Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 33 - Self-Made - V

  Jeremy scrambled back off his chair as the little blue spirit floated toward him, with a vague outline of a face, like a kid's drawing. His drink crashed to the floor of the cabin. "Jesus fuckin' Christ, Lani!"

  Lani and Riley laughed in unison at his reaction. "It won't hurt you, man."

  "You don't know that."

  "I made it, Jeremy," he pointed out. Lani closed his palm with a flutter of his fingers, and the spirit vanished with a puff of blue smoke. "There, all gone."

  Jeremy clambered back onto the chair, straightening his jacket. "So what do they do?"

  "Honestly? Not a whole lot. But who cares?" Lani smiled, in that same annoyingly smug and contented look that every other Greycloak seemed to produce without hesitation. "It's magic."

  Riley smiled too, but Jeremy could see doubt in her eyes. She sure wasn't there for magic, but Jeremy couldn't quite read her. He dismissed the thought though, as Lani put his arm around her. Well, there it is. "So what else you got?"

  After a showing of Lani's repertoire, which was surprisingly wide given how long he'd been awakened (though it paled compared to Hailey's sheer power or the breadth of Jonathan Hudson's bag of tricks), they retired to the fire to warm up as night fell.

  "So what's going on with Hailey?" Lani asked, leaning against Riley on the wide chair opposite him. God, they make a cute couple. "Something about London?"

  Jeremy sighed. "...You heard about the shit that went down in Lakewood, right?"

  "Yeah." Lani shuddered. Riley nudged him slightly and put her arm around him. "That looked so awful. I was reading all the reports that came in."

  "Bureau doesn't know shit," Jeremy muttered. He explained what happened, and where Hailey blew off to. "So now we got one of the... fuck, what did she call them?"

  "Empowered eight," said Lani. "Or the Ogdoad. Ruby keeps trying to push that one. Cinza prefers 'true awakened', but everybody else went for the EE, so it stuck."

  "Right."

  "Who are they?" asked Riley sleepily. "The eight, I mean."

  "Well, there's Hailey, Hector Peraza, Kendra Laushire, Grey-eyes, and Alpha," said Lani, counting them off. "Then there's Jessica Silverdale and Jackson Smith, both deceased, and last the one that Cinza won't tell us."

  Can't be hard to figure it out though... The quiet purple-eyed elf-girl with the pet hawk seems like a pretty good pick. "Kendra Laushire who just showed up tonight with her sister?"

  "Yeah, about that," said Lani, with a sidelong look at Jeremy. "Since when do the Laushires have two daughters?"

  "You tell me," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes. "Fuck rich people, man."

  Lani grinned. "I'm really curious who the last one is, though. I'm pretty sure most people around here know. Everybody who was here back in May, at least."

  "They won't tell you?"

  "We got bits and pieces, but nothing solid." Riley smirked. "They will when we're ready."

  Lani tapped her on the head. "They will," he agreed, without the sarcasm. "Until then, we help out where we can."

  "Shit," said Jeremy, glancing at the clock. It was already well past ten, which meant it was nearly seven in the morning in London. "I gotta find out what's happening over there." He stood up, but the alcohol was settling into his brain and he stumbled.