Blindsided (31 page)

Allie looks up, panic on her face. “Oh no! We need to test these samples now.”

“On it!” The nurse is already halfway to the door, Allie right on her heels.

Seth doesn’t say anything as he watches me fade. Now that I’m going, I’m not sure how to feel. Part of me is relieved, but then the other half can’t stop staring at my reflection in the mirror. I need to memorize it. I don’t have enough time to do that. I go from slightly hazy to ghostly to barely there in less than half an hour. Then I’m back to a teal dress with white leggings.

Seth takes my hand. “Are you sad?”

“I don’t know.” I can’t take my eyes off the mirror, surprised by the confidence I feel now that I’m back in my own invisible skin. “Maybe I will be later, but right now I’m glad to be back to my—”

The door bursts open, and Graham flies in. His eyes are wide and he pants. “We’re in trouble, Fi. Big trouble.”

“What?” If Graham is saying that, then it must be horrible. “Where’s Mom and Miles? Did you go out to get them?”

“We were too late.” He cringes as he holds out his phone. There’s a picture, and it’s terrifying. Above Mom’s bed, there’s a message written in what I’m sure is blood:
I have her. You know what I want in return. —The Phantom

Chapter 40

I find the bed just before my legs give out. This can’t be happening. The Phantom kidnapped my mom, and I have no doubt that blood on the wall is hers. She’s hurt, captured, alone. And I’m here seeing myself. “What are we gonna do, Graham? What about Miles and Lee Seol?”

“Missing. We have no proof The Phantom took the Navarros or Miles and Lee Seol, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t.” Instead of floating, he actually sits on the bed next to me. “Madison is a war zone, sis. Major Norton is working on a plan to take back the town, but Juan’s men are already approaching the factory.”

I put my hand to my mouth. I feel so helpless and entirely at fault. “I wish I’d told everyone to leave town.”

“No one knew they’d move so fast.”

Pursing my lips, I think of Seth’s dad. He figured out Lee Seol’s meet-up with the Spudlings…we should have told the Army that day. But instead I gave The Phantom time to plan. “We have to get Mom back.”

Graham nods. “But she’s probably at their base under SuperMart. It’ll be hard to get in there.”

“Lee Seol can.”

“We just have to
find
…” Seth begins to say, but then grabs his head. He crumples onto the bed, and it looks like he’s biting back screams.

Graham stares at him. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know.” I put my hand on Seth’s shoulder, knowing exactly what’s happening to him. This vision glitch looks much worse than usual by the way his face contorts with pain—way too reminiscent of the first time it happened. “Seth? What do you need?”

He just moans back.

“Should I get a nurse?” Graham asks.

“No!” I yell, and my brother stares at me like I’m insane. How am I supposed to cover this up surrounded by people who can’t find out? “It’s just…”

The doorknob turns, and my worst fear is Allie walking through. It would be slightly less bad if it were The Pack, though they’ve been so suspicious lately as it is. But the person who appears is one I didn’t expect at all. It’s Tagawa, in combat uniform, complete with rifle in hand. As if his bony spikes weren’t intimidating enough. “The Major asked me to come get you and your friends—you’re needed up top.”

“Oh?” I look to Seth, who doesn’t seem in any condition to move. “Can we wait a little bit? He has a pretty bad headache.”

Tagawa looks as intolerant as ever. “It can’t wait. Juan’s guys are closing in.”

Graham eyes him suspiciously. “Then we’re safer down here.”

“We need you guys to fight—is that a problem?” Tagawa spits. “Least you could do when we’re trying to rescue your family.”

I sigh. “Seth, I’m gonna help you move, okay?”

Seth holds his shaking hand out to me, and I take that as good enough. I have no idea how we’ll get up there without people suspecting there’s something seriously wrong with him, but Tagawa makes it seem like we don’t have much choice. Seth clings to me as we head out the door, and I hope this episode passes before he faints.

“Whoa,” Hector says when he sees us. “What happened?”

