Gone (43 page)

Sam and Edilio caught up with him. Sam put his hand on Quinn's shoulder

"Sorry" Quinn said. "I guess I m just weak"

"Worse is coming," Sam said darkly, "But all of a sudden a nice easy blink doesn't seem like the wwst thing that could happen, does it?"

"Drake's been gone for two days" Diana said. "We need to look at what we have here" "I'm busy," Caine snapped.

They were standing on the front fawn of Coates. Caine was supervising an effort to repair the hole caused by the earlier power struggle. He teleported bricks, a tew at a time, up to where Mallei and Chaz were attempting to cement them in place.

It had all collapsed twice already. It was one thing to pour concrete into a mold in the ground. It was a lot harder to mortar bricks into place.

"We need to make some kind of deal with . . . with the townies" Diana said.

"Townies. Carefully avoiding having to say 'Sam.* Or 'your brother.'"

"Okay. You caught me," Diana said. "We have to make some kind of deal with your brother, Sam. They still have food. We are running out"

Caine made a show of being distracted as he levitated another stack of bricks out through the front door of the school and up to the second floor, where Mallet and Chaz dodged the arriving load.

"Pm getting better at this" Caine said. "I'm gaining control. Precision"

"Goody for you"

Caine's shoulders sagged. "You know, you could occasionally show some support. You know how I feel about you. But all you ever do is bust me"

"What do you want to do, get married?"

Caine reddened, and Diana erupted in an unusually loud laugh. "You get that were fourteen, right? I mean, I know you think you're the Napoleon of the FAYZ, but we Ye still kids"

"Age is relative. Pm one of the two oldest people in the FAYZ. And the most powerful"

Diana bit her tongue. She had a smart-ass answer ready, but she had tweaked Caine enough for one day. She had bigger issues to deal with than Caine's puppy love. And that's all il was. Caine wasn't capable of real love, the deep kind, the kind that would grow over time.

"Of course, neither am I," Diana muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing" She watched Cain* as he worked. Not what he was doing, but the boy himself. He was the most charismatic person she'd ever known. He could have been a rock star And clearly he thought he was in love with her. It was the reason he tolerated her impertinence.

She supposed she liked him. They had been attracted to each other almost from the start. They had been friends . -. no, that wasn't quite the word. Accomplices. Yes> that would do: accomplices. They had been accomplices since Caine first discovered his powers.

She had been the first person he showed. He had knocked a book off the table from across the room.

She'd been the one who encouraged him to work at it, develop it, practice it in secret. Each time he reached some new level, he would show it off for her. And when she showed even the slightest kindness toward him, a word of praise, an admiring nod,even,he wou!d puff up and seem to shine with some reflected light.

It took so little to manipulate him, It didn't require real affection, just the hint of it.

Diana would task Caine to use his power to trip some snob she didn't like, or humiliate some teacher who had come down on her. And when she reported to Caine that the science teacher had cornered her in an empty lab and tried to (eel her up, Caine sent him sprawling down a set of steps and into the hospital

Diana enjoyed that time. She had a protector who would do her bidding and ask nothing in return. Caine, despite his oversized ego, his looks, his charm, was terribly awkward with girls. He had never even tried to kiss her

But then he had attracted the attention of Drake Merwin, who had already acquired a reputation as the most dangerous bully in a school with plenty of bullies to go around. And from that point on, Caine had played them off against each other, doing a little for Diana when she asked, and alitile with Drake.

As Caine's powers grew, both relationships changed.

And then the school nurse, Sam's mother—Caine's mother too, though none of them knew that then—started to figure out that something was very, very strange about her long-lost little boy.

The bricks collapsed suddenly, a series of thuds as they hit the lawn, and a series of groans aid curses from Chaz and Mallet,

Caine seemed almost not to notice. "What do you think it was, Diana?" he said, almost as if he'd read her thoughts.

"I think they didn't set them straight enough, she replied, knowing that wasn't what he meant.

"Not that. Her. Nurse Temple* He repeated the name, drawing it out to get the feel of it. 'Nurse. Connie. Temple."

Diana sighed. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. "I didn't really know the woman."

