Steel for 5 (Mags & Nats Book 3)

by Stephanie Fazio

  It was possible, if she fell just right. But even then, I wasn’t sure the rickety metal rungs would hold me with her added weight.

  I held up the small microphone clipped to my shirt, making a show of speaking into it.

  “The Synthetics can feel your body heat,” I told my friends in the calmest voice I could muster. “I need all of you to leave. Give me those ten minutes.”

  I held my breath, silently praying my friends would understand what I was trying to tell them.

  For several seconds, there was silence in my earpiece.

  “You want Smith to initiate the malware, don’t you?” Graysen asked.

  “That’s right,” I said loudly, awash with relief. To Felix, I said, “They’re leaving now.”

  All I had to do was get Lilly. Then Felix and his creations could go down with the rest of the mine.

  “I can’t stop it once it starts,” Smith told me. “Are you sure?”

  “Go back,” I said into my mike, conscious of the fact that Felix was listening to everything I was saying. “I’ll be able to get out of the mine through this supply shaft.”

  Translation: Take the train back to Boston so the Synthetics won’t have another way out of here once the mine collapses.

  Only two people were making it out of this supply shaft…and it wasn’t going to be Felix and the foreman.

  “We’re not leaving here without you,” Kaira said.

  “You have to go,” I said. “If you don’t, he’ll kill Lilly.”

  “We’ll wait in the train and have it ready to go as soon as you get down here,” A.J. said.

  “No.” I glanced up at the cloaked figures clustered on the platform above me and thought about the dozens of Synthetics still on the lower level of the mine. “I don’t want the Synthetics to get you.”

  Or get out before we collapse the mine.

  “Synthetics?” Felix chuckled darkly. “I suppose that’s an accurate description. Have you figured out what I’m doing down here, then?”

  “You’re trying to make Super Mags,” I said, slowly resuming my climb upward.

  Felix nodded. “Agent Steel is truly a remarkable substance. When it’s distilled and combined with other ingredients in just the right way, it creates a solution that removes magic. But if the undiluted liquid is injected directly into a Mag’s spinal cord, it enhances magic.”

  “It also makes them look like zombies,” I pointed out, trying to buy time while I inched higher.

  Felix hmmed. “Yes, well, there are adverse effects on the subject’s epidermal layers. I was working on a potion to rid them of that discomfort before you disturbed my entire operation.”

  “Just out of curiosity,” I said. “Did these Mags know what you were doing to them?”

  Felix and the foreman shared a laugh at that.

  The foreman was the one who answered. Even though I was too far away to see his face, I could hear his sneer. “I ’pecifically found Mags who were down on their luck and didn’t have nobody to miss ’em.”

  “And the Agent Steel spinal injections have a secondary effect of warping memories,” Felix added. “It’s rather beneficial, as it makes my creations’ minds pliant and submissive. Combine that with the addictive properties of Agent Steel when it’s injected into the spinal fluid, and I’ve found a recipe for ensuring they obey me and no other.”

  So, that was why the Synthetics didn’t respond to Michael’s Whispering.

  “I guess after enslaving children, taking away adults’ free will must be no sweat off your back,” I said, unable to stop myself.

  I knew I’d be better off if I didn’t goad him, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “An unfortunate consequence of needing Steels for my work,” Felix said. “Sacrifices must always be made for the sake of progress. The same has been true throughout history.

  “I need Steels to extract the solid form of Agent Steel, since it is volatile. And only Steels can handle the liquid safely.”

  “Also,” the foreman said, letting out a raspy chuckle. “Us Steels are the only ones strong enough to work a mine.”

  The pride in his voice, as well as that word us, made me sick.

  “Eight minutes,” Smith said into my earpiece.

  I started to climb faster, the rungs blurring as I got into a rhythm. Reach, reach; step, step. Repeat.

  “Forgive me,” Felix said, his voice completely devoid of apology. “But I think that’s quite close enough.”

