Red Skies | The Prime Archives #1 ✓

nine

"Told you guys we should've told her,'' Theo whispered a few minutes after the jet bulleted out of the hangar and left the mountain range from which it came.

Rolling his eyes, Chase readjusted the tarp covering them all. After Stella somehow made it inside the aircraft, she'd almost ruined their cover. Luckily, she didn't completely give away their positions. Not yet, at least. The Atlas agents sitting just a few feet away still had no idea the six teenagers were hiding behind them.

Stella sat across from Chase, her expression fierier than an active volcano. He wasn't afraid of much, but the anger in her eyes put fear in his heart. So much that he wouldn't even meet her scathing gaze. For a person people often heralded as the 'nicest girl they've ever met', she could be extremely intimidating.

She held out her hand with her palm facing upwards. A tennis ball-sized sphere of light bobbed above it, illuminating the inside of the makeshift tent they were in.

Emily dubbed the girl's abilities to be the weakest out of the group. While Chase didn't necessarily disagree, he did find them fascinating. She had the power to control light particles and even conjure her own. She could manipulate her own gravity—to an extent. The scientists back at The Acropolis theorized that she'd be able to fly at some point. But, for now, she could only jump farther and higher than the average person. Coupled with her gymnastic skills, she often looked like an Olympic athlete when testing her limits.

No one was quite sure how her powers worked. In fact, all their abilities were pretty much a mystery. At this point, Chase didn't even question it anymore. He'd go crazy if he tried making sense out of them.

''What the hell were you guys thinking?''

No one answered her.

''How'd you all even get in here?'' She shook her head. ''You know what, never mind. It doesn't matter.''

''For the record,'' Theo said while holding up his finger, ''I wanted to tell you...just saying.''

Emily side-eyed him, her nostrils flaring as she held in her anger. He cowered beneath her gaze.

''You should've.'' Stella ran a hand down her face. ''So, what's the plan? You guys were just going to stowaway on this jet and potentially get yourselves killed?"

''Something like that—minus the dying part, of course.''

''This isn't a time to be joking, Oscar.''

The smile on his lips disintegrated.

Chase sighed. ''We didn't expect you to understand. That's why we didn't bother telling you in the first place. You would've only tried to stop us.''

''And that's a bad thing because...?"

He sighed. ''Kismet needs to be stopped and Atlas needs help, as much as Director Shaw doesn't want to admit.''

Disappointment surfaced on Stella's face. A frown pulled at Chase's lips, his shoulder's slumping. He wasn't sure why he cared so much about what she thought but he did. He understood why she didn't agree with their idea to secretly join in on Atlas' mission, but it was something that needed to be done. This was their chance to land a critical hit on the terrorist cell.

''Do you even have a strategy for when we get to wherever it is this jet is going?''

''It's going to Canada,'' Oscar offered.

''Calgary, to be specific,'' Chase said.

''Thanks.''

Chase see-sawed his hand. ''I figured we'd come up with something along the way. We're kind of short on intel.''