Free Fall of Heroes by Jeramey Kraatz Page B

several feet above the surface of the cove on his own personal flying carpet.
    â€œAre you forgetting?” Kirbie asked, taking off her jacket. Her face was hinting at transformation, lips and nose jutting forward, beakish. “You’re not safe from us in the air, either.”
    Somewhere inside Alex a voice was telling him to enjoy himself. Have fun while you have the chance. Forget that you’re now targets, just for this one hour.
    Alex grinned. The raft started forward. Mallory reared back, ready to strike. Kirbie jumped into the air.
    And then a voice from the patio stopped them all.
    â€œThey’re awake!” Amp’s words boomed.
    There was a pause on the ice, and then all at once they scrambled across the lake as fast as they could. The time to play was over.

7

LEADER OF THE RANGERS
    D espite his sunken eyes and pale skin, Lone Star had an imposing presence, tall and barrel-chested. He stood in the Rec Room, staring at the wall covered in note cards and lists and yarn that mapped out the Cloak Society’s reach and resources. Lux sat on the arm of a chair beside him, looking run-down but with a dignified posture. As the Junior Rangers introduced the other residents of the lake house, Lone Star took an interest in Alex. The man towered over him, looking down at the boy with his chin jutting out. For a moment, Alex thought that the great Ranger might hit him, or yell at him—after all, it had been his fault that Justice Tower had fallen so quickly, and that Lone Star had been trapped in the Gloom for the last month.
    â€œAlex Knight,” he said. “I know your parents.”
    Alex stared up at him and nodded slowly.
    â€œWell, we have much to discuss,” the Ranger said, turning his attention to the rest of the group.
    The others methodically spelled out everything that had happened in the heroes’ absence—the crumbling of Justice Tower, infiltrating Cloak’s underground base, the ordeal with the Omegas, the sudden rise of the New Rangers. Amp spoke the most, the words spilling out of his mouth so fast that they were at times half-garbled, and Lone Star or Lux would have to ask him to repeat things. He didn’t seem to mind. There was something about the way that Amp interacted with the adult Rangers that brought out a side of the boy Alex had never seen. He wanted to impress them. He wanted to make sure they knew he’d been fighting for them.
    â€œThis is incredible,” Lone Star said. He finished the last of a granola bar and pulled another from a box on the billiard table. Both he and Lux had hardly stopped eating since they’d woken up. It seemed like the Gloom had drained them of so much. “It’s remarkable you’ve been able to put all this together and make so many jabs at Cloak’s plan without our help.”
    â€œThe plans we knew about,” Kyle said. “Ever since they appeared as the New Rangers, I keep thinking we have no idea what their next move might be. So we’ve really just been focusing on getting you two out of the Gloom.”
    â€œWhat are these?” Lux asked, picking up a set of sketched blueprints from a side table. “This looks like . . .” She trailed off.
    â€œWe found them at the underground base,” Kirbie said. “We think they’re plans for Cloak’s new headquarters. For the New Rangers.”
    â€œOn the ruins of Justice Tower,” Lux said. “It certainly makes a statement.”
    â€œLet’s go over the safety of this base,” Lone Star said, walking over to a map focusing on Silver Lake and the area around the lake house. “I want to know everything. What kind of security do we have?”
    â€œMotion, infrared, a veritable truckload of cameras set up around the premises,” Gage said. “Access to the cove is protected, which should take care of any boats wandering in.” He held up an electronic screen. “There are