The Betrayal of Renegade X (Renegade X, Book 3) (38 page)

“I
am
going, and if the spokesperson for the Truth ditching your rally to go to the hero awards looks bad, then maybe you should have thought of that before you guys lied to me.”

“You’re staying here,” Grandpa says. “For your own safety.”

“You think the League’s going to attack me in the middle of their gala?” I actually kind of do think that, despite what Riley said, but I’ll take the risk.

“Damn it, this isn’t about the League.” Grandpa grabs my shoulders, gripping them too hard. “You
promise
me you won’t go anywhere near that gala tonight. You hear me?”

“
Ow
.” Not only does he have my shoulders in a vice grip, but sparks fly from his hands and actually zap me. Grandpa
never
loses control of his lightning, not even a little bit, so either he meant to shock me, or... “Grandpa.” I swallow, my throat suddenly tight, and take a step back. “What’s happening at the gala tonight?”

“I didn’t hear a promise.”

“I’m not promising you anything! My
friends
are going to be there! And my family!”

He shuts his eyes, looking really tired. “I hate to do this, Damien. I really do.”

“Do what?” My voice is shaking. “Whatever you’ve got planned, I’m not going to let you hurt them!”

“But you can’t stop me, either. Don’t make me use my power on you. I’d hate to do it, but I think we both know which one of us would win.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re staying here tonight, whether you want to or not. It’s for your own good.” He takes something out of his pocket, then holds it up so I can see, and I recognize Sarah’s alert bracelet. “I got this from a friend of mine at the retirement home.”

Damn it.

“Put this on, and if you try to use your power, you won’t be able to stop, so—”

“I
know
how it works.” I guess Sarah’s friends at the retirement home couldn’t fix it, either.

He raises his eyebrows, like he doesn’t see how that’s possible and thinks I’m just being impatient.

“My friend made it.”

“Well, it’s had a few adjustments. Those guys at the retirement home, they don’t have a whole lot to do over there. A couple of them got together and did some tweaking. This is their donation to the cause. So, I want you to understand what will happen if you use your power while you have this on.” He looks me in the eyes, all serious. “It’s amped up. Your lightning will go full blast, nonstop, until you’ve got nothing left. You understand what that means?”

I nod. This is just great—another one of Sarah’s inventions that’s going to drain me to death. So much for her “friends” trying to help her with it. I guess I’m not the only one who got betrayed by a retired villain.

“That’s if you don’t burn the house down first. You might be immune to your lightning, but you won’t be immune to fire. I know you don’t believe this, but this isn’t how I wanted things to go. But I know you, and I know that if I don’t take precautions, you’re going to go out there and get yourself killed tonight. And I’d do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

He straps the bracelet onto my wrist. The rubbery material kind of chafes against my skin.

“What about my family? And my friends? You think I wouldn’t do anything to make sure nothing happens to
them
?!”

“I know you would. That’s why I’m doing this. I can’t let you get hurt, and I can’t let you ruin our plans. All those heroes are going to be in the same place at the same time, and I’ve got a crowd of fired-up villains ready to take them on. I’m sorry, Damien. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve got a machine in place that’s going to knock them all out first. They won’t feel a thing.”

“
What?
What does that mean? Grandpa, you
can’t
.” I feel the familiar electrical twitch underneath my skin, and I remember the alert bracelet just in time to force myself not to let my lightning start up.

“This is the Truth’s big chance to show them we mean business. Once we take some of their most prominent heroes captive, they won’t be able to ignore us anymore.”

“You could still stop it. You don’t have to—”

“It’s already set to go off. At seven thirty tonight, everyone at the gala will be knocked out cold, and we’ll be ready.”

Tears prickle the backs of my eyes, though I refuse to let them water in front of him, let alone cry. “And what, you thought I was just going to go along with this if I came to the rally? You knew that at least my dad would be at the gala—he’s there every year—and you thought I’d have
anything
to do with this?”

“No, I didn’t. That’s what the bracelet was for. I just didn’t think I’d have to use it this early.”

