The Pearl Wars (22 page)

42

If I was thinking clearly, I’d react. But all I can do is watch his face until it’s too late.

“Jesse!” Avery dives out of the way.

My feet are glued to the ground. He found us. So close, and he found us.

Cassius slows down, then peels out to a stop right in front of me, the bumper of his car inches away from my legs. He sits there for a second, staring at me, hands gripping the wheel. I shake the fog from my head and prepare to strike a bargain.

He doesn’t give me a chance. Before I can move out of the way, he lays on the accelerator.

My legs buckle as the bumper slams into them. I’m thrown up onto the hood, yelping as my ankles seize with pain.

Cassius accelerates again, sending my body flying against the windshield. I grab onto what’s left of the wipers to avoid flipping over the vehicle altogether. Face down, I hunker against the car, staring at Cassius through the glass. Our faces are a foot apart now. He doesn’t smile. His expression is blank. Terrifying.

I bang on the window with my fist, shouting for him to stop. Instead he rockets down the pathway into the city. The wind beats against my back, tearing through the legs of my ripped up slacks.

Just as I’m about to balance myself, he makes a sharp left at the bottom of the roadway to avoid a massive pile of boulders. My body lurches sideways, feet hitting the passenger-side mirror as I struggle to hold on to the wiper blades. They bend to the point of snapping off until Cassius straightens out the car and I twist back to the left, colliding with the windshield again. A crack spreads from the middle. One more direct hit and it’ll shatter.

Piles of rubble fly by on both sides, dwarfing the speeding car. The mist settles in around us. All I can see is the hood as I desperately cling on. The engine heat roasts the skin under my shirt.

We travel until the overpass is long out of sight. It feels like hours. Slow motion. But it’s over in seconds.

Cassius slams on the brakes. The force flings me back instantly. The wiper blades snap and I fly over the trunk. Landing on my feet’s not an option. With the moments I have, I cover my head to minimize injury.

I hit the pavement hard. And it isn’t like Syracuse. This time it steals my breath. This time the pain rings through my body with such intensity that I’m afraid I’ll pass out.

I let my limbs fall to the side and lie on my back, struggling for air. My shoulders throb.
Everything
throbs. It feels like somebody punched me all over with a concrete glove. My head spins. The thick smog threatens to reach down and choke whatever’s left of my lungs.

All it took was two moves for Cassius to completely immobilize me.

Cassius shuts off the car and bounds from the driver’s side, slamming the door behind him. The sound echoes along the ravaged buildings.

I move my fingers, trying to lift my arm. My legs are brittle and useless, but I pull them in anyway, pushing at the ground with my heels. Anything to get away.

Cassius marches toward me, faster than I have any hope of escaping. In one violent movement he reaches down and grabs the front of my shirt, yanks me from the ground, and pushes me into the pile of rubble behind me.

“What the hell did you do to me?” he shouts, his face red, eyes ablaze.

I grab onto his wrist, trying to pry myself from his grip. My body feels like a rag doll, muscles shut down.

“I told you,” I stammer through fractured breaths. “I don’t know what happened.”

“Why would she lie to me?”

“Madame?” I kick at his shins. “Madame’s crazy. She’s not who you think she is.”

He lifts me up another inch until the shirt starts to cut into my neck. “Don’t talk about her like that!”

“I’m … I’m serious,” I choke. “She’s using you.”

The com-pad at my belt hisses to life. Eva’s voice comes out muffled and small. “Jesse, are you okay? Jesse? Avery’s coming down after you. There are—”

Cassius rips the device away, chucking it into the rubble. “Back in Portland you said you were sick, like me. Why haven’t
you
exploded?”

I cough as the smog creeps into my lungs. “Put me down and we c
an talk.”

His eyes narrow as he considers it. With a sigh, he lets go of my shirt. I crumple to the ground. Not exactly what I meant by “put me down.”

I pull my aching body to a crouching position and rub my shoulder. My knees are raw, my scuffed slacks stained with blood. “What do you mean,
explode
d
?”

“On the Chute,” he mutters. “Fire.”

I stare up at him, searching his stony face for an answer. “That was y
ou?
You
blew up the train?”

“Every time I get close to you,” he continues. “Ever since the rooftop.” His fingers clench into a fist at his side. “Fire. From everywhere. From inside.”

I take in a mouthful of air. “You’re … you’re not exploding n
ow.”

He looks down at his hands, shaking. “She said if I found you I’d be cured. She said you were the reason, that you’re dangerous. What the hell’s so dangerous about you?”

