Free Struck by Jennifer Bosworth Page A

need to go home. Now . Mom is waiting for us. Remember her? Remember Mom ?”
    Parker’s face flushed red. He lowered his eyes. “I have a feeling this is important.”
    “I’ll take you home, if you want to stay,” Quentin said, that watchful gaze of his steady on my brother.
    Parker nodded his head, almost imperceptibly. He seemed mesmerized. “I’m staying,” he said, and there was no room for argument in his voice.
    “Five minutes,” I said to Mr. Kale. “Who are you people?”
    As though they’d run through this scenario beforehand—and as far as I knew, they had—Mr. Kale,Katrina, Schiz, and Quentin raised their right hands like they were taking an oath. Each of them had a perfect circle of scar tissue branded on his or her palm.
    “We are members of the Circle of Seekers,” Mr. Kale said.
    “The Circle of Seekers,” I repeated slowly. “Whatever you say. So what are you ‘seeking’? Buried treasure? The holy grail?”
    “People,” Mr. Kale said, and the four of them lowered their hands. “People like you.”
    Katrina sauntered toward me, hips swaying. “We are the answer to a question you have yet to ask. Who is going to save Los Angeles from the false prophet and his Followers? Who is going to save the world?”
    “That’s two questions,” I pointed out.
    She ignored me. “Answer: We are.”
    My gaze traveled from one face to the next as I tried to judge whether they were serious. But Parker was nodding silently to himself, as though Katrina had confirmed something he suspected all along.
    “Did you know about this?” I asked Parker.
    His nodding turned to a head shake, but it was a hesitant transition. “I—” he began, and then scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. Ever since the quake, I’ve felt—”
    “Like the earthquake was only the beginning,” Schiz said. “The precursor for something worse.”
    Nodding again, fervently now. “Yes.”
    The whites of Schiz’s eyes were veined red, like he hadn’tslept in days. “We felt it, too, like this sense of inevitability. Like there’s something we’re meant to do, and the earthquake was our wake-up call. And it was. There’s a war coming, and we need every soldier we can gather before the big day arrives. Consider yourselves drafted.”
    “Why us?” Parker asked.
    Quentin slapped Parker lightly on the shoulder. “I guess you could say you both have certain qualities we’re looking for.”
    Parker’s eyes were wide. “The Spark?” he said. “I have it?”
    “Well … not exactly.”
    Some of the eagerness went out of Parker’s eyes. “Oh.”
    “Hey, don’t worry about it. I don’t have the Spark either, but that doesn’t mean my role isn’t important. I’ll play my part in this, and I’m glad to do it.”
    “What exactly is your part?” I asked. Curiosity was starting to get the better of me.
    The Seekers shared a glance, but it was Mr. Kale who answered, looking at my brother as he spoke.
    “Seekers who don’t possess the Spark can still sense it in others, as you sensed it in me when I touched your hand, Mia. But all Seekers, once they’re bonded to us, act as conductors for the Spark.”
    My head pendulumed slowly back and forth. Bonding? Conductors? Sparks? I knew the meaning of these words, of course, and I knew about conductors. A conductor transmitted energy. “Conductor” was another word for a lightning rod, and being a human lightning rod myself, I was also, technically, a conductor. It sounded simple enough, and yet I didn’t understand any of it.
    “Okay, I’ll bite,” I said. “What’s the Spark?”
    “Simplest explanation,” Mr. Kale said. “The Spark is energy. Electricity.”
    “Can I geek out for a second?” Schiz said, looking to Mr. Kale for permission. The teacher nodded, and Schiz’s eyes lit up. He spoke so fast I could barely keep up. “It’s like our bodies produce this electromagnetic field, and when the voltage is high enough, it extends beyond