Page 102 of Gluttony
The hiss came from the dark. Tony went stone cold. His heart pounded in his ears and with painstaking slowness, he craned his head and whispered to his sister, “Bailey was with the ladies, right?”
No answer.
“Liza?” He let a sliver of blue light release, just enough that he could see the fear in her eyes.
“I didn’t see her.”
FUCK.
He shot up and charged toward the sense of gluttony, pushing anything in his way aside. Chairs went flying, stuffed gorillas got kicked. It was after her. His angel. Except... the gluttony faded. It wasn’t feeding. Where was it?
He spun in the dark. Where was she? There. She’d been near the fallen projector.
“I’m coming, baby,” he murmured. He ran toward the end of the grassy cinema and stopped. Most civilians were gone, so when he made it to where the projector had been, he freely used his power through his hands like torches. He scanned the area wildly, and then he saw it.
A single turquoise flower lying on the ground, half hidden beneath a fallen chair.
A roar of pain shot out of him. “Bailey!” he roared.
Panicked, he turned in circles, trying to get a lock on the sense of gluttony, but there was nothing. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus.
“Bailey!”
Nothing.
Animal screeches. Monkey’s whooped. The breeze rustled in the trees.
Someone shoved something at his chest. His hands latched onto the package.
“Find somewhere to put that on,” a deep computer-modified voice said. “Just in case someone is watching, or there are cameras about.”
Tony looked down. It was a backpack. He looked up. Parker in his Deadly Seven uniform. Pride. Behind him stood Envy, Greed and Wrath. Sloth stood to the side looking at the flexible computer screen pulled out of her sleeve. Liza, still in her civilian clothes, limped to a chair. The creature had gotten her ankles and the poison must be trying to get a hold of her.
“I don’t have time,” Tony barked. “It’s got Bailey. I have to find her.”
Parker replied, “Sloth is tracing her as we speak.”
“How?”
“Her ring,” Sloan replied. “Put a microdot tracker under the diamond.”
Relief washed through Tony. He’d never been so happy for his family’s invasion of privacy, but... what if the creature was already feeding?
“I can’t wait.” Tony moved, but Parker yanked him back with a growl.
“Think, man. Can you sense it feeding?”
Tony forced his pulse to calm. Parker was right. No gluttony meant no feeding. Not yet, anyway. He shook his head.
“Then suit up. You will level up your power. We need you.” Parker shoved the backpack into him again. “There. Head into the bush.”
* * *
Moments later,Tony jogged through the zoo with his family. Sloan gave them directions, and Tony used his light to help them see the path. They skirted though the labyrinth landscape of man made enclosures and exhibits until finally rounding a corner and coming to a sign. It was almost hidden by palm fronds. Tony shone his light to read.
They were at the orangutan exhibit.
“This it?” he asked Sloan.