"She has two sons. One she keeps. The other she gives up for adoption, I was a baby"

"Pm not a shrink" Diana said

"I always had the feeling, you know? That my family wasn't my real family. They never said I was adopted, but my mother—well, the woman I thought was my mother, I don't know what to call her now. Anyway, her, she never talked about having me. You know, you hear moms talking about going into labor and all. She never talked about that"

"Too bad Dr. Phil's not arovnd. You could tell him all about it,"

"I think she must have been pretty cold. Nurse Temple. My so-called mother" He was looking at Diana now, head cocked, frowning, skeptical. "Kind of like you, Diana."

Diana made a rude sound, "Don't try to get deep, Caine. She was probably just a screwed-up teenager at the time. Maybe she figured she could handle one kid but not two. Or maybe she tried to adopt both of you out. but no one would take Sam."

Caine was taken aback. "Are you sucking up to me with that?"

"I'm trying to get you to move on. Who cares about your mommy issues? We have enough food for two, maybe three weeks. Then we're down to beans"

"See what i mean? I'll bet she was just like you, Diana. Cold and selfish."

Diana was about to answer when she heard a rushing sound behind hen She spun and saw a wave, a swarm of rough, shaggy yellow beasts. The coyotes seemed to come from everywhere al once, a disciplined, purposeful invasion that would quickly overwhelm her and Caine.

Caine raised his hands, palms out, armed and ready.

"No," a voice yelled. "Don't hurt them, they're friends."

It was Howard, marching up toward them, waving his hands. Behind him came the healer girl, Una, looking shell-shocked.

And behind them, Drake.

Diana cursed. He was still alive.

And then she saw Drake's arm.

The burned slump, the remains of the arm she had sawed off while Drake screamed and cried and threatened, had been altered.

It was stretched, like it had been turned into dark, blood-red taffy. It wrapped twice around his body. No.

Impossible.

Howard came rushing up first."Has Ore shown up here?" Bui neither Caine nor Diana answered. Both were staring at Drake, who sauntered toward them, all his cockiness restored, no longer the ragged scarecrow who had wept when he saw the melted stump of his hand lying on the tile floor,

"Drake" Caine said. "We thought you were dead "

"Tin back," Drake said. "And better than ever."

The red tentacle unwrapped itself from around his waist, like a python releasing its victim.

"Like it, Diana?" Drake asked.

The arm, that impossible bloodred snake, coiled above Drake's head, swirled, writhed. And then, so last that the human eye could barely register the movement, it snapped like a bullwhip.

The sound was a loud crack. A mini—sonic boom.

Diana cried out in pain. Stunned, she stared at the cut in her blouse and the trickle of red from her shoulder.

"Sorry" Drake said with no attempt at sincerity. "I'm still working on my aim."

"Drake" Caine said and, despite the blood, despite Diana's wound, he grinned. "Welcome beck"

"I brought some help," Drake said. He extended his left hand, and Caine shook it awkwardly with his right, "So. When do we go take down Sam Temple?"

26 HOURS, 47 MINUTES

'THEY'LL COME TOMORROW evening" Sam said, "I believe Caine needs to defeat me. I think it's an ego thing with him?

They held the final council of war in the church. The same church where Caine had carried ou: his smooth takeover. The cross had been propped back up against the walk It wasn't where it was supposed to be, but at least it wasn't on the floor anymore.

From (lie Perdido Beach kids there were Sam, Astrid, Little Pete, Edilio, Dahra, Etwood, and Mother Mary. Albert had been invited, but he was focusing on his plan for Thanksgiving, and on experimenting with the tortilla-burger. Representing the Coates refugees were three girls: Dekka, little Brianna the Breeze, and Taylor.

"Caine's a guy who needs to win. He needs to win before he poofs. Or he needs to win before I poof. The point is, he's not going to just accept us freeing ill these kids from Coates and taking over Perdido Beach," Sam said. "So we need to be ready. And we need to be ready for something else, loo: tomorrow is my birthday." He made a wry face, "Not a birthday Pm exactly looking forward to. But, anyway, we need to decide who takes over for me if... when ... I step outside"

Several of the kids made sympathetic or encouraging noises about how Sam maybe wasn't going to blink out, or maybe it would be a good thing, an escape from the FAYZ. But Sam hushed them all,

"Look, the good thing is, when I go, so does Caine. The bad thing is, that still leaves Drake and Diana and other bullies. Ore... well, we don't exactly know what's going on with him, but Howard's not with him. And Lana ■.. we don't know what happened to her, whether she left or what."

