Hero Reborn (Keepers of Justice, Book 3) (21 page)

“It’s not.”

“I know. Back then I just believed Air. But I was wrong. Just because I don’t know Ray well that doesn’t give me the right to make up lies about him. Or to believe everything Air said. He’s your friend. You guys care so much about each other. I know he’s a good guy.”

“He is. He’s got
some issues to deal with, just like everyone else does. But he’s great.”

She doesn’t say anything for a bit. Then, “Most of the kids
in the League hate Air, but she’s not at all what she seems. She’s a good friend.”

I don’t know. It’s hard to think of her as anything but a jerk. I mean,
four months ago she almost choked X to death. She doesn’t seem to have an ounce of niceness in her.

Furball pulls her hand out of mine.
“She accidentally killed her parents. She, Earth, and H
2
0, but mostly her. Can you imagine living with that guilt?”

I shake my head.

“She’s angry all the time. She needs to be on high alert because she doesn’t trust anyone.”

“Not the League?”

“She’s scared the government will take them away,” Furball says. “Separate her from her sisters. Lock them up. She protects the others.”

“I get it. But why does she have to be so mean? Samson will make sure nothing happens to them.”

Furball looks around the barren walls. “Really? Look at us. I’m not saying this is Samson’s fault, but we’re never really safe, are we?”

“
I…I don’t know.”

“The triplets have each other and no one else. Air was just looking out for them. I know she’s mean, but you need to understand where she’s coming from. She
killed
her parents. It messed her up. I’m not saying it’s okay to behave the way she does and I don’t agree with a lot of it, but the three of them need a friend. They have no one else.”

I take her hand again. It’s so cold. “You’re a good person.”
And I’m totally in love with her. But I’m not going to tell her that. Would it be weird to kiss her hand? Probably. Should I do it? Probably not.

“Thanks.”
She smiles a little bit. Something protrudes from her cheeks. Squinting, I see…whiskers? They’re white and thin. I reach up to touch them. They’re so sharp they nearly prick my fingers.

Eyes wide, Furball brings her hand to her cheek. Her face gets red. “Oh…”

“You’re so cute,” I blurt. Her body reacts to these feelings just like mine does. It makes her lose control over her powers.

She seems to be losing
even more control because red fur starts to grow on her hands and face. Tiny cat ears pop out at the top of her head. Furball covers her face. Her arms are furry, too.

“This is so embarrassing.”

I smooth the back of my fingers on her arm. The fur is so soft. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. I—I love it.”

She purrs. Then groans. “Really?”

“Yeah. A lot.”

She uncovers her face and smiles shyly. “Thanks.”

I feel a huge grin tugging at my mouth. Just a few days ago, I thought Furball hated me. Now that we’re together and everything, I’m, like, the happiest dude to walk on the planet. But then I think about all the sick humans and my stomach drops. I really shouldn’t be happy when they’re suffering.

“I’m not changing back,” she says.

I eye the fur. It looks like it’s gotten thicker. The cat ears still pop out of her head. “How long does it take?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never...I’ve never changed because of this.”

“Is it uncomfortable?”

She shakes her head. “I just look weird.”

“No, you don’t.”             

She shrugs, her eyes on the bed.

“Maybe watching TV will help?” I ask.

“I’m tired. Maybe I’ll shift back
if I take a nap.”

My body fills with disappointment. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” She walks to the door and turns around. Maybe I’m imagining it, but it seems like she doesn’t want to leave. Like she’s arguing with herself.

“Bye, Stretch.”

After giving me a wave, she leaves the room. Her room is all the way on the other end of the hall, since guys and girls’ bedrooms are not allowed to be near each other. The hall isn’t long, but it feels like she’s on the other end of the country.

I miss her already.

It’s almost three AM. The guys and I are ready. Samson and Cindy have been out all day and updated us on…nothing. They’re completely clueless about what to do.

“We need to keep Stealth calm,” Kale says. “That way we’ll stay longer and learn as much as we can.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, guys.”

X waves his hand. “Not your fault. I shouldn’t have upset her.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Kale says.

X waves his hand again like he wants to drop it. “If we go in there and she remembers last night’s conversation, you need to get us out, Stretch.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”

We lie down and Kale connects us. I close my eyes. A few minutes later, we’re flying, dropping from the sky. I land on something hard, something that doesn’t feel like the ground. It’s round and smooth. I look down. A horse? Man, it’s a merry-go-round.
The rest of the area is black. What the heck am I doing here?

“Uh, guys?” Kale asks. “What’s going on?” He and X are sitting on horses
on my right and behind me. We bob up and down as the ride moves. I haven’t been on one of these in years. My childhood comes rushing at me like an ocean wave. The adults would take us to carnivals and stuff. We’d go as regular humans, not KOJ. It makes me think about my parents and how scared I was of the horses. Dad held my hand each time I went on this ride.

Kale’s eyes shine like he’s remembering it. X’s lips are in a tight line. He must have gone on rides when he was a kid, before he ran away from home. From the little I know about him,
he didn’t have a fun childhood.

“Ray?”

Someone runs toward us from a horse on the other side. Stealth. X slides off his horse and holds out his arms. She runs into them. “Ray.” Her voice is soft, low. A flash of pain crosses his face. His jaw clenches. Stealth doesn’t remember last night. It must be so hard for him to go through this a second time.

He rests his cheek against hers, shutting his eyes, his breathing getting heavy. They stay like that for a little while. Stealth lifts her head and smiles shyly. She kisses him before saying, “This is the best dream ever. It feels so real.”

