Page 125 of Sin

Honestly, he looked like a knight in nanobot armor.

Lucas couldn’t contain his grin. He shifted his arms from side to side and bent his knees, testing the suit for any restriction to his movements. When he found none, he grinned even broader. “This is pretty cool.”

Blade grabbed Lucas’s hand and pressed his palm to the purple “L” on his front. The breastplate reformed into a circular shield, and Blade pulled it off his chest to show him the straps on the back. “The “L” is a button and will make the breastplate reform into a shield or vice versa. The shield will be just as durable as the suit, and if you ever drop it or lose it”—she pressed a button on his belt, and the shield changed forms and, as if magnetized, slammed into Lucas’s chest, making him grunt as he fell to the ground from the force—“this will bring it back.”

“Got it,” he groaned from the floor.

She offered him her hand, and with a look of utter suspicion, he accepted her help to his feet. Blade pointed to the V-shaped weapons belt built into the suit. “I’ve added a few additions to all of your suits. This,” she said, gesturing to a small button shaped like a fire, “is a flamethrower.” Without warning, she pressed it and Lucas shouted in panic as his arms were suddenly engulfed in flames. He waved his arms about wildly and caught some mildewed curtains by the window on fire.

Blade looked at us very seriously as she jabbed a finger over at Lucas. “Don’t do that.”

We all nodded in agreement.

While Jinx grabbed the remaining soda and went to work dousing the curtains, Lewis pried open the window to let out the smoke.

Pulling out her tablet, she tapped something, and Lucas’s flames died out. He stilled, panting for breath as he stared down at his arms like he was worried they might catch fire again. I knew they hadn’t burned his arms, considering the protections built into the suit.

He didn’t see Blade move to his side until it was too late.

“And this”—Blade tapped a button shaped like a bomb on his belt—“is a grenade thrower.”

Lucas’s expression flooded with alarm as she pressed the button, causing a slit to open up in the back of Lucas’s gloves, and a tiny gun sprouted from both gloves. Lucas stumbled back as if to get away from them, forgetting they were attached to him. Blade approached him, and his face was a mask of horror as she gripped his arms. “To shoot off a grenade, simply aim”—she pointed his arms toward the open window, ignoring the choking noise Lucas made—“and press this button here.” As she pressed a hidden button on the top of the launchers, two small grenades shot out through the window.

The grenades exploded in the air, sending a mild blast back at us of heat and smoke. Overall, though, the explosion wasn’t too intense, but they’d definitely cause some damage in a fight.

“The flamethrowers only have enough juice to last about a minute, and you’ll only have two grenades, so make sure to make them count if you need them.” She grinned at Lucas. “Don’t worry though. We’ll reload yours before we get there.”

“Goody,” Lucas muttered.

“Got it?” Blade asked the room, and we all nodded our affirmatives.

Lucas was still staring out the window at the dissipating smoke, and when Blade reached for him, he flinched. She just rolled her eye and pressed the button on his belt, making the grenade launchers retract into the suit.

“Okay, any questions?” Blade asked, seeming much more chipper now that she’d enacted her revenge on Lucas.

“Yeah,” Lucas said, pursing his lips. “What do I say to get this off?”

Blade grinned. “Eye’m all done.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Easy peasy

“Where are we going?” Lucas asked from his seat between Mare and me. He scanned all the gated driveways with confusion.

We’d had to take a long route to Linden Park, avoiding all the main roads and highways in case President Osborne had people looking for us. We didn’t want her finding us just yet. The sun had set about a half hour ago, leaving the moon and stars to light the sky.

London took a swig from a water bottle before he answered. “Keith has been staying as a live-in caretaker for someone named Mr. Radley.”

Lucas cocked his head. “And did you meet Mr. Radley?”

“Well, no,” Jinx said, stretching his body as much as he could in the limited van space. “He wasn’t home at the time.”

Shaking his head, Lucas sent him a look like he needed to grow a brain. “Then it’s very likely this Mr. Radley is no longer alive.”

We all let that sink in, and it made our meeting with Keith all that more disturbing.

“What’s with all the taxidermy in his house?” Jinx asked, shivering at the memory of our first meeting with Keith.

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