Renegades (Renegades #1)(21)
Author: Marissa Meyer
When Gargoyle continued to ignore her, she started to run and launched herself at him, grasping for his thick arm. She dangled from his elbow, her pale legs kicking vainly at his side.
Irritated, the Gargoyle gave one powerful shake of his arm, sending Honey skidding across the platform. She crashed into the pile of supplies, her shoulder smacking the toppled metal shelf. Though momentarily dazed, her eyes were vicious when she raised them again.
Gargoyle came to stand before Frostbite, who seemed to tense, her eyes darting warily around the cloud of wasps and hornets, some of which had bodies as long and thick as Nova’s thumb, and venom that could burn like hot pokers.
Frostbite jutted a finger toward Honey. “Call them off,” she demanded, her voice dulled by the buzzing all around her. “Send them away or this will be treated as a use of prodigious abilities against an active Renegade.”
Honey pushed herself up to sitting. “I will as soon as he puts those back where he found them!”
“Puts them back?” Frostbite said, her tone laced with amusement. She turned to Gargoyle. “Where did you find them?”
“She’s got a room a few hundred feet down that way,” he said. “An old storeroom of sorts. Was brimming with these.”
“Well, for a prodigy with control over bees,” said Frostbite, cocking her head, “that sounds like harboring deadly weapons to me.”
Honey let out an aghast cry. “Those are my babies! And you’ve just taken their homes—the homes you have no right to!”
“And I’m telling you to call off your babies, now,” said Frostbite. “Or else your next home will be a prison cell at Renegade Headquarters.”
Honey fixed a glare on her and Nova could see her shaking. Her eyes flashed and the air seemed to hum around her—though perhaps that was the incessant buzzing as the bees continued to throw themselves at Gargoyle’s impenetrable skin.
Nova could see temptation written across Honey’s face, coupled with indecision.
Perhaps she couldn’t harm Gargoyle, but Frostbite would be plenty vulnerable to the stingers of her most deadly wasps. Nova had to admit, seeing Frostbite writhing in pain from a hundred venomous stings seemed very appealing at that moment.
But it would last only seconds before Gargoyle reached Honey and either killed her or arrested her.
This tiny revenge wasn’t worth it, Nova knew, and Honey seemed to realize the same thing. Drawing herself up amid the toppled cans and boxes, she squared her shoulders and flung her arm wide.
As one, the swarming insects cycloned into the air, then turned and retreated back into the tunnel.
Once they had gone, Frostbite nodded at the Gargoyle. “Destroy them.”
Nova gasped, but the sound went unheard behind Honey’s shriek.
Gargoyle dumped the hives onto the ground and began stomping through them, crushing them one by one beneath his massive stone feet.
Honey’s cries turned from enraged to heartbroken as she watched the destruction being wracked upon the hives—many with drones and worker bees still inside. Honey’s body was ravaged by sobs as the destruction grew. Papery walls scattered across the platform, and the corpses and detached wings of bees smashed into the concrete.
All the while, the Gargoyle was grinning. It was the smile of a child who had just discovered the sadistic pleasure of crushing beetles beneath his heel.
Nova ground her teeth until her jaw hurt. She swung her attention from Honey to Ingrid, Cyanide to Phobia, but no one moved to stop the Gargoyle.
Any attempt to stop him would be seen as an attack on a Renegade and would be cause for arrest. The Renegades had made it quite clear when they accepted Cyanide’s truce all those years ago that the Anarchists would not be given any third chances.
Finally the Gargoyle was finished. He kicked aside the remains of the last hive. It skidded across the platform and tumbled onto the tracks, not far from where Frostbite had dumped out Winston’s cereal.
“Well, now that we’re all accounted for…,” said Frostbite sweetly, twirling the shard of ice like a baton. “We have some business to attend to.”
She turned and, before Nova could guess her intentions, heaved the ice like a javelin at Phobia. It struck him through the chest and his body dispersed into black smoke, wisping back into the shadows of the tunnel.
In the same moment, Stingray spun and lashed his barbed tail at Honey. The venomous spines caught her in the side and her cry of surprise turned to one of pain as her body went rigid and collapsed. In almost the same motion, Stingray swung the tail back toward Leroy, stinging him in the shoulder as he tried to back away. Leroy froze, then tipped backward, landing hard on the concrete.
