Mom managed a small smile. "Yes, they are exceptional. I just don"t want to lose them."
"And we"ll do everything we can to prevent that. Matt has support at all times. Men will die to protect him. You need to understand that."
What he wasn"t telling her was that men had already died for me.
Waves of regret, something I frequently battled after a fight, especially when we lost a man, threatened to drown me. "I need to find Ella. May I be dismissed, Colonel?"
"Spare us a moment, Archer," the general boomed. "Congressman Patrick here wants to speak to the wielders."
Sighing, I went to join the team. The five of us made a rough-looking crowd and Patrick seemed to realize that. He turned wide-eyes on us. "Whatever you need. Whatever you need-or want-you"ll have it. I might not be chair of the Armed Services committee much longer, but while I am, you"ll be outfitted with everything you ask for. No more running quiet or light. You want an Abrams, I"ll airdrop one into the middle of the Sahara desert."
I briefly thought about saying too little, too late, but we had a long way to go and we needed the help. "I"d settle for a hot shower and a meal at the moment, sir. But first, I"d like permission to go outside and search for my girlfriend."
"Me, too," Will said. "On all counts."
Patrick pulled out a cell phone. "Karen? Rent out a floor at the Ritz Carlton hotel ... Yes, a whole floor. And talk to catering. Tell them all meals on me for the next twenty-four hours .... That"s what I said, Karen. You have two hours to make this happen." He hung up and said, "Shower and meal taken care of. Now go find your girls."
Chapter Seven.
Will and I jogged out into the sunshine. Sirens screamed in the distance, and emergency personnel lined the streets. Everywhere I turned, everywhere, they were a.s.sisting an injured person, or retrieving a body.
"G.o.d. So many," I said. "Will, there are probably hundreds dead out here."
His face had a grim cast. "Do you feel like punching a brick wall? Because I do."
"Not yet." I wiped sweat off my forehead. The day was heating up fast, and that spelled bad news for the recovery effort. "But I"ll probably come unglued once we know the girls are safe and in one piece."
We started down the block toward the alley where Ella and Penn had hidden. Whenever we pa.s.sed someone else, they paused to stare. Some, mostly National Guard, gave us solemn, respectful nods or a quick thumbs up. Others just gaped. One woman, probably in shock, scrambled away from us, crying.
The Capital area looked like something out of post-apocalyptic novel. Big chunks of the rotunda had been ripped free, scorch marks from rockets blackened buildings, and so many windows had been broken, gla.s.s crunched under our boots nearly every step. Sure, we"d taken out the Freaks, but not before they"d killed more than ten of us for every one of them and destroyed some of our most important monuments.
It took ten minutes to go two blocks, partly because of the debris, but partly because we were stopped every twenty feet for pats on the back. It was weird, and I wasn"t sure I liked the attention.
"Everyone knows who we are now," Will muttered. "And it"s not only us. It"s the whole team. It"s Penn and Ella. Mamie. Probably even our parents."
"It"ll be a circus when the situation calms down," I said, scanning the sidewalks in case the girls were coming back on foot. "I hate the idea, but we"ll have to deal with it best we can."
We reached the alley. It was blocked by chunks of concrete and a twisted metal lump that could"ve been a car once. None of that had been here when we sent the girls to hide on the fire escape.
"Where are they?" Will breathed, sounding a little panicked.
I peered down the alley and saw what had him so jumpy. The fire escape had been ripped off the wall. "Ella! Penn! Where are you?"
No answer.
"It"s okay," Will said. "It"s okay, they aren"t there. They left before this happened."
"Yeah," I said, wishing I could believe him. "But we"re going to dig for a while anyway, right?"
"Right."
We crossed the street and made for the demolished car. It blocked two-thirds of the entrance, and the alley dead-ended at the back. Our only way in would be by lifting out the other rubble one piece at a time.
Neither of us said a word while we hauled broken concrete away. We worked methodically, occasionally calling out for the girls. n.o.body ever answered.
After fifteen minutes, I started to lose hope. What if Ella was buried under that pile of bricks lying off to one side of the fallen fire escape? What is she was unconscious?
What if she was dead?
That thought froze my insides and I was in danger of an imminent freak-out when a distant voice cried, "Giant Will? Where are you?"
