New Sight (22 page)

“Yes.”

“We need to go find her,” Kamau said, grabbing Lys’s hand and starting back down the hill.

“Why?” Lys asked.

“Because,” Kamau said, “she’ll go after him.”

Chapter 25

Lys hadn’t
thought about that.

“When did you see him?” Kamau asked.

“Right as we pulled up here,” Lys said.

“Be very quiet,” Kamau said, pulling them to a stop.

Lys watched Kamau close his eyes. His chest rose and fell to his deep breathing, and after ten or fifteen seconds, he turned his head to the right. Another few seconds went by before he opened his eyes.

“This way.” Kamau tugged Lys behind him as he set off down a faint trail. The sunset glowed brightly above them as they made their way through the trees. “Brady’s with her,” he said after a few dozen steps.

“Can you hear them?” Lys asked.

He nodded. “We need to hurry.”

They started to jog. Kamau’s feet flew over the trial, never touching a branch, a leaf, or a twig. He didn’t make a sound. Lys, on the other hand, made enough noise for the both of them. She tried to follow his lead, but couldn’t keep up and be stealthy.

The path turned down the slope, and Kamau slid to a stop. Lys grabbed a tree branch to keep from crashing into him.

Before them lay a small, cement building surrounded by a barbed wire fence. The structure couldn’t be more than ten feet square, and the clearing around it reached only a few feet beyond that. A chunk of the fence had been torn away, leaving a gaping hole. The barbed wire hung down, waiting for someone to step into its lair.

An angry voice came from the building. “Where is he?”

Kamau let go of Lys. “Stay here,” he said just before he went through the hole.

Yeah, right. Lys followed, taking care not to get her clothes caught and also eying the forest for anyone who might be around.

“I said, where is he?” Inez’s unmistakable tone filled her voice with menace.

Kamau ran around the front of the building.

“You’d better tell her what she wants to know,” Brady said.

Lys found a barred window and looked inside.

Inez was in the middle of the small room. Brady stood on the creaking cot, holding a man about three feet off the floor. The man’s hands clawed at the iron grip Brady had on his throat.

Kamau stepped inside. “He probably can’t talk with you cutting off his air supply.”

Inez spun around, rage on her face. When she saw Kamau her expression softened a small degree. “What do you want?”

“Lys told me she saw Peter. We came to find you.” He shot Lys a look through the window. She grinned.

As she walked around the side of the little building, she almost tripped over someone lying in the dirt.

“What the?” she said.

“Don’t worry,” Brady said from inside, “he’s only knocked out. I think.”

Lys moved to the door and stepped in. “What did you do?”

Brady shrugged, tossing the man on the floor and climbing down. “Inez hit him.”

The man got up and tried to hit Brady, but Brady swatted the blow away. He grabbed the leg of the metal cot, ripped it off and twisted it around the man’s chest and arms. The cot fell, now a tripod. “Nice try, buddy.”

The man grunted.

“Who is this?” Lys asked.

“He’s one of them,” Inez said, pacing around the room like a caged tiger. “He knows where they’d be keeping Peter.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man said.

“Don’t lie!” Inez screamed the words, lunging forward and grabbing the man by the hair. She yanked his head back and forced him to his knees. The next words came out in a dangerous whisper. “You can tell me where you keep the prisoners.”

“We don’t take prisoners.”

“Funny thing, that,” Brady said, imposing himself between the man and Inez. “They took us prisoner, and we’re here to tell the tale.”

Lys glanced at Inez and saw that her eyes swirled red. Inez shoved Brady aside, and the man began to tremble.

“Why don’t you tell me where they’d take a prisoner.” She leaned down, her face only inches from the man’s. “You’ll be much more comfortable if you do.”

Lys wondered what Inez could do with her magic when she was really trying. Sweat beaded on the man’s brow, and the trembling cranked up a notch to the shakes.

“I told you, I don’t know.” His voice cracked.

“Think hard,” Inez said, yanking the man’s hair back again.

