Chapter Four
Dani careened through HQ, boots thumping, backpack whacking her spine with every step. Apologies streamed from her lips as she dodged coworkers in her haste.
“Sorry, sorry, whoops, sorry, oh %*$@, that’ll bruise, you should get to Maintenance, excuse me, pardon me, sorry, sorry …”
She whipped past an Ascendant, whose golden aura flared in surprise. Dani spun and jogged backward for a second, waving at the woman who glared out from under her white fedora.
“Nothing wrong! Honest. Everything’s totally fine. Keep on being awesome.” She turned forward again and sidestepped just in time to avoid colliding with a maid, who held up a toilet scrubber like a shield. Regaining her momentum, Dani raced for the nearest glassway.
She tugged her radio off her belt and clicked it onto a private channel. “Chairman … Francis … any chance … you know where Ben is?”
The speaker crackled. “Janitor Dani? Is something wrong? You sound distressed, and I believe your shift was supposed to continue for another hour.”
“Had a little … run-in. Had to clock out … early.”
“May I inquire as to the problem?”
“It’s … it’s Sydney. He’s back. I’ve got to … got to let Ben know what’s up.”
Static burst so loud from the other end, she stumbled and stared at the radio, worried it might be acting up. “Chairman?”
“All’s well,” he said. “Simply alarmed at the news. Do you need me to accompany you?”
“No, it’s okay. I got this. Just need a little pep talk.”
“Very well. I believe he and Janitor Lucy were visiting Jared to check up on the boy. But I should warn you—”
“Thanks a heap.”
She rushed ahead, weaving through a crowd of Cleaners who were plodding along, ragged tears and dark stains marring their jumpsuits. Even as she hurried by, though, their uniforms sealed up and the blotches started to fade.
After a jump through a glassway, she reached the foyer where a pair of Ascendants guarded a set of plain double-doors. The doors stood open, and the Ascendants stood off to the side, chatting with each other, suggesting Ben and Lucy remained inside the quarantine area. Ignoring the Ascendants’ startled looks, she shot past them and down the hall beyond.
When she reached Jared’s quarters, she staggered to a halt and swung the backpack off and to the floor. Unburdened, she planted hands on knees and wheezed.
“Ben! I said yes! Oh, ##%, I said yes. What … what am I su-supposed to do?”
She sucked deep breaths until a gurgle made her lift her head. A huge orb of water filled the middle of the room. Ben floated within it, thrashing as air bubbles streamed from his mouth.
Lucy stood off to the side, arms crossed, scowling. “For the last time, let him go, kid, or I will spank you so hard, you’ll be a wave pool for life.”
“Ben!” Dani ran to the edge of the water and tried to grab the janitor. Her hands bounced off a rubbery surface.
Ben swiveled within the water to face her, cheeks bulging as he tried to hold his breath.
A voice interjected with Dani’s thoughts.
“Hello, Dani. We are playing a game. Want to join us?”
Dani projected a mental reply. “Jared, did you ask permission to play with Ben first?”
“No. He asked for surprises. I gave him one. Isn’t it fun?”
“You’re drowning him, Jared. That’s not good for his health. Let him go, please.”
“Oh.” A sensation of guilt formed like a knot of lead in Dani’s chest, and then vanished. “Okay. Sorry.”
The orb collapsed, letting Ben splat on the floor. Lucy rushed to him as the liquid drained into a self-contained river that wove off to a corner of the room. Dani helped Lucy get Ben upright as he gagged and coughed. She pulled back and shielded her face as he shook himself like a wet dog, spraying them.
“You okay?” Dani asked.
“Sure, just …” He hacked and spat. “Just gimme a sec.”
In the corner, the water congealed into a humanoid form; the image of a teenage boy, bare-chested, wearing jeans and sneakers—but made entirely of clear water. Jared ducked his head sheepishly as Dani studied him. His liquid body reminded Dani of the time when Ben’s partner, Carl, had communicated with her through her elemental tethers.
As Lucy tended to Ben, Dani went over and checked over the boy.
“Jared? Why are you made of water?”
“Don’t know,” the hybrid said. “Woke up this way.”
