Secret Super (Book 1)

45. Are You Listening

Zadia circled Xavier slowly. He smiled, a knowing smile.

Her breathing ragged, she scanned the air all around him. She could have sworn she had seen a strange glimmer earlier. . . . 

She charged at Xavier. She swung her fist towards him. He dodged and slammed her against the wall. Zadia shrieked. She hauled a piece of debris off the floor and flung it at him.

It fell short, but then, the tile above him started shaking. She saw that it was going to crash on him a second before it did. He was done for.

The tile crashed. Impossibly, Xavier stumbled to the side. As if he'd been shoved out of the way a second before.

Xavier was talking again. She kept looking at the floor around him. Her heart was racing. 

"Why are you saying these things?" she said, trying to make her voice sound shaky. Like she was on the verge of giving up. It wasn't hard: Her heart was racing. She tried not to think about the tiles that kept collapsing around them, about the hundreds of tanks, about Kara in danger.

A glint caught her eye. She turned her head. 

Xavier was running towards the console. This time, instead of going after him, she charged towards thin air.

She collided into something solid. She and the invisible girl went tumbling to the floor. The girl fought, scratching and biting, but Zadia held on. She caught flashes of blonde hair and black clothes as the girl-- Tali-- flickered wildly in and out of sight.

Tali jabbed Zadia in the face with an elbow. Zadia's head snapped back. Tali wriggled out of her grasp. No, no, no! Zadia lunged towards her again. 

Tali opened her mouth and Zadia slapped a hand over her mouth, stifling her. She wrestled the other girl to the floor. Tali pushed back, hard. Her arms were wiry but strong. Yelling, she rolled them over so that she was straddling Zadia instead. She dragged her nails over Zadia's arms. Then she slammed Zadia's head against the ground. Gasping, eyes watering, Zadia stretched out one hand, flailing at the floor.

Tali raised a fist over Zadia's head.

Struggling to breathe, Tali's knees pressing against her chest, Zadia braced for impact. Then her fingers closed over a sharp piece of tile on the floor. She clenched it in her fist and dragged it forward.

She brought her hand up, slashing the rock through the air. Tali yelped, dodging back. Zadia grabbed her and hauled the two of them to their feet, slinging an arm around her neck and squeezing. She brought the rock to Tali's throat. 

"Xavier! Step away from the console!" she shouted. Her voice felt as hoarse and jagged as the rock in her hand. 

He turned his head, a sneer at his lips. Then he saw them and the sneer disappeared.

Tali struggled. She flashed in and out of sight, but Zadia didn't let it disorient her. She just squeezed harder.

"Step away, or I kill her," she said in a low voice.

Xavier's eyes widened. His face darkened and turned angry. He stormed towards them. He was shouting, his face contorting, twisting, desperate. Zadia brandished the rock and he held up his hands, pleading. He was saying something over and over-- let her go. 

Then he started cajoling, his face expanding into one of his smiles, except it just looked all twisted and wrong. Zadia let her face soften. She let her hand holding the rock drop ever-so-slightly, her grip on Tali loosen. 

Xavier's smile widened. He kept stepping closer.

Come on, come on . . .

He walked forward. Zadia made her eyes wide and fearful. Slowly, she kept releasing her hold on Tali.