Tears formed in the man’s eyes. “I’m not sure. It could be anywhere. We’ve got lots of places out west.”

“We were in Las Vegas.”

The man shook his head. “They can’t hold users there for long. He’s probably been transported to Denver. Or maybe Phoenix.”

“Which one?” Inez asked in a low voice.

A sob escaped, and the man shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Inez turned to Lys. Their eyes met, and Lys once again saw the consuming pain that simmered behind the swirling red.

“Can you try to find Peter again?” Inez asked.

Lys wanted to refuse. To tell Inez that Mr. Mason would help them, but Inez’s haunted eyes cut through Lys like icy water.

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?” Kamau asked.

Lys nodded. “I’ll try.”

She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. The golden energy battered against the flimsy barrier surrounding it. The small hole Lys opened barely held against the onslaught of magic trying to break free.

Following what Mark taught her,
Lys channeled the magic and forced it through her consciousness. To her surprise, it didn’t take more than a few seconds to find a precarious balance. Close enough. Lys turned her thoughts to Peter. Images from all around her sprung up, and she gritted her teeth together as she filtered them out. She kept Peter’s face in her mind, and after a few more seconds the magic found him. Or so she hoped.

She’d been expecting to see him lying in a white cell, like the one she’d been kept in, but instead Lys saw the sunset. The same sunset that lit up the sky outside the building.

Okay,
Lys reasoned,
the sunset would be everywhere in the west.
Luck made her play and Lys’s perspective moved, catching a glimpse of Peter’s reflection in a window. She’d found him!

He swiveled his head again and Lys saw the inside of a vehicle. Two figures in black body armor sat in the back with Peter.

Lys wanted to recoil, but then reminded herself that the men in black could not see her.

The now familiar buzz began to fill Lys’s mind, and she started to feel like she was flying through the air.

“Do you see him?” Inez asked.

“Yeah,” Lys said, trying to ignore the buzz in her head. “He’s in a van with a couple of guys from the New.”

“Where?”

Lys shook her head. “I can’t tell. They’re driving.”

Inez started in on the prisoner again, but Lys didn’t listen. More images crept into her peripheral, magical vision, and suddenly she could see Mr. Mason’s cabin. She tried to focus, knowing that she was probably seeing through some of the users there.

Before she got out of all of them, one perspective turned from looking at the cabin to looking at three figures in black body armor.

“Oh, no,” she said aloud.

“What is it?” she heard Kamau ask.

Lys didn’t answer. Letting more magic through the hole, Lys opened her awareness and found dozens of perspectives, all of them looking at figures in black armor. Some from above and some from below. Some made her wonder if she was seeing through the eyes of insects—the black figures towered over them.

“They’re here,” Lys said. Her heart began to race, and she tried to shove her way out of the magic.

“Who?” Brady asked.

Lys frantically threw a plug
at the hole. The magic poured out, forcing the plug away. She saw herself shake her head and grit her teeth. This time she put everything she could get into it, and the magic abruptly cut off. She slumped forward, stumbling.

“The New,” she said, reaching her hand out for Kamau’s steady arm. “They’re outside, and they’re everywhere.”

Chapter 26

“Now?” Kamau
asked.

“Right now.” Lys nodded.

Kamau cursed under his breath. “Not now.”

“We have to warn the others!” she said. “Will the sound users hear them?”

“I’m not sure,” Kamau said. “Probably. Where did you see them?”

“Everywhere,” Lys said, looking out through the door—half expecting to see a gun pointed at her face. “Can you talk to the other sound users? Tell them the New are here!”

“Do they have Peter with them?” Inez demanded.

Lys shook her head. “I’m not sure, maybe.”

Inez took a step toward the door, but Kamau grabbed her. “Your best shot at finding him is to stick with Mason.”

Inez shook off his hold. “Why? You don’t trust him.”

Kamau shrugged. “Maybe not, but his people can stand against the New. We can’t. Not by ourselves.”