Dani frowned. Ever since they’d brought him to HQ, the kid had manifested an ever-evolving and seemingly random slate of powers. Would these chaotic displays ever end? At least his speech had gotten better. Instead of piecing together phonetic jumbles, he could manage clear phrasings, though he still refused to speak out loud for some reason.
She put a hand on his shoulder. Water slicked her palm and miniature currents swirled under her touch. “Hang here for a minute, all right?”
“All right. I’ll be good.”
When she withdrew her hand, her skin dried immediately. She returned to Ben’s side as he stood, looking less like what the cat dragged in and more like what the cat ate and then hacked back up. He coughed again and swiped his long hair out of his eyes.
“Heya, princess. Thanks for talkin’ a bit of sense into the kiddo. Got a little carried away there, mebbe.”
She squinted at him. “Ben, what’s going on? Why did Jared just try to drown you?”
“Er …” Ben gathered his hair into a ponytail and squeezed, dribbling water down his back. “That mebbe coulda been my fault. Weren’t thinkin’ too well when I told him about what we was up to.”
Dani looked between Ben and Lucy. “And what exactly is that?”
“Tryin’ to get my powers gunnin’ again.”
She shot Lucy a look. “Is he …?”
“He’s being serious,” Lucy said. “Ben thought a little water shock therapy might somehow jolt his Pure energies back into action. So he suggested a series of tests where he’d get hit with unexpected watery attacks, thinking the adrenaline rush and survival instincts might help him tap into the elements. He mostly meant it as a joke, but the Chairman approved it.”
Dani sighed. “Seriously? But why’d Jared get in on it? And why’s he made of water?”
“Found him that way when we dropped in,” Ben said. “Guessin’ it’s his new way of showin’ off his powers, though I ain’t sure he’s meanin’ to.”
“Great,” Dani said, glancing at the boy. “Well, at least he looks normal, otherwise. So long as he’s stable like this, maybe we can get a better idea of what’s going on with him.”
With a whoosh, Jared burst into flames.
The three of them stared as his previously watery body transformed into a column of writhing fire. The room’s temperature rose a few degrees, and waves of heat slapped Dani’s face. He blinked back at them with eyes made of blue flames.
Dani winced against the glare. “Uh … Jared? Does that hurt?”
The teen studied his flaming hands. “No. Kind of cozy, actually.” He grinned, teeth backlit by an orange glow. “Why didn’t anyone tell me being fire could be so much fun?”
This version of him made Dani think of her fiery doppelganger—a particularly rude and crude elemental summoned during a cultish ceremony intended to turn Dani into a goddess of apocalyptic proportions.
As if my powers aren’t hard enough to deal with, as they are. One day, it’s as easy as breathing. The next, I might as well be trying to suck wind through cement blocks while running a marathon.
She briefly shut her eyes and snaked out tendrils of power, looking like glowing lines to her inner vision. When they brushed against Jared’s fiery self, she sensed nothing but flames, a super-condensed reservoir of elemental potential. She opened her eyes to see Jared watching her in return, an odd expression on his face—or perhaps that just came from the heat waves rippling out from it.
“Should we put him out or somethin’?” Ben unhooked Carl’s spray bottle from his belt.
“Don’t bother,” Dani said. “He seems fine except for, you know, being fire. And with how hot he’s blazing, Carl would evaporate before he even touched him.”
The water elemental spouted in alarm. Ben flicked the bottle. “No worries, buddy. I ain’t gonna make you sizzle for nothin’.”
“Should I play a game with Ben again?” Jared stepped closer, his body brightening to hot white. “Maybe this time—”
“No!” Dani and Ben shouted in unison.
The teen hopped back against the wall, hunched. His voice ricocheted through her mind. “Sorry sorrysorrysorry …”
Dani came as close as she dared, hands raised. She wanted to give the kid a hug, but his touch left char marks across the wall and floor. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Jared. It’s just, the way you are right now, it could hurt us if you got too close. I’m sure it’ll change soon.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“That’s good! That’s exactly the right thing to not want. Remember our lessons? Hurting people is bad. Helping people is good.”
“But I wanted to help Ben before and almost hurt him, didn’t I? Doesn’t that make me dangerous?”
Dani met Ben’s eyes. “Can you put a little positive spin on this, please?”
