Rebecca stepped out of the vehicle and immediately felt self-conscious. The activewear that Selina had provided as a change of clothing was form-fitting and clung to her slender frame like a second skin. If anyone else noticed, they didn’t let on. Drake walked ahead and held open the door to the building that sat a couple of miles up the road from the Thorn Industries main warehouse.
Bits and Bytes arrived in a second vehicle and walked past Rebecca without so much as a second glance. They were much too busy arguing over something on their target to notice the pretty redhead in the figure-hugging yoga pants. “Get a grip, Rebecca,” she muttered to herself as she strode to the building and stepped inside.
She wasn’t sure what to expect based on the building’s bland exterior, but the inside looked like a place where elite warriors went to train. One half of the vast space was filled with exercise equipment, while the other side played host to all manner of targets and tackle dummies, many of which looked the worse for wear. A group of armed men circled the inside of the building while Bits and Bytes sat with Thorn looking at an array of computer screens.
Drake stepped in behind her and pulled the door closed. He gently touched her on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of Thorn, who was now looking their way.
“The prodigal daughter arrives,” the billionaire said as he expertly guided his powerchair through the target practice area. “Are you ready to go to work?”
Rebecca looked around the space and nodded. “Yeah, whatever that means.”
“It means, my dear, that we are going to prepare you for war by introducing you to the weapons that you have at your disposal.”
“I still have no idea how that is going to happen.”
“I think I might,” Thorn said, tossing her a garment that looked like a sports bra with built-in speakers in front and back.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“You wear it, of course.”
Eyeing the garment warily, Rebecca asked, “Is there somewhere a little more private where I can put this on.”
“There is a locker room just beyond the gym, but please do hurry.”
Rebecca jogged to the back of the facility and stepped into the trendiest-looking locker room she had ever seen. It was apparent that Thorn had spared no expense in setting the place up, which made her wonder just how big his security detail really was. She put on the sports bra and then slipped her T-shirt on over the top. The speaker-looking units on the garment dug into her skin, but a slight adjustment relieved the pressure.
She took a look at herself in the mirror and headed back out to the target area, where Thorn sat waiting for her.
“How does it feel on you?” he asked.
“Snug, but not too uncomfortable.”
“Good, good.”
“Now, do you care to explain what is going on and what it’s for?”
Thorn guided himself back over to the computer table and tapped at one of the laptops.
Within a matter of seconds, Rebecca felt the garment begin to warm up. The heat was pleasant at first, but it quickly became painful. “Ouch. Turn it off. HOT.”
Without looking up, Thorn tapped away at the keyboard and waited for a response.
The heat stopped almost immediately, but it gave way to a blast of cold that made Rebecca feel like she was soaking in an ice bath. It didn’t hurt like the heat did, but she still wanted it gone.
“Embrace it,” Thorn yelled from behind his computer.
Rebecca gritted her teeth, which were beginning to chatter, and tried to block out the cold. For a moment, it felt as though she had it under control, but the cold won out, dropping her to her knees as it penetrated her skin.
“Shut it down,” Thorn said to Bits and Bytes as he guided his chair over to Rebecca.
“What are you doing?” she asked, her body shaking with the cold.
“Testing a theory. You made a comment about my face when we first met. How do you think it became that way?”
“How should I know? One of your animals attacked you?”
“Common guess, but only partially correct.” Thorn reached up with his damaged hand and tugged at the metallic mask covering half his face. It came away easily, and he dropped it into his lap. “Look and tell me what you see.”
Letting out a gasp, Rebecca looked upon his ruined face and knew that the damage did not come at the fang or claw of any animal. The flesh that remained looked like melted wax allowed to cool after the snuffing of a candle. “Were you in a fire?”
“No. I drew the ire of your mother.”
“She did that to you? How?”
Thorn returned the mask to its rightful place and, for a second, looked afraid. “What I am about to tell you may sound like the ravings of an absolute psychopath, but it will also help explain what I am trying to do with you here.”
With a nod, Rebecca urged him to tell the story.
“When I was a younger man, I became obsessed with the idea of power. My business had already taken off, and I was wealthy beyond my wildest dreams. They say that money is power, but that’s not wholly accurate. Yes, it opened doors and allowed me to corrupt and cheat my way to the top. When I reached that point, I realized that my idea of power was not what others believed it to be.”
“You wanted magic,” Rebecca said.
Snapping his fingers, Thorn pointed at her. “You get it. My collection was already growing at that time, but it was the Baba Yaga, your mother, that was my biggest, most elusive prize. Who would ever have believed that she would come to me? I took that as a sign.”