Brady seems to be searching for some kind of excuse as he takes his brother from me. “He’s been so stressed his migraines are getting out of control.”

“Let’s go.” Tagawa motions for us to follow him.

“No…” Seth whispers.

I stop, looking to Seth. “No?”

If it weren’t for Brady, I’m sure he wouldn’t be standing. “Stay. Here.”

“Stay?” Hector sounds loud against Seth’s whisper. “Why?”

“We gotta go!” Tagawa yells. “If pansy boy can’t walk just carry him.”

“Can’t he stay here and rest?” I ask, getting annoyed with this guy who has no idea what my boyfriend is going through. “He can’t fight anyway.”

He shakes his head. “My orders were to bring everyone.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Seth says with a little more
oomph.
“He’s lying. It makes no sense for us to go up there. Think about it.”

I stare at Seth, trying to figure out what he really means. Does he see something suspicious? Hector puts his hands on his hips, seeming to take his best friend very seriously. “What makes you think he’s lying?”

Seth cringes, and I have no idea how he’ll answer. “Because…he…there’s a jaguar tattoo on his chest.”

“What?” Tagawa laughs. “Is this guy crazy?”

“I’m not.” Seth stands a little taller, and I hope that means he’s feeling better. “I can see it.”

The Pack looks like they’re about to go into shock. I’m not sure if they believe him or not, but I know he’s telling the truth. Which means Tagawa is the spy. No wonder The Phantom seemed to know what was going on with the Army. I step forward, my fists balled. “That’s why you didn’t ‘wake up’ when The Phantom was beating me up that night. You knew he was coming—you probably even helped him avoid security!”

Tagawa looks at me in mock shock. “You seriously believe that shit he’s talking?”

I look back at Seth, who seems weak after the pain his body just put him through. When his eyes meet mine, I know he’s saying it’s okay to tell the truth. “I know he’s right because he can see me—and he can see right through your shirt and pretty much anything else.”

Gasps from The Pack. Hector grabs Seth. “Is it true? You can see Fiona?”

Seth nods. “I’m not a math savant. I have X-ray vision.”

No one has time to react, because at those words Tagawa takes off running. Clearly he knows he’s been caught.

“Get him!” Graham yells, shooting off down the hall.

Everyone but me and Seth sprint after him, and without Brady’s help Seth can’t seem to do much more than sit on the floor. He puts his hands to his head and sighs, “Well, that’s not how I planned to tell them.”

“Horribly good timing though.” I sit next to him, trying not to smile. There’s a loud thud from around the corner, which I picture is Tagawa taking a blow from Brady. The guys cheer their victory. “I guess that means we need to take the traitor to Major Norton. Think you can make it?”

“Yeah.” Seth pulls himself up, and we head for the surface.

When we tell Major Norton about Tagawa, he blows a gasket. Then he tears into an interrogation of the traitor, which reveals that he was planning to deliver us to The Phantom’s men just outside the factory. The Major pounds on the desk. “You better tell the truth if you want to live—was it you who took down the power on the fence?”

Tagawa looks to the side. “Yes.”

“Damnit.” The Major yells orders into his comm unit, then turns to us. “I guess I should thank you for catching him before he took us down entirely. Maybe now we can make some headway.”

“How bad is it out there?” I ask.

His hesitation says everything. “At this rate, it’ll be a few days before we can reach The Phantom’s base.”

“That’s not fast enough,” I say. “If we don’t give him the merinite, he won’t keep my mom alive that long.”

Graham nods. “We have a day. Tops. At least that was standard in our syndicate.”

Major Norton folds his arms, thinking. “We’d hoped Allie would have a better working cure that would help us take down The Phantom—he’ll be almost impossible to capture even if we do take back the city. His ability is too powerful. But we need to get your mother now.”

“You’ll have to let Fi go out there solo, sir. She’s got a good team,” Graham says with more confidence than I have currently. “I’ll help Allie get more merinite, and hopefully we’ll have something to permanently stop The Phantom soon.”