“I’ll go alone,” Inez said, lunging for the door again.

“Yeah, right,” Brady said, on her heels.

The sound of running footsteps from outside cut the conversation short. Lys, who stood closest to the door, caught a glimpse of Mark and Genni running through the trees.

“What’s going on?” Mark asked, skidding to a stop just outside the door. His eyes rested on the unconscious man.

“The New are here,” Lys said. “I just saw them, they’re everywhere.”

“What?” Mark asked.

Genni frowned. “Are you sure you didn’t see me?” She still wore the black body armor.

“No,” Lys shook her head. “Not you. Lots of them.”

“What did you see?” Mark asked.

“Dozens of them, coming from every direction.”

Mark swore. “How did they find us?”

“They have Peter,” Inez added. “Lys saw that, too.”

“We’d better get back.” Mark glanced at the member of the New on the floor. “He’s not going anywhere. Come on.”

They all exited the building and took about seven steps before the world exploded around them. Lights flashed and a blaring sound worse than a fire engine trapped in a gym filled the air. Kamau went down to his knees, covering his ears.

“What was that?” Lys yelled, not sure how loud her voice was.

“It disrupts the sound users. They’re cutting off our communication. Or trying anyway. It’ll wear off in a few minutes,” Mark said.

In the twilight, Lys saw a handful of figures in black armor coming through the trees about a hundred yards away.

Lys pointed. “There!”

“Great,” Mark said. “We have to get back to the cabin. Kamau, can you move?”

Kamau looked up, leaving his hands on his ears, and nodded.

“Good. Run.”

Lys ran, shoving Kamau in front of her. They followed Mark, who took them on a faint path that wound between the trees. Around them, the sunset started to fade into twilight. They ran down the hill, getting closer to the cabin.

How had the New found them so fast? Why didn’t the New just leave them alone? The ancient war with the Old—is that what kept them coming? Or was it something else?

Bright flashes of the tents started strobing through the trees, and they met a group of users coming up the hill.

“Get behind the line!” a man with red swirling eyes shouted. He waved to Brady. “Why don’t you join us.”

A net flew over Lys’s head, entrapping a boy who went down in a heap. Everyone ducked as three more went by.

Fear jolted the Need and her magic. She tried to keep them both back, but the barrier in front of her magic bowed. The Need snarled. Lys decided that she’d rather have the magic than the Need, so she let it out. A thin stream, pouring straight into her mind. She made a split screen so she could see out of her own eyes.

“They’re not killing today?” someone asked.

“Apparently not,” Mark answered. He gestured for Lys, Kamau, and Inez to join a group of users who were running for the tents. “Follow them. They’ll take you out of here.”

Lys knew Mark would want to stay and fight. She glanced around and saw movement through the trees. The twilight from above, and the shadows from below made it difficult, but not impossible, for Lys to spot the New as they approached.

“There!” she said. “There’s one right there.”

Brady was ready. He had a rock in his hand, and following Lys’s finger, he threw it, striking the figure in the body armor.

“How can you see that?” someone asked.

“She can see in the dark!” Brady said proudly.

“Darlin’,” the man with the red eyes said, waving her over. “Why don’t you stay here right behind me and tell us where they’re coming from.”

“Cody,” Mark said.

“It’s okay. I can do it,” Lys said, wanting to do something.

“Mason is going to have a fit,” Mark said.

“Behind you!” Lys pointed as she spotted more intruders. “Two of them.”

Mark didn’t have time to argue. He crouched down and spun in a circle, like a discus thrower in the Olympics. However, Mark didn’t throw a stone, he spewed rocks and dirt that came right up off the ground, driving the two figures in black back.

“Keep your eyes moving, darlin’!” Cody said in his southern drawl. “Kind of hard to see out here for the rest of us.”

Lys took up position between Cody and Brady. “There are three up in those trees and two more almost to the tents over there.”

