Instead, Ragathon raised his hammer.
I gasped. He was going to…
No!
He slammed the hammer into the rebel's chest. In high-definition duplicate, on every e-Board around us, she cried out. Over and over, she screamed as he hit her again and again.
She spit out blood, the red viscous fluid dribbling down her chin, marring her pretty face.
"How can he do this?"
"She killed an Inquisitor," said Jax. "She must be made an example of."
"You have to stop this," I told him.
Jax bowed his head without saying a word, and I understood. Of course he couldn't stop this. The Inquisitor was one of the Councilors. No one could stop him now.
Unless…
If I could get close enough to him… if I could take control, just for a moment, maybe…
I pushed further into the crowd, positioning myself closer and closer to the stage as Ragathon took evident joy in hurling his hammer at the young woman.
A ringing buzzed in my ear, power pulling in me. Jax called my name but his voice sounded distant, as if he spoke through water.
I hesitated as several Inquisition Officers walked toward me.
Wha—
But they walked past me, waving their hands, shouting. "No vehicles here." "This road is closed off."
I turned to look back. The white truck I'd seen earlier had made it closer to the platform, and it continued on, driving slowly, not stopping.
Something was going on.
I looked around and noticed one of the guys I'd seen before, someone who hadn't been cheering along with everyone else.
He wore a heavy cloak though it wasn't cold.
He kept a hood over his head, but a ray of sun caught the copper highlights in his hair, the green specks in his eyes. He turned around and looked straight at me.
And smiled.
Chapter 10
The Shadow of Rome
Something flew above me and smoke filled the air, obscuring my vision of the smiling man. Someone had fired smoke guns. The man ran into the smoke and I followed, covering my nose and mouth with my shirt to avoid choking.
People ran in all directions, screaming, crying, gagging as they inhaled the smoke-filled air around them. Jax tried to follow me, calling my name as I dodged through the crowd, but too many people got between us and the smoke obstructed his view of me. I didn't know why I chased the mystery man, didn't know why it was important that Jax not follow me, but I'd long believed in trusting my instincts and I did so now. Trust what's in your heart, little Star. No one else knows the right path for you but you.
My dad's words rattled in my mind as gunfire broke out around me. Real guns, with bullets instead of smoke.
Near me, a woman fell to the ground, a red pool of blood spreading over her chest as her husband and child tried to drag her out of harm's way.
I swallowed bile that rose in my throat and dropped to my knees, staring in horror as people died around me or were wounded by indiscriminate firing from those commissioned to protect the innocent. The Inquisition.
I knew then what I had to do.
If I could get to the Head Inquisitor, Ragathon, if I could find him, I could use whatever power was growing in me to stop him.
I crawled through the smoke, trying to orient myself, and knocked against two dead bodies lying side by side. A man in black—a rebel—and an Inquisition Officer. They must have killed each other.
I grabbed the e-Glass from the rebel and slipped it on to my own ear, crouching low to avoid getting shot as I listened.
The e-Glass came to life. "The Inquisitor is down," a male voice said. Was that true? Could it be that easy?
I could hear more gunshots, more screams. "Wait," the voice said, in my ear. "Oh God, he's alive. Pull back. Get the Shadow to the truck."
So they planned to use the white truck to rescue The Shadow of Rome.
I searched the dead Officer, removed his helmet, took his e-Glass and put it on my other ear. The commanding voice I heard belonged to Ragathon. Who was definitely not dead.
"Exit stage one. Block off the designated roads," he said.
Stage one? Designated roads? This had all been a trap. The Inquisitors expected this rescue and had planned for it. All the rebels would be captured or killed.
I knew I couldn't let that happen. I didn't know if the rebels were the bad guys or not, but I knew the Inquisitors weren't good guys. At least Ragathon wasn't, and his minions didn't seem any better. Looking at the carnage around me, knowing the Inquisitors planned this, allowed for this, didn't care that so many innocents would get caught up in their trap… no, they weren't good guys.
I needed to get to a computer.
With both the rebels and Inquisitors chattering in my ears, I scanned the area, walking low through dead bodies and destroyed property around the buildings. Nothing. Everyone was evacuating.
But wait… through the crowd, parked by the central e-Board, a giant white tank-like van with a stylized all-seeing eye painted in black. An Inquisition vehicle. A Bruiser. They'd have a computer in there.
I scrambled across Times Square just as an Inquisition Officer approached the van. He was about to get in. If I wanted to help save the Shadow of Rome, I had to act now.
I launched myself at the officer, knocking him into the van.
"What the—?" He flipped around, his gun drawn and ready to shoot.
I grabbed his arms and pushed my mind into his. I expected it to feel like before, like it had with the officer at my house where I became him and me at the same time.