United as One (Lorien Legacies #7)(77)

Five, standing off to the side of everyone, chuckles darkly at that. Everyone looks in his direction, Marina’s glare particularly icy, and he edges farther away in response.

“But until that day . . . ,” John continues, and then trails off. He doesn’t know what to say. Or maybe he doesn’t think that day will ever come.

“Kick some ass and do Earth proud,” Nine finishes for him.

After that, Caleb, Nigel and Ran say their good-byes and join Lawson’s convoy. Daniela lingers a little longer. She gives me a big hug, then turns to John and Sam.

“You know, I’m definitely badass enough to help you guys out,” she says. She jerks her thumb over her shoulder at the other humans. “But someone needs to watch out for them.”

John nods, smiling tiredly. “Take care, Daniela.”

“Don’t die,” she responds, then joins the others.

Sam strokes Stanley’s head, an eyebrow raised at John. “I know you’re not expecting me to leave with them.”

“No,” John replies with a shake of his head. “You’re stuck with us.”

Malcolm crosses his arms, looking at Sam. “I’m coming as well. Your mom would kill me if I let you face the end of the world without some form of supervision.”

I slip my arm around Sam’s waist and rest my head on his shoulder. “Seriously,” I say, scolding him. “Call your mom.”

Agent Walker is the last one to join the convoy. She stands in front of our group awkwardly, looking from me to John to Nine. Finally, she sighs.

“I just want to say . . .” She hesitates. “I want to say thank-you. For giving me a chance to fix some of the damage I caused. For . . .” She shakes her head and waves her hands. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Nine says.

“Take care of those kids, Walker,” John replies. “They need someone to watch out for them. Someone who doesn’t want to just use them for their powers. That could be you.”

Walker nods, turns and heads towards the headlights of the convoy. Soon those headlights become taillights, and then we’re alone in the dark field.

Me and Sam. Malcolm and Lexa. John and Bernie Kosar. Nine. Marina and Ella. Five. I’m the one to break the silence.

“Let’s go win this war.”

Yet again Lexa flies us north to Niagara Falls. The ride is quiet and somber, everyone too tired, or too much in their own head, to say much. John falls asleep for what must be the first time in days, Marina next to him, her eyes drawn to the wound on his neck that defies her healing ability. Five chooses not to ride in the ship but rather fly alongside it, a decision I think everyone is grateful for.

Sam and Malcolm use the time to call Sam’s mom. It’s a tearful conversation, one that I try not to eavesdrop on. Across the aisle from me, Nine catches my eye.

“Must be nice to have people to say good-bye to, huh?” he says quietly.

I frown. “Nobody’s saying good-bye to anyone, Nine.”

“Come on, Six. You really think that’s true?”

When we reach Niagara Falls, Adam and Rex have just finished preparing our deliveries. The two Mogs have packed heavy-duty backpacks—courtesy of the Canadians—with cloaking devices picked clean from our stolen warship’s Skimmers. Into those packs we divide the cell phones and gadgets that Sam has talked into copying the cloaking devices signals.

Nine eyeballs Rex. “If I double-check these bags, am I going to discover you, like, sabotaged some of the merchandise?”

Rex runs a hand through his short black hair, uncertain how to respond. Adam steps forward.

“Enough already, Nine,” he says. “Rex is solid. We can trust him.”

“All this, it feels like throwing pebbles at a god,” Rex says quietly, surveying the backpacks. “I only hope it’s enough to make Beloved Leader fall. That . . . that would be something to see.”

“Well, at least he’s optimistic,” Nine says dryly.

All told, each pack has roughly thirty cloaking devices. One pack per war zone.

“Will it be enough?” Marina asks.

“It has to be,” John replies.

Ella directs traffic. She knows the locations of the Loralite stones, the new outcroppings that have blossomed from the earth since we released the Entity. According to Lawson, there should be people waiting at each spot to take our deliveries. From there it’s up to them how they use the cloaking devices. I hope they’ve got solid plans.

“You just need to picture the place you’re going,” Ella explains as we stand in a semicircle around the Niagara Falls stone, the dull-blue glow it emits the only light. “If you have trouble, I can help . . . put an image in your mind. When I was bonded with Legacy, I saw all the stones simultaneously, so I know what their surroundings look like.”

“That’s good,” Sam says, glancing down at the list of locations. “Lion’s Head is a place and not a, uh, actual lion’s head, right?”

Ella looks up at him. “I’ll help you, Sam. Don’t worry.”

Nine raises his hand. “If we do picture an actual lion’s head . . .”

“No,” Ella finishes his thought. “You will not teleport onto a lion.”

I allow myself a brittle smile. They’re joking around; in the face of everything that’s happened, they can still do that.