A few weeks passed after Cole dropped me off, I was bouncing around from place to place, and was crossing a road in the top of California when I heard the familiar sound of a car. Great, I thought as I looked for a safe hiding spot, which was a nearby bush. I quickly scrambled underneath it, and managed to hide as the car stopped nearby. When I heard footsteps and talking, I felt my heart drop. I quickly prepared myself before I was yanked out from underneath the bush by someone I couldn't see. I swung around, trying to see something flammable enough to start a fire, but instead of a dry enough bush I found Jude standing a few feet away from me with an obviously blue girl.
"Jude," I called out, and he seemed to recognize me.
"Set her down," Jude said. "She's a yellow, she's not a threat out here." The girl set me down, and I walked over to Jude, who had grazes and cuts over his face, and a broken arm loosly wrapped in cloth.
"What happened?" I asked, looking at the few other kids who I recognized from the LA Children's League base.
"The L.A. base got bombed," Jules said and my stomach dropped. "We're heading to the Ranch if you want to join us."
"Why would I?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest.
"Cole and Ruby are planning to attack Oasis and Thurmond and the other camps," Jude said and I gave him a look. "Some of the kids from Project Jamboree are at Thurmond, and we are planning on telling the world what's happening." My stomach dropped once again.
"Fine," I said and he smiled. "Only to help out the Jamboree kids though, some of them are my friends."
"Come on," he said and waved his hand, ignoring the Jamboree comment.
"Why should we bring her along," one of the other girls asked.
"She was at Thurmond," Jude said, and they blinked in surprise. "As well as Blackrock, she'll be able to provide a lot of useful information.
"Fine then," she said and we all jumped into the car, with me having to hold my bags in my lap. The other kids started talking, but instead of joining in, I looked out the window at the passing landscape.
"How long has it been since you've been in a car, other than when you were brought in or taken out by Cole?" Jude asked and I jumped.
"Four and a half years ago when I was taken to Black Rock," I explained and he nodded. The girl who was driving pulled into a parking lot where another girl I had seen was waiting for us.
"Come on," she yelled and waved at us. We jumped out of the car and walked up to her. When we got closer to her, she turned around so she could lead us to a small building that was surrounded by large warehouses. "The part where we are stanying is underground," she shouted as she opened the door.
We followed the girl into the door and into the building. She led us to a crawl space that we had to use a ladder to get down. When we hit the bottom, and walked around a bit, I saw a large collection of kids who I didn't know milling around. "What is going on?" Jude asked, looking around the room at the different kids.
"This is Zu," Ruby said pointing toward a young girl and I saw Jude's eyes widen.
"How is that relevant?" I asked, and looked between the girl and Ruby.
When I asked who Zu was, Ruby looked at me surprised. "She's one of the three kids who helped me after I escaped Thurmond," Ruby explained and I saw two boys walk into the room. One of which was Cole and the other one was a boy who looked a lot similar to him. When they saw me, their faces turned from one of anger to one of surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Cole asked after a few seconds.
"I heard that you were planning to try and take Thurmond," I said, folding my arms across my chest. "I want to help. Mostly I want to help get rid of Black Rock and Sawtooth."
"Make sense," Cole said and turned to introduce the person beside him. "This is my brother Liam."
"Hi," Liam said with a wave and I nodded. I paused for a second and after some proding around in the electrical system, I felt a familiar present.
"Why is Clany Grey here?" I asked after a second and everyone seemed surprised, though they really shouldn't have been. When I looked at Jude and Nico, I saw that they were wearing twin faces of fear. They seemed to know for sure that Clancey Grey was not a man who I should be around.
"We captured him in LA," Jude said, trying to gauge my reaction.
"Why?" I asked and I saw everyone give each other looks, and without using my powers I knew that they were wondering how I knew Clancy.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Jude asked and I nodded. He led me away from the other kids and we stopped by a room filled with washing machines. He tapped his forehead and I understood. Are you okay?
I'm fine, I thought back and he didn't seem shocked about me speaking in his head.
Are you going to be okay? Jude asked concerned.
I don't know, I thought and looked over my shoulder at the sound of the others talking. We need to keep me away from Clancy. He probably won't remember me, but I know he saw me repeatedly at Sawtooth. Be careful, though, I haven't talked to him much personally, but I know that he's ruthless and a master manipulator.
