Calamity (Reckoners, #3)

“Knighthawk,” Abraham said. “We need your harmsway. We have wounded.”


“Tough,” he said. “It’s the only one I’ve got right now. I love you guys—well, I don’t actively dislike you guys—but my skin is more important than yours.”

“And if I could give you something to make another one?” I asked, digging in my pocket. I pulled out the tissue sample container and held it up. Abraham obligingly turned his mobile around to give Knighthawk a view.

“Is that…,” Knighthawk’s voice said.

“Yes. From Prof.”

“Everyone else get out of the room. I want to talk to the kid alone.”

Abraham raised an eyebrow at me, and I nodded. Reluctantly, Abraham handed me his mobile, and he and Mizzy left. I slumped back against the wall, looking at Knighthawk’s face on the screen of the mobile. His own mobile seemed to be secured before him with some kind of device he wore around his neck, as Manny carried him through one of his tunnels.

“You did it,” Knighthawk said softly. “How? His forcefields should have protected him from harm.”

“Megan reached into an alternate dimension,” I said, “and pulled out a version of Prof. Kind of.”

“Kind of?”

“His daughter,” I said. “His and Tia’s, I think. She had his same powers, Knighthawk. And…” I took a deep breath. “And that’s his weakness. His powers. At least, so Tia claimed.”

“Hmm…,” he said. “Makes sense, knowing Jonathan. Odd that his daughter has his powers. Children of Epics here have been born without powers. Anyway, she got past his abilities?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I managed to blow a chunk of skin off him and bag it for you.”

“Man,” Knighthawk said, “we are really asking for it here, you realize. If he knows you have that…”

“He does.”

Knighthawk shook his head, rueful. “Well, if I’m going to get murdered, might as well let an old friend do it. I’ll send you that harmsway via drone, but you send me back that sample. Deal?”

“Deal, with one condition.”

“Which is?”

“We need a way to fight Prof,” I said. “And make him face his powers.”

“Have your pet Epic summon another version of him.”

“No. It didn’t work; we were able to bypass his powers, but he didn’t turn. I need to try something else.”

That was true, but only halfway. I glanced at Megan, unconscious and breathing softly. Doing what she’d done tonight had nearly destroyed her; I wouldn’t ask her to do something like that again. It wasn’t fair to her, and it certainly wasn’t fair to the person we brought through into our world.

“So…,” Knighthawk said.

I held up the sample container. “There’s another way to make him confront someone using his powers, Knighthawk.”

The man laughed. “You’re serious.”

“Serious as a dog about to be given treats,” I said. “How long would it take? To make devices for all three powers. Forcefields, regeneration, disintegration.”

“Months,” Knighthawk said. “A year even, if any of the abilities are tough to crack.”

I’d worried about that. “If that’s the only way, we’ll have to do it.” I did not relish being on the run for a year, keeping Larcener out of Prof’s hands.

Knighthawk studied me. His mannequin set him into his jeep, then did up the seat belt. “You’ve got guts,” Knighthawk said. “You know how I said we did testing on early Epics and discovered that a living Epic was pained by a motivator created from them?”

“Yeah?”

“Did I tell you who we tested on?”

“You have them already,” I said. “That’s why you’re so eager for Prof’s cells. You’ve already built devices to replicate his powers.”

“We built them together,” he said. “He and I.”

“In your room,” I said. “The one with the mementos of fallen Epics. One didn’t have a plaque. A vest and gloves.”

“Yeah. We destroyed all his tissue samples after we discovered how much it hurt him. I think that all along he’s been worried I would get another sample from him. He’s certainly kept his distance from me.” Knighthawk’s mannequin rubbed his chin, as if in thought. “Guess he was right to worry. You send me those cells, and I will be able to get you devices mimicking his powers almost instantly. But I’m going to try his healing powers on my wife first.”

“You do that, and he’ll know immediately,” I said. “And he’ll come kill you.”

Knighthawk gritted his teeth.

“You’re going to have to gamble on us, Knighthawk,” I said. “Send us the devices. We’ll turn him, and then we can try to save your wife. It’s the only chance you have.”

“Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s self-preservation at this point, kid,” Knighthawk said. “The drone I send will reach you in six hours. The return trip with your tissue sample will take another six to reach me at my safehouse. Assuming the cells are good, I can get to work on a full set of motivators for you. Forcefield projection, healing powers, and tensor abilities.”