CHAPTER 34
My god. I yank back, staring at the wall without seeing. Daniel is the Para-Reaper! My stomach heaves. He’s the one murdering them. He drains their energy so completely, so suddenly, it kills them.
A keening sound tears from my throat. I don’t want to believe it. But deep down, I know it’s true. My brother is a murderer. And he enjoys it.
I slide down from the chair, curl myself up tight, rocking. I don’t want to know it. I’m not sure I can bear it. The brother I loved—he’s gone. And in his place is a heartless soul. An inhuman one.
Grief washes through me in waves so strong I shudder. Deep down, I’d hoped that someday we could be a family again. That we could have that connection we used to.
But there’s no going back from this. There is no way we can ever be like we were.
I punch the floor and slowly sit up. Even if I can’t bear what he’s become—
especially
because I can’t bear it—I have to make sure he doesn’t succeed. I have to stop him.
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I get back onto the chair, my jaw tight. I’ve got to try harder to make him see what he’s done. Bring him back to humanity, if I can. This is not something I can talk him out of. It’s not a simple difference in philosophy or opinion.
This is a deep soul choice between good and evil—and he made his decision. I let the tears flow out with my pain.
Slowly I reach for Daniel again—feel the energy surging into him like adrenaline, leaving the others weak and dizzy, their bodies unable to compensate for the loss, while Daniel pulses with their life force. He laughs with exhila-ration, his laughter vibrating through my bones.
I pull the copper armor up around me, then make a tiny pinprick to connect.
“Daniel.”
I pour all the grief, shock, and revulsion through me, and let it flood into him. His focus jerks, then fastens onto me.
“Caitlyn—you don’t understand—”
“You killed them. You killed those other Paras.”
“They died to help our cause. They weren’t powerful
enough by themselves to make a difference. So they gave
me what I needed to remain powerful.”
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t think all the government does is track and
torture us, do you? The metal trackers in our tongues
dampen our energy, keep us from becoming too powerful,
too unruly. I have to keep draining it from others just to
gain my own strength back.”
“Cobalt,”
I guess.
“They use cobalt in the trackers to
weaken you.”
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“Yes.”
Daniel sounds surprised.
“Like the cobalt you put in my backpack.”
“You found that, huh?”
He pauses.
“Did you find the
cobalt I put in your locker? Or in your classrooms?”
He giggles.
“Why, Daniel? Why did you do that to me?”
“I needed you to need me.”
“You’re family. I loved you. I would have done so much
for you. You didn’t have to try to make me dependent on you
or the things you were teaching me.”
“I did. You have to be completely on our side, or you’re
not with us at all. And you see, I was right. Even with all I
did, it wasn’t enough.”
“Lying to me, hurting me—that’s not the way to get me
on your side.”
And neither is killing someone. Many someones. Not because he was forced to, at the threat of his own life or the people he loves, but because he chose to—to gain power. No matter what Daniel says, I can never look at him the same way again.
But something doesn’t add up.
“The killings, the Para-Reaper—it only started a few months ago. That’s what you
told me. So why—?”
Daniel’s laugh echoes through my mind.
“I’ve been
doing it for years. But I didn’t used to need so much energy.
I control more people now.”
I close my heart off from Daniel.
“I can’t believe
you’re willing to kill, after what they did to Dad.”
“It’s
because
of what they did to Dad! I don’t want any
of us to ever be that vulnerable again.”
I can’t believe his thinking is so twisted that he actu-302
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ally believes murder helps.
“You can stop this, Daniel, before anyone else gets hurt. You have the power to.”
“I can’t. It’s already begun.”
I’ve been so focused on our conversation, on trying to convince Daniel, that I didn’t notice the undercurrent draining energy from us. Daniel’s drawing on the others, using them. But it’s more than just the Paras who were captured—he’s also drawing on Normals, on students and teachers who have nothing to do with this, on people working in stores and offices for blocks around, and he’s steadily reaching outward.
The energy drain is subtle—just a light bleeding of energy—not enough for anyone to notice, aside from a slight tiredness. But it’s there. It’s happening.
His reach is extending over the city like a storm. And he’s not going to stop.
I feel the weight of the people’s lives, the fragments of who they are passing through me—the laughter and tears, the scheming and pleading, the loving and praying. So many people, all just trying to live their lives.
Their faces flash through me, Netta’s among them—
and then Mom is there, looking up from her desk, her face pale—like she’s just seen Dad.
“Mom!”
I cry.
“I need you!”
And then her face is gone. All the faces disappear.
I reach along the energy flowing directly into Daniel, and from him into a small network of Paras—Ilene, Zack, and a few others I don’t know. The Paras revere Daniel; he’s the only one who can do his—take energy from others and funnel some of it to any Para he chooses.
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I close my eyes and focus on seeing through Daniel’s eyes.
