Magisterium

8

“Certainly not,” Sturges said with a good-natured chuckle. “What the girl actually has” — he carefully measured each word in his breathy whisper — “is important. Dangerous, even. To herself, to your son. I’m afraid I can’t comment on its nature any more than that. Now, do you have additional information that may aid us in our search for your son and — ”

Sturges abruptly stopped talking.

A chair creaked.

Glenn’s heart pounded; a tide of hot blood beat at her ears and throat. She could feel the two men’s eyes on the door. Kevin was frozen in place, hovering above her right shoulder.

“It was very brave of you to come here,” Sturges announced from the other side of the door.

Glenn and Kevin froze, his words like the thin web of a drone, binding them tight.

“Please, come in and join us. Glenn. Kevin.”

Taking a chance, Glenn took Kevin’s arm and they slowly moved back from the door. After a few steps, they turned to the bedroom, ready to flee, but blocking their way was a tall silhouette.

As it stepped forward, the light from the hall gleamed against the distinctive red armor of the Authority agent.

Kevin tensed, the muscles in his arms and legs tightening, ready to run, but Glenn held him back. Another agent moved into place behind the first.

They were trapped.

Sturges wasn’t what Glenn expected. People from Authority were generally big and athletic. Law enforcement types. Sturges was trim and small with thinning hair and glasses. Unlike the armored agents, Sturges wore a simple suit of dark blue with a slate gray tie. His shoes were old and heavily worn.

“Please,” he said. “Come in.”

When Glenn and Kevin didn’t move, the agents behind them did, herding them into the room.

“It’s okay,” he said. “There’s no reason to feel afraid. You’re both all right, I hope?”

Glenn swallowed back coppery-tasting fear and said nothing.

Mr. Sturges buttoned his coat as he stood to face them. “My name is Michael Sturges. I’m with Authority, as I imagine you’ve guessed. And you are Glenn Morgan. Or, actually, Glennora Amantine Morgan. Is that right?”

“Where did you take my father?”

Sturges’s eyes narrowed. “Where? Well” — he opened his hands and shrugged slightly — “we took him right where you wanted us to take him, Glenn. Greenfield Hospital’s psychiatric ward.”

Glenn’s stomach knotted. She bit the inside of her lip to keep her anger and guilt locked up tight.

“As soon as we get our business concluded, you’ll be able to see him.”

“Why were your drones firing at us?” Kevin interrupted.

“Firing at you?” Dr. Kapoor said, his voice rising. “Sturges, what is he saying? Were your drones — ”

“They were never in any danger,” Sturges snapped. His eyes

locked on Kevin. “A preprogrammed response. A warning. If they meant to actually cause you harm, they would have.”

Sturges glared at Kevin for a split second longer, then abruptly sat back in his chair. “I think we’ll find that all of this was a bit of a misunderstanding. It’s been a stressful night for everyone. But your father is fine, and once you hand over that bracelet and come with me to do a little more talking — ”

“It’s a piece of junk,” Glenn said. “It doesn’t do anything. My father is sick. This is all a mistake.”

Sturges smiled. “I’m sure it is. Still, we have our procedures.”

Dr. Kapoor leaned forward at his desk. “Glenn, I’m

recommending you spend some time at the hospital yourself.”

“No,” Glenn said. “I won’t — ”

Dr. Kapoor looked away from her. “Surely Kevin doesn’t need to — ”

“I’m afraid so,” Mr. Sturges said, rising out of his chair. “It’s a formality. I’m sure you understand. We won’t be long.”

“No. Wait. I’ll speak with — ” Dr. Kapoor reached for the tablet on his desk, but Sturges was at his side, holding it down before he could lift it.

“I’m sorry, doctor. But I can’t let you do that.”

Mr. Sturges’s voice was like a wall. The two agents drew up behind him. Something dark and barbed radiated from the small man.

“This is an Authority matter, doctor. You have our thanks for alerting us to it, but now we have to do our job. Your son will be returned to you by the morning.”

“But what about — ”

“Ms. Morgan will be fine. Like you said, she needs help. Your part in this is done now. Again, you have our thanks.” Sturges waved at the two agents and they split to either side of Glenn and Kevin, flanking the door that led to the bedroom.

As Sturges approached, Glenn dropped her shoulder and spun, throwing herself into the hard shell of one of the agents’s armor, knocking him off balance. As he righted himself, Glenn dove through the door with Kevin behind her. Sturges shouted something and the agents were after them. Kevin pulled a bookshelf down to block their way and then threw the back door open and together they raced out into the snow.

Glenn spared a look back when they hit the edge of the woods.

The agents were halfway across the yard, sleek black rifles in their hands.

A skiff was gliding over the house and coming into position behind them. The lead agent raised his weapon and fired, sending bullets tearing into the ground and the trees. The muscles in Glenn’s legs were screaming but she kept pumping.

As the greater darkness of the woods closed over them, they zigzagged, leaping over logs and rocks and sudden swells of ground in their way. Finally the red glow of the border lights became visible ahead of them. The agents were behind them, moving fast. Glenn could tell from the sound of their footsteps that there were more of them now.

Four at least. She and Kevin had managed to put some distance between them, but it was only a matter of time. A trio of gunshots roared out as they cleared a hill. Kevin flinched at the sound and stumbled down the hill, end over end. Glenn raced to meet him, caught his arm, and nearly fell trying to get him back up.

“Kevin — ”

He yanked away from her. “Forget it. I’m fine. Let’s go.”

Another round of gunfire followed and Kevin threw himself

forward. Glenn’s legs were already cramping and the way Kevin was stumbling and had his hand dug into one side, she knew they didn’t have more than a few minutes of running left in them.

They passed under the lights that marked the border, ducking low through an opening in the trees. The woods grew denser the farther they went, slowing them down as they picked through the brush for a path.

From what Glenn could hear, the agents weren’t faring much better.

She was able to catch her breath, but still, no pang of hope grew in her chest. Even if we lose them we’re just escaping into a wasteland.

“You should go back,” she called to Kevin as they came to a clearing, but Kevin said nothing. He was hunched over, panting, one palm pressed flat onto a tree trunk to keep standing.

“You’re exhausted,” Glenn said. “You can’t keep this up. They want me, not you. You should go back.”

Kevin took another step but then his foot slipped on a snow-slick rock and he fell into a heap on the ground.

“Kevin!”

Glenn dropped down, turning Kevin over to get his face up out of the snow. His skin was waxy and gray, his lips blue. Lines of pain shot across this face. His head lolled, frighteningly boneless, like a doll’s.

He moaned and lifted his hand to his forehead. It was covered in something as thick and black as oil.

“Kevin, what’s …”

Glenn yanked his leather jacket open. His white T-shirt was soaked through from neck to tail with blood, its redness black in the moonlight.

“Kevin, no.”

Glenn scrambled to lift up his shirt. The bullet wound in his side was ringed in tattered flesh. Blood oozed from it, pooling beneath him.

A wave of panic crashed into Glenn. She leaned into the wound, her thin arms quivering. Kevin howled but she pressed harder. She had hoped the soaked T-shirt would hold back the blood, but she could already feel it seeping through the fabric and onto her fingers. Kevin moaned again, weaker this time. His eyes opened. They were

unfocused and hazy, wild. His life was flowing out of him.

Glenn turned back the way they had come, the panic turning to hysteria. She had no choice.

“We’re here!” she screamed, shredding her throat, hoping the agents would hear her, hoping they would come. “We’re here! Please help us! PLEASE!”