Will chucked a huge piece of concrete back onto the pile and took off running. I followed, nearly collapsing in relief when we spotted Penn and Ella a block away. From here, I couldn"t tell if they"d been hurt at all, but they were walking without a.s.sistance, and that was good enough.
Ella pointed. "There they are, Captain!"
A huge form broke out of the shadows-Captain Johnson. Mamie was cradled in his huge arms. She hung limp, one arm dangling free.
Then I was flying down the middle of the street, leaping over whatever got in my way. Ella"s pale face flashed by as I skidded to a halt next to Johnson and pressed a finger to Mamie"s neck. Her pigtails were half-unraveled, but there wasn"t a mark on her.
"She"s alive," I gasped. "Pulse is a little slow, but steady."
"She"s definitely alive," Johnson said in his deep rumble. "Just worn out. She fainted a few blocks back. We need to find her a quiet place to rest."
"Everyone"s back at the Rayburn building."
Johnson nodded and started walking that direction. I took a deep breath, trying to slow my own pulse. Ella put a hand on my arm but didn"t get a single word out before I pulled her into a tight hug.
"We couldn"t find you," I said. "We thought-"
"I was worried about that," she murmured against my chest, "but when the military moved down into the Mall, a couple of monsters stayed behind. We realized it was too dangerous to be outside so we hid until things calmed down. The guards wouldn"t let us into the Rayburn building when we got there, though."
"b.a.s.t.a.r.ds," Penn barked. "Those MPs didn"t listen when we told them you"d lose your minds if we weren"t there when you came back, so we were trying to find a way to sneak in when we found the captain."
Mighty Penn had her hands on her hips, like a miniature Napoleon ready to go to war. Will, smiling, bent down and scooped her up like she was a preschooler.
"I have an idea," he said, touching her nose with his. Another time, I might"ve gagged at the cuteness, but today everything got a pa.s.s as far as I was concerned. "Let us escort you back to the Rayburn building so you can walk right past those mean guards."
Penn gave him a fierce nod. "Have I told you yet that I"m really glad you"re alive?"
"No, but I knew you"d get around to it as soon as your need for vengeance was satisfied." Will put her down and took her hand. "I"m really glad you"re alive, too."
Ella and I trailed after them, holding hands. Worried as I was about Mamie, I wasn"t in a hurry to be sucked back into operations. If I could stand here for a minute and enjoy the fact that Ella was alive and next to me, that would be enough to erase some of my pain.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Had better days. You?"
She looked away, taking in the damage around us. "I"ve had better days." Now she captured me with her gaze and I stopped walking, spellbound. Something about her green eyes never let me go. "I want you to know how proud I am of you. I"ve seen you fight before, but not like that. What you and Will can do now? It"s amazing. You saved so many lives today. I know you"re focusing on the worst of it, but keep all the good stuff in mind, too."
"I"ll try."
We walked in silence until we were nearly at the entrance to the building. "Hey, where are you staying? Because Congressman Patrick is eating his words. He rented out a floor at the Ritz Carlton for the team and is buying our dinner."
Ella smiled. "That sounds better than the Best Western."
"I"ll send someone to go get your stuff and bring it over," I said. "I think a few of those MPs owe me some favors."
She laughed.
When we approached the checkpoint, the guards snapped to attention. That would be hard to get used to, being treated like an officer. But, remembering all the times I wished Ella could see me in action, I puffed out my chest, nodding to the guards like I got this kind of treatment every day.
Totally worth it when she bit her lip, giggling, as we went inside.
The bunker was a hive of activity by the time we arrived. Mom knelt next to a bench, where Mamie lay, still unconscious.
Brent came storming over. "Why didn"t you bring her back when you ran into her out there? She could"ve been killed!"
Any measure of balance I"d regained with Ella drained off in an instant. I got right in his face. "She told me she was fine. Brent, you don"t understand, not even a little, what she"s capable of. You"re right, we need to find a way to keep her from running toward danger, because she"s too valuable. But today she had a purpose and I wasn"t about to get in her way."
He clenched his fists. "Just because you don"t care about risking your own life doesn"t mean you can blow off risking hers."
Flashes of the night Mamie had been kidnapped by monsters back home stormed my brain and before I could contain myself, I had him against the wall with my hand on his neck. "I care about her more than you do. I always have. And don"t you dare talk to me about risk."
