JACKIE:

  “A weekly blood donation from you. That’s it.”

  I grumbled.

  “Don’t you see? Your blood would erase the need for the Carrier. I’ve created enough mutants already. It’s a gruesome business with expensive overhead. This is a better way. A win/win. You won’t have to live in squalor anymore. After all, you deserve better, Jackie. You’re not a Duster. You’re a Claudi.”

  Firestorm fought through his drowsiness. “She’s a Deere, a part of the sacred people you’ve tormented here.”

  Am I a Claudi or a Deere or…

  “I’m Jackie Cooper.” I ran my fingers through my red streak, realizing how crucial a family name can be.

  I remembered the mutated boys in those polaroids and mourned the loss of Grace and Zayne as parents. I yearned to see Baxter again. I wanted to become a Flyer, but the boys in the cages were my family, too. I was part of both lineages.

  “I can’t help you.” I crossed my arms.

  “Suit yourself.” Beatrice shrugged. “If you won’t join me, you’ll do what? Try to kill me instead? In doing so, you’ll give me even deeper access to the Slipstream, where I’ll find new ways to enact my narrative. I will rebirth. I will outsmart you. Make no mistake about that.”

  I looked at Firestorm, his heavy eyelids drooping, then at Beatrice. Her smile oozed triumph, like she’d already won.

  I didn’t know what to say. She made a lot of interesting points.

  “Think about it,” Beatrice added. “Drink from my fire portal to awaken yourself to the probabilities.”

  She stood and walked away with a confident swagger.

  Alpha followed her, leaving Firestorm and me alone on the balcony overlooking the volcano.

  We sat in silence, trying to process all Beatrice had said. There was a lot to unpack.

  “What should we do, Firestorm? Seek revenge or call a truce?”

  Firestorm slurred, “We can’t trust anything she says. She’s sly like a fox.”

  “Sly, sophisticated… I can’t keep up with her, Dad.”

  “Don’t let her spook you, Jackie. I have a plan.”

  I was so glad I wasn’t alone in this. Firestorm, Zayne, Dad, he had a plan.

  “Great. What are you thinking?”

  “We lock her up and keep her in a cage forever. Let her rot in the same misery she inflicted on so many others.” He tried to rise, but his body refused to obey.

  My shoulders slumped at his surprising idea. “I understand your instinct toward revenge. I want justice too, but there has to be a smarter solution.”

  “She brought this on herself,” Firestorm said through heavy breathing.

  I caressed his face. “As much as I hated seeing Zayne in a cage, I can’t throw someone else in one. Two wrongs don’t make a right. No, we’re missing something. There has to be another way.”

  “There’s no other way.” Firestorm rested his head on his wing, his energy waning.

  I stood and walked to the edge of the balcony overlooking the volcano and peered at the fields of scorched land.

  Drones hovered in the smoke-choked sky, dumping water onto the crackling inferno, steam hissing as the blaze fought back.

  I stared into the dying flames, eyes blurring, torn between relief at their retreat and awe at their strength and resilience.

  Part of me wanted to join Beatrice. I yearned for the power and influence that came with being on her team. I imagined wealth, opulence, and the prestige of being a Flyer. Things I craved my whole life.

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  “She said no more mutants. With my blood, we’d run things without hurting others. I’d help cure diseases.”

  I felt honored that my blood was critical to her plan. Maybe I wasn’t as low as the trash I took out at Life Rite. I could run Life Rite instead. I never felt important until now…

  “Look at this place,” I said. “She burned acres of land to create a huge fire portal into the Slipstream. Maybe she’s already explored every possibility and figured it out. What if she’s on to something?”

  Firestorm snorted.

  I turned to him. “Seriously, Dad. We don’t have to decide. Can’t we try all the probabilities? Explore the Slipstream until we know what Beatrice knows. Let’s play things out.”

  “If we give in to her,” Firestorm warned, “she’ll burn the entire planet down. She cares only about herself.”

  “You promised to show me how to manipulate the Slipstream. What are you waiting for? Now’s the time. Help me become a Slipstream master.”

