Free The Void of Mist and Thunder (The 13th Reality #4) by James Dashner Page B

as if the women were swaying back and forth in their trancelike state. What they were doing, she had no idea, and she certainly didn’t know what she could do to help. But she felt the vibration of power inside her body, and there was definitely something big happening.
    She squeezed her mom’s hand, and her mom squeezed back. Something hard and warm—almost hot—touched Lisa’s forearm. She opened her eyelids to the slightest, smallest crack to see what it was. Her mom had moved the Barrier Wand closer, wanting to show her that it was heating up for some reason.
    Yes, something big was definitely going on.

    Tick’s body was flying through a fog.
    Lightning and thunder flashed and boomed all around him, streaks of white fire crossing the gray, misty air, barely missing his body. The horrible sounds rattled his head, pierced his ears painfully. He felt the sense of flying in his stomach and head, but there wasn’t a great rushing of wind blowing at him. His skin was cold one second and hot the next. Even his vision would go haywire—everything turning into a grayish blur then coming into focus again, the edges of the lightning bolts sharp and clear and brilliant. It was as if his senses had a loose connection to his brain.
    He tried to quell the rising fear and panic that threatened to consume him. He had no idea what was happening or where he was, much less how he could use his newfound powers to help the situation. He was hurtling through a void of nothing, surrounded by an angry, powerful storm of energy.
    He twisted his head left and right, trying to see any sign of Chu or Mistress Jane. They were nowhere near him, according to what his eyes told his brain, but on some deep, deep level, he felt as though he were still holding their hands. That maybe the storm was simply an illusion and nothing more.
    He continued his flight. Nausea filled his belly. He tried to speak, but his voice was lost in the noise of the chaos around him. He had the horrible thought that maybe this was how he’d spend the rest of eternity—that maybe the Nonex, in the end, was nothing more than this.
    Tick flew through a void of mist and thunder.

    Mistress Jane didn’t understand what was going on, and nothing on earth caused her more distress than uncertainty. She was a scientist, blood and bone, to the very core of her soul and mind. A scientist. And being here, surrounded by a world of mist and lightning and sound, she didn’t have the slightest guess of what was going on. It made no logical sense. And that made her angry.
    She looked to her left, though all movement was strange in this inexplicable void. Her senses told her she was moving at great speed, yet she felt no rush of wind. And her surroundings didn’t seem to shift at a pace that made sense with the movement of her head.
    Reginald Chu was a few feet away from her, keeping an even pace. His eyes were still closed, and he held his hands out before him like Superman. But he didn’t look peaceful or asleep. His face was pinched, like someone waiting to jump off a bridge with a bungee cord. Sweat trickled down his brow, giving Jane even more evidence that their motion through this fog didn’t match the physical effects on their body.
    Jane knew Tick had done this somehow. He had vaulted them from the Nonex and thrown them into a place that was obviously even worse. Maybe she’d made a huge mistake trusting him to help her.
    She closed her eyes and reached into the void with her senses, reaching to take back her Chi’karda from Tick’s control. Surprisingly, it was there, waiting. She filled her body with the power, sucking it in, keeping it at bay until she needed it. Kept it there like a bomb waiting for a lit fuse.

    The Great Hall had continued to buzz and vibrate, the Ladies humming, the orange power of Chi’karda burning the air with energy. Lisa could only sit and wait, though it was agonizing.
    Mordell suddenly spoke up beside her with a voice that easily cut