Five's Legacy by Pittacus Lore Page B

something I can’t escape. Not entirely. Either I’ll fight alongside the Garde—seven super-powered soldiers who’ve never met one another, trying to take down an entire army—or the Mogs will kill all of us and take Earth as well.
    I wish there was another way: a third option I’m not thinking of. But for the life of me I can’t think of one.
    I might as well enjoy my time on this planet while I can.
    One night, I spot the perfect target.
    Emma and I are hanging out behind one of the fancy hotels that back up to the beach, divvying up what we’ve taken throughout the day. It’s nighttime, and the only people to bother us are a few late-night joggers who just nod to us as they pass us by.
    The mark is in his midthirties or so and well dressed in a crisp black button-down shirt, gray pants and shiny black shoes that are impractical for a walk on the beach—even if he is keeping to the sidewalk. His dark hair is swept back and accentuates his pale skin, meaning he’s almost certainly not from Miami. And, most importantly, he’s alone.
    Perfect . He’s practically begging us to lift his wallet.
    I glance at Emma, who gives me a mischivious grin, one I recognize easily by now.
    “What’s the story?” she asks.
    “We lost our cat,” I say. “It’s black as night and we’ve been looking for hours.”
    She smiles and nods, backing away from me. This is what we do. I provide the story and she does the “heavy lifting.”
    As the man approaches, his eyes drift between the two of us but he doesn’t pay much attention. When he’s passed Emma, I step into his path. Emma positions herself behind him.
    “Hey, mister. Have you seen a black cat running around here? We’ve been trying to—”
    The man moves fast—faster than I would have thought—and in the blink of an eye he’s got Emma out beside him, her arm twisted in his grip. A red leather wallet falls from her fingers and bounces on the sidewalk. The man tightens his fingers around her, and Emma falls to the sand with a small cry. She lets out a string of curses in Spanish.
    Shit .
    I move forward, but he raises a hand to me, and there’s a command about his presence that causes me to stop. I don’t know what to do. He speaks to Emma in Spanish, saying something that makes her eyes go wide. She mutters back to him, and he responds. His voice is low and smooth. There’s some kind of dawning recognition that sweeps over Emma’s face. Clearly she’s puting things together that I don’t understand, and I start to feel like I’m completely in the dark about what’s actually happening in front of me.
    All I know is that I have one friend in the world right now, and she’s on the ground in front of a man who she’s obviously afraid of. So when he reaches for her, I can’t help but react.
    I send him stumbling backwards with a telekinetic blast.
    The attack isn’t much—more of a flinch of my Legacy than anything—but it serves to put some distance between all of us. The man looks surprised for a moment, and then narrows his eyes at me. I puff out my chest and clench my fists.
    “Cody, what are you . . .” Emma looks confused. “Listen, I know who this guy is. Sort of.”
    The man bends down slowly, hands out in front of him, and picks his wallet up off the ground. He flicks two cards out from it. They land on the sidewalk.
    “If you’re ever looking for work, call this number,” he says. Then, as if it’s an afterthought, he tosses a fifty-dollar bill onto the ground as well.
    Then he walks right past us. Away. Like he doesn’t have a care in the world. There’s something about him that permeates the air and makes him seem untouchable.
    When he’s out of earshot, I turn to Emma.
    “Are you okay?” I ask, concerned.
    “You have no idea who that is, do you?” Emma asks, her eyes never leaving the man’s back.
    “No. Who?”
    Emma picks up the two cards and holds one out to me. It’s white, with nothing but a black phone number printed