Star Gods, стр. 51
“Maybe I was saying it to convince us both and feel better.”
“It’s not working.”
“Nope, it’s not.” She rests her head on my shoulder. “What’re Dad’s abilities?”
“He can travel like me, has a warding ability like Ashe and Tyce, and he can silence someone…”
“Why did your voice trail off like that?”
“Because Neil did that to me, and I should’ve known right there and then it was Dad.”
She repositions her head on my shoulder. “Maybe you weren’t supposed to.”
“Maybe.”
With Tyce still holding Claire’s hand he assists Ashe and Abby in removing a small section of protection. Dad stands between Cesar and Claire, a hand on each of their shoulders. He begins to travel and the atmosphere in the room suddenly changes. I push away from the sink when I feel something I shouldn’t and throw a barrier around our friends. I watch in horror as black mist travels through the hole of protection and takes down my brothers and Abby.
“Dad, you need to get them out of here!” I yell, pooling the paralyzation ability into my hand. “You need to go now!”
“I’m not leaving!” he yells back, protecting our friends.
“Sir, they’re not safe here!” Maliki’s electricity travels across the floor hitting an Assassin as he appears. “You have to go!”
“I’m not leaving!” Dad repeats.
A silver covered ward slams into two Assassins on my left. “Get us out of here, Zeke!” Ashe demands. “We can’t fight them here!”
The field, the same one I drew of total devastation fills my mind.
“We can change the outcome,” Sage reminds me, paralyzing an advancing Assassin. “You said so yourself. We really don’t have a choice.”
The hole in our protection widens and more Assassins enter. One drops closer to me than anyone else. He looks at me in disgust with eyes nearly black. “Levi wants to know if you can save them all in time,” he says in a gravelly voice. “I recommend you follow.”
“What does that mean?” Sage freaks.
“Levi has hostages.” I encase everyone in my barrier, latch onto the tail of Death’s traveling ability, and follow him. Where we appear has my jaw dropping.
“Oh, my God,” Tyce expresses, taking in the scene.
I scan our high school gym. Along the walls, teachers and students cower wherever they can without needed protection. Assassins are spread out, taunting and jeering. Terrified cries fill the air.
Sage grabs my arm. “We have to get them out of here. Can we do that? We won’t be able to hide what we can do.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Tyce replies, shooting a ward across the gym and knocking down Assassins. “The Assassins have exposed their abilities. We can’t change it now. But, we can do our damnedest to get everyone out.”
“I don’t know how much protection my barrier will give with Levi taking it down with his staff,” I say, throwing a barrier and hitting an Assassin in the back of his legs. “Ashe, Abby, and Tyce, we have to rely on your added protection.”
“On it,” Ashe replies, throwing a ward around a cluster of kids and staff. “We’ll do what we can, then you and Sage need to do whatever you need to do to stop Levi and Levia.”
“I can help with that,” Maliki responds. “Twelve o’clock, that’s Erick, he can manipulate time and we shouldn’t have a problem convincing him to join up with us.” Maliki juts his chin to the right. “Two o’clock, that’s Marcos, he can make a person’s fear come to life, and at three o’clock, Otto, he can magnify others abilities. If they won’t join, take their abilities first.” A stream of electricity leaves his fingertips, an Assassin jerks in response then falls backward onto the floor. Maliki grins. “Or you could start with his.”
I shrug, mentally pulling the unconscious Assassin to me, clamp a hand onto his shoulder, and breathe deeply as I extract his ability to manipulate the wind.
Tyce runs, rolls, and brings both hands up to knock back advancing Assassins. “Move!” he yells to the students pressed against the wall. “Get out, now!”
“What the hell’s going on?” a boy questions.
“H…how did you do that?” another asks.
“Really? Do you want to die?” Tyce responds through gritted teeth, throwing another ward. “Move!”
Students rush the double doors only to discover they’re locked. They pound and pull to open them, frantically yelling as they remain closed.
“Get back!” I yell, giving them a slight nudge with wind as I run closer, Maliki and Sage close behind. Once they’re out of the way I blow open the doors and several scramble out. I quickly block their way into the recesses of the school to redirect them to the door to the outside. “Sage, open those doors!”
“Zeke?”
I turn at the sound of the voice I had been missing since absent from school. Adrianna, her brown skin missing its usual glow. Her thick, long, curly black hair falling in ringlets around her beautiful face, just how I like it. Her dark eyes absent of their usual sparkle and staring at me in fear. I cross to her, taking her hands in mine and squeezing. “I promise you, I will explain everything to you later. Right now, you need to get out of here.”
“Y…y…you, lifted your hands and…”
“I know.” I steer her toward the doors. “Please, don’t be afraid of me, I’m the same person I was before. I’ll explain everything to you, I promise.”
“Zeke, we gotta get back in there!” Maliki yells.
I push open the door to the outside. “Go. Please.” I grab a girl by the shoulder. “Take her outside with you, get as far away from here as you can.”
“No,” Adrianna objects, grabbing my shoulders. “You have to come with me.”
I kiss her, running my fingers down her pretty face. “I have a few things I need to take care of first. Go.” And I shove her out the door.
I push my way back inside, pulling stragglers toward me to get them out faster, moving