For Emily, navigating the visitors' area of Rikers to find Brian Lawrence was far less of an inconvenience than trying to navigate her feelings over suddenly having superhuman powers. Spending the last hour fighting the fear lord had been like being hurled into a courtroom with no prep and forced to do mental gymnastics with the world's most sadistic attorney. Only this was far worse. Because now her powers not only eclipsed Stephen's, they sucked his away. It was a sick paradox that their relationship had come full circle into this crazy existence. As she led Stephen to where Stilton had been just a few minutes before them, she was aware of just how insane her life had gotten.
When Emily and Stephen entered the visitor room, Stilton and Maria Lawrence were seated at the long metal table. They looked stunned as Emily and Stephen entered. Stilton stayed seated, but his mother Maria rose to his feet. Her tailored suit almost caught on the edge of the metal table in front of her. "What are you doing here?"
Emily spoke first. "Believe it or not, I'm protecting your family."
Before Maria could form a retort, Brian was escorted in. He looked like a different man in his prison uniform. Dark circles lined his eyes as he shuffled inside. But as soon as he saw Stephen and Emily, his body straightened. His eyes flashed with rage.
"You." Brian clenched his fists and turned to the guard who had ushered him in. "Get them out of here."
Emily wasn't sure she could use her new abilities to search for fear if Brian was so focused on anger. "I just want to talk," she told him.
The guard glanced at Brian to get confirmation, but Brian no longer focused on him. His gaze stayed glued to Emily. He slid into a chair at the table, facing his family. Gone was the exhaustion he'd brought into the visitor room. He smirked over at her. "I already have a lawyer."
"I'm flattered, but I'm not here for you."
Maria leaned toward Brian and began to speak to her husband in a conspiratorial whisper, no doubt wondering why he entertained Emily and Stephen being inside the room.
But Emily tuned out their conversation to concentrate on Stilton. Her eyes scanned him for anything out of the ordinary. Stilton's normal arrogant posture was deflated as he slumped in his chair. His eyes stayed downcast. Emily took a deep breath and closed her eyes to help her focus.
The first time she had ever reached, as Stephen had called it, she'd been shocked to discover she could sense the energies around her. It was like one of those games she'd played during Halloween as a child, where she'd been blindfolded and her hands had been placed in various substances. Each texture sensation she'd experienced back then had creeped her out, and that same creepiness rose up in her now because this time she could feel the sensations running through her entire body, not just her fingertips.
Stilton had nothing unusual coming out of him. There was no fear at all. If she concentrated harder, she could feel different emotions, but every one of them was human.
She opened her eyes and shook her head at Stephen. "He's fine."
Maria and Brian had stopped talking. They glared at both of them. Maria was the first to speak. "What is the meaning of this? You fail our son at his trial, and now have the audacity to show up here?"
"Speaking of a trial, why is Stilton here and not inside the courtroom?" Emily asked.
Maria's nostrils flared as she placed her hand on the back of her son's chair. "Judge Albright granted the defense a delay because of my son's injury. An injury you caused."
"Oh please." Emily rolled her eyes. A well-worded rebuttal rose on her tongue, but the door behind her opened before she ever got the chance to speak.
Linda Chao strolled inside the room. She took one look at Emily and Stephen and stopped cold.
For Emily, it was like ice water had suddenly replaced the blood in her veins. And for the briefest of moments, she assumed it was her human reaction of having to face the nastiest of her old boss again. But then Emily's powers kicked in. She sensed a dark heaviness filtering through the room. It had started the moment Linda had walked in.
And Emily knew.
"It's Linda!" she shouted.
The Lawrence family looked confused, but Stephen reacted. He threw himself between Linda and the Lawrences, putting his hands out as if he was about to perform a spell. Emily managed to catch his eye, and Stephen flashed a sorrowful smile at her. He wanted to do something proactive, something to help, but couldn't. Emily knew she was the only one standing between the fear lord and everyone inside the room. And knowing that made Emily's body quake.
Linda smiled. It was the exact predatory smile she'd shown Emily back at Brian Lawrence's terrace party months before, the same smile she'd worn when she'd fired her. Emily's thoughts wavered. How much of Linda's actions were from the tenacious senior partner and how much had come from the fear lord who had chosen to flow in and out of her?
"You can't stop this," Linda said.
Linda's voice was no longer her own. It had been replaced with a deep bass. The Lawrences instinctively backed away.
"Maybe I can't stop this," Emily said. "But I can try." She felt energy rise inside of her, the same way it had inside the hospital. She didn't understand how it worked, only that it did. And right now, that was enough.
Linda, or rather the fear lord inside of her, didn't appear worried. Her smile widened. "You have powers," Linda said. "But it will not be enough. Fear will absorb into the consciousness of humanity. It's already begun. Your mortal eyes just can't see it yet. Perhaps we will allow you to see, just a part, before you will die."
Emily gathered the power inside and launched it right at Linda.
But Linda disappeared before it hit her. It hit the wall, dissolving on impact.
Brian Lawrence was the first to speak. "Just what the hell is going on?"
Stephen gazed around the room. Even though he might not be able to sense the fear lords, Emily trusted his instincts. He had battled them before. "She's still here," he said. "I'm sure of it. They need an audience to not only feed upon, but to gain strength. The more people, the better."
Emily gestured around the room, her intuition still on alert. "Maybe it left because this wasn't enough of an audience?"
"Maybe."
Brian had had enough. He slammed his fist onto the table, startling his wife next to him. "That's it." He shuffled to the door. "Guard!"
Stephen and Emily both reacted at the same time. "No!"
It was too late. The guard opened the door. Accompanying him were two more prison guards.
Linda reappeared.
Stephen yelled at them to move, but the guards stood their ground. Brian was in a frenzy, pointing at Emily and shouting. Maria joined her husband in the chaos. Everyone was moving, but Stilton. The boy had crouched under the table, his knees pinned against his chest, rocking back and forth.
Emily didn't know what to do. Her first instinct was to fight Linda, but the teenage boy hiding from the terror growing around him needed comfort. She had a split second to choose, and she wavered.
It was enough for Linda. The attorney grinned, and her image flickered. Emily saw the fear lord inside of Linda rise past her human skin. It was a massive thing that looked nothing human. Scales and multiple limbs flexed with power.
"Everyone, get out!" Stephen ordered.
The fear lord turned to Stephen.
Everyone inside the room froze. Their panic was so thick, Emily could almost taste it. She was sure the fear lord certainly could.
The fear lord's booming voice filled the room. "The sorcerer has no power any more, does he?"
Emily had never once seen Stephen afraid before, but fear flashed across his face now. It was the last image of him Emily saw before the room seemed to crack open. A thick darkness swirled around the ceiling, the walls. The blackness threatened to overtake the entire space.
Emily tried to focus her powers, but failed. In all her life, she had never been more terrified. She had no idea how any of them would ever get out. She certainly couldn't open a gateway, and Stephen wouldn't be able to because of her. All of the people trapped here were depending on Emily to save them, and she had failed.
But the fear lord didn't keep the dimensional rift open like Emily assumed she would. Instead, she grabbed on to Stephen and pulled him inside the fear dimension.
Emily had less than a second to decide what to do. The rift was closing. She took a deep breath and plunged herself after him into the darkness, following Stephen inside the fear dimension.