I
F BEING WITH KAT at her dorm was the best moment of my life, I think this is probably the worst. Grandpa takes my phone—not that I could reach it to call anyone, anyway—and handcuffs me to the radiator in the corner of the living room. He winds the chain through as many of the bars on the radiator as will fit, so my hands can’t reach each other, and then leaves for the rally. I’m forced to sit on the floor, unable to really move. At least he turned the heat off.

I lean forward, trying to get at the alert bracelet with my teeth, but of course it’s too far. Not that I think I could actually chew through it or unbuckle it or anything. But at least trying gives me something to do besides freak the hell out. It’s taking all my concentration not to let my lightning spark up, since Grandpa made it extremely clear that if I do, I’ll die of exhaustion. But, you know, only if accidentally lighting the house on fire while I’m trapped here doesn’t kill me first.

This can’t be happening. I let my head fall forward against the radiator with a metallic
thump
. A ball of fear and frustration gnaws at my stomach. Riley, and Sarah, and Zach, and Amelia, and Gordon, and probably the rest of my family are going to be at that gala. Riley’s going to be waiting to see if he won, thinking it’s his big night. They all are. And he’s going to think I ditched him after all. That I didn’t care enough to show up. And then Grandpa’s machine is going to go off, and...

I never even got to say I’m sorry. Because even if I still think I did the right thing, stopping that fake kidnapper during our final, Riley’s right—I wasn’t thinking about what it would mean for him. I wasn’t listening. We were supposed to be
partners
, and I acted like I was working alone. And, okay, I’m not sure what I’d do differently if it happened again, but maybe we could figure it out together somehow.

Though, just for the record, I’m
not
sorry I gave him crap about choosing Mason over me.

Not that any of it matters now, because Grandpa’s going to...

I swallow down a lump in my throat. He’s going to knock them all out.
They won’t feel a thing.
I know what that sounds like, and even if all he intends to do is capture a few people, there’s no way that all those angry villains from the rally attacking all those knocked-out heroes ends well. He must know that, because there’s a reason he locked me up and didn’t want me anywhere near the gala. And I’m the one who made that commercial for him, encouraging people to show up tonight. They’re at that rally because of
me
. Grandpa might have used me to lie to everyone, but I’m the reason they believe in the Truth.

Now my friends and family are going to get hurt—probably worse—because of what I did, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it, or even to warn them.

I shut my eyes. Maybe I should risk it. Turn on my lightning and hope Grandpa was wrong and it doesn’t kill me. Except I know he wasn’t wrong. And me dying isn’t going to save anybody, and—

“Yoohoo?” Mom calls from the other room, opening the front door. “Is anybody home?”

Oh. My. God. I never thought I’d be so happy for her to show up. She can’t see me yet, since the front room is around the corner from the living room, and I’m on the far edge, but all she has to do is come a little farther into the house. “Mom!” I scream. “
Over here!
”

“Oh, thank God someone’s home,” Mom shouts, still by the front door. “I thought you’d all be gone, because of the rally. Do you hear that, sweetiekins? Damien’s going to watch you. And he’s going to turn on the heat, because
brrr
, it’s freezing in here. We don’t want my little baby to catch a little cold.”

Ugh, she must be talking to Xavier. “
Mom!
” My voice is raw with desperation. She has to hear that, right? “Come in here!”

“I really can’t, Damien.” I hear her hurrying to set down Xavier’s stuff, practically throwing it onto the floor. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll just be a few hours! I have a few errands to run, and then Taylor and I are going to dinner. We’ve got a bottle of wine at home, and who knows where that might lead? I swear, we never have a moment to ourselves. But we still love our little Xavier sweetiekins, the bestest boy in the whole wide world, yes we do.”

Gag. It’s bad enough that practically everyone I know is going to freaking
die
tonight if I don’t get out of here, but now I have to listen to this, too? “
Mom!
You have to help me!”

“I hate to rush off, but if we’re going to make our reservations tonight, then I’ve just
got
to get out of here.”