I frown. “My incredible knack for getting my butt kicked?”

He scowls. “You think this is funny? I crawled through the desert because of you! I … killed an entire train of … ” He trails off.

I sit in silence, watching him control his expression.

He crosses his arms. “So what happens to you? What happens when you get sick?”

I look over to the side. I shouldn’t tell him. It’s stupid to reveal anything that could be used against me, but there’s a desperation in his eyes that even he can’t control.

“Pearls.” I hold my fist in the air, letting my fingers fall open. “They explode. Boom. Then they’re gone.”

His eyes widen. “You can destroy Pearls?”

I nod.

His expression becomes cold once more. “She’s right. You’re a danger to the country. You’re just what the Shippers need to weaken the Unified Party and gain control.” He reaches forward.

“She doesn’t love you,” I say, hoping that I can get him to pause for a second. I remember what Avery said outside Lenbrg.
Madame’s really done a number on Cassius
. I can’t take him physically, but maybe there’s another way.

His hand freezes.

“You’re not her son,” I continue. “Not really.”

“That’s none of your business.” He sneers. “Why did you come here? Why Seattle?”

“Skyship found me here when I was a kid.”

He shakes his head. “Madame knows. She’ll be here. She’ll find you.”

I grit my teeth, inching back against the rocks, building up what little energy I have left. “I’m a good hider.”

He chuckles. In that instant, for the split-second he’s unguarded, I kick him right in the stomach. He staggers back a few paces, out of breath. It’s long enough for me to push myself up and limp around the nearest boulder.

“Big mistake!” He wheezes behind me.

I keep my attention forward, dipping under a crumbling entryway into a narrow, dirt-stained alley. Strength failing me, I dart behind a piece of wall, clutching my chest. My organs burn, working overtime. The air stings as it hits
my skin.

It’s quiet for a moment.

Cassius flies around the corner of the wall and punches the side of my face. I lurch farther into the half-building, fe
eling around the inside of my mouth with my tongue to make sure I’ve still got all my teeth. I gag on blood. Metallic. It tastes horrible.

Cassius smiles. “Time’s run out.”

I hunch over, breathing hard. He approaches slowly and watches me struggle.

“Help me find the lab,” I choke. “Maybe there’ll be a cure.”

“Madame has the cure.” He pushes me backward. “All she needs is you.”

I trip over a beam sticking out from the ground. “She’s playing you. It’s all for Pearls. I can control them. Once you bring me to her she’ll forget about you.”

Before I can stand up, Cassius grabs my arm and twists it behind my back. I shout out in pain. He twists harder. “Prove it.”

“That girl I was with,” I sputter. “Her name’s Avery. She’s like you. Madame trained her, raised her, and got rid of her. You’re just an accessory.”

“I’ve never seen that girl at the Lodge,” he whispers. “I don’t believe you.”

“That day on the rooftop,” I continue. “We triggered something in each other. It brought me here. You, too. Help me find the lab. We’re connected in some way.”

“You’re crazy,” he replies. “There is no lab. The Unified Party’s sifted through these ruins hundreds of times. Everything was destroyed.”

I elbow him in the stomach with my free arm. He stumbles back, allowing me time to break free.

He’s about to lunge at me again when a soft whimpering cuts through the silence. Both of us pause, listening to the crying.

“Do you hear that?” Cassius whispers.

I nod, coughing. “It’s coming from the other side of the alley.”

Without responding, he walks to the edge of the building and peers out a large hole in the side of the wall. I limp after him and turn the corner into the alleyway.

The crying grows louder.

I toy with the idea of attacking him again. His back’s turned, but even without the injuries I’d be no match for him. It’s safer to run.

And that’s just what I’m about to do—until I step into the intersection.

I recognize it immediately from my dream. No, not dream.
Memory
. Everything’s where it should be, each concrete skeleton positioned as if I had stepped back in time. The green mist has cleared. It’s lighter now, but the same.

Then, crouching on the sidewalk next to a blown-out window, I see her.

A girl a few years younger than me sits with her back to us, dwarfed by a jagged, barely standing wall. She senses us immediately. She quiets and turns around to stare.

She wears loose-fitting pants and a shirt, unadorned and simple. Once white, they’re now smattered with dust and dirt from the ruins.

We approach her carefully. Something about her demeanor demands caution.

There’s something off about her. At first I don’t see it, but as a faint glimmer of sunshine pokes through the smog and illuminates her skin, I notice the glowing.

