Anarchy Found (SuperAlpha, #1)(82)

He wraps the other hook around Molly and me and we go flying up as well.

I push Molly into the ’copter, then help Case. Thomas enters behind me. I grab his arm just as Sheila says, Eighteen thirty-three and fifty seconds.

“Initiate,” I tell Sheila.

Blue Corp explodes. Every floor from twenty-one up starts to crumble.

Thomas looks at me and exhales a huge sigh of relief. His smile leaks out after that, and then all three of us are laughing. Molly looks around like we are crazy.

And we are, I guess. But it’s a super kind of crazy.

Thomas might be in charge. I’ll give him that. He might be rich and on the verge of taking over the world. And Case might be the one who has the tech to get us through the next stage in the plan. But they’re not SuperAlpha Lincoln. I’m the only * here with my own motherf*cking artificial intelligence who can blow our corporate enemy as sky-high as the SkyEye satellites.

“Thanks,” Thomas mouths. If he actually says the words, they are not audible over the helicopter.

I flip him off and mouth, “You’re not welcome.”

I catch Case smiling out of the corner of my eye.

“Molly?” I ask, leaning into her ear and handing her a headset after putting my own on. “Are you OK?”

She looks up at me and shrugs, but doesn’t put it on. It’s an honest answer. So I give her the same thing back.

A smile. And then a squeeze. And then a kiss. We sit like that for a little while, holding each other. She’s shaking and her body is hot, like she’s got a fever. I’m wrapping her up in a blanket from the crash kit when another explosion erupts off in the east.

We only see it for a second because the ’copter eases back into the cover of the mountains.

“What the f*ck was that?” I ask into the headset.

“Several explosions are being reported from the security guards at Cathedral City Asylum,” Sheila says.

I look at Thomas and he shakes his head. “Wasn’t me. I swear to God, it wasn’t me.”

“I think it was me.” We all turn to see Molly holding a headset up to her face. Her eyes are downcast and her shoulders are slumped. She forces herself to look me in the eye. “I guess I’m not the hero of this story after all.”





Chapter Fifty-One - Lincoln




Thomas hit his self-imposed Friday deadline. I admit, I’m surprised. Twelve hours ago we were racing away from the scene of a massive explosion at Blue Castle. The whole electrical grid went down, the town went black, the asylum exploded, and Channel Nine somehow got a hold of Chief O’Neil’s indiscretions over in the Merchant District. There have been no fewer than four news conferences this morning. Thomas is about to start number five.

It’s been a pretty f*cked-up twelve hours.

Well, unless you’re us. Because it’s been pretty sweet for us.

I’m watching Thomas on TV, Molly still sleeping, her head resting on my chest as I play with her hair. She’s been changed, just like me. But we’re still not sure exactly how. Sheila has the bots running tests on her blood and DNA, but it will take time to figure it all out.

She’s slipping into a depression over it, I think. She is convinced that the Blue Boar made her blow up Atticus and her mother. Somehow, some way. She won’t listen to any other explanation. She blames herself for all of it.

It’s dumb, but it’s natural. And she will come out of it sooner or later once she gets some perspective. All she needs is time. “We’ll get all the answers, Molls,” I whisper into her. “We’ll solve all those leftover mysteries and you’ll be better than ever. I promise.”

She stirs slightly as Thomas begins to speak on the screen.

“Good morning, citizens of Cathedral City,” Thomas says, beginning his announcement. “We are all reeling together as the explosions at Blue Corp and the Cathedral City Asylum sink in. And some might say this is not the right time for such an announcement, but I say it is.”

Thomas’ expression hardens as he looks straight into the camera.

“I say today is the perfect day to announce that I have initiated a hostile takeover of Blue Corp. And the gross negligence you witnessed last night due to improper chemical storage will never threaten the safety and wellbeing of Cathedral City again. SkyEye will incorporate and take over all of Blue Corp’s many subsidiaries.”

His stare is like granite. He’s so focused on these words.

Who is he talking to? I wonder. Not the city. Not me or Case, who is downstairs in the cave recovering from his shoulder injury after Sheila injected him with jellyfish goop. Not Molly. Not the Blue Boar—he’s dead. Blew that motherf*cker’s skull to pieces, I did.

“By this time next week,” Thomas continues, “I will be a steward of the community in a way that Blue Corp never was. SkyEye,” he says, pointing up to the satellites that hold vigil above, “will take care of you.”

Atticus, I think. Even though Molly thinks he’s dead, blown up in that explosion, I don’t think he is. Sheila reported a city-wide blackout at the time of Blue Corp’s explosion. That would’ve been twenty minutes before the asylum one happened.

Plenty of time for an Alpha like Atticus to get away.

So I think Thomas is talking to Atticus. A warning, maybe. A warning that says, Don’t try it, brother. You had your chance and this one’s mine.