Broken Knights (Gifted Academy #4) - Michelle Hercules Page 0,58
I sling my arm to the side, a thoughtless movement. A second later, the mattress I’m lying on disappears, and I hit the hardwood floor with a thud. “What the hell!”
“What happened?” Bryce asks.
The light in the bungalow turns on, and I find myself surrounded by ashes.
22
Bryce
“Holy fucking shit!” Phoenix gets up slowly, staring at the mess surrounding Rufio with his mouth agape and eyes that are bugging out of his skull.
I step closer to my brother, not daring to believe what I’m seeing. “Who did that?” I ask, turning to Daisy. “Was it you?”
She sits up, curling her knees up to hug her legs. “Do what? Turn the mattress into dust? When did I ever have that power?”
Rufio jumps to his feet, brushing the soot from his body. “That was my gift.”
I watch him closely now, scanning for any signs that he might have somehow recovered his powers. After a few seconds, my hope deflates. He’s still an empty shell.
“Dude, are your powers returning?” Phoenix asks.
Rufio’s eyebrows furrow, and then he shakes his head. “No. I feel nothing, not even a spark of power. I don’t think I did that.”
“Well, someone must have done it.” Morpheus glances at Daisy. “It could have been you, darling.”
Her eyes become rounder. “If I did that without knowing, then I’m a menace.” She buries her face in her hands. “Ugh. I can’t believe this. As soon as I get one deadly gift under control, I develop another.”
“We don’t know that’s what happened.” I send a glower in Morpheus’s direction. At least he has the decency to show remorse for his outburst.
A loud knock on the door cuts off our discussion.
“Daisy, are you in there?” Xavier asks.
“Shit,” she whisper-shouts, getting back to her feet. “Where are my clothes?”
“I’m going to assume that you’re in there with your… boyfriends.”
Damn. Is Xavier going to play the pissed-off father role now? I hope not.
“I’ll be out in a second,” she says.
“Turn off the light. We’ve got company.”
I kill the lights at once. We definitely don’t want those religious freaks privy to what we did here. I don’t think they’re open-minded enough to approve of our dynamic.
“Shit. What’s that supposed to mean?” Phoenix asks. “It can’t be morning yet.”
“It doesn’t matter. Just hurry up and get dressed,” Daisy urges.
A minute later, we’re ready to face the music. However, the voices of several people trickle inside the bungalow. It seems when Xavier mentioned we had company, he wasn’t simply referring to Harry and Artex.
“What’s going on outside?” Rufio opens a window shutter a fraction and peers out. “Fuck. I think word got out that Daisy is here.”
“Who is out there?” she asks.
“Judging by their attire, I’d say members of your church.”
“It’s not my church,” she grits out, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
“They’re heading to the lake, but there’s no chance we can sneak out without being seen.”
I glance at Morpheus. “We need your handy shadow trick, Morpheus.”
“I’m on it. Stay close to me.” He opens the door slowly and walks out first.
There’s a group of people walking past us, but no one glances in our direction. When they’re out of earshot, I say, “Maybe we should stay hidden and find out what’s going on first.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Daisy replies.
Maintaining close distance, we head down to the lake, where a group of thirty people has gathered around the hippie brothers. Thankfully, not every single member of the church has come here. We stop a few feet from the edge of the perimeter.
“Where’s Magia’s descendant?” one eager woman at the front asks. “Where’s the Unmaker?”
“I know you’re all excited to meet her, but she’s been through a lot and needs to rest,” Harry says.
“We should double down our efforts at the mines,” a man speaks, followed by murmurs of agreement.
“Yes, that’s something you should all be doing right now. Return to the mines. We need as many lightning-glass weapons as you can produce.”
“But who is going to fight with us?” someone else asks.
“The Knights will,” Xavier answers, walking through the crowd until he reaches the hippie brothers’ side.
“Can they still be trusted?” the first woman asks. “A week ago, our warehouse on the northside was ransacked. No one else was supposed to know that location besides the Knights.”
“There’s been a breach,” Xavier announces. “But the mole has been dealt with.”
His confession doesn’t lessen the tension among the crowd. They’re jittery, suspicious. I hope the Knights’ setback doesn’t cost us their support. We need them to mine lightning-glass.