X looks at Kale and nods. Kale steps forward. “Hey, Stealth. There’s a lot we need to tell you. Is it okay if we do it telepathically so it can go faster?”

She looks from Kale to
X with her eyebrows scrunched. “Okay.”

Placing his hand on her forehead, Kale shuts his eyes. Stealth’s eyes are in a daze as she takes in all the information. When Kale’s done, she gapes at the three of us. “Wow. So this is real. And you’re going to erase my memories?”

“Just of the dream,” Kale says. “So your mom won’t find out.”

“If that’s okay with you,” X adds.

“Yeah.” She squeezes his hand. “I’m so happy you’re here. All of you. Hi, Stretch.”

I wave.

“You probably all hate me.”

X shakes his head. I say, “No
,” while Kale says, “Hell no, Stealth.”

“How can we after all you did for me
?” I tell her.

She brings
the tip of her white ponytail to her mouth. “I’ll tell you anything. Anything you need. Just ask.”

No one raises the topic of the Blades’ headquarters. Kale must have shown her the argument she had with X.

“Do you know how your mom’s controlling the humans?” X asks. “We assume it’s through the virus.”

“It is.” She motions for us to sit down on one of the benches on the carousel. She and X sit in the front while Kale and I sit behind them. They sit backwards to face us. She takes in a deep breath. “My mother’s main goal is to heal my dad. But she doesn’t want the humans to get healed, too. She wants to kill them all. The virus will eventually kill all the humans. My dad…he’s getting worse. That’s why she kidnapped your scientists. If she doesn’t have the cure, he’ll die. They’re working hard on it. Once he’s cured, she’ll release the other virus, the one that will kill all the humans instantly.” Her gaze goes to the floor. “She framed the Keepers, which caused the military to go after you. She wants to make sure you’re scattered and lost and confused and have no way to create the antidote. And she also wants
to have the humans not trust the League anymore. To break up the alliance between the government and the Keepers.”

That’s pretty much what
we gathered.

“Why would she go through all that, though?” Kale asks. “If
she’s using the virus to control the humans not to take the cure?”

“She wants to be extra careful. In her eyes, the humans
are not allowed to be cured. No matter what. And she’d do anything to make that happen.” Her lower lip trembles. “I’m sorry. I wish I could stop her. I really do.”

X wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her close. “Maybe you can. Tell us everything you know.”

She swallows. “She’s using the president.”

“President
Ashford?” Kale asks. “The president of The United States?”

“Yes. He’s her puppet. She controls him to do whatever she wants, and the humans follow him.”

“I don’t understand,” X says.

“She’s using her telepathy to control everyone,” she explains. “But it takes too much energy to control
and monitor the minds of billions of people. It’s easier to control one person and have everyone else follow him. Like he’s the central brain and they’re the rest of the body. They follow what he does—what my mom tells him to do.”

No one talks. Only stare at each other. Kale’s mouth hangs open, probably like mine, except mine’s reaching the floor. X’s eyebrows are furrowed.

“Let me see if I understand correctly,” he says. “The virus doesn’t control the humans not to take the antidote, but to copy what the president does. He’s Vlayne’s puppet. She can do whatever she wants, and he’ll listen. And everyone else will follow him.”

Stealth nods.

“What about other countries?” Kale asks.

“As long as they have the same virus, they’re programmed to follow the president of the U
.S. too.”

Oh, geez. They’re like robots.

X’s hands are fisted on his lap. Stealth rubs his knuckles to loosen them up. “Remove her hold on the president, and you stop her.”

“But how the hell are we supposed to—?”

Kale doesn’t get to finish his sentence because we’re shot in the air. Oh, no. Oh, crap. We’re being thrust out of her dream.

“Erase!” X says. “Kale, erase!”

“I can’t. It won’t—”

We’re dumped on the floor. My face is pressed against the wood. Lifting my head, I see we’re in some sort of house.
In a nursery. A man and woman are hovering over a crib. The baby is crying.

“What the—?” Kale whispers. “Who the heck is that?”

“Did you erase her thoughts?” X asks.

With wide eyes, Kale shakes his head.

This is bad. So, so bad. X takes my arm. “Stretch, you need to get us back to Stealth before she wakes up.”

My gaze goes to the couple. The man’s arm is draped over his wife’s shoulder. Her body quakes like she’s crying. The baby still wails.

X shakes me a little. “Please, Stretch. You can do this. You need to. We’ll help. Let’s focus our minds on Stealth.”

I take in huge gulps of air and release them slowly. Shutting my eyes, I focus on getting back to Stealth. I feel the guys’ energies flow through me as we channel our thoughts to
her. Less than a minute later, we’re shoved back into the sky, then fall onto the carousel.

X jumps to his feet, looking around for his girl. She rushes into his arms. “What happened? Are you okay?”

X hugs her close. “We’re fine.”

“What was that?” Kale asks her.

“What was what?”

She didn’t come with us because she’s not telepathically connected. X tells her where we ended up.

“I have no idea. I don’t think that was part of my dream.”

“So…I did that?” I ask.

“Did you go into someone else’s dream?” X says.

I rub the back of my head
“Dunno.”

We stare at each other. X clutches Stealth like he never wants to let go. Her eyes are sad. She knows they’ll have to part soon and that she won’t remember this. It
sucks.

The
place starts to get blurry. “Uh, guys. We need to go. Fast.”

X’s face is full of pain.
His clutch on Stealth tightens “All right. Kale, erase Stealth’s memory.”

She
nods, letting him know she’s okay with it.