Gone (Gone #1)(61)

Caine studied him just as closely

"What is it you want with me." Sam asked.

Caine started to chew at his thumb, then put his hands down by his side so that he looked almost as if he were standing at attention. "I wish there was some way we could be friends, Sam "

"I can see you're dying to be my new homey"

Caine laughed. "See? You have a sense of humor. That wouldn't have come from your mother She never seemed very funny to me. Maybe it came from your father?"

"I wouldn't know."

"No? Why not?"

"You have my mother's laptop. You have all her personal papers, And you have Quinn answering questions about me. So I'm guessing you already know the answer."

Caine nodded. "Yes. Your father disappeared soon after you were born. I guess he wasn't too impressed with you, huh?" Caine laughed at his own joke, and some of his toadies joined in hallheartedly, not really getting it. "Well, don't feel bad. As it happens, my biological father disappeared, too. And my mother"

Sam didn't answer. His hands were numb from the plastic tie. He was scared but determined not to show it.

"You're not supposed to wear street shoes on the gym floor" Sam said.

"So, your father disappears and you don't even want to know why?"Caine asked, "Interesting. Me, I've always wanted to know who my real parents were"

"Let me guess: you're secretly a wizard who was raised by muggles."

Caine's smile was cold. He raised his hand, palm out. An invisible fist hit Sam in ihe lace. He staggered back. He barely stopped himself from falling, but his head was reeling. Blood leaked from his nose.

"Yeah. Kind of* Caine said.

He extended both hands and Sam felt himself rising off the floor.

Caine raised him about three feet, then laced his fingers together and Sam tell hard.

Sam picked himself up slowly His left leg was wobbly. His ankle felt sprained.

"We have a system for measuring the power," Caine said. "Diana came up with ii, actually She can read people if she holds their hands, she can tell how much they have. She describes it as being like a cell phone signal. One bar, iwo bars, three bars. You know what I am?"

"Crazy?" Sam spil out the blood that ran down into his mouth,

"Four bars, Sam, I'm the only one she's ever read who has four bars. I could pick you up, fly you into the ceiling, or slam you against a wall" He illustrated his point with hand motions that made it look as if he were doing a hula dance.

"You could get work with a circus," Sam said brightly.

"Oooh, tough guy" Caine seemed annoyed that Sam hadn't responded with awe.

"Look, Caine, my hands are tied, you've got five of your thugs standing around me with baseball bats, and I'm supposed to be terrified because you can do magic tricks?" Sam made ihe count "five" rather than "six" He wasn't about to count Quinn as anything.

Caine registered the omission and shot a suspicious glance at Quinn. Quinn still looked like a kid who didn't know where to stand or what to do with himself.

"And one of those five" Sam said, "is a murderer. A murderer and a bunch of cowards, That's your posse, Caine"

Caine's eyes went wide. He bared his teeth, furious, and suddenly Sam was flying across the room.

Flying like he'd been shot out of a catapult.

The gym spun around him.

He hit the basketball hoop hard, head smashing into the glass. He hung for a moment from the hoop and then fell onto his back.

He was dragged by unseen hards of terrifying strength, like he'd been swept back by a tornado. He came to rest at Caine's feet.

He was slow getting back up this time. The flow from his nose had been joined by a trickle of blood from his forehead, "Several of us developed strange powers, starting a few months ago" Caine said conversationally. "We were like a secret club. Frederick Andrew, Dekka, Urianna, some others. We worked together to develop them. Encouraged each other. See, that's the difference belween Coates people and you townies. In a boarding school it's hard to keep secrets. But soon it became clear that my powers were of a whole different order. What I just did to you? No one else could do that"

"Yeah, that was cool," Sam said with shaky defiance. "Can you do it again?"

"He's baiting you/* It was Diana coming into the room and obviously not happy with what she was seeing.

"He's trying to prove he's tough," Caine snapped.

"Yes. And he*s proved it. Move on"

"Watch how you talk to me, Diana," Caine grated.

Diana sauntered over to stand beside Caine. She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head at Sam in mock dismay "Well, you look pretty bad, Sam"

"He'll look worse," Caine threatened.

Diana sighed, "Here's the deal, Sam. Caine wants some answers from you."

"Why not ask Quinn?"

"Because he doesn't know the answers, but you do, so here's the thing: if you don't answer Fearless Leader's questions, Drake is going to siart beating on Astrid. And just so you know: Drake is sick in the head. I'm not saying that to scare you, I'm saying it because it's true. I'm a bad girl, Caine has delusions of grandeur, but Drake is flat-out sick in the head. He could kill her, Sam. And he's going to start up in five minutes unless I go back and tell him not to. So, tick-tock "