Nova pulled the gun closer, this time targeting Stingray. But his attack had already ceased, leaving Honey slumped awkwardly over the fallen shelving unit, and Leroy motionless except for his eyes, which were blinking rapidly as he gaped toward the low ceiling. Nova was not exactly sure what sort of venom Stingray had in his tail, but they both appeared paralyzed, motionless but for twitching limbs as the venom rushed through their veins.
Ingrid roared and charged toward the platform, a sphere of blue energy swirling in her cupped palm. Frostbite thrust her hand toward Ingrid’s feet and a stream of ice shot out from her skin, forming a small glacier around Ingrid’s legs. Ingrid cried out in surprise and barely caught herself, her momentum carrying her upper half forward while the ice held her feet cemented to the tracks. The bomb she’d been crafting evaporated as her focus transitioned from fury to bewilderment.
“You seem to be the last Anarchist standing,” said Frostbite, nonchalantly popping off a few ice crystals that had formed on her knuckles and letting them fall to the ground. “For now, that is. Humor me—is there any reason why we shouldn’t kill you all after what happened at the parade today?”
Ingrid snarled. Blue energy began to hum around her hands again. “I wasn’t at your stupid parade,” she said, and even though Nova knew it was a lie, she found it to be a shockingly convincing one.
“I don’t care,” said Frostbite. “Winston Pratt led an attack against the innocent people of Gatlon City, and it’s my job to make sure that’s the last time our civilians will ever be terrorized by an Anarchist.”
“Winston Pratt attacked your parade, and to my knowledge, you now have him in custody,” said Ingrid. “So what do you want with us?”
Frostbite snorted. “You expect me to believe that imbecile was working alone?”
“That’s exactly what I expect you to believe,” Ingrid said. She seemed to relax, her snarl turning to a cool glare. “And you and I both know you don’t have any evidence to suggest otherwise, because if you did, we wouldn’t be having this chat while you wait for me to say something that will incriminate myself or the others.” She started to toss the glowing bomb into the air, catching it easily every time it came back down. “I’ve seen your Council’s edicts. No one shall be found guilty by mere association, right? So don’t threaten us, sweetheart. And good luck finding something that will connect us to the Puppeteer’s crimes. He was on his own today. We had nothing to do with it.”
Frostbite moved forward until the toes of her boots hung over the edge of the platform. “I don’t need to connect you to the attack on the parade,” she said, waggling her fingers. A new stream of ice shot toward Ingrid. The block of ice around her legs grew larger, expanding over her thighs and hips. “To attack a Renegade is an offense of the highest order. With your temper, it won’t be that hard to get you to lash out. Sort of like poking a rabid dog, now that I think about it.”
Ingrid hissed as the column of ice made its way over her abdomen. She had stopped tossing the bomb and was gripping it in one fist.
“I know what you’re thinking,” said Frostbite. “You’ll insist it was self-defense. Except … without anyone being here to witness it, who’s going to believe your word over mine? An Anarchist versus a celebrated Renegade.” She clicked her tongue in feigned pity. “It seems you have a decision to make. Attack me, and we’ll arrest you. Or confess your involvement at the parade today, and we’ll still arrest you, but we’ll be a bit nicer about it.” She shrugged. “Or do nothing. What do you think will kill you first? The cold or suffocation? I’d bet on the latter, myself.”
The ice made its way over Ingrid’s chest and began to climb over her shoulders. Soon she would have no use of her arms, or her bombs, at all.
Nova squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think clearly despite the way her veins were pulsing, hot and steady.
These were the superheroes the world idolized? Maybe Ingrid wasn’t wholly innocent. Maybe none of them were, but then, the Renegades weren’t, either. Here they were, torturing Ingrid, trying to force a false confession. They had ruined Honey’s hives, caused destruction in their tunnels, torn through the supplies they needed for survival, all in an effort to find a legitimate excuse to have them imprisoned.
Her finger slipped over the trigger. She opened her eyes and her vision seemed suddenly clear. Her mind free of obstructions.