Benjamin walked up to the three of us, Reid close behind.
He smiled sadly at Marco. “From what I can tell, my mom and about five others stormed the camp a little after midnight. They killed fairly randomly, but everyone agrees that they definitely came here for a purpose. After they murdered your aunt and uncle, they ran off. No offense, but I can guarantee you that the trainees didn’t actually fight them off. A bunch of kid heroes wouldn’t scare my old crowd.”
“You think maybe they wanted to make a statement by killing the highest elder?” I asked. “That’s why they killed my grandma and videotaped her death, right? To make a statement.”
Benjamin’s eyes tightened. “I was always told that Grandpa killed Battlecry and her team because they wouldn’t give details about the camps. I think they were planning some kind of invasion. But yes, the tape was a statement.”
Reid swore. “What? Your grandpa killed Battlecry?”
“Yes,” Benjamin said, looking down. “I’m sorry for not being honest about it with all of you when we met.”
“We’ll definitely talk about this later,” I said in pacifying tones.
Reid’s unsurprising outburst reminded me that I’d never shared Benjamin’s revelations with my team. As far as they knew, he’d only ever killed the two Westerners right before meeting the Sentinels. We’d have to sit down and discuss his past when we got home.
“What’s the plan in the meantime?” Reid asked, glancing once at Benjamin. “I’ve been asked to bury the bodies.”
“Do that,” I said. “And then we’re leaving.”
43
We arrived at our headquarters at nearly zero one and slept for twelve hours.
Benjamin had disappeared into his bedroom while I walked into mine, but when I woke up in the early afternoon, he was lying next to me, unclothed and sound asleep. I’d woken with a headache and aching joints, but instead of climbing out of bed and finding some painkillers, I laid back down and watched him breathe in and out, letting his warm breath waft over my face. While he breathed, I thought about our marriage.
What did marriage mean to me? To him? What did it take to make a marriage work? I suspected that the examples of marriage I’d seen growing up weren’t what Benjamin would call ideal, but then again, I didn’t think his parents had had a healthy marriage, either.
We’d have to find out on our own what made a happy, stable relationship. Perhaps I’d married him in haste, but I was devoted to him. To us. Our youth would not hurt us. Though supervillains prowled around us and the elders schemed against us, we would stay together.
Benjamin inhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes. He smiled. “This is the best way to wake up.”
I poked his nose. “Good dreams?”
He grinned, his sleepiness lending it an adorable quality. “About our wedding night, so heck yeah.”
I rubbed my chin. “Show me again how that went. I forgot.”
He laughed and pulled the blanket over our heads.
An hour later, the five of us sat at our round kitchen table. Reid quietly poured mugs of steaming coffee and pushed them toward each one of us. I sipped on the bitter drink and let it warm my stomach, but it couldn’t quite make my headache or joint pain abate.
I reached behind me and grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen from the turntable on the island and popped two of the pills into my mouth.
After I swallowed them, I gave my head a little shake. “Okay, guys. We’ve got some stuff we need to talk about. I’ll go first.”
My team politely folded their arms on the table.
“First off, since I won’t have powers for about nineteen more days, Reid will be mission leader for anything out of the house. Reid, do you have any problem with that?”
“No. That’s fine.”
I sipped my coffee. “Good. Next thing. Beau and Will made it clear that they were after Ember. From now on, Ember will be accompanied by either Marco or Reid when you guys leave the house. No exceptions. Ember, stay alert. I don’t know what happened to those two men specifically, but we have to assume that any number of supervillains will try again.”
Now that I thought about it, unless Dean had freed them, there was no way Beau or Will could have extracted themselves from the ground. Alysia was still running around, but she couldn’t have known they were there.
Yet, I felt a curl of unease as I thought about them. If there was one thing the slavery conspiracy had taught me, it was that nobody was really dead unless there was an identifiable body or multiple witnesses.
Ember laid her head on her arms. “I hate being a telepath,” she grumbled into the wood. “I never asked for this.”
“I know,” I said softly. “We’ll stop them, Em. I promise.”
Reid reached across the table to hold Ember’s hand, but she shot him a look so hateful that he recoiled.
He placed his hand in his lap and stared at the woodgrain for a moment before lifting his head and staring blankly at Benjamin. “I’d like to know a little more about what you said regarding your grandfather and the first Battlecry.”
Benjamin’s fingers clenched his mug. “I have a long rap sheet. It’s a bit longer than I made it out to be when I met you guys. I… I’ve killed people. A lot of people. Jillian and I talked about it back at Liberty, but I understand now that I need to be honest with all of you.”
Marco, Ember, and Reid exchanged glances.
Marco leaned toward Benjamin. “You’re going to help us catch the people who broke into Chattahoochee, right?”
“Of course,” Benjamin said, shocked.
“Actually, as soon as my powers are back, we’re going after all the forbidden families,” I said. “It’s not going to be easy, and we’re going to be itinerant for a while. But the attack on the camp proved that they’re getting bolder, so we have to get bolder, too. Benjamin is our biggest asset in this fight. We need him. Are there any objections?”