Cody grinned. “Go flush them out, boys!” He looked like he was having the time of his life. He had a belt full of marbles and one in each hand. Lys didn’t have to ask him what they were for after he threw a barrage of them toward the three figures in black up the hill. They exited his hands so fast that Lys couldn’t actually see them until they hit a target.

“Nets!” she yelled, pulling Cody and Brady down. The breeze from the cables ruffled Lys’s hair.

“Nice!” Brady said, grinning almost as big as Cody.

“What about the other side?” Lys asked, looking over her shoulder. “There are three going toward the tents!”

“Got it,” Mark said. “Come on, Brady. I think we can use your towel trick on these guys.”

“Yes!” Brady said with a fist pump. “And can we call them the BG’s? You know, for bad guys? Just until I think of something better.”

Brady’s words faded as she watched them go. All around her dirt flew in chunks. Nets whizzed through the air. So far there had been no gun fire. Well, except for Cody. He was like a gun by himself.

“I wonder what the rest of them can do,” Kamau asked, looking at Cody and the others in the line.

Lys jumped; she hadn’t realized he had stayed.

He smiled. “One of the sound users is coordinating everyone. I can hear her now, so she asked me to stay with Cody.”

Where did Inez go? Lys glanced back, but couldn’t see the other girl.

Cody nodded. “Good. Tell me whatever they tell you, too.” He tossed another volley of marbles into a black figure that Lys pointed to. He frowned. “They’re usually more brutal.”

Lys shook her head. Was he complaining?

“More nets!” Lys shouted as soon as she saw another volley coming their way. She glanced over at the boy the first net had caught. Someone had dragged him behind the line. His still body made Lys wonder if the New had decided to kill today after all. Four others lay under nets as well.

“They cut off magic use, and if you mess with it, sometimes they hurt the person inside,” Cody explained, following her gaze. “Don’t worry, someone will get him out of it eventually. For now he’s safe.”

Inez had a knife that could cut through those nets. Lys focused her magic, searching for the other girl.

A wave of images assaulted her, and it took her a second to sort them out. Most resembled the chaos that surrounded her, and before she found Inez something caught her attention. “Uh, Cody,” she said, trying to make out what she was seeing. “They’ve got something really big up the hill.”

“How big?” Cody asked, sending a round of marbles at a set of black-clad figures that got too close. The black armor must be tougher than it looked because they kept getting back up even after being hit by Cody.

“Kind of looks like a surf board,” Lys said, trying to get into the vision of those around her so she could see Cody and herself.

Cody swore. “Sound guy, tell the others that they’re going to pulse us.” He didn’t wait for a response.

“Get ready to jump people!” he shouted. Cody placed a hand on Lys’s shoulder. “Darlin’, just as soon as they lift that thing up, tell me. When it starts to come down, yell ‘now’ just as loud as you can.”

“What is it?” Lys asked

For the first time, Cody looked concerned.

“Nothin’ good,” he said.

A crackling sound behind her caused Lys to turn. A wave of earth rose, headed straight at the New near the tents. Lys saw Brady and Mark shaking patches of ground like you’d shake out a towel.

“Pay attention, people!” Cody said, squeezing her shoulder. “Those two can take care of themselves. Don’t worry, they’ve got our backs. Just tell me when that thing comes down.”

Lys concentrated. Four figures in black surrounded the surf board sized object. When they lifted it into the air, Lys said, “It’s up.”

“Get ready!” Cody said. “Relay that to the others,” he told Kamau.

Projectiles continued to fly around her. Another net caught a victim—this one a girl who couldn’t be any older than Lys. She went down with a scream, but it sounded more like anger than anguish. A blue flash lit up the twilight behind her, and Lys saw Mark through another perspective. All of this came through other people’s eyes, and Lys knew she was about to hit the overload point.

So she shut down everything but the images of the object and her own view. She watched intently, but still had a hard time discerning when the gray cylinder began to fall. The instant she could tell Lys yelled, “Now!”

