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  Heat traveled down her spine and spread across her entire body. It pushed through her blood and muscle tissue until it ran along the surface of her skin as if she stood under a waterfall of boiling water. It didn’t hurt her—even when the heat intensified—but she could still feel its presence.

  Haven heard Marius step away and she opened her eyes.

  Electric blue light cascaded over her vision like the flicking flames of a violent fire. Marius stood twenty feet away, on the other side of the room.

  “Close your eyes!” he shouted.

  She did, but something was wrong. The energy that had been building within her shifted to the side like a heavy weight and slipped off her body. She opened her eyes as a blue stream of burning plasma shot from her left arm and hit the wall just above Marius’s head. He shouted and dove out of the way as the stream seared into the wall.

  Haven screamed and stepped backward. She raised her left arm and the blue stream scraped up the wall to the ceiling, leaving behind a blackened streak on the metal.

  “What do I do?!” she shouted.

  The energy was already dissipating. The stream shooting out of her arm faded like a dying flashlight beam until it disappeared. Haven dropped to her knees, sweaty and exhausted. She gulped down air as if she had almost drowned.

  Marius ran over and knelt beside her. He gripped her shoulders firmly and supported her when she started to shake all over.

  “It’s okay,” he said. He lowered her to a sitting position and smoothed down her hair, which was sticking out in every direction. He looked up at the long strip of blackened metal on the wall and ceiling. “That was…that was good, for first time. Practice makes perfect, yes?”

  “I lost it,” said Haven, still breathing heavily. “I felt it but then I lost it.”

  “Happens to everyone,” said Marius. “Still happens to me if I am distracted. What did you see?”

  She thought for a moment. “A blue light in the darkness, like a star. It grew brighter and brighter and came close enough that I could see every detail.”

  Marius was nodding. “Yes, yes,” he said. “Good. For me, I imagine it building up in my hands until I can no longer keep it inside. It is different for everyone, but the important thing is that you find something that works. Eventually you will be able to skip the seeing and jump right to the zapping.” He looked back at the black scar on the wall, then down at his own hands. “Maybe next time I try your method. Maybe I get something a little stronger! But listen to me. The goal is to control the energy—to not let go all at once. This way it is not all gone in five seconds and then the bad guys get you.”

  Haven sat up straighter and took a deep breath. “Why are you fighting?” she asked. “With Bernam and the others.”

  Marius frowned. “There is always fighting. There is always someone who wants more power, and who will take it from others. And always there are people willing to help that person. It is a terrible truth, but one that we all must face.” He shook his head sadly.

  Haven smiled and pushed his shoulder. “I think I need some water.”

  He slapped his forehead. “Of course you do! How stupid of me.” He stood and helped her to her feet. “Very thirsty work. But don’t worry, is worth it. Everybody has limits, but with more training you will not believe what you can do.”

  Haven followed Marius to the door. She looked down at her hands, then gently rubbed her forearms. Her skin was cool, and there was no sign that fire or any other kind of destructive energy had been flowing over her body. A shiver ran down her spine when she thought about the power that had been available to her a few moments earlier.

  It felt like she had tapped into a nuclear generator and was pulling unlimited power from its core, weaving it together into a giant sphere of energy. Up until the moment she had lost control, Haven felt as if she could have blown up a building.

  As she followed Marius out of the training room and into the dome, she had a hard time convincing herself that having that kind of power was a good thing.

  26

  Elena was waiting for them just outside the room.

  “How did she do?” she asked Marius.

  “Very good,” he said. “One day she will be stronger than you, I think.”

  Marius’s praise made Haven blush. “I lost control,” she admitted.

  “We all do, from time to time,” said Elena. She glanced over at Marius, who was trying to make a motion with his hands without Haven seeing him. He pointed to his own shoulder-blades and then fanned out his fingers and traced the outline of invisible wings. Then he nodded at Haven and Elena looked at her, one eyebrow rising higher on her wrinkled forehead. “Is that right?” she said.

  “What?” said Haven.

  “You have wings.”

  “No, I—” Haven stopped and thought for a moment. “Well, in the cafeteria, yeah…sort of. Not really wings, though, just shaped like wings.”

  “Oh my,” said Elena softly.

  “What are you talking about?” said Haven, hesitant accusation in her voice.

  Marius coughed politely. “Time for food,” he said. “Marius is hungry.” He smiled at Haven and hurried away, disappearing down the hallway that led to the dormitories.

  “Let’s sit down, Haven,” said Elena.

  The older woman led her to the center of the massive domed room. A ring of short chairs surrounded a small, circular rock pit that Haven had not seen before. Softball-sized grey rocks were piled in a small mound in the center of the pit. Haven chose a seat. Elena sat next to her and waved an open palm in the direction of the rock pit. Blue flames ignited on the stones and danced brilliantly in the darkness. Light flickered across their faces and warmed Haven’s skin.

  “It’s an issue of balance,” said Elena at last. She stared into the flames, unblinking.

  “What kind of balance?” asked Haven.

  “The Balance. Nature. The world. Everything. It is my belief that our kind came into existence to repair an imbalance in the fabric of reality. Something shifted too far in the wrong direction and we represent nature’s attempt to solve the problem.”

