“What was that for?” she asked.
“It’s the least you owe me, isn’t it?” Caine said. He sounded childish, needy.
“I owe you?”
“You owe me. Besides, I thought you…you know.” His cockiness had given way to petulance and now his petulance was dissolving into embarrassment and confusion.
“You’re not very good at this, are you?” Diana mocked.
“What am I supposed to say? You’re hot, all right?”
Diana threw her head back and laughed. “I’m hot? That’s what you want to tell me? One minute you’re master of the FAYZ, and the next minute you’re like a pathetic little kid going for his first kiss.”
His face went dark and she knew immediately she had gone too far. His hand, fingers splayed, was in her face. She tensed, awaiting the blast of energy.
For a long time they stood that way, frozen. Diana barely breathed.
“You’re scared of me, after all, Diana,” Caine whispered. “All your attitude and all, and underneath it, you’re scared. I can see it in your eyes.”
She said nothing. He was still dangerous. At this range he had the power to kill her with a thought.
“Well, I don’t want to seem like a pathetic little kid going for his first kiss,” Caine said. “So how about you just give me what I want? How about from now on you just do what I say?”
“You’re threatening me?”
Caine nodded. “Like you said, Diana, we didn’t make the FAYZ, we just live here. Here in the FAYZ it’s all about power. I have it. You don’t.”
“I guess we’ll see if you’re as powerful as you think, Caine,” Diana said, cautious but unbowed. “I guess we’ll see.”
FORTY-THREE
02 HOURS, 22 MINUTES
THE DAY CARE had no window facing the plaza. Sam had snuck around into the alley to peek in one of the high-on-the-wall windows. He had seen the coyotes. He had recoiled from the sight of Drake.
The coyotes had instantly noted his presence. It was all but impossible to sneak up on them. Drake, looking him right in the eye, had uncoiled his whip hand and languidly drawn the shade.
The kids were huddled together, practically on top of one another, solemn and terrified and half watching The Little Mermaid on the TV.
Sam returned to the plaza. Neither Drake nor the coyotes could see him there. But he felt eyes on him just the same. He only slowly became aware of the kid standing beside him.
“Who are you? And how did you get there?”
“They call me Bug. I’m good at sneaking up on people.”
“I guess you are.”
“I have a message for you.”
“Yeah? What does my brother want?”
“Caine says it’s you or him.”
“I figured that.”
“He says if you don’t do what he says, he’ll turn Drake and the coyotes loose on the prees.”
Sam stifled the urge to punch the little monster for the smug way in which he had delivered his vicious threat. “Okay.”
“Okay. So, everyone has to come out in the open. All your people. Out in the open, out in the plaza where we can see them. If anyone stays in hiding, you know what happens.”
“What else?”
“Your people all set their guns or whatever on the steps of town hall. All your freaks go into the church.”
“He’s asking me to surrender before we even fight,” Sam said.
Bug shrugged. “He said if you argue, Drake is going to start turning the coyotes loose on one kid at a time. You have to do all this and then Caine and you go mano a mano. If you win, no problem, Drake lets the littles go. All your side goes free. Caine goes back to Coates.”
“Why are you doing this, Bug? You’re okay with this? Threatening little kids?”
Bug shrugged. “Man, I’m not going to mess with Caine or Drake.”
Sam nodded. His mind was already elsewhere, trying to find a way, trying to find a path. “Tell Caine I’ll answer him in an hour.”
Bug grinned. “He said you’d say that. See? He’s smart. He said you have to send your answer back with me. Yes or no, with no extras or anything.”
Sam glanced at the steeple. He wished Astrid was here. She might have an answer.
The terms were impossible. He was absolutely sure, sure beyond any reasonable doubt, that even if he won, even if somehow Caine admitted defeat, Drake would never just walk away.
One way or the other, he had to beat Drake as well as Caine.
There were a thousand thoughts in his head, a thousand fears, yammering at him, crowding one another, demanding attention as Bug stared at him, impatient to be on his way. There was no time to make sense of it all. No time to plan. Just as Caine had intended.
Sam’s shoulders slumped. “Tell Caine I accept.”
“Okay,” Bug said, no more concerned than he would have been by an announcement that he was having chicken for dinner.
The chameleon blended into the background, all but disappearing. Sam watched him trotting off, a warping of light and image. He soon became impossible to make out.
Sam keyed the walkie-talkie. “Astrid. Now.” Edilio had been watching from his post in the hardware store. He came trotting out.
Sam steadied his breathing, kept a careful poker face. There were too many eyes on him. Too many people needing to believe in him.
On that school bus so long ago, no one had even realized there was a problem before Sam was up and taking charge. It was harder being bold when the whole world seemed to be watching your every move.