The Girl With Green Scales: A Gen M Novel

Chapter 38: Cloud

I slink ashore; my scales ripple, ridding me of the river water. The hollow towers of Jupitar City rise beyond the trees along a shoreline parkette. I feel the data key inside my cheek. I have to get it to Mairī Lin and—

A glowing globe surrounds me.

"Welcome home, Lilianne," Captain Light says, gliding forward.

I press at the photonic ball trapping me.

No! I rage. I was so close! I look back at the boroughs. Justice ends here because of me.

"Bravo to you," Captain Light says. The symbol of a lightning bolt on his muscular chest is blurred by a bloody handprint. How many protectors did he slaughter? "First Minister Fighterman will be pleased you survived."

Captain Light speaks as if this were a friendly round of no-stakes poker, and I had the bum hand.

"You kill children!" I shout.

Captain Light turns his floating form away from me. A wedge of solid light gags me. I remember how Captain Light took Anton away at EverMight. Is this how terrified he felt? I have to do something; I have to—

Captain Light flickers; his hovering form bobs, and the glow about me winks out. Captain Light stumbles, wheezes, and falls to his knees. I land gracefully.

"What's ... happening?" Captain Light stutters. Tourmaline stands in front of him, palm up. Motes of light stream out of the fallen H.E.R.O. and into her hand. Her crystalline form pulses with his stolen glow. His eyes roll back, and he collapses unconscious to the ground.

"Thank y—" I start.

"Save it. I'm here for revenge and to save my brother," Tourmaline says. "Groff Fighterman messed with the wrong family."

"Effing eff," I swear.

"Rude," she says.

"Not you," I snap.

I point at a coiling mist tumbling through the arched entry to the park, flooding toward us. Tourmaline fires a beam of light that passes right through Cloud.

"They're going to take us, just like they took Ceph!" Tourmaline rounds on me, stomping her petite foot. "This is all your fault. You brought that stupid Anton back into our lives!"

I take the data key from inside my cheek and place the tech into Tourmaline's palm.

"Here," I say. "It's me they're after. Get this to Mairī Lin."

Cloud tumbles toward us like a killer wave.

"Go!" I shout, pushing Tourmaline toward the tended forest.

Tourmaline squeaks and runs into the trees; I charge on all fours directly toward Cloud.

My scales pull tight against each other, forming a shield of closed pores. Cloud rises into a tsunami and dives at me. I jump and flip over as ze smashes into the ground; zirs form sprays outward.

I land between the arches of the park gate. Cloud grunts. I run for the hollow towers of Jupitar City.

Cloud's fast; I'm faster—but I'm also getting tired. Ze isn't. I manage to hide in the Nocturnal Zone, amidst halfie vendors selling grilled meats and pickled fruits to peckish Supergenics. I press against a brick wall. My scales ripple and blend. Cloud searches, crawling along the ground around people's legs, spreading thinner and thinner to cover as much territory as possible. Ze's form blankets the area like a barely perceptible, low-lying fog—one that is about to touch my feet. I hop and stick to the brick.