“Seems like that’s the best we can do.” The Major looks to me. “Juan’s forces are fewer on the east side—you’ll have the best chance sneaking out that way.”

I stand tall, focused only on saving my mother. “We better get going then.”

We head off into the desert at a quick jog. The sun is already low in the sky, meaning we don’t have nearly as much time as I want. And I have no plan. “So,” Carlos says after we get past the danger zone, “where exactly are we going? And how are we supposed to break into The Phantom’s base?”

“We have to find Lee Seol and Miles.” I pull out my phone, hoping for the best. If they’re alive, Lee Seol will see this somehow. I text to Miles’ number:
Please tell me you’re alive.

When my phone buzzes almost immediately, I don’t think I’ve been so relieved. It’s from Lee Seol:
At waterfall. Hurry.

“They’re alive?” Bea asks hopefully.

“Yeah, at the waterfall. Let’s pick up the pace.” I have to hope that Lee Seol has some crucial information that will make this a hell of a lot easier, because right now it seems impossible.

“So…” Hector says, about halfway there. “You have X-ray vision, huh?”

Seth cringes. “Sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. When I was a kid I was afraid you guys wouldn’t talk to me anymore if you knew I’d seen through your clothes, even though I couldn’t control it. Then it just…I could never find the right time.”

“Sure explains a lot,” Carlos says. “Especially with Fi.”

“You’re not mad?” Seth asks.

Hector shakes his head. “Always had a feeling you were hiding something—figured you’d tell me when you were ready. Just didn’t think it’d be like
that.
”

“Seth has horrible timing,” I say.

“I really do.” He hangs his head, and everyone smiles.

When it gets too dark to see well, Carlos takes the lead and we follow in a tight line behind him. As we descend down the cliff side, I try to scan the area but mostly it’s too dark. I can make out the water, the stars glinting off the surface. The bigger shadows are trees that I hope no enemies are hiding in.

“See anything bad, Carlos?” I whisper.

“Nope.” His eyes roam over the small valley. “But that doesn’t mean there’s no one here to ambush us.”

“Shh, let me listen,” Hector says, and I think we all hold our breath. He points toward the water. “Someone’s breathing over there.”

“Hope it’s them,” Carlos says as he follows Hector’s direction.

It better be, because we’ve already used too much time getting here. If we’re supposed to infiltrate The Phantom’s base by tomorrow, we need to be working towards that now. As we approach the waterfall, I can feel the water splash at my feet. Hector pauses, and then whispers, “There’s rustling…like clothes, I think. It’s hard to tell with the wat—”

Before he finishes, a figure emerges from behind the rocks and tackles Bea. Brady goes into attack mode, but stops short when the person says, “
Mija!
Are you okay? We’ve been so worried.”

“Rosa!” I exclaim just as three more figures appear.

“If we get out of this alive, you three are grounded until graduation,” Alejandro says. “You should have told us you were involved—I shouldn’t have heard it from Fiona’s brother.”

“Sorry,” Bea says.

“Now, now, best intentions were had.” There’s a click and then light—Miles looks relieved as he holds the flashlight to his face. “Glad you’re safe, Fi.”

“Took you long enough,” Lee Seol grumbles as she messes with her super phone.

“I was kinda busy.” I head to Miles and pull him into a hug. “Really wish you could have been there for it.”

He tenses at the words. “I take it the drug worked? We lost sound on your mic when you went underground.”

“Yeah, it worked for a little bit,” I whisper, the image of myself in the mirror already seeming like a dream.

Miles nods as he pulls back, and his eyes look haunted. “It happened so fast, Fi. Me and Lee Seol were in the living room working on the cracked network. Mom was sleeping since she had a late shift yesterday. And then we heard her scream. By the time we got up there, the blood was on the wall and they were gone. The Phantom must have taken Radiasure so he could pull Mom through with him.”