They’re seated in a circle in a dimly lit room—I’m sure it’s the basement room of the school, the aluminum helping to protect them, giving them barriers. Somehow, the circle increases Daniel’s power, like it completes the circuit. He’s drawing on Ilene’s and Zack’s talents to drain the Normals.
He’s already funneling some of the energy to Paras throughout the city, Paras who before could only control one Normal, maybe two at a time, but now, with this boost of energy, can control many more. It’s like Daniel’s a power station, absorbing energy and sending it out wherever he wants, strengthening the entire system rather than having many small, individual batteries working on their own. He’s the heart of the entire network, and he’s what will make the takeover of our city—maybe even our entire country—happen. And he’s not going to stop there. He wants to control the world.
I yank myself out of his mind, shivering. Daniel has far outgrown Ilene. I wonder if she knows? I wonder, too, if this rebellion was Daniel’s idea, or if he’s just capitaliz-ing on it.
I hold my head in my hands, feeling surprisingly weak.
I look inward and my talent is at a low ebb. Daniel must have drawn on it while we were talking. It means my time is running out, just as it’s running out for all of us.
I grip my hair in my fists.
How do I stop Daniel?
I could pull the fire alarm. But that’s not likely to budge them—they’ll reach out and sense me, and they’ll 304
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realize that there’s no threat. And I don’t want to expose myself to the troopers if I don’t have to.
“Caitlyn.”
Alex’s worry for me beats at my mind. He’s been trying to reach me for a while now.
“Caitlyn, what’s
wrong?”
I rub my face hard. I have to keep Alex safe, and Rachel and Emily, and Mrs. Vespa—and the entire city. But I don’t know how or where to start.
“Caitlyn?”
“It’s Daniel. He’s draining Normals for miles around
to replenish his own power. He’s going to kill them.”
“What can I do? Tell me how I can help.”
I dig my nails into my scalp, trying to clear my mind.
Daniel tried to weaken me by exposing me to cobalt—in my bag, my locker, and my classrooms—knowing something so highly magnetic would cut through all my barriers, like acid through steel. He knew how to make me vulnerable—probably because that’s what the government did to him.
I don’t know if I can find the hidden cobalt, not with all the ParaTroopers around. It’s not like I can just walk into a store and ask for some. And even if I could, it might make him draw on the Normals even more in a desperate attempt to stop the energy leak. I lean back in the chair, my head heavy.
I can feel Alex’s fear for me, and also Rachel’s and Mrs. Vespa’s. I can feel, too, how tired they’re getting without understanding why; their eyelids growing heavy, their energy sapped. Even the ParaTroopers are getting weary.
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Outside, a siren wails, then another, and another. I pull out my cell phone and log on to the Web to see if I can find out why. There are reports of troopers suddenly shooting each other. Normals are attacking trooper stations, and kidnapping judges, officials, and the police, locking them up.
I shut off my phone, my hands shaking. This has to be Daniel’s doing.
Daniel is growing steadily more powerful with all the energy he’s draining from Normals and Paras alike. If I can find a way to break that connection, to interfere with Daniel’s drawing on their power, I might be able to bring him back to my level so we’ll be Para against Para, instead of many Paras against just me alone. Then I might have a chance at stopping him.
I chew my lip and try to think. Daniel lied to me over and over. I hadn’t thought it was possible for a Para to lie to another Para; usually we’re like open books to each other.
But he did and it means he has talents that I don’t even know about. But maybe I can mess with his head. One way to weaken a group is to make them doubt each other. If I can make him doubt one of his own group without letting him see the whole truth, maybe I’ll have a chance.
I’m so weary my eyes are having trouble focusing.
And the Normals around me are doing much worse. Some of the weaker ones stagger and collapse. I feel students lolling in their seats, their heads draped over their desks; I see students lying against lockers in the hallways, or else stumbling like drunks, their conversations forgotten and their words slurred. I’ve got to end this.
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I wipe sweat off my forehead. Somehow I’ve got to make Daniel believe me. Just focus on my own truth, but don’t let it through. . . .
I reach for Daniel.
He’s there, sucking up people’s energy and feeding on it. More and more people are falling into weary sleep.
“Caitlyn. Have you come to try and stop me again?”
Daniel asks, his voice mocking.
“No. I wanted to warn you. You’re still my brother.”
“Warn me? About what?”
I feel Daniel’s focus on me sharpen. I have to be careful.
“There’s someone in your group who’s plotting against
you. They don’t want you to succeed.”
True.
I
don’t. I push the thought away.
“How do you know?”
Daniel asks, sounding suspicious.
He knows Paras can’t lie to each other—it’s strange that he even doubts me. Except he found a way to lie to me.
And maybe he’s figured out that I’m trying to do the same thing.
“I sensed it. How do you think?”
I sensed it in myself.
Still true . . .
“Who?”
Daniel sends harshly.
“I don’t know.”
Don’t know if I’m the only one.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
His focus on the others wavers and the energy drain slows slightly.
I carefully direct some of the energy back toward the Normals he stole it from.