His face turned purple with rage and he knocked my hand away. "And don"t you dare a.s.sume you care more. You never should have let her stay out there."
"She saved nine children from sure death," Johnson said behind us. "I asked her why she left the bunker, and she told me she"d been called to help." He calmly pulled me away from my brother. "Matt"s right, Brent. You have no idea what your sister"s become. None of us do, I think."
"No, we don"t," I said. "I found her on the Mall, picking up a four-year-old. This monster swooped out of nowhere to grab her, then just veered away. It never touched her, like it was scared of her."
"They were scared of me," Mamie murmured from the bench. "And you and Brent better stop fighting. You"re upsetting Mom."
We rushed to her side-Johnson included-and she sat up slowly. "Tired. Does anybody have any chocolate?"
Johnson lumbered out of the room without saying anything.
"Chocolate?" Mom looked confounded and frazzled down to a nub. "Sweetheart, what happened?"
"I had something to do." She blinked, like the dim lighting in the bunker hurt her eyes. I recognized that expression-I had it often enough after a fight. Post-magic migraine.
Gla.s.s shattered down the hall and every wielder dropped into a crouch, knives out.
"Everyone back," Mike ordered.
Tense seconds ticked by as heavy footsteps crunched on the debris in the hallway, headed straight at us. Had Nocturna Maura called something new to torment us with?
Then Johnson appeared in the doorway, his arms full of junk food. "Mr. Congressman? In that list of things we need, you might want to include a vending machine. I didn"t feel like b.u.mming spare change from the MPs."
I relaxed, rolling my eyes. Jumpy. We were so freaking jumpy. Johnson shot me an amused smile as he went to Mamie, offering her first pick of his stolen snacks. She thanked him before taking a package of peanut M&Ms. And a Snickers bar.
And a bag of Skittles.
"Holy c.r.a.p, Sis. You trying to go into diabetic shock or something?" I said, relieved to see her interested in food.
"My blood sugar dropped after, uh, everything," she said, darting a worried glance at Mom and Brent. "I need a boost."
I snagged a bag of potato chips for myself as Johnson came by, along with a Crunch bar for Ella. She kissed me on the cheek for that, which calmed me down a little more. Which was probably why she did it.
Uncle Mike joined us and gently tugged one of Mamie"s braids, before saying, "We need to meet then we can go to the hotel."
Mamie downed half the M&Ms before saying, "Do I have to go to the meeting?"
"Not this one, Daisy May," he told her. "Why don"t you stay here and rest a bit. We won"t be long."
Then he stared at Brent-a cold-a.s.s Colonel Tannen glare. "Do not question your brother in front of his men. Not ever."
Whoa, I wasn"t expecting that. Brent"s furious expression told me he hadn"t expected it, either. "Fine, whatever. But I"m Mamie"s bodyguard. Don"t you forget that."
"Brent Michael Archer, do not talk back to the colonel," Mom said, sounding more weary than angry. "This isn"t our place. We"re here by happenstance and they need to do things their way."
I really wasn"t expecting that. Much as I appreciated the backup, I knew what this meant. Every raw wound that had scabbed over between Brent and me had just been ripped open.
"Archer, let"s go," Uncle Mike barked from the doorway.
Calling me Archer was one more reminder to my family of how much had changed.
I reached out to squeeze Mamie"s hand. "We"ll be back."
She nodded, taking a huge bite of her candy bar. "Ella and Penn will keep us company."
Ella whispered in my ear, "And we"ll make sure she stays down for a little while."
Glad they planned to take care of each other, I followed the colonel into the hall. Everyone else had already gone to the operations room, so I pulled him aside.
"Sir, there"s something I need to do," I said.
He tilted his head to one side, and I knew he was afraid to ask, but he did anyway. "What?"
I pulled Parker"s knife from my belt. "The spirit, well, I was the only person he allowed to handle the knife." Or maybe I was the only one who could, but I wasn"t ready to admit that to anyone, not yet. "He told me to bring him home. To you."
Uncle Mike"s face drained of color. "Chief, I can"t. I"m leading this operation. I can"t go back out into the field." He scrubbed his hand across his hair. "Why now?"