Page 15 of The Chosen Son

Phobos was still preening, turning to offer me what he called his “good side,” the side he offered to the paparazzi when he was giving interviews. “It’s a quiet place, good for having an intimate conversation, y’know, if you wanted, and the lighting is dim. Very romantic and—”

“What?” I’d tuned out of what he was saying. Surely when he’d said we should have dinner, he didn’t mean for it to be a date. “What do you mean by romantic, exactly?”

He fumbled the concrete-filled barrel he’d been curling, but he caught it at the last second. “What? Oh, nothing, just making an observation. Because I know you wouldn’t… and I wouldn’t…” He chuckled awkwardly then turned away sharply and set down thebarrels along the wall. “Hey, so how about you show me that whole ice spear move again. I missed most of your attacks on Deimos because I was so high up.”

He was trying to change the subject, and like a coward, I let him. “The spear didn’t work. It melted,” I grumbled, staring down at my feet.

“Still, it looked cool.” He jogged over to the range, and I trudged along behind him. In a normal setting, this would be where someone would fire a gun, but Phobos had no use for your standard weapons. “Come on, you can work on your aim.” I apparently didn’t look enthusiastic enough, because he clasped his hands in front of his chest and gave me big, violet puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeeeease, for me? I just think it would be a good idea to practice your skills so we know what to expect from them. Trust is an important part of the hero/sidekick relationship. What if we’re in the middle of trying to foil some criminal scheme, and we’re engaged in a high-speed chase. There’s only one way to stop them! And I’m all, ‘Uh-oh, I wonder what Cameron will do now. Gee, I hope he can form a really wicked ice spear on command and stab their rear left tire.’”

I snorted, laughing. “That is a very oddly specific scenario.”

“Right? But you never know.” His smile widened, and I could tell he was proud of himself for pulling me out of my funk. “Now, let’s see what you’ve got.”

He swept his arm in an “after you” gesture. I stepped up beside him and stared down the length of the room. “Are you sure we should be doing this indoors? I mean, isn’t it dangerous? What if we bring the whole house down on top of us?”

“Pfft! You don’t have to worry about that. This bunker was built to withstand a nuclear blast. No way is a little bit of frozen water going to make a dent in these walls.”

“Mm.” I rubbed my palms together self-consciously. “And what are you going to be doing while I’m… manifesting ice?”

“I’ll be watching you, of course.” He grinned and hopped up on the counter, crossing his arms.

Groaning, I massaged my fingers into my eye where a sharp pain had begun to throb. “I can’t do it while you’re watching. Can’t you, I don’t know, find something else to do?”

“Nope. There is nowhere else I would rather be than right here with you.”

“Oh. Great.” He was like a dog with a bone when he got an idea in his head. There didn’t seem to be any way out of it. So, with Phobos’s eyes on me, I closed my eyes and reached for the well of energy that lived inside me.

It had been there for as long as I could remember. As a young child, it had been little more than a spark, but after one of the government’s seers had named me as the Chosen One™ of this generation, I was quickly scooped up by the CHPD—Chosen Heroes of Predictive Defense—and given proper training. I was soon able to kindle that spark into a lit match. By the time I’d had to face my nemesis, Nefarious, we’d built it up to a blazing campfire. Once all was said and done, my purpose complete, it had simmered out a little. Since then, it had felt kind of like this glowing golden pond, but when I reached for it now, it felt different. More like the light of the sun than a campfire, much more liable to burn, even from a distance.

“What is it? Why are you frowning?” Phobos asked, his voice edged with concern.

My eyes cracked open, and I saw him sitting there, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees in interest. “Nothing, it’s fine. Just trying to get in the mood.” Closing my eyes again, I gave that energy well some serious side-eye. This had BAD IDEA stamped all over it in redink. I had no interest in touching that fiery ocean, its borders too wide to see the edges, but like my old handler said, “The fastest way to get somewhere is to go straight through.”

Here goes nothing, I thought. Famous last words.

Drawing the power up through my veins, I urged it to concentrate between my palms, coaxing it into shape. It was kind of like working with clay, but without the tangibility, more like a malleable vapor. And as it began to harden, it wasn’t like it turned into ice, exactly, but it was real enough. It was solid, cold, and even through my closed eyelids, I could see it glowing a liquid blue.

I could feel myself begin to grow thin at the seams. I’d been so focused on the ice spear that I forgot to hold myself together. My mouth grew dry, the sides of my throat sticky when I swallowed down my whimper, almost like every drop of moisture from my body was being poured into this magic.

“Beautiful,” Phobos praised in a whisper, but when I forced my eyes open to see what I’d achieved, he was looking at me instead of the spear.

He cleared his throat, straightening his spine. “I knew you could do it,” he said more clearly, gesturing at the lethal spike now in my hands.

It was, indeed, an ice spear. It had come almost naturally when fighting against Deimos, but it wasn’t an easy thing.

I panted. “Now what?” I asked dumbly.

Phobos shrugged. “Now you throw it.” He nodded down the range toward the targets.

“Right. Throw it.” I tried to heft the spear up to my shoulder, but the damn thing was pretty heavy considering it had come from nothing. My arm quivered, but I squared off anyway and launched the damn thing with an almighty heave.

I watched in awe as it arced through the air.It’s going to make it, it’s going to—

It came crashing down 20 feet from the target, shattering across the concrete in glistening slivers. “Oh, shit,” I muttered, sagging. I really hoped that didn’t mean I would have to try again, because I just didn’t have it in me.

“That’s okay, Cam. I still think it was really impressive. The bad guys’ll be quaking in their boots. With the two of us together, we’ll be an unstoppable team!”

Before I could react, he reached out and cuffed me by the back of the neck. I gasped, bracing instinctively for a hit of whatever crazy energy he’d given me that first time, but there was nothing. Just his warm touch, and the heat of it sank into me. It was… nice, strangely comforting, and before I could stop myself, I found myself leaning into it. It had been a long time since someone touched me, even in friendship.

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