“A sign of what exactly?”
“I have a little of all my creatures inside me. Their blood flows through my veins, yet I cannot do what they do. I believed that Raven’s blood would be the catalyst that kick-started everything. I believed I would finally have the power I so desired.”
“Raven didn’t play ball?”
Thorn shook his head. “No. Strapped down and sedated, she found a way to boil her blood in the middle of a transfusion.” He pointed to the mask. “This was the result. I was furious, and I took out my anger on her.”
Rebecca took a step back and balled her fists. “You hurt her.”
“I took her power in another way. That was the night you were conceived.”
A loud hum filled the room, and the weights on the gym equipment began to rattle. Arms outstretched, Rebecca went up onto her tiptoes and lifted off the floor ever so slightly, heat coming off her in waves.
Thorn kept his eyes on her but pointed over to Bits and Bytes and signaled them with a light switch flicking motion. “Stop, Rebecca. Stop,” he whispered.
She continued to float upward for a few more inches before collapsing to the floor, frozen breath escaping her lips. “What happened?” she asked.
“You controlled your power without knowing you were doing it. It’s all about controlling your emotions. You got angry as I told you about your mother. While that was happening, Bits and Bytes were cranking up the heat, just like we did a few minutes ago when you couldn’t handle it.”
“I didn’t feel it.”
“Your body adjusted. Think about words that people use when talking about being angry. Words like heated and steamed, unlike when you are scared, it’s more like…”
“Frozen,” Rebecca said.
“I believe that your body temperature generates your powers. Your job is to figure out what you can do in various states. We can regulate your body heat using that fantastic garment you’re wearing under that shirt. You need to level it out and see what you can do at different temperatures.”
“I think I get it.”
“Let’s test it out.” Thorn pointed at an archery target in the far corner of the building. “Bullseye,” he said.
Planting her feet on the floor, Rebecca looked over at Bits and Bytes and nodded at them to begin. She felt the heat begin to radiate out from the units on her chest and back, hissing as her skin began to blister. Staring down the target and getting the range, she closed her eyes and tuned in to the sound of her heart hammering. She imagined the sound to be a ticking time bomb seconds away from exploding. Allowing the device to explode in her mind’s eyes, she sucked in the heat of the blast and then blew it outwards.
The security team in the building let out a collective gasp as bolts of light shot out of Rebecca’s eyes, converging as one and tearing a hole through the center of the target.
“Bravo, my dear. Outstanding work.”
Rebecca looked at her handiwork and felt equal parts excited and afraid.
“How did that feel?” Thorn asked. “Tell me everything.”
“It felt natural. How long did it take me to do that?”
“A little over a second after we applied the heat.”
“That can’t be right. It felt much longer.”
“Time might not work the same for you when you are in control.”
The image of the incident with Silas back at the house flashed into her mind. “Yes, maybe. What’s next?”
“How about we do some more until you get to a point where we don’t need to use the heating and cooling elements?”
“Let’s do it.”
***
Raven had never had an issue with the ailments suffered by mortal folk, but the dip in the ocean seemed to be causing problems. She lay in bed and floated in and out of sleep, feeling feverish one moment and close to freezing the next.
The Rake sat on the floor beside her bed, ever vigilant. She held out her hand and placed it on his head, his cool skin soothing her as the fever hit again. Closing her eyes, she whispered her daughter’s name before sleep took her.
***
The building’s target practice side sat in ruins. Targets and dummies pulled apart, the pieces scattered across the room. Rebecca stood in the middle of the maelstrom and surveyed what she had done. She had proven to be a quick learner and now had an arsenal of powers to call upon at any given time. Despite that, she still felt as though much more hid under the surface, just out of reach.
“I believe you are ready,” Thorn said.
“When do we begin?”
“Tomorrow. We’ll be taking a trip to Alcatraz.”
“Why would we go there?”
“Because, my dear. That is where our merry band is hiding out.”
Rebecca shook her head, confused. “How could you possibly know that?”
“When we caught the Wenlutah, we had the idea of chipping him and sending him back out with his tribe. We wanted to track their movements and feeding patterns from afar. He is still wearing that chip, and unless he learned how to swim, he had some help getting over there. That tells me that they are all still together.”
Bits and Bytes interrupted the conversation, eyeing one another with smirks on their faces. It was Bytes who spoke up. “We have a suggestion.”
“What’s that?” Rebecca asked.
“We were impressed by your performance today and think you deserve a killer codename, just like we have.”
Rebecca rolled her eyes and was about to shoot them down when a name popped into her head. “Okay, boys, you can call me Salem.”
Such a good story! Salem is a killer codename.