Secret Super (Book 1)

31. Black and White

For a minute, it felt like they were suspended in air.

Then wind started roaring in Kara's ears. Hurtling through the Smog, she and Zadia clung to each other as tightly as they could. She heard screaming and couldn't tell if it was her own.

How much time before they crashed? She hadn't thought this through at all. With a spike of panic, she tried to reach for a force-field. She felt the blaze of energy in her chest but couldn't grasp it. Buildings zipped past her. Lights glinted through the fumes. Stupid, stupid, stupid— of course she couldn't summon a force-field in mid-air!

This was all her idea, and they had trusted her. She'd leaped over the edge and they'd followed. Now they were all going to die and it was her fault.

They kept falling. They were going to fall forever. The last gasp of energy inside her extinguished.

Zadia was screaming in her ears.

And they kept falling, hurtling towards concrete. Kara craned her head and twisted mid-air to see Harrison and someone else falling above them. A sick feeling twisted her gut. She had jumped and now they were going to die.

They were going to die. She was going to die.

She shut her eyes and waited for the impact.

Instead she felt ropes climb around her ankles, crawl up her legs. When she opened her eyes the wind was seizing vines out of the air. But some of the vines attached around them, tightened their hold.

And suddenly they were falling through a sea of green, branches stinging their skin. It's not gonna be enough! Kara thought.

Vines kept twisting tighter and tighter around them. Seconds ticked by, then minutes. Kara's throat was hoarse from yelling. Lights blurred into smears of color. The screaming wind drowned out every other noise.

A strange sense of calm overtook Kara. She thought about her family. Maybe they'd see her death on the news, maybe they'd see her leap and feel horrible for turning her away weeks ago.

Then vines wrapped around her so tightly it was hard to breathe and she crashed into the ground. Or rather, into a mountain of leaves. There were two thumps as Harrison and someone else collided next to them.

Kara gasped for breath. Around her, vines slithered away.

She looked around. With a shock, she realized they must be on the planet's surface, all the way down at the deepest level of the City. Beneath her was dark, spongy earth, and around her the very lowest, oldest, and sturdiest buildings upon which the rest of the City had been built.

"Never do that again," Zadia groaned. "I can't believe we're alive."

Next to them, Harrison sat up, paler than Kara had ever seen him. And next to him—

"Jace!" If every bone in her body didn't hurt, Kara would have lunged. "You—" She coughed, dust tickling her throat from the fall through so much Smog. "You followed us? That's insane."

"Had to stop you," said Jace, clutching her stomach and looking like she was in no shape to stop anyone from doing anything. Then she vomited on the ground.

"We need to leave. Now," Harrison said. He closed his eyes briefly and rubbed his temple. "I'm afraid I won't be able to use my superpowers again until I rest."

Standing, Kara offered him her hand and pulled him up. But he kept lurching, and purple bruises were mottling on his skin.

"Shit, this is my fault. I was going to use a force-field, I swear I tried to! I'm really sorry, I—"