Page 119 of Magical Academy for Delinquents
"Help," I whispered. Then I waved my hands and cut both our devices, turning them into a storm of static. My pulse thundered as I waited to see what the guard would do. Would he fall for it? Or would he realize someone was magically fucking with him?
Melvin's footsteps sped up ... but in the opposite direction. He'd taken the bait. It bought us time. But only a limited amount. If he got down there and realized he'd been tricked...
"He's gone," I said.
Z clapped me on the back, but I waved him off and focused on Dad.
I stared at Dad's Hawaiian shirt and pulsed energy toward him accidentally, making him glow slightly with ultraviolet light. "Dad, I need you to follow him. Let me know if he takes the elevator, because I can stop that--"
Gray protested, "You'll have your hands full with cameras."
I held up a hand to shut him up, my concentration focused on my father, as if I couldwillDad's memory to stay. "If Melvin takes the stairs, I need you to make him fall."
Dad's eyes widened and he swallowed.
"Nothing permanent. But a broken leg or something that would immobilize him would be best."
Dad nodded and faded away. I closed my eyes and blew out a shaky breath.
I turned to the crew.
Andros shook his head. "I don't like it. We should have just killed the guard."
"You don't have to like it," I snapped. "Not your job. Not your call."
"Foolish."
I stomped off, waving my hands toward all the video cameras and freezing them in place.
But a little niggling part of my mind couldn't help but worry that Andros was right.
Chapter 45
We reachedthe construction zone without incident, everyone walking behind me as I froze the camera transmissions so we could walk past and unfroze them seconds later so that the guards wouldn’t notice a time lapse.
I held up a hand to stop the guys. “Okay, so this is where it’s gonna get tricky. Gray, I hope you’re feeling better because you’re gonna have to bat clean up if someone missteps.”
Gray looked wiped out, but he nodded. I pulled aside the plastic. “Okay guys. So, clearly Dad missed a little something during his trips here. I’ll keep the lasers in check, I’ll leave them active but arc the lines above us like I’m a prism, but we’re all gonna have to move together, because I can only do so many at a time and they’re at a couple points across this mess. So …”
“Shit!” Andros leaned over and stared down at the drop to the next floor. Then he stared across the gap, which was at least thirty feet wide.
His leaning made me nervous, it wouldn’t take much for any of us to lose our balance on the steel beams we needed to cross. Bile rose in my throat, but I tried to overpower the foul taste with sarcasm. “Jolly, at least make an effort not to fall. It’ll be really hard for me to keep the lasers appearing active and knock out cameras I can’t even see on the floor below.”
Andros straightened back up and glared at me. “I do not like that codename.”
I shrugged. “Sorry. Mid-job, can’t change it.” Zavier had picked the Jolly Green Giant for Andros’ codename. The huge man was so scary that I loved the irony of the name, even though I didn’t like when he glared at me about it.
“Conga line!” Z grinned and came forward to grab my hips.
I shook my head. “Take this seriously.”
Malcolm lined up behind Z and the other guys followed suit.
Malcolm said, “Hottie, if you’re ready, I’ll count us off.”
I pointed a hand up toward each of the video screens, letting light eek out of my palms, patterning it in a replica of the room—bright silver beams and dark bundles of cords and unmoving shadows. Then I sent that image floating toward the camera lenses and let my image cover them like a film. They flickered. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the audio components. I tried to feel them out like I did the guard’s handheld radio just minutes before. These wires were duller, smaller, harder to locate. I pinched my fingers together and shoved darkness toward them, interrupting the current.
“Cameras down,” I whispered.
