Page 114 of Sin

But though he was struggling to succeed, he sure as hell was trying.

A burst of energy blasted the street, and a street lamp behind him went haywire, sparking and flashing before it exploded.

My pulse was roaring in my ears, the blood being forced upward as the suit continued to compress my body.

“Stop,” I begged in a rasp, my power flaring weakly when I noticed Lewis’s nose starting to bleed. I tried to turn my head to look at the others, but I didn’t have enough mobility. But Lucas was hurting them, and if he kept up his invasion into their minds like this, he could cause some serious damage. “Lucas, stop!”

But my power didn’t even so much as affect him. I just couldn’t focus enough.

“I’m so close,” Lucas was saying, more to himself than anyone else. “It’s right there. Why can’t I see it?”

The pain was unbearable, and I wondered if this was what it felt like to be squeezed to death by a boa constrictor. After weighing the pros and cons, I did the only thing I could think of to get out of this. I sucked in as much air as I could and said, “Scale down.”

The suit melted away, molding itself back into the bracelet on my wrist, and I wheezed. Able to move my body, I backtracked several steps, needing out of Lewis’s reach.

Lucas was so lost to his powers that he didn’t see me coming.

I lunged at him, catching him off guard as my fist collided with his cheek. He staggered back, his eyes clearing for a brief moment as they locked on me, almost seeming confused. But when my fist pulled back, ready to land another hit, his eyes hazed and before my hand managed to connect with his face, I was being dragged off of him.

Lewis had my soaked shirt in grasp, but I yanked out of his hold. He tried grabbing for me again, though I noted how his hands shook. I considered using my powers on him to make him stop, but I needed to save all my strength to use against Lucas.

I jumped out of the way as Lewis swiped at me, skidding slightly on some of the broken glass and slick asphalt as I started for Lucas again. That’s how I saw the next attack coming.

Spinning around, I brought my elbow up just in time to smack Jinx’s reaching hand away. He’d snuck up behind me, his eyes clouded with Lucas’s power, but his mouth was still quavering.

I cried in agony as it felt like something snapped in my wrist. Because even without his Super suit, Jinx had probably sixty pounds on me.

Cradling my wrist, I tried to slip around him, but his hands came up to block the way. His body hummed, vibrating so fast I couldn’t almost see it. Then, clone after clone after clone stepped out from him, moving to form a blockade in front of Lucas.

I heard some loud thumps, and I risked a glance behind me. Then I froze.

As if I were watching some sort of zombie movie, I saw that London, Blade, and Mare had unbuckled themselves and were crawling through the broken van windows with stiff, jerky movements.

“Listen to me,” Jinx said. But it wasn’t really Jinx speaking. It was Lucas. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Lewis moved closer behind, his hands shifting and causing his nanobots to rise. They formed what looked like a lasso.

I had no way out. Not if he was going to pit the team against me.

“Stop trying to run,” Lucas said, his voice a deep rasp as he walked toward me. His brows were furrowed in concentration. “Why won’t you just tell me?”

Because while I didn’t care what happened to Keith, if I told Lucas where he was, then President Osborne would send me back to prison. I’d never get another chance to be free. To be with London.

I had too much to lose if I gave in.

I cried out as the nanobots roped around my middle, pinning my arms to my side.

“Why do you care so much where he is?” I asked because Keith shouldn’t have even been on his radar if Lucas’s motives were what we’d guessed. “He didn’t torture you. He wasn’t one of the ones who killed Micah. He was just an engineer.”

“Because I need to know. I need—” He gasped, squeezing his eyes closed and stumbled several steps.

“Lucas—“ I started slowly, hoping maybe a gentler approach would help reach him. “Lucas, I need you to calm down.” As if in defiance to my words, another wave of energy pulsed from him, and several nearby windows shattered. Undeterred, I tried again. “I can help you, okay? But not like this. Just come with us, and we can get you the help you ne—”

With a growl of pain and frustration, he grabbed the front of my shirt to haul me closer. All my calm went out the window then, and I kicked and kicked, lashing out at anything close enough despite my arms being restrained, but he didn’t even seem to be bothered when I made contact. Almost like his pain tolerance was so high that what I did hardly even registered to him.

“You’re not listening! I need to find him,” Lucas said, his gaze darting back and forth between my eyes. “You can help me. Show me where he is.”

“Release me,” I said, catching him off guard. The nanobots holding me fell away, and I stumbled away from

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