Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3)

“No,” Will said gravely. “True panic is ugly. You’ll know it when you see it.”

That afternoon, Ling and Sister Walker worked side by side, comparing notes on the Metaphysickometer’s readings.

“You don’t like Mr. Marlowe much, do you?” Ling said at last.

“I admire his genius and I deplore his methods.”

“How could you work by his side if you hated him—”

“I didn’t hate Jake—”

“Disliked him, then.”

“In this life, you have to work with people you dislike. You find compromises. But sometimes you find that a person’s beliefs are so harmful that you must speak against them. You can’t let such harmful statements stand without challenge. They have a tendency to grow into tumors.” Sister Walker paused.

“Is that why you went to prison?” Isaiah asked, and Ling’s mouth opened in surprise.

Memphis nudged Isaiah hard with his elbow. “Isaiah! Apologize.”

“What? Ever’body knows Sister went to jail. She knows it most of all!”

“Isaiah,” Memphis warned.

Isaiah stared down at his shoes. “Sorry, Miss Walker.”

“That’s all right, Isaiah. You didn’t mean any harm.”

“Is that true?” Ling asked.

“Yes.”

“So did you steal something?” Isaiah asked, unable to help himself. “Did you kill somebody, Sister?”

“No. And no.”

“Then what?”

Sister Walker took in a deep breath. “Sedition.”

“What’s that?” Isaiah asked.

“It’s when you rile people up and disobey authority.”

“When I acted up, my mama just got the switch. Who’d you make mad?” Isaiah asked.

“The United States government,” Sister Walker said. “I spoke out against something I thought was wrong. I tried to stop it.”

“And they threw you in the slammer for that?” Sam said.

“We were at war, and I worked for the Department of Paranormal, a government agency.” Sister Walker took a sip of her tea, then continued. “They said what I did wasn’t patriotic.”

“Weren’t they right?”

“I suppose it’s all in how you define patriotism. Some say that’s only saying good things about your country. Others say that it’s speaking against what you feel is wrong with your country and trying to make a change.”

“I don’t understand. Isn’t freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment?” Memphis asked.

“Guarantees. You mean, like the Fourteenth Amendment?” Sister Walker said pointedly. “All right. Now you know about that secret, too. Will there be any more bloodletting required, or may we get back to your training?”

Memphis leaned down and whispered to Isaiah. “You’re gonna hear about this on the way home.”

“It’s all right to ask questions, Memphis,” Sister Walker said. “That’s how we learn.”

“Sister, I think you might be a Diviner with that hearing,” Memphis said, shaking his head.

“Sam, I’d like to try testing your powers again,” Sister Walker announced. So far, they’d had little luck in boosting his gifts. He tried not to let it bother him, passing it off with jokes—Can’t improve on perfection!—but it made him feel small and lacking, like when he was a kid in Chicago running from the bullies who tormented him with fists and taunts of Jew! When he realized he could make those bullies go blank in his presence, Sam had, for the first time in his life, experienced what it was to be powerful. That power had gotten him from Chicago to New York. It had helped him survive on the streets. He’d come to rely on it. In fact, he’d been downright cocky about it. But now, surrounded by everyone else, what he felt was competitive.

“Let’s try a control. Theta? Would you mind?” Sister Walker asked.

Theta blanched. “Me? Oh, I don’t know, Sister.…”

“Aw, Theta’s too smart to fall for my hooey,” Sam said, trying to save her. “Besides, she knows all about my powers.”

“So does most of New York City by now. The question is, will your powers work now that they are known? Does that knowledge affect people’s suggestibility?”

“Oh. I hadn’t thought about that,” Sam said.

“Theta, could you, please?” Sister Walker extended a hand to her.

Theta put out her cigarette and, feeling nervous, took a seat opposite Sam.

“Okay?” Sam asked.

“Okay,” she said.

“Evie, since Sam seems to affect your reading ability, let’s see if you have any sway over his powers. Come sit close to him, if you would, please,” Sister Walker said.

With a pained sigh, Evie left the comfort of her chair and came to sit beside Sam. She liked the way he smelled, like spicy aftershave and something else, something she could only describe as Sam.

Sam squinted at her. “You jake? You look funny.”

“I’m fine. Just… don’t steal anything from me,” Evie warned.

“Here goes.” Sam thrust his left hand toward Theta. “Don’t see me.”

Theta blinked and Sam’s shoulders sagged. She could see him losing confidence.

“Try again,” she urged. “Go all out.”

“You sure?” Sam said quietly.

“Yeah. Think about putting me right to sleep.”

“Sam’s good at that,” Evie grumbled.

“Okaaay,” Sam said, breathing deeply.

Theta took hold of Sam’s other arm, and he looked into her eyes, thinking of every time he’d been doubted. A memory swam into his head. The night his mother kissed him good-bye. I must do this, Little Fox. Our country needs me. But I will be home soon enough. He never saw his mother again. He would find her. He would get stronger and he would find her.

“Don’t. See. Me,” Sam growled.

Static charged the air, raising the hair on Evie’s arms and the back of her neck. She blinked, a bit dazed. Sam was no longer beside her. Had she gone under?

“Sam? Sam!” Evie called as she turned in her chair, searching.

“You already tried that little stunt, Evie.”

She could hear Sam’s voice, but she couldn’t see him. At his desk, Will had gone slack and glassy-eyed, as had Mabel and Jericho. Theta stared straight ahead. Even Henry, Ling, and Isaiah looked dazed. Other than Evie herself, only Memphis and Sister Walker were alert.

“I’m not pulling your leg, Sam. Honest!” Evie put out a hand and yelped when she touched something solid. He was right next to her. “Sam. You’re…invisible!”

“I am?”

“Yes, you’re—aaah!” Evie shrieked, and leaped from her chair. “Stop tickling me!”

“This is the best day of my life!” Sam’s laughter rippled the air where he sat, and then he began to reappear like a ghost image on film until he was fully restored.

“Twenty-two seconds,” Sister Walker said, clearly excited. “That’s how long you were invisible.”

“Five seconds. That’s how long it’s gonna take me to give you a black eye,” Evie said.

Ling blinked, coming fully around. “Wh-what happened?”

“Sam went invisible. Unfortunately, he came back,” Evie told her.

Ling opened her notebook, excited. “Where—where did you go when you disappeared? Do you feel strange in any way?”