Cape Storm Page 0,75

one of the Earth Wardens laying hands on me did something particularly painful. "I'm serious. I will take you to Bad Bob. I need to get there myself."

"Why?"

I opened my eyes and locked stares with him. "Because he left me to die in the ocean and get eaten by sharks. Because you came back."

"Bullshit."

I blinked.

"Don't tell me you've had a change of heart. I can see you didn't. You're just pissed that he didn't keep his promises to you. The enemy of my enemy is not my friend." I closed my eyes. I was too tired, too hurt, and too sick to care about his philosophy right now, and the darkness inside me ached , impatient with my body's weaknesses. Soon I wouldn't be vulnerable. Soon I'd be like the storm itself - unstoppable, unfeeling, a force of nature.

Lewis had chosen his healers well. They did their job, whether they wanted to or not. It took time, and I slept in between the exhausting bouts. I could feel the lifeboat moving, but I no longer cared where it was going. It didn't matter. The storm would follow me, pouring power into me, filling me with darkness.

When I woke up, really woke up, the Wardens had finished their work.

I was healed.

I looked at my jeans, which had a ragged hole ripped most of the way through them, and beneath the bloody cloth, my leg was mostly there. Scarred, yes, but it would heal. The new muscle and flesh felt weirdly tender.

I looked up and saw them all watching me.

"Thanks," I said, and tried to stand. It wasn't as hard as I'd expected. I actually felt fairly good. Better, as the storm above us purred and rained down its darkness into me, reminding me who I was. What I wanted.

Lewis was right not to trust me, but I knew I didn't need to tell him that.

"Jo," he said, "sit down."

I didn't. I looked at him. There was a tingle of fire in my fingers, and as I rubbed them together, I saw sparks jumping. "Time to change course," I said. "I'm taking the boat. The rest of you - you can either come along and shut up or I can leave you behind. In pieces." He took in a deep, resigned breath. "I didn't save you just to fight you."

"No, you saved me because your delicate conscience couldn't stand thinking about me getting ripped apart by sharks," I said. "Your mistake, man. Not mine."

"You don't want to do this."

I smiled. And he saw that I really, really did.

Kevin wasn't surprised. He was grimly staring at me with a bleak expression, as if he'd known it all along. Back at ya, punk.

"You're not going to hurt anybody else," Lewis said. "I'm not going to let you." That made me want to prove him wrong. "We knew this was coming," I said. "So go on. Try and stop me. It's time for the lightning round, Lewis. Go for the actual lightning. It's a small, enclosed space, but some of them may not die right off. The sepsis from the burns, that'll probably kill them in the end."

He didn't move. "Don't make me. Please, I'm asking you, don't." I called fire in my hand.

Lewis grabbed my arm, but instead of fighting me power for power, as I'd expected, he yanked me close, pinning me against his body. Putting my palm directly against his chest.

"Please," he said. There were tears in his eyes. "Jo, I know you're in there somewhere.

Please stop. "

"No," I said, and let the fire go. It flamed through his shirt, charred his flesh.

And I felt nothing.

Lewis let out a soft, agonized moan, but he didn't let me go.

"I'll kill you," I growled, and I meant it. "Every one of you if I have to. But I'm taking this ship."

"No." Lewis grabbed my face in his hands and - kissed me. There was desperation in it, and fury, and pain, and anguish... and death.

I felt something go very, very wrong in my brain.

Click.

Lights going out. A burst of pain, of surprise, of knowledge...

Fail-safe. He'd put a fail-safe in my brain and he'd made me forget about it and now I'd forced him to trigger it, at long last.

"You're not taking the ship," Lewis whispered. I could hear him, and I could feel the fading sensation of his lips against mine. A benediction into the dark. "Good-bye, Jo. God, I loved you."

Pain exploded through my nerves like flares. I couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't