Marco crossed his arms and looked around the table at all of us. “He’s served on the team for months, helped rescue slaves, and he’s our biggest source of information on the forbidden families anyone could possibly have. Oh, and he’s, you know, married to Jill. If anyone has a reason he shouldn’t be on the team, I’d love to hear it.”
Reid rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish you’d told us. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad. I get why you didn’t say anything in the beginning, but all the months you’ve lived with us…”
Benjamin blushed deep scarlet.
Ember picked her head up, her eyes suddenly gentle. “Oh, Benjamin. What am I going to do with you? You’re such a puppy.”
Benjamin scratched at the table’s surface. “I always wanted to be a superhero,” he said, barely audible. “And then I met you guys and it was like I had the family I’d always wanted. Brothers who weren’t sociopaths, and a sister who was my age, unlike Eleanor.” He finally looked at me. “And I had you. Wouldn’t you hide the awful truth about yourself, too?”
“Perhaps,” I said. “But somewhere along the way you convinced yourself that we were going to turn you in if we found out. I still don’t understand why.”
“It’s what I deserve,” he mumbled. He went back to picking at the table.
I folded my hands in front of me. “Deserve? Maybe. But if we’re talking about what we deserve, then Marco, Reid, and I deserve to do prison time for joining an unauthorized militia and killing people. I deserve to lose leadership of this team for being a brat more times than I can count. And I deserve to be dumped for kissing Dean.” I inclined my head toward Benjamin, who was now staring at me, wide-eyed. “We don’t always get what we deserve.”
Benjamin’s eyes shimmered, but he didn’t reply.
I drained my mug and put it on the table with a hard clink. “Later today I’m going to make an appointment with the local FBI field office, as well as a therapy appointment. I’ll also be calling a press conference, and I’d like you guys to be there with me.”
“A press co
nference?” Ember said. “Why?”
I poured myself more coffee. “I’m going to scare the crap out of the elders.”
Benjamin smirked. “How so? Announce that you’re going to college?”
Instead of being annoyed at his mocking question, I let myself laugh. The elders would be scared of me going to college.
I’d come across a short proverb in one of the many books on my bookshelf upstairs: knowledge is power. I hadn’t quite understood it when I read it months before, but now I did. I’d defeated Patrick in the library with my knowledge of electricity.
Now, months later, I would defeat the forbidden families with the knowledge Benjamin had about their abilities and methods. I knew I’d been raised in a cult, and so I could begin to extricate myself. I knew I had a sickness called depression, and thus I could take steps to overcome it.
I knew my ancestresses had led teams into the heat of battle, and I could, too.
I reached my hand into the center of the table. They all put their hands on mine. “I’ve got something I need to say.”
It was time to share some of my power.
44
At noon the next day, I stood behind the thick blue velvet curtain that divided my team from the throng of reporters in the auditorium in City Hall. I didn’t dare peek out at the crowd, which contained representatives from all the major news networks, plus every local one. They were all waiting for me to appear. I didn’t want to cause unnecessary pandemonium by showing my face early.
Ember brushed a lock of hair out of my face. She’d put my hair up into a chignon earlier, but my constant fidgeting had messed it up a bit.
“Stop worrying,” she said. “You’ll be fine.”
“I’m going to be sick,” I groaned. “Why did I do this?”
Behind my clammy forehead, a headache prickled. It hadn’t gone away since yesterday.
“Because you’re a badass,” Benjamin said, handing me a glass of water. “Don’t forget it.”
“We’ll be right beside you,” Reid said.
I sipped on my water, but it didn’t make me feel better. I looked up at Benjamin. “You wouldn’t happen to have anti-nausea medication on you, would you?”
Marco pointed at me. “I knew it. You are pregnant.”
Benjamin looked quickly between Marco and me.
I rolled my eyes. “No, I’m not. Will you let that idea go, please?”
Marco squinted at me. “How can you know for sure? You keep having sex.”
“Well, see, sometimes when a woman experiences a huge shock to the system like, say, being injected with JM-104, it triggers an early period. Now, a period is the part of the menstrual cycle where—”
“Oh, God, stop,” Marco said, holding up his hands. “Forget I said anything.” He pressed a hand to his stomach. “Ugh, now I don’t feel good.”
A short woman poked her head into the small waiting area where we were standing. “Miss Battlecry, it’s time.”
I set my glass on the table and threw back my shoulders. I can do this. I can do this. I have to do this. There’s no backing out, now.
My team and I stepped out from behind the curtain.
At least twenty-five reporters and journalists were crammed into the small space, most of them holding microphones or cameras. A few of them carried recorders. When we walked out, a hush fell on the crowd.
I took my place behind the podium. My team stood behind me, and though I did not check to see, I was certain they were standing straight and tall with smooth faces. Respectable. Strong.
I stood up straighter.
“I’d like to thank you all for coming on such short notice,” I began, my voice surprisingly calm. “I know this is an unusual act for a superhero. We’re not known for speaking openly to the media. In fact, one of the things I’m going to talk to you about today is why we’re not known for our relationship with the media.”
