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Lance raised his sword, aiming to strike Matoska’s unprotected head, but the man caught Lance’s arm and twisted his wrist. Lance squawked. His sword fell. Without hesitation, Matoska thrust his knee into Lance’s stomach. Lance gasped for breath and collapsed on his knees.
Matoska grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and yanked his head back, then held a knife to his exposed throat. He looked at me and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Miss Nickleson—my orders are to take you alive. You. Not them.” He gestured to Lance and the general direction Tim was hiding.
“Let him go.” I clamped my hand around my spear. I wasn’t sure if the tingling in my arms and legs was from adrenaline or from my powers. Everything seemed to move so slow.
The man grunted. “You’re a rookie plant elemental. I’ll bet you don’t have a clue how to use that thing, and from my little demonstration earlier, you haven’t learned to control how much power you put into your target.”
Right. That tree he stabbed.
“What’ll it be? You’re not calling the shots, kid. Oh—if your buddy over there pulls the trigger, this guy’s taking the bullet.” Matoska nudged his head toward Lance, and then looked right at Tim. “I suggest you show yourself.”
Slowly, Tim stood, his hand tightly grasping the pistol. He looked between me and our assailant, his eyes wide. He lowered the gun.
“Smart boy.” Matoska returned his attention to me. “Are you coming?”
I nodded.
“Good.” He tapped his finger on an earpiece. “Secure them and move out.”
Several men and women in crisp black uniforms stepped out from the trees. A few cleared grass from their pants as they stood. Those closest to us leveled their rifles at our heads.
They’d been waiting the whole time.
Master Matoska shoved Lance toward me. “Don’t try anything stupid, all right?”
“No, sir,” Lance mumbled, trembling. He rubbed his throat uncomfortably and edged toward me, his eyes burning with unspoken hatred. Tim followed behind us, his head down as if that would protect him if the agents decided to shoot. They led us along another long, weary trail, and none of us spoke. What could we say?
Master Matoska really was a bounty hunter. He was tall, his gait proud but cautious, even though his agents could’ve easily stopped an ambush without trouble. He kept his hair in a black braid that wrapped over his shoulder, and his metallic armor looked well cared for, despite the pits and dings that covered the plates.
Given the leader’s resources, that armor was probably lighter than it looked. Still... for all that he strode forward at a gait that quickly tired me, Matoska held his left arm close to his body. A ragged gash in the fabric under his arm revealed the tan skin underneath and a considerable amount of dried blood.
“You’re wounded,” I murmured. Had Jack done that?
Matoska didn’t respond.
“What happened to Jack? Did you kill him?”
Lance and Tim exchanged glances.
“Where are we going?” I demanded. “Why did you attack us?”
Still no answer.
Frustrated, I stormed toward him, my hands clenched on my spear. Next thing I knew, I was face-up on the ground, my head throbbing. The sky and trees and a pair of agents wobbled in and out of each other, like a kaleidoscope.
I blinked and struggled to sit.
Matoska waited until I was upright, then raised a finger, and both Lance and Tim cried out as the agents kicked the back of their knees. They collapsed, and the rest of the agents trained their rifles at my friends’ heads.
I reached for my spear, but Matoska planted his boot firmly on the shaft. He knelt beside me and pressed the spear into my hands, leaving his own hand just below the shocky tip. “Go ahead. Press the button.”
I stared at him. “What?”
“If I thought any of you were a threat, I would have taken your weapons long before now. So go ahead. Press the button.” He looked down the shaft, his eyes unconcerned. “It’ll hurt, yes. But it’ll hurt them more.” He nudged his chin in the direction of Tim and Lance. They quivered, frozen, waiting for my action.
I swallowed hard. I wanted to press that button so bad...
“You’re the only one I need alive, missy. I can take you by force, and there will be two additional bodies out here for the animals to snack on. Or you can come quietly, and your friends may have a chance to live. Which will it be?”
I trembled, still clutching the spear.
He wrapped his other hand around mine, the same one that held the button. He held my gaze, his eyes hard, and didn’t let go. Panic welled through me.
“I’ll be quiet,” I whispered.
“Good.” He released his grip and I nearly dropped the spear. “Next time, I’ll kill them.”
I struggled to stand. Once Matoska had turned his back, I rushed to Lance and Tim. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “Are you okay?”
Lance grunted, rubbing his legs uncomfortably. Tim edged away from the agents, who’d returned to watching the surrounding jungle. Their expressions were impossible to read under their dark visors.
The thick trees loomed overhead, their vines draped in uncomfortable clusters. The heat was sweltering as the jungle threatened to collapse in on me. Even with every weapon Jack and Inese had given me, I was utterly helpless.