Green. Hazy, but undeniably green.

The energy pours from her like a beacon. Pearl energy.

The pieces fit together perfectly in my mind, even though if I sat down and thought about it I’d realize how crazy it sounds.

I know who this girl is.

She flew out of a Pearl on the overpass. I freed her.

43

The girl staggers forward, looking at us like we’re a pair of strange animals. She squints as she pushes through the mist, jerking her head side to side. Her bony shoulders are hunched over. She’s malnourished, to say the least.

Cassius and I stand in silence. I watch the girl stumble on bits of rubble. She seems disoriented—out of place.

The sadness and uncertainty in her eyes make her look like a child. Her wispy blonde hair floats in the breeze, sticking to tear-dampened cheeks. She wipes it from her face and allows herself a faint smile as her eyes meet mine.

Then she runs, an awkward lope toward me like a baby learning to walk.

Her first words are unrecognizable—strings of sounds like the ones I heard coming from the Pearl in the trailer. But as she falls forward into my chest, there’s one distinct word buried in the clutter. “Key,” she says.

Before I can react, she wraps her arms around me in a tight embrace. At first I try to pull away, but as her skin touches mine my body buzzes with warm electricity. My knees scab over and smooth. The throbbing in my ankles retreats. Every last drop of pain fades into a memory. She’s healed me.

After a few seconds, she lets go. I fight the urge to grab her again and hold her close. It’s addicting, the energy.

“The. Key.” Her words come out fractured.

“Oh.” I fumble with the chain around my neck, pulling the key from under my torn shirt. “You mean this?”

She glances down at the silver key for a second before looking back up at me, brows furrowed. She shakes her head.

I pull the chain over my head and cradle it in my hand. “The key, right?”

Her eyes narrow and she points her finger into my chest. “The. Key.”

Cassius steps up behind her, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around forcefully. “Who the hell are you supposed to be?”

She pushes away from him immediately, pulling her arms up around her shoulders. She glances back at me before scanning Cassius from head to toe. Then me again. Then Cassius.

I place the necklace around my neck again. “Do you know anything about a lab?”

She cocks her head, eyes focused on a point far off in the distance.

“Do you understand me?” I continue. “Do you speak English?”

Her eyes shoot back. “I … learn … English. Learn. Ed. Learned.” Then it all spills out like I’ve flipped a switch inside of her—a jumble of words thrown together so fast that they become a single sound. “Carbon-bench-green-supervisor-episode-age-sea-setting-plenty-small-escape-crunchy-umbrella-orbital-police-future-run—”

“Okay,” I try to interrupt her, “that’s enough.”

“—radius-church-shiny-given-convict-rhythm-lost-lecturing-abhorrent—”

Cassius glares at me. “Shut her off!”

“Don’t you think I’m trying?” I grab her shoulder, hoping to shake the crazy out of her.

“—silverware-dance-shipping-amaze-cry—”

I grip onto her other shoulder and spin her around so we’re face to face. Her eyes roll back, gazing up at the sky. All I can do is watch for a moment as her lips move effortlessly to accommodate each new word—faster and faster until I have to shout to be heard over her voice. “Have you seen a lab?” She ignores me, eyes still far away, so I repeat myself. Louder. “Did you come from a lab?”

The girl stops. Just as suddenly as it had begun, the string of words becomes a tense silence. Her eyes drop to meet mine, her voice soft. “Came from energy transport.”

“From a Pearl. I know.”

“Key
should
know.” She reaches up and rubs her chin, clenching her teeth. “Before transport, there was a lab.”

I drop her shoulders and clench my fist. “I knew it! Where is it? I think this key might open something inside. If we can just find—”

“Wrong.” She grimaces. “Incorrect.” I watch as she moves her tongue around in her mouth, opening and closing her jaw. “Untrue. Transport laboratory is many moons away. You should know.”

My fingers fall loose at my sides. I run through her words again and again in my mind, trying to convince myself that there’s another explanation.

Cassius scoffs. “This is ridiculous. I’m supposed to believe that this girl came from inside a Pearl? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve
heard in my life.”

She turns to him. A hint of green still lingers around her.

He shakes his head. “Pearls are energy. Electricity. They’re not people. They’re resources!”

“Transport energy,” she replies, eyes dissecting him. “Body and soul broken. Electrons, neutrons, dancing inside … waiting … waiting to reform. Waiting for sanctuary.” She reaches her fingers out to his arm. “Your wrist. Bare.”