“Sure ’nuff.” He leaned in to Jared, close enough for steam to start rising from his damp suit. “Lookee here, kiddo. Are you dangerous? You betcha.”
“Ben!” Dani cried.
He held his hand up to her. “But so’s each of us here.”
Jared tilted his head quizzically. “You are?”
“As dangerous as rabid rhinos in a fluffy bunny shop. I mean, look at Dani. She’s a Catalyst. She can toss all sortsa natural disasters right in your face, from earthquakes to blizzards to locust plagues.”
“I can’t do locusts,” Dani said. “Or rivers of blood, or frog rains, or the whole killing-firstborn-children thing.”
He shrugged. “Eh. Probly better that way. Anyhoo, all she’s gotta do is get nice and riled, and soon she’s whippin’ up a nasty mess that takes us forever to fix.”
“Gee, thanks,” Dani muttered.
Ben winked at her. “And then there’s Lu, who—”
Lucy cleared her throat. He hesitated.
“Well, Lu, she’s the only one I’ve ever seen send a pack of blot-hounds scamperin’ for their nest just ’cause she didn’t get her mornin’ coffee. All she had to do was give ’em one good glare, and they practically piddled themselves scramblin’ for cover.”
“Thank you,” Lucy said.
Jared’s forehead wrinkled in thought. “But why are you dangerous, Ben? You don’t have powers anymore.”
Ben grinned and tapped his head. “Too smart for my own good, don’tcha know?” At Lucy and Dani’s low groans, he puffed his chest up. “It ain’t all about how big a stick you got to swing around. It’s havin’ the experience to know when to swing, how hard, and what soft spots you gotta hit to make ’em puke blood. And that’s where I got all of y’all beat. I got enough field work and Scum-savvy, I could be usin’ one of them silly swirly straws and still poke out someone’s eye if I aim right.”
“What’s a silly straw?” Jared asked.
“Bendy, twisty little plastic tube you use to drink things.” Ben wove a forefinger in the air, tracing loops and swirls.
“Those sound fun. Can I have one?”
“Mebbe once you aren’t fire, otherwise you’d melt it before you even got a sip in.”
“Oh.”
Dani stepped in. “I need to talk to Ben and Lucy for a couple minutes.”
“Can I read a book while you do?”
She noted the stack of books by Jared’s bed. She and Ben had brought the kid a wide range of titles to keep him entertained, from comics to sci-fi paperbacks to Aesop’s Fables and plenty more. But she figured it wouldn’t do his mood any good if he accidentally reduced his reading pile to ashes.
“Probably best if you don’t,” she said. “Just hang out there for a little. See if you can figure out a way to stop being fire.”
“I’ll try.” Jared shut his eyes, face tightening in intense concentration.
Dani turned to the others. “Back to your self-imposed waterboarding. What possessed you to even think of this? It sounds a little crazy, and this is coming from someone who knows crazy.”
Ben waggled his eyebrows. “Sometimes the best ideas are the craziest, princess.”
“Ben, your powers are gone.” She nodded at his missing arm. “You told me yourself, and everything since then’s confirmed it. Jared took all you had.”
A thought floated over from Jared. “Didn’t mean to.”
“S’okay, kiddo,” Ben said. “No one’s blamin’ you.”
Just what we need, Dani thought to herself. A godling with a guilt complex.
Ben reached over with his other arm and touched the nub wrapped in the rolled sleeve. “He drained me, sure-for-shootin’. But just ’cause the gas tank’s dry don’t mean it ain’t gonna get refilled sooner or later. Gotta have some hope, princess.”
“Fine,” Dani said. “You have hope while I have a nervous breakdown.”
“Eh?”
“Something wrong?” Lucy asked.
Dani pointed back to the room’s entrance. “Didn’t you notice how frantic I was when I rushed in here?”
They exchanged looks, and Ben shrugged.
“Sorry. Was a might bit busy gettin’ drowndified.”
She rubbed her head. “I said yes.”
“Yes to what, princess?”
Dani steeled herself before blurting it all out. “Sydney. He’s back. And he’s taking me on a date. The one I promised him. And I don’t know if I can go through with this. But I have to. I mean, I promised. He was going to hurt Jared if I didn’t, and I don’t know what to do, and it’s all just a little too much right now.”