Talking to him face-to-face wasn't the most difficult part. It's what he ordered that was so terrible. I saw his face change. He ordered Project Jamboree to turn from an experimental camp into one that tortures children. He nodded and sighed. What's going on with Senator Cruz?
You heard about that? Jude asked and I looked at him.We found her not long after Clancey, he answered. She used to work for President Grey. Ruby thinks that she could be useful. He gave me a brief look. Her daughter is a blue that is living in this tiny camp called Oasis.
What is she trying to do?
She says that she wants to help, but I don't believe her, Jude thought and paused when he heard footsteps. "Let's go back," Jude said and I nodded. We turned back so we could talk to the others again.
"So what's going on?" I asked, folding my arms.
"We're planning to break out of Oasis first and then we are planning to free Thurmond," Cole said, and I raised my eyebrow.
"So what are we going to do with them after?" I asked, and they paused for a second trying to think about it.
"We're planning to give them to their parents and if they wanted to do it they could get the cure," Cole said, and I looked at him.
"And what's the cure?" I asked, and he seemed confused for a second.
"The cure is to put a small device in their skulls and hope that it reduces the powers," Nico said and I instantly caught on to what he was saying. I snorted and tried to hold in my laughter, but one look from Jude and I was doubled over in laughter. My laughter seemed to have shocked the entire room, because they were looking at me in shock.
When I finally stopped laughing, I managed to say, "have any of you honestly asked a green what would happen if you give that cure to a kid? Or honestly someone from an experimental camp? Or someone who has actually been around that program?" Everyone looked at each other suspiciously, but the greens in the room weren't suspicious and seemed to know where I was going with this tangent. "Anyone?"
No one answered, though Cole did raise his hand, and when I nodded he said "no, though I'm assuming it wouldn't be a positive thing."
"Finally, someone is catching on," I said and almost started laughing again. "You're basically saying that you want to give a bunch of unconsenting kids a lobotomy." The kids who knew what a lobotomy was looked horrified at the prospect. "Yeah," I answered and walked toward Nico. "You also want to take away something that can protect kids from the ones who need actually protecting, against an unholy group of people. Speaking from experience, that cure won't work, it didn't work at Blackrock, and it won't work out here."
"You want me to show you your room?" Nico asked, and I nodded.
"As far away from Clancey as possible," I said and he nodded. Together we walked away from the other PSI, leaving them to think about what I said. "Why aren't there any of the adults here?"
"They were being rude, so Ruby sent them to the Kansas base," Nico answered, and he seemed to know something about Cole. "So you're purple?" I nodded. "I'm guessing Cole's a red."
"How did you figure that one out?" I asked, and he sighed.
"After I figured you out, it wasn't difficult to figure out what Cole was," he answered.
"So what's with you and Clancey?" I asked and he paused. "I found that out a while ago."
"We were friends at the same camp," Nico explained and I felt for him. There was more to the story, but I didn't want to enquire. He showed me to the room I was staying in. "Is the cure really that bad?"
"Yeah," I said. "It really didn't work at Blackrock."
"I knew it wouldn't work, thanks," he said and walked away. I walked into the room, which held the usual Children's League material and sighed. Someday we might need to be given a cure, but because of the current state of the country, we shouldn't be given it. I knew that Clancey would be a problem as well and should be handled almost immediately. After a few minutes of thinking, I grabbed my bag again and walked back to the room where everyone else was. Everyone was talking about something and as I got closer I realized that they were trying to figure a new plan out.
"You wouldn't know anything about us," Liam snapped at his brother and I looked at Cole for a second. I wish I could tell him, I heard Cole think and I felt a little more sad for him.
"What are you arguing about?" I asked and Liam snorted.
"Cole doesn't know anything about what we have to do and he thinks he can lead us," Liam snapped and I looked at Ruby. After a second I realized that she knew about Cole as well.
"You know you could tell them," I said as I grabbed a chair to sit down on.
"Tell us what?" Liam asked, looking between his brother and I.
"Jude, Ruby, probably Clancy, most of the greens, and I all know," I answered. "It honestly makes you look like a jerk for not telling anyone." I looked around the room, and saw that most of the greens and Jude held a dumbfounded look on their faces. "What? If the greens haven't figured it out, things are more bad than I realized."
"All the greens know," Nico said after a second, "we've been betting to see how long it would take everyone else to figure you out."
"How long have you been betting?" I asked, leaning forward eagerly with a smile on my face.
