Hidden Enemies | The Prime Archives #2 ✓

nine

Emily loved sleeping. Her bed was her most treasured thing in the world—aside from her bow and arrows. And maybe Kai.

She had been having a wonderful dream. The summer sun had been beating against her sun as she sat out on a beach on some island. Ahead of her, Kai was surfing on a massive wave that she created herself. The sounds of tropical birds cawing and water lapping against the shore soothed her ears.

The sound of loud knocking at her door ruined it.

After reluctantly straggling out of bed and trudging over to the door, she was met with Angus' pudgy face. Lucky and Holly, still in their pajamas, stood behind him.

Emily stood beneath her doorframe and glared at the trio of young heroes.

"Ah told ye not to knock so loud," Holly quipped. Her accent was thicker than molasses. Sometimes it sounded like she was speaking an entirely different language. Then again, Scottish English practically was another language. 

"What do you idiots want?"

Lucky cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Director Shaw has requested our presence at his office."

Her heart stopped. They weren't due to return from New York until the morning. Director Shaw never went off schedule. Never. If they had arrived early, something must've happened.

Grumbling under her breath, Emily closed the door to her room and brushed past the teenagers in front of her. "C'mon. Let's go see what this is about."

#

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Angus interrupted. "You lot got your asses handed to you by a giant, a snake-lady, and some homeless lad?"

"And a shadow," Zach, who was sat on a couch beside Theo, added. "Don't forget the shadow."

Andre narrowed his eyes at the young speedster. "Thanks for reminding us."

"No problem!"

Chase shook his head at the kid. "Yes...but that's not the point. These Primes are strong. Like, level three and above strong."

"I coulda' took 'em," Angus boasted.

Emily snorted back a laugh. "With what? Your baseballs and your bat?"

"I'll have ya' know that Slugger is a very dangerous weapon."

"Oi, Angus." Holly jabbed a finger at the stocky ginger. "Yer head's full o' mince."

Everyone turned to look at her. Confusion was written across their faces.

"What did you just say?" Emily asked.

Scowling, Holly shook her head. "Bloody 'mericans."

"I think she was trying to say that Angus is stupid," Chase clarified. "Which is correct." Holly nodded, confirming his translation.

Everyone let out a collective "oh".

Director Shaw, who was sitting at his desk while the others were spread out around his massive office, sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Children, please. Can you let us finish explaining?" They all nodded. "Thank you."

He typed something on the touchscreen keyboard built into his glass desk. The television on the other side of the room switched from the video feed of the day's earlier battle to a slideshow of grainy images. Emily rubbed her tired eyes and squinted at the pictures.

"These Primes have been in our database for some time now," Director Shaw explained. "We had been keeping our tabs on them. Before now, they hadn't shown signs that they knew each other or were planning some sort of attack."