Grim Misfortune

  To everyone who supports me, especially when times become tough.

  Thank you.

  One

  I stood in front of my adopted family, trying to think of the best way to tell them I was about to risk their lives.

  Start by explaining the horrific destruction in Brazil. That the weather patterns causing the chaos match Larissa’s. That we need to get to her, try to reason with her, before she attacks—

  “Wait, you want us to leave the safe house to try and stop someone who can control the weather before she levels another city?” Aaron blinked at me.

  Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose between two fingers. “How many times have I asked you not to read my mind and—”

  He held his hands up. “Sorry. I just got excited.” Grinning, he shot a sideways glance at Peter. “I’m down for an adventure.”

  I opened my mouth to explain this wasn’t a game, that we could be killed, but Mari spoke up.

  “We never leave Colorado. Hell, we only leave when we need to stock up on supplies. How do you expect us to go all the way to...to…”

  “Brazil,” I offered.

  “Brazil?” Her mouth hung open. “Are you joking?”

  “Oh, come on.” Peter wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We’ve been training half our lives for something like this. What, you think one little Synth can stop the four of us?” He glanced at me. “Well, us and Duncan.”

  Lucas finally spoke up, leaning back in his chair. “My clone may like it, but I think this is suicide. I’m with Mari on this one.”

  “Your clone?” Peter looked aghast. “Not brother? Or twin? Or even stunt double? I’m offended. Besides,” he crossed his arms and leaned back as well, mimicking Lucas’ posture. “I could have been born first.”

  Holding up my hands, I took a step forward and the banter subsided. “That’s enough. This is serious.”

  Peter squeezed Mari’s hand, but otherwise they stayed silent and still.

  “Look, you all remember Larissa, how sweet she used to be. That was many years ago, though, before the incident at the lab. A lot can change.” I frowned. “The fact that she’s hurting innocent people makes me think she’s unstable. There’s no way of knowing how dangerous she is.”

  “So call the cops.” Mari stared at me.

  I tossed a look at Peter, who turned and poked her in the arm.

  “You know they won’t be able to do squat,” he said, and nudged her again. “I’ll protect you.”

  Mari laughed. “Oh, please. Like I need protection.” She winked at Peter, who grinned.

  I cleared my throat, but Aaron interjected.

  “Guys, come on. Duncan’s getting pissed.”

  They turned their attention to me, eyes wide. I nearly laughed. I was far from angry, but kept my face blank and voice stern. Thanks, Aaron, I thought. He moved his head in a barely perceivable nod, and I continued.

  “We make our way down to South America. None of us have passports and we don’t have the time or the money to find a way to get fake ones. Mari, this means you’ll need to work your magic at the border. It shouldn’t take long, so you should have plenty of power left when we get to Brazil to freeze time again if something goes wrong.”

  “Yeah...” Mari began to nod. “All right.” Lucas grunted, and she shot him a look. “It sounds like a solid plan. And if it works, then we’ll have a powerful addition to our team.

  Peter leaned over and grabbed her face in his hands. Before she could protest, he planted a hard kiss on her lips. Her eyes grew larger, and when the pair parted, her cheeks were flushed a bright pink. “We’re superheroes in training,” Peter said to Lucas, leaning back in his chair and treating me to a lopsided grin. “We’ll be fine.”

  ---

  A bullet slipped from my hand and landed with a clatter on the floor of the van as the world unfroze around me.

  “Fuck,” I muttered. Glancing up through the windshield, I could make out Mari on her knees, hand holding the back of her head, a crimson splotch spreading between her fingers. We spent too much time freezing time in Columbia. Her power must have failed long enough for an attack to get through.

  I reached down and felt along the hard mat beneath my feet, fingers trembling. Lucas shouted a reply outside, his footsteps fading as he and Peter ran toward the inevitable fight. Sweat tickled my temples. Trying to ignore the pounding of my heart, I ducked my head beneath the steering wheel, cursing again.

  “Mari!” Aaron’s voice was harsh, but his closeness filled me with relief. Like me, he couldn’t go into this battle. But now I have to. I have to try.

