“How ’bout you don’t tell me what to do!”
Will came forward now, hands up. “Now, wait just a minute—”
“Hang your ghosts!” Henry growled. He was out of his seat now. They all were. “You’re liars!”
The Diviners had gathered, without realizing it, in a tight huddle, nearly nose-to-nose, arguing, their voices rising over one another:
“—What choice do we have?—”
“—I don’t like being lied to—”
“—Easy for you to say—”
“—Who asked you?—”
The Metaphysickometer hummed loudly, its needle popping up and down. The radio came on with a sudden squawk and raced through stations in a jumbled jazz of speech, music, and static. A corner of the room seemed to wobble and bend.
“What just happened?” Theta asked when it quieted. The smell of electricity hung in the air.
“I think you just happened,” Sister Walker said, breathless with new excitement.
Ling put her hand on the wall. It was warm. “We created some sort of energy field together.”
“I think we should try again. Right away,” Sister Walker said.
“Nothing doin’! Why should we do anything for you?” Sam said.
“What Sam said!” Evie chimed in.
“I know how angry you are. We made mistakes. We have a lot to answer for. But the threat we face is enormous. I’m asking …” Will looked to Sister Walker, who nodded. “We’re asking, if you can put aside your misgivings long enough to continue the work.”
For a moment, everyone was quiet. There was nothing but the crackling of the fire.
“Maybe we should see what we can do. Not for them,” Ling said at last, nodding toward Will and Sister Walker. “But for us.”
“If Ling’s in, so am I,” Henry said.
Isaiah came and stood beside Sam. “I’ll do it.”
“Isaiah, you don’t know what you’re promising,” Memphis said.
“I do, too!”
“Sam?” Evie asked.
“Yeah, okay. I’m in. But for us,” Sam said.
“Poet? Whaddaya think?” Theta asked.
Memphis let his arms hang at his sides. He took in a deep breath, then let it out. “For my mother,” he said.
“We’ll continue,” Ling said to Will and Sister Walker. “But if you lie to us even once more …”
“We’ll never, ever come back,” Evie finished. She gave Will a hard look. “And I will never speak to you again.”
Will nodded. “Understood.”
“What do we do? Do we stand in a circle and hold hands?” Isaiah asked.
“If you ask us to sing camp songs, I refuse,” Evie said.
“Gather here. On the rug.” Will pushed back some chairs and the Diviners made a circle.
“Now what happens?” Memphis asked.
“I want you to shut your eyes and concentrate.”
“Shouldn’t it be something specific?” Ling asked. “Something we can all see in our minds?”
Evie looked at Henry. “Do not say clowns.”
Henry sighed. “Well, now you’ve done it. Clowns are all I can see.”
“Ling’s right. I want you to concentrate on something concrete,” Sister Walker said. “Think of creating an energy field … around this credenza.” Sister Walker marched over to a long, beautifully carved chest. “Stare at the credenza. Concentrate. Be aware of your energy as well as the energy coming from your fellow Diviners.”
It was very still. Beside him, Sam could hear Henry breathing, and soon, the rhythm of his breath matched the rhythm of Sam’s breathing, and Evie’s matched Sam’s, all the way around the circle. Sitting on the sofa outside the circle, Theta could feel her own restless energy wanting to join the others, like a horse longing to run with the herd. She could feel Memphis’s heartbeat strong inside her, lining up perfectly with hers. A great hum filled Evie’s ears, like a strong wind carrying a million voices inside. An aura appeared around the credenza, the air dancing with pinpricks of light that stretched to the Diviners themselves. The hum became a roar. The chandelier directly above them flared bright and hot, shattering the bulbs and showering the carpet with broken glass. With a shriek, the Diviners dropped one another’s hands.
“Aaah!” Sam said, putting his hands over his ears. “Did you feel that?”
“For a minute there, it was like falling—” Ling said, excited.
“Then floating—” Evie added.
“In a warm bath made of stars that you felt joined to?” Memphis finished.
Sam jerked a thumb at the others. “Uh, what they said.”
“Yes,” Theta said so quietly that no one heard.
Henry’s eyes widened. “Is it just me or is the credenza rather … un-credenza-like?”
Across the room, the antique oak table bowed out in the middle, as if trying to give birth to some other form. And then it contracted and settled back to its proper table shape.
“Will …” Sister Walker whispered.
“I know,” he answered. “Incredible.”
Ling moved as swiftly as she could. She touched the credenza gingerly. It was still warm. “It’s pos-i-tute-ly solid now.”
“You’re using the word!” Henry beamed. “I taught her that word, you know.”
Ling’s excitement bubbled out of her in a torrent of words. “Everything radiates. The radiation we emit isn’t visible to the naked eye, but it’s there. This is incredible. Our combined energy can disrupt electromagnetic fields or create one!” She burst out with a rare full grin. “We’re an unimaginable source of energy!”
“Diviner Industries—powering the nation! Charleston, Charleston!” Evie sang, pulling Henry in to dance with her.
“People who could do that would be pretty valuable,” Memphis said.
“Yeah. And dangerous,” Sam said.
“What do you mean?” Evie had stopped dancing, but she still held Henry’s hand.
“I mean, either everybody would want ’em around, or nobody would. We were created for national security, right?” He looked to Sister Walker, who nodded. “Well, what happens if somebody decides we aren’t so secure? What happens if somebody decides that a bunch of people like us with Diviner powers are a threat to that new, special America they’re trying to build?”
“Ice Man, you okay?” Memphis crouched down in front of his brother. Isaiah was breathing heavily. He seemed frightened. “What’s the matter?”
“Anybody else see something scary while they were under?” Isaiah asked.
Will moved closer. “What did you see?”
“It was real dark. And then I could see there was a rip in the dark, like when I tore my shirt on a branch one time and Octavia fussed at me for it. I could feel that there was something inside the rip trying to get out. Something bad.” Isaiah swallowed. “I heard a voice.”
“What did it say?”
“It called me the clairvoyant,” Isaiah said, sounding out the unfamiliar word. “It said, ‘I see you, Clairvoyant.’ ”