Our trek was shorter than I expected. About ten minutes after the incident that nearly got my friends killed, Master Matoska led us to a paved road. Another fifteen minutes, and we stopped inside the barbed wire fence of their facility. I assumed it was the same one where they’d taken Gwen.
Master Matoska watched as they locked us inside a bare room. The agents took our weapons and Tim’s tablet, leaving us with nothing but a conference table and a small refrigerator. “You’ll stay here until we have a chance to interrogate you,” he told us. “A doctor will be in shortly to block your powers. I suggest you cooperate.” He excused himself, telling the guards at the front door to keep an eye on us while he took care of his wound.
“At least they left us water.” Tim sipped at one of the plastic water bottles they’d left for us in the fridge and offered me one. I took it, dizzy.
“If they block our powers, we’ll be defenseless.” I could already feel my vines drifting as the agents took them farther down the hall. A moment later, the plants were jostled one last time, then left alone.
I sighed. At least I could still sense them.
Lance perched himself on the table, brooding. “Pops was telling the truth.”
“It kind of looks that way,” Tim agreed.
“I wish it didn’t.” I hung my head between my knees. “I wish we could get some kind of message to Inese, but I don’t think they’re going to let us borrow their wireless.”
Tim paused. “Hey... that’s not a bad idea.” His eyes lit up, and he pushed a bottle of water into Lance’s hands. “Drink.”
“What’s not a bad idea?” Lance waved his hand at the water bottle. “I don’t want anything they have to offer.”
“Do you want a chance to escape?” Tim pushed the water bottle at Lance. “You need to rehydrate. We all do.”
“How exactly do you expect us to get past armed guards? They’re agents. We don’t stand a chance.” Lance scowled but drained the bottle in a few gulps, and then winced at what I presumed to be brain freeze.
Tim took a deep breath. “This room isn’t monitored. No cameras or bugs. I think they just put us here as a temporary fix. There are two guards outside, both wearing EYEtoEYE tech. Their helmets are sensitive to techno sight. The locks on the doors are digital, and—”
The door swung open, and a woman entered in a Special Forces uniform without the visor, followed by a single guard. She sat a metal box on the table and clicked the locks, revealing a set of hypodermics in black foam. She turned toward us. “The more you relax, the easier it is for me to inject you.” She held up one of the needles, as if to demonstrate. “It’s a basic power block, so you will sense a loss of your powers, but that’s all. Any questions?”
Tim raised his chin. “They’ve already given us the injection.”
Lance and I stared at him.
The agent frowned. “I could have sworn Master Matoska said you needed the injection.”
Tim licked his lips. “Someone came in shortly before you did. I mean—I’m sure he kept a log of it.”
The agent eyed him warily. “What did he look like?”
Tim glanced at me, his breath shallow. His eyes darted across my face, but he wasn’t looking at me. “Older guy... a bit bald on top. Had a funny looking mustache?”
She sighed. “I guess Doctor Ogden forgot to tell me.” She removed a tablet from her pocket and scrolled through it, then nodded, her lips twisted in mild annoyance. “Yep. Forgot to tell me. I’m going to have to get onto him about that,” she murmured. “Don’t want to overdose you.”
“Uh—” I raised my hand, hoping I could play along. “What would have happened if you gave us the second injection?”
She snapped the metal case shut. “Well, one injection inhibits the gene that allows powers to work. The second causes your brain to go haywire. It suppresses higher cognitive functions. You’d act a bit like a beast does.”
I swallowed hard. “I see.”
She nodded to us and gestured for the guard to step out with her. “I hope everything goes well for you,” she said softly. The door clicked shut behind her.
Lance spun around and stared at Tim. “What just happened?”
“It worked!” Tim burst out laughing.
“What worked?” I asked.
Tim grinned. “I hacked into their network. Rewrote their system to think we’d already had the injection, then looked at their staff list to see who would have been most likely to give it to us. And they bought it!”
“You can do that remotely?” Lance asked. “No tablet?”
Tim nodded and flopped in the chair beside the table. “When Jenna mentioned borrowing their wireless, I started hacking their communication satellite.”
“You sent for help?” Tim... you’re a genius.
“If Inese is paying attention, she should have gotten a ‘we’re here’ signal to track us. I’m trying to see if I can find Gwen now—but I’m not sure how to show you. I think I know where my tablet is.”
“My vines are just a little way down the hall.” I motioned in the direction I could sense them.
“Probably the same spot.” Tim glanced at us. “We might be able to escape.”
Lance nodded, fire lighting in his eyes, and he grabbed another water bottle. “Let’s take a few more minutes to rest, and then we’ll run.”
“Right.” I took a deep breath. Hopefully we’d have enough time to make our plans.