  With a cry of triumph, I bumped my fingers into the bullet. Snatching it off the floor, I slipped it into the pistol’s magazine. Flinging open the van’s door, I jumped out into the now falling rain, nearly colliding with Aaron.

  “Duncan,” he said. The fear on his face made his eyes wide. The long jagged scar that ran along his left cheek and down to his chin flexed as he clenched his jaw. “She could kill us all.”

  “Don’t need the reminder, kid. I know.” I hefted the gun in my left hand and ran toward the chaos. “Mari?” I shouted.

  “I’m okay for now, I just—” She tipped forward just as I reached her side. Bending over, I caught her with my free hand.

  A spike of adrenaline shot down my spine. Looking up, I saw Peter hurl a giant rock with one hand, only to have it deflected before it could reach his target. Lucas was knocked to the ground with a gust of wind that kicked up debris and headed in my direction. “Oh, shit…” The blast hit me, knocking me over. Pain laced through my back as I landed on the hard, dirty ground, but I was on my feet again in seconds. “Peter! Lucas!” I fired my gun into the rainy sky, startling everyone.

  Except Peter. He ran forward and reached the source of our danger first. With a lunge, he gripped the dark haired girl’s throat and squeezed. The wind died, the rain stopped, and everything fell quiet.

  A sneer was plastered on the girl’s face as Peter’s fingers dug into the soft flesh of her neck. I wiped the rain from my face, fingers tickled by my beard. I took slow steps forward until I was a couple feet away from the girl. Her chest heaved. I saw a flash of pain and uncertainty in her eyes as Peter tightened his grip.

  “Aaron, see to Mari,” I shouted over my shoulder. He nodded and ran forward, cradling Mari on his lap while he attempted to wake her. His straight blond hair was plastered along his temples from the rain. Turning back to the captured Synth, I spoke. “Please stop fighting. We’re here to help you.”

  She lunged forward, despite Peter’s hold, and reached out for me with both hands.

  “We’re here to help,” I repeated as I took a step back. Peter pulled the girl into a more secure hold, wrapping his arm around her neck and securing her hands behind her back. Green eyes flashed beneath chestnut bangs. She struggled, but was no match for his superhuman strength. “Lucas.” I turned to Peter’s clone. “Help Aaron get Mari into the van.”

  He frowned at me, eyebrows a thick line over his brown eyes. “Are you sure?”

  “Peter can handle her right now.”

  “I know, but if—”

  “When Mari wakes, have her on standby to freeze time again, but only if something happens to me.”

  His face still showed uncertainty, but he nodded and jogged back to Aaron, picking Mari up with ease.

  “Now.” I stared at the Synth in Peter’s grasp. “Don’t you remember me, Larissa? I’m Duncan. I was at Lab 14 when—”

  Larissa let out a howl and began to struggle again. Peter sighed. “Knock it off.” His voice was light, not even strained.

  “Fuck you.” Larissa’s voice was cracked and muddled due to Peter’s tight grip on her throat.

&n
bsp; He laughed. “Damn. That was rude.”

  “Let me go.”

  “Nah. Not until you listen to Duncan. We’re here to help.”

  “Who are you people?”

  I frowned. “Larissa, you escaped from Lab 14 during the...the incident years ago. Do you remember that?” I slipped my pistol, now heavy in my hand, into the waistband of my jeans and took a step toward her.

  She flinched. “What lab?”

  I froze. Could someone have wiped her? “The one you were born in. Where you were raised. I was there, and so were the rest of the Synths you see here.”

  “Synths?”

  Ah, shit. I cleared my throat. “Synthetics.”

  She blinked, gracing me with a blank stare.

  “Wiped?” Peter asked.

  “Looks like it.”

  “Aw, crap.” He shifted his feet on the wet ground. Mud decorated his worn tennis shoes. “What should we do? The second I let go of her…”

  I raised a hand. “She’s just scared.” I regarded her, took in how her body had relaxed against Peter’s, how the rage on her face had diminished. “It’s okay, Peter. Let her go.”

  He shot me a bewildered look. “Uh. No.”

