in pretty handy this time around. Any scientific or sci-fi errors are entirely my own!
I am also sincerely appreciative of the time my fellow authors have taken to give me blurbs and generally shout about my books online. An enormous thank-you to Stacey Lee, Taran Matharu, Laura Lam, Dan Godfrey, Rachel Lynn Solomon, Julie Cross, Royce Buckingham, Beth Revis, Amie Kaufman, Samantha Shannon, and Stephanie Garber.
Although publishing a book takes a village, the writing life can often be quite a solitary existence (especially in the depths of an English winter), which is why I consider myself lucky to have bookish friends in a plethora of time zones. Sending much chocolate and gin to Kaitlyn Sage Patterson, Heidi Heilig, Kelly deVos, Annie Stone, Karen M. McManus, Rebecca Denton, Melissa Albert, Sara Holland, Vic James, Sarah Nicole Smetana, Kes Trester, Somaiya Daud, Dhonielle Clayton, Melanie Conklin, Ali Standish, Lucy Hounsom, Julia Ember, Katherine Corr, Megan Bannen, Yamille Saied Méndez, Rhoda Belleza, Elsie Chapman, Alice Broadway, Elizabeth Lim, Zoraida Córdova, Natalie C. Parker, Samira Ahmed, and April G. Tucholke. I also owe the next round at the pub here in London to Laura Dodd and Stevie Finnegan.
WRITING AS KRISTINA PÉREZ
Sweet Black Waves
Wild Savage Stars
The Myth of Morgan la Fey
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. K. PÉREZ holds a Ph.D. in medieval literature from the University of Cambridge and has taught at the National University of Singapore and the University of Hong Kong. As a journalist, she’s written for The Wall Street Journal Asia, Condé Nast Traveler, and CNN. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Opposites Attract
Liber Librum Aperit
Curiouser and Curiouser
To Boldly Go
Brave New World
Gilded Cages
OMG
Greased Lightnin’
Poker Face
AC/DC
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?
Speakeasy
A Peter Parker Experience
Snap! Crackle! Pop!
Dark Star
Schoolgirl Fantasy, Indeed
Electric Slide
That Girl is Poison
Strange Frequencies
We’re All Mad Here
Hurts so Good
Ouroboros
Reach out and Touch Someone
Shaken, Not Stirred
Ambush
The Body Piezoelectric
Into the Woods
Time for a Montage
Ink of a Scholar
Tea and Sympathy
You Wouldn’t like me When I’m Angry
Red Sky at Morning
Through the Looking Glass
Under my Skin
White Lightning
Eye of the Storm
Ghosts
The Lion’s Den
Lasso of Truth
Doctor Manhattan
Don’t Look Down
A Worthy Foe
Antiques Roadshow
Bullets Over Broadway
High Life
Black Hole
Another Way to Die
I, Zombie
The Chopping Block
The Fifth Element
DNA-4-U
The Graduate
Parallel Universes
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Judgment Day
Remembrance of Things Past
Wonder Woman
Acknowledgments
Writing as Kristina Pérez
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
The experiments performed by the characters in this book are not intended to be replicated by the reader. Do not try this at home!
THE TESLA LEGACY
Copyright © 2019 by K. K. Pérez
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Cliff Nielsen
A Tor Teen Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-08489-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-08490-3 (ebook)
eISBN 9781250084903
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First Edition: March 2019