is wavering—”
“I’m trying to find a way to beat him, okay?” I licked my still-dry lips. “I don’t have the same powers as him. I’m not as old as him. The only thing I’ve got going for me at this point is that apparently he’s got a case of puppy love that’s keeping him from smearing me all over the Minneapolis skyline like ash in the wind. Give me some time.” I kept calm, surprisingly.
“I don’t have anyone better to take over for you,” Foreman said, still terse, “so I don’t see you going anywhere anytime soon. But don’t make me regret this.”
“If you do, it’ll be too late,” I said.
“You don’t understand,” Foreman said. “If it gets to that point, you’ll be regretting it, too. Do you have any idea what sort of hell will be summoned forth if Sovereign unleashes some plan to enslave humanity? The United States Government isn’t just going to lie down and dissolve quietly. They’ll unleash every weapon at their disposal—chemical, biological, nuclear—to stop him.” There was a silence. “You do realize that, right? You know that—”
“I know.” I’d been through it all in my head. I knew what scared people were capable of when they got backed into a corner. I also knew that none of us had a clue what Sovereign had planned after metakind was wiped out. That part was still a big, gaping mystery. Less than one hundred metas against the combined might of every country in the world? Those weren’t dynamite odds, even for someone as strong as Sovereign. After all, it wasn’t like he was invincible. A good case of anthrax could still kill him. Probably.
“I just need to be sure your head is in the game,” Foreman said. “You can’t be chasing unrelated loose ends at a moment like this. Century is moving into the home stretch, and whatever their phase two is, it’s months from being unveiled. We’re close to the end, now.”
I took a short, sharp breath, and it turned into a sigh. “I’m working on it. I just … I need one day here to wrap up this loose end, and I’ll be back to sitting in Minneapolis, trying to figure out what to do next. Please.”
The answer was a long time in coming. “You know what’s at stake. You know what’s coming for you, what’ll happen to you if you lose. I don’t expect you want to be a child bride for Sovereign, so I trust you’ll do what you can to fight to the last.” I could hear him pause, then sigh. “Because if you don’t, what we unleash to stop him might just mean the end of humanity as well.”
Chapter 18
I had hung up with him for only a moment when I realized the shower had stopped running. The door clicked open and Scott stepped out in nothing but a towel, still slightly dripping. I wondered why he even needed to shower when he could just spray himself with water, but I lost that question for some reason. Steam floated out into the room behind him.
“Sounded like a tense conversation,” he said. He was just standing there, chest glistening. I don’t know that my mouth was agape, exactly, but I’m pretty sure. “What little of it I caught at the end.”
“What?” I blinked. Twice. “Oh, Foreman. Yes. Tense. He is … uhm … a little disturbed by our outing to Vegas.”
Scott frowned. “How’d he hear about it?”
“Local PD called the FBI in Minneapolis, and I assume Li gave him a call immediately after. Because he’s a super helpful guy like that.”
“Nice,” Scott said and started toward his overnight bag. I watched him. I couldn’t help it, really. “Nice to know who the class tattletale is.”
“It could have been Ariadne, I suppose.” The towel was tight around his waist. Had he used a hand towel or was that my imagination?
“Maybe,” he conceded. He knelt, and somehow the towel stayed on. It was like magic or something. Why couldn’t I stop staring? This was … unsettling. Sort of. Maybe unsettling was the wrong word.
“What’s next?” Scott glanced back
“I’m trying to find a way to beat him, okay?” I licked my still-dry lips. “I don’t have the same powers as him. I’m not as old as him. The only thing I’ve got going for me at this point is that apparently he’s got a case of puppy love that’s keeping him from smearing me all over the Minneapolis skyline like ash in the wind. Give me some time.” I kept calm, surprisingly.
“I don’t have anyone better to take over for you,” Foreman said, still terse, “so I don’t see you going anywhere anytime soon. But don’t make me regret this.”
“If you do, it’ll be too late,” I said.
“You don’t understand,” Foreman said. “If it gets to that point, you’ll be regretting it, too. Do you have any idea what sort of hell will be summoned forth if Sovereign unleashes some plan to enslave humanity? The United States Government isn’t just going to lie down and dissolve quietly. They’ll unleash every weapon at their disposal—chemical, biological, nuclear—to stop him.” There was a silence. “You do realize that, right? You know that—”
“I know.” I’d been through it all in my head. I knew what scared people were capable of when they got backed into a corner. I also knew that none of us had a clue what Sovereign had planned after metakind was wiped out. That part was still a big, gaping mystery. Less than one hundred metas against the combined might of every country in the world? Those weren’t dynamite odds, even for someone as strong as Sovereign. After all, it wasn’t like he was invincible. A good case of anthrax could still kill him. Probably.
“I just need to be sure your head is in the game,” Foreman said. “You can’t be chasing unrelated loose ends at a moment like this. Century is moving into the home stretch, and whatever their phase two is, it’s months from being unveiled. We’re close to the end, now.”
I took a short, sharp breath, and it turned into a sigh. “I’m working on it. I just … I need one day here to wrap up this loose end, and I’ll be back to sitting in Minneapolis, trying to figure out what to do next. Please.”
The answer was a long time in coming. “You know what’s at stake. You know what’s coming for you, what’ll happen to you if you lose. I don’t expect you want to be a child bride for Sovereign, so I trust you’ll do what you can to fight to the last.” I could hear him pause, then sigh. “Because if you don’t, what we unleash to stop him might just mean the end of humanity as well.”
Chapter 18
I had hung up with him for only a moment when I realized the shower had stopped running. The door clicked open and Scott stepped out in nothing but a towel, still slightly dripping. I wondered why he even needed to shower when he could just spray himself with water, but I lost that question for some reason. Steam floated out into the room behind him.
“Sounded like a tense conversation,” he said. He was just standing there, chest glistening. I don’t know that my mouth was agape, exactly, but I’m pretty sure. “What little of it I caught at the end.”
“What?” I blinked. Twice. “Oh, Foreman. Yes. Tense. He is … uhm … a little disturbed by our outing to Vegas.”
Scott frowned. “How’d he hear about it?”
“Local PD called the FBI in Minneapolis, and I assume Li gave him a call immediately after. Because he’s a super helpful guy like that.”
“Nice,” Scott said and started toward his overnight bag. I watched him. I couldn’t help it, really. “Nice to know who the class tattletale is.”
“It could have been Ariadne, I suppose.” The towel was tight around his waist. Had he used a hand towel or was that my imagination?
“Maybe,” he conceded. He knelt, and somehow the towel stayed on. It was like magic or something. Why couldn’t I stop staring? This was … unsettling. Sort of. Maybe unsettling was the wrong word.
“What’s next?” Scott glanced back
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