"We started betting on you almost immediately after you showed up," Jude said, "for Cole, we've been doing it for a few months."
"What is going on?" Vida asked and I saw Nico give me a look. I read Cole's mind and nodded at Nico.
"Cole is a red, and Hailey is what's called a purple, someone who can do all the other powers," Nico said and everyone looked shocked.
"There's no such thing as a purple," Chubs said, and I laughed, before I set the table in front of him on fire. Chubs jumped back surprised, and fell to the ground. All seemed shocked by the burning table and by his small sign of weakness. Liam looked at his brother in shock, and finally realized what had happened.
"So," I said and I looked over at Nico. "What's the plan to get into Oasis and Thurmond?"
"We could bring everyone from Oasis here," Hera, one of the younger greens, said, eager to offer her advice. "For the other camps we could simply hold the other kids there, annex the smaller ones into the more substantial ones. Teach them their powers and other things as we try and get the country in order. Figure out where they should go after everything is cleared up."
"That was a good idea. Did you guys figure out how IANN started?" I asked.
"Agent Ambrosia," Nico said, "a bio weapon released twenty something years ago."
"Okay," I said, and thought for a second. "Who knows anyone outside of the country? Or a reporter?" I paused for a second and read Liams mind. "Liam knows a reporter named Alice, he thinks she can help us."
"Really?" Cole asked and I looked at him. "How did you know that?"
"I am an orange as well, Cole," I snapped, "I can read minds." I leaned back trying to understand how he managed to not get his head around the fact that I could hear his thoughts.
"Yes, he is usually like this," Jude said and I sighed.
"Cole, I like you, I really do, but you are an idiot sometimes," I said and he looked shocked. "I pretty much laid out what I was and somehow you didn't know and neither did Ruby for somehow."
"You threatened to stab her if she messed with your mind," Nico reminded me.
"Right, but there are other ways for her to have known," I said and shrugged.
"We only figured it out because we're supposed to pick up the small details," one of the greens I didn't know the name of, said. I shrugged and looked at Hera.
"When we take Oasis we can use one of the kids there to get us out of the country," Hera said, realizing I wanted her to say something, "it's full of the capital's kids."
"That's not bad," I said and waved my finger. "But how would we control the kids and the guards at the camp? Anyone?" They seemed shocked that I was asking them about it. "Come on, I'm asking the smartest people in the country and you guys aren't giving me anything."
"We could send them somewhere else like we did with the adults here," Nico suggested and I nodded.
"Not bad," I answered. "Okay, I want all of you guys to break into groups and try to work out a viable plan. I need to figure everything else out." They all nodded eagerly and leaned together to figure out a game plan. "Good," I said and stood up. They didn't notice me leaving.
The only kids who didn't join in were Ruby, Liam, Chubs, and Cole, who seemed pissed about me revealing what I had done. Before I could say anything, Nico asked, "what can you do?"
"Telepathy, send people messages, and the same for every other color," I said and he nodded. I walked away from the group, and joined the four angry kids.
"So why did you take over?" Cole asked as I joined them.
"Your plan was to give a bunch of kids back to the people who sent the kids to the camps in the first place. Some people want their kids back, they really do, but not every kid has someone who wants them back," I said and he sighed and I read his mind. "Sorry for telling everyone about your secret, and don't even think about heading to Sawtooth." He sighed and I heard his question. "I was once there, and going there, especially as a red and alone, is suicidal." I looked around and gave everyone a spiteful look.
"I'm gonna get some food," I said, "don't bother me."
"Fine," Liam said and I walked out of the room. After checking Nico's mind, I walked in the direction of the kitchen. After a few seconds, I heard footsteps behind me.
"What is it Cole?" I asked and he sighed.
"Why did you tell everyone?" he asked, and I felt him shake.
"Because it's useful information, something everyone needs to know," I answered and we turned into the dining hall. Using my powers, I opened the drawers and found some old cereal. "That looks good," I said and I brought the cereal over to me. Cole grabbed it out of the air and held it out to me.
"Why shouldn't I go to Sawtooth?" Cole asked as we sat down at a table.
"I was there for two years after Thurmond," I answered, and grabbed the box out of his hand. I grabbed some of the cereal and put it in my mouth. It was stale, but better than some of the things I've eaten. "You should talk to your step-father again, he could be useful."
"I know," he said and sighed. "Are you any good at the red powers?"