“Oh.” Ben puckered his lips. “Jeepers.”
Lucy frowned at him. “You want to explain what she means by all that?”
A thud made them look to Jared … who now stood in earthen form, his body a stony composite covered in lichen and crumbling dirt. The floor had cracked underneath his sudden weight. He patted himself down, hands clacking across his rocky texture.
“Not fire anymore!”
Dani ran over and gave the kid a quick hug. “Good job. I knew you could do it.”
He hugged her back, and she grunted against the bruising force of his literally rock-hard arms as they wrapped around her. She disengaged and patted his shoulder, making pebbles drop away. “Go ahead and read for a bit. Just try not to tear the pages.”
“Okay.” He pounded over to the bed, crunching floor tiles with each step. Like the rest of HQ, the structure would heal itself over time, but Dani cringed when he sat on the edge of the bed and cracked the frame in half. Jared thumped to the floor. He stared down at the ruined bed.
“Oops.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Dani said. “We’ll get it fixed. Just … don’t move much right now.”
He picked up a book with thick fingers, fumbling to open it. Once he became engrossed in the latest sword-waving, laser-flashing adventure, Dani returned to Ben and Lucy.
Lucy glowered at her. “So, you’ve got a date. With a Scum murderer.”
Dani winced.
“Ain’t as bad as it sounds, Lu.” Ben held his hand up. “Is Sydney nasty news? You betcha. But he also helped keep our skins intact and got Destin chucked outta the Chairman’s seat.”
Lucy turned her glare his way. “I read the reports, Ben. He’s responsible for dozens of Cleaners disappearing for good, and has sabotaged more operations than the Board is willing to admit. Most of his file is locked up tight, so who knows what terrible things he’s done that we don’t even know about?”
“A’ight. Mebbe it is as bad as it sounds.”
“Hang on,” Dani said. “You don’t know the whole story.”
She started with her and Ben’s initial run-in with the entropy mage, his fixation with turning her Scum-side, and how he’d tricked her into meeting with an extremist group known as the Cleansers, who wanted to end all life in a fiery apocalypse. Then she explained how she’d bargained with Sydney for Jared’s life when the boy had been rendered temporarily helpless.
Lucy crossed her arms, face even stonier than Jared’s earthen features.
“He’s Scum,” she said. “You never have to keep a promise with Scum. You should never, ever make deals with them, because they’ll always find a way to twist the terms in their favor. They do work for Corruption, remember?”
“We set up rules,” Dani said.
Lucy flung an arm out. “Oh, well, rules. Girlie’s got rules. That just makes everything right with the world, doesn’t it? Sounds like you two are going full on with the whole Romeo and Juliet shtick. Need me to point you toward the nearest priest with some poison?”
Dani scowled. “Hey, I’m not looking for a soul mate with this date. I’m just looking to survive following through on my promise.”
“Survive?” Ben asked. “Y’think he’s up to something nefertirious?” He frowned at their looks. “What’d I say wrong this time?”
“Nefertiti’s an ancient Egyptian queen,” Dani said. “I think you meant nefarious.”
“Mebbe I did, mebbe I didn’t.”
“And no, I don’t think he’s out to hurt me. Not directly. But something still feels off.” Dani splayed her hands. “Look, this is Sydney we’re talking about, right?”
“Unless someone went and changed the topic when I weren’t lookin’,” Ben said.
“Well, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s gotten desperate.”
“Desperate?” Lucy asked.
“Yeah.” Dani sighed. “He’s been escalating his attempts to get my attention. Little notes. Then flowers. Then cards. Then long letters. Then perfumed letters with flowers and chocolate. Even all-expense-paid salon trips. Now this whole setup with the strippers.” Her face blazed as the two janitors stared at her. “Aw, &$%#. I didn’t mention the strippers, did I?”
“Why not start at the beginnin’,” Ben said, “and go over that part in lotsa juicy detail.”
She sighed. “Male strippers, Ben.”
He grimaced. “What’s the fun in that?”
Lucy punched his arm hard enough. “Don’t be a Neanderthal.”