  “The Sources and Conduits, you mean.”

  Elena nodded. “You already know that I’m called a Phoenix. The man named Bernam is a Void—the strongest of his kind. We are here to balance the forces that have been given to us, to guide the others down the proper path so that the power does not shift too far to one side. However, one cannot exist without the other. Bernam and myself—we are linked in that way, but in that way alone.”

  “He’s not your counterpart?”

  Elena shook her head. “He lost his true partner long ago, as did I.” Her eyes glossed over as she remembered. She shook her head again and sighed.

  “What happens if one of you dies?” asked Haven.

  “That is what we need to talk about. My power is fading, Haven. It has been weakening gradually over the last several months. My guess would be that it started around the same time that you first noticed you were different.”

  Haven looked into the blue flames that danced over the rocks. A long strand of fire flicked out from the pit and snapped in the air like a whip.

  “You think I’m a Phoenix,” she said.

  “I think so, yes. But nothing is certain. There could be others like you in the world—ones with other shades of blue fire that have the potential to become a Phoenix. You and I manifest our excess energy in a very specific way—a way that, until now, I thought was completely unique to myself.”

  “The wings,” said Haven.

  Elena nodded.

  “What are they?”

  “I can’t say for sure,” said Elena. “They don’t always appear when I am expending energy. I have only noticed their presence on rare occasions when I was attempting to channel more power than I should have—perhaps half-a-dozen times in my entire life. They are beautiful, but I think they might not serve much purpose beyond that.”

  “Have you ever seen them on anyone else?�
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  Elena shook her head.

  “So wait,” said Haven. “If you’re getting weaker, does that mean that I’m killing you?”

  Elena laughed—an old, slow laugh full of humor and wisdom. “No, Haven. This would be happening with or without you. It is the way of things.”

  Haven sat back in her seat. “How did it happen with you?” she asked.

  “When I received my ability, you mean?”

  Haven nodded.

  “I never met the person who came before me. I like to think that they were able to live a quiet life, far from the worries that plague our kind these days. It was no slow process for me, as I am noticing with you. The energy was practically slapped into me not long after my seventeenth birthday. I always assumed that the one who came before me died suddenly, without the time for a gradual transference like the kind I believe I am experiencing. I was working in a shoe factory at the time, lacing work boots—just one of many girls on a long factory line.” She giggled. “Oh, you should have seen their faces! I lit that place up like a five-story Christmas tree. I had to leave town after that, of course.” She sighed happily. “Those days were just full of adventure.”

  “If I’m getting my power from you,” said Haven, “then where do the others get their abilities?”

  “You aren’t getting your power from me at all!” said Elena, laughing softly with amusement. “At least, not yet. Besides the few people who were given their powers by other Conduits, each one of us is born already possessing an ability. But those like me and Bernam—and every other Phoenix and Void that came before us—are given something extra.”

  “What is it?”

  Elena smiled. “There are many theories, and of course I have my own. I think it’s different for each of us. Only you can know for sure.” Her smile faded and a look of worry deepened the shadows on her face.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Haven.

  Elena shook her head. She smiled but it was a smile intended to hide a truth. “It’s nothing.”

  “Tell her,” someone said behind Haven. She turned to see Dormer standing a few feet away, just at the edge of the blue firelight. “Tell her about the process—about what really happened to you in the shoe factory. Tell her there’s a chance she could burn up just like a—”

  “Don’t!” shouted Elena. She stood and held up a warning finger at Dormer. “Don’t you say anything. She doesn’t need to worry about that for a long time.”

  “Maybe not so long,” he said.

  “Tell me what?” said Haven. She stood slowly, looking between the two of them.

  “It’s nothing,” said Elena.

  “You may as well,” said Dormer, clearly enjoying Elena’s frustration. “She needs to know.”

  Elena sighed and sat down in her seat wearily.

  “I didn’t want to add to your burden,” she said.

  “Tell me,” said Haven. She stood next to the fire, her mind in a suspended state of expectation.

  After a long minute, Elena spoke at last. “There is a chance that your body will be incapable of holding the Phoenix energy and that it will instead go to someone else.”

  “So…what? I don’t even have it yet, from what you’re telling me. I’ll still keep what I already have, right? Nothing would change.”

  Elena shook her head.

  “This is the good part,” said Dormer.

  “The energy does not simply pass over you like a disembodied spirit looking for a different body,” said Elena. “The process of change—the process that determines whether or not you are capable of wielding such power—could destroy you completely if you are not the right person.”

  Haven stumbled over her words as her brain struggled to process the information. “Well—what if—how do I know if I’m the right person?”

  “You don’t,” said Dormer. “Not until it’s too late.” He turned and walked away, toward the black sedan near the entrance to the dormitories.

  “Well, screw that!” said Haven, shaking her head. “I pass. I forfeit. Whatever you do to make it go to the next person and not me, do that, because I don’t want it.”

  “I wish it worked like that, Haven,” said Elena. “I really do. It is a cycle. There will be a brief time where you experience increased power, but afterward it will fade until the moment comes when it abandons you completely. Once that happens—if it happens at all—you will either receive the Phoenix energy or it will destroy you and go to another.”