The reporters murmured to each other. I gazed over the crowd, catching their eyes and smiling ever so lightly. A few of the people returned the expression, their curiosity no doubt battling their professional demeanor.
“Though I’m addressing you, and by extension the American people, my message today is not for civilians, but for all superhero teams serving across the country.”
Quite a few eyebrows shot up.
“Many of my fellow superheroes will not be allowed to watch this broadcast. Perhaps it is because your leader won’t allow you to watch live television. More likely it is because I’m Battlecry, the woman who dared to command a team. As you all know, I have committed a crime, so to speak, by doing so.”
Jaws dropped.
“If you’re still allowed to watch me, listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you.”
The crowd fell silent as I began explaining to my fellow brothers and sisters in service how the elders had used poverty, ignorance, abuse, and fear to control the most powerful people in the world.
I told them about the tribunal, where a man had been tortured for daring to love someone the elders couldn’t control, and how they’d tried to marginalize me for standing up to them. Several reporters’ faces grew grim when I described how I’d been sexually assaulted, unable to fight back because of my overwhelming belief that I could not.
Then I began to describe how the elders had sold our friends and family into slavery.
“One of my teammates was sold to the compounds. Their sale was based on the erroneous belief that we would not investigate their supposed death,” I said, struggling not to growl the words. “During the investigation we uncovered proof that not only had the elders sold our friend, but that they’d been selling children for decades. I am currently working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to put a stop to the human trafficking. I urge every superhero watching this to speak to your local field office and tell them what you know about the so-called Westerner attacks. Any information you have is valuable.”
I relaxed my grip on the edge of the podium.
“Some of you will not believe me because I’m a woman. Others of you won’t believe me because it is easier to think that I’m lying. But I know that out there, across the country, there are superheroes who are tired of living in fear. You’re tired of being told that you can’t speak, can’t think, can’t learn. You’re tired of the cult. Yes, you were raised in a cult. It’s very possible you don’t even know what that word means because the elders do not want you to have the power that knowledge gives.”
I took a deep breath and looked directly into a camera.
“If you need help, the heroes of Saint Catherine are ready to give it.”
Reporters yelled questions for me, but we refused comment and went backstage.
We collected our things and headed out a small side hallway and out into an alley that bordered City Hall. As we passed the news vans parked out front, I took a moment to remember our lives in our old base camp, before Benjamin had joined the team. We’d been with Patrick then. We’d sometimes sit in the living room and watch the news, hooting when we saw ourselves on the screen.
Were there teams that were now having an uncomfortable conversation about what the recalcitrant Battlecry had said? Were there young heroes and heroines examining their lives? Perhaps they’d never heard of me, the news of my rebellion having been kept from them. As long as they did not know they could rebel, they would never try.
Who is she, they might ask each other.
I’d asked myself the same question once. I hadn’t been able to answer. I passed the tinted window of a parked car and saw my reflection. Who was I?
Unlike last time, the answer came easily.
I was the woman who’d pissed everyone off. I was the woman who’d done the unthinkable. I was the woman who’d issued a rallying shout to the troops: rise up, fight back, take what’s yours.
I was Battlecry.
One Week Later
My phone rang as I walked up the brick steps of our headquarters. The ring tone wasn’t any of the
four I’d assigned to my teammates, so with a bit of curiosity I pulled out my phone and looked at the screen. The unfamiliar number was from Wyoming.
I dropped the shopping bag I was holding and sat on the steps, already having an idea who was calling. There was only one person in Wyoming who would ever want to call me. “Hello?”
“Benny!” My sister’s annoyingly high voice grated against my ear. “I got your message right after you sent it, but there’s no service on the mountain. I couldn’t call you back until now.”
“Hi, El.”
“Why so dismal? You’re a married man. You should be delirious with joy.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Do you really want to know what’s going on in my life, or did you have a reason for calling me?”
I knew I sounded rude, but I had things to do. I checked my watch. I’d give her five minutes. Eleanor and I were on okay terms, but I was still rankled by how she’d treated Jillian upon hearing about our arguments, as well as miffed that she’d lied to me for years about her activities in Colorado. I hated liars.
Of course, that was probably one of the big reasons I struggled to like myself.
“I actually did have a reason for calling you. I wanted to tell you that the raid against the other compound was a success, mostly because I was there.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“Oh, come on, Benny. You wanted the Westerners to lose as much as anyone. Dean was just saying…”
I leaned back on my free arm and looked up at the night sky. I didn’t know which constellations hung above me, and as Eleanor chattered about raids in distant states, I idly wondered if Jillian did.
She was as dedicated a crime fighter as anyone else, but when she started on an explanation of the heavenly bodies and their movements, a guy would think that she was a professor of astronomy. Her face would light up and she’d babble excitedly about whatever it was I’d asked her about.
The night before it had been the Kuiper belt, planetoids, and why Pluto actually wasn’t a planet. Her enthusiasm for astronomy was beautiful.
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