“Why not?” Ben rubbed where she hit. “Those were simpler times. Plenty of meat. Cozy caves. A guy could spit and grunt and scratch himself without gettin’ a lecture on not scarin’ any nearby kiddos, and women was waitin’ to cook up whatever dinosaur you brought back from huntin’.” This time, Dani knuckle-shot him in the same spot. He groaned and shifted to shield himself from further abuse. “Gangin’ up on me’s just provin’ my point.”
“If we could get back to me having a date with a potential psychopath who has the hots for me?” Dani asked, voice rising an octave. “Sydney would never admit it, but behind all his theatrics and bluster, I got the sense he’s … well, almost like he’s running out of time, somehow. That he wants to have this date with me before something bad happens.”
The other woman narrowed her eyes. “Something bad happens to you or him?”
“No clue,” Dani said, “but either way, I just don’t have a good feeling about any of it.”
“Nobody here would cry if he bit the dust,” Lucy said. “In fact, we’d probably throw a party knowing one less entropy mage was around.”
“I get it. Everyone here hates him. He’s a dangerous traitor. But he does have a twisted sense of honor.”
“Emphasis on twisted,” Lucy said.
Dani sighed. “I trust him enough to keep to his word when he states it as straightforward as he did. We agreed on certain limits. No powers. Just a few hours, and we’re done. He won’t bring any Scum. I won’t bring any Cleaners. Just the two of us.”
“And Dani was never seen from again,” Lucy mumbled. “Cause of death? Being groped by an entropy mage.”
Dani glared. “Not. Helping.”
Lucy grinned lopsidedly. “But I am. Listen to reason, girlie. You let him get his hooks in you like this, and there may be no coming back. At best, people around here are going to wonder if you can be trusted after getting chummy with Scum like him.”
“I’m not stupid,” Dani said. “I’m not putting this up on the bulletin board or anything, and I trust you guys to keep this quiet. That’s why I came here.” She nodded to Ben. “I need a chaperone.”
He made a face. “Me? But you just said no third wheels allowed.”
“I don’t want you breathing over my shoulder or butting in for a dance. Just stay at a distance, keep an eye on things.”
“Why me? Why not Lucy or someone who could actually do something in case things go topsy-turvy?”
She gripped his arm. “Your powers.”
He eyed her askance. “I ain’t followin’.”
“You still don’t have them.”
“Don’t gotta rub it in.”
“No Pure energies,” she said. “That means Sydney won’t sense you. You can follow us and keep watch, make sure everything’s okay, and he won’t know the difference. Besides, technically you’re an independent consultant, not a full Cleaners employee.”
“Aw, I hate when we start arguin’ technicutleries. That’s just beggin’ for trouble.”
Dani held her hands out. “I can’t do this alone. I need to know I’m not going in by myself.”
Ben tugged and pushed on his cheeks as he mulled this over. “Could work. I’d need to gussy up a bit so’s he don’t spot me right off. You sure you want my help with this, though? You even sure you wanna go through with it?”
“I have to,” Dani said. “If I break my promise, it could make things worse. Give him a reason to lash out, not just against me, but everyone he knows I care about.” At his dubious look, she huffed. “Come on, Ben. You got a second chance. Why can’t he have one?”
Ben and Lucy eyed each other, a mix of displeasure and resignation on their faces.
“You’re really wanting to do this?” Lucy asked.
Dani firmed up. “Yes.”
The other woman sighed. “Hang here for a minute. I’m going to find some rope so I can tie you up and stick you in a closet until you come to your senses.”
A slap made them look over to Jared, who had let his book tumble to the floor.
The teen’s boulder-head turned their way. “I hear screaming.”
“Screaming?” Lucy asked. “How many voices? Are they saying anything?”
He whacked the side of his head. “A man. Maybe a woman, too? No words. Just lots of yelling. Like arguing.”
Pebbles fell off from him in greater numbers, creating growing piles on the floor. Jared started to rise, but an arm and leg cracked at the joints, sending stone shards flying. He slumped to one side.
“Jared!” Dani ran over and grabbed the kid’s head between her hands. “What’s happening?”
He blinked up at her with gold-flecked eyes. “I don’t feel so good.”
His entire body collapsed into a pile of sand, and his head drizzled down through her fingers.