Prologue

My name is Michael Vey. This is a hard time for me. It’s a hard time for all of us. I know, if you’ve followed me, it seems like it’s always been hard times, so I guess it’s relative. When I was in school, a hard time was avoiding bullies. These days the bullies have guns and are trying to kill us. Sometimes they succeed, which is why my heart aches like someone pounded a rusty spike through it. I suppose it’s grief. I can’t believe how bad it hurts.

I keep thinking about what Tara said to me back in Puerto Maldonado when I asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She’d said her plan was to stay away from people who wanted to kill her. I’d say that’s pretty good advice for anyone. I just wish it was something we could choose. Some people chase evil, while some people are chased by evil. We’re the latter. And, in the real world, good doesn’t always win, which is why we’re coming home missing a few friends. And that’s why my heart is broken. I almost asked Tara if she could change my emotions, just so I could get some relief, but that seemed wrong. Like laughing at a funeral.

The Electroclan, what’s left of us, is on the Veytric company jet headed back home to Boise, where this whole nightmare began. Grief aside, emotionally I’m like a ball on a roulette wheel, spinning around waiting to drop onto something. On one hand I think I should be celebrating the fact that Eli Amash and the Chasqui are no more, we saved the city of Arequipa and hundreds of thousands of lives from mass destruction, rescued Jack and Tara from the Chasqui, and made it out alive.

On the other hand, we still don’t know where Abigail is, Cassy is severely wounded, and five members of Alpha Team and Tessa were killed in the battle.

Most of all, I’m mourning Tessa. I can’t stop thinking about the time we met in the jungle and how we escaped the Elgen who were hunting us. Zeus was closer to Tessa than any of the rest of us. They were a thing for a while, and I’m not sure that he ever really got over her. He hasn’t spoken much since he found out about her death. I think he’s in shock. (That’s not a pun.) He’s sitting alone in the back of the plane, sparking. Just like I’m ticking.

At least Cassy’s alive. With all the Chasqui milling about the hospital when Amash was brought in, we had to get her out as soon as we could. I have no doubt we could have taken the whole lot of them, but doing battle in a hospital seemed like a bad idea. Innocent people would probably have been hurt. We put a sheet over her—like she was dead—and walked right past them out of the hospital. They were too preoccupied with the sudden death of their leader to notice us, even though as Anglo-Americans in the middle of a South American jungle we stood out like a glazed doughnut at a WeightWatchers convention.

Ian’s keeping a close eye on Cassy’s wounds, making sure she doesn’t start bleeding again. She still has shrapnel inside her body, some close enough to vital organs to kill her. We’ll take her to the hospital as soon as we land in Boise.

With the exception of Jack, Alpha Team—including their leader, Johnson—stayed back in Puerto to secure their headquarters.

We brought Cristiano back with us. He’s in the front of the plane, sleeping peacefully. I think after he escaped the Chasqui, it’s probably like the end of a very long nightmare for him. I’d sleep too.

Taylor’s lying against me, also asleep. I’m glad she’s sleeping and not reading my mind. Still, every now and then she jerks violently, which makes me wonder if she’s unconsciously wandering around in my head and it’s giving her nightmares.

Tessa’s body is in the back of the plane. It makes me sick thinking about it. We brought her home for a proper burial. My mother is already making preparations for her. I’m glad she’s doing it. None of us wanted to think about it.

Our biggest worry right now is Abigail. We have no idea where she is. We don’t even know if she’s alive. Jack’s losing his mind with worry. What makes it worse is that the last time Jack and Abi spoke, they got into a fight and broke up. He would do anything to get her back.

Ostin thinks she’s been captured by other electrics, and when isn’t he right? What if there are others like us, just as powerful or maybe more so? Who knows what Hatch did? For all I know, there might be hundreds of electrics like us. And if they have Abi, then what? It’s one thing to battle the Elgen. But an enemy with the same powers as us is a different matter. Especially if we’re outnumbered.

Right now, if you asked me if I’m a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty kind of guy, I’d just tell you that I want to smash the glass. I’m tired of all this fighting and loss, and I’m ticking like crazy. It’s constant enough that it hurts. Usually my tics start when I’m stressed. So why wasn’t I ticking in the jungle when we were being hunted by the Chasqui? I don’t know why my Tourette’s acts up sometimes, then lies dormant at other times. Right now, I feel like I don’t know anything.

That’s not entirely true. I know my heart hurts.