Jack Dailey
had actually been the one to teach me that Storm Riders had to have a degree of
discretion. It was best if people didn’t know that there were those who could
control the weather in the world, kind of like the Men in Black—the ones from
the movie, anyway.
But now we
had to break into a museum, steal some old clothes, and get away before the
cops arrived. Jack had complicated that with this thunder punch stunt. Now he
and I used arcs of lightning between our hands to act as plasma cutters, which
actually wasn’t as easy as it sounded. I had to keep laser focused on keeping
the ionized channel strictly between my hands instead of allowing the lightning
to ground out on the steel security gate.
“I stand by
this. We’ve got style.”
“Sure hope
the girls are having better luck.”
My
lightning momentarily zipped to the metal, forcing me to stop and start again.
The superheated plasma around the finger-thick bolt started sizzling the metal,
vaporizing it as it got close. I felt a migraine moving forward in my skull
despite the medication I had already taken.
“So,” I
said to Jack, trying to take my mind off my impending headache, “you think this
Matt guy is right?”
“Wouldn’t
be here, otherwise. Surprised Kate didn’t want to come with us.”
“Yeah, me
too. Must be something to that.”
“She might
have the hots for him.”
“Saywhanow?”
Jack
shrugged. “Just saying. She was the only one to stick with him at the library,
she stayed behind while we came here. Maybe she’s falling for him, or just
getting in one last good screw.”
“Okay, that
I’ll believe. Dammit!” My bolt slipped again, and my headache surged.
“Yeah, me
too. Okay, maybe this wasn’t the best idea.”
“Jack
Dailey admitting a mistake,” Natalie shouted. “It’s a red letter day. Come on,
we found another way in.”
We jogged
around the corner of the building to see a fire exit. The thick metal door
looked more intimidating than the security gate inside. I exchanged a
questioning look with Jack.
“I’ve only
been gone a few months,” Jack said. “That’s not enough time for you to go off
your rocker, Nat.”
I squinted,
seeing beyond the everyday and into the ionize particles. Natalie had opened a
channel from the door to the sky. I looked up into the clouds.
“Is that Anna
Maria—”
I cut off
as a giant bolt of lightning streaked down to crash into fire door, which
crumpled under the incredible pressure and wattage.
“Now that’s style!” I said.
“Showoff!”
Jack flipped off the sky.