“Ma’am, I’ll call an ambulance—”
“No, I’m sure that’s not necessary—” But when she tried to stand, she hissed, her face contorting in pain, her body gone rigid. “Oh, dear.”
Tom was already talking on his cell phone.
“Grandma?”
“Anna, it’s going to be okay,” Suzanne said, squeezing her arm. “The rest of you need to get to Horizon Tower to save your mother. We don’t know how many superhumans they have or what all they can do—warn Bethy, warn Arthur. Tom will take care of me, you all get going.” Her gaze darted up, and Anna realized they were surrounded, not just by Sam and a now-visible Teddy but also by Teia, Lew, and their mother, who must have just arrived.
—Dad? Dad, are you there?—
—I would prefer you staying at West Plaza, out of harm’s way.—
—No, everyone’s here. They have really powerful supers. We can help.—
—I know you can, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.—
“Dad already knows everything,” Anna said.
; “Of course he does.” Suzanne smiled, but the wince didn’t go away.
Sirens sounded in the distance—an arriving ambulance. “They’ll be here soon, Grandma.”
“I know. You all get going.” Absently, she patted Anna’s hand.
Teia pulled at Anna’s shirt. “Come on, let’s go.”
Anna gave in to an urge to throw herself at Teia, wrapping her in a fierce hug. She didn’t even question if Teia would hug back.
“You made it!”
“You need help, of course I did,” Teia said into her shoulder before pulling away. “Now, do you know where we’re going?”
She told them, and they piled into the two cars—the Baker family in one, Anna, Teddy, and Sam in the other—just as the ambulance circled into the drive. They’d take care of Grandma, and Anna let that worry go.
“Hey, Anna,” a voice said through the bud in her ear.
“Bethy! Did you get all that?”
“I’m watching through the security cameras. Is Grandma really okay?”
“I don’t know, she really fell hard.”
“I’m also watching those freaky superhumans—they went around the back of the building. They had some kind of heli-car parked there, they’ve already taken off.”
“Back to Horizon Tower?”
“Let me check … um … yeah. Dad’s there with the cops.”
“He’s not too happy, is he?”
“Whatever,” she said in her snippy Bethy voice. Anna had to smile.
“I’ll check in soon.”
They got stuck in traffic still ten minutes out from the Tower. The enemy superhumans had a head start and plenty of time to prepare. This was going to suck.