  I couldn’t be more than twenty feet from Lilly. So close. So damn close.

  I was near enough to watch Felix take a small, metal box out of his pocket. The foreman bared his rotten teeth in a feral grin as Felix overturned the box’s contents over the side of the open elevator.

  White dust sprinkled down and then dispersed, creating a cloudy haze as it filtered toward me.

  “Bri, what’s going on over there?” Kaira demanded.

  Instead of answering her, I fumbled for my gas mask as instinct told me I was about to need it. I had just wrestled the mask over my face when the first specks of powder touched my bare arms.

  I hissed as my titanium skin was immediately engulfed by a tingly, burning sensation. It wasn’t unbearable, but as I watched, my titanium body turned back to normal skin.

  I reached for my magic. Nothing happened.

  “Alchemy really is the most potent of all magic,” Felix boasted as he observed my distress. “And Agent Steel is so versatile.”

  “What have you done to me?” I demanded, even though it was obvious.

  “Magical Reduction Potion,” Felix replied. “It’s very concentrated and starts with the surface of the body. It is quite effective in a place filled with Steels.”

  Felix ignored the foreman’s growl.

  Terror clawed up my throat. He hadn’t said whether it was permanent. What if I’d lost my magic…forever?

  A small sound from the platform brought my attention away from myself and onto the tiny, huddled figure beside the crate.

  “Hush, you,” the foreman ordered, striking the bottom of the crate with his boot. Lilly whimpered and then went silent.

  I’m coming, Lilly, I silently begged her. Just hang on.

  My magic didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to Lilly. And I didn’t need my magic for that.

  I resumed my climbing, but I was slower now. My every movement felt sluggish. It felt like my body was fighting against itself. If it hadn’t been for the gas mask Yutika had made me, I was pretty sure I would have passed out and fallen to my death.

  “Fifteen years,” Felix said, as I labored up the side of the tunnel, one rung at a time. “I haven’t left this mine in fifteen years.”

  I was finally close enough that I could see distinct facial features. I tried not to look too hard at Lilly, because if I did, I would get us both killed in my frantic attempts to take her away from these monsters.

  “That’s some serious dedication to your cause,” I said, breathing through a burst of pain across my palms. My skin, weak and raw from the powder, was blistering against the repetitive motion of grabbing the rungs.

  My legs felt like lead. It was taking all of my energy to raise each foot to the next rung. My arms were trembling from holding up my own weight.

  “I began work on this mine when I discovered Agent Steel and the possibilities it contained,” Felix said.

  “I brought you the Agent S, don’t forget,” the foreman reminded Felix, sounding like a petulant child seeking a parent’s approval. He spewed out a mouthful of brown tobacco juice that hit the side of the metal shaft.

  “And you needed a Level 10 Alchemist to unlock its potential,” Felix snapped back.

  Clearly, this was an argument the two of them had had before.

  “Edwardian built MagLab, while I created the mine,” Felix told me. “My brother was breeding an army of regular-born Super Mags. I was creating a force of my own down here.

  “We knew it would behoove us for the rest
of the world to believe I was dead, so I committed to never leaving the mine.”

  “You faked your death at that school,” I said, thinking about Michael’s stricken expression when he saw the news article about the battle.

  “There were so many deaths that day.” Felix shrugged. “My brother and I didn’t think anyone would notice if another name was added to the list.”

  “You really had this thing planned out for a while, then,” I said.

  A little closer.

  I tried to catch Lilly’s eye, but her face was downturned.

  My arms trembled. Sweat poured down my back and ran into the open blisters on my palms. The burn brought tears to my eyes.

  “My brother and I were going to avenge our parents’ murders at the hands of Nats.

  “Edwardian and I planned to combine our forces to destroy the US Federal Security Enforcers. I was going to use the Agent Steel to enhance Mags’ powers, and my brother would use the Magical Reduction Potion to encourage any unwilling Mags to fall into line with our new regime.”