"Yeah," I answered and he looked at me surprised. "Probably the best of all five." He gave me a suspicious look. "What? I was a child soldier for two years."
"I'm sorry," he said and I nodded. "It makes sense why you could beat me that day at the LA base." I smiled, and remembered the fight. I also remembered the few nights that Cole and I talked at the base. "You're right by the way. The greens are probably the most appropriate to make a plan. I was going to do it when you showed up."
"Yeah," I answered. "I'm thinking about what some of the greens were thinking about earlier. Some were wanting to leave the country, going somewhere else and starting somewhere new, and I can't say its a bad idea if we play our cards right."
"Where would we go?" Cole asked. "Everywhere else would be just as bad."
"I really don't care, we just need to protect these kids," I said, and shook my head.
"Giving them the cure would help them," Cole said.
"All it would do is take away the one thing that can protect the kids from the world," I said. "If it sounds like I'm an asshole, then so be it, but if it protects them then its a good thing."
"I know," Cole said. "I can call my step-father, and some of his army buddies. See if they want to help."
"That's good," I said.
"Ruby, Liam and I are doing inventory if you want to help," Cole said. "Stick away from Clancy."
"I will," I said and he nodded.
Twenty four hours hours later, the greens had figured out a plan, which some elected kids had started practicing, and Henry Stewart and twenty other men arrived at the base as well as a bunch of reporters, much to the disdain of Cole. "I don't like this," Cole growled when he saw Alice.
"We need them," I argued, "how about you go over everything with the group headed to Oasis." He nodded and walked toward the greens, still pissed off.
"He seems anxious," Henry said as he approached me.
"He's just pissed that I revealed his powers to everyone," I answered and Henry nodded in understanding.
"Can't believe that I didn't realize what he was until now," Henry said, looking at his step-son.
"He didn't want you to know," I answered and I felt Henry sigh. "What?" I asked, not having the energy to read his mind.
"He likes you a lot," Henry said and I sighed.
"I know," I answered and I left the man so I could talk with the team being gathered to take Oasis. After looking over everything, I walked to where Zu was being questioned by Alice and her team. After a few minutes of watching them, I left and almost immediately ran into Ruby. "What's going on?"
"Clancey is a pain in the ass," Ruby said and I raised an eyebrow. "You know that already."
"Yeah," I said and leaned against the wall so I could watch everyone. "Why do you hate him?"
"Tried to kill Liam, then sold out the kids who were staying at East River," Ruby said.
"Yeah, that's wrong," I said and she nodded. She looked at Zu and smiled.
"I've known her for months and this is the first time I've heard her talk," Ruby said and I felt for her.
"She's braver than anyone here," I said and sighed. "I didn't mean to be so harsh yesterday," I admitted and she turned to face me again. "I saw so many kids tortured to find that terrible cure, and when I heard you guys were wanting to use it on so many innocent kids I snapped."
"I get it," she said and sighed. "But I want things to be like how they used to be."
"Things won't change, they are always going to fear us," I said. "This plan will work."
"I know," she said, "though I hate it."
"I understand," I replied, as she walked back to Zu. I sighed and looked around the group of people. The plan was to attack the camps, and keep the kids in the camps until we could figure out a plan of what to do. Try and help the reds who were in the camps, and find a place to hold the kids.
Two days later, everyone was clear on the plan to raid Oasis and when the team dispatched, I walked around the base to clear my head. "You okay?" Jude asked, running up to join me, panting.
"I have a headache," I said and he nodded in understanding. "Why is this whole operation sounding more and more crazy as we move along?"
"I have no idea," Jude said and he shook his head. "Anyway I found this. Thought you needed to know."
"What?" I asked and he revealed a note in his right hand.
"Cole and Liam decided to stay off the mission because they're heading to Sawtooth," Jude said and I looked at the note.
"Crap," I said looking at the note. When I glanced up, I saw Jude looking shocked. "Get some of the kids who can drive. We're about to go pick them up." He nodded and ran away, I turned around and ran toward the few cars we had on base.
As I checked all the cars, Jude ran in with four kids. "Is this enough?" Jude asked as they stopped right in front of me.
"Did Jude tell you what was going to happen?" I asked and they all nodded. "Come on then." I turned and jumped into the car I was going to drive. Jude jumped into the passenger seat. I smiled at him as I started the car. The cars behind me started up as well. I shifted into gear and pulled forward.