Lys loved roller coasters. She loved being thrown around every which way, and she rarely got sick on them. The sensation of leaving her stomach fifty feet behind her made her scream in delight.

This, however, made her scream in terror. One second she stood on the ground, watching the cylinder fall, and the next she had been yanked off her feet. Not just off her feet, but off the ground and up past the trees—completely ruining her concentration. Like a claw from one of those toy vending machines in the mall had reached down and plucked her into the air at the speed of light. Not only did it feel like her stomach was still on the ground, it felt like her soul had been ripped from her body, leaving the flesh and blood behind.

Only the screaming proved that she still had both lungs and vocal cords.

Cody didn’t just have her by the waist, but he held two others by the arms. She saw half a dozen more clusters of people jumping into the air, and she wondered if Kamau was still on the ground or if someone had a hold of him.

“Go get ‘em, boys!” Cody yelled as they reached the apex of the jump. He literally launched the two people he held in his other arm out over the trees. Lys could see a cluster of the New along with their gray cylinder—Cody’s guys were headed straight for it.

Lys tried to watch, but she started to fall, and the tree tops got in her way. Wait, they were falling! She took a breath so she could scream again, but before she had to, Cody landed on the ground with no more than a light thump.

“Good job,” he said with a grin.

Screams filled the air. Not yelling, like before, but screams of pain and terror.

“What’s going on?” Lys asked, flinching at the noise.

“Some of the other groups didn’t get out of the way in time,” Kamau said as a woman set him back on the ground. Lys noticed that his dark skin was a shade or two lighter than it had been a moment before.

“Pulse is a nasty business,” Cody said. “It messes with our magic. Makes it feel like your head is going to explode if you don’t get out of the way.”

“Did we . . . did we get out of the way?” Lys asked, her hands shaking a little. Too many feelings ran through her and she couldn’t tell magic from pure fear.

“Sure did, thanks to you.”

Kamau held up a hand. “They say to fall back to the outside of the cabin. Mr. Mason’s orders.”

“Okay.” Cody ducked as a clod of dirt the size of his head buzzed by. “You two follow those two.” He indicated a pair of touch users who were whipping projectiles out of the air with tree branches. “We’ll be right behind you.”

Lys felt Kamau grab her hand.

“Fall back!” Cody yelled. “Left side first.”

Kamau led Lys toward the left side of the line. She barely kept her feet under her as they ran, following the two touch users as they made a break for the tents.

“We’re clear,” Kamau said.

“Of what?” Lys asked.

Kamau didn’t get a chance to answer. A wave of heat hit Lys in the back, pushing her forward and causing her to fall to her hands and knees. A ringing filled her ears as smoke and heat engulfed her. Lys shook her head in an attempt to stop the world from spinning.

Lys blinked, trying to clear her vision. She coughed and inhaled smoke. Behind them a wall of fire raged. Dirt, burning branches, and rocks fell all around them.

“We need to move!” Kamau shouted, pulling on her hand.

Lys barely heard him. She looked back to where Cody had been standing only moments before. Flames engulfed the entire line of touch users. Were they gone? Really gone?

“Lys!” Kamau shouted again. “We need to move.”

She allowed herself to be hauled to her feet. Smoke and screaming filled the air. One of the screams she recognized.

“No!” Brady’s voice cut through her shock. “Mark!”

Lys followed the sound of Brady’s voice with her eyes. On the other side of the tents, she could make out Brady’s slight form, crouching on the ground next to someone else.

“This way,” Lys said.

“But,” Kamau said.

“Brady’s over here!” Lys snapped. “We have to help him.” They were not going to leave him.

Kamau didn’t argue, but she had to drag him behind her. They ran through the remains of burning tents to where Brady knelt next to Mark.

“You need to get out of here,” Mark said, his voice haggard.

Lys skidded to a stop and knelt on the ground next to Brady.

“What happened?” she asked.

“I got hit,” Mark said through gritted teeth. “You need to get out of here. Brady, get Lys out of here.”