He sliced through the sky as fluidly as his sword had sliced through Morrison's hand. How could he catch up so fast?
Lucy's heart raced as she tried to think of something, anything to slow his pursuit. She caught Luke's eyes, and he nodded, understanding.
Lucy counted. "One...."
She could see Bethel's face, but not his eyes. Something black, like small wings, sprouted from his back.
"Two...."
Closer.
And... when the whites of his eyes came into view....
"Three!" Lucy clutched Luke tighter.
Luke's body stiffened as he focused his power. The sphere pulsed frenetically. Luke put up one hand and....
Beleth slammed into the field Luke had created, and ricocheted off it like a bouncy ball against a wall.
Luke and Lucy continued to fall. If they hadn't been in a race for their lives, Lucy would have enjoyed the descent. She loved skydiving and parachuting, but this was not for sport. Still, she couldn't help but embrace the freedom of soaring through the sky, unfettered from reality. She'd have given anything to have this para-power: the power of flight.
Lightning flashed, tearing Lucy from her joy and illuminating the bright sky with another vision: one of a black silhouette with wings.
She acted fast, flipping downwards while Luke helped open her parachute. It slowed them down, temporarily.
A current of wind drove through them, sending the parachute in conflicting directions. They began to fall too fast. The water beneath them rose up like a giant mouth. If they hit it going this fast, they would drown, pulled down by the ocean and their parachute.
"Luke, make a wall of air beneath us, but not thick. To slow us, not stop us."
Luke nodded and held out his hand. He looked so tried, so weak, but he raised his hand and focused his power.
Panic filled her even as she pushed it away. Oh-my-God-oh-my-God-oh-my-God.... The ocean rushed up to them, water sprayed them, and Lucy prepared for what could be the end.
Chapter 64 – Steele
It all came down to him.
When his son had died he knew he'd have to finish the plan alone. But then his son, the Seeker, had been weak, unable to go the distance.
Mr. Steele could—and would.
He looked down at the body lying on the bed. They were all just bodies to be used and tested. They meant nothing except for what they could give him. This body had been badly damaged, but there was one who could fix it.
He motioned to the guards standing by the door of the hospital room. "Send her in."
A petite ten-year-old with long auburn hair glared at him with fire in her green eyes, and stroked the snow white cat in her arms.
The room crowded around him with so many people, but he ignored the sensation. Soon enough he'd be alone in his cavernous rooms, after he handled this.
He pointed a long finger at the cat. "What is that thing doing here?"
The guard on the right stepped forward. "She wouldn't leave it. Said she couldn't heal without it. You told us not to hurt her, so it seemed the easiest way to get her here."
"And the mother?"
"Dead."
The scowl on the girl's face collapsed into tears.
Mr. Steele knew what grief looked like on others, and found the expressions to be clichéd and useless. He prided himself on his control, and counted his blessings that he didn't have to suffer in the sludge of human emotional excrement.
Before Mr. Steele could order the cat's execution—both to rid himself of the nuisance, and to punish the girl for her display of tears—the body on the bed convulsed. A fly buzzed around its head, as if waiting for a decomposing treat.
He gestured with impatience. "Never mind about the damn cat. Girl, use your para-powers to fix this." He spat the last word out as a curse.
When the girl didn't move, the guard shoved her forward. She dropped her cat, which landed on all fours, the demon that it was, and hissed at him.
He kicked at the cat, but it avoided his black boot and scurried under the bed.
The girl trembled and looked even smaller without the white fluffy buffer. "I... I can't. I'm not strong enough."
Mr. Steele kept his voice calm and even when he responded. Anger was just another emotion, after all. "You haven't even tried. I think you're much stronger than you give yourself credit for. Besides, if you don't, I'll rip your kitty apart with my nails and eat its heart while you watch. Then, I'll do the same to you."
An idle threat, as he cared nothing for the heart. No, what he wanted—what he needed—existed solely in the brain. That's where the real treasure awaited him—the real power.
***
Cerebrospinal fluid: the key to all his research. Located in the subarachnoid space and the ventricular system around and inside the brain and spinal cord, this fluid contained something very special in those with active and dormant para-powers—the blueprint for specific powers and the code to activate them.