  Felix held his hands out to the Synthetics standing on either side of him.

  “While we have failed in every other regard, I will succeed in this. Behold the weapon that will dismantle the Nats’ control over our country.”

  “Six minutes,” Smith said into my ear. “Bri, you’ve gotta get moving. It’s going to take you at least two minutes to get down here to the train.”

  I didn’t bother responding. I wasn’t leaving without Lilly.

  My arms were shaking violently, and my legs were refusing to move.

  Please, I thought, willing my limbs to obey, but it was hopeless. It was taking all of my strength just to hang on.

  As my panic reached a fever-pitch, I felt the brush of air against my skin, and then a familiar scent somehow permeated the shield of my gas mask.

  Cinnamon.

  CHAPTER 48

  Diego. He was here. I couldn’t see him, but I felt his arms around me, helping to support my dead weight.

  “Dios, Bri,” he murmured.

  “Lilly,” I whispered, turning my head so Felix wouldn’t see my lips move. “He has her.”

  “You’re hurt,” Diego whispered back. “Where’s your titanium?”

  Forget about me! I wanted to shout, but I never had the chance.

  One of the six Synthetics held out his arm and pointed a long, deformed finger down at the spot to my left…right where I could feel Diego hovering beside me. The Synthetic made a guttural sound. Blood dripped from his nail-less finger.

  “Ahh.” Felix came to the edge of the platform and stared down at me. “The real Super Magic has arrived. Show yourself, Chameleon.”

  With no point in staying hidden, Diego dropped his camouflage.

  He swept one arm beneath my knees and used the other to support my back.

  “I’ve got you, cariño,” Diego said, taking my weight.

  “How delightful,” Felix said, his eyes glittering as he stared down at us, like we were specimens in a lab. “The Agramontes do have such big hearts.” He stared like he was trying to puzzle Diego out. “Are you as blinded by love as your parents?”

  “You need your head examined, pendejo,” Diego said.

  I wasn’t sure if he even noticed that, even as he spoke, Diego pulled me tighter against his own body. It didn’t escape Felix’s notice.

  “I was in love once, too, you know,” Felix said. All humor disappeared from his expression. “A very long time ago.”

  “Bri,” Smith said. “Bri, what the fuck are you doing? You only have five minutes.”

  I didn’t bother responding. There was nothing to say.

  “What have you done to my girl?” Diego demanded, his whole body radiating fury.

  “Interesting,” Felix murmured. “I thought you’d be wondering about what I did with all of the Agent Steel you’ve been so desperately searching for.”

  Diego tensed, his grip tightening on me.

  A strangled scream came out of me as the foreman yanked Lilly to her feet. He didn’t throw her off the platform like I’d been expecting, though. He just pushed her roughly behind him so he could kick off the lid of the crate she’d been huddling beside.

  The foreman grunted as he tilted the crate toward us, just enough to reveal its contents.

  Diego sucked in a breath. The crate was packed with rows and rows of glittering green Agent S vials. There had to be hundreds of them.

  The foreman tipped the crate back onto the elevator. The whole platform trembled as the heavy load settled.

  Even though Lilly was blocked by the foreman’s body, I could hear her crying.

  “This is all that’s left of the Agent Steel,” Felix told Diego. “The rest has been destroyed.”

  “Why would you do that?” Diego demanded.

  “Insurance,” Felix replied. “I knew that once you learned the truth, you would attempt to kill me. I also knew that if you were anything like your parents, you wouldn’t be able to resist the only way to get more of your precious Magical Reduction Potion.”

  “What truth?” Diego asked in a flat voice. He was grinding his teeth hard enough that I heard them squeak.

  “Your parents didn’t die in the MagLab fire,” Felix said. “I killed them at least a week before that Pyro set flame to the lab.”

  All the color drained from Diego’s face.

