Blindsided (9 page)

Their footsteps scrape at the ground as they walk by me. Once they’re a few yards off, I risk craning my neck to watch them leave. I don’t dare get up—there’s no telling how much dirt is now sticking to my butt. As the trucks drive off, I stand and brush off as much as I can.

Something rustles the bushes near the waterfall, and I whirl around in a panic. Did they leave guards? There’s a figure barely lit in the moonlight, and when I recognize the broad shoulders and thin build I wish it were a soldier.

I duck behind the nearest bush, mortified, and spit out the paper. It’s now semi-transparent thanks to my mutant spit. “Seth! What the hell are you doing?”

“That guy started yelling—I thought you were in trouble!” He tosses something at me, and it lands in the bush. My shirt. Then come my sweater and pants and shoes. “So sue me for wanting to come to the rescue.”

“You looked?” I scramble for my clothes.

He sighs. “Is it really so bad for me to see you naked? It’s not like we got together yesterday.”

And there it is. I’ve wanted to pretend he’s okay with us not going further, but he isn’t. I wish I could tell him how weird it is for me, except that would probably make him feel even worse. Besides, now is not the time. “They left because of intruders at the factory, so we better hurry and make sure everyone’s okay.”

He cusses. “We need to find Brady. He’ll get us there fast.”

“Yeah.” Now dressed, I grab the crumpled formula papers and stand. As I head toward Seth and the path up the cliff, I carefully pull open the sheets and hope my spit didn’t mess them up too badly.

“What’s that?” Seth says when I get to him.

We waste no time, climbing the slope as we talk. “Remember how Graham asked if we might have come across what they’re looking for? Well, I think we have.”

“What?”

“Their scientist girl said the element is a
liquid
, and it’s supposed to glow or something. She was doing a test to see if the waterfall contained any of it, but it was negative.”

“Shit.” Seth doesn’t need to say more for me to know he gets exactly what I’m trying to say.

I hold out the papers. “This is the formula, so we can test the cave water ourselves. Then we’ll know just how much trouble we’re in.”

“Whoa.” He stops just shy of the top. “You
stole
that from the Army?”

The way he says it makes me feel an inch tall, but I’m already mad at him for looking at me when he promised not to. “Yes. I stole it, just like they stole our knowledge of this place through an unnecessary interrogation. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Of course I do!” he says as we run for the booming sounds to the west. Brady must be that way. “They’re gonna notice, Fi. And who do you think they’ll suspect when they do?”

I don’t answer for a moment, because he has a point. “They could think it slipped out of the folder when they were rushing to pack everything up.”

It may be dark, but I can feel his eye roll. “Or they’ll realize you’re the only one who could steal that with no one noticing.”

“Well it’s done, so we’ll just have to deal with it.” I squint into the night, hoping to see Brady or some clear sign of him. There’s a dark spot on the horizon that seems to change shape like dust. “You think Brady’s making that cloud?”

“Probably.” Seth pulls a laser pointer from his pocket and turns it on and off. In the darkness it should stand out well enough to catch Brady’s eye. “So how much trouble are they in at the factory? Are we gonna have to break them out?”

“I don’t know. All I heard was that an alarm was tripped, and they didn’t have a visual.” My heart pounds from both the running and the fear of what could happen to Miles, Carlos, and Graham. If any of them are caught, they’d be tied to us in a heartbeat.

Maybe all of this was a horrible idea.

The ground starts to shake beneath my feet, and we both stop running. It’s impossible to run when Brady gets too close. He skids to a stop, showering us with dust. “Done already? I didn’t quite get to the cave yet.”

Seth shakes his head. “We have a problem—the Army was at the waterfall. We gotta get to the factory fast. I’ll explain on the way.”

“Start talking.” Brady holds out his arms, and Seth and I take a seat on his biceps. He has no problem lifting us into the air. “Hold on to my forearms if you think you might fall.”

