Sleight of Hand

Chapter 12

Though she'd seen it multiple times already, Sierra was still amazed when she saw the Superhumans released. She was amazed—and horrified—that her father had obtained enough power to be able to hold hostage an entire civilization of people. Where had he gotten the power?

Sierra remembered Kurtis's story. It was believed that the Mage stole power from a Superhuman.

How had he gotten it? What had become of the Super­human whose power it belonged to?

The sliding glass door swished open, and Trebor stepped in. Sierra winced. Irritation rolled off of him. He shut the door, and glared around the room. His striking green eyes settled on the Superhuman sitting at the counter on a barstool—Enaj, Kurtis had called her. His eyes nar­rowed threateningly. When she spotted him glaring, she smiled sweetly at him. She wiggled her fingers in a wave, and Trebor rolled his eyes. He walked out of the kitchen, and disappeared up the stairs. A few moments later, Aivilo, Hanna, Bacon and Ammee came inside.

"Your buddy is pouting upstairs," Enaj drawled, jerking a thumb toward the stairs. Before any of them could respond, Kurtis came back into the room from checking on the other newly released Superhumans.

"That's enough, Enaj," he said. He stood on the other side of the countertop. "For now, these are the people you're going to see every day, so I suggest you all get along."

Nobody seemed happy about it.

Kurtis continued, "Lassos and Rae are resting upstairs. I encourage you to do the same."

"I already told you, Kurtis, I feel fine. I just can't use my abilities for some reason."

"I am well aware of that, Enaj," Kurtis replied. "That's why I am going to retrain you all."

Enaj cocked an eyebrow.

"Retrain? You mean we have to go through all that again?"

Kurtis smiled.

"If I remember correctly, you never had to endure the training of the Elite. You have never been exposed to the kind of training I am referring to. So prepare yourself."

Enaj pursed her lips in a sour expression. The group of Elite who had come in after her were quietly trying to con­tain their laughter. Mac and Alyakim walked into the room.

"What's so funny?" Mac asked when he saw the other Elite. They shook their heads furiously, but Kurtis was already talking.

"Yes, I would also like to know what is so amusing to you. Just because Enaj was never an Elite doesn't mean she doesn't have what it takes to be one. You will all be going through the same rigorous process. You will all be living with one another until you are trained and ready to take on the Mage.

"Oh, and one more thing," Kurtis continued, holding up one of the empty cards. He eyed them all severely.

"If my home is destroyed because of some of you bick­ering, I will put you back in these cards until the Mage is no longer in power. Do I make myself clear?"

Sierra looked around at all the Superhumans. They silently nodded their understanding. Some of them even looked alarmed. Sierra could understand why. If she'd been imprisoned in the way they had, she would never want to go back.

At that moment, Trebor came back downstairs. He looked as if nothing had happened, with a calm and indif­ferent expression on his face. He walked into the silent room, and stopped next to Sierra and the Elite.

"After this weekend, we'll start training," Kurtis said. "I am going to separate you all into groups of two or three, and we'll train in shifts instead of all together. That way, we can focus more on individual abilities."

"What are the groups?" Hanna asked. "And how often will training be?"

Kurtis answered, "I have some groups picked out, but they'll be based on similarities between abilities." He pulled out a sheet of paper.

"Hanna, you and Ammee will train together. I think you two will be the first group come Monday morning.

"Bacon and Alyakim, you two will be together. Mac, Trebor, and Enaj, since you three are so different in terms of abilities, you do not have a single partner. Aivilo, I will have you join each of them as well as the other groups so you can train in different areas of your power. The two upstairs—Rae and Lassos—they will be a group. Trebor and Aivilo, I am going to consider you two a group just because of the physical training you two will require as well. No one will be training alone. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

"I will put a final schedule out for you all to see. When you are not training, you are free to do what you please. However, I would advise against going anywhere near humans for the time being. I am certain they will still try to hurt you all, and kill you if they can."

A heavy silence filled the room.

"That is all," Kurtis concluded. He motioned for Enaj to follow him, and they went upstairs.

"So, who's bunking up?" Mac said to the remaining group.

Hanna said, "Ammee and I are sharing a room so that Enaj and Rae can share. Apparently, they're really good friends."

Bacon added, "Kurtis asked if Lassos could stay with me. So... I guess we're roommates now."

Sierra studied the situation before her. It was so nor­mal. It was almost hard to believe that they were any different from humans. Aside from the fact they basically had superpowers, these Superhumans were just teenagers. They all looked normal in their attire. Most of them wore jeans or shorts. Ammee wore a dress. Enaj and Rae had come from their cards looking like two girls out of a maga­zine. The way the Superhumans acted, the way they dressed... it was all ordinary. The only thing that made Sierra sure they weren't human was because they'd emerged from trading cards in brilliant flashes of light. She didn't get it. Why would her father want to harm these people?

Kurtis came down the stairs alone.

"Where's Enaj?" Trebor asked.

Kurtis replied, "Resting. After I told her everything, she decided to sleep on it."

Sierra could tell Trebor bit back a snarky retort. Even the drama here was normal.

Kurtis turned to her and Tom, who had been silently sitting at the table, observing everything quietly.

"We need to get you two home." Tom didn't stay silent.

"But Kurtis! We want to help!" Kurtis shook his head.

"I know, Tom, but nothing is happening right now. I'm giving the Superhumans all weekend to rest. You can come back Monday morning. The training sessions shouldn't be too dangerous for you to witness."

Tom slumped in his chair, but didn't argue.

"Besides, your mother wants you back by dinnertime. She'll chew me out if you all are not back by then, and frankly, I don't want to be on the receiving end of that."

Kurtis fished car keys out of his pocket. "Come now, we'd better head out."

Sierra gathered her things and said goodbye to the Super­humans. Tom did the same, but it was much more evident that he was dragging his feet. When they finally made it out the door, the Superhumans gathered outside to watch them go.

"We'll see you Monday!" Bacon called to them, and Tom and Sierra turned to look back at them.

They all waved, with varying degrees of smiles on their faces: Bacon had a huge grin, Hanna and Alyakim smiled cheerfully at them, and the rest had small, close-lipped smiles. The sight made Sierra's heart swell. The Super­humans barely knew them, and they were seeing them off.

She decided then and there that she was going to do whatever she could to help these people. Tom seemed to come to the same conclusion, and together they got in the car.