Calamity (Reckoners, #3)(44)

“No, though that monster who led you has some disc-shaped devices that can do it.”

We were safe then. Those discs were like the one we’d had in Newcago; it had required direct contact, and Megan could fool it with her illusions. Prof shouldn’t be able to sniff us out.

“There,” Larcener said. “See, I’m cooperating. Will someone finally get me something to drink?”

“Can’t you just make one?” Abraham asked.

“No,” Larcener snapped, and didn’t offer any further explanation, though I knew anyway. He could create only a limited mass of items, and they faded when he wasn’t concentrating on them. Food or drinks he created wouldn’t sate, as they’d eventually vanish.

“Very well,” I said. “You can stay—but as we said, no hurting us. That includes taking powers from anyone here.”

“I already promised that, idiot.”

I nodded to Cody, then gestured at Larcener.

Cody tapped the front of his cap in agreement. “Now, what would y’all like to drink?” he said to Larcener. “We have lukewarm water and warm water. Both taste like salt. But on the bright side, I’ve tested both on old Abraham there, and I’m reasonably confident they won’t give ya the runs.”

He would fetch Larcener some water, keep him company, and see what he could find out about the man. I grabbed the other three, walking below while Cody distracted the Epic. As we reached the bottom floor, Megan took me by the arm. “I don’t like this,” she hissed.

“I’m inclined to agree,” Abraham said. “High Epics are erratic and untrustworthy. Present company excluded.”

“There’s something odd about him,” I said, shaking my head, looking back up the stairwell and listening to Cody’s voice drift down as he started telling Larcener a story about his grandmother over in Scotland. She’d swum to Denmark, apparently?

“I’ve felt that darkness, David,” Megan said. “Keeping him in here is like snuggling up to a bomb, content that it’s not going to explode simply because you can still hear it ticking.”

“Nice simile,” I said absently.

“Thanks.”

“But inaccurate,” I said. “He doesn’t follow the pattern, Megan. He’s scared, and less defiant than simply arrogant. I don’t think he’s dangerous. To us right now, at least.”

“Are you willing to bet our lives on that feeling, David?” Mizzy asked.

“I’ve already bet your lives by bringing you here.” It was discomforting to say, but it was true. “I’ve said it before: the only way we’re going to win this war against the Epics is by using other Epics. Are we going to turn away one of the most powerful when he seems willing to work with us?”

The others fell silent. In the quiet, my mobile buzzed. I glanced at it, half expecting it to be Cody with some addendum to his story that he wanted me to hear. Instead it was Knighthawk.

Your crate is on the move, he wrote.

What, already? I typed back.

Yeah. Out of the warehouse, on its way someplace else. What’s going on here? Who ordered that box?

“I need to chase this lead,” I said, looking up to the others. “Megan, stay here. If something does go wrong with Larcener, you’ll have the best chance of getting the others out. Be careful not to touch him, just in case. He can’t take your powers without touching you and holding on a good thirty seconds, or so my reports say. Let’s be careful and not let him have any direct contact with you.”

“Fine,” she said. “But it won’t come to anything like that. If I see a hint that he’s going dark, I’m grabbing the others and we’re bolting.”

“Deal,” I said. “Abraham, I could use some support on this mission. We’ll have to go without Megan’s disguises, so it could be dangerous.”

“More dangerous than staying here?” he asked, looking upward.

“I don’t know, honestly. Depends on how bad a mood our target is in.”





AFTER we slipped from the hideout, I showed Abraham my mobile, which displayed a map of the city. A red dot from Knighthawk showed the location of our target.

“With it moving like that, it could take hours to chase down,” Abraham said with a grunt.

“We’d better get going then,” I said, tucking my mobile into my pocket.

“David, in all kindness and peace,” Abraham said, “your plans have already made me exhaust myself today, and now you want to walk across the city again. ?’a pas d’allure! One wonders if you have determined I am getting fat. Wait here.” He shoved his large bag into my hands—it held his gun, and was way heavier than I’d expected. As I stumbled, he strode across the street toward a vendor who had set up under a small awning.

You going to tell me what this is about? Knighthawk texted me as I waited.

You’re a smart man, I wrote back. Guess.

I’m a lazy man. And I hate guessing. Despite that, a moment later, he sent me something. Is this about the caverns, somehow? Like…you think maybe Larcener is hiding in them, and you’re trying to track him?

That was a clever guess. Caverns? I wrote. What caverns?

You know. St. Joseph?

The religious figure?