I wasn’t outside for more than two minutes before I had to dodge trouble. When Justan shouted my name, I blocked my face with my arms. A rough object slammed into my forearm, and air hissed out of my lips before the object hit the ground. When I opened my eyes, a makeshift hockey puck teetered to a stop at my feet. I only raised my head to look at the boys. Justan and four Jakes were standing in front of me, long pieces of wood in hand.
I snatched up the puck. “Jake, are all of you playing against Justan?”
All four Jakes beamed beneath shaggy black hair but only one said, “It’s fair.” He went on to explain that he was teaching Justan survival lessons. This one was how to overcome numerous opponents at once.
Justan didn’t say a word.
I sighed and sat on the curb. “Does Robert know you two are out here?”
When they nodded, I raised a brow at Jake. In a millisecond, all four of him melted into one twelve-year-old boy. He was forbidden to use his doubling powers outside of the house, but our home was in the countryside. On top of that, our neighbors were hardly ever home. The recent noise complaint was rare, almost unheard of.
I tossed the puck at them. “You two better be careful.”
As if they didn’t hear me, both of the boys slammed their hockey sticks together. Jake even stomped on Justan’s foot. When Jake wasn’t doubled, he cheated. It was almost as if he couldn’t function unless he was doubling himself. He had too much energy for one body. Justan, on the other hand, was one year older and a lot more dangerous. He didn’t have that much energy because he spent all of his time trying to contain his abilities. The two were attached in their struggles for control, and watching them play was like watching sunlight take over the night. Justan’s blond hair was too bright, and it only appeared to be whiter when he stood next to Jake’s jet-black mop. Even then, they acted like brothers, though they looked nothing alike.
“All right! Hockey. I’m in,” Steven yelled as he ran by, and Melody clung to his back like he had forgotten she was there. Her widened brown eyes took over her small face, and her bottom half had already begun to disappear.
I shouted at him to set her down. Once free from runaway Steven, she ran up to me and hugged my torso like she would never let go. Timmy came outside. Ami soon followed, her long braid flowing behind her, and Huey appeared in a mist of smoke and feathers. He could transport anywhere at any time, but I never got used to it. I especially didn’t like the feathers. No one knew where they came from.
Steven was the one to hand out hockey sticks via the discarded woodpile near the neighbor’s house. “This is my stick,” he spoke as the wood cracked. The once-solid object drooped down, flopped up, and hardened into a perfect hockey stick. He could form anything, including his own body. Sometimes, I thought it got to his head—like he believed he could change everyone’s lives the way he could morph wood into another shape of wood.
“Anyone break a limb yet?” Catelyn asked before she came into my line of sight.
The group was already smacking the puck back and forth, but no one was crying yet. “My bet is on Timmy.” He always managed to get hurt first—mainly because he was the only human in a house full of bad bloods. His sisters had been bad bloods, so the parents had assumed he was one, too. When his sisters were killed, Niki found him and took him in, but he had yet to display any bad-blooded features. Still, he was tough for a human. I was surprised the nine-year-old didn’t get hurt more often.
“Or Ami,” Catelyn guessed as she sat next to me, taking a moment to pat Melody on the head. Catelyn wasn’t wrong. Ami hurt herself as much as Timmy did, but unlike Timmy, Ami’s powers hurt her. The fourteen-year-old’s skin attached itself to things. If she were concentrating, she could climb walls with ease, but more often than not, she just ripped her skin off. She demanded the most bandages in the house. Timmy was normally the one to help her put them on.
As a hockey puck shot by, Jake stole Justan’s stick out of his hand. Justan was unfazed. A long piece of wood and bone shot out of his wrist, and he used the material he normally dreaded for the game. When he returned the hit, Huey transported across the pavement to the puck and scored on Timmy. A flume of feathers fluttered to the ground.
Watching them use their powers so openly caused a smile to leap over my lips. One day, I hoped they could do it every day, without concern, but the election would decide that. It was approaching quickly too—too quickly. I didn’t want to consider what would happen if Henderson lost, but it didn’t take any consideration at all. It would be decided. Our lives would end.
“Serena.”
Shivers shot up my spine, and my clutch tightened on Melody. She squeaked. I loosened my hold when I saw Robert. He was standing behind me, but I hadn’t heard him approach. I hadn’t heard anything. But—by the looks of it—he had told everyone to stop using their powers. My mind had escaped itself.
Robert’s eyes softened like he knew. “Can I speak to you for a minute?”
Deep despair nagged at me. Even though his expression was delicate, his words weren’t. Still, I nodded, and everyone’s eyes were on me as I handed Melody to Catelyn. “I’ll be right back,” I spoke to the child who was already reaching out to me again.
I had to force myself to turn away so I didn’t take her inside with me. Robert was already walking into the house, and I had to jog to catch up. When we stepped inside, a wave of heat rushed over my skin. Even though it was a beautiful day, Robert hadn’t turned off the heater. He was distracted. When he locked the door behind us, I knew the distraction was bad.
As he inhaled a large breath, his back rose beneath his red shirt. He exhaled when he turned around to face me. Every movement seemed like a struggle. “Did someone named Daniel help you?”
I couldn’t breathe.
“He’s a risk.” In our twelve years together, Robert had never sounded more monotone than he did now.
“I never said he helped me,” I interrupted, louder than I intended. Even with my heart pounding, I could hear the abrupt raise in volume behind my normally soft voice.
Robert’s face lowered. “Stay away from him.”