He takes off, and I have to cling to his arm as he bounds through the desert. I’ve never been with Brady while he runs faster than any normal human, and it’s both thrilling and horrifying how amazing he is. I’m not sure he’s using his full force, but it feels like we’re covering miles in just a few minutes.

Seth seems much more comfortable with Brady’s speed than I do. He talks into Brady’s ear—I assume to explain what I did at the waterfall—and seems to trust that his brother won’t drop him. Brady slows the closer we get to the factory. By the time we reach the broken down strip mall, we’re all walking again. Or rather creeping and hiding behind anything we can, just in case.

There are so many lights in the distance. It seems as if the Army has set up an entire base at the factory, complete with a wired fence and search lights scanning the desert for anyone who doesn’t belong. As we huddle behind a group of rocks just south of the ruins, I catch the distinct sound of machinery and wonder if they’re digging up the place.

The giant helicopters suddenly make a lot more sense.

“What do we do?” Brady whispers. “If they got caught…there’s no way we’re getting them out.”

“Well, better make sure they’re in there first,” Seth says.

“No.” I put my hand on his arm before I remember we’re fighting. “It’s too far and there are too many places to look—you’ll kill your head.”

Brady winces. “She’s right, bro.”

“So what?” His eyes are determined and maybe a little cold when they meet mine. “We already did the invisible thing once tonight, and if either of you suggest that Fi should sneak into that fortress I’ll lose it.”

Neither of us answer.

“Okay then.” Seth’s eyes narrow as he begins his search. I try not to cringe as I watch him, but as the minutes pass I worry he’ll be in agony for days because of this. “I don’t see them in the trucks or the tents. It looks like the Army has found something underground though…”

“Seth, stop.” My voice quivers at the words. “They must have gotten out. Let’s check back at Bea’s house.”

“Let me make sure.” He grimaces as he pushes his ability, and then he gasps. “There’s a whole building underground! They’ve unearthed stairs and some weird looking machinery. It looks like…”

He falters, and I grab him in an attempt to keep him up. Brady does most of the work though. Seth probably would have fallen on me otherwise. I try to cover his eyes to make him stop. “That’s enough! They aren’t there, so let’s go.”

“Wait!” Seth doesn’t flinch at my hands because he sees right through them. “This is crazy. They’re uncovering all sorts of equipment.”

Panic swells as I picture just how many layers of metal and earth he might be looking through. It’s probably more than he’s ever done, and I don’t know what that will do to him.

“Seth!” Brady says too loudly when we’re supposed to be hiding. “No more!”

“Fine.”

I remove my fingers from his face and wait for Seth’s eyes to focus on me, but instead they fill with horror. Then he cries out in agony and collapses.

Chapter 12

Brady lays Seth gently on the ground, while I kneel down and tap his cheek. “C’mon, punk, wake up.”

“What do we do?” Brady pulls at his hair, and his frightened expression reminds me too much of the time Dad shot Seth. “He’s never passed out before. What if he has brain damage?”

“Don’t say that.” I can’t think like that, not as I put my ear to his chest and listen for a heartbeat. What if he needs a doctor? When no one knows your real ability, it’s kind of hard to go to the hospital and explain what happened. “He’s breathing, and his heart is beating. The pain must have been too much for his body to handle.”

“Let’s get home.” Brady carries him, but we don’t run in fear that it’ll hurt Seth more. The whole way back I flip between being on the verge of tears and wanting to cuss Seth out for being that reckless. It feels like he was making a point about my spying and stealing at the waterfall. Like, if I abuse my ability so will he. Or was this underground part of the factory really that interesting?

Once we’re back within Madison’s borders, Brady risks speaking. “It seems like you guys fought.”

I look at the ground, not really wanting to talk about it. But when it comes to the topic of Seth being able to see me, Brady is literally the only person I can go to because no one else knows. “He promised not to look at me, but he did. Then he freaked over me stealing the formula. So yeah, I’m a little pissed.”