Cassius pulls back his hand. “You don’t seriously believe this crazy chick—”

“I saw her fly out of the Pearl,” I reply. “And it’s not the first time. Back in Portland … ”

Without turning around, the girl lays her hand on my shoulder. Again with the pleasant, almost tranquilizing buzz. “More of us. Where are they?”

I shake my head.

“Key,” she continues, “Key unlocked them. You know.”

Cassius moves forward to grab her arm. Before he can do anything, her hand darts up and he’s forced back by an invisible energy wave.

“The others,” she whispers. “Thousands. Where?”

“I don’t know,” I stammer. “I … didn’t know.”

“Key. You know.”

I stumble backward in realization of what we’ve done. I breathe deeply. “All of them. Every single Pearl we’ve used to power a Chosen City or a Skyship, they’ve all been people, haven’t they? We’ve been killing
people
.”

The girl’s eyes bore into mine.

“I … I was never anything special,” I continue to back away. “You’ve gotta believe me. I was just an ordinary guy until—until I met Cassius.”

Her eyes widen with a sickening realization. Her fingers fall limp at her side. “Trigger. Trigger never happened.”

Cassius steps closer, careful to keep his distance. “What trigger?”

Her path wobbles and she lunges at him, grabbing his hand and running her fingers along his palm in circles. He struggles, but her grip is too strong.

I watch sparks shoot from his hand as she continues to touch his skin. They pop into the air like mini fireworks. Then, after circling his palm half a dozen times, she conjures a tiny flame. It flickers half an inch above his skin. He doesn’t cry out in pain, doesn’t even wince. Instead, his brows furrow and he pushes her away with his free hand. “No, no! You don’t know what you’re doing—”

She stumbles back but quickly regains her balance. “Only several days old. Power should be strong.” She shakes her head. “Not right.”

He closes his fist. The flame extinguishes. “You know something about the fire?”

“Displacement of energy,” she mumbles. “Conduits. Reaction. Not right.”

“Slow down.” I move to her side. “You’re not making any sense.”

“Separated,” she continues, paying little attention to me, “separated immediately. No trigger. Everything ruined.”

“
What’s
separated?” Cassius moves in.

“Thousands of us,” she crumbles to her knees. “Gone. So many. Separated.”

I grab her arm to prevent her from crashing to the ground. The right side of my body hums with energy. “I think she’s going int
o shock.”

She shakes her head, tears streaming down her face. “Failed us. They failed us.”

Cassius crouches down beside her, swearing. “
Who
failed you?”

Before she can answer, her eyelids flutter and she loses consciousness. I set her on the ground.

Cassius sighs. “Well, that’s just great, isn’t it? Babbling like a crazy person … ”

I glance over at him. “I don’t think she’s crazy. She knew about your power.”

He clenches his fist. “It’s impossible. She drew it out of me without an explosion. She controlled it.”

I pause, hearing footsteps behind us. Cassius notices it too. He darts up from the ground.

I stand, just in time for Avery to bound at me, nearly knocking me off my feet. “Oh Jesse, thank god you’re alive!”

“How’d you get down here?” I struggle for breath through her monster hug.

Instead of responding, she releases me, and stares into my eyes. Then she kisses me.

It takes a moment for my mind to register what’s happening. After so much stress, so many missed opportunities, I can’t bring myself to believe that
this
is how it’s happening. N
ow.

Still, I don’t pull back. Her lips tug mine. She draws me forward and it’s like breaking the Pearls all over again. Mass powerful. Buzzing.

I hug her shoulder, wishing that I’d never have to let go. Wishing we weren’t in the middle of a war zone.

In that moment, any remaining doubts about Avery shatter inside me. Then she pulls away, eyes wide. “They’re coming. Unified Party ships pulled into the city just as I started running down.”

Before I can respond, the sky rumbles. The outline of a cruiser cuts through the mist overhead, bathing us in shadow. Then another, from the opposite direction. We’re surrounded.

“How charming,” a woman’s voice echoes from the alleyway behind Avery. “It’s comforting to see that teenage hormones are alive and well in these trying times.”

Avery spins around to watch the woman enter the intersection. Her tailored jacket is spotless, like she’s managed to dodge all the dust in the air that’s clogged up the rest of us. Her hair blows softly in the breeze, framing an intense expression of down-turned lips and narrow, mesmerizing eyes. She wears long gloves over porcelain skin and an expensive suit beneath the jacket—completely at odds with her surroundings. I recognize her immediately from pictures at the Academy.

It’s Madame.