Secret Super (Book 1)

24. Point of No Return

Zadia turned the pen over and over in her hand, fingers running over the smooth metal. She couldn't believe she was even considering this. . . .

"I don't think I can do this," she had told Xavier just hours before, standing in the sweltering Smog of the rooftop's building. Poisoning a government official just to pass legislation? It was insanity.

Xavier had folded his hands over the railing and given her a careful look. "I understand. But before you make your decision, you know that this substance does not kill, yes? It has been carefully manufactured by our scientists to merely place the recipient into a coma for a few months. It will take this politician—"

"Elrond 882."

"Yes. It will take him out of the picture long enough to pass an important measure, but not permanently. We do not needlessly kill."

The use of the word needlessly had not escaped her.

"I'm just not sure," she had said. "I don't know if I could use my— if I could stay hidden for that long." She'd been practicing going invisible, but her image always flickered after a few seconds.

"Once you do this . . ." Xavier had replied, every word measured. "The S.S.S. would be happy to teach you how to better control your . . . gift. Illusionists can be extremely powerful, you know. If you let go of your inhibitions. Additionally—" He'd tapped his fingers against the railing and looked Zadia in the eyes. "Now, I don't want to make any promises, but it may be possible to cure your mother."

Her blood had frozen. "What!? How do you even know about that?"

"Don't worry about that. It's preliminary technology, of course. But if you stay with the S.S.S. long enough . . ."

A lump had formed in Zadia's throat and shivers ran down her spine. "Are you bribing me?"

"Not at all," Xavier had been quick to say. "Of course, a lot of people are in line for such a cure. The decision is not in my hands, but in the hands of other members of the S.S.S. And they may be more inclined to prioritize the more useful members of the organization."

Zadia hadn't known what to say. Was this really possible? Or an empty promise, a false cure being dangled in front of to earn her cooperation?

And if it wasn't, could she really afford to take that chance? To bargain with her mother's life?

Xavier had taken her hand and placed a small glass vial glimmering with purple liquid on her palm. "Wouldn't you like nothing more than to stop simply speaking of change— and instead become an agent of that change? No one else is in a position to do this, Zadia, or I would not ask this of you." Then he had curled her fingers closed around the vial. "Consider it."

It wasn't just because Xavier said he was developing a cure, she kept telling herself back at the EPA. She'd do this either way. Someone had to, and it certainly wasn't going to be the politicians. The Smog could obliterate every atom of life on this planet and they wouldn't give a damn as long as they died clutching their blood-soaked riches.

At the table, the politicians were still arguing. A man slamming his hand on the table startled Zadia back to life. "This new law will limit our freedom! Why should corporations have to answer to the every whim of the government?"

She narrowed her eyes. There was her target, a lean, severe-looking man spewing accusations with every second.

"It's a basic measure, absolutely necessary for the welfare of our planet!" an EPA member responded just as heatedly. "Corporations need to be held responsible for their affect on the environment."