Page 25 of The Tree of Spirits (Paragons #2)

PLAYING HERO

T his was the thieves’ escape route. And we were in their way.

Three people in black armor poured through the newly-blast opening in the wall. I’d seen that black armor before. It was the same armor worn by the Techno Knight at the Tournament.

The same armor worn by the guys who’d attacked the commandos in the Park two days ago.

The Apprentices around me paled, then started to back up. They’d obviously recognized those suits too.

“Stop,” one of the Techno Knights intoned. His voice sounded thick and scratchy, like he’d ingested way too much smoke.

The Apprentices froze in place.

“You are our prisoners.” When a second Techno Knight lifted both hands in the air, the jagged opening in the wall collapsed behind them.

“If you try to escape, things will go very, very badly for you.” Even through the echo of the helmet, the voice was clearly female.

“So do everyone a favor and just don’t.”

No one moved. No one could. A spell was holding us in place. I could feel the seams of the spell, like a piece of rough fabric rubbing against the tender rim of an open wound. I wondered if I pulled on the threads of that spell, would it unravel?

Suddenly, an agonizing headache split through my head. I tried to hold in the pain, but a small whimper escaped my mouth.

“I warned you not to try anything.” The female Techno Knight came to a stop in front of me. Her armored hand roughly grabbed my jaw. “You don’t listen very well.”

“I guess I don’t,” I spat.

I burst through the seams of her spell, then reached behind me and grabbed the screwdriver tucked into the waistband of my pants.

In the same movement, I plunged the pointy end of the tool into a small opening in her armor, under her arm.

The techno suit made a flat, dull, whining noise, then all its tiny lights went out.

That got the attention of all three Techno Knights.

“Yeah, I got a good, close look at your suits when you barged in here so rudely. And I know how to cut their power,” I told them, gripping my screwdriver.

“Stupid girl,” snapped the Techno Knight in the de-powered suit.

She made the same trilling noise Nevada had used earlier to direct the overflowing water into the drain. But when she did it, jets of water exploded out of the pipes and slammed into me, knocking me off my feet.

Armored boots clicked across the floor. An ominous black helmet stared down on me. “I don’t need the suit to do magic. Or to deal with you.”

Her hand swooped down and plucked me off the floor. Fingers squeezed around my neck, tighter. Tighter. Tighter. My breaths stuttered.

“Put her down,” snapped one of the other Techno Knights. “Hurting the Apprentices isn’t the plan.”

“You’re right.” My attacker tossed me to the ground like a discarded piece of trash. “This isn’t the plan.”

“What is the plan?” I coughed out, clutching my throat as I rose to my feet.

None of the three Techno Knights answered. Instead, they turned to the other Apprentices and said in unison, “Move out.”

They herded us toward the stairs. I moved slowly, hugging the back of the line.

Nevada stayed close to me. “Are you all right?” she whispered.

“Yeah, I’ll be ok.” I rubbed my throat.

She watched me, frowning. “ That wasn’t very convincing.”

“No, it wasn’t.” Dante was on my other side. He threw an angry look up the line at the three Techno Knights. “They are going to regret touching my sister.” For emphasis, he pounded his fist against his open palm.

I grabbed his hand. “Don’t do anything foolish.”

He snorted. “Says the girl who attacked an armored soldier with a screwdriver.”

“Hey, when I made my move, I didn’t know they could use magic even without the suits. That just doesn’t make any sense.” I frowned. “Why would they need the magic-mimicking suits if they already have magic?”

“Extra firepower?” Dante suggested.

“But the Techno Knight at the Tournament was human under that suit.” I bit my lip. “These guys aren’t.”

“Maybe they’re working together?” Nevada wondered.

“The man under the suit, the man who attacked the Tournament, is a member of the Brotherhood of Earth, an anti-magic organization. He attacked the Knights because they have magic. These people,” I said, glancing at our three kidnappers, “they’re supernaturals.

The two groups would never work together. ”

“So then why are they wearing identical armor?” Dante asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“Who are they?” Nevada asked. “And what do they want?”

Bronte turned around and gave us a long, heavy sigh. “Isn’t it obvious? They’re Rebels.”

“No,” I argued. “The Rebels help the citizens of Gaia. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. We all have.”

“Have we?” Bronte countered.

“They help people, Bronte,” I replied. “We saw them in the mall. They made sure everyone was safe. They even gift-wrapped the bad guys for the Watchers!”

“Do we really know what the Rebels were doing when they ‘helped’ people? We have no idea what their true purpose is!”

But I knew what I’d seen. “After doing all that good, why would the Rebels suddenly turn bad? And why would they throw away all their goodwill on something as mundane as a few jewels? Why make such a big show out of robbing a jewelry store? The Rebels have evaded capture for months, so how could they be so stupid as to trip the store’s alarm?

” I shook my head. “It doesn’t make any sense at all. ”

“What difference does it make who’s under that armor?” Dante said. “What we should be worrying about is how to get away from these guys.”

“I don’t think we should be doing anything.” Bronte gave me a pointed look.

“And by we , you mean I shouldn’t do anything.”

“Well, you didn’t exactly make things better, Savannah,” she replied.

She wasn’t wrong. If anything, I’d made things worse.

“So what do you suggest?” Dante demanded. “To just sit here and wait to be rescued? That’s not very heroic.”

“We aren’t heroes,” Bronte said sensibly. “We’re just Apprentices.”

“And Apprentices who always cower in the shadows obviously become the best Knights,” Dante said, rolling his eyes.

“We’re not cowering,” she told him. “We’re simply deciding not to pick fights that we cannot win.”

Dante rolled his eyes. Again. “Speak for yourself. I say we can take them. There are thirty-one of us. And only three of them.”

“They have magic. We do not,” Bronte reminded him with strained patience.

“Savannah can do a bit of magic. And so can Nevada.”

Bronte’s eyes locked with his. “A bit of magic isn’t going to cut it against three supernaturals, two with fully-functional armor.

Remember, the villain at the Tournament—who was human —took on seven Knights with that same armor and very nearly won.

Again, we aren’t Knights. The real Knights are outside, and I’m sure they’re working on a plan as we speak. They will rescue us.”

“I’m not sure that they will,” Dante grumbled.

“Of course they will. The Knights will do what they must to get us back,” Bronte told him. “We’re Apprentices, the future of humanity. We’re valuable.”

“Of course we’re valuable,” said Dante. “That’s why these guys took us hostage.

Exactly because we’re valuable hostages.

They know that as long as they have us, the General won’t let the Knights make a move on them.

He can’t risk losing a whole class of Knights.

” He nodded as Bronte’s confident smile faded.

“So, now you get it. The Knights won’t risk a rescue.

And these guys won’t be letting us go, at least not until they’re away free.

And then who’s to say what they will do with us, when they don’t need us as a bargaining chip anymore. ”

I clutched my bruised throat. I could still feel the armored supernatural’s fingers clamping down on my skin.

“In other words,” Dante said, “it will be a miracle if we all survive this.”