Brady nods. “When he told me the story, he said he thought the commotion was because they caught you—so he had to check. You were so close to the Major that he could have shot you point blank, and everyone was running past you while you were completely vulnerable. One wrong move, and you might have been dead.”

I look at Seth, placid in his brother’s unwavering arms. No matter how hard I try, it’s impossible to see myself like he does. He saw a naked girl walking around a bunch of armed soldiers—but I felt completely safe in my shell of invisibility. I’m not sure whether I should love him for wanting me safe or resent him for seeing me as weak. “Well, he forgets no one else sees what he does.”

“It’s true, but you do realize he’d fall apart if he lost you, right?”

Brady’s words make the guilt rush in, leaving me defenseless. Seth’s spent his entire life picking up the pieces from his mother’s death. Of course he’s majorly worried about my safety. “It’s really annoying when you go all ‘voice of reason’ on me. Now I can’t be mad at him.”

He smirks. “You’re welcome.”

We take every side road through town, hoping to avoid any of Juan’s people who might be out. The last thing we need is another threat right now. By the time we get back to Bea’s house, it must be almost daybreak because it seems lighter than before. Everyone is standing out front, and I hear Bea yell, “There they are!”

“Tell them Seth tweaked his knee and fell asleep while I was carrying him,” Brady whispers as they run toward us. “I’ll take him inside. Come when you can.”

“Okay,” is all I get out before Miles grabs my shoulders and looks me over like he could see if I was injured.

“What took so long?” Graham says at the same time as Miles.

I glance at Brady, who is already taking Seth to their house. Bea and Hector follow him, asking all sorts of questions. I hate lying to Miles, but I don’t have a choice. “Sorry we worried you. Brady didn’t think we should run after Seth hurt his knee.”

Miles lets out a relieved sigh. “After everything we saw at the factory, we were thinking a lot worse.”

“Yeah, I bet. They were at the waterfall, too. I heard the alert when you guys tripped the alarm.”

“Just how close were you to hear that?” Graham asks with a suspicious glare.

I gulp, hoping they don’t freak out as much as Seth did. Pulling out the papers, I hand them to Miles. “Close enough to get this.”

As he unfolds the sheets, Graham and Carlos crowd around him. Their jaws drop when they read the top line. I’m not sure if I’m seeing horror on their faces or disbelief. Miles looks up first. “Fi…”

“I know, but we needed it. After hearing their conversation I think we
might
know the location of what they want,” I say before he can tell me I shouldn’t have done it. I don’t want to hear it again right now.

He nods slowly. “I wish Spud had time to check, so you didn’t have to do this. Seems I can’t keep anyone I care about safe.”

“We can’t talk about this out here.” Graham snatches the papers from Miles, folds them, and hands them back to me. “Let’s get some rest—we’ll decide what to do with this later.”

Carlos gives him an incredulous look, eyes glowing in the dimness. “Who died and made you king?”

“I…” Graham seems sheepish.

“He’s right. We should rest,” I say, wanting to see Seth as soon as possible. “Meet at my place for dinner, okay? We’ll fill each other in then.”

Carlos doesn’t seem completely satisfied with my answer, but then glances back at his home. “If our parents weren’t about to wake up to an empty house, I’d fight you on that. Tell Bea and Hector to hurry back home.”

“I will.” I turn to Miles and Graham. “You guys can go. I’ll just make sure Seth’s okay. Brady will drive me home.”

“Don’t take too long,” Miles says. “Mom won’t overlook you staying out all night.”

I shrug. “Sometimes I sleep over at Bea’s after movie night.”

“I’m guessing you call her, though,” Graham points out.

Rather than admit he’s right, I roll my eyes and head for Seth’s house. “I can handle Mom.”

No one answers me back, and when I turn around they’re already a speck in the dawn sky. Carlos trudges to his house as I knock softly on Seth’s door. I figure that’ll be enough for Hector to hear. When it opens, I’m met with a face that surprises me.