Chapter 40

Michael

That one hurt.

I groaned as I sat up, my ribs, back, and head throbbing. My bottom lip was very swollen. We were so close! We’d almost taken the advantage by removing Ray’s powers, but Zack stopped me!

I looked up. Ray walked toward me, looking angry. He had blood all over his face and bare chest. His nose looked broken, but that didn’t make me feel any better. Well… maybe a little.

I tried surging my powers and pushing myself to my feet, but I gasped at the pain that suddenly sucked at my gut. I immediately turned off my powers and stumbled to my knees. The pain stopped, and I felt overwhelmingly exhausted.

My powers! Gone! Zack took my stone!

Panic gripped at my chest. I looked up again at Ray, breathing hard from the exertion of using my powers without my stone. He’d reignited the flames on his hands. The sound was surprisingly loud, like two welders hard at work.

He stood above me, his red-glowing eyes narrowed on me. I didn’t move. There was no point. Without my powers I couldn’t outrun Ray.

He brought his right hand back, preparing to give me a final, fiery backhand. I turned away from him and cringed, anticipating more pain and probably death.

But nothing happened. I opened my eyes and looked up at him.

Ray still held his hand back, the fire illuminating his face, but didn’t strike. His expression was hard to read.

His hesitation cost him. I blinked, and Ray was gone!

In his place stood Angela, her glass-looking wings surrounding the both of us. I heard a crash to my right. Across the street and through Angela’s wings, I saw a man-sized hole right through the middle of a Mexican restaurant. People flooded out of the restaurant, screaming. Angela had swiped Ray across the street with her wings. It was too fast for me to see without my powers.

“Are you okay?” Angela asked, looking concerned and helping me to my feet.

“Well, Ray almost killed me,” I said. “Oh, and Zack took my stone. So, no. I’m not okay.”

“He took your stone?” She gritted her teeth and took a deep breath. Her white-glowing eyes darted back and forth as she took in the information. “Michael, this isn’t good. This…” She looked up at me. “I can find your stone! I bet your cousin took it to Mark back at that abandoned building! I know where he is!”

“The other Starling? Why would he want my stone?”

“I don’t know, but I’m telling you, we have got to get it away from him! Somehow, Mark knows more about Starlings than even my dad. He might even know how to destroy your stone, and we don’t really know what that could do to you!”

We didn’t know but feared the worst. Would it kill me if my stone were destroyed? “No, Angela, we’ve got to run!” I said. “You can’t face Zack and Ray alone!”

“I can handle them—they can’t get through my wings.”

“No! Don’t go risking your life for me!”

“I’ll be risking your life if I don’t do anything!”

“But they could kill you!”

“And Mark could kill you!”

“Angela—”

“Michael!” She grabbed my hands and gripped them firmly. “I… I care too much for you! I can’t lose you!”

I blinked, finding it hard to argue with her. We both basically had the same argument anyways.

“If there’s a chance that I can keep Mark from crushing your stone…” she said, “then I’m taking it!

I shook my head. “I don’t want—there’s Ray!”

She turned around to see Ray emerge out of the hole in the Mexican restaurant, his hands on fire, a frustrated snarl on his face. Clusters of people who stood around watching took a good look at Ray and ran.

“I can’t take you with me, Michael” Angela said while watching Ray through her wings from across the street. “I’ve got to hide you!”

“What—”

My words were caught in my throat as my world became a blur. In a flash, we were somewhere else. My head was spinning from the rush. I think Angela had picked me up and ran me a few blocks away from Ray. I leaned against a nearby wall to balm the queasiness. So, this is how normal people feel when they get moved around at super speed.

I took in my surroundings. We were next to Dan’s Barber Shop. I’d never heard of it, but that’s what the sign said. There was a five-foot wall of bushes around the entrance of the closed shop that made it a great hiding spot. The street wasn’t very busy either, so the lack of headlights made it pretty dark.

“Stay here,” Angela ordered. I blinked, trying to get my eyes to focus on her. “I’ll be right back with your stone.”

“But—”

She bent her knees and launched into the air; the blast wave from her jump toppled me over. I realized just how many bruises I had as I hit the sidewalk. Angela soared high into the air, shifted her direction toward Trotting Park, and disappeared over the buildings.

“Be safe,” I said softly to the sky, feeling grateful and mad at her at the same time for leaving me here. I lowered my eyes and scanned the street corner where Angela’d dropped me off. The sidewalks were free of pedestrians and only a couple cars passed by with their headlights on.

I looked at my scraped hands and sighed. No stone. No powers. No way to help. “Well, now what?”