The Pyramid Chronicles: Fortuna Guard (#2)

Chapter Thirty-Five: Fray

Willow had been given a job. Not to work on tech or repair equipment or salvage data from the computers. No, her job was to fight alongside the other altered. As if all her previous work meant nothing.

"I could patch up damaged soldiers," Willow had offered when the Director gave her the order.

"Waste of time," the Director replied bluntly. "You could do more damage to their army in the time it would take to fix one. Besides, we're short on parts at the moment."

"Well, what are you doing?" Willow asked.

"Saving as much information I can."

"Is there some way I can help with that?"

"Believe me, fighting off the enemy is the most useful thing you can do right now." The Director paused. His head cocked to the side, and fluorescent light glinted off his dark goggles with the motion. "Are you afraid of getting hurt?"

"No. I'll be fine." Some part of Willow did hate to think what a waste it would be if she were injured and couldn't work on her projects, but she had enough faith in her abilities to brush off that concern.

"Worried you might run into your old friends?"

Willow's jaw clenched. "They're not my friends."

"Good." The Director turned and started toward the server room. "And remember, I have an ongoing desire for the successful capture of Eric Ackerman or Sam Martinez."

"Is there a reason for that?" Willow called after him.

The Director paused. "Two different reasons. But that's information you can have once they're in our custody. I will ensure that whoever succeeds in their capture is rewarded."

"Claudia doesn't seem the type for rewards."

"No, but other people in this organization are."

This organization. Willow frowned. Come to think of it, other than the scientists working under the Director, he and Claudia were the only adults around. Who else worked for Scorpion? What power did they have?

Not seeing any other choice, Willow headed down a few floors and joined the battle. Her body and training took control and her mind slid into autopilot. Within minutes, she'd knocked down several kids. She didn't hit them with anything too severe, just enough force to delay their return to battle.

The Fortuna Guard was doing remarkably well, though. They fought with surprising aggression, and judging by the reactions of Scorpion's altered, it was more than they were used to.

After a particularly intense bout of fighting, Willow paused in the middle of a hallway to catch her breath. Broken soldiers lay on the ground around her. Scorpion's kids were getting up off the ground while Fortuna Guard members ran off and plunged into another fight around the corner.

This was becoming exhausting. And Willow had already had a long day. Still, she forced herself to follow the voices, the shouting, the flashes of light.

She turned the corner and finally spotted him. She immediately slipped into a fighting stance. "Adam!" she shouted.

"Willow?" Adam whirled around. He moved toward her, though hesitation was clear on his face. "You're—"

"Still here?" Willow flung out a hand. An icicle shot up from the ground and came to a stop inches from Adam's face. He took a step back.

"Why did you tell my father where to find me?" Willow demanded.

"I didn't want to. But he was going to give me money, and—"

"Sellout!"

Adam winced. "I'm sorry, but—" He glanced back at the battle raging behind him. "I didn't want you helping Scorpion, either."

"That wasn't your choice to make, it's mine!"

"Seriously?" Adam's eyes narrowed. The sudden shift from sympathetic to annoyed took Willow by surprise.

Adam stepped around the icicle and moved toward her again.

"You can't act like you know what's best for me," Willow hissed, standing her ground.

"I don't care what's best for you! Scorpion is hurting people, and you're helping them!" Adam flung a fireball her way, but it sailed over her head. Was he even trying? "You're the smartest person I know, and I'll do whatever it takes to keep you out of Scorpion's hands. I'm not doing it to help you, I'm doing it to protect the people you're hurting with your soldiers and choppers and weapons."

Willow stared at him. Deep down, as much as she hated that he'd called her father, some part of her had thought it had been some sort of misguided attempt to help her.

Was he telling the truth when he claimed it wasn't?

She glared at him. "I was considering running from Scorpion. Coming to help you idiots before you got yourselves killed."

Adam stopped. His eyes widened as he processed what she'd said. "Willow, it's not too late—"

"Yes, it is!" Willow launched an array of ice shards. A wall of fire sprung up to stop them. "This war between you and Scorpion is a waste of resources. The soldiers, this building—did you think twice before you came here to destroy it all?"

"Those soldiers are weapons for Scorpion to steal and control people!"

"Right now, they are." Willow let ice swallow her right arm. She lunged forward and swung at Adam. He ducked and dodged the blow. "I could do so much with this technology. Forget Scorpion for a minute. I'll take everything they have and make it better. But I can't do that if you burn it all down."

"Actually, we're going to blow it up."

Willow swung again. Instead of dodging, Adam let his arm burst into flames and raised it to block. Willow yanked her arm back. Not fast enough. The last of her ice melted and dripped to the floor.

"I can melt anything you throw at me, Willow," Adam said.

"We'll see about that." Willow summoned ice around both of her arms, thicker this time. She started swinging, again and again, picking up speed as she adjusted to the weight of the ice. Adam, on the other hand, slowed in his efforts to dodge her punches.

She finally landed a blow that sent him staggering into a wall.

Willow shattered the ice on her arms with a thought and lifted her hands. Frozen walls rose around Adam, trapping him.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll all stay out of my way."

She didn't wait for a reply before storming off.