POWER | the darkest minds

chapter thirteen

"Liam, Chubs, and Zu are waiting under the bridge still. They wanted to tag along, but I told them to wait," I explain. "Didn't know if you'd like everyone to come and . . . confront you, I guess."

We walk down the stairs off the bridge and round the corner as she lets out a chuckle. "Yeah, thanks for that."

I turn to glance at her as she follows me. "I think Zu already—"

My words are cut short as a sharp pain spreads throughout the back of my head. I feel myself fall to the ground as specks of black begin to enter the corners of my vision. Ruby collapses to the asphalt with a scream next to me. I turn onto my back, forcing myself to try to get up despite the pain.

A high pitched sound rings through my head as I try to do so, making me groan in pain. A figure comes into view and I recognize her. "Jesus, you never quit, do you?" I grit out, grabbing my head.

Lady Jane walks closer, pointing the end of her gun to my head. "Kids can hear frequencies that adults can't," she informs calmly. "There's some good in getting old after all."

She grabs my shoulders and turns me onto my stomach before pinning my arms behind my back. The woman digs her knee into my shoulder blades, confining me as she handcuffs my wrists together. My eyes flit over to the van, noticing Zu and Chubs with tape covering their mouths.

"Where's Liam?" I ask, gaining a dry chuckle from her.

"He's a bit . . . tied up at the moment." Her words make me scan the area a bit further, noticing the boy writhing in restraints on the ground near the other side of the vehicle. Muffled sounds leave his mouth that's been covered by duct tape, presumably curses at the woman hovering over me. "You know he goes for 150,000 right now? But you . . . you are worth a lot more." I struggle under her, trying to throw her knee off. "The first price they had on you was 500 grand. Let's just say it's gone up considerably since then. You both should be proud."

She turns me over onto my back and stands, looking over to Ruby. My first instinct is to get out of the cuffs once she does so.

Heat begins to form underneath my skin as the warmth flows through my body and works it's way down to my hands. It takes a few moments, but the extremely high temperature I create causes the metal of the cuffs to become malleable. I wriggle my wrists free and stand once her attention is on pulling Ruby up.

"Ruby, move—" I cut myself off once I see her eyes gleam over with a bright orange. She grabs Lady Jane's wrist and forces her to listen to her.

I stumble over to Liam as she takes control over the situation, quickly ripping the tape from his mouth and trying to undo the cuffs. I fiddle with them for a moment as I sit him upright, but realize that without a key I couldn't get them off. I look up to the boy, his eyes already studying me as I try to free him. "Do you know where she put the key?" He shakes his head and I sigh agitatedly.

"She threw them into the woods. Are you okay?"

I ignore the question and I think quickly, letting my eyes fill with a blue and try to use my telekinesis to maneuver the inside of the lock, but it kept slipping. "I-I can't get the lock—I don't—" I begin to panic with the weight of the situation, not knowing if Lady Jane had called for backup or what could happen if we didn't leave soon. The adrenaline from the previous events flood through me, clouding part of my thoughts.

"Hey, calm down. Emily—Em, look at me," Liam calls my attention. "You just need to think, okay? Ruby has Lady Jane, but we need to go."

I nod quickly, letting out a sigh as I try to calm down. "Okay," I say slowly. "I could—I could burn them off. Melt them, but it'll hurt you, so I can't . . ." I trail off but Liam begins to nod.

"No, that'll work. Just be quick about it," he assures with a small shrug. "Try not to burn me too much."

I think about it for a moment, trying to find the best possible way to do this. I move behind him after a few seconds, taking his wrists into my hands. I focus my power and try to only touch the metal and not his skin. "I'll bend it and you can slip your hands out, got it?" I heat up the object, noticing the rings of the cuffs beginning to warp.

"Okay, yeah that's hot—ouch!"

"Sorry!" I apologize, grabbing the metal and bending it, careful not to touch him. "Okay, take out your hands. Hurry, cause it's melting."

Liam rips his hands out of the restraints as I throw them against the wall of the tunnel and wipe the residue on my palms onto the concrete.

He lets out a sigh as he stands. "I still don't understand how that doesn't hurt you."

•

"We can't keep driving around with her!"

"What's the difference, Chubs? We aren't going to get rid of her. Whether you like it or not, she's staying. I won't let us get caught. We've gotten away from Lady Jane more than once thanks to her." I run a hand through my hair, trying to convince him.

"It's not safe! It's easier to track us if we have her."

   "There's a possibility of them finding us either way, Chubs! You heard what that Jane lady said! They both already have people out hunting for Liam and I specifically," I counter his argument. We had been bickering about this for the past ten minutes, not getting that far thanks to both of us using our Green side.

   "We stick together," Liam agrees.

   "Hey, I'm just gonna go," Ruby speaks up, gesturing with her thumb to the woods. "You guys can stop fighting. I'm sorry that I lied to you."

   The three of us look up, finding the girl standing in front of us before she begins to walk away. "Ruby," Chubs calls out. "Ruby!"

   She stops and turns on her heel to go back towards the van. "I just forgot my bag," she excuses.

   "Ruby! We were talking about damn Betty, not your Orange ass." He gestured towards the van. "And for the record, I knew you were Orange since day zero."

Liam gestured next to us with a breathy laugh. "Sit down."