Calamity (The Reckoners 3)

“I…” What did I say to that? I could imagine how it would feel to have the one you loved begging for your help, all the while knowing it was a trap. I imagined struggling to not give in, to ignore their pleas.

I wouldn’t have been strong enough. Sparks, I’d chased Megan halfway across the country, despite her threatening to kill me.

“I’m sorry, Tia,” I whispered.

She shook her head. “I’m prepared for this. Jon and I talked about it, like I said. I can do him one last favor.” She opened her eyes. “I see you had the same instinct.”

“Not…exactly,” Abraham said, sharing a look with me.

“Tia,” I said. “We’ve cracked it.”

“It?”

“The secret,” I said, growing eager. “The weaknesses, the darkness—they’re tied together. Epics all have nightmares about their weaknesses.”

“Of course they do,” Tia said. “The weaknesses are the only thing that can make them feel powerless.”

“It’s more than that, Tia,” I said. “Way more! The weaknesses are often tied to something the person feared before getting their powers. A phobia, a terror. It seems…well, I haven’t talked to enough of them, but it seems like becoming an Epic makes the fear worse. Either way, stopping—or at least managing—the darkness is possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“Fears,” I said quietly, only to her. “If the Epic confronts their fear, it drives back the darkness.”

“Why?”

“Um…does it matter?”

“You’re the one who kept saying that this should all make sense. If there really is a logic behind the weaknesses, then shouldn’t there be a logical reason for the darkness?”

“Yeah…yeah, there should be.” I sat back. “Megan says—”

“Megan. You brought her? She’s one of them, David!”

“She’s why we know this works. Tia, we can save him.”

“Don’t give me that hope.”

“But—”

“Don’t give me that hope.” She glared at me. “Don’t you dare do that, David Charleston. You don’t think this is hard enough? Planning to kill him? Wondering if there isn’t something more I should do? He made me promise. I’m going to keep that promise, damn you.”

“Tia,” Abraham said softly.

She looked at him as I sat there, stunned by her tone.

“David is right, Tia,” Abraham said in his calm way. “We must try to bring him back. If we cannot save Jonathan Phaedrus, then we might as well give up this fight. We cannot kill them all.”

Tia shook her head. “You believe he’s found the secret, after all this time?”

“I believe he has a good theory,” Abraham said. “And Megan has learned to control the darkness. If we do not test David’s theories, we are fools. He is right. We cannot kill them all. We’ve been trying the same thing for too long; it is time to do something different.”

I suddenly felt very, very smart for having brought Abraham along. Tia listened to him. Heck, a rabid Chihuahua having a seizure would stop and listen when Abraham spoke.

The door burst open, and a frantic young woman scrambled into the room. “Sir!” she said to Carla. “Crooknecks. The whole family, three hundred strong, and then some. All armed, and coming this way. He’s with them.”

“He?” the woman, Carla, asked.

“The new Epic. Sir, we’re surrounded.”

The room fell silent. The ugly man who had disagreed with Carla earlier turned to her. He didn’t speak, but the implication was there in his dark expression. You’ve doomed us.

Abraham stood up, drawing all eyes. “I will need my gun.”

“Like hell,” Carla said. “You caused this.”

“No, I did,” Tia said, rising. “We’re just fortunate that David got here first.”

Carla growled, but then barked for her people to prepare for battle. For all the good it would do. Prof could destroy this neighborhood on his own.

Someone tossed Abraham’s pack to him as others rushed out the door. Carla moved to follow them, perhaps to get a look at the foe herself.

“Carla,” Tia said. “You can’t fight them.”

“I doubt they’ll give us a choice.”

“They might if you give them what they want.”

Carla looked at her companions, who nodded. They’d been thinking the same thing.

“No!” I said, standing up. “You can’t turn her over.”

“You have five minutes to prepare, Tia,” Carla said. “I’ll send runners to talk to the oncoming force, see if I can get them to demand you. We can act like we didn’t know who you were.”

She left us in that windowless box of a room, posting two conspicuous guards at the door.

“I can’t believe—” I began.

Tia cut me off. “Don’t be a child, David. The Stingray Clan was good enough to take me in, listen to my plans. We can’t ask them to die protecting me.”

“But…” I looked at her, pained. “Tia, he’ll kill you.”

“Eventually,” she said. “I might have some time.”

“He murdered Val and Exel immediately.”

“Yes, but me he’ll want to interrogate first.”

“You do know it, don’t you,” I said softly. “His weakness.”

She nodded. “He’d rip apart this entire city to get at me. We’ll be lucky if he doesn’t murder everyone in this district, to be certain the secret hasn’t gotten out.”

It made me sick. Steelheart had done something similar on that day, so long ago, when my father and I had seen him bleed.

Tia pressed something into my hand. A data chip. “My plans,” she said. “For bringing Jon down. I’ve had variations on this in mind for years, just in case. But I’ve tailored it specifically to this city and what he’s doing here. David, there’s something bigger going on with him. I’ve been able to get people in to scout near him. I think Regalia must have given him something—some kind of intel on Calamity. I think she sent him here.”

“Tia,” I said, looking to Abraham for support. “I suspect some of the same things. But you can’t go with Prof. We need you.”

“Then stop him,” she said, “before he kills me.”

“But—”

She crossed the room quickly and grabbed the broken mobile from a table. “You can track this if I stick the battery back in?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Good. Use it to see where he takes me. I didn’t tell any of the Ildithians his weakness, and I can hide behind that truth for a time. They might be safe, and if he asks about you all, I can say I got separated from you in Babilar. He’d spot a lie from me, but I won’t be lying.”

“He will break you eventually, Tia,” Abraham said. “He is nothing if not persistent.”

She nodded. “Yes, but he’ll act kindly at first. I’m certain of it; he’ll try and bring me to his side. Only after I refuse will he get brutal.” She grimaced. “Trust me, I have no intention of being some kind of noble martyr. I’m counting on you. Stop him, and get me out.”

Abraham saluted again, more solemn this time. Sparks. He was going to let it happen.

People were calling outside the room. Carla ducked back in. “They’ve said we have five minutes to turn over the outsider. I think they believe that we didn’t know who you were. They also don’t seem to know about the other two.”

“Jon’s paranoia works for us,” Tia said. “If he’d been hiding here, he’d never have told you who he really was. He’ll believe that I was trying to blend in.” She looked toward me. “Are you going to make this difficult?”

“No,” I said, resigned. “But we will get you out.”

“Good.” She hesitated. “I’ll see if I can dig up what he’s working on here, what his plot is for this city.”

“Tia,” Carla said from the doorway. “I’m sorry.”

Tia nodded, turning to leave.

“Wait,” I said, then continued in a w

hisper. “The weakness, Tia. What is it?”

“You know it.”