  He shook his head. “No. We don’t have time to try out different schemes. We’ve got to figure out how to destroy that creepy drone and imprison Beatrice before she causes any more damage. Let’s move.”

  My nostrils flared. I was sick of everyone telling me what to do.

  I wanted to use the Slipstream how Beatrice used it, to explore future probabilities to make the right decision. New to having choices, I didn’t want to make the wrong one.

  “Why can’t we do both? Let’s create a stream to try things your way. Leave her in a cage to suffer forever. Meanwhile, I can create a stream where I work with her.”

  “Work with her? How could you, Jackie?”

  “Hear me out… We should explore the probabilities because the more information we gather, the more we understand how to end the suffering once and for all.”

  “Your mother sacrificed everything to make sure you didn’t wind up under Beatrice’s control.”

  “If my blood stops the mutations, maybe Mom should have explored that solution. We could have stayed together as a family.”

  Firestorm yelled, “Beatrice will use you and ruin you.”

  I hate being yelled at, so I raised my voice, too. “I’ve spent my whole life in squalor. Baxter did the best he could, but I can’t tell you how many nights I went to bed starving.”

  “So, this is about the money?” Firestorm asked.

  That triggered me. “No. I mean, maybe. That’s how the world works. I’m sick of being a struggling Climber.”

  “You don’t know what it means to struggle!”

  My lips pursed. “How would you know? Where were you my whole life? Playing around in the Slipstream?”

  “I’ve been trying to change things, Jackie. Figure out a way to…”

  “To what? Save Grace from dying? Is that even possible? It’s in the past. Instead of spending time with your kid, you disappeared. Maybe you only care about yourself, too.”

  “My presence would have given your location away. I’m not exactly subtle.” As he spoke, a spark of fire spewed from his mouth.

  “I may have your messed-up DNA, Dad, but I also have hers. Haven’t you explored the Slipstream enough to realize there is no beating Life Rite? If you can’t beat ‘em…”

  “Jackie, I forbid you!”

  I puffed out my burning cheeks, steam rising under my skin. The idea of walking away from my birthright, the success of Life Rite, felt absurd compared to caging Beatrice for his misguided revenge.

  I edged closer, my movements calm and deliberate, hoping to break through his walls. “The slaves would become the masters, but there’d be no healing. What would that solve? Nothing about your plan has ever worked, Dad.”

  “You think you can do better?” Firestorm stumbled to his feet like a drunk. “Fine, I’ll create a new stream and show you how we end this.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.”

  I didn’t want him to leave, but I nodded for him to go.

  Firestorm struggled to lift his massive body. Each movement was a battle, but he forced himself upright. His claws scraped the balcony. With a ragged roar, he beat his wings, summoning his last flicker of strength.

  Firestorm leapt into the air, leaving me with my raging thoughts. The air caught him awkwardly at first, but slowly, painfully, he rose, staggering into the sky.

  “Abandoned by mom. Abandoned by dad. Too numb to cry,” I whispered to the tears that fell despite my best efforts.

  Firestorm careened and clipped his tail on the balcony’s railing, still fighting the effects of the tranquilizer.

  He sailed away on the churning smoke between the Grid and the hellish landscape. The air shimmered with heat.

  A fire portal swirled opened from the inferno below, flames licking upward in a perfect circle.

  Tears blurred my vision as Firestorm disappeared into the Slipstream.

  “Seems everyone can enter easily except me.” I vowed to learn their secrets without their teaching.

  Pacing, I stammered through half-formed thoughts about my next steps.

  Am I selfish for wanting a better life? Am I naive to think Beatrice can change? Would my mom turn in her grave? Would Baxter be proud?

  I wouldn’t skip out on the position of power dangled in front of me. I’d make things right, but not by being the underdog.

  “No more struggling.” I’d heal things from the inside, top down.

  Right?

  Her high heels clicked against the cement.

  I turned to Beatrice, who stood behind me, wearing a wide grin.

  Firestorm would never forgive me for such a betrayal as I stood beside the woman he vowed to destroy.