  With a sigh, I ran a hand through my wet hair. “Look, Larissa—”

  “You’re a genetically engineered human weapon designed for war, just like the rest of us, save Duncan.” Peter grinned at me from behind her shoulder. Larissa’s almond-shaped eyes widened. “A human’s DNA was combined with an Evo’s. We were all planted in surrogate mothers and birthed in the lab, where we trained while we grew up. Duncan was there, watching over us.”

  Larissa blinked at me. She didn’t speak, but her shoulders slumped.

  “That’s where your powers come from.” Peter, noticing her submissive body language, relaxed his grip on her. Sliding his arm from around her neck, he instead held her hands behind her back. “That about cover it, Duncan?” He winked at me.

  Shaking my head, I suppressed a chuckle.

  “Evo?” Larissa was looking at the ground, brow furrowed, long hair framing her face.

  “I can explain everything in detail, but not here. Not now. We have a safe house back in North America.” I reached out and tentatively put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me with a sad gaze. “I’d be happy to tell you all about your past on the ride back.”

  “But I’ve lived in Brazil since...since…” She seemed on the verge of tears.

  Giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, I stepped back, smiling. “Adventures are always fun, right? New places, new friends?”

  “Why would I go with you? I don’t even know you people.”

  “Sure you do.” Peter let go of her. “We grew up together.”

  Larissa shook her head. “I don’t remember.”

  Feigning a gasp, Peter plastered a look of disdain on his face. He shook his head, and his shaggy hair flopped. “You’re telling me you don’t remember the time when you summoned a tiny tornado in my hand? Or the time you used the wind to help Aaron float above the trees for half an hour until his maker came out screaming at us?”

  She shrugged, but a smile played on her lips.

  Now pouting, Peter sighed. “Tell me you at least remember when we were all playing outside and Shawn accidentally shoved past you to get to Jaxon so you started a downpour and—”

  “Peter, Peter. That’s enough.” I glanced at Larissa. “There’s plenty of time for reflection in the van. We have to get back home.”

  Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned. Mari approached us, followed closely by Aaron and Lucas.

  “Twins?” Larissa eyed Lucas, then Peter.

  “Clones.” I grinned. “Told you. Lots to talk about.”

  She shrugged.

  “You all right, Mari?” I asked.

  She nodded but reached up and rubbed a spot on the back of her head, fingers burrowing in her blonde hair. “Fine. I feel better now.”

  “Sorry I threw you.” Larissa didn’t meet the other woman’s eyes.

  “Yeah, my head landing on a rock nearly got everyone killed.” Mari’s brow was furrowed, but she gave Larissa a half-smile.

  “All right.” I clapped my hands. “Let’s go.” I started back toward the van behind Mari, who threw a wink at Peter over her shoulder before trotting forward. Smiling, I finally let myself relax. Everything’s going to work out. We’ll take Larissa back, help her control her powers, make sure she—

  A quick look behind me showed Larissa was still standing where we’d left her, watching us. Peter turned as well and started back toward her, wary again.

  I couldn’t get my pistol out fast enough. Before I even knew what was happening, a malicious grin spread across Larissa’s face, and a white-hot bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking Peter dead with a crack that would echo in my ears the rest of my life.

  Two

  The second sound that would haunt my dreams at night is Mari’s blood-curdling scream. Ignoring Larissa, not bothering to even try freezing time, she bolted to the patch of ground where Peter’s charred body lay. A flower-like scorch bloomed from his chest. His shaggy hair stood on end, and his extremities still twitched. But the blank look in his bloodshot eyes told me all I needed to know.

  “Mari, no!” I shouted. “Don’t touch him!”

  She ignored me and fell on top of her fiancé, tears already streaming down her face. She shouted his name and began to shake him. Torn, I stared between her and Larissa, fear and horror paralyzing me.

  “Duncan,” Larissa sneered, snapping me out of my turbulent thoughts. She laughed. “Are these the only Synths you managed to drag out of Jaxon’s massacre?” Sucking her front teeth, she put a hand on her hip. “How sad.”