“No!
Mom!
” I rattle the handcuff chain against the radiator, trying to get her attention.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure my two boys can figure it out! You behave for your brother, sweetie.” She kisses Xavier, really loudly, and then practically slams the front door.

“Mom!” I shout again, even though I know it’s useless.

Xavier peers around the corner. “Mommy left, so she and Daddy can be newlyweds. That means you
have
to watch me.”

“Yeah, sure, just
get over here
.” I would have preferred Mom, since she’s a lot more capable, and, knowing her, she probably has an extra set of handcuff keys on her. But I guess Xavier is better than chewing my own arm off.

He comes closer, stopping just short of the radiator and staring at me. “What are you doing?”

Trying really hard not to freak out and get us killed.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m stuck. You have to help me.”

“I
don’t
.”

“Uh, yeah, you do.”

“Nuh-uh. Because I’m not talking to you.”

“You don’t have to talk to me—you just have to do what I tell you.”

“Because I’m
mad
at you.” He pauses, presumably giving me a chance to ask him why, which I don’t. “Because you were mean.”

“I wasn’t. So just get over here and take this bracelet off my arm.”

“No!” His voice is a high-pitched screech, and I wish my hands were free so I could cover my ears. Or murder him. “You
were
mean. You said Mommy didn’t throw me any birthday parties, but she said you lied.”

“She what?” I take a deep breath in through my nose, trying to stay calm. It doesn’t matter what Mom said. Not if getting pissed about it is going to get me killed. “Look, Xavier, we can talk about it later. After you unbuckle this alert bracelet.”

“I might do it. I might
think
about it. If you said you were sorry.”

“I’m sorry, okay? So now—”

“You didn’t mean it!” He stomps his foot, his nostrils flaring. “You have to say it for reals.”

“I...” I brace myself, trying to make this sound genuine. “I’m sorry I was mean to you.”

He bites his lip, thinking that over. “Now say you’re sorry you lied.”

“Look, I apologized for hurting your feelings or whatever. That’s going to have to be enough, because I didn’t lie. Mom’s the one who faked all your birthdays.” Worse than that, she stole them from me.

Xavier’s face starts turning red, and he sucks in a bunch of air, getting ready to scream. “That’s
not
true!”

Too bad the neighbors are probably used to hearing him wailing and screeching all the time by now and won’t hear the noise and, like, come rescue me.

“Fine. I’m sorry I lied. Happy now?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t believe you. You didn’t—”

“Mean it? Yeah, and I’m never going to, because I didn’t do it.”

“Yes, you did! Mommy always tells me the truth, because I’m her special little miracle. And if you aren’t sorry about lying to me, then you’re not sorry about being mean to me, either.”

I really, really hate him. “If I’m the liar, then where are all these friends you supposedly have, huh? And why do they have the same names as the friends
I
had when I was a kid?”

“Because you’re just saying that to make me feel bad. Because Mommy loves me more than you, and you’re jealous that I’m growing up so big and strong.”

I clench my jaw until my teeth grind together. I have to concentrate really hard on keeping my lightning from sparking. “That is the last thing I’m jealous of. And I don’t care if Mom loves you more, because at least my childhood was
real
.”

“She told me I’m her second chance, and now she’s doing everything right.”

“She... she
what
?”

Xavier gets this snotty grin on his face. “Mommy said a precious little angel like me only comes around once, and she’s got to make sure nothing happens to me. And that we have big parties for all my birthdays, and I get lots of presents and everybody loves me.”

I’m trying really hard not to lose it. Really,
really
hard. “Great. That’s—”

“And I asked Mommy if someday I’d have to leave and go live somewhere else, like you did, but she said
no way
. She said she would
never
give me up, not in a million, billion years. That’s a lot.”

Give him up? As opposed to me? Because Mom actually thinks of it that way, that she
gave me up
?

A surge of emotions rushes through me, and I can’t stop it this time. The sparks that have been building beneath my skin suddenly zap across my arms.