The SHPD closes in on her and then she screams, collapsing to the ground. They’re tasing her. They’re tasing her!
Desperate to help, I reach out with my power, hoping to disrupt the Tasers. But nothing happens. We’re too far away.
Still she keeps us up in the air for one more second, two, three. One final push takes us higher, faster, and then we crash hard to the roof of a three-story building out of range of her power—and the heroes.
I leap to my feet. “We have to go back for her! We can’t leave—”
“Damn it, Kenna, we have to go.” Jeremy drags me away with more strength than I ever gave him credit for.
“No,” I argue, wrenching at my arm. “We can’t just—”
He whips me around. “We can’t save Deacon and your mom without you. We can’t stop any of this without you. Rebel understood. That’s why she gave herself up.”
I blink at him, tears welling.
“Don’t let her sacrifice be in vain.”
It takes several shallow, shaky breaths before his words hit home. If I am willing to put my life on the line, then should it surprise me that Rebel feels the same?
Jeremy opens the rooftop access door and waits for me to make my decision. But there’s really nothing to decide.
And then we’re running. So fast and so hard that my tears mingle with my sweat and I can’t tell where one stops and the other begins.
Chapter 25
Jeremy and I don’t speak as we run through the streets. We keep our path erratic, circling back a couple times. For once I am grateful for his obsessive paranoia. There’s no way anyone could be following us.
The guys are waiting on the bridge when we arrive. Draven is pacing. Dante and Nitro stand over Riley, who is sitting on a bench, rocking back and forth like he’s in shock.
Draven notices us first. His eyes widen as he realizes we’re a group of two.
Dante turns, smiling and expectant…until he also sees that Rebel isn’t with us. I expect rage. Fury. A wind storm of hurricane proportion. But instead, he looks oddly calm.
“Where is she?” he demands as we reach them.
I’m exhausted and out of breath, but I force out the words. “They have her. We were trapped, surrounded, and—”
“And you left her?” His fists clench.
Riley whimpers. “Rebel?”
A gentle wind whirls around me, so soft I can’t tell if it’s Dante or just the weather.
Draven moves to my side and places a hand at the small of my back.
“No,” I tell Dante, fighting another round of tears. “She gave us no choice. She levitated us away and turned herself in,” I explain. “She saved us so that we could save the others.”
“I figured out how to get into the bunker,” Jeremy explains. “And we need Kenna’s power to do it.”
“When exactly did you have time to figure that out?” Nitro asks.
Jeremy rolls his eyes. “Apparently being shot at is a powerful motivator.”
Dante looks from me to Jeremy and back again. His lips press together as he processes Rebel’s sacrifice.
“I’m sorry,” I say, knowing it’s not enough. “I’m so sorry.”
He doesn’t say anything at first, then shakes his head. “No. No, there’s nothing to be sorry for. We made an agreement going into this that we’d do whatever it took. My girl was courageous. I won’t take that away from her by blaming you for her decision.”
His words are quiet, his tone resolved. But neither disguises the shattered look in his eyes.
Nitro claps him on the shoulder. Standing here, surrounded by my ragtag team, I know that Dante is right. Rebel knew exactly what needed to be done, and she put our mission above her own safety. I would have done the same thing. Any of us would have. Blaming myself for her act of heroism won’t do us any good—and tarnishes her bravery.
I try to tell myself that she’ll be fine, that her dad won’t hurt her. But it’s cold comfort. It’s our job to see this through. We have to rescue Deacon and find my mom. And when they’re both safe, we’ll rescue Rebel too.
My fear and sadness transform into rage. Pure, unadulterated fury. At Mr. Malone for caring more about an agenda than his own daughter. At the heroes for their nauseating hypocrisy. At myself for blindly trusting them my entire life.
First my mom, and now Rebel. I understand how Draven, Dante, and Nitro felt that night when they broke into the lab: desperate to get a loved one back. Terrified of failing. I’d risk anything to see them safe again.
“Now,” I say. “We go get them now. Before they have time to regroup, before they have time to prepare for an assault. We go in so hard and fast they won’t know what hit them.”
Dante nods.
Nitro rubs his hands together. “Now that’s my girl.”
Draven’s arm tightens around my waist.
“I think we’re all on the same page,” Jeremy says.