  Felix’s mouth twitched into a cruel smile. “After my brother’s death, your parents learned what he’d really been planning to do with the Magical Reduction Potion. They found out about the Steel slaves and lost their heads. They were threatening to destroy all of their research unless I agreed to release the children. So, I sent one of my people to dispose of them.”

  “What?” Diego’s mouth made the shape of the word, but no sound came out.

  All this time, Diego had believed the Pyro was responsible for his parents’ deaths. And not only had Felix killed the only people Diego had ever had in his life, the Alchemist possessed the ultimate bargaining chip…the one thing Diego wanted most.

  “Bri, you’ve got three minutes,” Smith shouted into my ear. “Wrap this shit up. Now.”

  “That’s it,” Kaira said. “I’m going to come get you.”

  An argument erupted across my earpiece, but I didn’t hear any of it.

  Felix had just admitted to murdering Diego’s parents. And he held my niece’s life in his hands.

  “I will survive this,” Felix said. “But I am curious to discover what you care about most, Diego Agramonte.” He smiled cruelly. “Will you try to avenge your parents’ death by attempting to kill me? Or will you prioritize the Agent Steel, since your parents gave their lives in pursuit of the Magical Reduction Potion formula, and this crate is your last chance to make more of it? Or, will you choose to save a single life of value to no one except your little Steel?”

  Before Diego or I could speak, there was a commotion on the platform. The foreman kicked the crate once, twice, three times…until the entire thing went over the side.

  At almost the same moment, Felix lifted my niece by her armpits and flung her off the platform.

  I screamed.

  Diego flew straight up. Before I could utter a word, I was airborne, and Diego’s arms were no longer around me.

  Diego had thrown me high enough that my hand connected with the elevator’s handrail. My skin was sweaty, but I clung on and managed to hoist myself onto the platform.

  My momentum thrust one of the Synthetics over the side. His gnarled fingers wrapped around the bottom of the platform for a second before his weight and gravity did their job. He plummeted down.

  “Lilly!” I screamed.

  Ignoring everything and everyone else, I looked over the side of the platform. I couldn’t see Lilly or the crate.

  All I saw was Diego, shooting down.

  CHAPTER 49

  Lilly and the last crate of Agent S were in a race to the bottom, and I was powerless to do anything.


  My friends were shouting across my earpiece, but I couldn’t hear anything over the crash of my pulse.

  Diego had told me his Levitator magic was the weaker of his two abilities, and that he couldn’t carry much more than his own weight. He wouldn’t be able to catch that heavy crate and Lilly. Not to mention, the awkward shape of the Agent S container would make it impossible for him to hold them both.

  Diego’s words from our fight came back to me.

  The only thing that changed was that the Synthetics made me more committed to taking away our magic.

  A broken sound tore free from my lips.

  “Get rid of her,” Felix ordered the foreman. To the remaining five Synthetics, he snapped, “And get us out of here.”

  Two of the Synthetics began to haul on the thick cables, drawing the platform up by hand. The other three stood protectively around Felix and the foreman. The Synthetics’ magic simmered just below the surface.

  “Bri!” My friends shouted my name until my ear rang.

  The metal walls of the supply shaft began to vibrate. Dimly, it occurred to me that whatever Smith had done to the mine’s electrical system was starting to take effect. Once the Agent S stones were disrupted enough, the explosions would begin.

  The foreman spat what I swore to myself would be his last mouthful of tobacco juice.

  Hope you enjoyed it, asshole.

  “Go!” I shouted into my mike. And then I threw myself at the foreman.

  The MRP powder must have been temporary, because I could feel it wearing off. Some of my strength was coming back.

  I didn’t have time for gratitude.

  I elbowed the foreman in the face, making him stumble to the edge of the platform. He wobbled for a second before righting himself. He plowed toward me like a charging bull.

  Two things happened at once. My skin transformed back to titanium. And Diego appeared beside the platform. He was cradling Lilly against his chest.

  My knees went weak with relief.

  Before I could say a word, the walls shook again, more forcefully this time.