the next step on the evolutionary ladder.”
I squeeze my temples and close my eyes but it’s better to have them open because my imagination isn’t a fun place to be.
“Each time, down the line, there’s no guarantee how a pre-form will respond. It’s rare to get any reaction at all. Usually, it’s just a normal kid that carries the gene like a time bomb for the next generation.”
“And what if I hadn’t come along?”
Her knuckles tighten briefly on the steering wheel and her shoulders sag with her sigh. “Many Sparks die without a Shield. Probably more than we know.”
I groan and shake my head like I can throw the thought off. “And what if you had responded to Kitty before me? Would you be her Shield?”
“There’s no guarantee I would have been a match. I wasn’t even drawn to her. If a Warden had come through and read Kitty’s signal, they would’ve sent contract agents to make contact in the hopes that one of them would respond to her, but she’s bonded to you now and you’re the only one who’ll be able to sense the threat.”
Again the enormity of it floods over me, a cold wash.
The only one
.
LAIR
“Lock the door.”
I slide the darkroom door closed behind me, set the latch and follow Miriam in, brushing through the gap in the rough blackout curtain. On the far wall, she taps the key code for the utility cupboard and opens it. She moves an old box of negatives and reaches in to the back of the shelf. At the muffled clunking sound of shifting metallic cogs, my stomach lurches and I grip the counter.
“Hence the out of bounds,” Miriam says. She pulls the shelf and it swings forwards, revealing a recess with a staircase leading not right to the basement but left beneath the front of the house where, as far as I know, there should be nothing. She steps down and a light flicks on. It shocks me to see the stairs go much lower than the basement. I follow after her, almost holding my breath on the steep metal stairs.
The room opens out into a wide, clinical space. The polished concrete floor has a large blue gym mat in the middle and a bank of mirrors lines the wall in front of it. It’s just as I saw in Miriam’s memory, when she growled at me for opening her darkroom cupboard. Four climbing ropes hang in a square formation from the high ceiling, their knots hooked against the wall. In one corner there’s a treadmill, rowing machine, weight lifting equipment and even a suspended punching bag. Beside the innocuous gym gear sits a wooden sparing dummy and objects that look like they’ve been lifted from the set of a martial arts movie. I glance at Miriam. Her brief smile is self-conscious.
“How long has this been here?”
“When I took the place I had it built. Home gym.”
My eyebrows lift. “Batcave, more like.”
A long desk sits against the far wall with a computer and LCD screen. Filing cabinets crowd underneath. A mobile corkboard backs the red brick wall, covered with newspaper clippings and photographs. But directly beneath the metal staircase lodges a glass-fronted cabinet. Guns and ammo. I clutch the cold stair rail. “I have to completely rethink my opinion of you.” The weirdness of having known Miriam my whole life and yet never really
knowing
her unnerves me. I can’t take my eyes off the artillery. “What are you doing with this stuff?”
“Come on, half of America has a gun cabinet.” She sees my scowl. “Don’t worry, they don’t get out much, but a good girl scout is always prepared.”
“How many girl scouts are packing heat?” I wrap my arms around my waist and walk slowly onto the mat. “Ninja zone?”
“Something like.” She watches my face in the mirror. “You’ll start with reflex training. Formal martial arts comes later.”
I can’t imagine it and I try not to look at our twin reflections; we’re too alike. It’s disturbing seeing my future watching me with worried eyes. “So?” I want everything, all the answers to my
I squeeze my temples and close my eyes but it’s better to have them open because my imagination isn’t a fun place to be.
“Each time, down the line, there’s no guarantee how a pre-form will respond. It’s rare to get any reaction at all. Usually, it’s just a normal kid that carries the gene like a time bomb for the next generation.”
“And what if I hadn’t come along?”
Her knuckles tighten briefly on the steering wheel and her shoulders sag with her sigh. “Many Sparks die without a Shield. Probably more than we know.”
I groan and shake my head like I can throw the thought off. “And what if you had responded to Kitty before me? Would you be her Shield?”
“There’s no guarantee I would have been a match. I wasn’t even drawn to her. If a Warden had come through and read Kitty’s signal, they would’ve sent contract agents to make contact in the hopes that one of them would respond to her, but she’s bonded to you now and you’re the only one who’ll be able to sense the threat.”
Again the enormity of it floods over me, a cold wash.
The only one
.
LAIR
“Lock the door.”
I slide the darkroom door closed behind me, set the latch and follow Miriam in, brushing through the gap in the rough blackout curtain. On the far wall, she taps the key code for the utility cupboard and opens it. She moves an old box of negatives and reaches in to the back of the shelf. At the muffled clunking sound of shifting metallic cogs, my stomach lurches and I grip the counter.
“Hence the out of bounds,” Miriam says. She pulls the shelf and it swings forwards, revealing a recess with a staircase leading not right to the basement but left beneath the front of the house where, as far as I know, there should be nothing. She steps down and a light flicks on. It shocks me to see the stairs go much lower than the basement. I follow after her, almost holding my breath on the steep metal stairs.
The room opens out into a wide, clinical space. The polished concrete floor has a large blue gym mat in the middle and a bank of mirrors lines the wall in front of it. It’s just as I saw in Miriam’s memory, when she growled at me for opening her darkroom cupboard. Four climbing ropes hang in a square formation from the high ceiling, their knots hooked against the wall. In one corner there’s a treadmill, rowing machine, weight lifting equipment and even a suspended punching bag. Beside the innocuous gym gear sits a wooden sparing dummy and objects that look like they’ve been lifted from the set of a martial arts movie. I glance at Miriam. Her brief smile is self-conscious.
“How long has this been here?”
“When I took the place I had it built. Home gym.”
My eyebrows lift. “Batcave, more like.”
A long desk sits against the far wall with a computer and LCD screen. Filing cabinets crowd underneath. A mobile corkboard backs the red brick wall, covered with newspaper clippings and photographs. But directly beneath the metal staircase lodges a glass-fronted cabinet. Guns and ammo. I clutch the cold stair rail. “I have to completely rethink my opinion of you.” The weirdness of having known Miriam my whole life and yet never really
knowing
her unnerves me. I can’t take my eyes off the artillery. “What are you doing with this stuff?”
“Come on, half of America has a gun cabinet.” She sees my scowl. “Don’t worry, they don’t get out much, but a good girl scout is always prepared.”
“How many girl scouts are packing heat?” I wrap my arms around my waist and walk slowly onto the mat. “Ninja zone?”
“Something like.” She watches my face in the mirror. “You’ll start with reflex training. Formal martial arts comes later.”
I can’t imagine it and I try not to look at our twin reflections; we’re too alike. It’s disturbing seeing my future watching me with worried eyes. “So?” I want everything, all the answers to my
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