Anyway, we stationed ourselves near the left side of the stage, about four rows back, my sister and I flanking Max. As I watched him staring at the stage, I realized that not only did I have no idea what Aregonda and her people were doing, but I didn’t know what Max had planned either.
“Hey,” I whispered to Sadie behind Max’s back. She shook her head and jerked her chin—when I looked over my shoulder, I understood why.
“Hello, Jerome,” I greeted my Peacekeeper shadow. “What’s up?”
“Here to help, nothing more,” he replied. “What’s Max’s plan?”
“You’ll have to ask Max about that.”
I supposed Jerome would have asked him, but the loudspeakers crackled to life. After a few ear-splitting moments of feedback, some game-show announcer announced that Langston Phillips was about to take the stage.
That was when all hell broke loose.
The metal supports of the stage flew out from under the decking and twisted themselves into a horribly complex knot. Then the metal morphed into a giant hook and snatched Langston right off the collapsing stage.
I shrieked, demanding to know why Aregonda would orchestrate such a blatant display of Elemental abilities in the midst of a Peacekeeper rally, when the metal hooks dragged their quarry across the field and deposited it at Max’s feet.
Oh. So my brother, not the wacky resistance, was responsible for this chaos.
Awesome.
“Max,” I screamed against the wind. Where had this fricken’ wind come from, anyway? “Max, what are you doing?”
“Giving him what he has coming,” Max said. The metal hooks dragged Langston onto his back and curled around his limbs, pinning him to the ground. “Not so smug when I’m not a prisoner, are you, pal?” Max demanded. “Different playing field, huh?”
“Still mad that she preferred me?” Langston sneered. “Me, a real man, as opposed to you?”
A band of metal clamped over Langston’s mouth, yanking his head down into the dirt. Langston’s face went red, then purple.
“Max, you’re killing him,” I said, not that he was listening to me. “Max, you’re better than this.”
“Am I?” Max asked, turning his wild eyes toward me.
“You are.”
Max and I both looked up and saw Juliana walking toward us. The supernatural wind tore at her hair and clothes, but she ignored it. In fact, as she approached us with her long dark hair whipping around her, she looked like some sort of pagan goddess. Mom would have approved.
Juliana knelt next to Langston, but she didn’t comfort him. Instead, she looked up at Max. “Max, don’t do this,” she pleaded.
“Why not?” Max shot back. “He killed Greta, Galen, all of them! He deserves to die!”
“That he does,” Juliana murmured. “But you don’t deserve to be a killer.” Juliana started pulling the metal restraints out of the ground. Amazingly, Max let her.
“Jules,” he began, but Juliana held up her hand.
“Go. Just go,” she said, then she pulled the last restraint free. Langston reached out to Juliana, but she evaded him. “Get up on your own,” she hissed. “I wasn’t helping you.”
Langston attempted a laugh and ended up spitting bloody phlegm onto the grass. “Still can’t manage to man up?” Langston croaked, glaring at Max.
“Yeah?” Max retorted, then he hit Langston so hard teeth and blood joined the phlegm on the grass. Before I could react, Juliana was standing between them.
“No, Max,” she said. “You’re not a murderer. Langston is, but you’re not.”
Sadie took Max’s elbow and said, “She’s right. Let’s get out of here.”
Langston tried to get to his feet, only to stumble and fall in the mud. Max grabbed Langston by the hair, wrenching his head around before shoving his face into the phlegmy mud.
“I have not forgotten,” Max hissed. “I will never forget.”
“You’ll forget when you’re dead,” Langston screeched, then his head lolled to the side. Behind him stood Aregonda, her scrunched face telling me that she was responsible for Langston’s sudden stupor. So, she could do a bit more than persuade, and she didn’t need contact to do it.
“He won’t remember any of this,” Aregonda bit off. “Get to the truck.”
With that, she walked toward the parking area. Sadie and Jerome immediately followed, but I found myself staring at Juliana. Max was staring at her too, his expression a mixture of fury and confusion.
“What?” Juliana demanded. “Get out of here while you can.”