Keeper of the Lost Cities

Chapter 2

THE NEXT SECOND WAS A BLUR.

The car swerved right—missing Keefe by inches—then jumped the curb and sideswiped a streetlight. The heavy steel lantern cracked from its base and plummeted toward Keefe.

No!

It was his only thought as his instincts took over.

His hand shot into the air, his mind pulling strength from somewhere deep in his gut and pushing it out through his fingertips. He felt the force collide with the falling lantern, gripping on like it was an extension of his arm.

As the dust settled he looked up, and gasped.

The bright blue lantern floated above him, somehow held up by his mind. It didn't even feel heavy, though he was sure it weighed a ton.

"Put it down," a familiar, accented voice warned, bringing him out of his trance.

He shrieked and dropped her arm without thinking. The streetlight hurtled toward them.

 "Watch out!" Biana shouted, yanking him out of the way a split second before the lantern crashed to the ground. The force of the impact knocked them over, and they tumbled to the sidewalk. Biana's body fell to the side, straight on her shoulder, right in front of him

Time seemed to stop.

He stared into her eyes—eyes that were now stretched as wide as they could go—trying to sort through the flurry of thoughts and questions swirling around in her head to find something coherent.

"How did you do that?"

She whispered.

"I have no idea." he sat up, replaying the past few seconds in her mind. Nothing made sense.

"We need to get out of here," Biana warned, pointing to the driver, who was staring at them like he'd witnessed a miracle.

Keefe supposed he kind of did. His chest tightened with panic.

Biana pulled him to his feet as she got up. "Come on, let's get out of sight."

He was too overwhelmed to figure out a plan on his own, so he didn't resist when she dragged him down the street.

"Which way?" she asked when they reached the first intersection.

He didn't want to be alone with her, so he pointed north, toward the San Diego Zoo, where there was sure to be a crowd—even during a firestorm.

They took off running, though no one was following, and for the first time in his life, Keefe missed hearing thoughts.

There's a sentence he'd never thought he'd think.

He had no idea what Biana wanted—and frankly, it was terrifying. His mind ran through millions of scenarios, most of which involved government agents throwing him into dark vans to run experiments on him. He watched the road, ready to bolt at the first sign of anything suspicious.

Hey, a guy has his priorities, including not becoming a lab rat.

They reached the zoo's massive parking lot, and Keefe relaxed when he saw people outside, milling around their cars. Nothing would happen with so many witnesses. He slowed his pace to a walk.

"What do you want?" he asked when he caught his breath.

"I'm here to help you, I promise."

Her voice sounded sincere. Didn't make it easier to believe her, though.

"Why were you looking for me?" He tore his hands through his hair, more than a little afraid of the answer.

She opened her mouth, then hesitated. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you."

"How am I supposed to trust you if you won't answer my questions?"

She considered that for a second. "That's fair. I don't really know much. My father sent me to find you. We've been looking for a specific guy your age, and I was supposed to observe and report back to him, like always. I wasn't supposed to talk to you." She frowned, like she was disappointed with herself. "I just couldn't figure you out. You don't make sense."

"Just what I want to hear" he murmured

Especially from someone who's potentially trying to kidnap you to conduct science upon his brain added unhelpfully

"You're . . . different from what I expected. For one, your eyes really threw me off." Biana looked at them in confusion, and then at a passerby.

"What's wrong with my eyes?" he narrowed said eyes, figuring that seemed like a science-experiment-worthy part of his body.

"We all have blue eyes. So when I saw them, I figured we had the wrong guy again. But we didn't." She looked at him with something like awe. "You're really one of us."

He stopped and held up his hands. "Whoa. Hang on. What do you mean, 'one of us'?"

She glanced over her shoulder, frowning when she spotted a crowd of fanny-pack-wearing tourists within earshot. She pulled him toward a deserted corner of the parking lot, ducking behind a dark green minivan.

"Okay—there's no easy way to explain this, so I'm just going to say it. We're not human, Keefe."

For a second he was too stunned to speak. Then a hysterical laugh escaped his lips. "Not human," he repeated, shaking his head. "Riiiiiight."

"Where are you going?" she asked as he moved toward the sidewalk.

"You're insane—and I'm insane for trusting you." He kicked the ground as he stomped away.

"I'm telling the truth," she called. "Just think for a minute, Keefe."

The last thing he wanted to do was listen to another word she said, but the plea in her voice made him stop and face her.

"Can humans do this?"

She closed her eyes, and vanished. She was only gone for a second, but it was enough to leave him reeling. He leaned against a car, feeling everything spin around him.

"But I can't do that," he argued, taking deep breaths to clear his head.

"You have no idea what you can do when you set your mind to it. Think of what you did with that pole a few minutes ago."

She seemed so sure—and it almost made sense.

But how could that be?

And if he wasn't human . . . what was he?