He didn’t believe me. Not for a second. How he knew was beyond me. I had promised not to tell the Southern Flock about Daniel, and my promise had broken without me shattering it. Every piece of me was cold as I searched my memory for a slipup, but nothing came, and Robert wasn’t about to tell me what he knew. I could see it in the way he held his shoulders up, broadened and still.
My fingers curled. “Why?”
Robert blinked. I had practically confessed to knowing Daniel, and all Robert did in response was blink. Thirty seconds passed before he leaned against the door, leaned away from the door, and then, leaned against it again. His arms folded before he unfolded them, and then, he turned around. His back was moving again, but this time, his breaths were short and skirmish. “I’m leaving.”
Before he could open the door, I latched onto his arm. He spun out of my grasp and grabbed my arm instead. “This is how I know.” His fingers dug into my flesh, but they didn’t burn this time. The pads of his fingertips were lukewarm, a vibration of heat flowing through his skin to mine. It was the same place he had burned me, but it had healed. Daniel’s powers still flowed through my veins, and now, Robert’s abilities trickled in.
Nausea consumed me.
“I know I hit you yesterday. What I don’t know is why you’re lying to me.” Robert released me like he remembered how dizzying my abilities could be to me, like he was still thinking of only me, and his expression softened. Behind his crumbled brow, I saw him as the child I met and grew up with. “I can’t have you lie to me, Serena.” He stepped back, his eyes squeezed shut, and he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m already risking too much.” It came out in a whisper.
He didn’t have to clarify. He was risking everything by keeping me, especially since Vendona had my photo. The Southern Flock was endangered by my exposure. If I had been a
nyone else, Robert would’ve executed me himself. He would’ve made it painless, but he would’ve done it. Everyone knew it. He had done it before—to a neighbor’s lost aunt, to a salesman who stumbled upon our house on the wrong day, to many others after them. Someone’s life was collateral damage.
“You can’t go near him. Not even once,” Robert continued as memories shook my insides.
Daniel was collateral damage, too.
“He’s dangerous,” Robert added, his eyes opening slowly, the brown color of his irises barely visible in his squint. “Understand?”
I bit my lip to keep myself from arguing. Even though my mind screamed at me to nod, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything.
“Okay, then,” Robert spoke as if I had responded, and he looked past me as if my lack of response meant nothing. He supported himself on the railing as he shouted upstairs, “Niki!”
She ran downstairs as if she had been waiting, and her red eyes gleamed as she approached. Niki was listening to our conversation the entire time. When she passed me, her shoulder hit mine, and I whipped around to grab her dark dreads. I never got the chance to touch her.
Robert stepped between us. His hands landed on my shoulders, and he knelt down so his height didn’t tower over me. “I’m glad you’re back. I am,” he spoke so quietly I barely registered his words. “But I have to do this.”
He was going after Daniel. The liability was a risk Robert had to destroy if he wanted to keep me. Daniel was going to die, and he was going to die because I was alive.
“Don’t.” I dug my nails into Robert’s shirt. “You don’t have to do anything.”
He only touched me again to remove my grasp on his clothes. “I’ll be back in two hours.”
Niki already had the door open, and Robert had managed to step out of my reach.
“You don’t even know where he is,” I shouted at his back.
He slammed the door behind him like he did.
Daniel’s kindness flashed through my memory, some of the clearest memories I had of the past few weeks, and it gave me the strength I needed to move. I yanked the door open, and I ran. Robert and Niki hadn’t gotten very far. Their backs were silhouettes against the setting sun. I could catch them.
Steven blocked my view of them, his light brown hair blond against the burning sunlight. “You’re supposed to stay here.” He had known in advance. I bet they all did.
“Move.” The order escaped me in a hiss.
When he didn’t budge, I leapt to the left, but his hand caught me. Before I could even think of peeling away, his hand formed into mine, and the skin became one. His arm melded with mine, and his powers spiked my adrenaline. He used my own powers against me. I was trapped. Like handcuffs.
“Let me go.” A scream ripped out of my throat.
Steven fell back, taking his arms with him, and I was free. Everyone behind him stared. Catelyn’s blue eyes were the widest. I never screamed at anyone. Not before.
My mouth stayed open, and my eyes filtered out the horizon, hoping to see Robert once more, but he was gone. It would take a miracle to catch up.
“Don’t,” Steven said again.
I took a step, but I didn’t start running. My knees were shaking. Steven had grabbed me. Niki had brushed against me. Robert had touched me. Melody had been in my arms only a few minutes ago. They were all bad bloods—exactly like Daniel—but only one of them was going to die. Our kind couldn’t afford to lose any more. We had already lost too many to the electric chair. Robert just hadn’t seen it yet. No one had seen the toll of death but me. I had to stop him.
Right when I was about to take off, Catelyn stepped in front of me and grabbed Steven’s hand to form a barricade. Their combined silhouettes were bars on a jail cell. “What’s wrong?” she asked calmly, too calmly. Everyone was so calm.
“He’s going to kill Daniel.” The words fell out of me.
Catelyn didn’t even ask who Daniel was. She simply took a breath. “Can we make you stay?”
“No.”
“Then let us go with you,” she said.
Steven’s neck popped when he looked at his girlfriend. “What?”
Catelyn repeated herself without glancing at him. “Ami will watch the kids.”
When I looked at Ami, she bolted upright. The always-braided blonde was prepared to take over at any given minute. In fact, she thrived on it. She started taking the kids inside without any orders, and I looked back at Catelyn. My best friend and sister understood me, but even more important, she believed in me. Robert may have been her leader, but I was her friend.
“Thank you.” I breathed before I ran after Robert and shouted over my shoulder at them, “Now keep up!”