“He tried,” I said, hugging my little sister with what little strength I had in my left arm. “But you protected me. Hey, where’d you learn to levitate?”
“That was awesome,” a weak voice said. Mason limped toward Susie and me.
“Mason, I—” The words caught in my throat. Mason’s wrist was twisted at an awful angle, his eye was swollen shut, and his face was bleeding badly.
“Hey,” he said, touching my cheek. “Do you know if the Dweeb League is accepting applications? I need a new job.”
Chapter Thirty-three Another Day in the Life
The school library was deserted, and we huddled in our little study room. Bobby gently caressed Kathryn’s forearm. Wouldn’t you know it? Even after nearly dying from a horrible overdose of the deadliest, most addictive drug on the street, Kathryn was beautiful.
“I have the best friends in the universe,” Kathryn said. “I mean, I was totally out of it, but you washed my hair and did my nails. If I had died, I’d have looked good.”
“You almost did die,” I said.
“Now, Rin, you know that would never happen. Who would look after you? Hey, did you know that whispering lady stopped to see me?”
“Mrs. Simmons?”
“Yeah, she came after visiting hours one day. At least I think she did. I wasn’t too coherent. Maybe it was a dream, but I don’t think so. She just sort of appeared, like that day in the library. She talked weird, real formal. Like Mrs. Bagley. She told me that the Whisperers are the protectors of the protectors. They guard the Psi Fighters’ secret identities, but whisper of their existence to give hope to victims in times of trouble. She said I might be a Whisperer one day. Rinnie, I think she made me a job offer. Do you think I’m Whisperer material?”
“At one time, I might have thought so. But I know now you can’t keep a secret.” I nodded toward Bobby.
“Oh, hush, Bobby doesn’t count.” Kathryn waved me off. “Besides, you’re the one who has trouble keeping secrets. You go rushing off into the park, attacking with no mask, and we have to play cleanup. My Bobby could have taken care of himself. I think you just like the attention.”
“No, your Bobby needed help that day,” Bobby said.
“Well, maybe. But Rin should still be more careful. Batman never made it so easy for the Joker to figure out who he was.”
“Batman is a comic book character,” I said. “Sometimes being real stinks.”
“Speaking of things that stink,” Kathryn huffed. “What a jerk Egon turned out to be. I think he was in love with you, though, in his own deranged, psychopathic, controlling way. But the B-movie ninja outfit? Really? Rinnie, please tell me that you don’t wear that corny skull hood and leotard when you’re out doing your Psi Fighter thing.”
I laughed. “When it comes to fashion, the Psi Fighters have it all over the bad guys.”
“Thank goodness.” Kathryn patted my hand. “Are all Knights such nutjobs?”
“Maybe.” I sighed. “At least my secret is safe.”
“So he doesn’t remember anything?” Bobby asked.
“Susie went a little overboard with her Mental Blast. She hit him hard. Not much physical damage—except for slamming him off the wall, which he totally deserved—but she wiped his mind clean. His memories were totally blasted. Gone. Kaput.”
Kathryn did a double thumbs up. “So, technically, he’s been destroyed, and he’ll be put away for a long time for his evil ways. A jail will hold him now.”
“But I can’t use him to find Nicolaitan. Susie’s attack obliterated Egon’s Amplifier. The Psi Fighters and all of Greensburg are still in danger until we find him.”
“You can’t avenge your birth parents’ murder,” Bobby said quietly.
“Yeah.” I shook my head slowly.
Kathryn sighed. “It’s nice to know Mason has lost his wombat status. He had a conscience after all. Did you know he came to the hospital every day?”
“As much as I hate the Memory Lash, I guess it has its moments.”
“What did you see when you Lashed him?”
The image of a young Mason bound to a tree with a dog leash flicked through my head. “Mason didn’t have a nice childhood.”
Bobby nodded. “So what was really going on between him and Scallion? I mean Egon?”
“It’s confusing,” I said. “During the assembly when Munificent told us that a student had been in contact with the man in the skull mask, I was certain he meant Mason, but Mason knew he meant Tammy Angel. Mason believed that Nicolaitan had returned. He asked Tammy to arrange a meeting. He wanted revenge. But when Scallion showed up, Mason knew he wasn’t his mother’s killer. Scallion convinced Mason that he could lead him to the man he was looking for. He said he would take Mason to him if Mason would modify the Class Project and bring samples to him. Scallion tricked Mason into turning the Class Project into Psychedone 10. Mason didn’t realize what he was doing until Kathryn overdosed.”