Super Spy (Book 2)

10. The Vines

Jace stared up at the towering stone walls of the museum with its intricate carved pillars. "What the skies?"

A crash sounded from somewhere deep within the museum. A startled spy-moth fluttered back towards Jace, and she ran forward to cup him in her hands. "Vincent!"

Another crash sounded. Jace almost thought it was thunder at first, but then dust rained down from a high-up window of the museum. More dark green leaves fell around her.

Even though she was sheltered from the rain under the awning, Jace felt her socks get soggy. She looked down to see a goopy, blackish-green liquid seeping onto the stone, making her boots wet. It gave off a pungent rotting smell. She wrinkled her nose and jumped out of the way.

"What's happening?" she cried. But Tali was long gone and everyone else had fled indoors to escape the acid rain.

Shouting came from within the museum.

I'll find out myself. Jace carefully placed Vincent back into his plastic vial in her bag and ran up the steps to the main entrance. She expected to be stopped by security guards, but the lobby was too chaotic, people running out of the entrance. Jace pushed through them.

A locked door blocked her way. Not just locked, but with something barricading it, something that looked like roots, thick sturdy wood. What in the skies would make a barricade like that?

Jace furtively glanced around to see if anyone was watching her, then reached out to place her hand on the door. She took a deep breath in, gathering all her energy. Then she pulled on the energy inside her.

Usually she did things like this slowly, but she was in a hurry. She yanked on the energy all at once, drawing in more of it than usual. The door exploded with a blast of force. Dust flew everywhere, including her face. She spat dust out of her mouth. She jumped through the gaping hole she had created in the door, the jagged edges tearing at her jacket.

She didn't need Tristan's super-senses to sense what was happening as she ran farther into the museum. She heard glass breaking and something crunching, screams echoing all around the marble. Her boots slid on the marble floor as she wove between eerie statues of long-extinct animals.

This place was familiar. It was where she had patrolled with Kara as a punishment for Kara's recklessness— and where she'd tried to talk the ex-superhero out of seeking out her family.

The museum had been a lot quieter then.

The lights were flickering off, and Jace switched on her own wrist-comm light as she sprinted.

She slipped on a puddle of something slippery on the marble floor. She slid a couple feet down the hall, almost crashed into the wall. Then she was standing in front of a giant hall.

She stared at the room, open-mouthed, her own light dangling from her wrist and spinning on the floor.

Giant vines were pushing their way out of the floor, like great hairy writhing arms webbed with silvery-green leaves. An entire mass of them was clawing their way out of the marble ground, grabbing the exhibits and grinding them to dust, glass and stone crushed underneath their grip. Shadowy figures darted around the room, blurring in her vision.

"What is that?" Jace said, aghast. A terrible thought hit her, but no, it couldn't be Harrison's vines, could it? His powers didn't do that!

The smell hit her in waves. Heavy and swampy and sweet. Whoever had attacked Tristan, it had to be them controlling the vines.

One of the vines crashed down into the ground in front of her. She jumped back, but another one slammed into the doorway, blocking her exit.