Page 46 of The Power of Six (Lorien Legacies 2)

“Was there a question there?”

His grin turns into a smirk. “Why don’t you start by telling me your real name. ”

“John Smith. ”

“Right,” he says. “Where’s your father, John?”

“Dead. ”

“How convenient. ”

“Actually, it’s probably the most inconvenient thing that’s ever happened to me up until now. ”

The detective writes something on the notepad. “Where are you originally from?”

“The planet Lorien, three hundred million miles away. ”

“Must have been a long trip, John Smith. ”

“Took almost a year. Next time I’m bringing a book. ”

He drops his pencil on the table, interlocks his fingers behind his head, and leans back. Then he pushes forward again and holds up the tablet. “You want to tell me what this thing is?”

“I was hoping you could tell me. We found it in the woods. ”

He holds it by its edge and whistles. “You found this in the woods? Where at in the woods?”

“Near a tree. ”

“Are you going to be a wiseass with every question?”

“That depends, detective. Are you working for them?”

He sets the tablet back on the desktop. “Am I working for who?”

“The Morlocks,” I say, the first thing I remember from English class.

Detective Murphy smiles.

“You can smile, but they’ll probably be here soon,” I say.

“The Morlocks?”

“Yes, sir. ”

“Like from The Time Machine?”

“That’s the one. That’s like our Bible. ”

“And let me guess; you and your friend, Samuel Goode, you’re members of the Eloi?”

“The Loric, actually. But for our purposes today, the Eloi will be fine. ”

The detective reaches into his pocket and slams my dagger on the table. I stare at its four-inch diamond blade as if I’ve never seen it before. I could easily kill this man just by moving my eyes from the blade to his neck, but I need to free Sam first. “What’s this for, John? Why would you need a knife like this?”

“I don’t know what knives like that are for, sir. Whittling?”

He picks up his notepad and pencil. “Why don’t you tell me what happened in Tennessee. ”

“Never been,” I say. “I hear it’s a nice place, though. Maybe I’ll visit when I’m out of here, take a tour, see the sites. Any suggestions?”

He nods, tosses the notepad onto the table, and then launches the pencil at me. I deflect it without lifting a finger, sending it bouncing against the wall; but the detective doesn’t notice, and leaves through the steel door with the tablet and my dagger.

Soon I’m shoved back into my old cell. I have to get out of here.

“Sam?” I yell.

The guard who’s been sitting outside my cell jumps off his chair and swings the nightstick at my fingers. I let go of the bars just before they’re crushed.

“Shut up!” he orders, pointing his nightstick at me.

“You think I’m afraid of you?” I ask. Getting him inside my cell sounds like a pretty good option.

“I could give a damn, peewee. But if you keep it up, you’re gonna regret it real fast. ”

“You couldn’t hit me if you tried; I’m too quick and you’re too fat. ”

The guard chuckles. “Why don’t you just sit back on your bed and shut your mouth, huh?”

“You know I can kill you any time I want to, right? Without even lifting a finger. ”

“Oh yeah?” he replies. The guard steps forward. His breath smells rancid, like stale coffee. “What’s stopping you then?”

“Apathy and a broken heart,” I say. “Both of those will go away eventually, though, and that’s when I’ll just get up and leave. ”

“I can hardly wait, Houdini,” he says.

I’m extremely close to taunting him inside, and as soon as he unlocks the door, Sam and I are as good as free.

“You know who you look like?” I ask.

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