“There were a lot of voices in my head at the time.
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Courtesy of you and your cobalt,”
I say. There
were
a lot of voices, confusing me, eating at me. . . .
“Fine. I’ll look into it,”
Daniel snaps, and disconnects.
No thank you, no warmth—but I hadn’t really expected that from him, not anymore.
I reach out again and find Daniel probing the others in the room with him. He’s wary, suspicious of everyone.
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CHAPTER 35
Outside, the sirens continue. It’s getting hard to think.
There’s a knock. Mrs. Vespa pushes open the door and shuffles in, her movements slow and weary. “I wanted to check on you,” she says. She looks suddenly old—lines carved deep into her face, her cheeks hollowed out, wrinkles puckering up the veins on her hands. Wrinkles where none used to be.
I leap up. “I’m okay. But how are you?”
“Just fine. I’m awfully tired, though. I don’t know how I can be at a time like this.”
Her energy is at such a low ebb I’m surprised she’s still standing. I’ve got to give her some of my own energy to keep her from collapsing—or worse. I’ve never done it before, but if Daniel can take energy and send it out to others, then so can I. It can’t be that different from what I just did.
I clasp both her hands in mine to give me more focus, then visualize directing some of my energy into her, filling her up with light.
I feel it draining out of me, filling her. My legs get weak. But I have so much more energy to spare. Sweat 309
Cheryl Rainfield
beads my upper lip and drips down the back of my neck. I keep sending more.
After a few long moments Mrs. Vespa straightens, shaking her head. “Goodness, how long were we standing like that? I must have had a catnap; I feel so much better now.”
“Good!”
The lines on her face are lighter, almost nonexistent, the wrinkles gone from her hands. She doesn’t look old anymore. I try to smile.
. . . Debbie said . . . Para-lover trash is back here . . .
don’t see her . . . maybe Mrs. Vespa . . .
I stiffen.
“Becca’s coming! I can’t let her know I’m
here.”
Mrs. Vespa nods curtly.
“I’ll take care of it.”
She steps out and eases the door closed behind her.
“Becca, what are you doing back here?” Mrs. Vespa says, her voice muffled. “I thought you told me books were for geeks.”
So Becca has some talent after all. No way could she stand the power drain otherwise. It’s getting worse. Normals are collapsing under the strain and falling unconscious. Those with a bit of talent or who have stronger defenses through frequent reading hang on determinedly, but they’re still moving as if they’re walking through water.
I can’t bleed my energy into them all. It’d kill me faster than Daniel’s trying to. But I can give a few of them a boost to let them last a while longer. I reach for Alex, for Rachel, for Emily, and send them energy.
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I feel shaky and weak, so weak I can hardly hold my head up.
“Caitlyn?”
Alex says faintly.
“Where are you?”
The strength of his vibrating worry surprises me, even with the energy I sent him. Could he be a Para, too? Or is the copper he wears protecting him?
“Caitlyn . . .”
Alex sends forlornly.
I reach for him to answer but something stops me. The urgency in his mind, the amount of energy he has, the faint, metallic scent . . .
It’s Daniel! He’s talking to me through Alex, trying to get a lock onto me again, to drain me faster. But if I don’t answer soon, he’s going to get suspicious.
Got to make this quick. I cover myself with a few of Daniel’s dark, ugly thoughts, then follow them. I let them pull me into the center of the raging power, ignoring the nausea in my stomach and the pain behind my eyes.
Just a little closer—
I make myself flatter, darker—and I’m there.
The crackling power flooding into Daniel is so strong he almost can’t hold it. He sends some to Paras throughout the city to control the Normals around them, making them hurt each other and create chaos. And he sends small bits to Normals he wants to use to find me—Becca, Alex. His thoughts flood me.
. . . Eventually she’ll have to give in; she has to be
weakening. She doesn’t have my influx of power. But she’s
more powerful than I thought; she’s managing to elude me
still . . .
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The power rushes through his veins, leaving him high.
He wants to hoot with joy, but he holds it in; he doesn’t dare let the others know how much he’s keeping from them. Especially Ilene.
I focus on her and, suddenly, she’s aware of me, too.
I feel jangly inside, like I might shake apart, my muscles and veins tearing from my body.
Ilene likes this hunt, this caging and trapping other Paras. It makes her feel powerful. And she’s taught Daniel to love it, too. She’s laughing to herself, knowing I don’t have much time left as Daniel hunts me down.
I pull inward. Black strands, the opposite of life, of energy, are writhing and snaking all around me, sucking up my life force faster than before. And mingled with the shrieking lust for power is a deep, thrumming cold, so cold it burns.
How could I not have noticed?
I dive through the narrowing gap, toward myself.
Something stings my neck as I fall. I tear off the dark strand and it bites into my hand.
I pull my copper shield to me, surrounding myself with it, and the strands dissolve. Then I’m back in Mrs. Vespa’s office, a red welt on my palm and my neck burning with pain.
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