"Why would they go to Sawtooth?" Jude asked as we pulled out of the garage.
"Because they're idiots, Jude," I said. "They decided their curiosity was more important than to listen to the one person who managed to escape from Sawtooth. We just need to get them out. Did you tell anyone where we were going?" He nodded quickly. "Good."
Hours later, we pulled to a stop a mile out of Sawtooth. "Are you sure about this?" Jude asked, and I pointed at the car Cole and Liam had driven.
"Stay here," I said. I jumped out of the car. So did the other three drivers, and as I approached them I said "I'll send the reds who I come across. They won't hurt you, but you need to be careful." They all nodded and turned to stand by their cars. I turned and started walking in the direction of the camp.
We must have arrived minutes after the Stewarts, because I easily found them as Liam threw himself and Cole over the camp's gate. I followed close behind them and used the same technique to get in. Since I didn't want to attract attention, I didn't call out as they managed to sneak into the combat training building.
The trainers and camp controllers must have been expecting us, because as we stepped into a hallway I saw Susie standing guard. Her head snapped around as she turned to face us. As I stopped a few feet behind the brothers, I saw that her eyes showed the same level of rebellion that I had seen years ago.
"Who are you?" Susie asked the brothers, ignoring me for the most part. They didn't answer and I heard footsteps approaching behind me.
"You know if you wanted to attack a purple, you shouldn't be so loud," I announced and the brothers swung around, mouths agape. "You also shouldn't leave a note when you go commando."
"Hands up," the guard behind me said and instead of saying anything, I took control of his mind. He reached up to his walkie talkie and said into it "there are no attackers, the hallway is clear." When he finished talking, he lied down and started snoring heavily.
"You're getting better," Susie said, snapping out of her trance.
"I know," I said and I saw the Stewarts look at me confused. Despite me using my powers around them, I had never mind controlled someone before in front of them. "You two are idiots," I told the brothers as I walked to stand by Susie. There are several cars waiting in the woods about a mile from here. I showed her the path to get to the cars. We're getting everyone out. Is everything the same here? She gave a small nod. "Good," I said out loud and she gave a corner of a smile. I gave a nod in the direction of the cars and as she started walking, I looked at the Stewarts again.
"Where is she going?" Liam asked, looking at her as she walked away.
"You think that I am going to let you two be so suicidal?" I asked and they shook their heads. "Come on." I turned around and walked in the direction that Susie had come from.
Instead of talking as I walked, I simply knocked the guards out and sent the reds to my four drivers. Liam and Cole remained completely silent, seeming to understand that I was beyond pissed at them. When the last of the people were knocked unconscious, and the reds were cleared of the base, the Stewarts and I walked toward the buses.
"I know you're pissed," Liam finally said and I paused to stare at him. "But we got the reds out. You should be happy about that."
"If Jude hadn't found your note, you would have died," I said, and he reeled back. "You're sucidal and reckless. If you had tried to break those reds out, it would have been worse than Caledonia and we both know how that ended." Liam looked at Cole and I saw his face change. "You don't know? How could you not?"
"Know what?" Cole asked.
"Don't," Liam said and I gave him a side eye.
"Even at Blackrock, we've heard of Liam Stewart. The kid who got two hundred and eighty psi kids killed, for a goddamn escape attempt," I said in a condesending tone and Cole looked at his brother shocked. "So when I say that you shouldn't be in charge of doing things, its not because of your age or your powers, its bcause you are reckless and stupid."
I turned around and walked, still pissed, toward the buses, Liam and Cole following behind me. Without using my powers, I knew Cole was beyond pissed at his brother, and I had to wonder how did Cole not know about what happened at Caledonia? Caledonia wasn't one of the biggest camps, but Cole worked for the Children's League, so it was surprising that he didn't know. Though it could have been for the fact that he could have just thought that it was rumors and something else had happened, or that someone else had been in charge. As we got closer to the buses, I saw that the six hundred reds had managed to stuff themselves into the back of the buses.
Cole and Liam seemed surprised by our new rides, though they didn't say anything as they sat behind Jude and I sat down with them. Jude sensed what was going on, and didn't say anything for our entire ride.
Hours later, we finally managed to arrive at the Ranch. We walked through the practice warehouse, and into the base. I realized almost immediately that Clancy was missing. "What happened?" Ruby asked as we walked into the room we had designated as a planning room.
"We had to go rescue your boyfriend's sucidal ass," I said and sat down in a comterable chair.
