THE BEAST ─ five hargreeves

[ 068 ] in which five throws a hissy fit

LXVIII.

i n w h i c h
f i v e t h r o w s a
h i s s y f i t

—IT WAS EXACTLY 1:31 p.m. when Luther was hit by a car.

The yellow taxi came tearing down the street at about a hundred miles an hour, rubber burning against concrete roads. The cab sped halfway into the alley behind Elliot's apartment, hit Luther square in the midsection, and screeched to a halt. Zara, Diego, and Kiki jumped out.

"Good news!" cried Zara, flinging out her arms in glee. "I'm alive!"

Kiki cackled and flew to Five's shoulder, pecking his ear affectionately.

Luther, face covered in a sheen of soot and auto grease, pushed the car away and emerged glaring at them. "Was that really necessary?"

"Sorry, big guy," said Diego, grinning. "I'm no good with stick-shift."

"Oh, we've done so many things!" said Zara. "I can't wait to tell you, Five. First, we were kidnapped by Lila—major plot twist, am I right?—and then we were held hostage in the Commission—"

"And I was tortured!" added Diego.

"But then I saved him! Did you hear that, Five? I saved somebody! Me! Then we commandeered this taxicab in the name of King and Country! Which country, you ask? All of them! God, I wish you were there, you would've—"

She stopped suddenly—actually stopped—and looked around. It was just Five and Luther in the alley. No Allison. No Klaus. No Vanya. Certainly no briefcase.

And Five . . . Five was not looking at her. He didn't seem happy. In fact, he seemed quite the opposite of happy.

Her smile began to fade.

"Where is everybody?" she asked.

"You're late," he said through clenched teeth.

"Sorry." She moved a little, trying to stand in full view of him. But he simply turned away again. "Herb found Diego and I a briefcase from the basement. Maybe the programming was off, or maybe—"

"You're late," he said again. Still he refused to look at her. "You're a minute late and the other idiots didn't show up. It's over."

Her smile was gone.

So this was it, then. A horrible sinking feeling overcame her. She had not believed this would work, not truly, but somehow, somewhere, she had allowed herself to hope. Now the plan had failed and all her hope was dashed to pieces.

"Well, now what?" asked Luther.

"Now nothing, Luther!" A muscle spasmed in the boy's jaw. "Make your peace with God!"

"But Allison—"

"Screw Allison!" snapped Five. "Screw everybody! They should've been here!"

Zara looked at him with some concern. At the rate he was getting worked up, he might just give himself a stroke. A definite possibility, actually. Old people. Jeez.