  “But how do you even know if that’s true?” said Haven quickly, getting defensive. “You don’t even know where you got your own ability!”

  “There are others in this world who have shared such things with me,” said Elena. “I was going to wait to tell you until the pain from the loss of your parents had passed.”

  “Thanks for reminding me,” said Haven, instantly regretting her words. Her sadness wasn’t Elena’s fault, but she was still angry at the world for letting her parents die. She turned to look at the fire. “When will it happen?”

  “It is impossible to say. Maybe never.”

  “Great,” said Haven flatly. “At least I have something to look forward to.”

  Across the room, a metal cup hit the floor and bounced loudly on the concrete. A small boy wearing glasses stood on a chair next to Corva’s computer, waving his arms and bouncing up and down excitedly.

  “Who’s that?” asked Haven. “I didn’t even know he was in here.”

  “That’s Micah,” said Elena. She stood up and hurried toward the boy.

  Haven followed her over to the dark area of the dome floor that was scattered with all sorts of electronic equipment. There were several work stations. The table next to Corva’s computer was topped with a bulky radio receiver and what looked to Haven like monitoring equipment. Large knobs and small switches covered the rectangular units stacked on both sides of the table.

  Micah plopped down into his seat when Elena and Haven approached and pulled on an oversized set of earphones. A long, spiraled cable ran from the headset to one of the monitoring boxes on the table. When Dormer walked up, Micah pulled the cable plug out of the monitor and turned up a volume dial.

  The monitor was tuned in to a police scanner. A conversation between an officer and his dispatcher was just wrapping up.

  “Copy, four-one-seven,” said the dispatcher. “Fire department on the way. We’ll send some backup for you just in case. Confirmed two identical suspects, multiple red fires in the Four Corners area at Shepherd Trail. Unit on-scene unresponsive. Advise extreme caution. Over.”

  “Copy that, dispatch. Unit four-one-seven out.”

  The line went silent, replaced with soft, clicking static.

  “Red fire?” said Haven. She couldn’t believe she heard those exact words.

  “That’s just outside Bozeman,” said Dormer. “Less than thirty minutes away.”

  Marius and Corva ran to the table, breathing heavily. Marius held a chunk of bread in one hand and chewed loudly. “What happened?” he said.

  “The twins are out starting fires,” said Dormer. He turned and went back to his work station.

  “Who are the twins?” asked Haven. She remembered her own house burning to the ground, consumed by rising, bright red flames. She swallowed thickly as her stomach tightened.

  “Some of Bernam’s henchmen,” said Corva. She squeezed Micah’s shoulder and he smiled up at her.

  Haven thought the boy could be no older than twelve or thirteen at the most. He had light brown skin and pale eyes that were comically large behind his thick glasses. His baggy clothes hung loosely on his thin frame, and his heavy shoes clomped loudly on the floor as his feet bounced up and down energetically.

  “Good work, Micah,” said Elena.

  “So what we do?” said Marius.

  Elena didn’t answer him. She turned and looked up at the roof of the dome. Haven followed her eye-line, tracing an antenna wire that ran out of the back of the radio equipment and straight up the wall
of the dome to the slow-spinning fan at the very top.

  “We have to stop them,” said Corva.

  “Don’t bother,” said Dormer loudly from across the room. “You know something isn’t right. Multiple fires in the same neighborhood? It’s too flashy, even for Bernam.”

  “There could be families inside,” said Haven suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her, surprised at the conviction in her voice. “We have to go! What if they were the ones who killed my parents?”

  Elena nodded. “We will go. Haven, it is too dangerous. You will remain here with Micah. Monitor the police scanner—”

  “I’m going with you!” shouted Haven. “There’s no way I’m staying! Red fire, didn’t you hear? My parents…” Her voice trailed off until all she could do was stand there with her mouth half-open, ready to form another argument but unable to find the words.

  “It’s not safe,” said Elena. “Marius, Corva, Dormer, and I will—”

  “I’m staying,” said Dormer. His eyes met with Elena’s for a long moment, shining with defiance.

  She looked away sadly. “Very well. Dormer will stay with Micah. Haven…” She sighed and shook her head.

  “Elena, she needs answers,” said Corva.

  Elena hesitated a moment longer, then said, “Haven, you come with us. But you are to remain by the vehicles as a lookout, do you understand?”

  “I understand.” She would have agreed to anything if it meant knowing more about those who killed her parents.

  “Everybody ready?” asked Elena. “Let’s go topside.”

  27

  Marius stood before a section of plain concrete wall. A few feet away was the entrance to the room full of metal tanks that Haven had been taken to when she first arrived at the dome—a miniature water recycling plant for the entire underground complex.

  She waited as Marius ran his palm over the gritty concrete wall until the tip of his index finger dipped into a shallow depression. He pushed in lightly and the faint depression became a deep hole. There was a soft click and a small square of concrete next to Marius’s finger swung out to reveal a black LED panel. He tapped a series of hieroglyphic symbols on the screen and a long sequence of encrypted numbers rapidly cycled across the bottom until a small red light on the panel turned green.