  “Oh, God.” Aaron’s whisper was barely audible as he stepped up next to me.

  “Get back,” I growled.

  Instead of obeying, he looked up at Larissa. “She remembers it all. The lab, Jaxon, the murders.” His face was a mix of confusion and fury. He absentmindedly touched his scar. “I don’t know how she hid it from me, but now I can read her mind clear as day.”

  Movement drew my attention to Lucas, who was stalking toward Larissa.

  “Stop. Stop.” Concern for the children I raised as my own fueled me, and I moved to intercept him. I placed a hand on his chest, knowing that he could easily toss me aside with his superhuman strength, but he didn’t. Glaring past me, eyes hard and malevolent, he stayed still.

  “Guess who came to visit me a few months ago, Duncan.” Larissa’s voice was dripping with sweetness. “Do you remember Charlie? Of course you do. Your failsafe. The one you kept even more hidden than Jaxon.”

  I turned and stared at her. Charlie lived?

  “He has a plan, you know,” she continued, voice increasing in volume to be heard over a fresh wail from Mari. “One that makes complete sense.”

  I glanced at Aaron, but he only shook his head. “She’s blocking me again.”

  Rage tingled through my body, moving my legs forward without my consent. The pistol was in my left hand before I could register its weight, its sleek, cold metal against my skin. My whole body trembled, and I had to grip the weapon with both hands to keep it from shaking.

  Laughter rang in my ears, light and childlike. “Do you really think I won’t kill each and every one of you?” Larissa craned her neck back and reached her arms to the sky. Dark clouds bubbled and churned above her, impossibly close to the ground. Loud thunder slammed over us, and I jumped. I stepped in front of Mari, in front of Lucas, knees bent and fists clenched by my side. Oh, God, what am I going to do? She’ll strike me down before I could shoot. How can I protect them? I have no powers.

  “You might not have powers, but we do.” Aaron’s voice was soft. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

  Larissa started to giggle. When she lowered her head to regard us once more, I saw that her eyes were completely white. Just like Jaxon’s when he—

  Lightning struck the gro
und mere feet from me, sending both Aaron and me stumbling back with a cry. I tripped over my own feet and began to fall, but strong hands gripped my upper arms and steadied my steps. Before I could thank Lucas, another bolt shot out of the sky and slammed into a tree. Wind picked up again, and the air suddenly became muggy and heavy.

  I felt a hand grip my ankle, and suddenly the world froze, falling silent. Larissa stood in place, arms still hovering at her sides, mouth twisted into a laugh. But she didn’t move. I turned and knelt next to Mari, taking her face in my hands.

  “Kill her.” Mari’s voice cracked and wavered. She gripped one of Peter’s now still hands in one of hers. “Fucking kill that bitch.”

  “We need to be better than that. Than her.”

  She stared at me in disbelief. “Peter…”

  My misery deepened, but I kept my face impassive. I searched her deep blue eyes, wiping away tears with my thumbs, and gently kissed her forehead. Her body shuddered with a fresh sob, and my resolve crumbled. I placed a hand along Peter’s face, his scruff scratching my palm. Blinking back tears of my own, I stood.

  Still holding the pistol, I stalked right up to Larissa, passing through the frozen world that for now only Mari and I could move in. The click that sounded when I cocked my weapon was loud but deadened in the stillness. Without hesitation, I raised the gun and placed it against Larissa’s temple. I’ve never killed anyone before. I paused. I’ve never killed anyone.

  How can I judge this? How can I take her life?

  The pistol lowered, its tip wavering.

  “You have to kill her when I let go of time, Duncan. You have to kill her. For me, and for Peter. For all of us.”

  Mari’s words made complete sense, but still, the gun lowered until it was pointing at the ground.

  It has to be done, I told myself. She’ll be unstoppable, will kill the rest of us, your entire family.

  I grunted and put my head in my hands, the butt of the gun pressing against my cheek.

  I can’t.

  Turning, I shook my head.

  “No! Duncan, please!” Mari’s hands were clenched on Peter’s torso, his shirt clutched in her fists.