"Who did you take?" Ruby asked, as Susie and a few of the sane reds walked into the room.
"Jude, Mia, Telly, and Alehandro," Liam answered, looking at me upset. "Wish you had used older kids."
"Wish you were less suicidal," I responded and he smithered. "Where's Clancy?"
"He escaped," Nico said and I looked at him surprised. "Found out where his mother left and walked out."
"Yeah, she's dead," I said. One thing I knew about Clancey was that he hated his mother. Sure he did love her to an extent, but one thing that I had realized while we were preparing to take Oasis was that he had his reasons to be as cruel as he was. His father had ordered him to be experimented on and his mother had done the deed.
Him wanting an army made sense, he wanted to never feel that powerless again. If Clancey had gone around doing things differently I wouldn't have hated him as much. Most of the reds would have joined Clancey if he hadn't been a maniac about things. I sighed as I the rest of the kids came into the room. "There's a room downstairs that could hold them," Cole said and I read his mind.
"I'll search the room, see if it can hold them," Liam said and I grumbled. "You can search the room."
"Smart choice," I said and using my powers found the room that he had indicated. Once it was checked, I ordered the reds with a commanding voice "go downstairs". They nodded and walked away, leaving ten reds who hadn't broken under the toowering fear of the trainers.
"So what do we do with them?" Zu asked, pointing toward the remaining reds.
"We treat them like everyone else," Cole said and she nodded. "Which starts with getting them fresh clothes and food for them." She nodded, and ran to find some clean clothes.
"There are some in the last doorway," I shouted behind her and she gave a shout back as she found them.
"So what are we going to do now?" Susie asked, folding her arms across her chest.
"Excuse me," a young girl said and several people looked at her. She was maybe fourteen years old, and looked a lot like Senator Cruz. She was wearing a blue uniform, and her dark hair was in a high ponytail.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Maribel," she pointed at the green girl next to her. "Has an uncle who was in NATP years ago. If she has the proper equipment, she could contact him. I don't know if it would work, but I think it would be useful if everyone else knew what was going on here." I nodded in understanding and looked at Hera.
"Could you find a computer for her?" I asked and she nodded. I turned to Vida, Jude, Susie and Vivian. "Could you teach the kids with your powers about them?" They all nodded and walked toward their representative kids. As they started talking, Helga ran back into the room with a computer, and Zu ran into the room with more clothes.
Helga handed Maribel the computer and she seemed happy about it. As they started talking, Henry whispered, "thank you."
"Don't thank me yet," I said and we both stood to attention as Senator Cruz approached us. "What is it?"
"Thanks for sending some help with Oasis," Senator Cruz said and I didn't respond. She looked back at the kids, some of which were leaning over Maribel and Hera. The Oasis kids seemed interested in learning how to control their powers and the nine other Sawtooth kids were talking antimentadly amongst themselves for the first time in a long time. The other kids were talking amongst themselves, looking between the Oasis kids, the Sawtooth kids, and Maribel.
"No problem," I said and she seemed to remember something.
"They're gonna need a leader," she said out loud and I looked at her shocked. "I knew Maribel's uncle years ago. He's a good man, he was very concerned when IANN first started and was planning on sending supplies to the United States. He's gonna help and when he does, he's gonna need someone to talk to almost immediatly."
"You think that I'm the best person for the job?" I asked with a small laugh.
"How many camps have you been in?" Cruz asked. "Three? That's three reasons for kids in camps to trust you." she pointed at the Sawtooth kids. "They trust you because they know that you understand what they went throught." She pointed at Maribel and Helga. "You listened to Rosa and got her to talk about what she asked almost immediately. You have something that no one else has, you're a purple. You are literally someone who understands every other psi."
"Fine," I said, seeing her point and she smiled.
"Good," she said and walked to join her daughter again. Cole joined us a second later.
"What was that about?" Cole asked as we watched the kids.
"Cruz just made Hailey the boss of the psi," Henry said somewhat shocked.
"Really?" Cole asked and I nodded.
"Hey, Riley?" I shouted and the red girl's head swung around and I pointed at Cole. "You mind teaching this one more about his powers. I mean he's good, but Sawtooth kids were taught better." She nodded and stood up. "Don't worry," I told Cole, "she's a good teacher."
"Thanks," Cole said and Riley led him away from the group.
"You're going to be a good leader," Henry said as he walked away and I sighed.