The loss of Lana was a serious blow. Every one of ihe Coates refugees adored her for the way she had healed their hands. And it was reassuring to think that she could heal anyone who was injured.

Astrid said,"! nominate Edilio to takeover if... you know. Anyway, we need a number two, a vice president or vice mayor or whatever*

Edilio did a double take, like Astrid must be talking about some other Edilio. Then he said, "No way. Astrid's the smartest person here"

"i have Little Pete to look after. Mary has to care for the prees and keep them out of harm's way. Dahra has responsibility for treating anyone who gets hurt. Elwood has been so busy in the hospital with Dahra, lie hasn't dealt with Caine or

Drake or any of the Coates faction. Edilio's been up against Ore and Drake. And he's always been brave and smart and able" She winked at Edilio. acknowledging his discomfort.

"Right* Sam said. "So unless someone has an objection, that's the way it is. If I get hurl or I ditch, Edilio's in charge " Respect to Edilio" Dekka said, "but he doesn't even have powers."

"He has the power to earn trust and to come through when he has to" Astrid said. No one objected further.

"Okay, then," Sam said. "We have our people in position and Edilio tells them when to go. Taylor, I know it's going to be boring for you, and a little scary, too. Pick out a friend to go with you. trade off on sleep, but make sure one of you is awake the whole time. And keep practicing. Breeze, your role is critical: you're our communications system once it starts, Dekka? As soon as we hear from Taylor, you and I move out"

"Cool," Dekka said.

"We're going to win this," Sam said.

They all got up to leave. Astrid stayed behind. Sam tapped Edilio's shoulder. "Listen, man, if you can find something usetul for Quinn to do ,.

"Pm on it. He's not a bad shot. I have him on top of the day care with one of the machine pistols"

Sam nodded, patted Edilio on the back, and watched him leave.

"Quinn with a machine gun" Sam said. "I'm asking my friend to shoot people "

"You're asking him to defend himself and defend the prees," Astrid said.

"Yeah, that changes everything" Sam said sarcastically.

"What do you want me to do?" Astrid asked. "You haven't given me a job."

"I want you to find a sale place and hide there till it*s all oven That's what I want"

"But—"

"But... as of tomorrow afternoon, I need you up there." He pointed upward.

"In heaven?" Astrid asked with a grin.

"Follow me" He led Astrid and her brother to ihe steeple. The lattice panels were still knocked out, jusi as Drake had left them. The lights of Perdido Beach looked eerily normal from up here. Many houses still had lights on. The sparse streetlights were lit. The yellow McDonald's sign was brilliant. A breeze stirred carrying the smell of French fries and pine needles, salt spray and seaweed.

Two sleeping bags had been laid out in the snug enclosure. A pair of binoculars and a kid's walkie-talkie lay next to a paper grocery bag.

"I packed you some food and batteries for L. P's game in thai bag. I don't think the walkie-talkie works very well, but I have the other one. You can see almost everything from up here."

It was a tight space. Little PeK immediately sat down in a dusty corner Astrid and Sam stood awkwardly close together, crowded by the bell.

"Did you leave me a gun?" He shook his head-"No."

"YouVe asking everyone else to do terrible things. You're just asking me to watch." "There'sa difference" "U there? What?"

"Well ... I need you for your brains. I need you to observe"

"That's lame" she said.

He nodded. "Yeah. Well. You haven't been trained to shoot. You'd probably end up shooting yourself in the foot." "Ah," she said* not convinced.

"Listen, I know this is crazy, bur maybe you should think about Quinn's idea, you know, of getting L. R to zap you to Hawaii, Or whatever. He has the power. In case things don't work out.. ."

"I don't want him to zap me away somewhere "Astrid said. "I don't really think it would work, for one. And for two -. "

"Yeah?"

"And for two, I don't want to leave you."

He laid his palm gently against her cheek, and she closed her eyes and leaned intohim,"Astrid, I'm the one who's going to be leaving. You know that"